It had become early afternoon by the time the pair left the tailor shop, the packages containing Tommy's new clothes tucked under one arm though not on the side with the bandages. He didn't know how to feel about being rewarded, both because doing good had always been a reward in and of itself and it didn't feel right to be rewarded for beating up a bunch of kids that were in trouble. Though if he had to admit, he didn't look half bad in his new clothes, he could see why Louise picked that shop in particular. Currently, however, he had returned to wearing his old clothes, he didn't want them to be thrown out like the maids seemed to suggest would happen.
As they walked, however, he wasn't exactly sure where they were going and Louise didn't seem to be sure either. At every street corner, she stopped and looked around, as if trying to find some distinguishing landmark. It didn't seem likely that she was lost as she had navigated them to the tailor shop with little effort, maybe she had never been to this part of town before?
"If we're going somewhere specific, maybe we could ask..."
"Aha, there it is."
Before Tommy could ask further, Louise immediately walked down a side road toward a shop with a sign that looked suspiciously like a sword hanging above its door. Attention fully captured, Tommy followed till they were the at door and stepped inside. The first thing the pair had noticed was the heat, especially compared to the pleasant spring weather that was on the other side of the door. Tommy assumed that there must be a forge in the back somewhere as the second thing that he noticed was the shop's considerable inventory. Swords, spears, daggers, shields, it was wall to wall implements of battle. Now this was a store that he could appreciate, not just as a martial artist and Power Ranger, but also as a teacher.
He had learned in his youth that a weapon was as much a tool of defense and justice as it was one of destruction and malice, but to never confuse the two and always remember the inherent danger even when wielded for the right reasons. This lesson never truly clicked for Tommy, not until he began teaching. It was one thing to save a nameless, faceless crowd from a monster attack but it was different when you knew each and every one of them on some level, to hold so many individual lives in one's hands was frankly sobering, even if you were only holding them in order to mold them into the future.
His thoughts turned to Louise, who stood impatiently in the middle of the shop, tapping her foot while looking among the wares with a bored expression. He had some students much like her, with similar academic struggles and yet pushed forward like they had something to prove. He wanted to help, maybe give some advice that would let her break through the obstacles that impeded her, but he wasn't exactly in a position of authority at the moment. If his observations since arriving were any indication, he was virtually at the bottom of the social ladder. It gave him a bit of deja vu now that he thought about it.
"Shouldn't there be someone here to attend to us?" Louise complained irritably.
"I'll be with ya in a minute!" a rough voice called out from the backroom, the sound metal on metal beginning to ring through the door, "I'm jus' putting the finishing touches on a new piece! Browse around for what ya need till then!"
"Speaking of which," Tommy began, "why exactly are we here?"
"I swear, you are so slow at times. I'm buying you a weapon on the off chance that we are accosted again."
"That isn't really..."
"That wound says otherwise! You yourself said that you were getting slow, or can you brush off a lost limb or worse?"
Tommy didn't have a counterargument to that, and how could he? Would he tell her that yes, he really could literally shrug off an arm if he had to? Or would he tell her not to worry, the magic coin in his pocket would keep him safe? Even if the latter were the truth, which it was, he couldn't tell her that. He was enough of a danger magnet already, telling her everything would just put her and everyone around her in the line of fire.
"Psst, hey, over here!"
"Did...did you hear that?" Louise asked, perplexed red eyes scanning for the source.
Tommy did indeed hear it, it sounded like a whisper but he couldn't...
"Hey, if you're lookin' for a weapon, try searching over here!"
Tommy turned toward the door of the shop, sure that he heard it coming from that direction. In the corner, normally hidden behind the door when it opened, sat an old barrel filled with what looked like rusty bits of scrap metal. Uneasy, and unsure if his tetanus shots were up to date, he moved toward the barrel and peered inside. Indeed it was as he expected, nothing but rusty junk, nothing except for a conspicuously intact hilt poking out above the rest of the scrap. Careful not to touch anything else, Tommy grabbed the hilt and pulled, the sound of rusty metal grinding against rusty metal screeching out through the shop.
"Oh wow! It is so good to finally stretch my... well, I don't have legs or any limbs for that matter, but you get the idea!"
