Super Sentai vs Super Sentai
Author's note: Jeez! It's been a damn while since I wrote the chapter and I'm even having trouble in keeping up with the pace. I hope you don't mind slow updates.
ACT 12: Loss
It has been several since the scarring incident of the death of Miki's mother. Contrary to how the team would think she'll act, in fact, Miki kept a cheerful face, as if nothing was going on. In fact, as of the current, she's taking several children to play with her. One of the kids invited her to play at an ice rink, skating through the ice block. She happily accepted, and for good measure, invited one of her friend to play with the children with her. This person was Youhei.
"Bro! Watch this!" One of the boys in the ice rink that was under Youhei's supervision suddenly exclaimed, waving his hand and started skating forward, as in running and trying to jump.
"Hey, that's dangerous!" Youhei said and skated to the boy, but was too late to prevent him from jumping. However, at least he managed to catch him on air, "Takaki, that's dangerous, you know?"
"But bro, I've seen that on TV! Looks easy enough!" The boy, Takaki insisted.
"The one who's doing it is a professional skater that trains a lot everyday, not everyone can do it by just watching the TV." Youhei explained, "Do you train in ice-skating a lot?" Takaki, having been exposed that he was just trying to look cool, hung his head down in shame. Youhei just patted his head and smiled, "You understand? Good. Now don't do that again, OK?"
As he continued to supervise the boys, at one point, he took a glimpse of what Miki was doing. She still kept her smile towards the children under her supervision and even taught them a beautiful way to skate, implementing her gymnastic dance skill as much as she could on the ice rink, resulting a rather beautiful dance. "Beautiful…" Youhei was too captivated at Miki's dance. At one point he remembered the tragedy that just hit her previously, 'She just lost her mother, yet she's kept putting that smile… Miki… deep down, you're probably still very sad…'
"Bro! Watch out!" Suddenly, Takaki yelled, bringing Youhei back to reality from his thinking… only to find out that he was getting too close to the wall and ended up bumping the wall and fell with his back tumbling to the ice block.
"Ouch…"
"Oh dear…!" Miki realized what's going on and in instant stopped her dance to see if he's okay, "Does this hurt, Youhei?"
"Nothing, really." Youhei quickly dismissed it as he got up. Soon after, the situation quickly returned to normal and everyone was playing again.
Eventually, the time came for the kids to go home. After waving them good bye, Miki walked home along with Youhei.
"That dance… was pretty." Youhei commented, "Where did you learn that?"
"Well, I learned that after a bit of training from my fellow Goggle Five teammate." Miki answered, reminiscing her past, "Aoyama… I wonder what he's doing at this time."
"You mean… the one with the same color as me?" Youhei recalled the history book and kind of remembered that this Aoyama was Goggle Blue, "I'm pretty sure he's doing okay in that world. Well, it's our job to protect his world from afar."
"Yes." Miki nodded, "He and everyone would be devastated if people in his world started disappearing if we fail to protect them."
"So, he's… into ballet on ice?" Youhei asked, which annoyed Miki as she slapped his back.
"He's not something like that!" She corrected, "He's an ice hockey player! He just taught me the skills of skating on ice in free time."
"Oh, I… see." Youhei nodded, rubbing his back.
"And from his advices, I combined it with my own gymnastic skills and managed to do a little dance like that." Miki explained, "It's nothing big, actually."
She still clearly remembered, just several months after the defeat of Deathdark, the Goggle Five managed to pull a friendly reunion and decided to enter a newly-opened ice rink to spend some time. Miki had troubles in ice-skating at first, but thankfully for her, Aoyama decided to teach her until she stopped falling. She took a liking to it, and thanks to his guidance, she could even implement her own style for a little dance on ice.
"Speaking of past, Miki…" Youhei muttered, finally couldn't hold it anymore, "With all those smiles… I'm starting to wonder if you…"
"Ah, that?" Miki was reminded of the recent death of her mother, which soured her face… for only about a second before she went back to her normal face, "My mother would've wished me to go on, not to cling to her even after her departure. That's why… from that point on, I promised that I won't cry about it. I'll keep looking forward to the future."
"That's so like you, Miki." Youhei smiled at hearing it, "I'm glad that you're not changing."
Meanwhile, back in Kizuna, Gai arrived at the ship's library, where he saw Takeru utilizing one of the computers, "Yo, Takeru!" Gai greeted, "Man, you now look different than the Takeru I know in the past."
"What does that mean?" Takeru asked.
"Well, I just thought that the first time you're here, you're awestruck with how high tech this place is." Gai said, remembering Takeru's awkwardness the first time he came to this place, "And now, you seem as if you're already home here… like a geek."
"Geek? Did you just… forget it." Takeru was annoyed at how Gai teased him to be 'geeky', but he decided that it's not worth it and continued searching through the computer database, "I'm just more knowledgeable in computers than you think. Though I admit… I still can't do some complex commands." 'Though I don't need such complexity right now.'
"So? What are you searching, hm?" Gai decided to take a look at what Takeru was searching, but he was ignored, at least on how he also looked at the computer screen.
"Just more information about Akihiro and AkaRed." Takeru answered shortly, until he found something interesting, "Wait, this is…!"
"Seven colors to defeat the enemy… Seven colors to lead the way…" Gai read the text on the screen, "What does that mean?"
"Beats me… for now." Takeru also shrugged, but he kept thinking about it, 'Does it has something to do with the colors of our team…? We had five… Red, Blue, Pink, Black and White…' Takeru thought, thinking about what colors have gathered under his current team. Then, he remembered his old team, 'Come to think of it, there's no Yellow or Green yet…'
At the villain's dimension, Ahames called forth Jarmin to meet her. Apparently she had something up to her sleeve, and like how Radiguet conspired with Mazurka to cause a great blow to the Super Sentai, she's not going to let herself get one-upped.
"I see." Jarmin nodded, "So… this plan of yours would be very risky if we are to execute it."
"Yes. But the outcome will be worth it." Ahames added, "We might even get rid of one of those pesky Sentai completely!"
"I wouldn't be so sure. They can be so persistent." Jarmin noted, "But I will do my best."
"Perfect." Ahames nodded as she eventually turned to Juzou, "What about you, Juzou?"
"As long as I get to cross blades with any of those… preferably Shinken Red…" Juzou said, still uncaring as ever, "I'm in."
"Very well…" Ahames nodded, "I'd probably assign you together with Jarmin. As much as I prefer that we are strong on our own, I hope you two would get along."
"Just as long as she doesn't get in my way."
