This was not the day Angela Steele was hoping for.

When she woke up this morning she hoped that she would be able to just spend the day with her friends and do some shopping before she went home and prepared to go to church the next day. Instead, she ran into someone that she never thought she would see again only to have that overshadowed by some kind of invasion of these weird soldiers and some other type of creature wanting to cause which was more than likely the one who caused those strange disappearances Lola mentioned.

That was only the just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, the other surprise of the day was the whole fact that her friend, Li was now fighting as some kind of violent Power Ranger in the middle of the Mall with two others. Although, she did think that it was strange, there was something almost right about seeing him dressed like that and doing the things he was capable of doing. This did not mean that she was not going to still chew him out when this was all over.

She kept her feet moving towards the door as she turned away from the Kirin Ranger attacking the black clad soldiers trying to come and attack them. She still tried to comprehend the situation that was at hand and knew that later on she might be able to come to terms with all of this. However, this was not the time when she knew that she had to also make sure that the children in front of her were going to be safe. She continued out of the door seeing that Lola and the children were in the stopped waiting for her, huddled against one of the walls, seeing the chaos that was still ensuing in the parking lot.

Immediately, her eyes focused on a Dodge Caravan crashing into a light post. The front crumpling like a soda can on impact hundred yards away from their position an older model Ford Escort careened out of control, the driver trying to keep control while being chased by more of Copotros from behind. The car continued past her towards the street before she saw one of the black clad focus its attention on her.

Angela felt herself move back from the warrior only so slightly before she felt something strange take over her body like she was becoming detached from the situation and was now working only on pure instinct. Within a split second, she moved back into an offensive stance when she noticed that the creatures were charging towards her. She charged into the fight using her left hand to grab the Copotros by the arm and swing him back into the others that were coming to join their comrade in battle.

She moved her right hand on the ripped article of clothing she still decided to wear and threw it on the ground, deciding that she needed to be mobile in order to fight. She thought about how Li and the other two protecting them in the Mall and she knew that she had to do the same for these children who were still waiting for her to give the signal to move.

Immediately, Angela picked up a sword that was on the ground and pointed it at the foot soldiers coming towards her. She did not have much experience with a weapon like this, but the next moment she felt her hands moving on their own as she slashed into the first one watching the blade slice through the creature like it was nothing more than butter.

She looked back towards the second Copotros swinging its sword towards her and she immediately ducked below the blade and moved hers towards the creature's groin and quickly worked her way upward towards the head, watching the creature split in two. Green fluid now covered her body, but she did not care as she turned around and proceeded to slice her way through some more in total samurai fashion.

Body parts and other viscera flew all over the place in the wake of her attack. Arms, legs, limbs, and other parts landed on the sidewalk that was now drenched in the strange green color that came from her victims. She turned around for one final blow against a Copotros by beheading him in a swift and brutal manner.

The detached feeling slowly began to subside from her and she turned back around to see that Lola and the kids were now frozen at the sight they had just seen. Angela slowly moved her hand back and motioned for the group to move and keep going.

"What the hell was that?" Lola asked shakily.

Angela looked down at the blood on her body, trying to keep herself together, "I-I don't know either, it was like there was something inside me saying that I had to do that."

Lola eyed her friend, "Are you going to be okay?"

Angela focused on the sword in her hand, sensing something more from the weapon in her hand like she was meant to have something like this. She could sense it, but for now there were more important things going on than this feeling she felt.

She took a deep breath and looked towards a nearby McDonalds, "Let's get these kids out of here."

Inside the Mall

The Kirin Ranger pulled out the weapons that were place on his sides and combined them together to make a pistol known as a Daibuster. Quickly he moved the weapon in front of him and started firing; each shot hit its target with complete accuracy and the Copotros began falling immediately. He looked towards the direction that Angela left and proceeded to head in the same direction until he felt something hitting him from behind and catapulting him a few feet into the air over some of the clothing departments and straight into a display case full of jewelry.

