Super Sentai vs Super Sentai
Author's note: I'm back folks. Here's the new chapter which involves an introduction of Sayaka's replacement (for awhile). Your guesses so far may be wrong, but I still hope you enjoy this thoroughly. Keep reading
ACT 13: The Light of Yellow
For the whole morning; Gai, Youhei and Miki had been looking for the missing Takeru. However, it produced no results, even as they searched throughout the surrounding area of the Shiba Household. In the end, they decided to gather once more in the Kizuna.
"Any ideas where he's at?" Youhei asked in the main meeting room of Kizuna. Gai could only shake his head as answer.
"Damn, where the hell did he go?" Gai said in frustration, "Don't tell me that he can't take it anymore and give up? ! Man, he sure suddenly turned gutless!"
"Takeru…" Miki could only mutter, as she could understand why Takeru left. He was burdened with the position of leader, being the newest Sentai warrior, and thought that Sayaka's loss was a complete failure in him, and probably caused him to leave, thinking himself unworthy, 'You're not the only one at fault here…! That's why you have to come back…!'
Just then, the main computer beeped, as if trying to tell something, "Wha? Maybe the computer knows where he is?" Gai said, excitedly, thinking that maybe their search would produce something. The main computer screen then showed an English word…
"New… Town?" Youhei read, "Wait, you're telling me Takeru moved to another city? Which city? !"
"Why would it be written in English if they meant another city? !" Gai corrected him, "Perhaps it's a place called 'Newtown' or something… Try to think what kind of place is that!"
While everyone was thinking, Miki took one more glance to the computer, 'This computer… is it just me or I think that this computer is some sort of sentient being? Is this one of the technologies developed in AkaRed's world?"
"Now come to think of it…" Youhei finally said something, "I think I've heard an opening of a school named 'Newtown School' somewhere around."
"School?" Miki asked, "So Takeru is there?"
"Maybe." That's the only answer Youhei could give.
"What the hell is he doing, suddenly going to the school?" Gai began to wonder the connection between Takeru and the school.
"At any rate, that's our only clue." Miki noted, "Do you know where the school is, Youhei?"
"Yeah, of course. One of my friends has a little brother who enrolled there and I visited the school with him." Youhei said, "I'll take you there." With that, the three went to the teleporter and descended to the ground. Led by Youhei, they started moving towards the 'Newtown School'.
As they eventually made it to the school, they noticed that there's something strange. It's a bit empty. "Oi, Youhei… you didn't just lead us to a haunted school, right?" Gai asked.
"Well, we are in quite the mass holiday session after all." Youhei noted, "Most of things would be quite empty too."
"Takeru might be here. Come on, let's start searching." Miki noted as she moved forward. However, it didn't take long for her to find something. "Ah! Over there!"
"Wha?" Both men joined Miki to look at the place she pointed… It was a girl, seemingly quite young, with long black hair, clad in a black shirt and dark yellow jacket, lying unconscious on the ground. Near her was some sort of weird, oval pod.
"Who is this girl, by the way?" Gai asked, rather unfamiliar with the face, though Youhei was able to spot something unusual about her.
"Wait… I think I recognize that face…" He noted as he tried to give a look to the girl's face. Slowly, however, the girl started opening her eyes.
"Uh… where…?" The girl muttered, rubbing her eyes. Surrounded with unknown people, however, it didn't take long for her to try and distance herself, "AH! Who're you people? !"
"Look, we just found you unconscious here…" Gai tried to explain.
"Wait a minute… this… this is Newtown School!" The girl suddenly exclaimed, "But where is everybody?"
"You know this school too? So this is where you've been these years after that time…" Youhei said as he confirmed, "Ms. Yamaguchi's sister…"
"I'm sorry, who is this Ms. Yamaguchi?" The girl said, giving Youhei a dejected look that his guess was wrong, "I don't have a sister with that name. If the name is 'Hoshikawa', though, then you're right on the track."
"Hoshikawa?" Miki then remembered something in the Super Sentai History book, "Who… are you then?"
"Ah, yeah… forgot to introduce myself. No wonder he guessed my name wrong." The girl said as she wiped away the dusts on her clothes, "I'm Remi. Hoshikawa Remi. Nice to meet you." Once she stated her name, Youhei and Miki were surprised; since Remi was yet another of Super Sentai warrior, under the team Fiveman. In between the attack of the Bouma and the Vyram, the Zone Empire has also attacked the Earth, and Remi was amongst the warriors that defended Earth from it.
"Remi… huh." Gai started to introduce himself, "I'm Yuuki Gai."
"Hama Youhei."
"Momozono Miki."
"So, what brings you in here?" Gai asked.
