Chapter 1 - A New Generation, The Modern Day Ninja (Part 1)
April 2017
A helicopter landed in the middle of an excavation site where a group of workers are currently unearthing an ancient temple located deep in the forest of Japan. A few workers walked up to the landing pad when the helicopter landed. The doors open as a man in his early fifties steps out dressed like he was Indiana Jones minus the bullwhip. The man had blonde hair with light blue eyes and some wrinkles on his face which proved the years of his old age.
This man was known as none other than Anton Mercer, formerly known as Mesogog; the enemy of the Dino Thunder Rangers.
"Mr. Mercer, how nice of you to come and join us." One of the workers said over the sound of the spinning helicopter's blades.
"I thought I told you to call me Anton." Over the years of being free from Mesogog, Anton's attitude had changed from being the once self-centered cold-hearted businessman. To a new man who actually wanted to make a change in the world to be a better and safer place as his adopted son and friend had done when they were the power rangers.
"Sorry, Mister...Anton. I'm glad you could make it here on such short notice. We have had a bit of a situation." The worker said.
"Tell me about it," Anton said.
"Just last week we discovered a new section of the temple, we sent a few workers in to check it out, but they never came back. We sent a few more workers to find them, but they never returned." The worker said in a worried tone. "Any plans of action?"
"Just one. I'm going in to find them." Anton said followed by a collective gasp from the workers.
"Sir, that's crazy." Another worker said.
"We already lost too many men and I refuse to lose anymore. I'll go in there myself to find them."
Walking away from the landing area, Anton went into the temple and was able to get a better look at the temple as he walked closer.
The outside was completely worn out and on the verge of crumbling to the ground, the brown texture was covered in dust, vines were stretched out around the entirety of it. Anton walked to the entrance of the temple and braced himself for whatever he was going to face inside, after exploring the temple only to find nothing out of the ordinary until he finally reached the tunnel which led to the recently discovered section.
"Well here goes nothing," Anton said to himself as he enters the new section. Upon entering the new section of temple Anton was shocked to say the least, his face was in horror at the grueling scene in front of him.
The temple itself looked like an ancient shrine suffering from the effect of time and neglect as shown by the old worn out walls and signs hanging from the ceiling with what looked like a symbol of a shrunken flying through the air. In the far back of the room, there was an old Japanese style table that holds five shrunken in the color of red, blue, yellow, white, and pink. Each with a picture of a ninja that Anton swore looked like power rangers. Behind the table was a painting depicting what looked like five ninjas fighting a warlord and an army of demons, but what really got Anton's attention was the motionless bodies of the missing workers that were on the floor in a pool of their own blood.
The same blood which assumed decorated the walls of the temple.
"What happened here?" Anton said as he lifted the arm of one of the dead workers.
A shiver went down Anton's spine as he heard an all so familiar evil chuckle from a time he wishes he could forget followed by a slow clap. He turns his head to the entrance when he saw a ghost of his last step out of the shadows.
"Mesogog, it has been a while hasn't it," A mysterious but familiar voice said. The man was dressed in a black robe and pink color suit with a black mask with small horns covering his face.
"Lothor, but how? You were destroyed." Anton said surprised that his old ally from when he was a mutant was alive.
"Ah, that's where you are wrong my friend," Lothor said as he moved his finger. "You see after our partnership failed, I was captured and trapped in a jar. So when the lair exploded, the jar not only protected me but all those jars full of specimens gave me a little something extra." A pair of pterodactyl wings sprouted out from his back and concealed himself for a moment as he spread his wings out to reveal his new body for Anton to see.
Lothor's new body was entirely covered with black and purple scales, his fingers nail extended so they are more like claws. Running along the sides of his arms and the back of his spines were stegosaurus spikes as well as a Titanosaurus tail. His chest was covered in plates that resemble a triceratops shield with horns coming out of his shoulder. His face was completely unrecognizable as it became distorted, his face was almost a resemblance to Mesogog only not as Jurassic and his left eye and the area around it was completely normal.
"Now I am strong enough to get my revenge on those who wrong me in the past and I'm going to start with you. Think of it as my way of saying thank you for this new body, since you won't have the time to see me kill your son and his wife!" Lothor laughed evilly as the last bit of sanity fled from his body.
Anton knew that Lothor was sick in the head, so he thought the best thing to do is to try and reason with him.
"Lothor, whatever those chemicals did to you, it's making you sick," Anton said. "I can help you, I have made great advancement in the field of medicine, I'm sure I can make a cure for you."
"The time for talk is over, now it's the time to die!" Lothor yelled as he flung a sphere of dark energy at Anton. Anton was able to dodge the attack as he hid behind one of the support pillars.
"How did I forget that part of being a villain is being irrational and insane." Anton thought to himself.
