Kouyou Sentai Soulranger

(Elemental Squadron Soulranger)

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Vessel 3: Attack of the Killer Appliances

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It was a lovely day as usual…

Tsuyoshi came by the Elemental Four Café once again, for just his 7th time there, at that very noon. He brightly beamed, "Good morning, everyone."

It's four chefs; Li the fiery, Iwamaru the simple, Yuri the space age freak, and Meiru the cool, are having an all-out food-making war with each other——

Meiru is working with everything she's got in the seaside beach bar to prove that her sushi, sashimi, fruit recipes, shaved ice desserts, etc. are just as good as everyone else.

Yuri is checking a computer close to her for certain nutritional values and best taste factors while a few machines close to her are busily making what are apparently pieces of space food.

Iwamaru, who has never cooked before, is looking over a cookbook to see how everything's done. But so far his best are nothing but salads, and other simple stuff like that.

Li is showing off incredible cooking talents by cooking not only Japanese dishes, but some foreign ones as well.

Unfazed by their apparent competition, Tsuyoshi said with a smile, "I think I'll take one order from each bar." First he went to Meiru's section, "Young lady, please fix me some albacore sushi with a medium-sized fruit cup." Meiru replies, "Okay, sir. But I'm going to have to charge you 2000 yen."

Then he moved onto Yuri's section, "4 packs of your space pizza." Yuri shrugs, "Pepperoni and pineapple as usual?" Tsuyoshi nods, "Yes, please." Meiru thought-spoke to Li, "Honestly, Li. Your boss at Sonic Bird Express is by far the most unusual eater at his age on this planet!" Li thought-spoke back, "I've experienced that for 5 years now."

Then to Iwamaru's section, "So… what's on the special list, Mr. Yamahouku?" Iwamaru nervously hands a menu to Tsuyoshi, "Those on the menu are those that I've perfected. So please choose." Tsuyoshi laughs a bit, "Don't be so worked up about it, I'll have the Aniki Salad for one."

Then to Li's section, Tsuyoshi said to Li, "I've asked Naitsumuka-san to substitute for you today." After flipping a pan pizza into the air like a pancake and catching it in the pan again, Li asked, "Eh? You mean our coffee girl Ichigo-san? Is she even up for the challenge?" Yuri overheard the conversation, "Eh? Naitsumuka Ichigo-chan is your coffee girl at Sonic Bird Express?" Li nods, "Yeah, she decided to work for us when she saw me. I think she has a bit of a crush on me."

Meiru gets a sly look in her eyes, "Then you should date her to make her feel wonderful." Li gulps, "Are you sure?" Yuri shrugs, "Why not? When you're not working here, you're usually working at the delivery company." Li sternly frowns, "Not a chance; it's a likely chance I'll be dating her when the kitchen appliances in the city started to move on their own."

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In a distant and abandoned warehouse… a mechanical green hand was placing parts together. That hand was connected to a body of metal that looks virtually similar to Dracula outfit only made of metal and the ankle-length cape that is metallic brown. The figure's face resembles that of robotic red bat but with a curved dark violet visor over its face.

He said, "Soon this new attachment for my body will be complete."

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Back in the Elemental Four Café, Tsuyoshi left with a doggy bag, happily saying "No more McDonald's frozen yogurt tonight."

Li places another piece of food in a package, just to keep it from cooling off or spoiling. Yuri gleefully finishes counting the yen, "12,000 yen ($101.53)! I don't care where your boss at Sonic Bird Express get this kind of cash, but he sure is loaded."

Iwamaru groans, "Well I do." Meiru nods, "Yeah, me too. And I never had to pay for any meal I've ordered for delivery from that company for anything over 4,728 yen ($40)." Li replies, "I've met Kurenai-san when I've… well… ran away from home 8 years ago, I needed an education and some way to support myself, so he hired me as a smalltime coffee boy. All the sudden, two weeks later, business started going north. Kurenai-san even helped me with my homework."

Meiru slyly asks, "You mean you never did your homework?" Li said, "No, I did do my homework… it's like ever since I've met him, he's like a grandfather I've never had." Yuri gasps in surprise but still smiles, "You mean him with you during those days was like me with Aneki?" Li said, "Yeah, I work for him for a while and he'd help me get to my own feet so I'll travel the world for answers."

Iwamaru asks, "What kind of answers?" Li turns a bit gloomy, "That's a story for another day." Yuri and Meiru looked at each other in a confused expression, "Huh?" Iwamaru and Meiru thought-spoke to each other in unison, "Where on Earth did Li dig up that old fossil?"

Suddenly, a young girl with sparkling black hair came by restaurant, Yuri must've sold to her a customer pass card; she was extremely beautiful for her age of 17. Iwamaru gulps nervously, "Who is she?" Meiru nods, "Yeah, I've never seen her before." Yuri and Li said in unison, "That's Naitsumuka Ichigo." Meiru exclaimed in thought-speech, "WHOA! I'd thought she'd be a little more plump than that, guess I was wrong."

She came in with a package for Yuri, "Well… I've got your order of ingredients and on-line bought items, Yuri-chan." Yuri pulled out her wallet, "How much will it be, Ichigo-chan?" Ichigo checked her cell phone, "According to my first time delivering this, I believe it should be… 720,000 yen ($6,091.38)." Li asks, "Can you even afford that, kohai?" Yuri handed the cash to Ichigo, "It's part of the deal, senpai."

