The aroma of spices and bubbling curry sauce hung heavy in the air of the culinary arts clubroom. Hikaru Katsuragi, usually found leading the charge as the Pink Five of the Bioman team (and in ordinary human form - attending high school with her classmates) breathed deeply in anxiety as she carefully arranged a piece of golden, crispy, oily pork katsu atop a bed of fluffy rice. Her friends, however, were far less enthusiastic. All of them were currently in ordinary human form, as they always are - until whenever they must morph into Bioman rangers.
"I still don't trust this 'O-san' chump," Shirou Gou, the Red One, muttered, peering through the clubroom window. "What kind of culinary master hides their face behind a shady club lacking transparency? Who are the parent companies behind it?"
"Maybe it's a homegrown company without any parent companies backing it," Mika Koizumi, the Yellow Four, offered with a shrug. "Hikaru seems to like him. She's praised that guy's incredible knife skills and Yoshoku cuisine skills since last Monday. O-san can cut vegetables into very light, paper-thin slices, using a Japanese knife."
"And Hikaru was learning how to create Japanese baby food with her mom. Hikaru wants to be a mother someday, and her mom is trying to get pregnant again." Added Ryuuta Nanbara, optimistic.
"Yeah, but we have cookbooks in the high school library and in the bookstore," Shirou replied. "Hikaru's just a young girl. She already has so much academic pressure to get perfect grades from her mom..."
"You're not against Hikaru starting a family, are you?" Asked Mika.
"No, it's natural for women to want to become mothers and create new families," Shirou replied. "But Hikaru's taking life too fast, isn't she?"
Shingo Takasugi, the Green Two, remained unconvinced. He was working a part-time / albeit job as a gardener for the day, to earn some money to help the high school purchase new materials for students. He stood apart from the others, tending to the school's flowerbeds of hydrangeas in bloom alongside other summer flowers, with a frown on his face. He couldn't shake the feeling that something about the culinary club, especially its enigmatic leader, felt… off.
Inside, the moment of truth had arrived. "O-san" stood before the students, a formidable figure despite his short obese stature, his face lit up by a cigarette. He had just finished tasting the penultimate student's katsu curry, his face unreadable. Finally, he reached Hikaru's dish.
One bite. His brow furrowed, the bushy beard trembling. He slammed his fist on the table, the room falling silent.
"Bullshit!" he boomed, his voice surprisingly deep. "Where is the firey flavor? I'd rather puke than take another mouthful..." He pointed a stubby finger at Hikaru. "You call this katsu curry? Even cardboard and bird crap has more intense flavor! Dumb!"
Humiliation burned Hikaru's cheeks. "O-san, this katsu curry was designed to be kid-friendly for my mom's future children, as well as her "kodomo shokudo" kitchen feeding the poor children. It cannot be too spicy or it could rip holes in children's stomachs from excessive capsicum." Hikaru replied.
Before she could react, "O-san" threw back his head and let out a guttural roar. The room plunged into chaos as his body contorted, clothes ripping as he swelled, his skin turning a sickly green. In seconds, he was no longer a fat, cigarette-smoking old man but a monstrous anglerfish Egos Monster, complete with razor-sharp teeth and a glowing lure dangling from his forehead.
Screams filled the air as students scattered. The monster, with surprising agility, lunged toward Hikaru. In a flash of greenish light, she disappeared, swallowed whole by the grotesque creature.
Ryuuta, alerted by the screams, watched in horror as the clubroom windows shattered, shards of glass raining down. He sprinted towards the building, his heart pounding.
"Oh my god!" Ryuuta shouted. "Everyone, follow me to the club room!"
"Rodger!" They all replied. Shingo Takasugi joined, leaving behind his watering can.
"I know Hikaru's not OK," Mika replied. "She probably got kidnapped again by Egos' minions!"
"We gotta save her and stop the culprit!" Shouted Shingo.
Inside, the monster stalked amongst the overturned tables and scattered cooking utensils. Its glowing lure pulsed with an eerie light, casting grotesque shadows. It flicked its wrist, and a volley of glinting daggers flew across the room. Almost all of the daggers either pierced the walls, or the daggers ended up on the floor/furniture, missing their targets. One found its mark, embedding itself in the arm of a teenage boy who lay huddled against the wall, clutching his injured arm, his face contorted in pain.
"Owwwww!!" The teenage boy cried in pain, tears cascading from his eyes. His arm was pooling with a waterfall of blood from the dagger embedded in his flesh.
"Hold still," Ryuuta said calmly, kneeling beside the boy. Carefully, he removed the dagger, gently pressed the boy's bloody arm with medical cloth, and quickly applied antibiotic ointment and a full-arm gauze bandage. The teen boy still groaned in pain, but he praised Ryuuta's work.
The other Biomen, alerted by the commotion, arrived just as the monster let out a triumphant cackle. Shirou Gou stepped forward, his face grim. "Why the hell are you doing this?! You created a hellish flying dagger scene! And where's Hikaru?"
"Foolish Biomen!" the monster boomed. "That pink bitch is in my belly! You wanna get er' out, you'll have to shrink down alongside your stupid Bio-Robo toy. Otherwise, you won't fit in my guts..." He let out another roar, his glowing lure flashing menacingly.
"Give Hikaru back to us!" Shingo growled, clenching his fists.
"Wait," Ryuuta interrupted, his eyes narrowed. "You said Hikaru is in your belly and we can shrink down into your guts to retrieve her. Does that mean she's still alive?"
The monster paused, a flicker of pride in his single, bulging eye. "She lives... for now. But she grows weaker by the moment, trapped within my impenetrable stomach!"
Ryuuta exchanged a look with his teammates, his eyes hardening with resolve. The monster may have Hikaru, but the Biomen were far from defeated. They would bring her back, no matter the cost. The battle for Hikaru and the other victims was far from over. To be continued...