Kouyou Sentai Soulranger

(Elemental Squadron Soulranger)

———————

Vessel 4: The Greedy Emperor and the Mysterious Hunter?

———————

It was a regular delivery like any other delivery for Rosuto Li, today he's returning to the Café after delivering a young girl's birthday present to her at school.

On his way to the café, Li parks his motorcycle to take a little break before he could go any further because he's been working all morning… then the sound of an electric guitar got his attention; he got up and turned to find someone he never saw before——

At one of the outdoor tables of a restaurant Li stopped at, a mysterious humanoid figure in black is playing a blue electric guitar shaped like an arrow. He is clad in black leather boots, black denim jeans, a black turtleneck undershirt, black leather gloves, a black leather jacket with large collars and pointed triangular shoulders, hard black cuffs fastened on his lower legs and forearms by black buckles, black elbow pads and kneepads, a silver Star of David pin on the left breast side of his jacket, a blood-red scarf wrapped around his neck, and a black motorcycle helmet on his head concealing his identity.

Strangely, as suspicious as this strange character is, Li sensed something safe about him. Bravely, he walks up to the stranger in black and speaks to him, "Excuse me, but may I ask who you are?"

The mysterious stranger stops playing and turns to look at Li, he then removed the strap carrying the guitar on his body, and made one hand just like a hieroglyph and slowly moves it over his visor as he introduced himself, "The Lone Wolf Amongst All Souls; Black Magic Hunter."

Li was amazed, "Black Magic Hunter?" then puts on a calm face "so your name is going to be a mystery to me until your motives are clear to me." Black Magic Hunter says in the English language, "Nonsense." Li was confused but kept calm, "You seem to be on my side, yet I can also tell that you have absolutely no intention of evil." Black Magic Hunter replies (back in Japanese), "And you are no enemy of this planet and beyond. You may call me 'Hanta-san' (Hunter)."

Li says, "In case you need a delivery, call for Sonic Bird Express and we'll deliver whatever you need in a hurry as soon as possible." As Li turns to leave, Hunter stops him by placing a hand on the young man's shoulder and says, "Wait… I do have a delivery to make——" then he spoke to Li in telepathy, "Soul Red."

Li was shocked, "Are you one of the two missing allies we're looking for?" Black Magic Hunter says as he lets go, "Sadly, I am not. But I shall not endanger the lives that you care for deeply." Li asks, "What would you like for me to deliver?" Hunter reaches into a large brown paper bag in a chair next to him, "Don't worry; it'll be short and the payment will be great." He hands a box of rainbow-colored candy (similar to gummy bears) to Li and a paycheck worth ¥400 million ($3,390,979.99).

Shocked by the hefty price, Li stutters a bit, "Who are these gummy bears for? And at such a high price?" Hunter gathered his things and walked off after answering Li's question; "Yourself, I've been watching you and you have incredible courage." Before disappearing off into the distance and the crowd, he gave one last telepathic message to Li, "You and I are allies now, against the 7 Deadly Forces. That is the first sign to seal our friendship with one another. Remember to always keep your strength up, look for more deep within, and share it with others. So long, Paladin of Fire."

The waitress that came to the table that Black Magic Hunter was at earlier said to Li, "He may be mysterious, overly-dressed, and very creepy… but he's a great musician, very cool, kind and generous, and best of all; he's loaded." Li went wide-eyed, "Loaded?" he became half-nervous and half-impressed about the Black Magic Hunter.

—————

In space, a golden-colored eye/planet-like space colony with an emerald iris appears out of nowhere in a position around Earth as it may be seen as a new smaller moon for the Earth to have… but in truth, this space station is in fact a golden kingdom ruled by an alien emperor.

Underneath the center of the emerald iris, which is really a giant viewing window for checking at Earth down below, a rainbow-and-gold colored sarcophagus sat beneath it and then opened to reveal a very imposing humanoid figure that first stepped out and then positioned himself to sit as the sarcophagus transformed into a throne, in which he sat into.

The figure was human-sized and clad in golden-colored silk-like robes covering golden-colored armor. His helmet is the same color as his garments but crown-like and jagged and a grotesque gargoyle/triceratops-like mask is connected to the helmet completely concealing his true face.

He turns to face a series of black circles encircling his throne and says, "Imperial Court, come forth." The black circles opened to reveal chairs rising out of the ground, with various alien beings from various worlds.