"Well, um…" Remi tried to recall what happened…
She remembered that she, along with her siblings Gaku, Ken, Kazumi and Fumiya, finally managed to reunite with their long-lost parents that Remi was never able to see face to face. It was a joyous reunion in the other planet. They stayed for a month, helping to grow the barren planet's environment for a month, when it's finally time for them to return to Earth.
Unfortunately, tragedy struck when the spaceship headed to Earth was attacked by some sort of gigantic creature in the space. It was not bearing anything of the Zone Army, but what mattered was that they have to escape. Luckily the ship came with escape pods and all of them made it, except that each pods could only contain one person.
And when Remi landed… no one was around.
"Oh no, what am I doing here? !" Remi, after recalling what happened, finally realized that she's alone, "Did you see any other pods like mine?"
"Uh, we just got here…" answered Youhei, "But we're looking for a friend of us here, so we haven't searched thoroughly."
"Hey, why don't we help look for the pods?" Miki suggested, "It looks the same like yours. Right, Remi?"
"Uh huh…" Remi nodded.
"OK. It's decided." Gai said, clasping his hands, "If we don't find Takeru, those pods would do very much! Let's split up and start searching!"
"OK!" Both Youhei and Miki; and even Remi, nodded in agreement as they split up and searched throughout the Newtown School…
"It hasn't really changed…" Remi said as she traveled throughout the school hallways, looking through windows to see if there was a pod. Looking through the school, she realized that it still stayed the same as the school where she used to teach. Walking down the hallways, she recalled most of the songs she used to teach and sing to the children. She somewhat felt relaxed, but then realized that she has things to do.
"Huh? What's that?" When Remi came across a set of locker, she found something inside that piqued her interest. It was some sort of mechanical device, with a complex kanji on it, lacquered in black color. "Some sort of toy?" Remi said to herself as she opened and closed the lid of the mechanical device, to no effect, although she saw a disc attached on it. "I can't seem to use this…" She sighed as she put it back to the locker… until she hesitated a bit and decided to keep it in her, "Maybe this will come in handy later… Just a gut feeling."
"So, found anything?" As the four regrouped, Gai started asking, "I found none… Damn."
"Me neither." Youhei nodded, "No pods, no Takeru… none."
"I'm sorry, Remi. We couldn't find your family…" Miki said to Remi, who did seemed a bit down after hearing the news.
"I'm sure they're alive somewhere…" Remi said, "For now, I just have to survive on my own."
"We'll help you for it." Miki offered her hand for a handshake, willing to help someone like Remi.
"Hey, aren't you getting too ahead of yourself?" Gai protested, as apparently he didn't pay much attention to the Super Sentai History Book, "I know she doesn't have bad intentions, not to mention looks fairly hot. But she's still a stranger!"
"I'm hot? Why thank you…" Remi said, blushing at Gai's statement… until she realized that he was basically suspicious at her, "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
"Gai, please trust on Miki." Youhei tried to assure Gai.
"Tch…" Gai wasn't really sure what to say, until suddenly the sky turned dark, "Oh boy, not this thing again."
"What do you mean?" Remi, unaware of what would happen, asked.
"It means, we're gonna get some company soon…" Gai noted as this was the same phenomenon as when Radiguet and his new team introduced themselves, 'What will it be… Vyram? Gedoushuu?'
As thunder struck the ground, soldier figures started appearing… except they were nothing like the ones they fought so far. They were clad in black and wore orange helmets. "What the…? ! I've never seen things like those before!" Youhei expressed his surprise, as he quickly took fighting stance.
"Bah…" Gai cracked his knuckles as he prepared fighting, "So Radiguet starts developing a new type of soldiers? Big deal. I'll still kick their asses."
'It's them…! So they're back in just one month? !' Remi recognized the soldiers… they were soldiers of the Zone Empire that she fought in the past.
"Okay, Remi. You stand back and be a good girl…" Gai made a comment which offended Remi in a way.
"What did you say? !" She asked loudly, in an annoyed tone, "I'll have you know that I can take care of this!" And thus, she ran forward and started attacking the soldiers, displaying a rather efficient usage of martial arts.
"Whoa…" Youhei could only stare in awe, "She hands down those guys' asses like no tomorrow."
"So strong…" Miki also joined in the admiring, looking at how Remi took down the soldiers one by one.
"Oh come on, we can also do better!" Gai encouraged the team as he ran forward, "We're intruding!" Both Youhei and Miki nodded as they also ran forward and helped Remi fighting the soldiers…
While they were fighting, however, suddenly Miki saw some sort of twinkle on the sky. When she realized what it was, it was a pair of sharp blades and they were aimed at Remi. "Remi, watch out!" Miki called out as she tackled Remi away, both dodging the sharp blades as they ended up impaling one of the soldiers and exploded.