'Juzou…' Something tingled inside Jarmin's rotten heart. It's true that she's a completely evil princess who delights on torture, but it didn't mean that she didn't have a kindred spirit that shares her passion in torture and destruction. That spirit was her fellow Bouma warrior Zimba, the undead samurai, who seemed even quite protective to her. The more she saw Juzou, uncaring about human passion, the more she saw Zimba on him. "Very well, I'll leave your duels alone." Then she turned back to Ahames, "So, is that Space Beast out yet?"
"She should be." Ahames said, "And if I guessed it right… then she'd be his worst nightmare…"
Just before Youhei and Miki could reach their apartment, however, they saw several people running in terror as several Hidrer Soldiers were seen attacking them. "Hidrer Soldiers…! So does that means there'll be a Space Beast soon…? !" Miki wondered as she ran towards the enemy along with Youhei.
"Whether there'll be or not, first things first, we'll beat them down first!" Youhei added as both of them leapt for a jumping kick.
"TOOH!"
"CHESTOO!"
With the two's kick, they started fighting the Hidrer Soldiers. At one point, however, one Hidrer soldier managed to punch Youhei right on the face. "Ouch! Why you… I just smashed the wall on this face and you hit it!" He exclaimed as he rubbed his face. He then tackled the soldier and managed to grab its leg. Since he's at his human form, he's only able to toss it aside without swinging it.
Just then, however, he saw a rather frail, demure looking girl, just walking near the vicinity. Shocked at how carefree she was, Youhei approached her, "Miss, it's dangerous here! You should…!"
He then saw a glimpse of a monster, a Space Beast formed like a white flower, pointing its hand to him. In front of the girl, lightning bolts were blasted to him. "AGH!"
"Youhei!" Miki called out, approaching him. But what she said next wasn't pleasant to his ears, "You monster! Prepare yourself!"
"Wait… Miki? !" Youhei was shocked as he saw Miki running towards the girl and was attacking her, as she only receive all of Miki's attack, despite trying to dodge. It was like he saw Miki bullying a child, "Stop that…! Stop that!" Unable to take it anymore, Youhei got in front of her and tried covering the girl, "Miki, what are you doing? ! You're attacking a defenseless girl!"
"What did you just say, Youhei?" Miki asked back, "Do you realize what you've done? ! You're actually covering a Space Beast!"
"What? ! This girl? !" Youhei insisted, giving one more look to the girl, who looked perfectly normal to him, "I'm not seeing any monster here!"
"Help…" He heard the girl calling for help, before he got the glimpse of the monster again and was hit with another lightning bolt.
"GAH!"
"Youhei!" Miki called out again, as she looked at the girl. In her eyes, however, there was never a harmless little girl. In her place was the Space Beast itself, at least that's how Miki saw in her eyes.
"Ha ha ha! What you do was useless!" The Space Beast taunted, "He sees me as the girl. That is the special ability of mine… Yuti!"
"What do you mean?" Miki asked.
"I've targeted him thanks to one of those soldiers." Yuti said, pointing at Youhei, who's trying to get up, "One of the soldiers gave him a mark. As long as he has the mark, I can manipulate what he sees…"
"Bastard…! So that's what it is…!" Youhei, finally hearing the words of Yuti for real, managed to get up and realize that in the girl's place was a Space Beast, "And how do I remove that mark?"
"I'll tell you anyway… you will carry that mark until you die!" The revelation drove Youhei to push further. Raising his fist, he ran to attack Yuti again. And when he threw his fist again, he hesitated in the last second… as Yuti was taking form of a lady, which hit right on spot on Youhei's weakness… his chivalry towards women.
"Urgh…!"
"Youhei, why stop now? !" Miki urged him, "It's Yuti! Not a normal girl!"
"I know…!" Youhei tried to assure her that it's okay, but the more the girl gave a sad smile, the more he hesitated, "But I… I can't bring myself to hit a woman…!"
Yuti, still seen as a normal woman by Youhei, then gave him a punch that knocked him away. "Now, it's time for both of you to die!" Yuti said, now revealing her true form and opened the flower shape on her body, directed towards both Youhei and Miki as they were also knocked away. "Heh heh heh… You can't beat me. You may as well say your prayers…" Yuti said as she approached both of them, until…
"BRACE LASER!"
Yuti was then hit by a small laser, disrupting her walk. As she got back up, Sayaka was already there. "You two! Are you okay?" She said to both Youhei and Miki.
"I'm fine, Sayaka… but Youhei…!" Miki said, very worried, "He's been marked by that Space Beast…! Right now he's…"
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Youhei got up, attempting to ease both girls' tensions and prepared to transform, "Time to get serious, girls! BLUE TURBO!"
"OK! CHANGE MERMAID!"
"GOGGLE PINK!"
The three transformed and the three of them started attacking Yuti, in which she retaliated and fought back. For the moment, Blue Turbo always saw the real Yuti, not any girl. "Ha ha! Did you look at that? !" He said as he struck down Yuti with his Turbo Laser in its sword mode, "Your mark has no effect as long as I am a Turboranger!"
"Well, guess he's fine." Change Mermaid was relaxed, thinking that morphing took away the effect of the mark.
"I wonder about that…" Goggle Pink still had a tingling worry of what to come next, until she remembered something, "Speaking of which, where's Takeru and Gai?"
"Er, they're… a bit tied up at the moment…" Change Mermaid explained…
In the other side of the town, Shinken Red and Black Condor engaged against an attack of another enemy, the Bouma Tribe. Leading the attack was the apparently returned Gate Bouma… except that it's not split in two beings. The one they fight only has one being and able to do what both beings could. However, it lost the ability to coherently speak.
"Man, this guy's tougher than I thought." Black Condor commented after he slashed it several times with the Bringer Sword, but not enough to defeat it, "I thought he'd go down in one strike, like usual."
"Hate to say it, but they also learn from mistakes." Shinken Red commented, taking out a group of Wular soldiers using Raiden no Mai, "But at any rate, we have to finish this quick, so we can join Sayaka and the rest."
The truth was that after hearing that there was the riot caused by the Hidrer soldiers that Youhei and Miki witnessed, Takeru and Gai opted to help; but in the same time, the Bouma soldiers were reported to be sighted and caused trouble, forcing them to deal with it. Thankfully, they managed to contact Sayaka, who told her her current position. Since she's nearer to Youhei and Miki, Takeru told her to help them fight the Hidrer soldiers.
However, after several bouts of fighting, the new Gate Bouma gathered all the remaining Bouma soldiers around him and opened the gate on his chest… and then vanished, taking along his soldiers.