Another sphere of dark energy flew past him as Anton made a run for a new hiding place. The process continued for a while until there was nowhere else to hide. Anton was literally back against the wall while Lothor was preparing to kill him.
Before he could be struck, a mysterious man in black clothes while welding a metal sword, quickly ran in the way and blocked the strike.
"I will not allow you to harm this man. You user, of the forbidden art!" The man said as he shoved Lothor back. The man was in his mid-forties with long hair black hair and wore a black ninja robe and was in a fighting stance.
"Ninjas, it had to be a ninja." Said Lothor as he felt the universe was playing a joke on him by having him have to fight a ninja. Before he could advance, he sensed something heading his way and he used his claws to block the attack. He then notices that they were feathers.
"What the? Feathers?!" Lothor said when a black blur flew past him and scratched his face repeatedly. The black blur then slows down to reveal it was a falcon.
"Take that you dino disaster." The falcon said.
"And I thought my life was free from all this craziness, who are you two?" Anton said.
"My bad, I am Sensei Sento and that bird is my partner, Blackwing. We are the caretakers of this temple, protector of the ninja stars, and guardian of the Yokai seal." Sensei Sento explained. He then grabbed Anton and pulled him away to safety.
"Now what is that?" Sento asked as he pointed to Lothor who was busy fighting Black wing.
"That Lothor, he's an evil space ninja and an old business partner when I wasn't exactly myself at the time," Anton answered, which earned him a look from the ninja master. "I'll explain later. Right now, we need to escape."
As the two talked, Lothor was firing aimlessly trying to hit the bird but he was too swift so the blast ended up hitting the walls and the foundation was losing its integrity. The walls began to shake and bits were falling from the ceiling.
"We can't defeat him without the ninja stars," Sento said as he pointed to the shuriken on the table.
"Leave that to me. Just keep Lothor busy." Anton said.
The ninja master nodded and dashed off to help the talking bird while Anton pulled out his walkie-talkie. "This is Anton, prepare for a quick getaway countermeasure." He ordered.
He tucked his walkie-talkie away and ran towards the shuriken on the table. Meanwhile, Sento swung his sword against Lothor's chest, followed by a strike to shoulder, which Lothor blocked and countered with his claws. Lothor swung his tail to try and hit Sensei Sento but Sento jumped out of the way, only to be met by a punch to his stomach, followed by a headbutt.
Blackwing tried to get Lothor's attention by flying around him but he fired a dark energy blast at the bird knocking him to the ground.
"We don't get paid enough for this," Blackwing commented as he shrugged off the damage and tried to get back up.
"Did you two really think you could stop me, Lothor, greatest master of the dark ninja arts!?" Lothor said as he laughed evilly.
"We may have lost the fight, but we will win the war." Sensei Sento said.
Lothor was confused by his words until he noticed that the two protectors were near the entrance and Anton Mercer ran beside them holding the ninja stars. Once they regrouped, they ran out of there like there was no tomorrow.
"This is Anton, do it!" Anton shouted once they escaped the temple. The workers had set up dynamite near the entrance of the temple and the side of the wall. Once they were outside, the workers set the fuse and blew up the entrance, sealing it and Lothor inside it. Anton, the protectors, and the workers ran to their vehicles and for knowing Lothor power, it won't hold him for long. Anton made it to his helicopter along with the protectors and they flew off. They looked from above to see the workers running away from the temple.
"Am I the only one who thinks this won't be the last we've seen of that psycho?" Blackwing wondered.
"I'm afraid so my old friend," Sensei Sento said.
"Lothor is a crazy man and because of the mutation, his mind is even more lost than before," Anton explained. "Question is, can we use these ninja stars to fight him?" Anton asked since he noticed the design of the stars.
"Yes, these stars were created using a rock that fell from space and was infused with magic. If we can harness the power of them correctly, we can use them to combat that crazed man." Sensei Sento said.
Anton thought about it for a few seconds before looking at the two protectors. "Then I'll like to offer you two a job. If you allow me to study these ninja stars I can create equipment to fight Lothor. You two will then train them to fight Lothor as power rangers. What do you say?" Anton asked.
"That depends. Are you willing to pay us?" Blackwing asked.
"Yes."
"And provide us a place to live because you kinda blew up ours," Blackwing said.
"Yes, and sorry," Anton said.
"And how about benefits and service pack..." Sento grabbed the falcon's beak to stop him from talking.
"We accept your offer. However I fear we have more than Lothor to worry about," Sento said because he sensed there was more to come than just Lothor.
From behind the wreckage, Lothor was still alive and well as he moved out of the rubble. After getting the dust off of him, he let out a yell. His enemy was getting away and his plan interfered. But no matter, he could still get what he came for.
