RMS Queen Mary
The winds of change were on the horizon, Shadam could feel it. The five warriors of the Dai Tribe were now united and eventually they would be ready to make their move against the Gorma. He knew that this time was approaching and like any experienced soldier, he was ready to fight. He took another sip of his drink and looked back out towards the city.
"It has been a long time, Shadam." A woman with a singsong voice said from behind him, "I was hoping that fate would have us meeting a lot later than this."
The young woman from the Lakewood Mall had appeared from Gara and Zydos got up from their seats and immediately moved towards the shinobi, but were immediately stopped when their master moved his hand up to keep them at bay, "I can say the same for you, Michiru Namihara. I am surprised that you are here as well. The last time we clashed was back during the Invasion of Korea back during the Sengoku Period."
The woman, Michiru, felt her skin crawl the more she stayed around the Gorma general. It truly had been centuries since the last time she had to deal with this man, but the feeling that he gave her still felt as fresh as the first time she had met him.
"So what brings the 'Whore of Toriyama' to my doorstep?" Shadam smiled nonchalantly, "Looking to enter my bed or do you finally want to be my personal assassin?"
"You know the reason that I am here." Michiru's singsong tone has changed to ice, "Just as I know the reason for you being here in this city."
Shadam smiled, "Yes, I am well aware of your interference at the shopping center in Lakewood." Calmly, he took another sip of his drink, "I have to admit I am not at all surprised at what you did there. You always had a fascination with anyone who has the name, Li. But, I take it that is not the reason you are here to converse with me."
Michiru cautiously walked towards Shadam's table and sat down across from him, "Your battle with the Dai Tribe is the least of my concerns and as for the son of Li, I will deal with him soon enough. You know the reason as to why I am here."
Shadam's eyes narrowed with interest, "You're looking for him, aren't you? I am afraid I don't know where your former Master is at the moment. Or is there another reason you are looking for him? Do you miss being his little dog nipping at his heels for a morsel?"
Michiru stayed stoic on the outside while her thoughts were filled with wanting to slit Shadam's throat, but she knew that was not the best idea. Especially with his bodyguards here, she just kept her calm. "You're pretty bold to be speaking to me that way, Gorma."
"Do you really think I am afraid of someone like you?" Shadam asked.
"I know you're not, and like I have previously stated. I have no real desire to fight with you. I am just here for my own reasons."
"You never seem to disappoint, Michiru." Shadam grew distant for a moment while looking down at his drink. "Just like Kaku and those five brats that he has chosen to play the game."
"Did you expect him to stand by and do nothing after your little escapades?" Michiru did not wait for him to answer, "Attacking that young woman at Seal Beach followed by the attack on the Lakewood Mall?"
"I have my reasons for those attacks." Shadam still gazed at his drink, "Which will only make things a lot more interesting as this all unfolds."
"We are not Gods looking down over the insects." Michiru answered.
"I remember you didn't used to think that!" Gara answered with contempt, "The legendary Yuki-Onna who was known for killing humans for mere amusement."
"That was a different time." Michiru hissed, her voice filled with regret.
"Sometimes we must perform extreme acts in order to get the darkest of times." Shadam answered looking back towards his guest.
"Is that how you are able to come to terms with the things you have done?" Michiru put her focus on Shadam, "Saying that it is part of some greater good?"
"That is also how the Dai Tribe thinks!" Gara screamed at Michiru, "Those two words that people like to use: 'good' and 'evil' are just self serving delusions in a world that is more complicated than that."
"Brave words coming from a traitor." Michiru answered coolly, "Aren't you the one who betrayed her tribe and left hundreds to die?"
"Compared to a woman who has been stalking a child…" Before Gara could even finish her sentence, Michiru turned around and moved her hand with such speed as it latched on to her neck. With one move she could have broken her neck in an instant, but there was one little flaw in her calculating thoughts, she was out matched and she was not here to fight.
Immediately, the Gorma officer grabbed her aggressor's wrist with great strength, that she could hear the sound of the young woman's wrist beginning the buckle under the stress. That did not concern her one bit and she made that known, "Try that again, and I will show you just what I can do."
Michiru only smiled slightly, "You do remember how I used to be when I worked for my master, do you really think I have allowed letting my skills dull since I have left his side?"
Gara relaxed her hand while her opponent released it instantly. She continued to stare at the young woman and moved back to her original place while Shadam just continued to enjoy his drink like nothing happened.
Zydos, on the other hand, finally decided to speak after watching this, "I do have to wonder what your interest with the son of Li is?"
"That is my business and my business alone." Michiru was beginning to feel a little perturbed, "I would like to return to the conversation at hand."
"Like I said, I don't know where he is." Shadam answered, "Besides if I know your former master; he will be looking for you eventually."
"He does always have a way of showing up when one least expects it." Michiru excused herself from the table, "I would wish you luck on your endeavor here, Shadam. Unfortunately, I think that those children will be more trouble than you have bargained for."
Shadam reflected, "Kaku is only sending these little lambs to the slaughter."
Michiru paused for a moment, "Perhaps, or maybe there is more to them than you want to believe."
Lakewood, CA
Joanna Steele was usually a calm woman; she had seen her share of incidents in her life. When she was younger, she had been part of the peace movement near the end of the Vietnam War, witnessed the destruction of the Watts riots back in the 60's, yet the destruction she had witnessed on the way back from the Lakewood Mall, was a little too unsettling. Like everyone else, she had seen the giant red dragon flying through the sky towards the chaos, she did not know what to make of anything that had happened today nor was she going to try to explain. Instead she just drove quietly through the streets of the city hearing the sounds of the rescue vehicles still racing down towards the Mall, while her daughter sat in the back seat looking out the window.
