Chapter 1
"As promised," Shizuka, a woman in a black open coat with a white, ladybug patterned underdress, shoes and socks, began, standing in front of a holographic screen depicting an animated logo reading 'Gijutsu Sentai Ryumushinger tech, powers, etc, QnA'. "I will now be answering any and all questions pertaining to the Ranger powers, suits, tech, etc." She looked towards her audience, consisting of two gynoids, one snake woman, one mantis woman, and a human man.
One of the gynoids wore a green tube top underneath an open black coat, a patch on her left shoulder depicting a green silhouette of a grasshopper-dragon. In addition to that, she wore black gloves with green patterns sewn in, a light green and regular green frilly silk skirt, and black thigh high boots with green patterns.
The other gynoid wore a red T-shirt under a zipped up black coat, a patch on her left shoulder depicting a red silhouette of a butterfly-dragon. She also wore a black skirt and leggings with red data stream lines accenting her thighs and legs. Finally, she wore black boots with red soles.
The snake woman wore a pink low cut, knee length dress underneath an open black coat, a patch on her left shoulder depicting a pink silhouette of a firefly-dragon. She wore bright pink thigh high socks, plus black shoes with a small heel.
The mantis woman wore a yellow sports top with a black coat, a patch on her left shoulder showing a yellow silhouette of a mantis-dragon. She wore tight, form fitting black pants with some yellow accents, plus black combat boots.
The human man wore a blue T-shirt with a black coat, a patch on his left shoulder showing a blue silhouette of a dragonfly-dragon. He wore black simple pants with black boots.
"Anyone?"
No one spoke, shifting awkwardly.
"...Anyone?"
Again, silence.
Shizuka deadpanned, dropping her hands. "Speak now or forever hold your peace."
Slowly, one by one, each of the five members of her audience raised their hands.
…
"Alright… Andah, what's your question?"
"What metals/alloys do you use to make our equipment and zords?"
"Huh."
"What?"
Shizuka blinked. "...nothing, I was just expecting to wait a bit before actual good questions came up."
"...how often do you deal with silly questions?"
Shizuka just looked at her.
"...right…"
Shizuka cleared her throat. "We deal in Morphenium, a metal that's constructed first in a multiversal energy grid, combined with influence and shaping from the Draginsects themselves, turning it into a new alloy we have, admittedly, yet to name."
Andah made a face at this. "Just how many things have you forgotten to name? First the megazord, now this?"
"Shush or I will revoke your enetron bar privileges at my wedding." Shizuka glared.
"...the what?" Azu asked, dumbfounded.
"Shutting up now." Andah made a zipping gesture.
Shizuka rolled her eyes.
"Anyone else? Nazu?"
…
"Who decides what weapons we get?" Nazu questioned.
"What do you mean?" Shizuka asked.
"As in…how'd I get the crossbow, Azu a sword, etc.?"
"Ah. We took that into account when looking through candidates for each ranger, as well as what fighting style each Draginsect's champion would use. We noted you are an excellent marksman for example, and the blue Draginsect is known for speed, so you ended up with a ranged weapon."
"Fair enough. Just curious."
"Anything else?"
"...was the yoyo inspired by-"
"No, it wasn't inspired by that Miraculous show." Shizuka deadpanned.
"You should really check it oooooooout~" A teasing voice came from the hall.
"I'LL CHECK IT OUT ON MY OWN TIME, MISTHIA!" Shizuka barked.
Everyone's eyes widened at Shizuka's little explosion.
"..." Shizuka cleared her throat. "Next?"
…
"What's that Miraculous show?" Ziga asked with a raised brow.
"..." Shizuka slumped and facepalmed. "Oy ve…" She stood up again. "Ask my fiances, they're the experts…"
…
"Please tell me you did not just ask me that." Shizuka deadpanned.
"It's a legitimate question!" Slavi defended.
"I'd hardly call this legitimate." Shizuka sighed.
"If you think Azu is cute in her ranger suit is a completely legitimate question."
"..." Shizuka put her hand on Slavi's shoulder. "Slavi."
"Yes?"
"...how bout you settle your debates with the self deprecator through actual talks rather than in a QnA?"
"She needs an outside perspective!"
"..." Shizuka gave out a sigh, not unlike an anime character's exasperation. "...yes. In fact she is adorable."
Azu blushes, looking down.
"I told you!" Slavi tells her.