Grasped in Tommy's hand in a reverse grip was a very rusty, single-edged, talking broadsword and he was genuinely surprised by this. It certainly wasn't the first talking sword that he had personally met but it was most definitely the second, living weapons had been an exceedingly rare occurrence compared to most of the supernatural things he had encountered.
"Huh, cool," Tommy commented, flipping the sword over in his hand to give it a closer look.
"'Cool'? That's all you have to say upon the discovery of such a magnificent treasure? Me, the mighty...!"
"Derflinger! Damn you to the pits of the underworld where you belong! You have cost me far too many customers but you will not succeed this day, foul demon!"
Tommy immediately spun around to find a rather large, beefy man in thick gloves, a thick apron but otherwise normal work clothes, standing in the doorway to the backroom, pointing at the now named Derflinger and glaring with mad rage. Finely honed instinct flared but before he could drop into a ready stance, the clearing of a throat caught the attention of the men. The large blacksmith turned and looked down to see Louise, somehow looking down upon the larger man as she looked up to meet his eyes. Immediately, his demeanor shifted, gone was the mad rage and in its place was cold fear.
"M-my apologies!" the blacksmith stammered, bowing surprisingly low for someone of his size, "I didn't realize that I had noble customers. As a further apology, everything in my shop at half price, but only if you put that... thing back where it belongs."
The silence was immediately pierced by Derflinger beginning to laugh uproariously, the little piece of metal above his crossguard shaking as if it were his jaw.
"Hahahahahaha! I never get tired of this routine!"
"You be quiet! I will not have you ruin my business anymore, you rusty piece of scrap!"
"Oh please, I'm literally the only thing of value in this junk heap you call a shop! Hey, guy with the surprisingly good sword hand, check out that spear on the rack to your left and prove me right, would ya?"
Tommy, assuming that Derflinger was referring to him, walked over to the rack holding the spears and began to examine one. Spears were not usually his area of expertise, he had far more experience with staves and swords, but even he could tell that this spear's head was much thinner than it should be. In fact, they were all quite thin.
"As you can see," Derflinger began again, "everything in this shop, aside from yours truly, is flimsy as all hell!"
"He's right," Tommy confirmed, walking closer to Louise, "one good hit, and those heads will either bend or completely snap off."
If it was possible for a look of complete terror to become more terrified, the blacksmith somehow pulled it off as he slowly turned to look back at Louise, her imperious glare strengthening with each second.
"Do you mean to tell me," she began, her voice filled with a calm fury, "that not only do you not know how to respect your betters, but you intended to sell me a faulty product!?"
"T-they're not faulty!" the blacksmith tried to defend, "I'm just not able to purchase better materials because that loudmouth imbecile drives away all of my business!"
"Then I think we know exactly what needs to happen here," Tommy stated, looking the blacksmith dead in the eye, "we'll be taking Derflinger here, and something to clean the rust off of him, free of charge. And in return, we won't report you for this."
"...Fine, that's fine by me, just give me a minute to get what you need and a scabbard for the talkative blighter."
As the pair plus one stepped out into the cool spring air, far cooler after they had gotten used to the heat in the blacksmith's shop, a thought crossed Tommy's mind.
"You're not going to report him, are you?" he asked Louise as they made their way back to the carriage, their errands completed.
"Oh don't tell me you want me to let him go too?" she replied incredulously, "This is the second time today that some criminal thought that they could accost a noble such as myself!"
"He didn't accost you and he had a legitimate reason for why he had to run his business like that. We solved his problem so now he should be able to do things right."
"By the Founder, what is wrong with me today? If I don't report that con man, you do realize that you will owe me twice?"
"Of course, I always keep my end of every deal I make."
"Sheesh, what is with you two?" Derflinger asked, popping out of the scabbard that now adorned Tommy's back, "I've known you for all of five minutes and I'm already up to my non-existent eyeballs with questions!"
"We'll explain everything on our way back," Tommy stated, attempting to adjust the strap of the scabbard with one hand as the other still carried his clothes.
"Ooh, where are we going?"
"To the academy," Louise answered curtly.
"The academy? How fancy, I've always wanted to visit there!"