Ichigo spots Li, "I guess I'll stay for a cup of tea while I'm here." Li sighs, "Very well." While trying to turn the stove on which is failing to light up, Li blocked her sight with his body so he could make the stove behave with a snap of his fingers, creating a spark. He asks the current customer, "What flavor would you like?" Ichigo replies, "I'll have jasmine with a touch of honey."

Meiru tosses a packet of apple flower honey to Ichigo who caught it abruptly, almost getting close to fall on her face; but thanks to Li, that didn't happen since he caught her by the shoulders gently. He glared at Meiru, "Listen, no matter what you're scheming, you can't keep secrets from us: you speak in thought too loudly, and Yuri-kohai told me what you were planning." Then he helped Ichigo upright in her seat as he poured her tea.

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Later that night, Yuri was in the laboratory down below, working in Soulranger form… lately the robot trio let her study the technology they have with them.

"Now that the construction of my mecha are finished," says Soul Yellow, "it's now time for me to remove the Soul Badge and use it for the use of this new machine." Vaal instantly came to her from behind——

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At this time… Li was looking in his Sonic Bird Express delivery schedule for tomorrow while in bed, Iwamaru was taking a shower, and Meiru was reading magazines full of attractive and muscular men.

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"IDIOT!" shouted Vaal's booming voice throughout the entire Odaiba district, which trembled as if it were in the middle of an earthquake!

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That same 'earthquake' coming from Vaal's shout caused Li to jump and hit the carpet in his room, Iwamaru to slip on the wet floor in the shower and hit his head on the floor, and Meiru to tear the magazine she was reading in shock from Vaal's ground-shaking shout!

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The other Soulrangers came downstairs (Li is in plain red pajamas, Iwamaru is in nothing but a green towel, and Meiru is in blue brassiere & panties) to see what Vaal was yelling at Yuri about.

Soul Yellow, sent back towards the wall and floor while changing into DNA-Shaper Yellow (the name of Yuri's Soul DNA Shape), whimpers out, "What was I doing wrong?" Vaal explains, "The Soul Badge is what keeps you alive out there in battle by drawing on the Soul Force inside you carefully and prevents power overload. Power overload is when you draw on excess energy levels from areas outside your body and soul. If you were in Soulranger form and it were removed, you will die but only because of removing it in the first place!" DNA-Shaper Yellow bowed, "I'm so sorry!"

Li was surprised, "I've always had a feeling that removing the Soul Badge would be a terrible idea." Iwamaru froze in his place, before he collapsed to the ground (while still being stiff as a statue)!

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In her own bathtub in her own flat in the upper levels of the Café, Meiru baths… she sadly looks into her hand, then into her Soul DNA Mark on her inner thigh. Now that she has her genes modified along with nanoscopic machines inside of her, her own Soul DNA; if her Soul Badge was ever removed in Soulranger form, she won't live to see another day. So if the 7 Deadly Forces found out about this, they'd do whatever they could to kill her and her comrades.

She felt something hard pushing against her body; she looked and found chunks of ice in the water, surprisingly the cold from the ice doesn't bother her at all. Vaal communicated to Meiru in thoughts, "The sadness you're feeling about the thought of death because of your Soul Badge becoming removed has granted you the ability to manipulate ice." Meiru was amazed, "I can freeze things now? Whoa!"

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In the dark warehouse, the mysterious robotic 'Dracula' stands before a computer he built into a main factorial machine as new materials are being made. He said, "This information on an old but very strong and long-lasting car battery and the information the latest robot brain in technology has given me an idea for my first Attack-bot." He pressed 'enter' and the machine went to work on the construction of a humanoid automaton.

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Next morning, as Li was heading off to deliver some packages for his other job at Sonic Bird Express…

He saw an elderly woman with red marks on her wrist, he stops by her and asks, "What's wrong, madam?" She looks at him with eyes full of tears, "I was about to call my granddaughter on the telephone when all of the sudden, the phone came to life and attacked me." Li tries to reassure and comfort her, "Are you sure it's not a bad dream?" but when he got a careful look at the look in her eyes, he knew it was a feeling of fear and she's telling the truth. Li growls a bit, "I'm going to investigate, so please be careful."

Before he even left to do so, she said to him, "Wait! You'll need the address!"

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Li arrived to the white house at the address where the elderly woman lives at, he checked the door, which is unlocked and open, just to find a telephone that looks like it smashed itself open from the inside with the wires inside it extended outward as if it was a mechanical jellyfish.

A small green dust devil came into the house from the open door and turned into Iwamaru, he gasps for breath and says, "I think I'm getting the hang of this transportation thing." Li asks, "So, show me the whole psychometry, buddy." Iwamaru regained himself, "Don't call me 'buddy', I was about to start the tactile ESP insight."

Iwamaru touched the telephone and paused for a bit until he spoke to Li, "This telephone attacked the grandmother that lives in this residence. But it's not the work of Kyamio nor Lusaten or Keia… but someone of the Seven Deadly Forces… but some mechanical monstrosity… built by someone skilled with technology, or as Yuri would call it; mad science."