Glass flew into the air like stars scattering across the heavens until they landed on the ground. He had always wondered what it would be like to soar into the air like Superman, but being thrown like that was not the way he wanted to experience it. Slowly, he picked himself up from the display and then slowly stood up to see what was going on around him. There was another enemy here in the room with him, and apparently it was not one of the usual thugs that the Gorma sent out to do their grunt work. This was someone else.

"All right…" The Kirin Ranger started and scanned the store for anyone else.

SLAM!

He felt another sensation hitting him across the face and he fell down to the floor. If it wasn't for the helmet, he surely would be knocked out right now. Once more, he picked himself back up and took notice of his surroundings once more and noticed there was a blur coming towards him. He felt this blur grab him and push him through the display area, sending him flying through the remaining cases and into the Women's shoe department.

"Owarimashita ka?" A silvery feminine voice called out towards the Kirin Ranger.

He was down on the ground, but what surprised him was that the voice sounded singsong to him. He tried to keep his attention on the situation at hand. Was it another Gorma? No, this felt different, in some ways it felt a little familiar.

"Mada Mada." Kirin Ranger said flatly in Japanese picking himself back up off the floor before continuing in English, "Don't think I am going to be easy on you because you have boobs!"

A quick breeze whooshed past the Kirin Ranger as his opponent finally stopped four feet in front of him. It was definitely a woman, there was already no doubt about that in his mind given the voice he had heard. Japanese, of course but what surprised him was the fact that even though this was an opponent, he was more surprised by the graceful figure that had appeared before him. She had to be a least 5'2" or 5'4" at the most, which was average by Japanese standards, dressed in a blue and black ninja suit. Not the type that most Americans or even the average anime nerd would expect from a woman like her.

No, this was the real deal; even though the uniform looked like it was painted on to her slender but curved body. The way the pants were suffocating along the thighs and her hips. The curves continued upward to her breasts which were covered by a blue top that she wore over the suit. He noticed that they were not large like how he noticed some Americans had liked them nor were they small like he had seen with some of the women his age. The best way Li could describe it was that she was perfect or at least his definition of it.

From what little he could see of her face, her skin was pale, like the snow he used to see on Mt Fuji or in the Japan Alps when he was still living abroad, but the lower half of her face was covered by one of those shinobi masks that some of them wore. The fabric was also blue like the top she was wearing, but he could make out that she had petite but full lips, the kind that reminded him of a tulip in bloom and the small bump that was her nose which seemed to compliment what he could make out of her round but apparently smooth face.

The one thing that almost took his breath away under his helmet was her eyes. They were almost teardrop shaped with eyelashes that remind him of a feather off of a youngling, and the color of her irises, they were blue! That was a rarity within itself when it came to Asians in general; but these eyes were an almost ice blue that you would find around the fjords or glaciers in the most frigid of places. He looked into them seeing a coldness that came with preparing to fight, however he saw something beneath that which he could not make out, something personal.

The top of her head was mostly covered by a blue hood which kept her hair from falling out with the exception of a few raven black strands that stopped a few centimeters above her eyebrows.

"I wasn't expecting anything of the sort." The woman said in perfect English but still kept that singsong silvery tone that continued to resonate within him, "Especially from someone like you, Kirin Ranger."

She knew who he was; usually he would be cautious but he was more flattered by this revelation, "You have me at a disadvantage."

"That's not important right now." The woman said, "Besides, pushing you was the only way to get your attention."

"My atten-? Since when did the Gorma care about getting someone's attention outside of killing someone?" The Kirin Ranger asked.

"I am not a Gorma, but you definitely need to get out of here before things get worse." There was a sense of urgency in the woman's voice, but she could tell by the Kirin Ranger's body movement that he wasn't totally buying it, "Same old hard headed, Li… No matter, if I am going to have to fight you in order to make you listen, then so be it!"

The Battle

Three Minutes Earlier

Mishelle placed her hand on top of her chest while she watched the fight continue in front of her. She was impressed at the fact that these two warriors dressed in those strange suits were continuing to press on their attack against the person who had caused the trouble. Her eyes watched while the two moved with such speed and strength when others would have not been able to do anything and would have been killed.