Going into the lower levels of the temple ruins, there was an area shadowed by the darkness with no light. There at the end of the room, was a stone seal with ancient Chinese text on it.
"Warning, behind this seal is an ancient and dangerous darkness, unlike anything the world had ever seen. Under no conditions is this seal to be broken less the world face this evil once more."
"Heh," Lothor said, as he read what was on the seal. Letting out a grin, he made hand signs and chanted, "gokeh holasejs skelhov odhemlsh." A blast of dark energy came from his fingertips as he repeated the chant. The seal began to crack as Lothor continued to blast it with dark energy. The seal finally broke as a dark mist fills the room.
"At long last, the Yokai will rise again," Lothor yelled cheerfully as the creatures from the other side stepped out to see him. Each showing menacing features and inhuman looks. Now, Lothor would have his army, and soon he thought to himself, he would finally rule and have the world in his grasp.
7 months later, October 2017 Present day
Anton and Sensei Sento stood in front of a screen going through possible candidates to use the morphers to fight Lothor. In front of the computer sitting on a chair was Anton's most trusted employee, the creator of the rangers Morphers and gear, and the only person who Anton trusts enough to tell about the Lothor situation and the ninja stars. This is Dr. Lancer, a young woman with brown hair and glasses, dressed in a lab coat who is typing away as different profiles appear on the screen.
"How about this guy, Roger Brown?" Dr. Lancer said. "He is a former marine, a master at stealth, and has taken fifteen years of karate and is a second-degree black belt."
"Yes, but this man is also an alcoholic and he was arrested three times for public indecency and crashing his cars into the side of a building," Sento said. "This man is unworthy of being a power ranger."
"Well, we need to pick someone because you guys have rejected everyone so far." The scientist said, letting out a sigh.
"Well, we have a good reason to," Blackwing said as he flew down from his custom-made birdhouse and landed on Sento's shoulder. "These people are disgusting, went to jail, or are lousy at martial arts, and most importantly they hate birds. That is a deal breaker."
"Well, we need to pick people to be rangers so we need to widen our search, maybe include people that have eaten at KFC." Dr. Lancer suggested to tick off the talking bird that had gotten on her nerve since the two protectors arrived.
"How dare you miss," Blackwing said as he flew towards the scientists and the two got into a fight which Sensei Sento tried to break up.
"Now I see why Tommy chose to work with teenagers," Anton said as he rubbed his head to calm down his raging headache. As Sento continued to try to stop the fight, Anton's phone beeped reminding him that he needed to go to the local high school today and unveil the new science lab that he helped set up a while ago.
"Never thought I'd be so happy to hear that sound," Anton said. "I have to go down to the local school for something. In the meanwhile, Sento you're in charge so try and choose people to be rangers and stop them from fighting." Anton pointed to the fight between the scientist and the talking bird. Seeing that it was a good time to leave, Anton rushed out of the room, grabbing a briefcase unaware what was inside it.
At the summer cove high school, two teenagers and a dog were in the parking lot waiting by a yellow truck. One of the teens, a male with curly brown hairs, wearing a yellow t-shirt and jeans with a couple of oil stains on them was working on his truck by checking it engine to see everything was running smoothly. Meanwhile, the girl next to him was his girlfriend, a girl with tan skin and long brown hair, wearing a white blouse and a pair of jeans. She was currently petting her pet dog while her boyfriend worked on his car.
"So for our date this weekend, I was thinking of heading to the zoo to watch the animals and grab a bite to eat there." The girl said unaware that her boyfriend was too busy working on his truck to pay attention so he just used one-word answers.
"Cool." The guy said as he was twisting the wrench.
"Then afterward, we could head to the park and enjoy the breeze." The girl said.
"Awesome." The guy said.
"And we can finish it off with a little star gazing." The girl said.
"Yes." The boy said as he finished tuning his truck and slammed the hood down. The moment he said it got the attention of his girlfriend making her realize that he hadn't been listening to a word she had said.
"Calvin!" The girl yelled. "Did you even hear a single word I said?!"
"Ye-ye-yes." Calvin said quickly in defense. The girl looked at her boyfriend with a stern look, knowing that he was lying.
"Really, then what did I just say?" The girl said, and at that moment Calvin knew he was in the dog house.
"Uh, uh." Was all Calvin could say as the girl rolled her eyes.
"Exactly." The girl said.
"Hayley, come on. Don't be like that." Calvin said to his girlfriend. The two entered an argument that would have gone on for a while if it hadn't been for the sound of a black and red Mercedes pulling up into the school parking lot getting Calvin's attention.
"I'm in love," Calvin said as he walked over to the car forgetting about his girlfriend. Hayley only sighed as she and her dog joined him.