Li said, "Let's contact the girls and tell them about this." Iwamaru nods, "Right." The two contacted the female Soulrangers with telepathy…

Yuri got the message from Li firsthand, "Huh? Someone able to cause a telephone come to life and attack its owner?" Iwamaru replied in thought-speech, "Yeah, from what I could tell its creator is like a off-colored mechanical Dracula with a red robotic bat face."

Meiru replied in response, "Sounds like my grandfather's first girlfriend."

Iwamaru told them, "I've identified its location and what it looks like." Li said, "Well, let's go before more innocent souls get hurt!" Iwamaru looks at Li and quickly nods, "For once, agreed. But first… I must show you three what it looks like and this mechanical Dracula look like in your individual points of view."

The Soulrangers got the mental image, Meiru replied, "Most of those images seem a bit off. But the mastermind behind this case does look a bit like off-colored mechanical Dracula with a red robotic bat face." Yuri was excited, "Wow! Must be one of the 7 Deadly Forces; as far as we know, Keia uses magical cards, Kyamio doesn't have the time for something like this, and Lusaten uses magic to curse items to become monsters."

Li asks Yuri, "Why are you excited, Kohai?" Meiru replies, "Yuri-chan is a science fiction fanatic. Iwamaru-san and Li, take care of the situation and we'll catch up; she's working with robot trio on new mecha for us."

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Like couple of racing dogs, the male Soulrangers rushed into Odaiba, to find thousands of appliances roaming the streets like swarms of animals. Li & Iwamaru were shocked to see that those very household tools were hurting everyone!

Iwamaru asks, "How are these appliances getting so much power since they're being controlled by something else?" A row of blenders hopped in the front row before the Soulranger men and their blades spun at them, but surprisingly they created tornadoes that sent them flying backwards!

Iwamaru was surprised, "I didn't know blenders could do that." Li said, "It's not the blenders; it's that mechanical being we're chasing after! Now let's move before we get baked by those moving microwaves!" Iwamaru looks around curiously as Li gets up and run, seeing the microwave ovens blasting waves of heat at them, Iwamaru stood his ground!

Not wanting to expose his identity to the public, Li was running from the danger so he could transform into Soul Red and then fight. He relayed his plan to Iwamaru, who responded with, "D'OH! Okay, I get your plan! Just wait until I'm cooled off a bit!" Li called back, "Okay, I'll be waiting, buddy." Iwamaru called back, "Don't call me 'buddy'!"

Li found a nice to hide out so he could morph; right in the tree in front of a business building. He hopped from the ground to the branches and got ready to morph when something unexpected happened… Ichigo came running out of the building with a robotic being walking out of it. She trips and comes facing up at her electronic pursuer——

The arms and legs of the robot chasing Ichigo appears to be built up of all sorts of batteries while the hips, torso, and head are made of three large different supercomputers, the smallest being the head. He said in a computerized voice, "It's about time you'd stop, little human; for trying to save a bunch of your own kind from my vacuum cleaner troopers, you're going to pay."

Ichigo pants and shouts, "Having turned ordinary pieces of our own items into enemies is unforgivable! Especially to that family you were threatening!" Li silently says to Ichigo, so quietly that she couldn't possibly hear him, "That's a good way to buy your own death wish, Ichigo-san."

The battery-armed monster raised his arms at Ichigo with his battery fingers at her, static electricity sparked from his fingertips and got increasingly more powerful at each passing moment, "This is the end. Electro Smash." The electricity formed a ball of lightning in his palms and he threw it at Ichigo——

Li rushed in and Li got Ichigo out of the way before it hit her! Under cover of the other closest tree, Li said to Ichigo, "Ichigo-san, get going! It's not safe here!" Ichigo blushes and says to him, "Yes, sir!" as she got up and ran away. Li took the opportunity he had to transform——

He quietly calls out, "Soul Badge!" his Soul Badge formed into his hand, he placed them over his Soul DNA Mark and shouts out, "Soul Force unlock…" and presented it forward in his palm, shouting out, "SOUL HENSHIN!"

Li stood in the middle of an ocean of fire; he exploded into a humanoid figure of red fire! Flame came erupting from around him and within… as the flames calmed down… his body is suited into a green suit with white gloves and boots! A white-colored belt appeared and had his Soul Badge appear onto it like a belt buckle, with a holster on both sides of the belt. A gentle shower of sparks came down on him, creating a red helmet over his head; the visor is like a lion's gaping jaws. He positioned herself in a fire-based kata, with a beautiful display of fireworks popping in the background!

Soul Red stood before the robotic monster; who asks, "Who are you?" Soul Red says, "The name's Red—— Soul Red." Pumping with courage, Soul Red charged at the robot, which is blasting electricity at him from his hands, but Li was seemingly unaffected as he battled on with the robot. Soul Red thought to himself, "Man, this electric mayhem's going to make short work of me if I'm not too careful with him. Thankfully, the Soulranger suit's defense ability depending on my soul's strength, I was able to withstand 90 of the attack. But it's too early for the others to get involved with this situation."

Soul Green came back to back with Soul Red, Soul Red asks, "How things going, buddy? You're not hurt, are ya?" Soul Green replies, "Just fine, bro." Soul Red notices the strange behavior of his fellow Soulranger; he turns around and shouts "Soul Fist!" The enlightened punch knocked Soul Green flying into a concrete wall, therefore cracking it.