Her body began to tense up with the need to help, even though she did not know what it was that she could do against whatever was going on. Her mind raced back to the moment back in Little Hong Kong and how she wished she could be like the legendary Mulan and fight against insurmountable odds and protect people from things that could harm them. She was oblivious to the fact that she began to hold on to the staff even tighter to the point that it was beginning to bend.

The sensation in her body began to get even worse as she sensed something was not right. Without a moment to even think, she heard the sound of glass breaking nearby and saw another one of those brown tentacles heading towards her. She moved out of the way of the attack, with the staff still in her hand, but her head followed the tentacle as it continued to move past her into the wall over by where she was just standing.

She felt the heavy pounding of her heart trying to come through her body while she still kept her guard up for another tentacle. Her senses were at their peak right now, noticing every sound and sight around her. Another crash was heard from the nearby fight, but that was when she heard the sound of the tentacle coming at her again. This time she moved the staff in front of her and swatted at the projectile heading towards her.

It was all the time Dansaku needed in order to grab Mishelle around her waist and drag her in front of him to make her into a human shield. She tried to struggle of his grasp, but he continued tighten his hold on her.

"If you continue to move, I will kill you where you are" Dansaku answered when he took off his glasses and began to transform into something else. Slowly the flesh from his body began to transform into something more rope like in appearance and his head changed from a humanoid shape into a knot with one blue eye in the center and the rest of him became something rope like.

"Let her go!" The Hou-ou Ranger pointed her Daibuster at Dansaku, trying to target his eye.

"You are really willing to try to take a shot while I hold a hostage?" Dansaku asked tightening his grip on her.

Mishelle's breathing became labored when she felt the tentacle begin to constrict her more. She tried to break free with every ounce of strength but felt like she was getting nowhere. Deep within her body she felt something burning within her, something powerful. Almost like a presence that told her to not give up, she could not place what it was or where it was coming from, but something within her said to trust it.

Wait for the right moment to attack, Mishelle…

She did not know where the voice was coming from, but she tried her best to stay flaccid, waiting for the right moment to strike against her opponent. Meanwhile, she watched the two armored warriors on the other side, trying to figure out a way to rescue her from their opponent.

"What do you suggest we do?" The Tenma Ranger asked Hou-ou Ranger who was still focused on Dansaku, waiting for him to make a move.

"I'm going for it!" Hou-ou Ranger rushed towards Dansaku, launching everything she had towards him. The first hit pushed her opponent back and he slid a few feet before stopping himself and moved his free tentacle and smacked the Hou-ou Ranger with such speed that she flew into a nearby store.

Mishelle felt an anger building up inside her that she could not place, it continued to burn more as she watched the Tenma Ranger retaliate using every punch, kick and attack that he could muster to try to knock Dansaku down, it just seemed like it was an exercise in complete futility. She didn't know what she could do, but the more that she watched this blue warrior fight and fail. The more she felt the anger grow until it began to emit its own glow around her.

A red aura began to shine from within her almost like she became a red hot piece of charcoal. The glow began to burn at Dansaku's tentacle and in an instant he had released her from his grasp.

"What the hell!?" Dansaku screamed.

The glowing Mishelle felt like she had no control of her body. It was like something else was now taking control. At first she wanted to be afraid, but she felt that presence from within her. This time it was telling her to relax and she listened to it. Usually this would not be something a person would do, but given that she was being attacked by a kid with tentacles…She decided that it might be best to listen to the voice.

She watched her hands slowly move up from her sides and in front of her body. The red energy slowly heading towards the front of her hand, but the longer she kept her hands in this position; the energy continued to grow faster and manifest into a ball of energy the size of a baseball. Two more seconds passed and the power continued to grow towards the size of a dodge ball.

The Tenma Ranger moved back from the attack, he had seen too many shows to know that when this kind of revelation is revealed it is best to move back and pray to whatever deity you believe in that you just might live to see the next day.

A loud beep came from the position of where the Aurachanger would be and he lifted his gloved arm up to hear the sound of Nick trying to get a hold of him.

"Steve!" Nick's voice sounded garbled through the commlink, "What the hell's going on over there!?"

"I'm a little busy at the moment!" Tenma Ranger screamed, "The Gorma are here and.."