"Running away?" Black Condor said, seeing how the events folded.
'Is this some sort of distraction tactic?' Shinken Red said as he noted to rejoin the rest.
"All right! Prepare yourself!" Blue Turbo ran forward, preparing to punch Yuti. However, in a short time before his fist landed to her face, suddenly he stopped. In his eyes, there was no Yuti, but a normal-looking girl, standing and looking quite terrified. "No… this… can't be!" Blue Turbo tried to get himself together and punch the girl already. He knew it's a Space Beast, but his own moral code of not literally hitting innocent women hit him hard. He could make exceptions against purely evil women, like the ones he fought before, and ESPECIALLY Jarmin, but against such image of normal women, he couldn't do a thing.
This time, however, before Yuti could react, both Change Mermaid and Goggle Pink already leapt and kicked her on the face, knocking her out.
"Damn it!" Yuti grunted as she got up. Just then, she felt like she was being called by someone and pointed to the three, "I'll be back soon… but just you wait. Next time, you will all fall to my power…" With that, she created several lightning bolts to the three, and used the ensuing blast to escape.
"Wait!" Goggle Pink tried to stop her, but she couldn't catch up. In the meantime, however, Change Mermaid was berating Blue Turbo.
"Youhei, what was that? !" She called out, "Why did you stop in front of her? ! It was obviously the enemy!"
"You don't understand!" Blue Turbo insisted, "What I saw was… a normal woman… And I couldn't bring myself to do it!"
"Are you making fun of me?" Change Mermaid asked back, until Goggle Pink broke off the argument.
"Please, there's the story behind why he's doing this…" She started, but in a sudden, both Shinken Red and Black Condor arrived after fighting the Gate Bouma, thus the discussion would be taken to the Kizuna.
"I see… so the Bouma also struck somewhere…" Youhei said after hearing Takeru's explanation, "And you say that it's that Gate Bouma back?"
"Yes. But that's not important." Takeru said, approaching Youhei, "What went wrong with you? Suddenly unable to fight against women… You know that the Bouma is led by Jarmin, right? A woman."
"That's an exception!" Youhei insisted, "I'll never forgive her…"
"Then, why hesitate back then?" Takeru shot back at him, "Space Beast or not, it's also a woman and evil."
"That might not be true, Takeru. Most of them may be evil, but some are not." Sayaka cut the conversation, before looking at Youhei, "But… for this one, I don't think she's good…"
"The enemy has changed their tactics." Miki noted, "If before they create monsters to create chaos to the humans, it's as if they're making monsters to specifically destroy us."
"It doesn't mean they can't use what they would use to us to other people!" Gai added, "If we fall, those people are next. We can't let that happen! And Youhei… what are you gonna do about it?"
"I won't let that happen, of course!" Youhei insisted, his face getting serious.
"Is that so… in that case" Takeru said, "If you see that Space Beast again, turning into woman, will you fight it?"
"I… I don't know." Youhei said, suddenly feeling down, "The truth is… I have a policy. That… women are sacred and must be protected, not hit. That's why…"
"Oh…? So that's why you attract so many girls, Youhei." Miki said, with a bit of a twisted smile, "But does that mean that you'd like us to stay back and be protected all the time? No thank you, Youhei! I'd like to be active in battle too, protecting what's important to me!"
"Hey, I didn't mean that!" Youhei protested at the notion of accusing him as a sexist, "I mean, I feel that I must protect girls, not hit them… If they can fight, it's up to them to fight, and I'll even appreciate their presence and help. Just that…"
"In other words…" Gai concluded, "You have some sort of 'I won't hit a girl' thing going on."
"I guess." Youhei nodded, "Unless they're completely committed to evil. Like Jarmin."
"That Yuti is taking advantage of it." Takeru got to the point, "As a samurai, it pains me to say this, but Youhei… You have to betray that code for awhile."
"What did you say?" Youhei was shocked that Takeru would even suggest that.
"It's for your own good, Youhei!" Miki insisted, "Remember, there are three women amongst the enemies: Ahames, Mazurka and Jarmin! The three of them may have the power of disguise, and if they disguise themselves as innocent women, you're going to be in big trouble!"
"But what should I do? !" Youhei said, still unsure, "I can't betray this code that I've been following since I was a child!"
"Geez, learn to adapt a bit!" Gai was sufficiently annoyed hearing that, telling Youhei off, "If you can't get over that one…"
"That's enough." Sayaka suddenly broke the argument, "I'll handle this. Youhei, come and visit me in the training room."
"Huh? What for?" Youhei asked.
"You'll see." As Sayaka said that, she went out of the room.
As promised, Youhei entered that training room, which has been unlocked. The room was surprisingly empty, with only Sayaka sitting in the middle. "There you are, Youhei."
"What do you want with me?" Youhei asked, still approaching her.
"Just sit down, and relax." Sayaka told him, and he did. In a relaxed tone, she started, "You're… really that kind of guy, aren't you. The one who won't hit a girl at all."
"That's not what I meant…" Youhei said, "I did say that I would make an exception to some like Jarmin, right?"
"Or was it because she killed your old girlfriend?" Sayaka tried guessing, which riled Youhei up.
"Of course it was!" He shouted, "I'll never forgive her for that…"
"But, you know what, Youhei…" She suddenly started again, "I think that only Jarmin is your exception. Ahames is also a woman, you know."
"Well, then she's also on the exception list." Youhei declared, trying to sound sure.
"Lies." Sayaka shot him down with such words, "You only think that 'If it's not a woman named Jarmin, I'll show mercy'. That is your policy, right?"
"No way!" He denied, "If that woman is evil, I'll also show no mercy!"
"Really? According to the rest, you just hesitated because that Space Beast took form of an innocent woman." She continued, "And you can't bring yourself to hit her. So… women are your weakness, and they're exploiting it. That's why you're not fighting really seriously against Yuti."
"It's not!" Youhei insisted, "It's actually my strength. I fight to protect them, you know."
"Really?" Sayaka said, as she now had Youhei turning to her, "Then how about this?" Suddenly, she made a very cute wink, which somehow stunned him, being an admirer of females… then Sayaka suddenly slapped his cheek.
"Ouch! What was that for? !" Youhei protested at the notion.
"See that? You're stunned at my wink." Sayaka said triumphantly, "I just made a point. Women can be your weak point." And before Youhei could protest further, she put her finger on his mouth, "The keyword being 'can'."
"Huh…?"
"See? Women can be your strength, but it can be your weakness too." Sayaka explained, "Female enemies are going to abuse it, and you'll be rendered helpless."
