This is not your ordinary superhero drama. There are no alien invaders from beyond the stars. There are no other superheroes with powers who could wipe out many enemies in one blast. There are only five teenagers with attitude fighting enemies that come from the seven seas.
The Combo Rangers are made up of hotheaded Tai Chi fighter Fox Fonseca, calm eagle Kenji "Ken" Ozora, strongman brawler Frederico "Kiko" Freitas, aura palm dancer Lisa Lima and brash projectile thrower Tatiana "Tati" Rosa. They are also joined by an unofficial member, markswoman Sara Luana Moon. Mentored by Ryūtaro Saitan, aka the Mighty Combo, and his friends from the Association of Superheroes (ASH), the Combo Rangers were originally a guerilla force until they allied themselves with Fabio Yabusaki and joined the Unified Resistance Army against the armies of Salacia.
Their adversaries are the Nokizaru task force, led by Penguin Princess Isa and Narwhal Prince Nico under the command of Swordfish King Marcos. The Combo Rangers had been a thorn in their side for some time now and they were determined to deal with them so they could fulfill their mission for their supreme commander, the Shark King, and the goddess Salacia to establish the Great Salacian Prosperity Sphere across the Earth.
Over the past few months, the Combo Rangers have helped the Drylander resistance across São Paulo through their deeds, such as rescuing a foreign soldier from captivity and preventing the Salacians from using biological warfare against their comrades. Now, the Shark King was determined to deal with the Drylander resistance once and for all, diverting Salacian army units to attack the Unified Resistance Army's main camp in Santos from all directions. He had a number of units advance to Guarujá in the east, but the Combo Rangers destroyed the bridge on the road to Guarujá in an effort to delay the Salacians' advance. Since the Salacians would stop at nothing to surround Santos, the Combo Rangers were given a mission to capture Prince Wagan, brother to Isa, and blunt down their strength.
The Combo Rangers and the Mighty Combo arrived in the district of Vicente de Carvalho and went into a bar. As they sat down, a storyteller was telling everyone a story. "Now, the sea monsters set up a ring inside their barracks. There were enemy soldiers all around and four Gatling guns on platforms. The five captured human soldiers were tied up next to the ring. On another side, five oceanic warriors gallantly lined up for their turn in the ring. Imagine, if you will, those five buck-toothed soldiers stiffly standing to attention. Hah, real nice scene, that. Look at them, in their gis and kimonos, armed with their swords and daggers…"
"Hey," Tati whispered to Kiko. "Isn't he talking about our first group fight in the ring?"
"Yeah, you're right!" Kiko whispered back. "We're famous!"
As the storyteller continued, Fabio Yabusaki arrived, maintaining a low profile. He made eye contact with the Mighty Combo and they silently acknowledged each other's presence. But right at that moment, four vegan collaborator soldiers came in as another vegan pointed to the storyteller. "Grab him!" said the leader of the soldiers. A commotion began stirring in the audience as the leader and one other soldier grabbed the storyteller.
On the stage, the vegan soldiers began interrogating the storyteller. "You dare to insult the Salacians and incite resistance, bigot?" said the leader.
"No, I was just telling everyone a story, I swear!"
"What story was it then?"
"I-i-it was just something that happened recently, I swear! Everyone here can vouch for me." The storyteller turned to the audience, but they stayed silent, afraid of retaliation. "Well come on, say something! You wanted to hear a story, weren't you? Have you all lost your minds? You seriously call yourselves humans?"
Everyone stood up, but the leader of the soldiers fired a couple of shots in the air. The other vegans at the door took their guns out as well. "You wanna start with us?" Everyone sat back down in fear before the leader slapped the storyteller in the face. "Who can vouch for you now, bigot?" Lisa wanted to stand up but Ken stopped her.
"Please, I was just telling a story!"
Fox spoke up. "Hey, leave him alone! He was just telling a story. If no one's going to vouch for him, I will!"
The soldiers pointed their guns towards Fox. "You tired of living, humanist?" said the leader.
Fox got up and walked towards the stage. "Humanist, yes. Bigot, never." He turned around and pointed at people in the audience. "Look at you, and you, and you. Surely you're not afraid of a bunch of vegans?"
"And who else?" The leader had his gun pointed at Fox's head. Fox slowly turned towards him before slapping him aside. The civilians quickly began to run out of the bar as Fox hit the other vegan soldiers. The vegans at the door decided to advance as well, but were stopped by the Mighty Combo and the rest of the Combo Rangers.
Fox snapped the neck of the leader as Ken grabbed the vegan, who led the soldiers in, in the face. "Ken! Let him go back to his tofu burgers and soy milk. Consider this a lesson for him. If he dares to use the Salacians to hurt humans again, he'll be as dead as this kaiju next to me." Ken let him go and he and the last surviving vegan ran off. Fabio came out into the open and told the Mighty Combo and the Combo Rangers to retreat.