She had heard about some of the situation, the weird battled in the Mall and that the Li child…Tommy had rescued both Angela and Lola from the attack at risk to his own life. Joanna was aware of his past and even some of the things that Li's father, Shui was capable of doing when he was alive. However, she knew that if that young man was involved with the fight. Then her daughter was in danger just for being involved with him.
In the back, Angela stayed quiet while she looked out the window. In the background she could hear the sounds of her little brothers playing noisily in the back seats while she was more focused on what had happened to her back at the Mall. She didn't even know what to say about what happened to her today. What happened between her and Li. That was the situation that bothered her the most; he slapped her in the face. How could he have done that to her? She instantly thought about the way he tried to protect her from harm and what did she do in response. She belittled him and allowed herself to continue using those hurtful words she said to him in the parking lot, until he slapped her.
What was she more upset about? The fact that he was hiding in the shadows trying to protect her, or the fact that he didn't want to tell her that he was a Ranger. She didn't know what to think right now as her mind still flashed with the thoughts of the battle at the Mall and everything that pertained to it. After the incident with Li, the police showed up and managed to take care of the children that they protected from the Gorma's attack. She continued to watch the city pass by while she rubbed the slap with her left hand.
Lola closed her eyes for a moment, still trying to collect her thoughts about what happened back at the Mall. She could not believe everything that she had seen, those black garbed, no eyed creatures that started killing people indiscriminately, the monster with the weird tentacle thing that tried to attack everyone in the Mall or the fact that Tommy Xiao Li, the guy who got his butt kicked more times than she could remember was now the real world equivalent of a Power Ranger. All of it, especially the last one was a little too hard to swallow. Her brain wanted to shut down from all the things she witnessed today.
"Are you all right?" Lola asked from behind her.
"I'll be fine." Angela answered coolly, "I just got a lot on my mind right now."
"About Li?" Lola couldn't believe it, but she did think about what Nick and Steve said to her, "I can't believe what I saw him do, but I don't think he had any right to do that to you?"
Angela looked out the window towards the city in the distance, "Are you sure about that? I saw the look on his face when I went off on him and after he did what he did. I hit a nerve when I did that, he tried to protect us and all I did was tear into him."
"I still don't think he had a right to regardless of what was going on at the moment." Lola moved back into her seat and closed her eyes trying her best to put the thoughts of the Mall behind her, "I know I am going to need to see a shrink after all of this."
Angela smiled to herself and decided to use the opportunity to change her mood, "It wouldn't be the first time."
Furusato
Calmly, the five Dairangers walked out of the cannery towards their vehicles. Each of them did not feel like they wanted to say the first word after the revelation of what was to come for them. How could they even totally understand the sheer magnitude of being chosen to fight to protect the entire planet? Mishelle, on the other hand was feeling like the entire weight of the world was now thrust upon her. It had not been that long ago where she was dreaming about being like the female warriors of legend, and now she was the leader of this team. She was chosen to save the world, out of billions of people living on this planet; she was the one to lead this group. How was she going to handle this responsibility? What would be the first thing they should do?
"Look…" Mishelle started, "I don't know what is going to happen from here on out, but if this Gorma is going to come after us, then we will all have to work together."
Nick stayed quiet for a moment assessing everything, "We haven't been doing this that long, with the exception of Li and Nancy."
Nancy took a look over towards Li, who was still quietly reflecting over his recent encounter with Angela and decided to speak in his place, "Xiao and I may have dealt with the Gorma, but we're not that experienced either."
"You at least have an idea who we are up against, right?" Mishelle asked.
"Not entirely." Li spoke up, "I just know that the guy we faced in the Mall, is not the first soldier the Gorma has set out to kill people."
Nancy continued, "Li and I have only been doing this for a couple of months ever since that incident in Tokyo. Other than that, we have no real clue as to what's going on around here."
"How hard can it be?" Mishelle asked only to see concerned looks from the other four Rangers.
"Given that we helped destroy the Lakewood Mall, I think that we're looking at nothing short of Mutual Assure Destruction." Steve reflected.
"Well that's something." Mishelle smirked.
"Look." Nick interrupted, "We have a job we need to do and I have to go find Amika. I think that we should at least try to figure out what the heck is going on."
Li decided to speak up, "I'm with Nick, we should out there saving the people that the Gorma captured back there before they are killed."
"What do you mean killed?" Mishelle asked.
Nancy continued, "That is the nature of the beast. Take lives in order to make a point. You didn't think that they just captured them until the 'good guys' save the day?"
"No, I don't…"Mishelle started.
Steve interrupted, "She was there in the Mall, Nancy."
"I'm not saying that…" Nancy interjected.
Nick took a deep breath, "Look, I think that we should split up and try to see what we can find out." His eyes focused on Li, "Tommy, are you sure you are up for this?"
Li smiled lightly, "I can manage."
"Good." Nick answered and then stopped himself, "Any suggestions, Mishelle?"
"Well, Dairangers." Mish said noticing that her car was nearby as well. More than likely done by either Chin Mei or that Red Dragon that saved her, "We got a job to do."
Mishelle motioned for Nick and Steve to join her in her vehicle, while Li and Nancy got on his Motorcycle. Within a few seconds, both vehicles raced off into the city, with each of the five feeling a sense of fear at this exact moment. For two of them; they had dealt with this before, and the other three were new at this, but maybe together they had a chance to stop all of this from escalating to something worse.