"Look at this car, this thing must cost a fortune." Said Calvin. "This thing must be able to reach 60 miles in like seven seconds."
"Actually, more like 5 seconds." The voice got the attention of the young couple. They were shocked, to say the least as standing in front of them was none other than Anton Mercer. "I see you got an eye for cars young man."
"Yeah, he pays more attention to cars than he does to the people around him, including his girlfriend," Hayley said in a mocking tone but that just made Calvin smile.
"Thanks, babe," Calvin said and all Hayley could do was roll her eyes.
Anton saw the way the two interacted on how Hayley mentioned the girlfriend. Anton was able to put two and two together so he walked over to Hayley and whispered something in her ear."I'm so sorry for you." Anton said.
"You're not the only one," Hayley said.
Anton looked at Hayley and had a nagging feeling that he had seen her before. After a few seconds, he remembered her, "Aren't you Hayley Foster?" Anton asked.
"Yes, yes I am," Hayley answered.
"Oh yes, I remember now. I gave your family a donation to help expand their clinic to help take care of all their animals." Anton said as he held his hand out. "Good to see you again."
"It's good to see you too Anton sir. But what brings you here?" Hayley said as she accepted his handshake.
"I'm here on business to unveil the new science lab that I helped fund and create. I hope to see you and your boyfriend there." Anton said and made his way into the school leaving Hayley to deal with her neglecting boyfriend.
As he walked through the halls of the school taking note of every detail like the students, classes, and the teachers, he accidentally stumbled into one the student dropping the student's supply. The student was a black hair male dress in a clean blue shirt and brown pants.
"I am so sorry I didn't mean to...wait I know you. Your Preston Tien, son of Andrew Tien." Said, Anton, as he took a closer look at Preston.
"Mr. Mercer, what are you doing here?" Ask Preston as he grabs all his books from the book.
"I helped fund the school's new science lab and I'm here for the grand unveiling. It's my way of giving back to the community." Said Anton.
"More like your way of putting money in your pocket." Said a voice from behind the two. They turned their head and saw Preston's father; Andrew standing behind them wearing a blue business suit. "Surprise to see you here."
"What are you talking about? This event has been in the newspaper for weeks." Said Anton. "The question is why are you here?"
"Can't a father come and give his son his lunch because he forgot to grab it." Said Preston's father as he held a brown bag and gave it to Preston.
Anton looks at Preston and the look on his face told it all. Anton knew what that face meant because it was the same face his son Trent had back when Anton was a terrible parent and evil mutant dinosaur. "And I figure while I'm here I could stay and check out this science lab that your unveiling to the school. So I'll be seeing you around." Said, Andrew, as he walked away leaving Anton with Preston.
"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you didn't forget your lunch." Said Anton deciding to break the silence between the two of them.
"He actually gives me money for lunch. He heard about what you are doing for the school and decided to come check out the completion." Spoke Preston which reminds Anton of how he treated Trent.
Seeing that he decided to put his hand on Preston. "Let me give you a bit of advice, sometimes us fathers express our love for kids differently. But we always love our kids." Said Anton.
"I don't think so. My dad has always been like that and always will." Said, Preston, as he grabbed his stuff and walked away so he could get to his next class on time.
Back at the temple where Lothor attempted to kill Anton, Lothor is looking at a pot filled with dark liquid. In the liquid is an aerial view of summer cove high school and next to him is a woman in an ancient Japanese dress and a fox mask.
"This is the location of Anton Mercer." Said Dark Sage Miko.
"Perfect, you thought you could hide from me but you're wrong Anton Mercer. Revenge will be mine." Said Lothor.
"Is this really necessary." Said a voice from behind, a monster wearing gold armor and a shogun helmet walked into the room. "We are supposed to be rebuilding my empire not taking part in your petty revenge."
"Master Necro, this man had freed us from that prison. Helping him is only fair since." Said, Miko, as she defended Lothor.
"That is none of our concern." Said Necro.
"That may be true but must I remind you that Anton escaped with the same ninja stars that seal you into that prison so he is most likely going to use them to seal you up again," Lothor said which made Necro grunt.
"You're lucky I'm still regaining my strength or else I would have destroyed you by now," Necro said.
"Corgan, ready the Kudas so we can begin our assault on this Summer Cove." An old man in Japanese like robe carrying a staff into the room and bow. "How many should I get ready?" Corgan asked.
"A few squads should be enough," Necro said.
Corgan simply bowed and left the room. "Miko, create a Yokai. I refuse to waste more time than necessary on this pathetic revenge plot." Necro demanded.
"Right away," Miko said. Necro left the room, leaving Lothor with his thought. "Soon Anton I will have my revenge. And once that's taken care of I think I'll use these fools to set my old plans back in motion." Lothor grinned as evil thoughts filled his head. "Oh yes."