Before the Tenma Ranger could finish his sentence Mishelle's fireball launched from her hands and towards Dansaku, hitting him in the solar plexus and sending him crashing into one of the nearby elevators. The blast caused an explosion that launched through the elevator shaft and sent the car flying through the roof, causing the structure to lose stability and begin to collapse in the concourse.

"Son of a bi-." Tenma Ranger started, but felt a hand grab him and pull him towards the JC Penney's entrance and further into the store to avoid the blast.

The fire continued to spread into the department store, reaching out into the first few sections of the men's and women's section and slowly move back into the main mall before it disappeared. The Tenma Ranger slowly picked himself up and just stared blankly at the area which was now blackened from the fire. Racks of clothing were burning or singed and there was no sound coming from the main concourse. He took one more look around before he saw the Hou-ou Ranger hit his helmet

"Are you trying to get your ass killed?!" Hou-ou Ranger screamed.

The Tenma Ranger was dumbfounded by his comrade's reaction, "You didn't have to hit me!"

"We got to get back out there and find out what just happened." Hou-ou Ranger grabbed the Tenma Ranger and dragged him back out into the Mall.

May Company

The fight between the Kirin Ranger and the woman continued while things were continuing to fall apart elsewhere. He tried to keep his focus on the situation at while his mind shifted between the identity of this mysterious woman and the fact that he thought she was attractive in every definition of the word. Luckily, for him Nancy was not here to witness the banter between them or else things would have gotten a lot more complicated.

Glass from display stands and mirrors crashed to the ground each time the two of them tried to hit each other. He was feeling a little frustrated by that. He wanted to get her out of the way and help his friends. She one the other hand tried her best to keep herself in check in order to hide the fact that she was enjoying this confrontation with him.

She landed a punch into the Kirin Ranger's helmet sending him doubling over into another rack of shoes one of them jabbing him in the back. He quickly grabbed it at her and threw it at her, and began to grab other shoes and launched them at her. She moved her arms up and began to block them in order to keep from getting hurt, which was the opening he was waiting for.

Before the woman could move her hands down to fight, she saw the yellow clad Ranger rush into her like an offensive lineman and send them flying into the women's clothing department. She yet out a small yell of pain as she felt her body flying into one of the nearby clothing turnstiles and breaking it with the force of their impact.

In a barrage of clothing, the two warriors continued to roll around the fallen clothing both of them trying to land more hits against the other even though it looked like the combatants were acting more like two people enjoying a roll down a hill while trying to tickle the other. The Kirin Ranger admitted to himself that he was enjoying this, which was the teenaged part of him. Underneath the smell of the sweat, he could smell lotus blossoms coming from her and that was a little distracting.

The rolling stopped in the middle of the jewelry department and immediately the two of them moved back. Their bodies showing a little bit of exhaustion, but their attitudes would not let the either show that they were tiring from their little tussle.

Again, the woman launched at him with moves and combinations that he blocked with all he could muster. One… Two… Three blocks were all he could do until he saw a fourth one hit him and push him back a few feet. He looked down for a couple of seconds and moved his hand on the ground to help him slow down looked back up towards her and saw that she was now running towards him with a katana in her hand. With only a split second to react he grabbed the device on his left holster and watched the outer edge protrude a blade long enough to help him counter her attack.

A loud clash was heard followed by sparks when the swords met. The woman eyes showed that she was impressed by this, but she did not let it faze her as she continued to swing at him, only to have him block once more. The two of them moved back with their weapons still poised and ready.

"This is pointless!" The woman said, her voice filled with frustration, "Do I really have to beat you in order for you to see what is going on around you?!"

"You were the one who was trying to attack me!" The Kirin Ranger barked at the woman.

The woman was about to say something until she heard a loud explosion coming from the other side of the Mall. The ground began to shake from the initial boom and she could hear the sound of glass breaking from the shock wave. She looked around inside the department store, sensing that the structure was probably still not entirely stable given that blast.

