Ep. 20: Calm Before the Ninja Storm
Episode(s) Adapted: Pirates and Ninjas (海賊とニンジャ)
Dedicated to Mua Magasiva & Grant MacFarland. May the power protect you.
"All right, everyone, settle down! In today's lesson, we'll be discussing the history of the Power Rangers!" Chip said as the others were all seated in chairs as he stood in front of a white board with a projector aimed at it.
"Huh? What a drag..." Robin said, looking bored.
"Don't wanna!" Joe said.
"Hey, stop that!" Chip interrupted. "And...there will be a test!"
"A test!?" Joe asked.
"I bet there will," Marvelous said, rising up from his chair, sarcastically as he crossed his arms.
"But if we can learn more, it could help us understand Navi's predictions better," Doc interjected.
"Sounds good to me!" Navi said.
"Perhaps we should allow him to speak?" Vivi suggested.
"Right, first of all, let's talk about the ultimate powers we've obtained thus far," he said, using the projector's remote to turn it on. His laptop was hooked up to it & he hit a button, starting a backdrop of various images of the past teams. "The first one you got was the Mystic Force's Mystic Dragon," he said, hitting a button on the laptop & it showed the Mystic Force team.
"Pirate Magi Bind!" they yelled as it showed a flashback of them doing it.
"Next was the Delta Runner, from SPD..." he said, showing the SPD rangers.
"Pirate Full Blast!"
"Red Lion from Wild Force…"
"ROAR!"
"Pirate Animal Heart!"
"And when you transform Red Lion with the power of the Samurai, and combine with it, you get the Samurai formation."
"Fire Smasher! Pirate Samurai Strike!"
"We've been getting a lot of use out of that one, huh?" Doc reminded.
"And you can't forget about the Jungle Fury's Spirit Animals!"
"Pirate Spirit Animals!"
"You also have…Lost Galaxy & Lightspeed Rescue! And I've received...Time Force's…"
"Q-Rex Drill!"
"Mighty Morphin's…"
"Q-Rex Dino Mode!"
"And Dino Thunder's ultimate powers."
"Q-Rex Megazord!"
"2, 4, 6, 8...So that makes 10. Took a lot of hard work, too."
"Not only that, but you got some more in the battle against the Black Cross King, right? Man, so awesome!"
"When we fought alongside Megaforce, some of the other teams gave us their approval," Doc reminded.
"Megaforce, Turbo, Overdrive, &…the Red Spirit!"
"I believe it was at that moment that I realized that this planet is beloved by so many of these valiant heroes."
"I wish I could have been there too...Just thinking about meeting them…They're, like, double legendary!" he said, looking at the projections of the pictures & Marvelous, Joe, & Robin took their leave. "If only I could've met them..." he then cleared his throat. "Ok. Now, let's continue. We've been able to gather 14, so far. So, to get our hands on the Greatest Treasure in the Galaxy, we're going to need another 6. And now, the core issue: How do we obtain the remaining powers? Why don't we all—" he said, looking out & only seeing 2 of them. "Huh? Where'd they go?"
"They're gone!? When did they..." Doc asked, shocked.
"No way...why'd!?" Chip asked.
"Prince Vekar. Our new Action Commanders have arrived," Biorg said.
"Who are they?"
"They are space ninjas, heralded amongst the Armada elite," Damaras said. "Show yourselves!"
"At your command," said a shark-looking ninja coming down from the ceiling.
"I am Vexacus, Your Excellency."
"Don't drop down from the ceiling like that!"
"How about from the ground?" said Shimazu, lifting Levira up into the air before becoming visible. "And I'm Shimazu!" he let Levira down, catching her in his arms. "My, Lady Levira, you are quite a sight. How about we do something once this operation's over?" she punched his face, then stood over him.
"Don't make me laugh," she said.
"Can you really handle this, fool!?" Vekar said. "Just what kind of plan do you have in mind, anyway?"
"Oh, you'll have to wait & see! We're gonna have a lot of fun! Just watch! You're gonna flip!" he said, doing a backflip. "Let's go, Vacuous!"
"My name is not Vacuous, it's Vexacus."
Shimazu went around, sucking out people's souls & putting them into jars, leaving their limp bodies behind. One of them eating his lunch while listening to a song by Kira Ford, one studying, & a bunch of office employees opening up a company email, only to show him.
"Sorry for the wait. We're ready for you now, Ms. Hanson," an official said on the beach.
"Okay!" she said, but then felt an ominous wind. "What's this feeling?"