"Guess… you're right." Defeated, Youhei finally admitted. But there's still one thing he wanted to ask, "But if you remember… that monster took an innocent woman's face. How am I going to get past that?"
"And that's why I'm here." Sayaka said as he got up, "Come on, let's spar."
"Sparring?" Youhei asked, "What's that good for?"
"Oh this is a special sparring." Sayaka said, cracking her knuckles, "I'm going all out against you. And be careful, in unexpected times, I might try to look helpless, but your job is to hit me no matter what."
"Ha! That'll be a piece of cake!" Youhei said as he prepared a fighting pose, "Go on, first!"
"No, you first." Sayaka beckoned at him, in which Youhei decided to go on and tried to punch her on the shoulder. However, suddenly, Sayaka made a teary face, which distracted Youhei, thus she was able to land a punch on his face, "What's wrong? You said this is gonna be a piece of cake…"
"Damn…! I guess… you're right…" Youhei said as he remembered how he hesitated and getting a punch on the face, "This is harder than I thought…"
"It's a long road, but you can do it, don't worry!" Sayaka said as she ran forward, "Now… my turn!"
In the end, Youhei and Sayaka sparred together, with Youhei trying to land a punch to Sayaka. However, Youhei's chivalry on women caused him being unable to even hit her with one punch, as Sayaka could usually read his movement and put up a pitiful face, triggering Youhei's pity and in turn got himself knocked down.
"Remember, Youhei… until you can get past the fact that I am a woman and hit me with all your strength, this sparring will continue!"
While Youhei trained with Sayaka; the other three were watching behind the door. "Sparring? This is how Sayaka tried to get him better?" Gai commented, looking at how Youhei was faring, which wasn't very well, "He could've used a better sparring partner."
"Like you? Not gonna work." Takeru made a snarky comment, which annoyed Gai a bit. He was after all the only one who'd make a snarky comment amongst the Jetman, and now he's being given a snark comment, "I understand why Sayaka volunteers herself. It's to make Youhei more willing to hit a woman. So he has to fight a woman."
"Oh, is that so, Takeru…" Miki giggled hearing that, "Then how about you dress yourself as a woman and fight her? It worked last time…"
"That's not gonna work…" Takeru answered, somewhat with annoyance since Miki was touching one subject he didn't want to talk about. Just then, the alarm started to ring. "Time to go."
"Wait a sec, how about those two?" Gai asked, before suddenly after tripping Youhei down because he stopped after she gave him yet another wink, Sayaka then turned to the rest.
"Go on without us! We'll catch up later!"
"Wait a minute!" Miki protested, "Without the five of us together, we might not…"
"What are you saying, Miki?" Youhei tried to assure her as he got up, "Three people would be better than five, but with one guy being a burden…! Go on! We'll help you once this training is over!" Then, he turned back to Sayaka and dashed forward, "Here I go!"
"We're counting on you, Sayaka." Takeru noted, in which Sayaka nodded, after dodging Youhei's attack. Then, he turned to both Gai and Miki, "Let's go."
In the city, the Hidrer soldiers, along with Yuti, were wreaking havoc. "Come out, Super Sentai!" Yuti yelled out as she ordered the Hidrer Soldiers to attack any innocents that came nearby, "Or these innocents will get hurt!"
"That's far enough, Space Beast." Takeru arrived just in time to catch the attention of the soldiers and Yuti, "You want us… we're here."
"Aw, you came out earlier than I thought." Yuti responded, "I wish you'd come later so I can hear those humans scream…"
"You enjoy such thing…? That's despicable…" Miki said in disgust, "You'll never get away with this."
"That's enough chatter, guys… Let's go!" Gai took the first step forward and prepared to transform, "CROSS CHANGER!"
"OK!" Miki agreed on that notion and also transformed, "GOGGLE PINK!"
"Hey, who's giving order here… Oh well." Takeru wanted to complain, but since it was what he's going to do, he dismissed it as being late to take action. But better late than never, after all. He then brushed the kanji 'Fire' with his Shodo Phone afterwards, "IPPITSU SOUJOU!"
With that, the three transformed. Just then, Yuti noticed something, "Hey, you're only three! And that guy I marked… where's he?"
"None of your business!" Black Condor yelled as he headbutted a Hidrer soldier on its chest, "You just enjoy getting your butt kicked over there! Bringer Sword!" With that, he unleashed his Bringer Sword and tried attacking Yuti, who shoved away the sword, before punching him away.
"Man, what a pain…" She complained as other Hidrer Soldiers surrounded Black Condor to fight against.
However, as they continued to fight, even with only three people, the Super Sentai managed to wipe out the Hidrer Soldiers by themselves. "Well, you're the last one…" Shinken Red said, pointing his Shinkenmaru to her as both Black Condor and Goggle Pink unflinchingly walked towards the Space Beast.
However, in that one moment, suddenly, Shinken Red was slashed from behind, while somebody whipped Goggle Pink from behind. "What the? !" When Black Condor turned behind to see who did this, he was suddenly tackled to the ground by another figure. It turned out that Juzou and Jarmin snuck behind them and slashed and whipped Shinken Red and Goggle Pink respectively, while the Gate Bouma also tackled Black Condor to the ground.
"Juzou…!" Shinken Red growled in anger, quickly getting back to fighting stance.
"Well, we meet again, Shinken Red…" Juzou said, beckoning with his Uramasa, "Are you ready? I hope that you will do better than last time…"
"Of course I will…" Shinken Red said, anger still seething at his voice. He still couldn't forget what Juzou did last time, casually trouncing all the memories of his parents as well as Miki's genuine attempt to turn him back to the side of good. "But I will never fall down to a disgrace of a human being like you."
"Enough words… We fight!" With that, Juzou ran forward and started fighting against Shinken Red, their swords clashing fiercely.
In the same time, just as Black Condor got up, the Gate Bouma leapt to him, trying to attack him. However, he managed to block it and shoved him aside, "What, you're trying to avenge your predecessor? Yeah, I killed him… or just one half of him." Black Condor said, drawing his Bringer Sword, "But whatever you're planning, I will stop you, and destroy you again if necessary!" With that, he ran towards the Gate Bouma and both started attacking.
And in the meantime, both Jarmin and Goggle Pink had exchanged lashing between Jarmin's whip and Goggle Pink's ribbon. It was at first a fierce clash, with even Goggle Pink utilizing her ribbon like how someone whipped with their whip. However, Jarmin quickly turned the table when she opened her mouth and blasted Goggle Pink with an energy blast from her mouth.