The Kirin Ranger, however, turned around to see the fireball that was coming from the direction of where Nancy and Steve were still fighting Dansaku. He stood there feeling the ground beginning to shake around him. His mind racing on what he needed to do next and being reminded of another moment from his life; Images of a school falling apart around him and explosions going off all around him and the face of a friend looking up at him with that blank cold expression of death frozen on their lifeless face.

His body froze from the memories of that day, the day he became involved in this fight and lost his friends and mother. He staggered for a moment unaware of where he was and what he was doing, his costume depowered to reveal a look of horror on his usually serious looking face. He was so lost in the horrors of his own past that he could not even notice that the ceiling was beginning to give way.

His opponent looked at the expression on his face and the hard exterior that she had when she fought him had changed into something else, more like genuine concern for what was happening to this young man. She looked up and saw the pieces were beginning to fall faster and the blast from the other side of the Mall was heading towards them.

Silently she muttered something in Japanese and dropped her katana before she sprinted towards Li and moved towards one of the nearby jewelry display cases and moved her hand up above her channeling the energy from within her body to form a protective shield above them, feeling the heat of the blast coming towards them until in engulfed the inside of the May Company and touched everything that could be consumed by its hot touch.

The woman held her hand up using her power to keep the shield above them while she took a look down at the semi catatonic young man who was now lying down on the ground incapacitated looking up at her. She turned back up towards the protective shield and cursed to herself wishing that the whole incident with Li did not happen this way.

She watched the blast begin to dissipate back towards the main concourse and waited a little longer to drop the shield until she knew that it was safe for her to proceed. She counted for thirty seconds until she saw that the situation had improved and dropped her hand down and continued focused her attention to Li.

Mishelle stood in the center of the explosion, untouched by the fire that had laid waste to a good portion of the Mall. All around her, stores that were a few minutes ago untouched by the battle were now reduced to rubble and whatever was left of them was now burning. She did not move at all, in fact her breathing was calm and she looked like she was waiting for something.

While her body was calm, her mind was feeling like it was being bombarded with so much information going through; pictures of places and events she had never seen before in her life. She wanted to scream out at what was going on, but she continued to stand there, waiting for a moment that felt like it was a lot longer.

Dansaku had reverted back to his human form and looked on in shock at the damage that had been caused in the battle. Although he was a Gorma and was more than willing to follow the orders of his superiors, he had to wonder what exactly it was that they were about to get into, and the woman that he used as a hostage; there was something different about her and that worried him more than he wanted to let on. He took this moment to fall back and report what had just happened to his commanders.

May Company

The young shinobi looked down at Li lying semi catatonic on the ground. This was not how she wanted this encounter to go and she didn't so much blame the young man on the ground as much as she did herself. Slowly, the young woman reached up with her right hand and pulled off the now suffocating mask away from the lower half of her face and took a deep breath in order to regain her senses before she carried the limp Li across the wreckage of the once beautiful department store.

She managed to move him halfway across the store towards the exit before she gently leaned him up against a nearby wall. Although this was not a total success, she still looked longingly at the young man, her eyes filled with something more than a mutual respect between warriors. Quickly, she leaned in towards him and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Until next time, Wanderer." The woman said before she disappeared.

McDonalds

It did not take the two young women too long to make it across the street to the restaurant. Like most of the places that were near the Mall, they had emptied out when there appeared to be signs of something going on. Quickly, she opened the door into and motioned the children to walk inside and each of them found a seat to sit in while waiting to see what was going to happen next.

She walked across the restaurant towards the side leading away from the Mall and saw that the Lakewood Police, LA were already en route to try and keep the chaos to a minimum. For a moment, she looked back at the chaos that was still ensuing around the parking lot and wondered about the young man she knew was still fighting back inside

She did not want to totally admit it to herself, but she did like Li, always had since they met when they were younger. Yet, she was so focused on what she wanted to do with her life that she had always shied it off and let her feelings be unheard. Right now, however, she worried about him more than she had before.

"Angela?," Lola said, getting her immediate attention.

"Yeah?," It was the only thing she wanted to say right now.

"Are you all right?" Lola asked, holding a towel to help her friend wipe off the blood on her.

"Yeah, I am all right." Angela said wiping the blood off of her body, "I am just worried about Li."

