Episode 2: Working Class Hero
Episode(s) Adapted: This Planet's Worth (この星の価値)
They were on the Galleon. Doc was typing on the console.
"It looks like the Armada stationed their command vessel & fleet between Earth & its moon…" he said.
"Then they're dead-set on invading this planet," Robin said as she threw a few cards on the table & grabbed another few to replace them.
"What to do? What to do?" Navi asked.
"I wonder if the peaceful lifestyle of this planet's people will be secure. It's truly troubling," Vivi said.
"It sure is," Navi interjected.
"The people who live here can worry about that sort of thing," Joe said, throwing a playing card on the coffee table in front of him & replacing them.
"You're right. We need to decide what we're going to do about finding that treasure," Robin said as they both laid down their hands. She won the round, Joe was dumbstruck. "We got caught up in that fight, so the empire's going to be keeping an eye out for us," she added, getting all of the chips.
"I guess we better hurry up & find the treasure, so we can sail off this rock as soon as possible. Hey, bird. Do some fortune telling," Marvelous said, coming into the room, holding his jacket over his shoulder.
"I'm not a bird! I'm Navi!"
"Hurry up already!" he said, bashing Navi in the head.
"Let's go!" he said, flying into the air & hitting his head on the ceiling. "A person dressed in black & red will provide the information you seek…" he said, floating down.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Joe asked.
"Pretty vague…" Robin said.
"But it's not like we have any other leads," Doc interjected.
"Black & red clothes is a start," Vivi said. "I wonder what kind of person it is," she added as a boy in a red shirt & a black jacket was sitting on the ground below the Galleon. He then skateboarded closer to it.
"First, we should find somewhere that a lot of people pass by," Vivi said as they walked towards a mall.
"Hmm, black & red, black & red…" Doc said as they all looked around.
"I found one!" both him & Robin said as they pointed in the opposite directions. They looked at each other awkwardly, then they all looked around to see many more people dressed in some combination of red & black.
"It seems that everyone's wearing black & red today," Vivi said.
"That's just great," Marvelous said as he sat on a bench outside the mall.
"Um, excuse me! You guys are those space pirates, right?" the boy called to them from behind. Marvelous looked at him.
"Maybe. What of it?" he asked.
"I know something about that 'Greatest Treasure in the Galaxy' thing," they all looked his way.
"He's wearing black & red…could it really be him?" Robin said.
"You space pirates are amazing!" the boy said as they sat at a table at the open food court in the mall. There weren't many people at the other tables yet, seeing as it was still early in the day.
(Basically, shops on either side, tables in the middle, open ended on either side is how I'm picturing it.)
"Did you see the fighting from somewhere?" Joe asked.
"Yeah. I saw you transform into all those different Power Rangers teams."
"Power Rangers? What are they exactly?" Robin asked.
"You mean you really don't know?"
"No, why? Should we?" Doc asked.
"Well, yeah. I mean, Mighty Morphin, Samurai, Mystic Force…They're all legendary heroes from here on Earth," he said as Marvelous took a sip of a drink he purchased from the straw, looking at him.
"Huh…" Doc said. Marvelous reached into his jacket inside pocket.
"Hmm, they are, huh?" he said, holding the reds from those teams in his hand.
"Then it's the power of those who have protected this planet?" Vivi asked.
"By the way, what kind of name is 'Marvelous'? That's an adjective, not a noun."
"It's how his name's rendered in English phonetics," Doc said as he saw Marvelous was too deep in thought. "His planet's language seems to use some English adjectives as nouns...at least, when they're translated. See, we all have these translators in our ears linked to the language centers of our brains, courtesy of our Armada overlords, that were implanted when we were all kids after we learned to talk. They see it as an easier, faster way to download languages into our brains rather than have classes to slowly teach people secondary languages."
"Huh. Makes sense, I guess."
"So, what about the treasure?" Marvelous asked, putting the keys back in his jacket pocket.
"That's...Oh, before I tell you, can I take a picture of you, Marvelous?" he said, holding up his smart phone.
"What's this about?"
"Well, I mean, it'd be a nice memento of meeting you all. Can you pose like you're going to morph?" he asked, standing up.
"Well, I mean, if you really want me to," he said, standing up, then held one of the keys out after fishing it out from his pocket. The boy held his camera up & began snapping some pictures.
"Right, could you stick the key out a little more?"
"Like this?" he said, extending his arm a bit more.
"All right, perfect," he said continuing to snap a few more, then he tried to take it, but Marvelous slapped his hand away & grabbed his wrist.
"Nice try, kid," he said, putting the kid into a headlock.
"What's the big idea, huh?"
"Let go of me! Get off!" he said, then got out of the lock. "How am I supposed to know where the treasure is, stupid!?" he said, then got on his board, grabbed his helmet, & rolled away fast.