A 10-centimeter-tall (4 inches) green-skinned alien court member dressed in a white bodysuit in one of these chairs took off a pair red-and-blue goggles and says to his fellow members, "Let me tell you something; 3D and interdimensional travel just don't mix for my species." A 6-foot-high white furry alien with sharp teeth next to him says, "Then why the hell did you put them on, Galva-Zard?" a grey-colored humanoid angler fish in a black suit next to Galva-Zard replies, "I wanted him to test them, Zurry-Do; to see what it's like." Zurry-Do groans, "Shut up, Pir-Eelegg!"

The emperor removes his mask and tilts his head back to look at the Earth, "The Planet Earth…" he said quietly, "It's even more beautiful than I've ever imagined." He turns to his subjects, "Loyal subjects of my imperial court, this planet is ours for the taking, but remember; it's mainly mine. You are free to perform any acts of purifying what the puny and insignificant Earthlings failed to purify; their own home."

A black-colored alien with the resemblance of a frog spoke up, "This is outrageous; Midasokka-sama! The people of Earth don't take statements from anyone or even surrender, they are stubborn creatures who would rather die than give up their planet to people like us." Midasokka says, "I find their planet interesting, Boca-Kuro, when we invade… change all the pollutants into space fuel then we'll see if they will see my good side once I make deals with them; their beautiful planet for an endless supply of cash."

A lovely (in every way by human standards on Earth) female alien in a blue bodysuit asks, "And if they should resist and not accept your proposal, Midasokka-sama?" Midasokka looks towards her, revealing his handsome face with locks of blonde hair with cool yet cold yellow eyes, and says to her "then, Chiruki-Ko, they have to buy their planet from them then."

A brown-skinned reptile/canine-like alien named Revor-Arc said, "I'd say we take the planet by force, because they're likely to resist money and see us, and mainly you, as a threat to them, Midasokka-sama." A green-skinned sharp-toothed dinosaur-like humanoid nods, "Agreed… call for all the mercenaries you've hired down to Earth!"

Midasokka puts on his mask, "Excuse me? All those mercenaries sent down to Earth? I believe more than one mercenary at a time would be even more than I can handle, besides the Terrans would take this as an invasion; which is why I believe only one would be more like it." He taps the left armrest on his throne and a phone pops out, he picks it up and dials, "Operator Gol-Ai, get me the Imperial Inn."

—————

The Imperial Inn is actually a lot of luxurious cabins for mercenaries from space that Midasokka hires. He makes deals with them and pays them with promise payments they request and they come from various worlds to gain after working for him. He's never worried because money is never a problem for him because he is beyond filthy rich.

In one of the cabins, which is more rocky than a cave, a gray rhinoceros-like humanoid with massive muscles and scales (like a crocodile) clad in a green muscle shirt, camouflage pants, fingerless black leather gloves, and thick-soled boots each with a single metal horn protruding upwards from the toe area walked up to the large telephone made for someone his size. Protruding from on top of his nose sat a solitary golden-yellow-colored horn like a regular rhino.

He picks it up and asks, "Yes, Midasokka-sama?" Midasokka's voice answered, "Kaopo Don from Planet Arito, take a battalion of my Imperial Soldiers and you shall have your reward of having a dream paradise planet of your very own." Enlightened, Kaopo Don asks, "What's the mission?" Midasokka replied, "Collect all pollutants and pollution from Earth and turn it into space fuel; convince the planet's people that with their own space money, they can forget about not giving up their planet."

Kaopo Don asks, "Do I get to drain the energy from those who would try to resist?" Midasokka says, "Yes, and if energy-draining is not enough… go ahead and use physical force." Kaopo Don smiles sinisterly, "I've been waiting for a little action."

—————

Back in the Elemental Four Café, Li returned while eating the candy the Black Magic Hunter gave to him. When he came back in, he spotted his boss from Sonic Bird Express, Tsuyoshi, dining on some curry Meiru was cooking.

Li called to her, "Hey, Meiru!" She looked at him and replies "Yeah?" he asks her, "Exactly how long has Kurenai-san been here?" Meiru answers, "About six dishes of chicken curry and white rice ago, he's on his 7th one before you came in." Iwamaru came to Li's boss and asks, "Where does he pack it all?" Li downs the last of the candy in the box and says to the others, "I've been thinking that for years."