"Shaddup." The gynoid murmured.
"Next?" Shizuka asked.
…
"Sometimes when I morph, I can't help but notice this gigantic explosion behind me for no apparent reason whatsoever." Azu stated.
"It's not for no reason, it expels the excess energy of the metamorphosis."
"Ok, but what determines when it goes off? Why does it happen sometimes and not others? Is this weaponizable and we could potentially use this against our enemies? Do we have any way of tracking when it'll happen so we don't accidentally blow up some building or injure civilians? Do we-"
Azu blushed as Shizuka put a finger to her mouth.
"Don't worry, we're monitoring it."
Azu's cheeks pinkened, much to Shizuka's -and Slavi and Andah's- amusement.
"Now…any other questions?"
Azu nodded.
"Like what?" Shizuka asked, bringing her finger back.
"What's with the automatic roll call from our first fight? And the whole acid trip backdrop thing. Been trying to figure that out and it's been driving me crazy."
"Oh yeah," Slavi cut in. "You should've seen her last night. Only way I could get her to stop and rest was by pulling her head between my br-"
"THAT'S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU!" Azu snapped at her, face a blushing mess.
Shizuka stared blankly, blinking. "...next?"
"No wait you didn't answer my question-"
After the QnA, Azu found herself walking through the hallways, grumbling to herself.
"I don't get what the big deal is, those are legitimate questions!" She muttered. "More legitimate than that horny bastard's, at least." She groaned, putting her face in her hands. "Why…are Sentai…so…WEIRD?"
Just as she thought that, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye on the wall, backing up a bit and looking at it.
It was a plague, the top reading "MEMORIAL."
On the plague were several images with names.
"..." Azu stared up at the wall.
…so many….
She frowned. Don't remember coming across this bef-
Her pupils shrank, 'heart' stopping briefly as shock overcame her at a particular sight.
One image had a woman with light brown hair, amethyst eyes, in a black, white, and purple stylish business suit. The name underneath read 'Ayame Hikari.'
Another image was of a grey and black haired man with yellow and green, 'Bego Utahoshi.'
Another of an older man in royal blue with golden bands around his business suit sleeves, 'Navo Yatosh.'
One by one, she came across more and more images and names she recognized.
From that…
That day.
Her 'heart' beat faster and faster, her breathing became heavy, as if trying to gasp for air in an area where there was none.
Like she was suffocating…drowning…
And she found herself in the familiar black and red sea of a realm she was more familiar with than she'd ever want to be.
Whereas normally the kanji of this realm read various negative subjects…now, in addition to that, there were kanji…and even voices whispering in her ears.
'All…your…fault….'
'All….your….faul-'
She had backed away until she hit something, not even bothering to check before she let out a yell, thoughts going through her head at blinding speeds.
Need to get out, need to get out, need to get out-
…
"AZU!" A familiar voice cried out.
Azu snapped out of it, finding herself hugging her knees on the floor against the door in her own room.
She blinked, looking around.
I'm…I'm still…
She put her hand to her cheek.
Good, everything was real-
Tears…tears again.
A knock on the door sounded. "AZU!"
Azu, body trembling, swiped her hand over the screen on her nightstand, seeing Slavi on the other side of the door.
She looked…concerned…scared, a bit, even.
Yet the sight of the Pythonian at all…
It…was a welcome sight.
Why…why is my chest warm…? She wondered.
She…was surprised to find she didn't care much about that.
Only two things were on her mind, then.
Assuring Slavi she was ok, and just…getting her to leave her be.
Opening the door slightly, she saw Slavi standing on the other side.
"H-hi…" Azu whispered.
"Hey Azu, you okay?"
"I…I'm fine." Azu sniffed. "Fine…"
Judging by the pink snake's face, the pink ranger didn't believe her.
"You don't have to talk about it, but I have you."
"...just leave me alone-" Azu began closing the door, yelping as Slavi forced her way inside, bringing her into a hug. "Wh-what're you doing-"
"I'm not letting you spiral alone."
"..." Azu trembled, Slavi caressing her back. "..."
Slavi's heart warmed as Azu wrapped her arms around her tightly, clinging onto her.
"...c-can you…close the door?" Azu blushed.
Slavi nods, closing the door.
"Th-thanks…" The gynoid murmured into her chest.
"No problem, Azu."
"..."
The two stood there for a few moments.