Soul Green asks "Why'd… why'd you do that… to your own teammate?" Soul Red answers, "Because you're not the real Soul Green; of all the times I've referred to him as 'buddy', 'partner', etc. he always says, 'don't call me that!' and besides, his Soulranger suit isn't made up of metal fabric!" Another Soul Green showed up, "Whoa! A copycat? What's this guy's true form?"

Soul Red says, "If I had x-ray vision I'd tell ya what he was, buddy." Soul Green threw an accusing finger at Soul Red, "Don't call me that!" The first Soul Green growled as his body shifted into a Dracula-like robotic form, the one behind the killer appliances.

Soul Green says, "That's him! That's the guy who created that robot!" Soul Red said, "He's got an evil aura, meaning that he's one of the 7 Deadly Forces! But who is he anyway?"

The robotic Dracula got to his feet and said, "I am the Overlord of the Cyber-Terror Invasion Force, Neo-Novus!" Soul Red jokes, "Makes it sound like your name means 'new novice'." Neo-Novus growled out, "Damn you, kid!"

Neo-Novus pulled out a gray-colored grenade-like orb with a small black knob on it, he turned the knob on it, and it flashed green. "Cyber-Terror Android Grenade, go!" he tosses it into the air and it exploded into 144 human-sized robots raining down on the two Soulrangers! They are each mostly green and bronze-colored androids with round-shaped heads and blunt-looking armor.

Neo-Novus said, "My Cyber-Terror Androids; they have no fear and feel no pain, but best of all: they only obey me and my attack-bots, like Animator here."

A pair of familiar female voices shouted in unison, "491; magnetic beams, fire!" The robotic soldiers were pulled away from the male Soulrangers by a pair of red-and-blue beams and then they became limp. Soul Red and Soul Green get up, recovering from the metallic pig pile, and find Soul Yellow and Soul Blue coming to the rescue with their Soul Sticks, each in Laser Gun mode, out.

Soul Green said, "Um… we've had the situation under control." Soul Blue asks, "Then who was it that got blown away by blenders, blasted by microwave ovens, almost got burned by rampaging electric waffle irons, hosed down by food processors, run over by vacuum cleaners, and other pathetic if not amusing exploits involving killer appliances?" Soul Green got nervous, "Well… I couldn't destroy them; people would be mad if their own machinery that they live everyday by having them destroyed, plus they're very expensive." Soul Red says, "Stop the arguing and get ready to use the magnetic beams on Animator!"

Soul Blue performed a back-flip before 'swimmingly' danced on the spot like a dolphin, "The wisdom and force from the pure heart; the soul of the water element, Soul Blue!"

Soul Yellow spins in a pirouette on one toe with her arms outstretched like wings, "The intellect and purity of the tempest of joy; the soul of the air element, Soul Yellow!"

Soul Green slams his fist to the ground and showed off his muscles a bit, "The stability and fertility of the sacred ground; the soul of the earth element, Soul Green!"

Soul Red quickly spins three times, stops, then spreads out his arms like wings, "The strength and power of the holy sun fire and light; the soul of the fire element, Soul Red!"

Together, they shout out in unison, "Together our combined elemental souls create a whole new universe!" Soul Red and Soul Green stood beside each other as Soul Blue stood beside Soul Red and Soul Yellow stood beside Soul Green. Finally, they shout out, "Kouyou Sentai Soulranger!"

Then they pulled out their Soul Sticks, setting them into Laser Gun mode, and typed in the codes "491." The weapons said in unison, "Magnetic beam." Soul Yellow and Soul Red fire on Neo-Novus, who was still there, but he was unaffected by the magnetic beams. Soul Blue and Soul Green's magnetic beams were deflected by the electric field he made with his fingertips.

Soul Yellow was shocked, "I don't believe it! He must have some type of plastic protecting him from magnetic forces." Soul Green asks, "Then how the hell is it that his attack-bot doesn't appear to carry an ounce of plastic?" Animator answers, "Simply put; any electronic device can create a magnetic field, just not a very big one. Since my arms and legs are somewhat of powerful containers of electricity, I can create an electricity-based force field with a touch of magnetism, making myself capable of deflecting your magnetic beams."

Soul Yellow points up in the air at the discovery, "That makes a lot of sense." Soul Green, aghast, says to them, "I'm sorry… I've… sort of flunked some of my science classes enough to not know that." Soul Blue thought of something then says, "I need a distraction! Soul Red, think you can open that fire hydrant?" Soul Red nods to her, "I'm on it!"

Like a shot, Soul Red dashed for the red fire hydrant closest to them and opens it, letting a lot of water rush out!

Soul Blue comes to his location, but Soul Red notices something weird, so pulls her over the rushing water and begins attacking her. The Soul Blue with him changes into Neo-Novus, Soul Red, "Think of a new strategy, do it when none of them are near me, Neo-Novice." Neo-Novus growls out, "My name is Neo-Novus!"

Back with the real Soul Blue, she waves her arms around, as if she's calling the water to her with hand signals, they worked! Soul Yellow was impressed, "When were you able to perform hydrokinesis?" Soul Blue answers, "Since after we've battled Lusaten." She then formed the water like a serpent spiraling around her body; she turns to Green and asks him, "Can you try to find a way to break through that force field?" Iwamaru thinks about it and looks to his Soul Blade, "I've got a better idea!"