Tsuyoshi gets up to his feet, "I'm heading off now, see you later!" as he left through the door, Yuri came in the main café area, with a blue denim jumpsuit, and says, "Okay, the robots, Scottie-chan, and I have done some remodeling and now we've got ourselves a larger dining area but with a magnificent undersea view."

Meiru says, "It's been only a week and a half since we've become Soulrangers and already you've made this place into a running café in less than a day and hotel with a secret laboratory deep underground under Odaiba, then you build the Soul Mecha and Scottie-chan, and in just one night up to the middle of the day, you've already made a dining room for people who would like a beautiful view?" Yuri counts with her fingers, "All with the help of Vaal, Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Scottie-chan, I've also made artificial fantasy genre-based subterranean cavern-like dining room, an artificial volcanic kingdom dining room, and a genuine outdoor café just up there on the top of our own building, just above the four of six hotel flats of ours."

Iwamaru asks, "Why give only the Earth and Fire sides the artificial stuff while Air and Water get the real deal?" Meiru adds in, "And what's with the other two underground chambers?" Yuri explains them too; "One is the café's arcade and the other is its prize shop." Li asks, "Did you go all out and paid for the vending machines too?" Iwamaru and Yuri said in unison, "Vaal suggested it."

Vaal telepathically replied, "The contractors and bankers who agreed to this place with every detail as long as we get paying customers. They believed we couldn't last four days then became shocked to hear that we're becoming a little more successful, especially with the very high-paying customers."

Yuri noticed the empty box, "Eh? Where on Earth did you get that, senpai?" Li said, "Some mysterious dude in black calling himself the Black Magic Hunter made a short delivery to me and this was the package needing to be delivered." Iwamaru shrugs, "Oh well, most delivery boys don't keep their promises." Li said, "Actually it was to be delivered to me; he even paid a ridiculously high price."

Meiru hands Li his café outfit and asks, "How high?" Li shows the check to her, "See for yourself Meiru." Being of a curious mind, Meiru looks at the check and her eyes look ready to bug out, "400 million yen? That's over 30 thousand times more than what your boss usually pays us!" Yuri takes a scanner to the check, "And it's all real." Iwamaru, suspicious of the check, touches the check and replies, "100 percent real and legal. Whoever the Black Magic Hunter is, he's not from our planet but is on our side, and his money is… three whole galaxies worth compared to the wealth of my entire family has."

Li asks, "Are you saying I should just cash it in?" together, his comrades say, "Yes." Li shrugs "Whatever" as he walks off.

—————

After cashing his check into his bank account, Li gets ready for the way back. Due to the traffic in Odaiba and him leaving his motorcycle back at the Café, he thought of a quicker to get back——

He concentrated and then… FLASH! He turned into a regular-sized red-colored housecat with black stripes and a white belly. The garments and belongings that were on him, from when he was in human form, apparently disappeared into a pocket dimension; like his Soul Badge. The only thing that could be described on him as a garment is a bright red collar with a ruby-and-gold mini-Soul Badge tag.

Li knew that the Soulrangers can shapeshift into the creature depending on the gene they have inside of them because Vaal told him of this convenience just last night. He leapt from car roof to car roof on his way to the Café, having the convenient size and dexterity of a housecat gave him the ability to get passed all inconveniences a normal human would have; so in this form getting back to the café would be no problem.

He then notices trouble; he finds someone who looks like he was attacked in the alley, he leaps towards the poor man and finds holes in his clothes that appeared to have been made by a horn of some creature, luckily he was alive but his strength was sapped.

Li took his chances and rubs up against the man, who slowly wakes up and weakly says, "Must warn everyone… alien emperor… wants… the Earth." Li figures it must be another of the Seven Deadly Forces. A police officer comes by the alley, witnesses the poor man on the ground, and picks him up. Li rushes to the Café.

—————

Li made it there, but the others didn't recognize him——

"Yuri, did you allow animals in?" (Iwamaru)

"No, but you've got to admit; it's really cute!" (Yuri)

"I don't know, maybe we should find out what its problem is." (Meiru)

Li remembered that he's still in a housecat form and changes back (just the way he was before turning into a cat), "Guys!" the surprise on their faces was not expected—— "Eh?" Li groans before his explaining, "Oh… Vaal says that we can turn into any creature depending on the specific gene injected into us!" everyone, in reaction, exclaimed, "OH!"