"Who's there? !" Gai called out, and as such, footsteps were heard. The source of the footstep was a stag beetle-like creature, walking towards them.
"Is that a Mozoo?" Miki wondered, recognizing that it might be another of Mazurka's new monster, which was mostly based on animals.
"Missed…" The monster said, "To think that they could dodge the great Kuwagin's great horn missile…"
"Kuwa… gin…? !" Remi was shocked hearing it declare its name, 'A Galactic Beast warrior…!'
"Hey you! Were you sent by either Radiguet or that Jarmin? !" Youhei asked immediately.
"Them? Oh, well they're good benefactors. But they're not where my loyalties lie." Kuwagin said, "So you foolish humans want to challenge me? Only death awaits, let me warn you."
"If anyone is going down, that'd be you! Here goes!" As Youhei said that, he prepared to transform, "BLUE TURBO!"
"Hey, we shouldn't let Youhei have all the fun." Gai noted as he and Miki stepped forward, "CROSS CHANGER!"
"Of course." Miki nodded as she also transformed, "GOGGLE PINK!"
'What? !' Remi was shocked at seeing Gai and the others transform, 'They're… like me?'
"Heeh, what's this? The Fiveman is getting some wannabes?" Kuwagin taunted as he beckoned them, "Well… wannabes shall always be wannabes!"
"Who says wannabe?" Remi asked as she stepped forward, surprising Black Condor, Blue Turbo and Goggle Pink; "You want the real thing? Here's the real thing you ask!" As she said it, she held her necklace as she raised it upwards and yelled, "FIVE YELLOW!"
"W… what? !" Both Black Condor and Kuwagin gave out a collective 'What? !' when they saw Remi transform into a Super Sentai warrior.
"She's… also one of the Super Sentai?" Black Condor asked. He then remembered about the cryptic message he received in Kizuna back then, 'Seven colors… so is this the sixth color…?'
"Oh come on, you didn't really read the book?" Blue Turbo asked, "She's in the team between ours."
"You…! Fiveman!" Kuwagin growled, looking at Remi transformed into Five Yellow, "About time… I shall have my vengeance for my brother, Kabutogin!"
"Kabutogin?" Five Yellow tried to recall if there's any Galactic Warriors that they defeated and was named as such, until she finally got it, "Oh… you mean the one with super tough armor?"
"OF COURSE!" Kuwagin shouted in anger, "Come out, Batzler soldiers! Vengeance will be ours!" As he snapped his finger, more soldiers with orange helmet arrived to fight, "And kill those wannabes too!"
"You punks think you can match us? !" Black Condor shouted in annoyance, being called 'wannabe' again, "Come on, let's start kicking!"
Nodding, Blue Turbo and Goggle Pink joined Black Condor and Five Yellow to fight against the Kuwagin. Slowly, they managed to take down the foot soldiers one by one, before they finally went against Kuwagin.
While the four fought, Kuwagin did not show any signs of extraordinary skill. He was just like a powered up foot soldier. "What the… Your brother is far tougher than you!" Five Yellow said as she kicked him away.
"D… damn…!" Kuwagin grunted as he tried to get up.
"Guys, I'll hold him off. Can you finish it off?" Five Yellow then asked to the rest.
"Huh? You can't do finish up monsters alone?" Blue Turbo asked, "Oh well, that's what friends are for." Hearing that, Five Yellow was touched. They just met for a short time, and she's already considered a friend.
"Thank you…" Five Yellow replied, also thinking, 'Perhaps these guys can be my new friends until I find everyone…' "All right, here I go! MELODY TACT!" With that, she pulled out a sidearm gun which transformed into a flute, which suddenly grew yellow colored ribbon-like whip. With it, she quickly bound Kuwagin.
"Wow!" Goggle Pink was impressed at how Five Yellow used the Melody Tact, "It looks like mine! I'll go as well! PINK RIBBON!"
"What?" Five Yellow was confused with what Goggle Pink said and unleashed her ribbon to also bind Kuwagin, "Wow… We're like a pair…"
"OK, it should be good now!" Goggle Pink noted, "Gai, Youhei, if you please!"
"OK…" Black Condor and Blue Turbo nodded, but suddenly was interrupted when Kuwagin laughed.
"Ha ha ha! You didn't disable my greatest power…" He said, "Now you will pay with your life! Stag Giant Horns!"
In a sudden, Kuwagin's two horns suddenly grew into a humongous length, turning into a sharp and very long scissors on his head. "What? !" All four was shocked at the revelation of the horn.
"DIEE!" As Kuwagin shouted, he swung his head down, trying to cut down the team. All four managed to dodge away, but the blade ended up cutting down several trees near the school with ease, "Tch… missed." Due to both Goggle Pink and Five Yellow dodging, their hold on Kuwagin with the Pink Ribbon and Melody Tact was loosened and Kuwagin easily unbound himself.
