Pikatwig: *walks in* Well… uh… sorry about no update last week. We were both busy and didn't have time to do this…
KKD: Yea, not gonna lie, life can be a real pain in the butt sometimes, always getting in the way of what we want to do.
Pikatwig: We had to work on the Dino Force Brave reviews because… reasons…
KKD: And I myself was behind in a personal project that I'm still trying to catch up on, but hopefully I'll pick up slack pretty quickly.
Pikatwig: So… I suppose as a sort of apology… maybe both parts of today's chapter will go up on the same day? I dunno.
KKD: This is two parts?
Pikatwig: Yep.
KKD: You always pull out these kinds of surprised from nowhere, you know that?
Pikatwig: Sometimes purposeful and sometimes not.
KKD: Right…
Pikatwig: Anyway… let's just begin.
Disclaimers: Neither Pikatwig nor KKD Silver own the rights to anything used in here except for any original content within. The rest belong to Saban Brands, Toei, NamcoBandai, and their respective owners.
The Leo Star Zord, Chameleon Star Zord, Lupus Star Zord, Libra Star Zord and Ophiuchus Star Zord all flew away from numerous Conquest Bots flying after them.
"What made you two think that attacking a robot building factory on a New United Alliance of Evil controlled planet was a good idea?!" the Green Star Defender Ranger yelled at Gold and Silver.
-To be fair, I tried to avoid doing that.- the Gold Star Defender Ranger responded.
"...it was her idea. We did both want to put a dent in their plans, so we just picked the planet that was furthest from our current location.- the Silver Star Defender Ranger stated in a blunt tone.
"You make it sound like it was the ONLY thing to do!"
"Guys… let's just focus on giving these guys the slip and getting home…" the Red Star Defender Ranger told the others.
The others all simply nodded as they began to out maneuver the Conquest Bots.
Onboard one of them, Sagittarrow popped up on a screen for one Advanced Invaker.
"Sir?"
-Focus all fire on the Red Ranger's Zord. Without it, they can't form any Megazord.- Sagittarow instructed.
"Yes sir!"
The Invaker ships flew around, firing at the Leo Star Zord, forcing Red to try and dodge. However, the enemy ships managed to surround him and knocked his engines out.
"Shoot!" the Red Star Defender Ranger yelled as he tried to pull up, but the Zord wasn't responding as he was soon caught up in the gravitational pull of a planet…
(Theme Song: Go, Fly, Win, by Ron Wasserman)
When you need a hero to protect the place you live
Fighting Monsters all around who try to get within
Awesome power, no surrender, Rangers never fall.
Look to the sky as they arrive, when you hear this ca~ll~...
Go! Power Ranger!
Fly! Power Ranger!
Win! Power Ranger
Here we go!
Go! Power Ranger!
Fly! Power Ranger!
Win! Power Ranger!
Here we go!
Power Rangers Star Defenders
Episode 04: The Pink Queen (Part 1)
"Red!" Green gasped as they saw his Zord fall onto the planet, "We gotta help him!"
"I think we should prioritize getting out of here!" Blue responded.
-The pup there has a point. If we don't split now, who knows what'll happen.- Gold told her.
"...why are you sounding that way…?" Silver asked.
Green simply blinked a bit before before she held the side of her helmet, "D-DON'T QUESTION ME! Let's just go!"
The four remaining Zords engaged warp drive and flew off into the starry sky.
On the planet, the sky was a soft shade of pink, the trees around the canyon where the Zord crashed were purple, and the wildlife seemed to resemble creatures that were half-birds. Red groaned as he demorphed before he fell out of the Zord and into some leaves on a tree.
"Ouch… well… I survived…" he sighed as he was about to get up when he saw a young woman nearby, "Oh… hi."
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she demanded to know as she took out a mini-hand gun.
"Uh… my ship crashed…" he responded before he noticed something about this woman, "Uh… did I die?"
"...why ask?"
"Cause… you have wings…"
"...That's just how my race is; we're born with wings," the young woman sighed, "...so… who are you?"
"Uh… my name's Hoku and, based on the ship there, you can probably guess that I'm the Red Star Defender Ranger…" Hoku stated as he motioned towards his Zord.
"...a Power Ranger?" the young woman blinked a bit, "Here? ...we want no part in any rebellion against the New United Alliance of Evil. We have a neutrality agreement between both sides! No one comes to bother us and we don't bother them!"
"...I'm not looking to recruit anybody…" Hoku blinked a bit, "I crash landed… I didn't even know I was gonna get pulled into some planet's gravitational field…"
"Oh my Aquilius, you off-worlders are stupid sometimes…"
"I didn't see the planet before I got pulled into the gravitational field…"
The young woman sighed before motioning towards a cave, "Go in there."