"Cheat…" Goggle Pink commented as she clutched her hand to her shoulder which got hit.
"Heh, in the end, a ribbon cannot manage to match a whip… I could finish it quickly, but I decided to use another." Jarmin taunted, "As expected from someone from a Sentai team based on rhythmic gymnastic… so silly I can't take it seriously."
"Don't underestimate me!" Goggle Pink already moved in front of her while she gloated, now with the Pink Dia Baton on her hand and started attacking Jarmin from close range, "It's true that I am a gymnast myself. But…!" She then managed to smack Jarmin's cheek with her baton, before knocking it on her head, "We encompasses more than rhythmic gymnastics! And I will show you my… no, our power!" She then tried to follow up with another attack, but Jarmin managed to block it and kicked her down.
"Well, doesn't matter when you're dead." Jarmin said, "I will send you to your foolish mother in Hell, so you can cry over and over on her lap!" The moment Jarmin said that, memories of watching her mother die quickly flashed over Miki's head. It was a painful memory, and she had moved on from it, but Jarmin had the guts to insult the memory of her dear mother.
"Don't you dare belittle… MY MOTHER!" With a scream, Goggle Pink continued her attack using her baton. However, at one moment, Jarmin managed to punch her away. "This is nothing…!"
Thus, Goggle Pink got up and attempted to attack, but suddenly, she saw someone else in place of Jarmin. "M… mother…? !" In return, Jarmin whipped and knocked her down to the ground.
"Miki…!" Shinken Red noticed what happened and called out, "What is it with you? !"
"Keep your eyes on your opponent, Shinken Red!" Juzou's words knocked a sense to him as he returned to fighting him. However, looking at how Goggle Pink fought, Shinken Red kept getting worried and worried, until even he was starting to lose the momentum against Juzou.
'Perhaps she was being marked like Youhei…?'
'I'm getting the same feeling that Youhei described! When did I get marked?' Goggle Pink was worried as she continued to evade Jarmin's attacks.
Just then, Shinken Red noticed that Yuti was forming up some sort of hand waving, lowly giggling. "That's it…! Maybe if I defeat her, the marks will be gone…!" Thus, after deflecting Juzou's attack, Shinken Red tried to run off to attack Yuti. However, Juzou went in front of him and slashed him to the ground.
"I told you to concentrate in our fight only." Juzou said, "As I thought. Being with friends make you weak."
"That's… that's pure bull…!" Shinken Red tried to deny it, "What do you, who works alone understand about it?"
"Is it?" Juzou still said with confidence, "I know very little about friendship and that is enough. Friendship is just an obstacle to ultimate strength and joy."
"That's wrong!" Shinken Red protested again.
"Really? You were performing better when you concentrated just on me… like last time. The moment you tried to help that sorry excuse of a friend of yours… that's when you started to weaken." Juzou taunted him further, "Accept it, Shinken Red. You're stronger when you're alone. You should abandon your friends and concentrate of being the strongest man… worthy enough to satiate my battle lust."
"I'll never be like you…!"
"Really? Then I guess you can stick around with those friendship…" Juzou said, raising his sword slowly, "And slowly… you will notice that you're getting weaker and weaker… and you can't even protect, let alone defeat anyone. You'll die a sad excuse of a warrior."
"And you think we listen to that bull crap? !" Suddenly, Black Condor shouted and instead kicked Juzou from the side, knocking him down. As for the Gate Bouma, it was knocked down for awhile.
"You…! Black Condor…!" Juzou growled, trying to get up from the kick, "Out of my way… This is my fight…!"
"On the contrary… how about this? I'll be your opponent now." Black Condor said as he drew his Bringer Sword, "I'm much more a 'loner' type, if you know what I mean."
"Gai! You're not thinking to…" Shinken Red got up and protested on Black Condor's decision.
"Oi, Takeru. Stow it." Black Condor assured him, "I know you're more worried about Miki than catering to his obsession on fighting you. I know you're that kind of guy. Go on, just do it."
"Who says you're more of the 'loner' type?" Shinken Red said again, "I was…"
"Look, you're the guy to say that I'm the one who'd venture on questionable territories when you can't, right?" Black Condor insisted, "Just let me do that part! I'll take on his bloodlust as much as I can!" Surprised that he remembered what he said before, Shinken Red could only nod as he ran towards Jarmin… "OK… now it's just between us… your name, again?"
"Fuwa Juzou."
"Juzou… You want a good fight?" Black Condor said as he readied the Bringer Sword, "Then I'll give you one!" With that and a scream, he ran forward as he prepared to have a sword battle with Juzou. For this battle, Black Condor was fully concentrated, making his attacks much more fierce and focused compared to what Juzou felt before.
"Heh heh…" After one sword clash that ended in a draw, Juzou started to laugh.
"Something funny?" Black Condor asked.
"Finally… I never thought I would find another worthy opponent…" Juzou said, caressing the blade of Uramasa, "Black Condor… you should be honored… because Uramasa likes your blood too. Now… I can have the joy that I wanted as well!" With that, they fought once again for another bout.
"Rekka Daizantou!" As he ran towards Jarmin, Shinken Red turned his sword into a zanbatou and slashed down Jarmin, disrupting her attacks towards Goggle Pink.
"Miki, you all right?" He asked her, planning to go after Yuti after this one. However, he received a kick to his jaw instead, knocking him down, "What…? !"
"Radiguet…!" Goggle Pink said angrily, as instead of Shinken Red, what she saw was Radiguet, the man who murdered her mother in front of her eyes. She prepared her Pink Ribbon and prepared to attack again.
"Miki! It's me, Takeru!" Shinken Red tried to reason himself as he kept blocking the attacks, "Don't you recognize me? !"
"Silence, monster!" Goggle Pink did not listen, since as far as her eyes told, it was Radiguet in front of her, and she continued to attack, "You can't fool me!"
"Has the mark's manipulation gone that far…? !" Shinken Red kept wondering as he continued to take or block Goggle Pink's attacks.
"Heh… that Space Beast does have its uses… It's such a delight to see them fight each other…" Jarmin noted as the Gate Bouma approached her, "Let's give that Shinken Red hell." Just as Shinken Red was bound with Goggle Pink's ribbon, Jarmin opened her mouth to send energy bolts while Gate Bouma opened its gate, summoning another series of thunder bolts to strike on Shinken Red.
'Damn it…! At this rate…!' Shinken Red thought as Goggle Pink had gone as far as using her Ribbon Spark to attack him.