"Holy crap…" Blue Turbo uttered, looking at the cut-down trees, "Talk about great power."
"Before my power, you are all nothing!" Kuwagin boasted, "My brother specialized in defense, but I specialized in offense! You will die before you can even lift a finger to me!"
In a sudden, the sky turned dark again, and a face materialized in the sky, sending out lightning bolts to Kuwagin. "GAH!" Kuwagin rolled down in pain on the ground after being hit with the lightning bolts, looking at the face in the sky. It was Radiguet's face.
"Galactic Beast Warrior Kuwagin!" Radiguet said, "Stop bothering with these small fries! We have located him, go there and take his life away!"
"But… I'm against those who killed my brother…!" Kuwagin tried to protest, but another lightning hit him.
"You dare question me? !" Radiguet replied harshly.
"… No, sir… I'll retreat!" As Kuwagin confirmed, he ran off and vanished, along with Radiguet's image in the sky. Eventually, all the Sentai warriors also de-morphed.
"Damn it, that Radiguet!" Gai clenched his fist in anger, seeing Radiguet even in face just sickened him, "So he's gotten himself a new repertoire other than the Dimensional Beasts!"
"Wait, who's that? Radi… guet?" Remi asked, confused as that's the first time she's heard of such thing.
"He's the leader of the Vyrams." Gai noted, "He tried conquering Earth before, but I stopped him. He's now back, along with some other figures who are part of the people who tried conquering Earth."
"Hey, wait…" Youhei suddenly interrupted, "Maybe that's not the case. Perhaps Radiguet has gotten the services of… that Empire stopped by Remi and her siblings…"
"That's Zone Empire. I can't believe they're back…" Remi said, before asking something else, "Moreover, who are you guys, really? Why do you have such power like me?"
"This could take long, but I will try to make it short." Miki said as she started explaining how the team was brought together in this world, fighting for the safety of this world so people on the real world did not die.
"In other words… there are more teams like the Fiveman?" Remi concluded as Miki finished her explanation, "And I am called here because I am… chosen?"
"Probably. But, we lost a member, while the enemy seems to gain another force that's unfamiliar to us…" Miki said, before holding Remi on the arm, as in pleading, "Remi… will you please lend us your strength?"
"H… hey…" Gai asked, "How are we so sure that she can replace Sayaka?"
"'Seven colors to lead the way'… right?" As Miki answered, Gai was shocked at how she noticed that hint he found with Takeru, "You're not the only one who found that message, you know."
"At any rate, what did Radiguet mean 'found him'?" Youhei suddenly pointed out, in which Miki's face was suddenly filled with shock.
"It can't be that…! Oh dear, we have to hurry!" She said, her voice full of worry.
"Now look here, Miki…" Gai asked, "What are you thinking?"
"He must've meant Takeru!" Miki answered, "He must've found Takeru's location, and he must've been planning to strike him when he's downhearted like this! We have to hurry!"
"Oh boy, now that you mentioned it, we got no time to waste!" Youhei said, "Let's split up and find him!"
"OK!" Gai and Miki nodded at the idea and they all prepared to leave… until…
"Wait! Let me help!" Remi suggested, "I'll find this Takeru!"
"Are you joking?" Gai asked, "Do you even know how Takeru looked like?"
"Well… that…" Remi was unable to answer. After all, she never did meet with Takeru.
"Ah, I know this will come in handy." Miki said as she pulled out a portrait from her pocket. The portrait consisted of one group photo of the new team, including Sayaka. "Here, Remi. This is how Takeru looked like." She then pointed out Takeru in the portrait.
"I see…" Remi nodded until she noticed Sayaka on the portrait, "What about this one? She's not amongst you here…"
"Well, she's…" Youhei nearly revealed about what happened to Sayaka, but managed to prevent himself from saying such things further, "That can wait later! For now, you better concentrate on looking for Takeru first!"
"OK, I got it. I'll keep this photo for now." Remi said as she put the photo on her pocket, "Right, here we go!"
All four nodded and they went their separate ways, trying to find Takeru. They could only hope that Radiguet and his new monster did not get to him first…
"Heh… I was having a bit doubts on that monster…" Radiguet, in his lair, commented as he looked at footages of Kuwagin fighting along with Jarmin, Juzou, Mazurka and a new female, up to the point he used his scissor horns to take the Super Sentai by surprise, "But this turns out nice enough to destroy them… especially for one who isn't in his biggest spirit…" He then turned back and looked at the figure behind him, clad in golden armor with scorpion motif, a cruel female, "As I would expect from the one who has the knowledge to combine two monsters… Zone Empire's Scientist Doldora"
"Heh… I was only testing, but that 'brotherly love' he has proves to be quite powerful…" Doldora proudly answered, "I tried to get him fused, but he completely refused…"
"Fused or not, he should be doing his job just fine." Mazurka said, until she noticed something, "Speaking of which… Weren't you…"
"Are you speaking of my form?" Doldora replied, at that time reminded with how last time she completely lost her calm when she found out about the identity of Zone's ruler, the ship Vulgyre, "Indeed, I was fused with my most loyal servant Saza. But now I am restored… You should know who did this… the same as you."