Dustin was just finishing up his Motocross race, winning.
"Perfect weather we're having today," he said, but he felt the same wind. "That could only be..."
Shane felt the same wind.
"It's a space ninja!" he said as he was writing on scrolls in his school office.
"Chip's an ok guy, but I wish he'd learn to chill out once in a while," Robin said, eating ice cream in a waffle cone as she, Marvelous, & Joe walked down some stairs.
"You got that right. Testing is going way overboard," Joe said as Marvelous finished his cone. Then, they turned when they heard a commotion to their left.
"Oh no!" a woman yelled, then they all go their souls swiped. they went to check on them as their bodies fell limp.
"What the...?" Robin asked. "They're unresponsive."
"Precisely!" Shimazu exclaimed, popping into the picture.
"The Armada!?" Joe asked.
"Yup! I'm Action Commander Shimazu! Well, I think that's enough for now, so all I've gotta do now is make 'em into a missile!"
"What'd you say?" Joe asked.
"Come on!" Marvelous said, then got his key.
"It's Morphin Time!" they all yelled & morphed.
"Pirate Crew!"
They all shot at him.
"Nooooo!" he yelled, then disappeared.
"Huh?" Robin asked as they looked confused.
"Just kidding!" he said, appearing on a level above them, then jumped down. "Come on!" he said, ushering them over.
They charged in, swinging their sabres. He dodged all of their strikes. Joe then caught him as he tried to catch his sabre, then punched his face. Marvelous then kicked him, aiming him over to Robin, who then tripped him.
"You guys aren't too shabby!" he said, getting up. "You don't disappoint, space pirates! But, well..."
"Huh?" Marvelous asked, then looked left & a quick thing slashed them all & they fell to the ground.
"Hey! I've been waiting for you!" Shimazu said to Vexacus.
"Action Commander Vexacus is here," he said. "You shall be facing me now."
They charged in, as did the rangers. they were all decently-matched, then Vexacus jabbed Robin & powered up his sword to slash her & Joe. Marvelous slashed Shimazu a few times, but he poofed away & jabbed him with his staff several times. This forced them all back.
"These guys are pretty decent," Joe said.
"Yeah...haven't had a challenge in a while," Marvelous said.
"I wonder how long you'll keep that bravado up?" Vexacus asked.
"As long as it takes!" Marvelous replied, holding up a key.
"Power Switch!"
"Aquitar Rangers!"
They jumped in the air & tried to quick-slash them, but to no avail, as they countered. Shimazu then went to a higher platform & made then made his staff bigger & tried to stab them, but they evaded.
"Space Ninja Art: Tethered Head!" Vexacus said, driving a big shark head through the concrete & hit them. The rangers were sent back again. "Is this all you wanted pirates can muster?"
"Way less impressive than I figured!" Shimazu added.
"Well then, how about this?" Robin asked, holding up another key.
"Power Switch!"
"Dino Thunder!"
"Z-Rex Blaster!"
"Oooh, sounds like fun!" Shimazu exclaimed, then they combined energies & fired back at them. The energies converged, but Shimazu & Vexacus forced theirs to overwhelm the rangers'. they fell to the ground.
The others jumped into action.
"Are you guys all right!?" Chip asked.
"Joe!" Vivi said.
"Oh my, would you look at the time? It's Missile O'Clock!" Shimazu said, patting Vexacus on his shoulder.
"I hope you put up more of a fight next time," Vexacus said, then they ran off.
"Hey, wait!" Chip said, then looked back at Marvelous as he let out a frustrated grunt. "Marvelous..."
"Ugh!" Robin exclaimed as Doc was helping her up.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Doc exclaimed.
"Let's go," marvelous said after getting up & started to walk.
"I knew it...space ninjas," Dustin said.
"And they're Shimazu & Vexacus, at that!" Tori added as they watched from a tall building near the battlefield.
"Do you think those pirates can win?"
"I'm not sure. Not without our ultimate power, at least."
"Then should we give it to them?"
"Let's see how this plays out, for now," Shane said.
"Excellent, excellent!" Vekar exclaimed. "Your plan is proving surprisingly effective! You've proven your worth, Shimazu!"
"See? I told you!" Shimazu said.
"Once our completed missile is launched, the humans will go completely silent, robbing them of their souls," Vexacus said. "Our conquest of the Earth will be assured."
"What he said! The missile will be ready to go as soon as these souls are done converting into energy!" the missile rose from a ground door. "Oh, it's all so exciting!"