Soul Green pulls out his Soul Blade and charges at Animator, he throws an electrical blast attack at Soul Green, but then the oncoming Soulranger said, "Boulder Barricade!" within a few green flashes boulders, each the size of people, blocked each bolt from the monster. Soul Green then cuts the barricade up into small pieces and punched them into large projectiles crashing into Animator's arms and legs!

Witnessing the deep cracks in all of his battery-grafted limbs the flying boulders have caused, Animator shrieks, "NO! You've destroyed my electro-generators!" Soul Green shouts, "Now, Soul Blue!" She directed her serpent made up of water at the enemy automaton damaged by Soul Green and soaked him down. Animator says, "A lot of good soaking me is going to do you, I've got water-resistant circuits since my lord Neo-Novus has expected to see you, Soulrangers."

Soul Blue struck a palm out at Animator and said, "Flash Frost!" the water on Animator placed him in a truck-sized block of ice. Soul Blue nods to Soul Green, "He's all yours, Green." Soul Green nods back, then lands a mighty punch to the ice, shattering it with his great strength, and Animator along with it. Soul Yellow was impressed, "Excellent, Aneki; cryokinesis!" Soul Blue says, "Now let's help Soul Red."

Back in the battle with Soul Red and Neo-Novus, both are equally matched, with each blow from one a block is met from the other. Neo-Novus said, "You're pretty good for a human." Soul Red replies, "Actually, my comrades and I are post-human!" Neo-Novus said, "Ah… someone like me." Soul Red says, "We're nothing like you."

Neo-Novus looks at his fallen Androids, his eyes flashed brightly several times, and then the Androids get back to their feet, as if they were no longer hurt by the magnetic beams! Neo-Novus said, "You may be able to erase their memory and programming, therefore shutting them down, but they can easily be revived by me." Then he jumped up into the sky, flying from the battle.

Soul Red growls, "Damn! Another one of the Seven Deadly Forces, and he gets away!" Soul Green nods, "Yeah, worst yet he can change himself into anyone he chooses!" Soul Yellow pulls out her Soul Stick and sets it in Laser Gun mode, "Let's take care of these Androids first!"

Soul Yellow types in 269 and her weapon said, "Bomber Bullets." She fires her weapon at the Androids, firing bullets of red energy that explode on impact and penetration, destroying half of them. Soul Green pulls out his Soul Stick in Sonic Sword mode and types in 28563, the weapon says "Sonic Frequency 28563." Just like that, every time he slashes an Android, it falls into pieces.

Soul Blue flips around and freezes each Android in a block of ice with each stab with her Soul Blade, after she lands into a clearing they exploded. Soul Red typed in 808318, it said "Elemental Smash." Then with each Android he smashed his weapon against (without damaging the crystal blade in any way whatsoever), fire exploded from their bodies fell apart with each blow.

After they were finished, the remnants of the Androids exploded into more pieces of junk. Soul Yellow looks back at them, "I could use these pieces of their remains for my new inventions." Soul Red says, "Yeah… and save up some cash for your expenses with Soul Blue." Soul Green asks, "What on Earth were you two doing?" Soul Blue answers, "I was taking care of business with my patients as usual, and Soul Yellow-chan was studying on command codes for our Soul Sticks while inventing a new friend; a small robot we call Scottie."

The male Soulrangers asks in unison, "Scottie?" Soul Yellow answered, "It's a miniscule scout robot who can assist Alpha Sword, Beta Gun, and Gamma Wing back at the laboratory base." Soul Red asks, "Why'd you called it 'Scottie'?" Soul Yellow shrugs, "Well, I've accidentally given him a voice chip that makes him speak with the Japanese dub voice of Scottie from 'Star Trek', plus he's really cute." Soul Blue sighs in admiration, "Plus since he was cute, we sometimes call him 'Scottie-Chan'." Soul Green groans, "Damn, and I don't understand any other language except for Japanese."

Soul Red spots a pair of red energy beams melting the chunks ice off the shards of Animator, "Guys, look!" The Soulrangers spot Neo-Novus producing the beams from his eyes at his Attack-bot's shards. After he was finished, the shards crackled with electricity and pulled themselves together, forming a whole-new Animator; only he's restored to a point like he was never damaged! Soul Green gasps, "What the hell?" Soul Yellow theorizes, "The special energy source inside of him must still had enough juice left to grant him more power than before."

Neo-Novus says to her, "Actually, the energy source is of my specially; designed to power up an entire planet for 100 years. If shattered, it will overload and the energy will become one with the components until the carrier has completely regenerated. At that point, the excess energy will merge and cause the molecules of the nonliving materials they made contact with to multiply by 45 times their original amount and the power output will be multiplied by 5 million more than before."

Soul Yellow exclaims, "In other words——" the revived Animator suddenly went from his actual size to 360 feet! "He's revived, enlarged almost 50 times his original size, and empowered to a point that's too powerful for what we have compared to his size!" finished Soul Yellow. Soul Green said, "He was 8 feet high before, but now he's… 360 feet high?"

Soul Red asks, "Did you find enlarging rays, kohai?" Soul Yellow shakes her head, "No, not yet." Soul Blue asks, "What about the Soul Mecha? Do you think they're going to work, Yellow-chan?" The male Soulrangers look confused, "Soul Mecha?" Soul Yellow said, "I've built us the Soul Mecha in cases we may need to battle massive monsters like him."

