Thunder: Actually, Kenichi is quite sure about his parents. He's very close to his mother(who is alive and well), but he still has yet to forgive his late father.
Mad props to DigitalCount for coming up with the Jujitsu Tigers...although I doubt this is what he had in mind...just read for yourself!
And yes, I AM aware that all the "him/her" stuff isn't really proper grammar, but it's for added humor.
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The Asakusa Hanayashiki theme park is the oldest of its kind in Japan, first opening as a flower park in 1853. This Edo era amusement center once included tea shops, entertainment (misemono) and the exhibit of some animals. After World War II it became an amusement park, first operated by the Togo Company, and later sold to the toy company Bandai. It is considered by some to be a tad bit too old-fashioned and even hopelessly out of date, but when Jin chose it to be one of the locations for the previous King of Iron Fist tournament, its popularity rose significantly. Even though was still primarily a theme park for children, it was slowly beginning to gain appeal to adults as well.
Author's Note: yes, it's the same Bandai that bought Namco!
However, this once-peaceful place was now a maelstrom of panic and destruction thanks to one golem named Astaroth. He had been sent there by Kazuya for what he claimed to be "a reward for good behavior." The golem knew that his "boss" was in truth ordering him because he was implementing a new plan, but Astaroth didn't really mind. It had been far too long since he last drew blood, and drawing the blood of children was one of his more pleasurable pastimes.
And the best part is, the Shinkengers will come running right into my hands once they hear about this. They should be here any minute, Astaroth thought as he sliced a family trying to flee from his carnage. I cannot wait to see how much they've progressed…especially that black one with the orange hair!
When Astaroth was last allowed to by Kazuya to go out into the open so that he could acquire the weapons Rusty Wing and Red Crow, he came into conflict with one Korean youth known as Hwoarang, whose alter-ego happened to be ShinkenBlack. It just so happened that the golem had killed the last remaining members of the Korean's gang shortly after he was revived, and Hwoarang wanted a bloody vengeance. When the two clashed, Astaroth defeated Hwoarang relatively easily thanks to the golem's lizard-men wearing the youth down, and only spared him because Kazuya told him to.
However, Astaroth would not forget the fire in the young man's fighting style. He had witnessed that same kind of fire in another youth who wanted revenge for his dead comrades: a nunchaku-wielding man named Maxi, the man who slew the golem once before. When he compared the two, Astaroth's blood began to boil and his hands trembled in anticipation.
"Astaroth!"
Astaroth darted around to see two boots fly towards his face right before hitting him and sending him reeling back in pain and surprise. Lifting his head while swing his battle ax to clear some room, he found his quarry: ShinkenBlack and ShinkenWhite were standing in front of him in their suits already waiting with a fighting stance. "This time you won't be getting away, freakshow!" Hwoarang pointed his finger at Astaroth before running towards the golem. "We're going to smash your head in!"
However, before Astaroth could charge, he was hit from behind and stumbled forwards, falling right into Hwoarang's clockwise kick that sent him flying to his right and crashing into a hot dog stand. After brushing off the many frankfurters and buns that fell on him, Astaroth put down his axe and lifted the stand into the air with his gargantuan strength and hurled it at his attackers, only for it to be blown away with a blast of ki.
The golem picked up his axe and inspected his foes: standing in front of him now were not only ShinkenBlack and ShinkenWhite, but Blue, Yellow, Red…and Silver. A silver one, Astaroth scratches his bald head in confusion. I don't remember there being a silver one…he must the new peon Kazuya has been talking about…well, no matter! I'll destroy him just as easily!
"OK Astaroth, this is where we settle things once and for all," Jin waited for Asuka and Hwoarang to get lined up with him and the rest of the group before pointing to the Shinkenger clad in silver, maroon and gold. "Allow me to introduce the latest addition to the team: Kenichi, start us off! This is the ax-wielding guy I was telling you about!"