"...You have no idea what the academy even is, do you?"
"Not a clue but hey, anywhere is better than where I used to live!"
"I am immediately regretting all of this."
As late-afternoon slowly shifted to early evening and the sky was set ablaze by the light of sunset, Siesta released a sigh of exhaustion. Today's work had been the toughest yet, not helped by the stressful and, if she was being honest, spooky encounter she had earlier that morning. Sure, she may be strong and quite physically fit for her age but this was pure torture. Maybe the elders were right, that this was the wrong path for her, but she couldn't deny her need for self-validation. She needed to prove, not just to her family, but to herself that she was her own person, that she could carve out a life doing honest work if she so chose. And yet, since the moment she arrived at the academy, it's been nothing but misery. First, some of the serving staff had disappeared so she had to do double the work, then more disappeared and so her workload increased further.
And then there was him, there was no way it was possible, not even with magic. Maybe it was stress, maybe it was the workload combined with the vague warnings of doom from the elders that was causing her to hallucinate. And if it wasn't, then it must be one uncanny coincidence because it felt like was seeing a ghost. She had to get her mind off of it, there was no use in dwelling on hows and what-ifs, she had to get back to work anyway. She pushed herself up from her sitting position against the wall, her back aching and even popping in protest, and brushing the grass from her uniform before she went back inside.
As she was about to round the corner of the courtyard near the front gate, she stopped dead in her tracks and instead hid behind the corner, for she saw the front gate was open and her blood ran cold for the second time that day. There he was again, walking through the front gate with the Valliere girl, carrying what looked like boxes and... was that a sword on his back? Just what was going on?! She backed up against the wall and closed her eyes, trying to control her breathing and remember what she was taught. Soon, her heart slowed back to normal, and she looked around the corner. The coast was clear, as far as she could see. She waited one extra minute, then another, just to be sure before she made her way inside and back to work. Siesta was by no means religious, but right now she prayed for a sign, something to show her a way through all of this.
Louise sat upon her bed as Tommy set down the boxes, and she watched as his eyes slid over to the pile of straw that he had slept on the last few nights, a look of annoyance crossing his features. This was it, this was her chance to spring her trap. She had him trapped by something far stronger than a locked door, she had him trapped by his word, and if there was anything she had learned about her 'familiar' that day, it was that he was the honorable type.
"Hey, Louise? Would it be possible to change my sleeping arrangements?"
"I'll give you an answer, but only if you answer a question of mine."
"What's your question?"
"Who are you really?"
"I've already..."
"No, you haven't," she interjected, rising from her bed walking toward Tommy, "All that you've told me are words filled with deceit. Or am I supposed to forget that you moved faster than most men half your age? Or your surprising knowledge of weapons for just a simple teacher? Or that, by your own words, you are getting slow and that you've had worse injuries?"
"It's not..."
"Remember, you owe me. And what was it that you said? You 'always keep your end of every deal you make'?"
Tommy grew quiet, uncertainty played across his face as he seemed to consider his next words carefully. Of course, it didn't matter to Louise what excuse he came up, what mattered is that she had caught him. What mattered is that she would make him regret deceiving her. Minutes passed as he continued to weigh his options, was honesty such a difficult thing? Or was it something more? Perhaps a secret so grave that it could bring harm to any who knew it? Louise immediately cast these thoughts from her mind, she had been lenient enough for today. Now was the time to exact justice for the slights against her, as was her right as a noble.
"Well?" she questioned, now irritated by the continued lack of a response, "What do you have to say for yourself?!"
"...I can't tell you who I am," he answered solemnly.
"You can't? Or you won't?"
"I can't. The group that I'm a part of, we're often drawn into many conflicts, often with those conflicts actively seeking us out. As a result, many of us have chosen to keep our identities hidden to keep our loved ones and the innocents around us from coming to harm."
"And you expect me to believe you, especially after deceiving me already?"
"I don't expect anything, that's for you to decide."
Louise turned away, her thoughts roiling. Whom did this lowborn cur think he was spewing such utter tripe! She had half a mind to have the clothes that she purchased for him burned for this! And yet, she didn't, because she could not deny that he spoke with a grim sincerity. She also couldn't deny that what he said added up with everything that she had witnessed that day.
