Imagination Queen - I've never had a story of mine set to a scale... i'm really glad you like it so far and here's the next chapter.
Chapter Three: Solar Eclipse
"Pay attention, Kruger, you may never know when these steps I'm about to teach you will come handy." His sword master said.
"Steps? For what?" Doggie asked, picking up his sword.
"The Solar Eclipse, the strongest move in Galaxy Sword Style, but requires two people to use." His master said, "It's also very dangerous."
"What's so dangerous about a sword technique?"
"If the users are not in sync with movement and breathing, even if the move is successful their lives would be forfeited." His teacher said, "because the ending explosion for those not in sync would perish in it, where those in sync are merely unconscious."
"So someone has done it?"
"Yes, but it was so long ago no one knows if it is true." His master said, "the success rate is nearly Zero, but I have faith it can be done again to prove those who don't believe to believe."
"You're making sound like something I would do." Doggie commented.
"Haven't you proved a lot for those who don't believe?"
"Wouldn't the spirit of the Guard Dog interfere with the move, break the sync?"
"I don't know."
Draw back into the present, Doggie stares long at his sword. If the Impulse didn't work on Ratz, he knew he had to convince Yasu somehow to perform the Solar Eclipse with him. As dangerous as it was, he knew it could be done. With the Dekasuits, it may help us stay in sync with each other. He thought, but you'd have to leave while we perform it.
'Don't freak, Kruger,' another voice echoed in his head, 'I can leave you to your body if you perform the move, I'll hang out with Jasmine or something.'
Good. Doggie thought, gripping his sword. Going into the simulation room, Doggie activates it to be similar to the dojo he was part of so long ago. Once settled, he began to practice the steps to the Solar Eclipse, using a simulated person to copy his movement. Since he wasn't actually performing it, he didn't worry about anything. The steps require for the two people to mimic the other, like a mirror. After only a few steps, he stopped, giving his head a shake.
"Grr… it's been too long." He growled at himself. He struggled to remember the steps needed. Gripping his sword, he takes a few deep breaths to calm himself.
'Remember one thing, Kruger, just because you give up doesn't mean you've completely lost.'
Tank's words, Doggie remembered when he heard those words. Shaking his head, he shuts down the simulation and heads to the dekaroom. His master told him that it was a hard move to remember, now he knew he wasn't joking.
But then, Tank had also told me that in time of need, a move will find itself on the surface and I'd do it fluently. Doggie thought as he sits down at his desk. The Dekas were also in there, searching for files on Ratz to see if he had any known weaknesses. Swan soon came in with a tray of coffee in her hands.
"Thirsty?" she asks, then sets the tray down. The team quickly swarms over and grabs their cups, leaving one on the tray. Yasu walks over and picks it up.
"Thank you, Swan." She says, before taking a sip. Swan smiles warmly despite how she was feeling. Looking over at Doggie, she sees just how detached he is. Walking over, she places a hand on his shoulder. He jumps slightly, but quickly calms down.
"You all right?" she asks, looking into his eyes.
"The only way to win… it can be done… but I can't remember the steps." He mutters, Yasu looked over, knowing what he was thinking about. She sighed, knowing he wasn't going to give up on the fact the Solar Eclipse was perhaps the only way to win.
"What if it doesn't work? Ever thought of that?" Yasu said, "Even if we survived, what if Ratz still stood?"
"We'd be in major trouble." Umeko said. Doggie just closes his eyes and lowers his head.
"If we fight him for an hour, perhaps we can weaken him enough, if the Solar Eclipse is that strong, it might work." Sen suddenly said.
"Enough with the Solar Eclipse, I'm not doing it." Yasu said, then left the room. Doggie, meanwhile, looked hopeful.
"Tell me, Sen, what is it you found?" he said, getting up and going over to where Sen sat.
"True that he is powerful, but he's one of those people who wear out after a long fight if those he fights are still fighting, if you wear him down enough without tiring yourself, I'm sure you could take him out with the Solar Eclipse." Sen said, "if we all fight, I estimate perhaps an hour at most."
"Alright, then, keep a look out for Ratz then, we'll all go and fight." Doggie said, then looked at Swan, "will you stay here?"
"I think I will, I'm not the type to actually fight unless I have to." Swan said. Doggie nodded, and then went back to his desk. There was little time for rest, as the alarms flared.
"Report!" Kruger called, standing up.
"Location 4-6-3, someone terrorizing the city." Hoji said. Yasu, who had returned a while ago, quickly perked up.
"Ratz! When he's out and about he terrorizes people, searching for a women who doesn't flee him." She said, getting up.
"For once, I'm glad you're here." Jasmine said, "Your prior knowledge has given us an edge on the criminals."
"Yeah, well, I try." Yasu said as everyone raced out.
It didn't take long to arrive on the scene, and the team had already suited up. Ratz stopped and just stood there. He didn't look too happy as he turned to face the Dekas, and he stared Yasu down with the devil's eyes.
"How could you kill my friends." He said.
"Friends who were approved for delete." Yasu said, staring down Ratz with the same intense-ness. "As are you."
"None of your moves work, what do you hope to accomplish?"
"I don't know yet." Yasu said, drawing her sword, "But I don't plan on leaving until you are deleted and with the devil." Dekamaster looked at Dekapurple without moving his head, wondering what she believed in. Drawing his own sword, Kruger waits for Yasu's call. Tetsu was anxious to battle, while the main team shifted uncomfortable in their boots.
"You're a dead woman." Ratz said, then charged forward.
"Let's go!" Yasu raised her voice to a powerful level without yelling.
"Roger!" everyone said, then dashed forward to meet Ratz head on.