"Can't let your guard down for a second…" Marvelous said as he got his cup, then took another sip of his drink.
"I'm pretty sure you actually did," Joe said, still sitting. Marvelous almost choked on his soda, then thought about it, feeling his jacket pocket. He thought about it & surmised that the kid must've stolen one of the keys.
"That little—!"
"Falling for that old trick...Not so 'marvelous' now, eh, Captain?" he took a sip of his drink.
"I'm gonna track that brat down & keelhaul him!" Marvelous said, then ran after the kid.
"Oh, no. Don't!" Vivi said, tailing him.
"'Keelhaul'?" Robin asked, confused.
"He wanted to have some legitimate English pirate phrases downloaded into his brain when we arrived," Doc said. She just acknowledged the comment with a slight head tilt & a face signifying she got it.
A shot of The Gigant Horse came on.
"It seems the pirates got away, Your Excellency," Damaras said.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Where is the new Action Commander!?" Vekar screamed. The monster came through the door.
"I am Action Commander Tentax, at your service," he said.
"With his skill, it's only a matter of time until the people of Earth have surrendered," Biorg said.
"Hmph...very good. Make quick work of it, Tentax!" Vekar said.
"But why are those pirates on Earth in the first place?" Damaras said to himself, quietly.
"Why'd you follow me?" Marvelous asked Vivi as they walked.
"I was worried about what you might do to that kid," she said.
"What exactly did you think I was gonna do?" he asked, stopping, & turned around to face her.
"I don't know. That's why I followed you."
"Do what you want, I guess…" he said, rolling his eyes, turning around, & continued to walk.
"I shall," she said, walking.
"How'd you know he took the key?" Doc asked Joe.
"When you're a disciplined swordsman, such as myself, you tend to pick up an acute sense of hearing. I heard the keys jangling around as he took it. There were three keys in Marvelous' pocket. Then there were two. Simple as that."
"Huh…"
"I think Marvelous kinda liked that kid," Joe said.
"Why? Didn't you see how mad he was?"
"He probably enjoyed having the Ranger Key stolen so craftily. That kid probably reminds him of how reckless he used to be at that age," he said, taking another sip.
"'Used to be'?"
The teenager was sitting under a bridge, looking at the key.
"Hey, kid!" Marvelous said, then jumped down in front of him. "Give it back," he said, holding his hand out.
"No! I mean, you guys have no intention of protecting the Earth, do you?"
"Not really," he said, folding his arms as Vivi caught up.
"These were created on Earth! You're supposed to use them to defend this planet! I'm not giving it back."
"I don't care where they came from, but they're ours now. A man who saved my life gave them to me so I could fulfill a promise I made to him."
"Like I care! I'm gonna...I'm gonna use this power to fight the Armada!"
"I'm afraid you can't!"
"Why do you wanna fight so badly?" Vivi asked.
"Because my grandpa was killed during the Legendary War trying to save people."
Marvelous thought as a memory got triggered by the kid's words. He was on a small bridge, fighting off X-Borgs & Bruisers, knocking some of them off into a pit of flames beneath. He then got smacked around a bit by one of the bruisers & laid on the metal of the bridge in pain. A red-suited figure then came in with a sabre & fended the bruiser off.
"Our journey ends here. You need to live, for my sake. And you need to find the greatest treasure in the galaxy!" he said to him. He showed him the key chest, then closed it & handed it to him. "Got it?" he asked, then charged into the X-Borgs as Marvelous got up & stood there, looking on as explosions enveloped him, then it went back to the present.
"I'm sick of it; people dying around me that I care about," Marvelous looked at the kid.
Armada forces started descending to the ground. They looked towards the ships.
Doc got a message on his Mobirate.
"They're back…What're we gonna do!?" he asked the others.
"Let's find the others," Robin said & they got up & ran out of the mall.
"I love it! I'm gonna keep shooting until everything is leveled!" Tentax said, shooting rockets at buildings. Marvelous, Vivi, & the kid saw the building crumble, then saw the Commander & X-Borgs.
"How cruel," she said.
"You said you wanted to fight?" Marvelous said to the kid.
"Yeah..."
"Why do you want the key so badly?" Marvelous asked.
"My grandfather died while he was helping saving people a few years ago during the Legendary War the Power Rangers fought in. He was just a lowly working class man, doing his duty as an ambulance medic. He was even a few days from retirement. Unfortunately, one of the Armada ships blew apart a building he ran into to save people. Unfortunately, no one else was inside & he died for nothing. That's why I wanna use this key, to get revenge on them. It belongs to the Earth, so it should be used to defend it!" he yelled at Marvelous, then turned around & just stared at the key.