"Say that you are speaking the truth now," she began, adamantly refusing to turn around lest the sight of him enrage her further, "am I in danger because of your presence?"
"Potentially you and everyone else in this castle, and hopefully the only danger is what we encountered today. I've honestly been a bit on edge ever since I got taken by that portal, I kept expecting something to jump out of a shadow to pick a fight."
"You say that so casually," Louise sighed as she gave in, turned back around and sat on her bed, resting her chin in her hand, "So you're not a teacher then?"
"I've been randomly kidnapped more times than I like to think about," Tommy replied with a wry smile, "And I am a teacher, I wasn't lying when I said that. I'm semi-retired from combat and I chose teaching as my primary profession. Which leads me to something else that I should tell you, now that you already know some things."
"What stress and madness do you plan to put on me now?" Louise asked, falling backward in resignation to what was about to come.
"I can't stay here, Louise."
"What do you mean 'you can't stay'?" she questioned, immediately on her feet once more, "You're my familiar, your place is by my side!"
"When you summoned me, my home was in the process of being invaded and I have to get back to help."
"But you're retired, and surely there are others who can handle this invasion."
"Semi-retired and yes, the current generation of the group is on the front lines, but this is bigger than anything we've ever faced. If the worst happens, myself and many of the others will join the fight."
Louise fell silent once more, her mind reeling with everything she had just been told. What could she even say to any of it? Call him a liar again? What's more, she really made a mess this time, not only was he a soldier but she had summoned him while his homeland was endangered! Only Louise the Zero could have timing that rotten!
"How do you plan to return?" she asked neutrally to mask her insecurities.
"I don't know, the best that I can hope for is that my allies manage to track me down, and if not, then that they can handle things without me."
Louise felt a guilty hope rise through her, it was wrong of her to wish for such a thing but she couldn't help but hope that her familiar was never found, that he would remain by her side as was ordained by the summoning ritual. An awkward silence fell upon the room, none of its occupants sure as to what to say next. Well, none except for one.
"Aha, I knew there was something special about you, partner!" Derflinger exclaimed as he popped out of his scabbard.
"Oh, what would you know, you crass waste of space?" Louise replied scathingly, "I spent absolutely nothing on you and I still feel that I wasted money."
"Listen, tiny, when you're a sword as old as I am, you learn how to spot quality and skill at a glance."
"Did...did that piece of junk just call me tiny?!"
"Now that you mention it," Tommy interjected, trying to cut off an incident before it could start, "how old are you, Derf?"
"I am over six thousand years old! ...I think."
"You think? How can you not know?!" Louise asked, still irritated.
"Well that's the downside of being as old as I am, my memory ain't too good anymore. Hell, for all I know, I was only made last year and the guy that did it did a piss poor job. But I do know how to recognize a skilled hand and trust me, partner, you've got a lot of skill."
"That's all well and good but you should really apologize to her, Derf."
"Oh fine, I'm sorry for calling you tiny, Pinky."
What followed could only be described with words such as 'fracas' and 'brouhaha' as Louise tried her damndest to get at Derflinger, now firmly irate at being condescended to by literal garbage. She didn't care how old it was or what it knew, she would not stand for this! She would do whatever it took to get rid of the mouthy refuse! And she would have, if not for the fact that her familiar was, in fact, larger than her and was easily backing out of her reach.
"Don't you think that you're overreacting a little?" Tommy asked as he dodged another swipe at the nuisance that rested on his back.
"NO! I'm ridiculed daily by my own peers, I don't need it from something lower than dirt!"
"Derflinger, you have to apologize properly."
"Alright, I'm sorry," the sword said, sounding almost genuine this time, "I was just teasing, cut a guy some slack after being stuck in a rust bin for who knows how long."
Louise only fumed in response and stormed over to her desk, continuing to fume once seated in her chair. She was beginning to understand exactly what the blacksmith had meant, she hadn't known the sword for a whole day and already she was at her wit's end! It was a wonder how Tommy managed to keep a level head when he had the annoying thing strapped to his back.
"Hey, Louise? What did you mean when you said that you were ridiculed?"