Li explains why he returned, "A man was attacked by some creature with a horn and he also said something about an alien emperor that wants the Earth! I figure this emperor is one of the Seven Deadly Forces." Iwamaru says, "Good reason." Yuri said, "The news on our new TV did says something about a man witnessing a monster that attacked him after he refused to let anyone become followers of his emperor in exchange for our planet." Meiru said, "He said 'no deal' and almost got impaled but still he fainted."

Vaal telepathically says to the Soulrangers, "Yuri's lab computer detects an unusual life form in Odaiba, just in the 4th Westside District." Li said, "Alright, we're on it." The Soulrangers looked at each other and shout out, "Let's go!"

Together, they shout out, " Soul Badges!" their Soul Badges formed into their hands, they placed them over their Soul DNA Marks and shout out, " Soul Force unlock…" and presented them forward in their palms, shouting out, " SOUL HENSHIN!"

Meiru stood in the middle of an ocean, the she exploded into a humanoid figure of illuminating blue water! A tidal wave came crashing from behind her… as she resurfaced… her body is suited into a blue suit with white gloves and boots! A white-colored belt appeared and had her Soul Badge appear onto it like a belt buckle, with a holster on both sides of the belt. A gentle rain came down on her, creating a blue helmet over her head; the visor is like the fin at the end of a whale's tail. She positioned herself in a water-connected kata, with a beautiful rainbow above the calm sea in the background!

Yuri stood in the calm clear blue sky, and spun like a top and formed a tornado from it! Feathers of all sizes, shapes, and colors came flying from without her; as her small whirlwind died out… her body is suited into a yellow suit with white gloves and boots! A white-colored belt appeared and had her Soul Badge appear onto it like a belt buckle, with a holster on both sides of the belt. Small gusts of wind blew through her hair, creating a yellow helmet over her head; the visor is shaped like a bird in flight. She positioned herself in a wind-connected kata, with a flash of sunlight in the background!

Iwamaru stood in the middle of a rock quarry, before he dissolved into a humanoid figure of brown stone! A landslide of boulders came crashing from behind him… as he resurfaced from the boulders… 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. Small gusts of wind filled with fresh green leaves blew through his hair, creating a green helmet over his head; the visor is like a bull's face. He positioned herself in an earth-based kata, with a beautiful tree growing to its fullest potential in the background!

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!

——————

In the 4th Westside District in Odaiba, Kaopo Don was terrorizing a group of middle school students by his own appearance. He said to them, "Just hold still as I collect the lead off of you, kids. Don't worry, you'll be grateful that soon you'll find a better planet than this miserable mud-ball soon." He pointed his gun-like tool at them and was about to pull the trigger when——

The Soulrangers jumped in and kicked Kaopo Don's tool out his hand and blocked him from the young students. He got angry and said, "Who the hell are you?"

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!"

Kaopo Don says, "So, you're the piece of resistance from this planet that Midasokka-sama informed me to look out for. What do you say? Shall you be our allies in exchange of this miserable mud-ball that he admires and wants to collect?"

Soul Green scoffs, "What? I'd rather stay here; this miserable mud-ball just happens to be our favorite home, regardless of what mankind accidentally did to it over time." Soul Yellow nods, "There's absolutely no way we'd surrender this blue pearl without a fight."

Kaopo Don says, "I'll deal with you brats later. Imperial Soldiers, attack!" out from the sky came arrowhead-shaped jet-like vehicles zooming overhead while letting loose warriors in armor down on the Soulrangers, who easily dodge the attack so they could see what these foot soldiers would be like when they encounter them——

One half of them are fearsome green-colored humanoid crocodiles that are clad in golden-colored pieces of metal armor. The other half of them are like stereotypical gray-colored aliens but in silver-colored mechanical suits of armor as big as the reptile-like ones. Soul Red says, "I've seen the two of those alien races in Sonic Bird Express co-worker Takeda Akira's post-sci-fi magazines; the reptiles are Reptilians and the armored grey-heads are Greys." Soul Green replies, "Thanks for the info."

Soul Yellow draws her Soul Stick, sets it on laser gun mode, and says "Since we're facing post-sci-fi freaks, it's only likely that we should use scientific weapons against them!" and types in 990. "Jamming Ray."