Soul Green pretends to think about and says immediately, "We'll use them!" Soul Yellow tells her friends, "Vaal told me how to contact them from anywhere using our Soul Force." Soul Red says, "Let's summon them then."

Soul Yellow says to them, "Wait, to do that, call on their names; yours is Soul Mecha Solar Liger Ozai, Sempai. Soul Green's is Soul Mecha Iron Bison Appus. Mine is Soul Mecha Tempest Eagle Nari. And Blue-Aneki's is Soul Mecha Tidal Orca Mari." They called forth the Mecha!

Right from out of the sea shot out four animal-shaped blasts of colored light, those lights formed into gigantic mechanical animals——

Soul Mecha Solar Liger Ozai is like a red mechanical lion with a large golden mane topped off with black stripes like a tiger. On its back are a couple of long blaster weapons.

Soul Mecha Iron Bison Appus is like a massive mechanical green bison with a pair of silver horns. Appus is pulling a large green wagon or chariot from behind.

Soul Mecha Tempest Eagle Nari is like a yellow-colored eagle mecha with a white-colored head. In its claws, it's holding onto a large triangular shield similar to a Soul Badge.

Soul Mecha Tidal Orca Mari is an orca whale mecha with the black replaced with blue. Two smaller blue shark-like pods and a blue manta ray mecha on its back carry it through the air.

Soul Green became dumbfounded, "They seem… a bit… odd." Soul Red says, "Regardless of how odd they may seem, we've got to use them!" Soul Blue nods, "Agreed." Soul Green recovered, "Okay, this is for everyone we have to protect!" Soul Yellow became excited, "Let's go!"

They shout, "Soul Leap!" then they leap to the heads of their individual mecha, which prove to be incredibly larger than they've ever ridden on before. They dove into the doors found on their individual mecha; Soul Red's is in the forehead of Ozai, Soul Green's is in the chariot pulled by Appus, Soul Yellow's is in a cockpit on Nari's head, and Soul Blue's is on the manta ray on Mari's back.

The cockpit in Ozai is similar to riding his motorcycle, only from within the medium-sized cockpit of a spacecraft. The cockpit in Appus' chariot is similar to driving a bovine-driven wagon, only with a vast array of control panels around him. The cockpit on Nari is similar to that of a harrier jet. The cockpit on Mari is similar to that within a small submarine.

In each cockpit, a beam of light came out came in contact of the orb in the Soul Badges, afterwards the mecha became more active as if they were alive, but still under the command of their respective Soulranger!

Neo-Novus said, "Don't get your hopes up, Soulrangers. I've expected something like this to happen; when you believe that you cannot risk that energy of yours to increase the size of your Soul Familiars, you'd resort to using mecha."

Animator held out his hands at the Soul Mecha, producing red waves at them. Soul Yellow gulps, "That must be how he got control of the appliances in Odaiba!" Soul Red braces himself, "Try to resist the rejection!" Soul Blue says, "We're history!" Soul Green sighs, "Thanks anyway, Soul Yellow." The Soulrangers prepared for the worst…

Amazingly, the Soul Mecha shook it off like it was nothing! Soul Yellow exclaimed, "The energy wavelengths from our Soul Badge connection engines terminated Animator's machine controller waves?" Soul Green was confused, "Huh?" Soul Blue says, "I think that means the Soul Mecha are too powerful to be controlled by Animator."

Neo-Novus exclaimed, "What the? This is IMPOSSIBLE!"

Soul Red gripped hard onto the handle, as he was grinning with under his helmet, "Okay, let's finish Animator's termination!"

Soul Green shouts, "Oh yeah! Bull Running Tackle!" Steam erupted from Appus' nostrils before he charged forth at Animator's chest, headfirst. The incredible strength, power, and force from the single tackle attack sent the Attack-Bot flying!

Soul Yellow, Nari, Soul Blue, & Mari waited for their chance as Animator came close enough to them. Soul Yellow shouts, "Let's shoot him down, Aneki!" Soul Blue nods, "Right, Yellow-chan!" they shout together, "Twin Soul Missile Barrage!" a hailing storm of missiles flew from the shark pods and under the wings of their mecha and dealt heavy damage to Animator!

He then comes crashing down like a flaming meteor, with Soul Red and Ozai waiting in the wings to deliver the final blow. Soul Red says, "Solar energy collected, plasma weaponry charged, ion cannons ready to fire, turbine energizers in the red, anchor claws attached, and Soul Force to full force… target lock in 5… 4——"

Soul Blue shouts, "3——"

Soul Yellow shouts, "2——"

Soul Green shouts, "1——"

Soul Red finishes, "Firestorm Mega Smasher!" as he lets go of the main trigger and unleashes a heavy barrage of energy blasts from Ozai's weapons and blows Animator into outer space and destroys him completely!

Neo-Novus exclaimed, "This is not possible! My special Cyber-Terror Battery cannot work a second time, all it can do is restore the ecosystem and atmosphere this miserable over-carbonated excuse of a planet! I've even theorized the possible interference of the Soulrangers perfectly! Doesn't matter, whatever the envious technology they have, it will be discovered somehow… by me, and by that they… they will fall." His cape converted into wings as he flew off!