"...why?"
"Do you want my help or not?"
Hoku was silent at first before nodding and heading into the cave, "So… why are you hiding me?"
"My planet has a no tolerance policy for males… only reason I'm letting you slide is because you're a Power Ranger," the young woman informed, setting up a boulder to block anybody from seeing the entrance, "...go on and radio in your pals to get you out of here…"
"Right," Hoku nodded as he nodded before attempting to do so, "...uh… I can't quite seem to get it to work…"
She sighed before she helped him by looking over the inside of the Morpher, "...looks like the communication cord got fried when you landed. I know where there are some to buy, so… just wait…"
"Thanks a lot."
"Don't thank me until you get off my home…" she responded as she began to head out.
"Uh… I never got your name," Hoku said quickly, "I told you mine."
"It's Iolana."
-I'm working on scanning for a signal from Hokulele's Comet Morpher right now,- Theta informed the others as she worked, -In the meantime, can somebody chew out Bala and Vul for getting Hokulele into this mess and can somebody go make sure that Connie's ok?-
"On it already, Theta," Connie nodded, "You IDIOTS! What were you two THINKING just randomly attacking an area?!"
-...aren't we going to focus on attacking the NUAE where it hurts?- Bala blinked.
"Not when it paints a bigger target on our backs than we need!"
"Why were you acting the way you were acting before we left?" Vul inquired.
"Don't change the topic!" Connie snapped.
-He's got something. You were acting a bit concerned for somebody who doesn't like the guy.-
"WHAT DID I JUST SAY?!"
Bala and Vul simply ducked behind a table, the former completely scared as Vul stared in confusion.
"And you know why we try not to make her angry," Mako stated.
-Noted."
Iolana flew into a village in the sky populated by women like her, the houses all colored in shades of white and teal, with many of the ladies selling numerous things like fruits, vegetables, electronics and weaponry. Iolana eventually landed next to a store that was currently empty.
"...of all the days she's not here…" Iolana sighed as she laid back against the stand.
"Did you hear that one person attempted to leave the planet without permission?" one stand owner asked another.
"Yeah… think she'll get her thoughts stolen?"
"If Aquilius isn't feeling merciful… probably…"
Iolana simply blinked a bit, but simply continued to wait patiently.
"So… Hoku is where exactly?" Karone asked.
"Uh… we're figuring that out…" Connie informed as she tried to not incite Karone's anger, "I'm sorry, but Bala and Vul were being idiots a-"
"Well, I'll just have them work harder," Karone shrugged, "Just make sure Hoku isn't hurt when he comes back, ok?"
Connie nervously nodded before she slipped out of the door.
"So… how'd she take it?" Mako asked nervously.
"Better than I thought, but Bala and Vul are in trouble for causing it."
The two simply shrugged a bit before Karone dragged them both inside the cabin. There was silence before a very loud metallic 'CLANG' echoed throughout the home and that was followed up by a slapping sound. Bala and Vul both walked out with icepacks, Bala's on her head and Vul's on his cheek, the two wincing in pain as they rejoined the others.
-...so… she was evil once, right?-
"Yep."
Bala blinked a bit before her eyes widened, -...seriously? I was just joking!-
"Out of the frying pan and into the fire…" Mako observed.
"That was… was… was…?"
-Frightening? Painful? Shocking?"
"I was going to say that I didn't know…"
Iolana was snoozing a bit as she waited for the stand owner to come back before she got nudged awake by an older woman, "Oh… hi mom."
"Hi dear," her mother smiled, "What are you doing up here?"
"Uh…" Iolana blinked a bit, "I forgot actually. I was waiting for the stand owner…"
"Well, I'll see you home later tonight. Take care."
The pinkette smiled as her mom left and she continued to wait. As she started to reawaken, she pondered where the shop owner was. Eventually, she flew off for home after several hours had passed.
It had taken another two days for Iolana to finally get back to the stand to see the shop owner there.
"Finally…" Iolana sighed.
"Sorry for my delay …" the stand owner apologized, "I had the bad choice of trying to make planetary travel without permission… so I had some of my thoughts eaten…"
"Oh…" Iolana said tensely, "Sorry to hear that…"
"It's alright, nothing to worry about now. What do you need?"
"A communication cord."
The stand owner happily handed it over to Iolana before the girl with wings flew off.
Hoku was starting to get a bit used to watching Iolana roam around the cave a little bit, presently seeing her patch the Comet Morpher up, and in the middle of flying around a bit.
"Now let's see here…" Iolana muttered as she was working on connecting the wires and adjusting the speakers into the Morpher, "There. It should be good to go."