Soul Blue follows but sets her Soul Stick on sonic sword mode, and says, "Just hope they don't have force fields!" and types in 88456. "Sonic Frequency 88456" says her Soul Stick sonic sword.

Soul Green shrugs, "What's the point of fighting? Since this Midasokka's space mercenary is just taking away the pollutants and pollution, than life on this planet would be sweeter. So it's not really our problem." Soul Red replies, "It will be our problem if we'd just hand over our only home planet like it was valuable property to him and have nowhere else to go but slavery to him!" Soul Green gasps, "Okay… on second thought, we have to stop him."

Soul Yellow fired her laser gun at the Reptilians, the red-orange rings it fired had no affect them in any way. Soul Red says, "I think the Jamming Ray is for knocking out electronic devices and machines, nothing else. If you want to aim at something electronic, try their headgear." Soul Yellow tries again, but this time at the headgear on a Reptilian's head he went blindly around attacking his allies!

Soul Yellow asks, "How did you figure they're helpless if their headgear are malfunctioning?" Soul Red plows through the confused Reptilians and says, "I just figured that these Reptilians are nothing more than world domination fanatic muscle-heads."

Soul Blue turned the Midasokka's Imperial Reptilian Soldiers into steaks with a few strokes as she passed them. The Greys jumped on Soul Green, outnumbering him and covering him view.

Soul Green knocks them all off of him and says, "The true problem is these Grey guys' strategy." Soul Red says, "Oh yeah, the Greys must be the brains while the Reptilians are brawn." He explained in thoughts to his comrades, "Akira's annoying speeches are all coming back to me now." Soul Green exclaimed in his thoughts, "What galaxy are your co-workers at that delivery company from?" "Yeah, that information is becoming extremely useful to us." Soul Blue followed as she terminated the Greys after Soul Yellow fired her Jamming Ray on the Grey's armor; which started to crackle with electricity-like energies and explode several times.

Soul Green says, "Now let's stop him!"

Kaopo says, "I've never realized that you are incredibly strong!" then he bowed down in an apologetic matter. That left Soul Green, Soul Yellow, and Soul Blue confused, but Soul Red intervened before anything could happen by stepping in front of his comrades.

A massive blast of red energy was shot at Soul Red, causing him to crash into his comrades and have them fall like pins struck by a bowling ball! As Soul Red tried to get up, Kaopo Don pressed his horn against the red Soulranger's chest, suddenly Soul Red's strength diminished quickly until he felt limp before the space mercenary got to his feet again. The other Soulrangers noticed this as they were the only ones, excluding their leader and their horned mercenary, getting to their feet.

Soul Yellow asks, "Red-sempai! Why aren't you getting up?" Soul Red answers, "I've figured out how that guy lost his strength; try to avoid the horn, it can drain energy from whoever's in contact." Soul Blue gasps, "You mean to say that we have to avoid that horn or else he'll drain our strength? Just like you?" Soul Red nods, "That's what I said."

Soul Green scoffs, "Don't worry, we'll just break that horn off!" Kaopo Don chuckles as charges at Soul Green, the mere thrust from impact from the horn sent him flying! After crashing back on the ground, Soul Green asks, "What the hell happened?" Kaopo Don answers, "When my species, from the planet Arito, keep the energy we've absorbed through our horns, we gain super-strength. When we release the energy, it becomes a concentrated blast that can devastate our foes."

Then he pressed his horn down on the fallen Soul Green, drawing in the energy out of him. Soul Green heavily pants out, "My strength… is… leaving… me." Soul Yellow and Soul Blue charged at him, with their Soul Sticks out in Sonic Sword mode! But Kaopo Don's arms were too quick so he used his hands to redirect their free hands onto the tip of his horn, draining their strength too.

All four Soulrangers are sprawled on their backs, lacking so much energy thanks to the space mercenary's horn. Kaopo Don says, "How pathetic, I was expecting someone more of a challenge, not a bunch of brainless weaklings." Soul Red growls out, "Don't let it get to you… savor what strength and energy you have left… he could crush us now that we're out of strength."

Suddenly the sound of a saxophone was heard in the vicinity, following the sound the overpowered group and horned mercenary from outer space found the Black Magic Hunter playing a small saxophone like a master player, with the mouthpiece going in from under the helmet. Next to him is a stuffed brown paper grocery bag, along with a small pile of empty rice ball wrappers, three empty cups that once held instant ramen, and seven empty glass bottles.