A group of X-Borgs appeared, ready to fight.
"I need to fight them," the kid said.
"Marvelous," Vivi said & he thought for a second.
"Here," he said, holding out his morpher.
"What?" the kid said.
"To use the key, you'll need this. Flip the legs & arms up on the key, then turn it in the slot to transform. If you can defeat them, I'll let you keep the key," he said.
The kid reached for it, but he pulled it back slightly. He looked up at him.
"Lose & I'll be taking it back from you," he said, looking the kid in the eye.
The kid nodded & took the morpher. He flipped up the key & put it in the slot, then turned it, facing him.
"Samurai!" the voice called out & the Samurai red suit formed around him from the kanji symbol that flew in front of him from the morpher.
"I've transformed! I'm a Power Ranger!" the kid said, then drew the spin sword & charged into battle.
"Wait!" Vivi yelled.
"Don't stop him," Marvelous said.
The kid slashed several X-Borgs with the sword, doing decently well.
"Will he be all right?"
"Who knows?"
"You should!"
"What's going on here!? Who's that!?" Doc asked as they found them & caught up.
"It's the boy who stole the Ranger Key. Marvelous said that he could have the key if he's able to defeat that commander," Vivi explained.
"Seriously!? He's just some kid from this planet!"
"You ever think you overdo it sometimes?" Joe asked Marvelous.
The kid kept slashing, then went up to the Action Commander.
"Who do you think you are, foolish child?" Tentax asked as he caught the sword.
He pushed the kid away, causing him to drop to the ground. He then pushed & kicked him around until he kicked the kid away several feet, having him lose the sword in the process. He then walked towards him, backing the kid up to the corner of the roof they were on. He then smacked him into the wall of an adjacent building, hard, & the kid fell to the ground, then demorphed. Tentax then walked away, laughing.
"Are you all right?" Vivi asked the kid after she ran up to him.
"I couldn't do it...I don't have what it takes to defend the Earth."
"Understand now?" Marvelous said, picking up the key & Mobirate that had rolled away from the kid. "You wanna protect this planet, figure out your own way to do it."
"How—?"
"Don't ask me. Figure it out yourself," they started walking. "Hey! Is this planet worth putting stock in?"
"Yeah...definitely!"
"How much exactly?"
"If you're a pirate, you can very well figure it out yourself!"
"Well said. See you around, kid."
They ran off towards the commander. Joe patted his head once, then followed.
Tentax shot some more missiles, then they stopped when they noticed something.
"Well, if it isn't the wanted pirates. What do you want?" Tentax asked.
"We're just looking for something," Marvelous said & they held up their keys.
They flipped them up, flipped open their morphers, then posed.
"It's Morphin Time!"
They put the keys in the morphers, then flipped them & held them out.
"Pirate Crew!" they transformed.
"Pirate Crew Red."
"Pirate Crew Blue."
"Pirate Crew Yellow."
"Pirate Crew Green."
"Pirate Crew Pink."
"Power Rangers...Pirate Crew!" they roll called.
Marvelous drew his weapons, as did the others.
"Let's make it showy!" he shot at the X-Borgs, taking some of them down.
"What a joke! Get them, X-Borgs!"
The rangers charged in, slashing.
Joe then fought some of the X-Borgs on a platform in between some railing. Vivi was doing the same several feet from him.
"Vivi!" he said, holding his blaster, then slid it to her on the flooring.
"Right! Here!" she said after she caught it under her feet, then threw him her sabre. It flew through the air & slashed several X-Borgs around him, then he caught it & began slashing himself as she shot the blasters.
Robin fought X-Borgs herself on some platforming. Doc was nearby on his own platform doing the same. He was then forced to jump down as they shot at him, causing him to land on the ground below.
"Doc!" Robin said as she threw him her blaster. He caught it, then kicked his sabre up to her.
"Nice!" she said, catching it, then went on to slashing as he blasted.
Marvelous was by himself, slashing away. Three Bruisers ran up to him & fired energy attacks at him. He used one of the X-Borgs as a shield, having the blasts hit it instead of him. The middle one then came at him. He spun around once, then blasted it away, then the other two.
The others then came up next to him & he popped his sabre & blaster chambers up, then flipped his belt buckle to get a few ranger keys. The others did as well & the keys jumped in the air, flipped up, then went into the chambers. They then forced the chambers down to charge the energy. Doc & Vivi had blasters still, Joe & Robin had the sabres, & Marvelous had one of each.
"FINAL WAVE!"
They charged up, then shot & slashed the energies at them, taking care of them. Doc & Vivi blasted one, Joe & Robin slashed the second, & Marvelous shot & slashed the third, making them explode.
Tentax then came in & shot missiles at them, causing them to fall back a bit.