"Thank you," Hoku smiled as he pressed the communication button, "Anybody there?"
"Hoku?" Connie's voice responded.
"Oh, thank goodness! Look, Connie! The Zord stopped working and I've been stuck on this planet for a few days their time now. I think I'm on a planet in the Aquila system…"
"Looks like you are…" Connie nodded.
-What should we do if the Zord isn't working?- Bala inquired.
"The Zords have an auto-repair system for the engines. It takes longer depending on how serious the damage is. Usually it'd take anywhere from a few minutes to a full 24 hours, but seeing how much damage your engine took from the last assault, I'd say it'd only recently get fixed." Mako informed.
"But the jet boosters got damaged."
-The auto repair only works for the Zord's engines. Unless you got some spare parts for those and the hyperdrive, I'd say you're gonna be stuck there until two of the Rangers can get there to carry the Zord out.- Theta informed.
Hoku groaned as he sat down and tried to relax a bit.
"So… who should go?" Doggie asked.
-I'm going to suggest that it be Connie and Bala.-
"Why?- they both asked.
-The Chameleon Star Zord should be able to wrap up the Leo Star Zord with its tongue and the Libra Star Zord can provide support to make sure it leaves the atmosphere.-
"I got ya," Connie nodded as Bala nodded as well.
-Well, let's go rescue your boyfriend.- Bala teased before she quickly ran off.
"He's NOT MY BOYFRIEND! GET BACK HERE SO I CAN KICK YOUR BUTT YOU TIN CAN!"
The others in the team, bar Vul, all sighed.
"Let's just hope they can get going…"
Back with Hoku, he was simply waiting outside his Zord alongside Iolana, the girl in question examining the robotic lion with curiosity. Eventually, the Chameleon and Liba Star Zords enter view, hovering above the trees to make sure they didn't draw much attention.
"Well… thanks for the help," Hoku smiled.
Iolana simply nodded as the Chameleon Star Zord used its tongue to grab onto the Leo Star Zord, "Pretty impressive bots you got there…"
"Yep," Green nodded a bit.
Iolana was about to walk off when she turned to see a group of at least ten of her people and, among them, was the leader, "Oh… uh… hi…"
"Iolana… what are you doing?" the leader inquired.
"Uh… a Power Ranger landed on our planet and now their friends are helping them get off…" Iolana carefully worded.
Hoku simply backed away a bit to try and not get noticed.
"Is that… a man?!"
"...maybe?"
"Iolana… you know it's taboo on our world to associate with men… I have no choice but to banish you from our world!"
Iolana and the three Rangers all gasped in horror at this news…
To be continued…
Pikatwig: Well… that was a thing.
KKD: Yea… definitely a shocker of a moment, to be sure.
Pikatwig: So, before we get asked, Iolana's race having wings has a reason for it. ...also, was anybody else thinking of Hawkgirl at any point while reading this?
KKD: Leave your comments about that if you did. Still, it was interesting to see a chapter without the usual morph and rollcall stuff. But this chapter was fun to write for overall.
Pikatwig: Yep. We got to see a world that was pretty different from our own, an interesting alien race, and some slight world building with mention of a deity on their world.
KKD: Definitely a treat for me since I LOVE world-building in stories like this. It keeps you wanting to come back for more.
Pikatwig: We will show the worlds of the other Rangers at some point after all nine of the core members are here.
KKD: It will be interesting to see worlds beyond Earth. And if you're wondering when we'll head back there? Well… we'll see.
Pikatwig: So… here's a silly little thought that came to mind. While listening to the Kyuuranger theme… there was one point where my thoughts turned to that Q guy from Star Trek.
KKD: Ok…
Pikatwig: So, I had the thought, what if John de Lancie hypothetically played a character on Star Defenders?
KKD: That… would be cool… too bad Power Rangers is a non-union production and it won't be likely that he'll pop in. It was tricky for RPM Red to come back for Samurai seeing he and RPM Yellow's actor both ended up in bigger named productions for TV.
Pikatwig: …*tilts head a bit but shrugs* De Lancie's had experience with other space related characters because, based on his wikipedia article, he was Brainiac in Justice League Action and… believe it or not Sinestro in the Green Lantern episode of Duck Dodgers.
KKD: Huh… ok.
Pikatwig: So… there was mention of a monster that eats thoughts. Hmm… sound familiar to you at all?
KKD: *thinks a bit* Yumepakkun, that dream-eating monster?
Pikatwig: More or less. Will we see him soon? ...very likely.
KKD: Oh boy… things are gonna get crazy.
Pikatwig: Well, let's see where things go from here… next time. Just Live More.
KKD: Jaa ne.