"Then where is this… Saza?" Jarmin asked too, "If you were restored, shouldn't she be…"
"She lives in me. She wouldn't have it the other way." Doldora said, holding her chest plate, "Thanks to our fusion, I have inherited her fighting skills… Now… I am as strong as I am a genius."
"I wouldn't care with what you say… as long as you prove it." Juzou noted, "If you lose badly against those Sentai… you're just all talk."
"I will, but this is not the time yet… I'm curious to see how Kuwagin is doing…" Doldora said, "Though, personally, I didn't expect Hoshikawa Remi to be there as well…"
"If you still have your rage against those enemy of yours…" Radiguet continued, "Then you'd be best to think and fight hard for her and her allies' destruction. That is how you prove yourself here." He was quite satisfied with the addition of Doldora. Although Ahames was gone, he's gotten himself a new ally that came with new repertoires. Even so, Radiguet wasn't quite sure about how Ahames vanished that quickly. 'I know your cunning mind is preparing something… Your vanishing seems to be only a beginning of something. What are you up to, Ahames…?'
In the meantime, as Remi was running through the city, near the river, she kept looking at the portrait, to make sure she knew which one was Takeru. "Okay, where are you, Takeru… er… what's his full name?"
Just then, a wind unnaturally blew and Remi was unable to hold the photo as it flew off. "Ah! Wait!" She tried to give chase, but someone grabbed it before she could, "Ah, thank you… wha?" Remi was about to thank the person, but she was shocked at the face of that man…
It was Takeru himself.
"What the…" Takeru muttered as he looked at the portrait. Just looking at Sayaka in the picture wrenched his heart that he still let her go to that dimension where her death was quite imminent, "Ugh… Sayaka…" He continued to look at the picture, clenching his fist further.
"Uh… you're Takeru, right?" Remi asked.
"Oh?" Finally noticing who's in front of him, Takeru asked, "Yes… I'm Shiba Takeru. And you are?"
"Hoshikawa Remi. You can call me Remi."
"Remi, huh…" Takeru said lowly. He would've remembered Remi being in the Super Sentai History Book, but his mind was too mired with his previous guilt that he couldn't remember well. "So… how did you find this photo?"
"It's from your friends!" Remi answered lightly, "They're worried sick about you, you know."
"Forget it…" In gloom, Takeru gave the photo back to Remi and tried to walk away.
"Hey, what gives? !" Remi protested, pulling Takeru's arm to her, "Do you know how worried they are? !"
"I can't return… not after I failed them as a leader…" Takeru said as he pulled his arm away, trying to go away.
"Failed as a leader? You led them?" As Remi couldn't pull him in to stay in one place, she decided to walk with Takeru, "And you were down with such thing? You call yourself a leader?"
"What is it do you want? You're pretty chipper for a girl." Takeru grew rather annoyed at Remi, but she instead stomped at his feet.
"Now you stay here, and listen up!" Remi, also in annoyance, started talking as Takeru was holding his wounded foot, the stomp was quite strong. "I was once on a team with my brother Gaku. And you know what he always held onto? He'd never give up or give in to despair. Even if he's facing the things he feared the most… ghosts, or anything that endangers his family, or any hopeless situation… he faced them all fearlessly and he never gave in to despair. Are you really a leader of a Super Sentai?"
"Leader…?" Takeru was shocked at hearing the word. He didn't expect Remi to know that he led a Super Sentai team.
"Yeah, I don't know what Red you are…" Remi said, "But if a leader fell into despair, his teammates crumbles! At least that's what my brother taught me!"
"You…" Before Takeru could make a reply, however, he saw several Batzler soldiers and the Kuwagin approaching them.
"I've found you, Shiba Takeru…" Kuwagin beckoned, until he noticed Remi nearby, "What? ! You are here too, Five Yellow? ! Perfect… not only my mission will be done, I, Kuwagin, can exact vengeance for my brother too!"
"Five Yellow…? !" At that moment, Takeru started remembering the History Book again, "You're… one of the Fiveman…?"
"Talk is futile! Now get them!" As Kuwagin said, he ordered the Batzlers to attack, "Kill the man, but leave the girl alive! I want to be the one to deliver the vengeance of my brother…"
"Ah, damn!" Remi then started fighting the Batzler soldiers, while Takeru still wasn't able to move himself properly. However, when a Batzler soldier tried punching him, his body reacted itself and dodged the attack, while drawing the Shinkenmaru and slashed it down, "Hey, I see you can still fight!"