Until suddenly, several bullets were shot to the battlefield, disrupting everyone. "Wait!" A voice was heard. When Shinken Red turned around, it turned out that both Blue Turbo and Change Mermaid has arrived.
"Hah! You again? !" Yuti taunted, "You know that you've been under my control, yet you still try to fight in futility?"
"Don't worry about it , Youhei." Change Mermaid assured him, "Remember what you have learned from our training before."
"I know, Sayaka." Blue Turbo nodded as he took out the Turbo Laser and the J-Gun, "Space Beast Yuti… I will show you the result of my training!"
With a yell, Blue Turbo started running as Yuti let out energy blasts from her flower petal parts of her body. Blue Turbo managed to get past that and eventually jumped forward… And then he saw the image of an innocent looking girl in place of Yuti. It would be about time that he started hesitating and stopped attacking.
However, he didn't.
Instead, he clobbered the girl with both his guns on the head. Then, he thrusted both guns forward and started shooting away, sending Yuti away due to the pressure of the bullets and wounding her. "ARGH! DAMN!" She screamed in pain, but what's worse, the bullets tore through her flower petal parts of her body and those parts being torn completely destroyed all the marks that she has put on anyone.
And thus, in the meantime, as Goggle Pink electrocuted 'Radiguet' with her ribbon, suddenly she saw Shinken Red instead. "Ah! Takeru! What have I done to you? !" She was frightened at what she had done, stopping the electrocution in instant and ran toward him, who fell to the ground due to the fatigue.
"I'm… fine." Shinken Red assured her as he tried to get up, "Looks like the mark on you is gone…"
"Why did she stop…? !" Jarmin cursed as she saw Goggle Pink no longer attacking Shinken Red.
"I see… so it's over…" Goggle Pink said as she turned towards Jarmin, "Prepare yourself!" She then threw a leaping kick aimed to Jarmin's face, while knocking the Gate Bouma away with the Pink Dia Baton.
In the meantime, the battle between Black Condor and Juzou has gone on with no clear victor… until he saw how Blue Turbo took down Yuti. "Looks like he did it!" Black Condor commented, looking at him… until Juzou clashed swords with him.
"What's this? I thought you're a loner." Juzou said, "Are you trying to distance yourself from this fight to the death?"
"Are you that idiot?" Black Condor said, "I won't call myself a Super Sentai warrior if I don't value any friendship… even if I'm a loner."
"You…!" Juzou then tightened his sword pressure in anger that he's being had.
"Sorry, pal. But now, I gotta go. We can continue this later." As Black Condor said, he then kicked Juzou on the crotch as hard as he could, leaving him clutching on the ground as Black Condor ran towards his allies.
"Urgh… you'll regret this…!"
"Youhei, you did it!" Change Mermaid said as she approached him, along with the rest.
"How did you get over that mark anyway?" Shinken Red asked him.
"Well… it's after training with Sayaka." Blue Turbo said, "In the end, I couldn't get over my policy to hit innocent girls."
"What's that supposed to mean? !" Black Condor said, confused, "So you're now a woman-beater? !"
"When did I say that? !" Blue Turbo was reasonably angered when he was accused as something he totally wasn't, "I was saying that thanks to Sayaka's training, I know the secret to get past it… imagination. So I imagined that Space Beast as a run-in-the-mill monster, and it worked. All while closing my eyes. Of course I had to be sure on where the enemy is, but as of now, I don't think you should worry about that."
"Wow… that's incredible." Goggle Pink said happily, "Sayaka… you really trained him well!"
"Well, I didn't get the result that I wanted…" Change Mermaid said, "But looks like another good thing came out, so I guess it's okay."
"Good…" Shinken Red nodded as he turned to the enemies, who have gathered together, "It's time we put an end to this…" He then turned into Juzou, "Juzou… listen. We may be from different times and eras. However, our sense of justice… and our bonds… will unite us and make us stronger!"
"We are…!" In unison, all of the Super Sentai shouted, "SUPER SENTAI!"
"Spare me all those nonsenses…!" Juzou defied all the speech, until suddenly he looked at Jarmin, who nodded to him. They were located between the Gate Bouma and Yuti together. As if they were instructed to execute a plan… they suddenly kicked both of them so they'd stick together, and suddenly slashed and whipped them from both sides.
"What the? !" Black Condor was shocked at such turn of event, "Beating up their own friend? !"
'Wait… maybe they were planning something similar…!' Shinken Red was reminded the last time Juzou executed such stint to an Ayakashi, striking it down to death and forcing it to grow with its second life, "Guys, careful!"
"W… what gives…? !" Yuti protested as suddenly her hands touched the Gate Bouma's and they were suddenly stuck, "What… what's going on? !"
Suddenly, Ahames arrived to the battlefield and using her baton, she slashed both of them horizontally, engulfing both of them in light as they both screamed and roared.
"Ahames!" Change Mermaid called out, "What are you planning? !"
"You will see soon enough…" Ahames said as she turned to both Juzou and Jarmin, "Both of you, fall back. Do as planned."
"Hmph…" With a nod, both vanished. As the light died out, there was only one figure in place of Yuti and the Gate Bouma… a creature formed from a combination of their features. On the back is Yuti's figure while on the front is the Gate Bouma's figure.
"Wow…!" Blue Turbo was surprised, "The Bouma fused with the Space Beast? !"
"This is something new… Not even Deathdark went this far!" Goggle Pink noted. But then she realized that she came from the earliest timeline, thus there might be something she missed, "Uh… guys? Have you ever met such act of combining two monsters."
"… No." Shinken Red's words struck fear to the rest of the team. To fight against a combination of two monsters. It was something new for any of them.
"Well it's no time to be down…" Change Mermaid tried to raise the spirit of the team, "Let's do our best to defeat the monster!"
"I guess you're right." Shinken Red agreed to the notion and looked to the rest as they nodded, "Let's go."
The team then ran forward to fight. However, Ahames sent out a blast that knocked Change Mermaid away and jumped in front of her. "Change Mermaid… you will be fighting me."
Soon enough, both ladies engaged in a harsh battle. When the team tried to help Change Mermaid, the combination of Yuti and Gate Bouma attacked all of them, hindering their paths to help their friend. The combination amplified both monsters' strength as it started to give quite the trouble to the team.
In the meantime, both Change Mermaid and Ahames have dueled for quite some time. "Well, you certainly have gotten better." Ahames said as she continued pressing her staff, which was pushed towards the Change Sword, "Better than the one I could capture easily the first time I arrived to Earth…"
"There is a difference between being caught unprepared and in actual battle!" Change Mermaid insisted, remembering the first time she met Ahames; at that time, her hand was wounded and not yet fully patched, which caused her to be more easily distracted and was captured for a short time until the rest of the Changeman rescued her.