"Worried?" Lola asked noticing the look of concern on the woman's face, "Given what I just saw him do in that Mall..."

"You heard us talking?" Angela felt a little embarrassed, "Whenever it comes to him, I don't always think straight."

"Look Angela, it is obvious how you feel about him." Lola said wiping the last of the blood she could get off of her friend, "Did you ever think that you should let him know what is in your heart?"

"I think that there are bigger things for him to worry about at the moment." Angela said coolly.

Lola sighed softly, "At the moment, but don't you think that you should talk to him about it?"

"He doesn't even show how he feels towards me." Angela answered sadly.

"Li fought off those things in order to protect us." Lola said directly, "More importantly, the guy came to protect you. I may not like the guy, but I know he did not have to do that at all."

"When we were younger, I used to be picked on by some of the school bullies because I was different. Thomas was the only one who would come to my rescue when no one else ever would. Even now he still comes to my rescue and he has fulfilled his promise to me a long time ago."

"Then you have your answer, Angela." Lola smiled, "His actions speak louder than his words ever could. The only thing left for you to do is let your actions speak for you."

Both women turned to hear a loud explosion come from the Mall, the windows in the restaurant began to shake violently from the shockwaves which caused the children to scream and cry. It was Lola that decided to take care of the children to keep them calm while Angela looked on at the Mall hoping that Li was all right.

Before she could collect her thoughts, she heard something else in the distance, something guttural and commanding. At first she thought it was another explosion from the Mall but it was something different; almost like an animal roaring. She heard the children's crying rise up once more but she ignored it and walked out of the restaurant to see where the sounds were coming from.

Off of Lakewood and Arbor Blvd.

Nick did not know what to think when he heard that roar, it felt like it was something familiar but at the same time it was unknown to him. He heard the roar again and the sound made his chest pound quicker. He noticed that the clouds were now becoming darker, almost like a storm was on the approach. The sky began to rumble with thunder along with the roar of the creature, the sound was getting closer and he could tell that it was coming from the darkening clouds.

Nearby, other people looked around, trying to make sense of what they were hearing and the strange weather that was transpiring above them. Before the clouds darkened even further, a silhouette moved through them. At first, some people thought it might be an aircraft flying over, heading towards Long Beach Airport. Some thought it could be another attack from whoever was attacking the Mall.

What was about to happen next, would forever change things for both the city and the world. From the clouds, a large red mechanical creature swooped below towards the Mall. It was at least over 250 feet long and shaped like a giant dragon. It moved like one of those Chinese paper dragons one would see at a festival, but this was not a party favor in any way.

Nick looked on at the creature and muttered words that he knew had no real meaning for him, "Ryuu Sei Oh…"

Mishelle still stood calmly in the center of the Mall, not even sure of what was going on around her. That sensation within her told her that she needed to keep calm for something else was going to happen. Nearby, the Tenma and Hou-ou Ranger looked on at the woman, not even sure what they should do themselves.

It was then that the Hou-ou Ranger had looked up at the sky and noticed the giant dragon heading towards them, "The legends are true…."

Ryuu Sei Oh continued towards where Mishelle was standing and moved close enough to be able to move its head in and approach her. At first, the young woman wanted to scream; but she felt heard the voice telling her to remain calm. This time it was stronger than it had been, almost like it was coming from the creature that was approaching her. In an instant, she was taken into the robot's mouth and before either warrior could react, they were both gone.

Hou-ou Ranger looked on at the spot where the young woman had stood and was trying to comprehend what was going on. As a child, she had heard the stories of the mythical dragon that had protected the Dai Tribe and humanity during the ancient war. She had never thought that she would ever see it in person. She started jumping up in down, her body full of energy and started screaming in Chinese that it was all true and for her it meant that things were going to get a lot more exciting.

RMS Queen Mary
Bow Section

Shadam sensed the Ki energy being released further inland. He knew that the fight was beginning. Even though he was excited at the prospect of fighting against these warriors, he was cautious of what was to come. He had sensed Ryuu Sei Oh's presence as well and knew that it was now only a matter of time before this war would begin and like any general would; he would wait and see what his enemy was capable of before he would strike.