"What are you thinking?" Takeru asked cockily, "I can still fight of course… Just that I prefer to be alone…"
"Not with that again!" Remi protested
Shortly after, she noticed that Kuwagin were running to her, trying to ram both her and Takeru with his horns. He did, and knocked both Takeru and Remi away. In process, however, Remi dropped the gadget that she found in the New Town High. Takeru was familiar with the device that she dropped and was shocked at how Remi found it.
"That's… Inroumaru…!" Takeru uttered as he opened it, seeing the disc, "And the Super Disc is here as well…"
"Inrou… what?" Remi asked, but in process, she didn't realize that Kuwagin has run towards them and punched her on the stomach. When she was holding the stomach in pain, Kuwagin grabbed both her wrists and pulled them up as high as he could, "Agh, damn it! Let me go!" Remi attempted to kick him, but Kuwagin reflectively stomped her on the feet hard, making her unable to even raise her leg, "Urrgh…!"
"Now you're just sitting duck towards your death! Stag Giant Horns!" As Kuwagin taunted, his horns grew long and as he bowed, he seemed just ready to cut her and Takeru who was standing behind her in two.
"Not on my…!" Takeru tried to slash him to cut the case and free Remi. However, the moment he approached Remi… he saw something in place of her. Instead of Remi, it was instead Sayaka. And just as how she fell to the black hole before, now Takeru was seeing Sayaka being cut in two with the scissor horns. "No…!"
At that moment, Takeru froze in his place, unable to move. He was too shaken, too fearful that he'd doom Remi the same way he doomed Sayaka. Or rather, he was afraid that he'd fail to save her, thinking that Kuwagin might have something up to his sleeve in case he approaches.
"Hey, what are you doing, Takeru! Are you just okay with dying like that? ! At least dodge! Duck! Or something!" Remi shouted at him, but he wouldn't even budge. "Agh, damn it! At any rate…!" While she struggled on Kuwagin's grab on her limbs, Remi instead swung her hips to smash on Kuwagin's stomach. And not only this loosened his grapple that she was able to get free, Kuwagin also screamed in pain, raising his head and in turn shrunk his horns.
"AGH! Damn, that hurts!" While he was clutching his stomach, Remi instead delivered a flurry of punches to his stomach, knocking him out cold.
"Whoa… you're very strong… but you're not so tough, aren't you?" Remi taunted as she approached Takeru, "Hey, what are you doing? ! Do you really want to die that badly? !"
"I… If I fail…" Takeru muttered, until another voice was shouting behind him.
"Yeah, so what if you fail? !"
It was actually Gai, who finally found him. "Gai…" Takeru muttered as Gai approached him… then suddenly socked him on the face with his fist.
"Is this the 'leader' that I have come to respect?" Gai said, "You piss me off! Stop cowering like a coward and keep fighting like a man! You've got your duty here in this world!"
"But I… I failed… I made that decision…" Takeru protested, "I shouldn't have let Sayaka…"
"Don't just put the blame on yourself, damn it!" Another figure approached him from the other side. This time, it was Youhei, "We're all at fault, that's why we carry the burden of her loss together!"
"But there has to be another way…! Yet I still stuck with that…" Takeru insisted, "As your leader, I…"
"Yeah, way to consider yourself to be an almighty guy, smart-ass!" Gai scolded him again, "Did you think you could think straight while everyone was being sucked into a black hole? ! Sayaka knew the risk of her decision, and she bravely took it on anyway! And you… you're just running away!"
"Running away…?" Takeru was shocked at hearing that, until another figure walked to him. It was Miki, and what she did next was to hug him.
"Takeru… I know you're sad… we're all also sad for Sayaka's loss…" She said, "But… it's always better that if we can share our sadness together, right? Rather than keeping it to yourself?"
"Miki…"
"Do you believe in Sayaka's determination? Or were you eaten so much with Ahames' words that you trusted our enemies' words rather than our friend's?" Miki continued, "That's why… we need you back, Takeru. We're friends, right? And friends… always stick together… Right, Takeru?"
"We make mistakes, Takeru." Youhei continued, "But as long as you live, mistakes can be redeemed. If you think your mistake was letting Sayaka sacrifice herself, you can redeem it by living to yourself fully, not letting her sacrifice go in vain! Even though we don't think it's your mistake alone."
Completely silent, Takeru recalled what he did after the previous battle. And indeed, he was running away from his duties after one failure. The battle was never over until he died, and as long as he lived, he could redeem his failures in other means, not by running away. One of them was making sure that Sayaka's sacrifice wouldn't go in vain. Perhaps it was the first time he lost someone, something he has never experienced as the leader of the Shinkenger. But now he knew the pain and burden of losing someone as well as the fact that he could still redeem himself.
