Chapter 8: Changing with the Times

New Famille has become a very busy place since the last time we have venture to the planet. More and more refugees have come to New Famille looking for a new home and have caused what is to be the capital of the planet to become incredible crowded. Because of this, many members of New Famille's personal had to start branching out further across the planet and start building more cities. To help with the construction of these cities, several of the new refugees have volunteered to add in the building process. While the men and women working on the construction was making good progress, they weren't moving fast enough as many people were left sleeping outside with no tents which caused a lot of people to build very basic shelters with whatever they can get their hands on. Despite the inconvenience the new residents of New Famille were very happy to have a new place to call home. The sky was blue, the air and water was clean, there was plenty of food and they were treated with the outmost respect by all the officials and military personal of New Famille.

As for the Gokaigers, they have been enjoying numerous successful military campaigns against the Zangyack. With each victory, the Kaizoku Sentai not only decrease the number of Gormin left in the universe, they gained more and more support from the many people who are ready to be rid of the Zangyack for good. Speaking of successful campaigns, the Gokaigers, along with the rest of the army of New Famille, have just returned from luting the fifth of the Zangyack's storage facilities. But before any celebration was to take place, the army of Famille had to honor those that had fallen in battle. Though they did not lose as many soldiers as the Zangyack have, the Army of New Famille have lost around eight thousand soldiers. They were all strong warriors and died the way they lived. Weather they were Kappakanon, Kumakray, Butareigon or whatever other species were now apart of the New Famille Army, each and every last soldier that died on the battle field was either buried or cremated in a manner most fitting of their culture. And for the ones whose bodies could not be recovered, their names were taking down so that they would be remembered in a memorial that will be erected in honor of their courage and sacrifice.

When the funeral was over, Dora and Don lead the other Gokaigers into the cave that has been designated research facility for New Famille. Over the last couple of months, Don and Dora have been making breakthroughs with the technology that AkaRed created for the Gokai Gallon. So far, the two brilliant minds have built something pretty awesome. Once inside the makeshift lab, the Gokaigers were shown to six large spaceships. The ships resembled starfighters known as Arwings. The Arwings were the main starfighters the legendary space fighter squadron known as Star Fox. Star Fox opposed the Zangyack for many years until their ultimate defeat by the vile Empire. Though the entire squadron was not killed in the final confrontation, (it is rumored that only four members survivored includeing the squadron leader) Star Fox went into hiding and and has not been seen sence. Don and Dora modeled this ships after the Arwings as a tribute to Star Fox. Like the Arwings, these ships were primaraly white but were distingusied by haveing the Gokaiger's respective colors. While these ships were an impressive sight, not everyone was exited by their appearance. "They're oversized starfighters." said Luka disappointment in her voice. "This is what the two of you been working so hard on."

"These are not just oversized starfighters, Luka" began Don "these are the very nerve center of our new Gokai Machines."

"Here," said Dora turning on a holographic projector "maybe these will explain things better." As the images of the projector came into focus, Marvelous, Gai, Ahim, Luka and Joe could now see that these were the blueprints for their new mechs.

"Whao." said Luka mentally taking back her disappontment from before.

"Ladies and gentlemen," started Don "allow us to introduce you to the Kaizo Fighters."

"Kaizo Fighters." repeated Joe from under his breathe. As it turns out, the Arwings were not the only part of the new Gokai Machines. As the pirates can see while Don and Dora explained it to them, the starfighters were not just the cockpit but would also make up the lower torso of giant robots that when assembled, will resemble the Gokaigers themselves. Dora and Don designed a teleporter to send the rest of the robots to where ever they would be and once full assembled, they will be as tall as Ohranger's Red Puncher. This robots had many, many amazing features to them. They could weild weapons that are basically giant sized versions of the Gokaigers' standard weapons and were combat efficient on all terrains. But of all the features that came with the knew mechs, the one that excited Gai the most was, "WE WILL BE ABLE TO CHANGE INTO PAST SENTAI MECHS!" screamed the overly enthused silver warrior, his voice echoing throughout the cave/lab.

"Yes," said Dora raining her hands to try to calm down Gai "Don-san and I have reversed engineered the powers of the Phantom Ranger Keys so that you can access the forms of other Sentai machines."

"That is so grrrrrreeeeeaaaaaat!" cried Gai now shaking Dora by the shoulders in excitement. "Do you think my Anchor Key would work on them too?"

"Gai-san!" crie Ahim as she and Luka jump in and start to pry Gai's hands off of Dora. "Please try to restrain yourself."

"I'm sorry." apologized Gai. "But this is so exciting. We're getting new Gokai Machines. And really, Dora-san, do you think my Anchor Key could work with these?"

"Why is it so important that your Anchor Key works with them, Gai?" asked Marvelous.

"Well, I always wondered what would happen if I used on GouZyuJin." answered Gai. "And sence these new mechs, as Dora-san and Don-san explained it, they can change just as we can, so why wouldn't my Kaizo Fighter have a Gold Mode."

"To be honest Ikari-san, with your imagination it wouldn't be surprise me if your Anchor Key worked on your Kaizo Fighter." said Dora. "Really the only think I am surprised with is the fact that you never combined all the Ranger Keys into one."