"ZERO," Kenichi shot out his closed fist in the air and then stomped his foot on the ground as he got into a horse stance. "Cutting down foes with my undying soul…Dazzling Warrior of the Void: ShinkenSilver!"
"ONE," Sticking his left index finger high into the air, Hwoarang fired off a roundhouse kick into the air before entering his Flamingo Stance. "Striking down foes with fatal footwork…Tae Kwan Do-estilo: ShinkenBlack!"
"TWO," Her left index and middle fingers pointing skyward, Asuka went into her defensive stance. "Overcoming foes with daunting defense...Aikido-estilo: ShinkenWhite!"
"THREE," Steve stuck up three fingers in the air and then brought then down to get into his trademark Flicker stance. "Beating down foes with peerless punches…Boxing-estilo: ShinkenBlue!"
"FOUR," With all her fingers on her left hand up in the air save for her thumb, Xiaoyu brought the hand back down and went into her Phoenix Stance. "Overwhelming foes with blinding speed…Kung Fu-estilo! ShinkenYellow!"
"FIVE," His open palm shooting into the sky, Jin went into his Power Stance. "Smashing foes with the fists of fury…Karate-estilo! ShinkenRed!" Once the rest of his team got out of their respective stances, Jin spoke once again while pointing a finger at their adversary, who was watching with amusement. "Under the power of our divine fists, chaos shall never thrive!"
With the smoking battlefield that was once a theme park continuing to burn, what was once a field of death seemed to again fill with life and hope as the team struck a dynamic pose and their ki crackled across their bodies while the jewels on their chest flashed violently before they shouted out their mighty name. "TEKKENSHU SENTAI…SHINKENGER!"
"Hmph…you fools," Astaroth scoffed at the display and pounded the hilt of his ax on the ground. "Do you still think you can defeat me?" The golem let out a roar before charging the team. "I'll rip you color-coded bugs apart and devour your souls!"
Astaroth broke through the Shinkenger's formation with a powerful shoulder rush and sent the sextet sprawling backwards. Jin was the first get back on his feet, and barely had time to catch Astaroth's ax by putting his hands on the sides of the blade just as it was about to come down. Pitting his strength against Astaroth for a few seconds, Jin parried the blade and altered its course away from him, causing his adversary to stumble to the side slightly. With his foe now open, Jin sent the golem spiraling backwards with a right hook that left blue sparks in his wake: the signature of his Omen Wind Hook Fist.
Using his axe creatively, Astaroth planted it on the ground while spinning to create a makeshift break and stop his spiraling. Then, making use of some of his momentum from his cyclonic body, he spun around on the pole of his axe and flew back towards Jin in a powerful flying drop kick. His Japanese adversary was sent flying backwards as the golem's mammoth legs came into contact with his chest.
However, Astaroth still had a long way to go before he could claim victory.
As Astaroth got back up, he saw the five other Shinkengers charging at him just as violently as he had charged them. The golem raised his ax and blocked Xiaoyu's flurry of aerial kicks with his axe before snatching her out of the air with his free hand. Dangling her upside down from one leg, Astaroth bumped Xiaoyu with his chest twice before slamming her down to the ground. Once he did that, he stomped on her chest in an attempt to crush her.
"Stomping on a woman's magnificent bosom," Steve clenched his fist before coming to the aid of his comrade. "You, Astaroth, obviously need to work on your approach to the ladies!" Once he was in range, Steve pounded Astaroth in his face with a powerful forward right punch. The golem roared in pain as he stepped away from Xiaoyu and gripped his mouth in pain, allowing the Chinese girl to get away. Steve considered pursuing Astaroth by swaying back and forth and pounding the golem's abdomen with a painful hook punch with every sway. After the fifth blow, Astaroth grabbed Steve's arm and lifted the British fighter over his head, finally tossing him into the incoming Jin.