Hoji, Sen, Jasmine, and Umeko, all in SWAT mode, found that their D-revolvers were not very effective against Ratz, but they kept pumping in the attacks, since Sen wanted them to weaken Ratz. Tetsu did his special attacks quite often, he even attempted his Lightning Upper, a finisher, which didn't do a lot of damage, but more then other attacks. Doggie and Yasu both kept a fair amount of distance between them and Ratz, firing bullets from their sword whenever they had a clear shot. Doggie even attempted a 'Vega Slash', which again only caused minimal damage.
Standing by Jasmine after a half an hour of fighting, Doggie tries to catch his breath. "Where's Ban and his Fire Squad Battleizer?" Jasmine muttered, looking over her shoulder at Dekamaster.
"I don't know, but do you think that would help any?"
"Wishful thinking." Jasmine admitted, "It probably wouldn't help much."
"I should probably try to close in, and strike hard." Doggie said, holding his sword, "channeling all my energy like that might wear me, so watch my back."
"Sure thing, Boss." Jasmine said, holding her gun. Shaking his head real quick, Doggie darts forward, his sword held out as if he was doing his Vega Slash, but just before he connects, he jumps up into the air.
"Vega Sonic Slash!" he bellowed, slashing his sword down on Ratz's head. The Sonic Slash is a simple attack move, like his Vega Tornado Slash, that holds more energy then his normal slashes. The move proved to be more effective then Tetsu's Lightning Upper, but Ratz showed his anger by flinging the worn out dog in the same direction he had just thrown Yasu's limp body. There the two laid, slipping in and out of consciousness, which was just enough to keep the Dekasuits on.
"C'mon, guys, let's cover them while they recover!" Tetsu called. Everyone nodded, to weak to respond.
When Yasu came to, about half an hour later, the Dekas were still fighting, but exhaustion was visible. Pushing herself up, she sees Doggie nearby, also trying to get up. He was muttering something in his native tongue, one she was not familiar with.
"What?" Yasu asked weakly, staring at him.
"Nothing." He said, climbing to his feet. Yasu was more or less amazed at the sheer will power he had. Eventually she managed to get up on her feet.
"We can't win." She said, staring at the dekas, "Why doesn't your team see that?"
"Justice always wins." He said, "Tetsu, coming from a background where he was taught not to rely on emotions, learned just how powerful it can be, just ask him sometime."
"There won't be a…"
"There will be, if you just trust me." Kruger interrupted her, then stares at her. "The Solar Eclipse, I have a feeling we can accomplish it."
"It's hopeless."
"Then you don't see it." Doggie said. "You don't realize that life isn't about taking the safe route every time." Yasu now looks at the Anubis Seijin, wondering what he was saying.
"What do you mean?"
"You're basing the Solar Eclipse on facts, I'm basing it on what I believe." Doggie said, he then looks out at Ratz and the team fighting. "All my life I've been proving those who don't believe in something that it is possible, your letting you brain act, not your heart."
"What about the guard dog?"
"He's with Jasmine at the moment." Doggie said as he took a stance. He was back on his right leg, which was bent, and held his sword out, sword point pointing at Ratz. Yasu finally gave into Doggie's wishes, and stood behind him in the same position, except she was on her left leg.
Jasmine noticed a cooler presence beside her, then glanced over at Doggie and Yasu, and saw them back to back. Smiling behind her helmet, she calls out to her teammates. "Guys, get out of the way, they're doing it!"
"Anything you do is pointless!" Ratz called, walking closer to the two Dekas.
Yasu and Doggie both straighten up, palms flat against each other with their sword at their side. Like mirror images, they separated from each other and circle around Ratz, and kept at it until they were across from each other. The yellowish line that followed them continued around until it connected on the other side, trapping Ratz within. Ratz also found himself unable to move his feet.
The Dekaranger team watched from the outside. Within seconds after the circle was complete, Doggie and Yasu dashed across the circle, performing the Slash (Vega or Lunar, depending on the sword), and once on the other side, they flowed around the circle to another location. Umeko was the first to notice the dome like shape the two Galaxy Sword Style members were in, and also notice a blackish fog appearing on one side. It was happening like a real Solar Eclipse, the moon covering the sun as the moon sets and the sun rises. Yasu and Kruger continued to do the slashes until it was completely dark inside, then they both jumped up, meeting at the top center of the dome, swords meeting up so that they were sword point at hilt and vice-versa. Turning the blades downward as they fell, the sword points smashed into Ratz head. An explosion followed right afterwards. The Dekarangers were thrown off their feet from the aftershocks, and also caused their dekasuits to power down.
"Junior? You all right?" a voice asked.
"Just fine, daddy." A pup's voice said, jumping up into a darker dog's arms.
"That was quite the fall you took, you sure?"
"Maybe a cut." The pup said, "But I'm gonna be fine."
"You're a tough one." The darker dog said, carrying the pup away from the cliff. Setting the pup down, he gives him some fish he was cooking up.
As the smoke cleared, Jasmine spotted two still figures on the ground. Hurrying over to Doggie's side, she placed her bare hand on his neck to check for a pulse, while doing so she had gotten that memory and a faint pulse. Hoji said that Yasu also had one, and Jasmine smiled.
"Let's get them back to Dekabase for an overnight watch." Sen said, and everyone agreed.
Within the hour, both Doggie and Yasu were in Medical rooms for the overnight watch while everyone collapses onto their own beds and falls asleep.
Next on A Solar Eclipse:
With the completion of the solar eclipse move, the team sits back and relax. After some time without any action, Yasu thought it was safe to leave the Earth Branch be, when a new problem occurs. The Dekarangers thought that Swan and Doggie's 'walk in the park' has taken far to long, then Hoji finds he cannot located either of the licenses. What has happen to the Anubis Seijin and the Chiryo Seijin? Stay tune for...
Chapter Four - Eclipse of the Heart.