"I'm excited, too!" Vekar exclaimed.
"You mean they all had their souls taken away!?" Navi asked. "That's so absolutely nuts!"
"But, they must be rather formidable to have given you all so much trouble," Vivi said.
"Hm," Marvelous said.
"They're going down next time," Joe said.
"For now, we need to find where they're building the missile," Doc added.
"But, however shall we locate it?" Vivi asked.
"Oh, I've got just the thing! It's Morphin Time!"
"Pirate Crew!"
"And one more switch for the desired effect!"
"Operation Overdrive!"
"Oh! The Mercury Ranger!"
"Yep! Drive Detector, Search Mode! We'll just scan this, & then set it to seek out similar readings," he said, down below, scanning a person.
"Huh...I didn't know it could do that," Robin said, then it beeped.
"Here we go! Here? There? And everywhere? Found it! It's 6.21 miles that way!"
"Let's go!" Marvelous said.
In an underground tunnel...
"Just a bit more...a bit more...Turn 'em up, make us a missile...Just a bit more... a bit more...How much more? A bit more!" Shimazu said, excitedly.
"Above us!" Vexacus said.
"Wha—!?" Shimazu exclaimed & the rangers descended on them. "W-W-W-W-Who the heck!?"
"Pirate Crew Red."
"Pirate Crew Blue!"
"Pirate Crew Yellow!"
"Pirate Crew Green!"
"Pirate Crew Pink!"
"Pirate Crew Silver!"
"Power Rangers Pirate Crew!"
"I'll commend you for locating us, but all you've done is brought us some amusement," Vexacus said.
"And we were almost ready, too!" Shimazu said, then snapped his fingers & some explosions came over the rangers.
"Let's make it showy!" Marvelous exclaimed & they charged in.
Shimazu & Vexacus drew their weapons.
Marvelous fought Shimazu as the rest fought Vexacus. Vexacus threw Chip against a nearby wall
"Here we go!" Vexacus said & they combined their staffs again & blasted the rangers. The rangers then jumped out of the fire, shooting.
The main 5 distracted them as Chip made his way over to the machine transforming the souls.
"All right, now's my chance..." he tried sticking his hand into the machine to break it. "Ow! Hot! Hothothot!"
Vivi & Doc double-blasted the missile, destroying the launchpad.
"Wha—!?" Shimazu said in surprise, seeing the explosion.
"Eyes in front, clown!" Marvelous exclaimed,t hen slashed at him, to which he defended. He then kicked him away, through a nearby fence. Marvelous then slashed him again, then did a roll in mid-air & shot at him.
Robin then clashed blades with Vexacus.
"Think you can make us look stupid?" she asked him, then kicked him back. Joe then clashed with him.
"It's payback time," he said, then slashed him on to the ground next to Shimazu.
"It's over," Marvelous said, then Doc, Chip, & Vivi lined up & shot at them. Marvelous, Robin, & Joe jumped over them & went in for the finishing blow.
"Space Ninja Art: Misdirection!"
They witched places quickly with Doc & Vivi, who were then pelted with the shots & slashed. Chip then looked to his sides, seeing them.
"What!? No way—! He swapped us around!?" Shimazu hit him in the shoulder. "Ow!"
Vexacus then slashed him away behind them. Shimazu then made his face big, picked him up, then threw him back. They regrouped outside.
"Too bad," Vexacus said.
"Now, then. We were hoping to not have to use this, but our little mole is growing bored. Vypra!" Shimazu said, then the camera went into Doc's helmet & she smiled.
"Finally," she said, then Doc gripped his helmet, with a bit of pain, then stepped back & slashed them all from behind. Vivi & Chip staggered to the sides as they were all demorphed.
"Time for you guys to have fun in my little pocket dimension! Space Ninja Art: Subsidance!" Shimazu said, then a portal opened up below Doc, Marvelous, Joe, & Robin.
Doc's suit then flashed off of him & he was pushed off of the portal. The suit then laughed in his voice.
"Marvelous!" Chip exclaimed.
"Robin!" Doc exclaimed.
"Joe!" Vivi exclaimed & they were all brought down into the portal.
"Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh! I missed three? Well, two, but, whatever. You can handle them, Vexacus," Shimazu said & he opened a portal beneath him. "Here, just for you!" he exclaimed, then a bunch of Kelzaks appeared from the portal.
"What's with these weirdos!?" Doc asked as they got up.
"Kelzaks!?" Chip exclaimed.
They went forward into another fight, getting their weapons out.