As Astaroth resumed a fighting stance to prepare for the next batch of fighters, he noticed that his body was gradually becoming darker, as if someone was casting a shadow over him. With his eyes shifting so he could see directly above him, Astaroth found the reason for such a phenomenon: plummeting towards him was ShinkenSilver, with his katana raised above his head in preparation for a finishing blow. The golem quickly lifted his axe high into the air and parried the downwards slash as ShinkenSilver landed and renewed his attack from the ground. The gargantuan axe and stylized katana clashed in a shower of sparks while Kenichi and Astaroth grinded them together as they tried to overpower the other. Astaroth had an obvious physical edge, but Kenichi's ShinkenSilver armor allowed him to keep his footing.
"Hmph…you're pretty good, runt," Astaroth said with a smirk as he and his adversary broke the deadlock before they simultaneously spun around for another slash.
Kenichi's blade once again came into contact with Astaroth and nodded in acknowledgement before replying. "You are very skilled, as well. I knew you were powerful, but I never imagined you to be so close to invincible." Breaking the deadlock once again by pushing his foot off Astaroth, Kenichi quickly backflipped away to avoid a high horizontal swipe that would have cut his head right off. "However, I'm not foolish enough to fight you one-on-one!" Kenichi outstretched his arms from side to side so that his body was in a t-shape. Then, after they had gotten a good running start, Asuka and Hwoarang jumped up from behind him and propelled themselves off his shoulders, falling on Astaroth with a pair of jump kicks.
The golem grunted and stumbled backwards, shaking off the blows and regaining enough control to parry Asuka and Hwoarang's forward punches. After redirecting the path the two fists, Astaroth used his axe to swat the two youths away like flies and send them crashing into a Whack-a-Mole booth. However, before he could charge after them, a familiar voice whispered in his ear. Astaroth, my latest creations will take it from here. Begin the next stage of the plan…
As if on cue, the ground between Astaroth and the other Shinkengers burst open, and two muscular figures popped out of the ground. As the dust cleared, the combatants noticed that the creatures weren't lizard-men like what normally emerged from the earth: in fact, they weren't reptilian at all. Both of them had the appearance of a Siberian tiger, except they stood on two legs and their claws paws had similarities to primate hands. One of the tigers had dark blue skin and was wearing a dark pink gi with a matching headband and sandals, and the other had bright pink fur wearing a baby blue gi. The two tigers growled and jumped over to the fallen Asuka and Hwoarang with an impressive pounce.
"Hey, what the hell?" Hwoarang shouted as he was grabbed by the pink tiger just as he stopped seeing stars. "What are you doing? Why don't you grab Asuka instead?"
"Sorry, sexy man," the pink tiger said in a ridiculous lisp. "But my brother is dealing with her!"
"Brother, I have her," the blue one shouted out as he lifted the struggling Asuka off the ground. "Let us begin!" The two tigers twirled their victims around, and then began running straight for each other before throwing their opponent down with a shoulder tackle, their two foes hitting each other on the way down with their Shinkenger suits vanishing in a flash upon contact. The two fighters, being hit in their heads which such force, moaned slightly before passing out…
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"Oyyy…" Hwoarang muttered as he rubbed his head in pain. However, as he did that, he noticed that his hair now had an entirely different texture. Suddenly, Hwoarang's chest felt heavy, causing him to bend over slightly. Looking down, Hwoarang's eyes widened in horror as he looked at his chest and saw two large breasts covered with a white sports bra. "What the- what's going on!" Quickly looking to the side, Hwoarang saw something that sent his mind in disarray: his body was lying a few yards away from where he was. Hwoarang's body slowly got up and shook his head…and then pointed to Hwaorang and said. "What the hell? What am I doing over there?"
Hwoarang was about to say something when he thought about it for a moment and got up himself. Spotting a nearby mirror, Hwoarang and his body (which he was clearly no longer in) walked over to it and promptly screamed. It would seem Hwoarang was now in Asuka's body, and vice versa.