"Everyone…" Takeru muttered as he slowly moved Miki away from him, signifying that he has gotten a grip on himself, "We shouldn't let our guard down." He then said in his usual tone once more as he saw the Kuwagin starting to get up again. "Let's go."
"Now that's more like it!" Gai said proudly as he prepared to transform.
"Remi, please join in!" Miki called out to Remi. And as the latter realized that Takeru has restored himself, she decided to join in.
"All right, on your mark… leader!" Remi said to Takeru as he only nodded, smiled and unleashed his Shodo Phone…
"IPPITSU SOUJOU!"
"CROSS CHANGER!"
"BLUE TURBO!"
"GOGGLE PINK!"
"FIVE YELLOW!"
And thus, the five transformed, marking a new formation of the Super Sentai; as they prepared to perform their role call…
"Shinken Red! Shiba Takeru."
"Black Condor!"
"Blue Turbo!"
"Goggle Pink!"
"Five Yellow!"
"We may be from different times and eras…" Shinken Red once again took the lead in speech, "However, our bonds will remain unbreakable!"
"We are…!" Finally, all five said altogether… "SUPER SENTAI!"
"Hah, even if you recover, I still won't go down like that!" Kuwagin boasted as he summoned more Batzler soldiers, "Get them!"
"All right, we're taking them down!" On Shinken Red's command, the team finally ran forward to attack the group of Batzler soldiers, which they started taking out one by one slowly. However, Kuwagin learnt from his mistakes, and tried to cover his stomach, where his weak spot was open a lot.
As more soldiers fell, more new soldiers also come. Eventually Kuwagin snapped his finger and yelled, "Very well! Form up the Formation Z!"
On his command, suddenly several of the remaining Batzler soldiers banded together, holding up in shoulders and formed a circle which surrounded the Super Sentai. Several soldiers also jumped into the circle and started attacking the Super Sentai. The circle-formation soldiers did not move or attack, but it was like the Super Sentai was surrounded on a brick wall that won't get knocked down at all.
"Ow! What was this? !" Five Yellow said, after an attempt to punch one of the circle-formation soldier ended in failure and left her hand hurt.
"Thanks to the spirit of my brother, my soldiers are blessed with super toughness!" Kuwagin said, before suddenly getting his voice more sinister, "Well, but at any rate, my strength far surpasses his toughness! Stag Giant Horns!"
Then suddenly, his horns once again turned big, and were getting ready to cut the circle.
"Wait, you're gonna cut down your allies too? !" Blue Turbo said in shock.
"Of course! This is the ultimate proof that I am stronger than my brother!" Kuwagin boasted as he started moving his scissors to them, "Slowly… I'll crush you to death!"
"Damn it! At this rate…!" Black Condor cursed as more Batzler soldiers kept attacking them, preventing them to do anything.
"I see…!" Shinken Red, after noticing the surrounding, finally got an idea… "Miki, Remi, when there's a chance, jump out of this circle and station yourselves outside Kuwagin's horns! Gai, Youhei, clear a way for both Miki and Remi!"
"Jump? Ah, I see…!" Goggle Pink nodded, knowing what he meant. As the team worked a way to clear a path for the girls, eventually both of them were able to jump out of the circle, and as they got themselves on the outside of Kuwagin's horn…
"PINK RIBBON!"
"MELODY TACT!"
They bound the horns with their ribbon weapons and started pulling out, hoping to slow it down. However, Kuwagin's strength are still immense that even the girls had a hard time to keep it in line.
"Too… strong…!" said a struggling Goggle Pink.
"As if I'm… gonna lose from this!" Five Yellow tried to keep her spirits high as she kept pulling.
"They're not gonna last long at this rate!" Black Condor, inside the circle, told Shinken Red as he saw the girls struggling.
"That's where you come in." Shinken Red said, "You jump out and help them out."
"Huh? What about you?" Blue Turbo asked, worried.
"I have my plans. Hurry! While there's an opening." Shinken Red urged, as both could only nodded and jumped out of the circle. Blue Turbo supported Goggle Pink in holding out her ribbon, while Black Condor held together with Five Yellow with her tact. The movement of the horn slowed even further.
"Damn you!" Kuwagin cursed, "But you won't be able to save the red one… he'll still die!"
"Oh really? I don't think I planned to lose… not after I have this…" Shinken Red said as he pulled out the Inroumaru he just picked up and put the Super Disc on it.
"Super Disc." The device said out a phrase as the kanji on the Inroumaru flew to the sky, bathing Shinken Red with a light that granted him a white cape… turning him into Super Shinken Red.