Soul Red exclaimed, "Hunter?" Soul Green, Yellow, and Blue ask, "That guy is the Black Magic Hunter?" Soul Red looks at his comrades and nod. Kaopo asks, "Is that guy in black a new guy to oppose me?" Black Magic Hunter stops playing and lays down the sax, he turns to Kaopo and says, "Please, I'm trying to sooth the friction this planet is going under." Kaopo Don says, "Just who do you think you are?"

Black Magic Hunter made one hand just like a hieroglyph and slowly moves it over his visor as he introduced himself, "The Lone Wolf Amongst All Souls; Black Magic Hunter."

Kaopo Don charges in while shouting out, "Never monologue when you're in danger!" The Hunter just grabs Kaopo Don's horn and that stops him, amazingly the black leather-clad stranger has immense strength. "That's a bad idea, pal!" Kaopo Don said to his opponent, "I drain one's energy through my horn!" Hunter asks, "But what's the limit?" Surprisingly, energy is being drawn out from the Black Magic Hunter and into Kaopo Don's horn but the black-clad figure is still standing.

Suddenly, Kaopo Don's grays scales gained a reddish tint and he falls to the ground while Hunter is still well and standing. Kaopo Don groggily asks, "What kind of human are you? I've absorbed so much energy I'm so flushed I can't take on any more energy." Hunter calmly replies, "I've taken a lot of caffeine lately." Kaopo Don growls out, "How dare you mock me!"

Black Magic Hunter says, "I wouldn't release that energy if I were you; wouldn't your lord Midasokka, one of the Seven Deadly Forces, be just upset if your energy powers was the cause of the destruction of one part of this planet?" Kaopo Don realizes, "How right you are! Imperial Soldiers, attack!"

More Imperial Fighters, the arrow-shaped space jets that brought the first group of Imperial Soldiers, showed up from out of the sky and let loose a battalion of Reptilians and Greys before the Black Magic Hunter. Not flinching or showing any signs of emotional motions, the Hunter says, "About a hundred… it looks like perfect exercise."

The BMH goes into a martial arts pose and motions with his hand at the Imperial Soldiers to come and get him, they fell for it and charged at him. Despite each of his Reptilian opponents being armed with multiple missile launchers in their armor and each of his Grey opponents being armed with laser weapons in theirs, the Hunter dodged each attack heading towards him without effort and without a scratch.

When he got down to fighting them, he performed various video game-like moves. The way he was fighting was amazingly something out of a combat-derived video game but effectively powerful against the forces Midasokka owns. Soul Yellow and Soul Red looked at the Black Magic Hunter fight and said, "Amazing." Soul Blue strained out, "He… even overpowered… Kaopo Don's energy-draining ability."

—————

In his Space Empire, Midasokka overlooks the battle on a theatre-sized screen with his royal subjects. Midasokka was hearing everyone in his court saying how amazing the Black Magic Hunter is. He growled and then said, "I've seen those moves on intergalactic television and in video games. He does not interest me at all; it's so last millennium."

—————

Watching Hunter fight, Soul Red said, "We have to help… otherwise, we're no better than we already are… I'll push myself to any limits I haven't tapped into yet and go the distance for my goal!"

Suddenly, Soul Red gets an unusual burst of energy like there's no tomorrow! He gets to his feet as quick as a flash, "A new power." Then he remembered Hunter's words the last time they met, 'Remember to always keep your strength up, look for more deep within, and share it with others.' "The strength from within!" he turned to the other Soulrangers and said into their thoughts, "It's the powers of energy manipulation and energy conversion, I can manipulate any type of energy in any way, so I'm going to transfer all of this new energy to you!"

A thick cloud-like form of red energy flowed from Soul Red's body and flowed right into the Soulrangers' bodies! Soul Green regains his stance, "My soul feels like it's on fire! I like it!" Soul Yellow says, "Let's rock Kaopo Don's world!" Soul Blue gets to her feet, "With the power of four!" Hunter came by and said, "Plus one!"

The Soul Familiars (Red Lion, Green Bull, Yellow Eagle, & Blue Snake) popped out from the Soul Badges! Blue Snake said, "That energy's made me feeling fiery!" Yellow Eagle says, "Change us into Soul Armaments!" Green Bull says, "And combine us!" Red Lion finishes, "I'm feeling ready for the action!"