"That is...!" Louise began, turning in her seat to admonish the question but too late, she had already said it, "You recall the spell that I cast earlier?"
"I do, the dust cloud," Tommy replied evenly.
"That was... not the effect that I had intended. I was trying to hit the hoodlums with a fireball but..."
"Does that happen with all of your spells?"
"...yes. It's been that way my entire life, I've never once successfully cast anything, and I've been looked down upon for it for just as long."
"That's terrible, no one should treat you like that for any reason, let alone something that's beyond your control."
"And yet it happens all the same, you saw how they laughed when I first summoned you. Magic is important, it is the sign of one's divine right to rule. I am the third daughter of this nation's second most powerful family, and I had the audacity to be born faulty."
Louise could feel the despair wash over her with each word that she spoke, her gaze drifting lower in shame. And why wouldn't she feel shame? Not only was she a blight on her family's legacy but here she was, bearing her soul to this lowlife. If all of this was the Founder's cruel joke. then she was the only one who wasn't laughing.
"If you want, maybe I could help you with it."
"You?" Louise asked incredulously, looking up in surprise, "What could you possibly do to help me when you can't use magic? Or was that another lie for my 'protection'?"
"I wasn't lying when I said that I can't do magic, but I do have experience with it after a number of encounters with it."
"That's not good enough, I've spent years studying with the best tutors and experts money could buy and not even they could figure out what's wrong with me. Not even this, the greatest institution of magical study on the continent has been any help, so what can you do that they never could?"
"Well, maybe an outside perspective and a fresh pair of eyes are what you need. I'm not going to promise you an instant solution, but I can promise that I'll do everything that I can. I wouldn't be much of a teacher if I didn't help a student."
"So I'm your student now?" Louise asked sardonically, "In that case, what do we do first?"
"First, we clear this with your actual teachers, just in case anything we try goes against academy policies."
"Fine. Oh, and just because you're helping me doesn't excuse you from your chores."
Tommy couldn't help but sigh, today seemed to be nothing but one step forward and two steps back.
Lights flashed and sirens blared, technicians and crew hustled to and fro as reports arrived and were delivered throughout one of the most advanced facilities on the planet Earth. Captain Mitchell, commander of the Lightspeed Aquabase, sat in his office as he went over the latest after-action report. An attack by the Warstar directed at a critical power station, thankfully stopped by the Megaforce Rangers before a catastrophe could take place. Like this wasn't a catastrophe already, Earth may have become accustomed to terrors from who-knows-where making regular attacks but if their projections were accurate, this was something different and was only going to get worse. But he was a soldier and as such, he soldiered on, both because it was the right thing to do and it wouldn't do to let his people see him falter.
The refugee report came next, tens of thousands and counting displaced and currently residing in shelters all over the world. If it weren't for the Power Rangers as well as two decades of experience, it would instead be a casualty report he was reading. It was a miracle Mitchell still had so much of his hair, slightly balding as he already was, or that it hadn't turned white from the stress. Aliens and demons, robots and time travelers, he'd swear this was some Saturday morning cartoon if he hadn't seen it all with his own eyes. Sometimes he wondered if he was actually insane and all of this was his delusion to cope with that car accident. But he knew that wasn't true, it couldn't be, because...
"Dad?"
Captain Mitchell looked up from the reports to see the face of a younger man peering through the door to his office, his son.
"Ryan, how is the rallying going?"
"Good so far but there have been some snags. Contact with Terra Venture has been spotty, we think that something is jamming the transmission, same with S.P.D. and Time Force."
"That's to be expected," Captain Mitchell sighed, "What about our other allies?"
"It's been surprisingly easy to get in contact with Corinth and they're ready should they be needed. Aquitar, Triforia, KO-35, and Eltar are likewise ready."
"Good. Now, what about our MIA case?"
"Nothing yet, no one's found any trace of Tommy's whereabouts. The Space Rangers might have a lead but it's a slim one, otherwise, we've got all available resources scanning possible planets, dimensions, and even timelines."
Captain Mitchell sighed once more, stood, and along with his son, made his way to the command deck. If the absolute worst were to happen, they would need all hands for the coming fight.