Soul Green says, "Man, I love this bison!" Soul Red asks, "Yellow-kohai… where on Earth did you get this technology?" Soul Yellow said, "Vaal and the robots provided me with most of the materials and half the technology, Ichigo-chan delivered the last bits of needed materials, and the rest of the technology beforehand… came to me in a dream. However the rest and the mecha's design are mine."

Suddenly, the sky started to open up. Soul Blue asks, "What in the world's… going… on?"

——————

In the mountains of Japan, Kyamio sensed the phenomenon, "What is this incredible power?"

——————

Even Vaal and the robots sensed what was going on, "What… the… hell?"

——————

All of the sudden, right from out of the mysterious opening in the sky; a gigantic and mysterious golden serpentine dragon-like mecha that appears and looks down at the Soul Mecha. Soul Green ask, "What the hell? Did we just make Animator even stronger?" Soul Yellow shakes her head, "No… this is something else entirely."

Soul Red feels a little weird, "That's strange. It's got incredible power yet I'm getting a strange feeling that it's not here to attack us." Beams shot out from the dragon's eyes and transported the Soulrangers out of the Soul Mecha and to the ground where they've leapt from earlier.

Soul Yellow points at the Soul Mecha, "It's taking away our Soul Mecha!" Everyone looks to find the Soul Mecha float away with the dragon. Soul Red leaps up to the dragon and calls to it, "Wait!"

Suddenly… a bright light enveloped the Soulrangers along with the dragon and Soul Mecha.

——————

The Soulrangers found themselves in a new world, a world with peaceful blue skies and floating islands of many varieties. But the strangest thing of all was the wavy golden rivers down below, because they look very similar to the body of the mecha dragon that was taking away the Soul Mecha.

The Soulrangers looked behind them to find the dragon and turned completely to face him. Soul Red asks, "Who are you?" The dragon spoke in a godlike yet calm voice, "I am Soul Mecha Master Carrier Dragon Draco. You may call me 'Draco'."

Soul Red & Soul Blue exclaimed in unison, "Another Soul Mecha?" Soul Green & Soul Yellow follow, "A Master Carrier Dragon?" Together, the Soulrangers finish, "Draco?"

Draco says, "I'm taking the Soul Mecha because I've been made to. I appear from my dimensional home to overlook things in other dimensions where Soulrangers are involved. I've been around as long as all other Soulrangers have been, 7 eons ago." Soul Blue was surprised, "7 billion years ago?" Draco nods before he continues, "Even though I am technically a machine, I have an actual personality, having a history of others calling me hotheaded and proud yet kindhearted and caring; and a soul, that was spiritually cloned from the soul of the Draco constellation." Soul Green asks, "Hence 'Draco'?" Draco nods before continuing again, "I house Soul Mecha inside my carrier sections when they're not needed, I can also repair and recharge all Soul Mecha when they're housed inside me. But when you do need them, I will appear and they will come to you." Soul Yellow understands, "Oh! So that's why you're taking them; you're a gargantuan one-person Soul Mecha sitter/doctor." Draco nods, "Exactly."

Soul Red calls to him, "Wait!" then asks "You said you overlook things involving Soulrangers, can you look into the past or something?" Draco says, "You'll have to find the answers you're looking for some other time, Soul Red. But as a sign of gratitude for your first successful battle, I bring you and Soul Blue gifts."

In Soul Blue and Soul Red's hands appeared metal orbs with Soul Badge marks on them. "Soul Familiar Capsules?" asks Soul Red. Soul Blue says, "Red's got one and I've got four." They opened them to reveal the Soul Familiars inside; a red liger cub (kitten-sized), a blue baby orca whale (no bigger than an albacore tuna), a blue manta ray (Frisbee-sized), a blue shark, and a blue saw shark (both this and previous no bigger than carp).

Draco said to the Soulrangers, "Ever Soul Red proved to be the most mature out of all of you and two of your missing Soulranger comrades have been found, the Soul Familiar Eggs began self-incubating." Soul Green asks, "The other two? Do they have their Soul Badges yet?" Draco shook his head, "No, but you must bring their Soul Badges with you and look for their Soul DNA Marks. It took me a while to grow up as you call it, but it was worthwhile. Just like Soul Blue learned her cryokinesis just because she was understanding how important the Soul Badges are when you're in Soulranger form."

Soul Red asks, "So we gain new powers by experiencing something that we haven't yet, if a certain virtue of ours inside of us has awakened, if we spiritually grow up, get over something we've been experiencing lately or embrace it, have some extremely emotional moment, and/or get alone better amongst ourselves?" Draco nods, "That is correct."

The Soulrangers look at each other… Iwamaru is still trying to get over his fear of women even though he's working with two and he doesn't exactly accept Li as a friend yet. Meiru has a problem with her falling in love at the drop of a hat but also only sees Li as a comrade in battle for she's scared of what he may do against her in the future. Li feels completely alone around Iwamaru and Meiru, even though Yuri is friendly to him, and he is desperate to know about his past. Yuri is with the grownups and is accepted, but inside she feels rejected because of all the horror they're bringing to themselves and fears that they may target her too someday.