Soul Red places his hand over Red Lion. Red Lion levitated and turned into a red ball of light that went straight into Soul Red's wand. FLASH! The glowing red wand turned into a large red lion head-like gauntlet weapon on Soul Red's arm. "Lion Gauntlet!"

Soul Green places his hand over Green Bull's head. Green Bull levitated and turned into a green ball of light that went straight into Soul Green's coin. FLASH! The glowing green coin turned into a large green war-hammer weapon with a bull's head at the pommel of the handle. "Bull Hammer!"

Soul Yellow places her hand over Yellow Eagle's head. Yellow Eagle levitated and turned into a yellow ball of light that went straight into Soul Yellow's sword. FLASH! The glowing yellow sword turned into a medium-sized crossbow with the likeness of an eagle. "Eagle Crossbow!"

Soul Blue places her hand over Blue Snake's head. Blue Snake levitated and turned into a blue ball of light that went straight into Soul Blue's chalice. FLASH! The glowing blue chalice turned into a medium-sized baton weapon with a snake-like head at one end and a triangular spearhead on the other. "Snake Spear!"

Soul Blue places the snake's head of her Snake Spear close to Soul Green's Bull Hammer's bull's ring and it bit onto it. Soul Green and Soul Blue shout in unison, "Soul Chain-Smasher!"

Soul Red places his Lion Gauntlet below the eagle head of Soul Yellow's Eagle Crossbow. Soul Yellow and Soul Red shout in unison, "Soul Cross-Buster!"

Soul Blue held off some of the armored freaks coming at them as Soul Green worked his way to the horned mercenary from space. He heard a pair of telepathic voices speaking in unison to him, "Swing the hammer around by the lower handle, it can create a vortex attack." Soul Green does so, creating a cyclone-like blast sending the enemies before him past the stratosphere!

Soul Red fended off half of the oncoming Midasokka soldiers as Soul Yellow fired continuously at the other half surrounding them. The current blasts from the new weapon are dart-sized energy bullets from both animal heads' mouths. The blasts, on impact with the enemies' armor, penetrated through and caused those hit to spark before exploding to their deaths!

As soon as everyone was finished with the soldiers, the Soulrangers regrouped. Soul Green asks, "What the heck was in those gummy bears?" Soul Red shrugs, "They must've been blessed by Black Magic Hunter or something, because I didn't detect anything wrong or evil on them or from him."

Soul Green says, "I'm going to try to break that horn off!" Soul Yellow said, "We can't do that! If he uses that horn to defend and drain energy, he could explode!" Soul Blue said, "That's why we're going to smash that horn off of him from all the way here!"

Soul Green & Blue shout in unison, "Extending Smash!" Soul Green threw the Bull Hammer's hammer into the sky, having the Snake Spear's handle extend to an amazing length. He swung it down, bringing the heavy force down on Kaopo Don's horn, easily breaking it off!

Kaopo Don's colors returned to normal but only at the cost of his horn, "My… my beautiful horn is ruined! Brats, I'll make you suffer!"

Soul Yellow said, "That's just the beginning." "Because we're taking back what you stole from us!" finishes Soul Red.

Soul Red & Yellow shout in unison, "Charged Buster!" the energy built up in the two animal head's mouths of their combined weapon, with Soul Yellow at the trigger with Soul Red holding her ground carefully. She pulled the trigger and released a phoenix-shaped blast of yellow-colored energy and a dragon-shaped blast of red-colored energy from the barrels, resulting in an equally powerful attack. This attack destroyed the fallen horn and sent the weakened Kaopo flying!

The Soulrangers got together approximately 30 feet away from but in front of the space mercenary! A large cloud of energy flowed from the battlefield and fueled in various places and people; the energy absorbed by Kaopo Don is returning to its original and individual sources.

The Black Magic Hunter leaped up to the top the nearest building, along with a grocery bag in hand, and said, "Finish this fiend off, paladins of the elemental souls."

Soul Red felt some strong force from within himself, "Combine the Armaments; something tells me this will make sure that this space mercenary will learn to never mess with us!" The others nod, "Right!"

The Soulrangers placed the Soul Chain-Smasher underneath the Soul Cross-Buster, having all four of the animal heads facing the same direction. Soul Red held the weapon up in one hand as he and his comrades shout in unison, "Soul Totem Cannon!"