Everyone paused for moment after Dora's statement. "Every Ranger Key?" said Gai surprised by the thought.

"Wait," began Dora with a surprised look on her face "you mean to tell me that you have never even thought of combining all the Ranger Keys together?"

"No." said Gai.

"Interesting." said Dora.

"What is?" asked Luka.

"Well, back on Earth when the Zangyack first attack, it took the combined power of your thirty-four predecessors to defeat them." Explained Dora. "So wouldn't it have made sense for Ikari-San to create a Ranger Key that embodied all of Super Sentai or at least try and replicate the attack they used."

Gai opened his mouth as if to say more but he couldn't find the words. Dora's question brought up an interesting scenario that not only he but the other Gokaigers have never considered. As you know, Gai has this uncanny ability to fuse two or more Ranger Keys together and create hybrid keys. The most notable and most used of these hybrid keys have been his Go-On Wings and Anchor Key to activate his Gold Mode. But creating a key that was made from all the Ranger Keys? Something like that would…be powerful. Maybe too powerful as Joe was about to point out.

"We understand what you're saying Dora." said Joe. "But what you're missing is the danger involved in a form like that."

"Danger?" said Dora.

"Joe's right." said Don. "There's no telling what kind of devastation a form like that could cause. Not just to the Zangyack but to our side as well."

"Oh, come on Doc." said Marvelous. "It couldn't be that bad."

"Don't be so sure of that Marvelous-san." said Ahim. "If you remember, the attack our thirty-four sempai used to defeat the Zangyack almost coast them their lives. And besides, we do not even know if Gai-san could handle such power."

"True…" began Gai "but it's like you said Ahim-san. We don't know if I can-"

"No!" interrupted Luka sternly. Everyone turned to Luka with surprised looks on the faces. Gai in particular was shocked to see such an angry expression on her face. "You heard me. You are doing NO such thing."

Gai looked blankly at Luka. She was really upset. But what was there to be upset about? Everyone was talking hypothetically. So then what was the problem. "Luka-"

"Don't Gai." said Luka. "There's nothing you can say that can change my mind on this. You even said yourself that being in Gold Mode for too long can put stress on your body. And that's after you combine fifteen keys. Do you really think you can even remotely handle a form of two hundred plus keys?" Gai had nothing to say. He was just wondering was really bothering Luka. "I didn't think so." said Luka sternly. She then turned on on her heel and stormed out of the lab.

"What was that?" asked Joe.

"I don't know." said Gai "But I'm going to find out. Later. When she's calmer."

After everyone got over Luka's little huff, the Gokaigers went back to what has become their normal routines. Well, half of the Gokaigers did anyway. Don stayed in the lab with Dora to continue their work on the Kaizo Fighters, Joe had another rematch with Mai and Ahim went back to running the planet. As for the others, Marvelous went for a walk with Navi through a cavern that has become New Famille's treasury. What had happened was that Smoky, the resident of the MagiLamp began complaining about how cramped his home was becoming and ordered that the Gokaigers move the treasure elsewhere. So, after some searching, the pirates and the various other members of New Famille found a very large, very long and very deep cavern that can house the treasure they had taken from the Zangyack. Once all the treasure was within the cavern, many of the scholars that have taken residency on New Famille began, with Ahim's permission, to sure throughout the treasure to find artifacts that represented that were the most valuable to the many, many world's that the Zangyack have destroyed. Such artifacts included paintings, busts and statues. Some were even bejeweled suits of armor, even weapons. The scholars plan to build a museum to showcase the artifacts so that all the residents of New Famille can remember their history and what it took to get them back. The scholars even enlisted the help of the Kumakray to help carry the heavier artifacts out of the cavern. There were also jewelers down in the cavern that were packing up all the stones and precious metals so that they can take them above ground to be cleaned.

As Marvelous and Navi continued down the cavern, they came across Gai who was talking to one of the jewelers. The two of them were going through a large pile of diamonds. "Gai." said Marvelous as he Navi came his way.

"Oh, Marvelous-san. Navi." said Gai, looking up and acknowledging the two. "What brings you two down here?"

"We just though we would take a look at what treasures were down here." answered Navi. "What are you doing down here, Gai?"

"Well, I was…" began Gai looking away blushing as he started to rub the back of his head.

"I know what you're doing." said Marvelous.

"You do!" said Gai now starring at Marvelous with eyes wide opened.

"Yeah and it's a good move. If there's anything that can calm down Luka, it's definitely diamonds."

"Calm her…Oh, no, no, no." said Gai waving a hand. "This has nothing to do with before. It's for…well."

"What?" asked Navi.

Gai looked at the captain and the parrot thinking of what to say next. "Can the two of you keep a secret?" asked the Silver Pirate. Marvelous and Navi nodded. "I'm making a ring for Luka."

"A ring?" exclaimed Marvelous. "Why just a ring? With all these diamonds you can…" Marvelous paused for moment. Once he realized what kind of ring Gai was making, his jaw dropped and his eyes widen. "No way." Gai nodded confirming Marvelous' thought. "You want to…"

"What?" asked Navi feeling lost.