Soul Red looks up Draco and says, "I don't care about what evils stand in our way, not even the 7 Deadly Forces, but I will look to them for help; Iwamaru's strength of body and will, Yuri's inventive skills and her joyful spirit, and Meiru's heart and compassion for others."

Soul Green gets up to face Draco, "Li may be a pain in the ass for me; but he has the ability to tell the difference between the real thing and Neo-Novus just by looking at them. Yuri and Meiru give me some goose bumps, but I trust them and their skills."

Soul Yellow jumps into line and faces Draco, "Sempai, Iwamaru-san, and Aneki are always scary when they argue with each other… but that doesn't mean I'm giving up on keeping us together if it means saving our beloved world or any other world from evil."

Soul Blue boldly says to Draco, "Seeing how this world and the innocent souls on it are all depending on the four of us; including the annoying but troubled Rosuto Li, the gynophobic but extremely helpful Iwamaru, strange yet wonderful Yuri-chan, and me… there's nothing that will stop me from saving it."

Draco says, "Soon… the four of you will find all of your abilities, just stay together and learn more about each other and yourselves from within, find your Soul Familiars and missing Soulranger comrades, and find innocence and protect them. For now… farewell."

—————

FLASH! Draco flew off into the opening in the sky before it too disappeared, leaving the human form Soulrangers staring up at the sky bravely.

Suddenly, Ichigo and the elderly woman that Li helped earlier came by.

—————

In the Elemental Four Café, Li was asked out by Ichigo, so Iwamaru is following a book to prepare the Soulranger leader for the date, which the elderly woman (who turned out to be Ichigo's grandmother, with whom she lives with) set up for taking care of her and heroically saving Ichigo.

Iwamaru's voice was heard throughout the walls, "Hold still, will ya?" Li's followed, "I am! It's just that you're trembling so much since you've never experienced another female in your life aside from your mother and our partners." "Well… I can read books too. So what's the difference?" "What's the difference? I've never expected that expression to tempt the fates!"

Yuri looked at her e-mail on her yellow laptop on the Space Age Counter as their new friend Scottie, which is a cute little tin-colored robot that can change into a ball form to travel around at excessively high speeds, danced around brainlessly on the counter. Meiru defined to the boys, that despite him speaking Japanese with a Scottish accent, he is smart, efficient, easy-to-use, easy to get along with, and most definitely adorable. Iwamaru nicknamed Scottie 'Sutaffu no Chikai-kun' ('Short Stuff') since when he's not in ball form he's only the size of a small doll. Li just refers him to 'Aibou-chan'.

As the boys came down, Li was in a white tuxedo. Yuri giggles, "Oh! I wish I was Ichigo-chan." Meiru says as she applauds, "Amazing work, Iwamaru; any girl would go out with a guy dressed like that." Iwamaru shrugs, "Thanks, I've gotten that look from out of a book." Li gets flustered, "I thought you're afraid of girls, buddy, how would you know about dating? This could be awkward!" Iwamaru calmly says, "At least I don't have to hear you for the rest of the evening; including you calling me 'buddy'."

Ichigo got through the door, she was dressed in a pink and red ballroom dress. She said with a smile, "I'm ready, Li-kun!" as she placed a red rose on his collar, Li groaned in his thoughts, "God made the five of them!" and he was dragged away into the lovely evening by her.

To be continued…

—————

Shared Techniques between the Soulrangers;

Soul Fist; an overly powerful straight punch that can overwhelm a weakened enemy. Its destructive power is determined by the strength of the current soul level of the Soulranger multiplied in tons multiplied by the strength of the actual punch.

Soul Kick; a very powerful roundhouse kick that could defeat an enemy if used more than once. Its destructive power is determined by the strength of the current soul level of the Soulranger multiplied in tons multiplied by the strength of the actual kick.

Soul Jump; a jump that can span cities or almost reach the skies in a single bound. Its measurement of the enlightened jump is determined by the strength of the current soul level of the Soulranger multiplied in kilometers multiplied by the strength of the actual jump.

Soul Dash; at full speed, the Soulranger's running speed is increased by his/her current soul level multiplied by the speed of the original pace multiplied in 16 KPH (10 MPH).

Soul Rise; with a little concentration, the power of the Soulranger goes up.

Soul Change; a Soulranger can change himself/herself into a different version of him/herself. This technique can also be used on certain items/Soul Familiars/etc., the Soulranger can change that item/creature into whatever he/she desires.

Soul Fusion; a Soulranger can fuse with another Soulranger to form into a whole new Soulranger with hidden powers unlocked from within. This technique can also be used on certain items/Soul Familiars/etc., the Soulranger can fuse/combine that item/creature in any way he/she desires.

Soul Extension; Soulrangers can infuse their power into one Soulranger in case of emergencies.

Shared Abilities between the Soulrangers;

Soul Unity; a Soulranger can infuse the power of another soul nearby with his/her own, empowering him/her to a certain extent.

Telepathy; a Soulranger can communicate with another with Soul DNA.

Mind Reading; a Soulranger can read the minds of others with enough concentration.

Animal Abilities; one with Soul DNA can use the same abilities as any creature from the DNA in their systems.

Heightened Senses; a Soulranger has better senses than any other human or other creature.

Short-Range Teleportation; a Soulranger can go from one place to another just by concentrating on the

desired location and touch his/her Soul DNA Mark.