"Ah, you two got up just in time. You two have been unconscious for almost five minutes…" Jin walked up from behind them and waved. "How are you two feeling?"
"How am I feeling? HOW AM I FEELING?" Asuka (in Hwoarang's body) ran up to Jin and began shaking him by his still-transformed arms. "I'm a dude! How do think I'm feeling? One minute I'm a tomboy playgirl with a hot boyfriend, and now I'm a dude with a criminal record and a lousy personality!"
"What did you say?" Hwoarang turned to Asuka with rage in his (or rather, her) voice. "As if you have any room to talk, to you mannish- "
"Will you two stop?" Jin interrupted with the same aura of authority that made the other Shinkenger designate him as the defacto leader, and Asuka and Hwoarang immediately stopped arguing. "OK, here's what happened: after those two tigers smashed the two of you together, Astaroth told us that you two had switched bodies. The only way to get you two back to normal was to defeat them by yourselves. Astaroth managed to get away, but right now Kenichi is in the air looking for where the tigers are. In other words, you two are stuck like this until you two take them out, so once Kenichi finds out where they are, you'll be on your own…"
"You know, you two, it IS kind of funny," Steve walked up to Asuka and Hwoarang. "Asuka has always been a tomboy, and now she gets to actually see what it's like on the other side. And Hwoarang…" Steve moved closer to Hwoarang and whispered in his/her ear. "Well…blast it all, man, it could have been worse. That's quite a pair of knockers you now have…"
Steve was rewarded with two kicks to the face…
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5 minutes later…
A few seconds after Asuka and Hwoarang took their anger out on Steve, Kenichi radioed Jin and said that he had discovered the location of the tigers. Thus, after Jin said his goodbyes to them, the two began to head down to the said location: the center of the park. However, just because they were forced to fight together didn't exact mean they had to enjoy their company. Since they began their walk five minutes ago, they hadn't said a thing to each other…
"You know what?" Asuka broke the silence, hoping to shatter the ice of anonymity between her and the owner of the body she was now occupying. "I suppose Steve is right: it's really not all THAT bad. I could have wound up in Ganryu's body…"
"Maybe it would have been better for you to wind up in Feng's body," Hwoarang muttered as he/she continued walking. "You wouldn't have to worry about your breast size suddenly changing because there wouldn't be too much difference. I had no idea how much weight you have to put up with!" The Japanese woman that was once a Korean youth put his hands underneath his newfound bosom and lifted it slightly, hoping it would lessen the strain he was putting up with. "How is it that you can move so gracefully with so much pulling you down?"
"Practice makes perfect," Asuka said with a slightly annoyed tone of voice after so much mention of her eye-balling bust. "It certainly wasn't easy, but I eventually got used to it, although it definitely put a strain on my back the first few months. You just gotta find the right cup size…" Asuka turned to Hwoarang and swatted his/her hand. "And will you stop grabbing those? You'll adapt to them a lot easier if you just let them be!"
Hwoarang rolled his/her eyes as he let go of his bosom and continued walking. "You know, Asuka, Steve is right: there IS a bit irony in all this…we argue all the time, and now we're literally walking in each other's shoes…" Putting his slender hands behind his head as he continued walking, Hwoarang looked up in the sky. "I hate to admit it, Asuka, but I've garnered a newfound respect for you…"
Suddenly, Asuka began quivering slightly as she gripped her toned arms like she was freezing. "Brrr…what's going on? I'm shaking uncontrollably for no reason at all…"
Hwoarang reached over to Asuka's(or rather, his own) pocket and pulled out a pack of gum, offering it thoughtfully to Asuka. "That's probably the nicotine craving that I've been trying to get rid of. After Jae and Choi were killed, I quit smoking because they always told me it was a nasty habit…"
"Wow…and here I thought you were the epitome of impulsiveness," Asuka nodded her/his head in respect and she took out a piece of gum and began chewing. "Now I'm the one who's found a newfound respect…but don't tell Kenichi…"
"Tch! If I wanted to make a move on you, you would have dumped that rookie long ago," Hwoarang scoffed as he heard Asuka add in that last little comment.