"Hey, I'm powerless!" Doc exclaimed & Vivi threw him her sabre & he defended himself with the others.
"Quite unnecessary," Vexacus said. "Very well, I'll make quick work of it," he said, then got out a fan. "Space Ninja Art: Enlargement Arts!" he said, then made himself grow big.
"That's going overboard!" Chip exclaimed.
"Chip, see to it!" Vivi exclaimed.
"Right! You got it!" he replied, loading his key into his morpher. He then slashed away a few Kelzaks before morphing. "It's morhpin time!" the energy flashed, then the Q-Rex came out of its time portal. "Q-Rex Drill! Q-Rex Megazord, ready!"
Vexacus charged at him, getting some hits. Chip managed to fend him off.
Doc was held by some of the Kelzaks, but Vivi blasted a whole circle of them around her.
Vexacus then slashed & damaged the Q-Rex.
"You're finished!" he said. He then held the Q-Rex at swordpoint.
Just then, some ninja stars came out of nowhere & he looked to his right.
"Who dares—!?"
"The Minizord has arrived!" said the Minizord.
"What the—!?" Doc asked as he was held down by the Kelzaks.
"That's—!" Vivi said, looking up.
"The Minizord! He came all this way..." Dustin said as they ran towards the battle.
"He must have sensed their presence & couldn't ignore it," Tori said.
"We'd better hurry too," Shane said.
The Minizord threw its swords at Vexacus. It then jumped off its star & kicked him several times, then leaped off him into the air.
"Final Technique! Binding Shuriken!" it said, holding him to a building with the stars. "Now, finish him!" it said to Chip.
"I owe you one! Q-Rex Triple Drill Strike!"Chip exclaimed, landing the finishing blow on Vexacus. "All right!
"Farewell," the Minizord said, then go on its star again & flew off.
"That was..." Chip said, then it went back to the scene with Doc & Vivi.
"Aw, man! One at a time!" Doc exclaimed, being annoyed at the Kelzaks.
"We must see to rescuing Marvelous & the others from the pocket dimension, or..." Vivi started, then they took care of that wave, but more were waiting in a straight line.
"Huh!?" Doc said.
Then, Shane, Tori, & Dustin leapt in & took care of them.
"Whom might you be?" Vivi asked as they put their weapons away.
"Shane Clarke of Ninja Storm.
"I'm Tori Hanson. Same"
"Dustin Brooks. Same as them."
"So, you three are the Ninja Storm rangers!" Chip came in, exclaiming. "It's really you, right? Whoa. I can't believe I'm meeting you guys in the flesh...Let me introduce myself. I'm a space pirate in training, the name's..."
"Introductions can wait," Tori said. "You might've defeated Vexacus, but Shimazu is a problem all his own."
"Oh, I get it! So, the Minizord was here because—"
"That can wait too."
"Your friends are trapped inside Shimazu's pocket dimension, right?" Dustin asked. "And the people who got put into comas must be there too."
"I believe so," Vivi said, confirming.
"This isn't good...can't get much worse either. The pocket dimension has some fiendish traps within it," Shane said.
Marvelous, Joe, & Robin awoke in a room lit by an overhead light. They got up.
"Where are we?" Joe asked.
"Then we need to hurry and save them!" Doc said.
"You won't be able to," Shane said.
"If you're going to beat Shimazu's space ninja arts, you'll need complete mastery of the Ninja Storm Ranger Keys," Tori said.
"But you haven't gotten Ninja Storm's ultimate power," Dustin said. "So, you won't be able to do it."
"Inconceivable," Vivi said.
"Then please, give us your ultimate power!" Doc exclaimed.
"No," Shane said.
"Why not!?" Chip asked.
"I'm sorry, but we can't trust you pirates," Dustin said.
"Especially your three friends," Shane added.
"No way..."
"You should give us our Ranger Keys."
"Huh?" Chip asked.
"Those were originally ours. We can use their power the way it's meant to be used."
"We can defeat Shimazu & rescue them in a flash," Tori said.
"Once he's gone, your friends will be back," Dustin said. "So, please, give them to us."
"Hold on a second! This isn't right!" Chip said.
"Chip…" Doc said.
"Why? You're from Earth, you should understand what's at stake," Tori said.
"I know that these powers originally belonged to you. But, who was it who risked his life to gather all the Ranger Keys!? If it wasn't for Marvelous, the Ranger Keys wouldn't even be on Earth! And now you're...it's not right!"
To be continued...