Kaopo Don was shocked to witness his appending doom, "No, wait! Please­­——"

The Soulrangers shout out "Soul Force Burst!" as Soul Red pulled the trigger and the four animal head blaster barrels shot four colored energy blasts that soon fused into an illuminating blast of even greater energy at the enemy and destroyed him in a fiery explosion!

The Soul Totem Cannon then flashed and changed back into the four Soul Familiars and four Soul Mediums!

Together, they exclaim in unison, "The constellation of triumph shines!"

—————

Midasokka's eyes widened with excitement, "Now there is something to gain my interest; those colored fighters and their magnificent powers!" Chiruki-Ko said, "They are called the Kouyou Sentai Soulranger. According to my research, they are in Odaiba where they first appeared in the first place. They are patrol of the 7 Deadly Forces, seven non-allied groups that are rumored to be a threat to the planet, Earth, in seven different ways. Four of them have been identified to this planet and the Soulrangers."

Midasokka smiles and shouts out, "This is just the excitement I need!" Galva-Zard said, "They appear to know about just Keia and Kyamio, little do most of them suspect that you are one of them, my lord." Midasokka growls, "So… 6 other guys want to rule the universe aside from me." Then he relaxes with a bright smile, "Maybe we can learn to work together; mainly for me and my kingdom to have the Soulrangers' powers and to find out their secrets."

Most of his court got the idea. Gorix-Ju says, "Everyone with almost god-like abilities. I love it, my lord!" everyone else agreed to that. Midasokka smiles, "That's more like it, my loyal subjects!" then the entire courtroom grew into a blizzard of malevolent laughter!

—————

Back at the Elemental Four Café, the Soulrangers celebrate for their latest victory in their own ways, while out of Soulranger form——

Li began cooking dinner for his team, Iwamaru acted like a boxer ready for another challenge, Yuri does a couple of cartwheels in a circle around the main café area, and Meiru danced around happily. Even though they knew their battle against the 7 Deadly Forces isn't over yet, they are happy to know that they are getting stronger quickly.

Vaal was sleeping due from the stress he got after watching the Soulrangers' battle, earlier Meiru said he went out cold and it turned into sleep just before BMH appeared within the battle, while the robots helped out in their own way.

That night, they gained a new visitor: the Black Magic Hunter himself!

Li was surprised, "Oh! I'm sorry, Black Magic Hunter sir, we're closing tonight." Black Magic Hunter opened his visor and ate the hamburger he had in his other hand (wrapper and all), without showing his face, and closed it again as he spoke, "I'm just here to congratulate you and give you four a small token of my appreciation, my congratulations, and my friendship."

Yuri steps up, excitedly, "Money?" Hunter hands her a check worth 500 million ¥ (almost 5 million in American dollars), "Aside from that, young lady." Underneath his arm was a grocery bag, he reached into it and pulled out a bottle of beer, a bottle of orange juice, a bottle of Coca-Cola, and a bottle of coffee milk. He explained, "The gummy bears had no blessing or anything of the sort, it was just a seal of friendship between us for we are allies against seven different foes and some others."

Meiru asks, "There are others?" Hunter says, "In truth, I am just like the four of you; a paladin defending what's right. About forces of evil other than the 7 Deadly Forces, most of them are excessively low-leveled and not to be worried about and there are a very few you don't have to worry about just yet. You'll be seeing me around more often; either probably playing music, eating, or doing other good deeds."

Meiru smiles, "You are a master musician, an explorer, a crime fighter, a skilled martial artist, a technique copycat master, a generous secret billionaire, a gourmet, and a philanthropist all in one within that black leather." "Why thank you." replies Black Magic Hunter.

Li asks, "Are those drinks for us?" Hunter nods, "Yes, so go ahead and take them."

Iwamaru takes the beer, "I'll take the beer; the three of you are too young."

Meiru takes the orange juice, "I've had a lot of milk in my childhood to make my bones grow strong, but it had another affect on me. So I'll have the orange juice."

Li shrugs, "Coca-Cola sounds okay with me. After all, I'm going to need my caffeine and energy."

Yuri takes the coffee milk, "Me too, especially since I plan to get working tonight. Plus the calcium will give my bones a boost."

Black Magic Hunter turns and says, "Until the next time, paladins of the elemental souls." Then he walked out the door.

Li says, "Well… let's open up the bottles and call it 'cheers'." The others nod.

"KANPAI!"

To be continued…