"And now we're going to dump you…"
Hwoarang and Asuka stopped walking as they heard a familiar voice. The two slowly scanned the area filled with merry-go-rounds and concession stands in an attempt to find the owner of the voice. Being they were now in bodies that were relatively unfamiliar to them, Asuka and Hwoarang could only rely on their eyes and ears to help them.
Suddenly, two figures burst out from the ground in front of them and grabbed their arms before tossing both of them into a merry-go-round. Asuka and Hwoarang both landed on their feet before they could crash into the carousel. The two martial artists quickly regained proper footing and assuming a fighting stance to lay their eyes on the enemy: they were the same creatures responsible for their current condition.
"I believe an introduction is in order," the blue tiger pointed at his pink counterpart before pointing at himself with his claw. "This is Gal, and I'm Ben…"
"…and we are the Jujitsu Tigers, Double Trouble!" Gal struck a dynamic pose after he was introduced, and his brother quickly followed suit. Asuka and Hwoarang, although knowing that these two were clearly dangerous, tried to keep from snickering upon hearing Gal's lisp. Even though many of their previous foes had their own silly manner of speech, Gal's stereotypical "gay lisp" was definitely in a class of its own.
"Laugh all you want, Shinkengers," Ben (who was obviously the more serious of the duo) bared his claws before charging the two Shinkengers. "My brother's manner of speech will have little effect on your fate to lie broken and helpless at our feet!" Asuka and Hwoarang readied their morphers and began to crackle with power...but their morphers didn't respond, leaving the two youths to get grabbed by their necks and tossed like rag dolls.
"You can charge your ki all you like, sweethearts," Gal taunted as he got on all fours and ran towards the two Shinkengers like a cat going after a ball of yarn. "You're in new bodies, and that means they won't work like your old one! If you can't focus your power right, you can't morph!" The pink tiger grabbed Asuka by her/his foot and slammed her into the ground with a powerful power bomb. "Looks you're all mine, you silly silly boy!"
"I don't mean to rain on your parade, buddy," Asuka rolled away before Gal could grab her again and scrambled back onto her feet. "I'm not a guy! Just because I look one now doesn't mean I play one in real life!" Gal came charging at her again, and Asuka prepared to counter-attack by tossing him with a vacuum throw as he attacked. However, her reaction time was a tad too slow, and paid for her sluggishness with a powerful kick to the solar plexus.
Darn it, Asuka thought to herself between the surges of pain that were spreading throughout her midsection, this body is used to doing that Tae Kwan Do stuff: it's not meant for the defensive style of Kazama-ryu Aikido! Quickly throwing down her defenses for the time being, Asuka ducked under a thrusting elbow and threw a punch to the creature's furry stomach. However, Gal caught the punch with his other clawed hand and slash Asuka in her toned pectorals before tossing her over his shoulder and right into Hwoarang, who was about to rush to her aid. Hwoarang attempted to catch her, but his arms were a tad too thin to properly catch someone who was now half a foot taller than him. The two fighters crashed into each other, with Hwoarang on his/her back and Asuka's face sitting in his bosom.
"Get my boobs out of your face right now," Asuka said as she lifted her head and took a breath. "Just because I'm not using my body right now doesn't mean that I'm going to let it be violated."
"Hey, you're the one who fell on them," Hwoarang protested as he pushed Asuka off dusted his slender legs off. "I'm starting to wonder if you have some sort of narcissism going on!" The two fighters quickly regained proper footing and assumed a fighting stance. "Being that I don't want to go through what you just went through, how's about you tell me how to work this body?"
"You can't just put everything you've got into every attack like you can in your old body," Asuka said as she and Hwoarang simultaneously flipped away from the Double Trouble duo's swipes. "You think about how you would play defensively."