"I'm going to ask Luka to marry me." said Gai.

Navi let out a huge squwak in response. "Marry you! That's so great!" Gai smiled at the bird as she backflipped in midair.

"Really?" said a flabbergasted Marvelous. "That's…that's great. I…" Marvelous put his hands on his hips, turned and walked away from Gai a bit.

"What's wrong Marvelous-san?" asked Gai.

"Nothing." replied Marvelous turning around and facing Gai again. "I'm happy for you, Gai. You and Luka. You both deserve it."

"Marvelous-san," began Gai with a worried look on his face "is everything alright?"

"Of course it is." said Marvelous with a laugh showing off his usual confidence. Gai wasn't buying it. "Hey look, there's a lot to explore down here. So I'll let you get back to work. I'm sure the ring you make will blow her away." Marvelous then turned away from Gai and began walking down a path in the opposite direction from where the cabin boy was facing. As Marvelous was about ten paces down the path, Gai turn to Navi to speak to her. "I'll speak to him." said the bird before the words left Gai's mouth. Gai gave Navi as small smile and nodded at her.

Gai turned back to the pile of diamonds as Navi flew towards to rejoin Marvelous. Right as Gai was about to inspect the pile in front of him, a familiar figure caught the corner of his eye. It was Luka. She was looking all around the cavern, looking for something. When she turned towards Gai, she found what she was looking for. "Hi." she said upon seeing Gai.

"Hey." Gai replied. "What are you doing sown here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." said Luka

"Oh, this." said Gai. "This is, um. Well, um. I was asked to help out."

"Help out."

"Yes."

"Because you have a wealth of knowledge on jewelry as well."

"Yeah." Gai felt like he was cornered. He didn't want to spoil his surprise to Luka so he thought he could change the subject. "Listen Luka. About before…"

"Yes." said Luka looking down. "That's what I was looking for you." Luka then sighed and looked back up to Gai. "I'm sorry Gai." This completely shocked Gai. In all the time he and Luka have been a couple, she has never apologized to him when they fought or disagreed. Even when she was clearly in the wrong, she never apologized. "I shouldn't of acted like that. It's just…" Tears began to form in her eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey." said Gai bringing Luka in for a hug. "Don't do that. There's no reason for you to start crying."

"You don't understand Gai." said Luka with sniffle. "I can't lose you." Luka then pulled back from Gai so that she can look into his eyes. "I've lost everything before. My home world, my parents, Fia. Now that everything in my life is good again. I can't…"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no." said Gai soothingly as he pulled her back in. "You won't lose me. And, that whole thing about combining all the Ranger Keys…" he pulled away a bit and placed his hands on the sides of her face. "You don't have to worry. Honestly, I don't think I could do it. Even if I could it's like Don-san said. It would be too dangerous."

"You don't have to say that to comfort me." said Luka now smiling. "I know that you're not that reckless."

As Gai and Luka continued to make up, Marvelous and Navi found their way out of the cavern and into an open field. As the sun began to set over the lush long grass, Marvelous spotted Joe and Mai in the distance. The two had sitting together, having finished their latest sparring match and were sharpening their blades. As they conversed, the two broke out into laugher and Marvelous for the first time saw Joe give a true, genuine smile. "It's all over, isn't Navi?" asked Marvelous with a sigh.

"What is?" asked Navi.

"The Gokaigers." said Marvelous. "We're not pirates any more."

"Well," began Navi "that is not entirely a bad thing."

"For the others no." said Marvelous. "But for me…What's going to be left for me when we finally complete the mission. Being a pirate was the one thing I was ever really good at."

"That's not all your good at." said Marvelous. "You're a leader. A warrior. You are someone who cares more for others then anyone I have ever known. There is more to you then being a pirate Marvelous. So much more." Marvelous looked over at Navi and gave her a half smile. "Besides, when you're done being a pirate maybe then you can tell Ahim-chan how you feel."

"Whaaaat!" said Marvelous surprised but still trying to play it cool. "Ahim knows how I feel. It's the same feeling for everyone else."

"Marvelous." said Navi seeing right through Marvelous' act. "Everyone knows you're in love with her."

"Everyone?" said Marvelous letting his guard down.

"Everyone." said Navi. "You are not as good at hiding your real feelings as you think."

"Tsst, great." mumbled Marvelous. "Okay. So what now. I go and tell Ahim I love and then what. What if she-"

"She does." said Navi. "Believe me. She does."

Marvelous paused and looked at Navi for a long second. After collecting his thoughts, the Red Captain took in a big breath of fresh air and then let out a long sigh. "Come on bird, let's get something to eat." Navi squwaked as she and Marvelous turned back to the camp. On their way back, Marvelous thought to himself "Maybe it is time that I did tell Ahim. But let's wait until we settle things with the Zangyack. Yeah. Once the Zangyack are gone, I'll tell Ahim."

Okay, first I'm sorry for the long delay. Two, as far as the Gokaigers receiving Zyuohger Ranger Keys, I'm waiting until the Sixth Ranger debuts. That's if I haven't finished the story before then. Anyway, thanks for reading and stay toned for more.