Azu found her 'heart' racing…chest warm, in a pleasant way.
It…felt similar to how she felt when…when talking with Izu-
No! I don't…I don't like her that way!
She was silent for a moment.
But…still…she's…
The gynoid's cheeks pinkened.
Oddly…comfortable...as a seat and a hugger…
Maybe I….Maybe I could afford just…a few minutes…
"...so…how…uh…how long are you planning to stay here?" Azu asked.
Slavi could hear a hint of…hopefulness in her tone, a small smile making its way onto the Pythonian's face.
"As long as you need."
….m-maybe a few hours or so…
Azu blushed, Slavi brushing her hair behind her ear, the gynoid hiding her face in Slavi's chest.
"Thanks…"
Slavi smiled, rubbing her back.
Energy shots rang out as Nazu rolled around and flipped about the training room, said location being designed after a high tech bank, using both his sidearm and crossbow to deliver shots at targets, said targets looking beat up, as if he had been at this for a while.
As he went at this, certain images went through his mind.
Bodies on the floor…
People screaming for help….
A man on the ground, unable to get up, moaning about how he couldn't feel his legs…
And a man in his 50s…resting in Nazu's arms as tears welled up in the latter's eyes.
Unbeknownst to the blue ranger, Ziga had opened up the training room, her eye widening upon seeing this sight.
"..." A look of recognition and realization hit her face. Nazu…
Once the last target was completely down, Nazu panted, holding himself up on one knee.
"Hey, dragonfly." Ziga greeted.
Nazu turned to her. "Oh…hi, Ziga…"
"Stressed, huh?"
"I… Yeah…."
"Therapeutic training, I'm guessing?" Ziga guessed with a light smirk, helping him up.
Nazu looked to her in surprise.
"Been doing this myself long enough to recognize it." Ziga answered his unspoken question.
"I… Some things have just gotten to me lately I guess."
"..." Ziga patted his shoulder, offering him a water bottle. "Ya don't have to deal with it on your own all the time."
Nazu took the bottle, unscrewing the cap and drinking it, gulping it down greedily, panting once he finished. "I know I don't, I just… Everyone's got their own issues."
"Heh, welcome to the life of superheroes, where everyone's got their own issues." Ziga smirked, elbowing him playfully. "We have a therapy service here." She handed him an access card. "You don't have to take it. Everyone deals with things differently…but it does help to talk about things."
He nods gently and smiles, putting the card in his pocket. "I'll think about it."
Ziga smiled. "In the meantime…after ya take a break…I got time to kill." She gave a playfully challenging smirk. "Wanna spar?"
"Sure, been a while." Nazu returned the smirk.
Elsewhere…
In a tan and brown room reminiscent of a coffee shop, a man in crimson and coffee brown and a man in navy and black set two devices onto the counter.
"Alright…training's done, they work now." The man in crimson stated. "Any issues with yours?"
"Nope. It's done, finally."
"Good." Crimson looked to the devices…which were wrist braces very reminiscent of the Ryumushingers' morphers. "After all this time…finally."
Navy nodded. "...heh…"
"Something funny?"
"Back in the day…mine was a stag…you were a kabuto." He looked to Ryumucards, his black and navy with a silhouette of a stag beetle-dragon creature, and Crimson's a black and crimson one with a silhouette of a kabuto-dragon creature. "Funny how things work out."
"Heh…what a staggering revelation." Crimson grinned.
"Oh don't start with that already." Navy rolled his eyes.
"I ain't as bad as that president, ya gotta admit that." Crimson drank some coffee.
"Low bar, bro." Navy chuckled.
"This isn't a bar, though, it's a coffee shop." Crimson joked, the two of them laughing at that.
"Your sense of humor is still intact at least."
Crimson poured himself another mug of coffee. "My humor is like my coffee. It may change from time to time, but as long as the core of what makes it what it is remains intact, you can safely say the soul is still the same." He philosophized, jazz music starting up.
"... You done, Shakespeare?" Navy chuckled.
Crimson deadpanned before laughing. "You're lucky this coffee's warm, or else I'd throw it at you."
"I'm soooo lucky."
Crimson rolled his eyes behind his visor. "Portal's opening soon. You ready for this?"
"As I'll ever be."
Crimson nodded. "Good." he looked at the morphers and cards again. "Time's almost here…" He narrowed his eyes. For our vengeance…