"Sorry, babe, but being on the defensive is never a good thing for me," Hwoarang ran towards Ben and Gal, ignoring Asuka's advice. "Time to see what this new body can do!" Asuka watched on in amusement as Hwoarang attempted to use his powerful kicks with his unfamiliar body as his weapon. After hearing the sound of blows landing, Asuka chuckled a bit as Hwoarang was sent flying right back to where he had started, landing on his/her buttocks. "Hmmm," Hwoarang stroked his beautiful chin for a moment before snapping his fingers and taking off his morpher. "Hey, Asuka, hand me your morpher. Maybe if we use the morphers we're used to using, we can compensate for being drivers in an unfamiliar vehicle…"
Asuka thought about it for a moment, and then nodded her orange-haired head in agreement as she unbuckled her ShinkenBlack morpher and exchanged it for her more familiar ShinkenWhite one. After the two fighters had buckled their morphers back on, they resumed their respective fighting stances and watched Ben and Gal charge at them running on all fours. Asuka and Hwoarang once again focused their energies and crackled with energy, praying that the Korean's plan worked. Suddenly, their morphers began to flash violently, and the two fighters cracked a wide smile as they grabbed the charging tigers and tossed them over their shoulders before being engulfed in a bright light.
When the light faded, the two were in the clad in their ShinkenBlack and ShinkenWhite armor…although with slight modifications. Asuka's ShinkenWhite suit had lost its skirt that it had when worn by Asuka, while Hwoarang's ShinkenBlack outfit had gained a skirt. The two youths rolled their eyes beneath their helmets as they took notice to the changes that their outfits had undergone to match their genders. Well, at least now we can morph, Asuka shrugged as she and Hwoarang ran after the Judo Tigers. Time to kick some ass and get this over with!
"What the hell?" Ben jumped up in surprise as he got back up and noticed that Hwoarang and Asuka had morphed. So surprised was he that Ben was unable to hold back the powerful attack that the two Shinkengers unleashed upon them. Hwoarang used his/her slender legs to kick the blue tiger four times, with the last hit sending him skyward. Once he did that, he juggled Ben into the air with three more kicks before jumping up and kicking him towards Asuka.
Asuka, with her toned masculine arms, grabbed Ben out of the air and slammed him into the ground. Asuka lifted her fist and punched Ben in the temple just underneath his feline ear, drawing sparks as her blow made contact. Before Ben could roll away from Asuka's grip, she tossed the monster high into the air with a Falling Rain toss…
…leaving Hwoarang to jump up after Ben with an incredible forward leap. The Korean youth-turned-Japanese teenager bombarded Ben with a powerful flurry of aerial kicks as his purple ki crackled across his/her remarkably feminine body. As Hwoarang and Ben began to fall to the ground, Asuka began to spin towards the destined point of impact as her comrade lifted his/her leg above his head. When Ben was in range, Hwoarang cut through the tiger with an axe kick while Asuka attacked with a Spinning Heel Drop. The two blows hit simultaneously as the two Shinkengers gave a name to their maneuver.
"SHINKEN TEAM-UP TECHNIQUE: KICKER'S CROSSING!"
Ben's body spewed forth sparks and small explosions riddled his body as he roared in pain. "Brother Gal," he said with a hiss as the sparked continued to bleed out of him. "I leave to rest to you!" After releasing one final lion-like roar, Ben exploded in a fiery plume.
"Oh…you…you," Gal clenched his paw in anger before letting loose a primal roar of his own and charging the two youths, "…you savages!" The pink-furred creature bared his claws and pounced upon Asuka and got her/him into a headlock. "You'll be the first, sweetie! Say your prayers!"