"Even then, you're still no match for me alone back then." Ahames said, "It doesn't matter how much you grow. I will always be one step ahead of you."
"Well, why don't we see about that?" In a sudden, Change Mermaid stopped pushing through Ahames' staff, causing her to slightly lose balance for pushing too hard. Change Mermaid used the chance to perform a back flip while rapidly shooting Ahames with her Change Sword in gun mode. Afterwards, she jumped forward, already sheathing her Change Sword and executed a diving attack.
"MERMAID ATTACK!"
Just after she dove down and struck Ahames with her diving attack, she didn't give her another chance to retaliate as she pulled out a small cannon on her hand. "I've been saving this for awhile… guess it's time to use this. MERMAIDZOOKA!" With that, she shot a small bazooka bullet which knocked Ahames away, quite wounding her.
"Why you…!" Ahames said, clutching on her chest, "You will regret this."
"Same thing anyone who gets pushed back say." Said a confident Change Mermaid "They'll fall shortly."
"And when I say that… I meant now." Suddenly, Ahames jumped away from Change Mermaid, to the rest of the Sentai Team fighting the fused monster. "Behold. This is the power of the combined monster."
As she said that, suddenly… she impaled the monster through its stomach with her staff. "Wha… hey, are you serious? !" Black Condor was shocked at the notion as he saw the monster roaring in pain.
However, as the monster started to explode, a dimensional hole started to open. "Finally… I can go there…" Ahames said as she looked at the hole. The winds started to blow rather unnaturally, as if they were blowing to the hole, "You are free to enter this Black Hole… Super Sentai. But know that once you get in… there's no way back in."
"So I suppose you're just running away?" asked Shinken Red.
"Not really. I have other business on the other side. Not even Radiguet knows about this." Ahames said, "And you will never know what is going on. And if you do find out with me, you'll never live to tell the tale…" After she said it, she took several steps to get into the hole. And shortly after she entered the hole, the winds started to get stronger and stronger to the point that several items were sucked into the hole.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Goggle Pink said, looking at several plants being sucked into the hole, "Should we go after her?"
"If we go in, we might not be able to get back out." Black Condor said, reminded with what happened if the people here die, "And the people here would be completely defenseless! Remember, there's still Radiguet and the others!"
"Hey, look! Over there…!" Blue Turbo suddenly saw a small light inside the hole, "I don't know what it means, but it may be our chance."
"I see… perhaps it's something that we need to destroy to close the hole…" Shinken Red concluded, "But… if we get in…"
"Let's try destroying it from afar instead!" Change Mermaid suggested, looking to both Black Condor and Blue Turbo. However, just as they prepared to shoot, the wind started to get even stronger and even the Super Sentai ended up falling to the ground and they were starting to get sucked into the hole. "Oh no…!"
"It's not wind… it's a gravitational force that sucks everyone into the hole! Hold onto something!" Shinken Red commanded as they tried to crawl away from the hole with all their might. Luckily for them, there were three lamp posts that they could use to hold on. Shinken Red managed to hold onto one same post with Change Mermaid, while Black Condor held on a lone post, and the last post were held by Blue Turbo and Goggle Pink.
"We can't hold out forever!" As the gravity started to get even stronger, Goggle Pink noted as even she had troubles in keeping her legs on the ground.
"If what we're gonna do is shoot that thing, we have to do it before it's too late!" Black Condor commanded, "Come on!"
"Gotcha!" Both Blue Turbo and Change Mermaid confirmed as they tried to hold onto their posts with just one arm and aimed at the shining light inside the portal.
"One… two… three! Now!" On Change Mermaid's timing, the three shot their guns to the shining light. However… nothing happens.
"It's too far for the bullets to reach!" Blue Turbo concluded, "It's like we have to sacrifice one person to shut the hole…"
"Don't say that!" Goggle Pink insisted, "We're going to make it together!"
"Yeah, remember what Akihiro said!" Black Condor added, "We gotta stick together, or else we can't go back to our timeline!"
"But at this rate, we might get sucked in together and there's no chance to escape!" Blue Turbo said.
"No chance, you said?" Change Mermaid suddenly said, "There IS always a chance. There will be a huge risk, but the chance will always be there!"
"Sayaka, what are you talking about?" Shinken Red said as he held his grip tighter, the gravity force has gotten stronger and started sucking out animals as well.
"I'm saying that… I'll go over there and shut the hole." Change Mermaid said.
"What? ! But what if you're not able to get out?" Goggle Pink said in extreme worry.
"I will find a way!" Change Mermaid sternly said, "As a Super Sentai member, I must not give up hope. To give in to Ahames' threats would be the same as admitting defeat!"
"Very well…" Shinken Red finally understood, "Then let's go. After I count to three… all of us should release the grip. One…"
"No, that's not what I meant, Takeru!" Change Mermaid corrected, "I'm saying that I'm going alone!"
"WHAT? !" All four said the same word in unison.
"Sayaka, are you crazy? !" Black Condor asked desperately, "Why go alone? !"
"It's as you said, Gai." Change Mermaid noted, "The rest of those evil people like Radiguet are still in this world. You have to protect it by staying here. And Ahames… I am the one who knows her the most. I know the day that we have to settle the score will come." Such sentence silenced the team, as they realized that it was true. As Ahames said, even Radiguet did not know about what lies beyond, "That's why… I am the only one most fit for this task."
"Stop joking, Sayaka! This is too risky!" Blue Turbo insisted, "There has to be another way!"
"We have no time!" As Change Mermaid said that, the gravity force suddenly got even stronger and some innocent people started to get helplessly sucked, even though they were quite far away formerly, "Just don't worry about me!"
Shinken Red was thrown into quite the dilemma. If he let go of Change Mermaid, then that would seal the team's chances to go back to their world, and what they fight for would be rendered meaningless, as he had the hunch that the task would be too big for Change Mermaid alone. However, at this rate, more innocent people would die. Looking at how people were sucked into the hole; as well as listening to their desperate screams of help… he realized one thing. Sometimes, he had to make a harsh decision, and this was such time.
"… Very well…" His voice shaking, Shinken Red said as he nodded to Change Mermaid. The rest understood what Shinken Red was implying, and they all slowly nodded.
"You guys… thank you." Change Mermaid said as she slowly released her grip from the post, "I will be back… until then, you have to keep your spirits up! Don't let Radiguet and the rest win… or our world will be doomed!"