"Don't get carried away now! I'm not going down like those Bruisers!" Tentax said, then shot missiles at them.
They got keys out of their buckles & flipped open their morphers.
"Power Switch!"
"SPD!"
They used the SPD weapons to blast the missiles, then him.
"I'm not through yet! There's more to me than shooting!"
They got out more keys & put them in the morphers.
"Power Switch!"
"Ninja Storm!"
They did a behind paper screen ninja attack, hitting him back.
They got out five red keys, then put them in their morphers.
"Power Switch!"
"Samurai! Wild Force! Mystic Force! Megaforce! Jungle Fury!"
They posed as they geared up for the final strike.
"So many reds!" Tentax said as he was dazed.
"I think it's time for some payback," Marvelous said as he stood there.
"Power card!" Doc yelled.
"Mystic magic!" Vivi yelled.
They shot out fire around Tentax.
Joe & Robin came in & fought him with their hands & feet as Wild Force & Jungle Fury red.
Marvelous then came in to deal the finishing blow & struck Tentax with the spin sword three times. Tentax then fell backwards & exploded as they transformed back to normal.
Up on The Gigant Horse ...
"At this rate, we'll incur Prince Vekar's wrath again," Biorg said. "We must do something…"
"Leave it to me . This is one of my latest creations. I didn't think I'd have to use it on such a backwater planet, but…" Levira said as she grabbed a gun-type device hooked up to the ship & fired a laser at the Earth.
"I'm large & in charge!" Tentax said as he was reborn & grew giant, growing with three Bruisers as well.
"What's going on here!?" Vivi asked.
"Whatever that was somehow rejuvenated his biology, on top of growing to that size," Doc explained as best he could.
"What a nuisance...sheesh." Marvelous said as he punched in the code to summon the Galleon on his morpher.
5-5-0-1.
"Red Galleon!"
"Here it comes!"
They all grabbed on to the ropes that came down from it & went to their zords.
"Portside Galleon cannons, fire!" Marvelous said & the cannons fired on the Bruisers.
"Hard to port!" he said, turning his wheel, smacking the front off the ship into another one.
"Now to starboard!" he said, turning the wheel again, flying towards the other Bruiser & Tentax.
"You guys ready?"
"Okay," Joe said.
"Okay!" Robin & Doc said.
"Yes!" Vivi said.
"All right, let's pull out the showstopper!" Marvelous said & they all deployed their zords. They went up to the bruisers.
"Pew, pew!" Doc said as he & Joe pressed buttons & fired on one.
"Have some more!"
"Right!" Robin & Vivi said as they then pressed buttons & fired on the last one.
"Got him!" Robin exclaimed.
"It's a start," Joe said.
"All right, now let's combine!" Marvelous said.
"Right," the rest acknowledged.
"Pirate Megazord Combo!" he said, then they all came together.
"Megazord ready!"
The Megazord dropped to the ground as the Bruiser fired. It then jumped over it & Tentax, slashing them both. They then touched down, then they all started slashing. They knocked Tentax over, then as a Bruiser was going to fire on them, they had the Megazord backflip several times. Tentax then came up from behind the Megazord & latched on to the back wheel thing.
"I've got you now!" he said.
The kid then caught up & was watching the fight.
"I'll tear you to shreds!" he said, then accidentally spun the wheel, revealing the cannon, which shot the Bruiser in front of them. Robin chuckled.
"Dummy..." she said.
"What was that!?" he asked.
"Hard to port!" Marvelous said & they spun their wheels, turning the Megazord around.
They then flipped their belt buckles & pulled out their keys, flipped them up, put them in the locks on their wheels, then turned them.
"Ranger key, set! Let's Go! Megazord Starburst!" they yelled as the Megazord's cannon came out, then shot Tentax, causing him to explode.
"This planet's sunset is so beautiful…" Vivi said as they were in the Galleon .
"Yeah," Doc said.
"What do you suppose happened to that kid?" Robin asked as she sat down in front of Joe, who was playing cards.
"Who knows?" Joe said.
"Marvelous said he was going to 'Keelhaul' him, but he changed his mind in the end & taught that boy a lesson," Vivi said as Marvelous stood at the very front of the Galleon as they sailed through the skyline.
"I wonder about that…" Joe said.
"You sure you're not giving him too much credit?" Robin said, leaving Vivi confused, then they started chuckling.
"I guess that prediction was wrong then," Doc said. "We never actually met the guy in red & black like we were supposed to…"
"I guess so."
"Um, not necessarily…" Navi said. "I'm sure you'll meet him soon. Probably," he continued as a figure in a cloak watched the ship sail.
"Pirates, huh?" he said, lowering his hood & revealing his face.
END