Back at their hideout, the Combo Rangers were laughing over their last fight. "That was a great fight, Fox!" laughed Kiko. "Did you see how the storyteller was like, 'Thank you for saving me!'"
"I think that vegan was more afraid of me than I was of him," remarked Fox. "It was too easy to knock his gun out of his hand!"
It was then that the Mighty Combo came to see them. "Nice to see you can laugh so casually about what happened today."
"What is it, Uncle Combo?" asked Kiko.
"Lord Fabio wants to see you guys. Let's go."
The Combo Rangers went into another room and sat around the table with Fabio as he expressed his concerns. "Today has been a real eye-opener for me, Rangers. You guys may be good at fighting sea monsters, but I'd really appreciate it if you could take your missions a bit more seriously."
"What do you mean?" Fox asked. "How aren't we taking missions seriously?"
"Be quiet, Fox," chastised the Mighty Combo. "You're not in any position to talk about taking missions seriously. Do you understand that your actions have caused us trouble? We were hoping to sneak into Wagan's compound quietly, but now they know we're here."
"Exactly," Fabio added. "All the preparation we've done to this point is all for nothing and now we have to make new plans. We don't have enough time to do that, so chances are we may have to adapt with what we have."
"This also means that more people will end up needlessly sacrificing themselves for us. Do you really want to see that?"
"Oh come on," retorted Fox. "Would you have let those vegans take that storyteller away? They would've executed him!"
Tati slapped the table and stood up. "Yeah! We had to help him!"
The Mighty Combo stood up too. "Haven't you guys understood by now? Fox's impulsive actions today could have led to the failure of our mission! Have you thought about the consequences of that?" Tati sat back down as everyone mused on their mentors' words. "Look, this was a special mission entrusted to us by Commander Parker Zhou of the Unified Resistance Army. You became a part of that army too when you agreed to join. You're not lone guerilla avengers anymore. Everything you do affects the bigger picture and everything you do affects the safety of the resistance. And Fox, I entrusted you to be the leader of the Combo Rangers. I thought I taught you better than this."
Fox stood up. "I'm sorry, Uncle Combo."
"That's alright. I know you meant well, but you're still not quite there in terms of discipline. You can sit back down." Fox did so. "Anyway, I'm also to blame for not making things clear with you guys. Just remember that you are soldiers of the Unified Resistance Army. Everything you do must be according to the plan. If there is something you really think you need to do, talk it over with a higher-up, whether it be me, Fox, Lord Fabio or anyone." The Combo Rangers now understood that they were legends across the world and because of that, they couldn't do anything drastic for fear of revealing themselves to the enemy, disappointing humanity and causing losses to the resistance.
Down in Salacia, Isa met with the Shark King and his general, Lorah, at the War Rooms in the Turtle Kingdom. Looking over a model map of the Santos region, the Shark King mused, "The Drylanders appear to have caught onto our encirclement. What could they be planning?"
Pointing at an area of the map, Lorah stated, "There appears to be no sign of Drylander armies in this area. Given the prowess of the Combo Rangers, I believe they are attempting sabotage."
"Sabotage what? There aren't any bridges they haven't destroyed already. Even if they sabotage the ferries, the soldiers could just swim across the rivers with all our supplies on their backs."
"Prince Wagan's armory is in Vicente de Carvalho."
"That is a possibility, but the Drylanders would know that it wouldn't affect my strategy, even if they managed to buy themselves some time. Even then, our troops have enough ammunition to last over a day."
Isa said, "Your Highness, I believe the Combo Rangers are planning to probe for information or assassinate Uncle Wagan."
"Probe for information?" wondered Lorah. "How would they do that? Sneak into the base or capture our officers? What purpose would killing Prince Wagan serve?"
"King Marcos' army is in Cubatão while Uncle Wagan is in Guarujá. The Unified Resistance Army is surely aware of this. Because of that, I believe that they are trying to focus on the armies coming from the northeast and southwest." Isa showed the Shark King and Lorah how they could use the situation to surround Parker Zhou and cut off his escape routes, believing that the Combo Rangers would use Parker's situation as a distraction to assassinate Wagan.
Lorah was sceptical of the Drylanders' intentions. "Princess Isa, may I suggest that you stop fearmongering? How could five people hope to destroy a base? Are they taking the great warriors of the goddess Salacia for fools?"
The Shark King reproached Lorah. "Now, now, Lorah. You shouldn't underestimate the Combo Rangers. It's better for us to be safe than sorry. Princess Isa, I want you to take the Nokizaru task force and hurry to Wagan's base. Assist him and ensure his base's safety."
"Yes, Your Highness," said Isa.
"We also need to prevent any leaks from getting to the Drylanders. I will contact Wagan and have him divert his collaborationist units elsewhere. Nothing and nobody, not even a word about my plans, will leave his base. Everything Wagan does will be within your line of sight, Isa, and he will lend his full assistance to your mission."