"Everyone… I'll see you later…!" With that said, Change Mermaid eventually let go of her grip and her body flew, sucked onto the hole to the other dimension.
"NOOO!" Goggle Pink let out a cry, seeing her friend entering an area of possibly no-return. She just lost her mother, and now she was losing her new best friend, it was too much for her.
"SAYAKA!" Blue Turbo also shouted, as he has yet to thank her for helping him develop a new technique, and her genuine attempt to fix his flaw. To see her go like that with a big chance of never returning was a bit too much for him.
"Urgh…! It's getting stronger, guys!" Black Condor said as the gravitational force grew even stronger that they started losing grip on one hand, "Keep at it! It's Sayaka's wish that we live, so we better keep ourselves alive! For her sake!". Without a choice, they decided to hold onto their grip, as long as she could.
After awhile, suddenly there was a small sound of explosion. In a quick moment, the hole closed itself and the gravitational force. And slowly, the remaining Sentai warrior de-morphed. "She… did it…" Youhei uttered, sadness was instilled in his voice.
"Sayaka…" Miki was unable to get up further than being on her knees. The thought was too much for her to bear that her friend was gone and there's a high chance that they wouldn't be seeing each other. She started sobbing as she hung her head low, lamenting on her friend's fate.
And in the same time, both Gai and Takeru could only watch silently. Although in Takeru's face, a hollow feeling, a combination of anguish, despair and guilt.
'I… doomed her…'
Each tried to remember their moments spent with Sayaka… from her lifting Takeru's fear for ghosts, to dressing the boys up with Miki, to her 'falling in love' with Radiguet in disguise and were talked out from it with Gai, and then giving comfort to Miki who just lost her mother, and then her attempt to train Youhei. Those were fond memories… that might only stay as memories…
"So Ahames is gone?" Radiguet was able to get a hold of the information on what happened to Ahames thanks to watching the events from the crystal screen.
"It would seem so…" Mazurka, who was beside him, noted, "And it looks like that she managed to take Change Mermaid with her."
"The situation doesn't seem to change." Jarmin said, as she just recently entered the room along with Juzou, "They lost one member, and so do we."
"Heh heh heh…" Suddenly, however, Radiguet let out a laugh.
"You thought of something funny?" Juzou asked, noticing that Radiguet might have something else on his sleeve.
"If they think we both lose someone… that is where they are wrong." Radiguet answered confidently, "Who do you think provided us the method to combine two monsters?"
As soon as Radiguet finished talking, a figure entered the room. This figure had a leg adorned with gold armor. And as soon as the figure makes an entrance, all except Radiguet was surprised.
"You're…"
At night, Youhei and Miki retired to their apartment, still crushed at the loss of Sayaka. Both of them gathered together in Youhei's room. "She's… gone…" Miki uttered sadly, "I thought of her like a good friend… a sister… and now like my mother… she…"
"If only we were stronger back then…" Youhei added, until he tried to get the spirits up again, "Still… I think it was her choice, not because we forced her to it, so I guess it wasn't as bad as we thought…"
"What do you mean, Youhei?" Miki asked.
"She wanted us to protect this world in her stead, while she deals with Ahames." Youhei explained, "Besides, she did say that she'll be back. We have to believe in that."
"But, Youhei… It's said that once you get inside that dimension, you can't get out, right?" she gave rebuke on that, "So how will she?"
"Who do you believe more? Sayaka or Ahames?" He asked her, "Even if that may be true, I am still sure that she'll still find a way out. We have to believe in her… believe in Sayaka."
Miki only nodded in return, also reminded with what Sayaka did say when her mother said. Believing in the enemy's words or acting like what they wanted them to act would be like giving the enemy victory. "Yes… For her sake… and everyone else's… I must not be so down…"
Meanwhile, in Kizuna at the morning, Gai felt alone. The ship was once a staying place for both him and Sayaka. And now that she's gone, the only one who stayed here for the night was just him alone. As he walked alone, he came across Sayaka's empty room. "Guess you won't be around anymore… huh…" Gai said sarcastically, looking at the room's door… until frustration at his inability to prevent what has happened got best of him and he ended up punching the wall angrily, "Damn it!"
Breathing heavily, Gai also remembered that he used to die as well. Right now, he thought that Sayaka might be dead, and this must be what Tendou Ryuu and the rest of the Jetman would've felt when they realized that he died. However, he quickly discarded the thought, as he remembered Sayaka's last words…
"I will be back… until then, you have to keep your spirits up! Don't let Radiguet and the rest win… or our world will be doomed!"
"Even in the end, she's still thinking about us…" Gai muttered as he reached out for a cigarette and smoked, "I guess I should stop being a gloomy fool. She'll be laughing at me if I do."
He then realized that due to the punch, the door was suddenly open as it wasn't locked tightly. Gai decided to give Sayaka's room a look one last time, to remember her. It was a simple room, considering that she spent her childhood as a soldier. "Hm? What's this…?" Gai then found a letter ontop of a small cupboard. Opening it, he started reading it. However, before he was done, his Corresponder rang, prompting him to open communication, "Gai here."
"Gai. Is Takeru in the ship?" It was Youhei's voice that asked questions.
"Nope. He's not here." Gai answered casually, but that suddenly generated panic on his surrounding, "Hey, what gives?"
"This is bad, Gai." It was then Miki's voice that was heard, "Takeru is gone! He's not seen in his household, and he won't respond to our calls!"
"What? !" Gai suddenly thought that Takeru might've gone over the hedge for some reason and was overcame with guilt or sorts, but that was rather extreme, "That punk…! OK, I'll help in searching!" As soon as Gai closed the communication, he got out of Kizuna, intending to search for Takeru.
Indeed, Takeru has gone away from the Shiba Household. He had the same feeling similar with that time when his vassals unconditionally covered him from wounds. With him being selected as a 'leader' of the new Sentai team, and his decision costed him Sayaka's presence or life… he felt that he completely failed as a leader.
'There has to be another way… Yet I chose that decision…! Sayaka… Guys… I've completely failed as your leader…'
In despair, Takeru continued to walk, unsure where to go. How would this affect the Super Sentai's performance? Always keep your heads up, Super Sentai! Don't let this demoralize you, and do your best, Super Sentai!
Super Sentai vs Super Sentai… will continue at Act 13
Author's note: And that's about the 12th chapter. For those wondering, no I don't plan to kill Sayaka off for real. She's... taking a small break and might be back in the future. However, this means that her position is open. Start guessing again, since there will be a new character in the next chapter! Keep watching, give me constructive criticism and review, and enjoy the story! See ya!