"What the? !" Black Condor said in awe, looking at the transformation, "Since when…? !"
"That device I found…!" Five Yellow was also shocked, considering what she found, "It was actually Takeru's…?"
"Is this… how they have evolved since my time…?" Goggle Pink wondered as she saw the upgraded form, "The Super Sentai has grown strong…"
"This is awesome…" Blue Turbo commented, "I can feel it… Takeru is overwhelming with power now!"
"Heh… Because you concentrate so much power on those horns… you let your stomach open!" As Super Shinken Red said, he put the Inroumaru to his Shinkenmaru, granting him enough strength to knock away one of the 'wall' soldiers, opening a path towards Kuwagin himself. Rushing towards his front before the horns closed in to him, he put the Shishi Disc to the Inroumaru…
"Shishi Disc"
"Super Shinkenmaru. Shin Kaen no Mai!"
With his Super Shinkenmaru in flames, Super Shinken Red started slicing Kuwagin's stomach, the same weak spot that was punched before. The attack was powerful enough that his horns immediately shrank and Kuwagin exploded as a result.
"Hmph… This brings this chapter to a close." Super Shinken Red said as he turned back into Shinken Red, then back to his human form, followed by the rest, who were only staring in awe… especially Gai, Youhei and Miki, "Huh? What's wrong?"
"Takeru… you cheeky little bastard!" Youhei teased as he lightly punched Takeru on a shoulder, "Why didn't you tell me you have that kind of hidden super power? !"
"If you know you have such thing, why don't you use it earlier? !" Gai added, "You could've kicked Radiguet in the ass with ease!"
"Look, I just found this device back, okay?" Takeru defended himself, "Beforehand, without this, I can't even transform into Super Shinken Red."
"It was surprisingly powerful! We're just… too shocked that you didn't tell us you had such thing!" Miki also joined in 'interrogating' Takeru, "It was the first time I saw that too…"
"Well it just shows that the Super Sentai grew over time." Takeru said, "Still, I'm not going to use this often. Or else, you'll all get too dependent on me and it's bad."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Gai nodded, understanding the notion.
"To win, we're gonna have to do this as a team, not a one-man army." Youhei also added.
"Still, Takeru…" Miki then approached him and looked at him on the face, with a relieved face, and eventually smiled, "I'm glad that you're back to yourself."
"Oh, that… yeah. I'm sorry about before." Takeru said, "I'll not waver again. For Sayaka's sake, I will continue the fight and see this battle to the end… with us on the victorious side."
As the team celebrated their reunion and Takeru's renewed vigor, Remi just stood there. She wasn't quite impressed with the Super Shinken Red form, not because she didn't think it was powerful enough, but because she's had such power-up device in the past, the V-Tector. It wasn't with her when she arrived on the world. Looking at the team having a good time together, she felt like she accomplished something.
'My brothers and sister… I wish I could share you this happiness… Being able to help other team similar to us the Fiveman…'
"By the way… Remi, isn't it?" Suddenly, Takeru called out and approached Remi.
"Yeah?"
"We… we need your strength." Takeru said, "Will you come with us?"
"Eh? Me?" Remi was unsure. It was true that she didn't mind these guys, but she wished she could find a way to reunite with her family more.
"We're currently fighting our way to find a way home. If we stick together, we're told that the path will open itself." Youhei said, "So if you stick with us, I think you'll have a bigger chance to find a way to reunite with your parents."
"Hm…" Remi started to think about the notion… Judging from what the others told them, they may be right that she's in a new universe. Besides, the Zone has returned and she felt like she couldn't do it alone. If there is a team that wanted her assistance that could help out in defeating the Zone she would gladly give her assistance to them. As a result, she nodded, "All right, I'm in then."
"Thank goodness, Remi." Miki said to her, smiling, "With you on the team, we can be more assured of victory!"
"Uh huh… glad to be here…" Remi nodded as she joined Takeru and the others as they walked away from the river side.
Although the team has lost a member, it gained a replacement. With Hoshikawa Remi AKA Five Yellow joining the Super Sentai, how will their battles turn out against the forces of evil? They keep on pushing, never giving up! Fight! Super Sentai!
"Five Yellow… Once again you stand barring my path…!" Back in the villains' dimension, Doldora cursed as she learned about Remi's presence, "But soon, not just you… the rest of the Super Sentai shall behold my masterpiece project, which will bring you down…!"
Super Sentai vs Super Sentai… will continue at Act 14
Author's note: And yeah, there's our sixth member (or replacement five), Remi/Five Yellow from Fiveman! And Takeru is back to his usual self now. I do hope you enjoy this chapter despite getting the guesses wrong. There will be more adventures to come of course. Look forward to it in the future. I'll see you later!