Ugh, this must be God punishing me for making all those yaoi jokes to Hwoarang about Jin, Asuka thought to herself as she tried to break free before her(or rather, Hwoarang's) neck was snapped by the vengeful tiger. But no matter how effeminate this weirdo is, I'll bet my dad's collection of Pac-man memorabilia that won't be able to withstand…THIS! Using all of the strength that Hwoarang's powerful legs had to offer, Asuka's knee shot up and bashed Gal in his groin. The pink-furred tiger let out a high-pitched squeal and he released Asuka and dismounted her as he stood up and grabbed his crotch in pain. Asuka scrambled back onto her feet and sent Gal spiraling backwards with a jumping clockwise roundhouse kick.
Gal landed his feet like any good feline would and was about to rush Asuka again, when he felt a tapping on his shoulder. Gal turned around, and was rewarded for his curiosity with a pair of left-handed jabs followed by two kicks courtesy of Hwoarang. When Hwoarang attempted for another kick, though, Gal grabbed his/her leg and tossed him over his shoulder. "Look, you silly bitch," Gal said in that whiny voice of his. "There's no way you can sneak up behind me-OWWW!"
Gal went flying past Hwoarang and landed a few meters away, leaving a trail of purple energy in his wake. Hwoarang got back up and ran over to where Asuka had launched a blast of ki. "We finally have you figured out, you pink pansy," Hwoarang shouted as a bright pink energy sphere began to form in his cupped hands. "Because you're without your brother, you're only half as strong as the guys we normally face. That's why this battle has been going real quick!"
"You talk crazy, you silly bitch," Gal retorted as he sprayed saliva out of his mouth while emphasizing the "s" in "silly." "I'm as strong as I ever was! I'll prove it to you!" Once again running of all fours, Gal let out a fearsome meow and charged towards the two body-swapped Shinkengers. Then, once he was within ten meters of the pair, he leapt to the sky as he prepared to pounce the two...
"SHINKEN ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE: TEKKENSHU MAELSTROM!"
…until Asuka and Hwoarang unleashed their gathered energies and each fired off a powerful ball of energy: one being purple and the other being pink. The two energies collided with the pink tiger as he fell down in a shower of sparks. "Oh damn," it whined as small explosions riddled his body while he continued to plummet to the ground. "My brother always told me not to bite off more than I can chew!" As he smashed into the ground, the monster exploded in a fiery plume like a bomb being dropped out of an airplane.
"ALL RIGHT," Asuka jumped in the air while pumping her fist and then walked over to Hwoarang to give him/her a high-five. As their palms connected however, their Shinkenger suits disappeared in a flash of light and they sudden began to feel woozy. After a few seconds of disorientation, the two fighters regained their senses and looked at each other...and then let out a long shout of victory. They were back in their original bodies.
"Whoa…I'm impressed, you two…"
Asuka and Hwoarang turned around to see Steve and Kenichi walking up behind them wearing their civilian attire. Asuka, unable to control herself, ran towards Kenichi and tackled the brown-haired youth onto the ground. "Kenichi, I had no idea being a boy was so damn tough!" Asuka grabbed Kenichi by his shoulders and began shaking him violently. "I swear that I'll never make another yaoi joke for as long as I live! Now take me to the mall!"
"N-nani?" Kenichi's eyes widened in surprise as Asuka dismounted him and quickly got the boy back onto his feet. "But I thought you hated going to the mall because it was…feminine!"
"EXACTLY," Asuka shouted as she grabbed Kenichi's arm and began pulling him away from Hwoarang and Steve. Their shouts could be heard for good two minutes as they eventually left earshot.
"…so…Hwoarang," Steve rubbed the back of his head and straightened his nosepinch glasses as he tried to find the words he was looking for. "…I'm sorry about poking fun earlier…how about I take you out for a drink and we'll call it even?"
"…sounds good to me," Hwoarang gave a quick thumbs-up while he walked alongside Steve. "Once we're done with that, we can go watch a baseball game and drunk off our asses, and then we'll burp and fart and do all the things that make us men!" The Korean let out a quick shout as he pumped his fist in anticipation. "By the way Steve, if you ever need advice on how to deal with the ladies…"