The Badge and the Burden 2 - An Original Super Sentai/Magical Girl Setting


I now have a Ko-Fi for Donations. I don't take requests/commissions, but if you can support me through it, then it would be awesome.

Link: ko-fi DOT com /justbukharin


"No."

"Sir, it's- it's really important." The little bunny remarked, sounding fairly desperate.

"I really doubt it," Tekkan rebuked, fingers tapping briefly by the counter as he really wasn't in the mood with this whole 'little mascot standoff' situation he was in. "Like, seriously. You want me to willingly take part in preparing a rookie into some magical war that she had no stakes on until now as you decided 'she was the one."

"I wouldn't be asking Meko-chan's help if it wasn't necessary. The Kingdom of Magica has been overrun by the Invading Forces of Empress Errora."

Tekkan's lips twitched as a small sign of cringe. Back to his days of action, that kind of naming would have just felt awkward and cringe-worthy to hear.

At least back then the villain we faced wasn't some attention-seeking whore. Our big baddy was this affirmed monster that only wanted one thing and one thing alone: be the 'Ruler of Nothingness'. None of that 'I wanna conquer some magical kingdom so people can tell me I am pretty'.

Still, the girl, who had introduced herself as Kashiwa Komeko, should be happy that this 'Errora' bitch didn't seem that threatening beyond a 'ominous name' and some poor quality standard when it came to recruiting and keeping minions around to do her biddings.

Who would have thought that quality for heroes would have took a nose-dive together with the villains'...

"How does this even concern Earth?" The shop-keeper asked dully, gaining a shocked look from both girl and mascot. "Sure, let's assume this 'Errora' villain is a greedy bitch that will eventually want to enslave humanity, but why should we humans be the one attacking at her now that. Do we even know if Errora is even planning to ever attack us? Did she even know about Earth's existence before you brought these 'Magica' Powers right here in this world?"

The pinkette, which the young man learned was called Kashiwa Komeko, looked at the floating 'cute bunny', Ruby, expecting a serious response to that harshness.

Much to her growing surprise, the mascot didn't have anything to say back. Tekkan didn't blame 'her', mostly because his reasoning was as solid as it could get over this specific matter.

It was almost ironic for Tekkan to be lamenting about this very topic since it was also the groundwork that led to the argument that broke the team's spirit back when he was still fighting in the front line.

The one that bestowed them the powers, the mystical monk that came from Outer Space that was running away from the big bad guy, was not handing out these abilities and titles because it was 'easy', but that didn't mean that the way he selected his 'brave warriors' was legitimately reasonable or morally acceptable.

While he explained the reasoning behind his selective recruitment, something about young bodies being capable of better filtering the energy output of the powers, the fact he came specifically to Earth when there were two other 'possible realms' to explore gained suspicious early on.

The reason why that issue didn't go to blow things up? Regardless of him picking a planet, the Dark Mage that we were up against was aware of all possible realms his principal enemy could have gone, having already made plans to invade Earth first due to its lack of true magic so... it eventually worked out for us all. It wasn't pretty, but the monk's decision felt less 'concerning' than thinking how things could have gone if he didn't come to Earth.

The Monk thus made this decision on the basis of pragmatic reasoning. It was one of the most humiliating verbal spankings that Tekkan remembered ever receiving.

Both him and the rest of the squad.

But while the Monk snapped in such a way to deliver this explanation, he also apologized for keeping this information away from them as he understood the high tension that was sparked out of this discovery.

Right in that moment, that topic was delivered in such way that it was impossible to not just blame the little bunny for thinking someone with common sense to not address the matter.

From a first impression, the former hero recognized that the pink-haired girl didn't seem that much experienced in thinking too much about the many duties of this kind of work, mostly because said duties were by far the most serious she has ever received.

Socially incapable, modestly insecure, and fairly submitted to someone that 'knew more than her on the subject'. Which was why, something as tiny as Ruby, was able to boss her around with ease while also appearing so calm and quiet.

What an awkward mess... It wasn't like I was any better before the end of the first year doing my 'job'...

"Once again, I will not assist you with this situation. I'm not interested into taking any apprentice, especially not when I'm being pushed into the matter."

"People will die-" The mascot tried to argue, but Tekkan had heard this so many times that it hardly fazed him.

"And it will all be your fault," Tekkan retorted to Ruby before aiming a calm but accusing finger at the silent girl. "And yours."

The pinkette tensed at that last bit. "I- W-What? But I didn't do-"

"You accepted a contract which you paid no attention to when it comes to its fine details. As far as I can see, the moment you said yes and accepted these powers, you also painted a big- no, a massive target on the planet as a whole," The man interjected flatly. "Let me ask you this, have you thought of the fact that it's so strange that before you took these powers, there were no attacks or hint of threats to any of us?"

"T-There were... a long time ago," The teen argued, and, for a brief moment, Tekkan tensed up.

"I suppose you mean those events from many years ago, before you were born... yes?" He inquired out of intrigue, the man feeling surprised that someone her age would be aware of that. He saw her nod, and he argued on that very sour point. "Twenty years ago, there were scouts that were discovered by the military. Nothing that could be worked on without warranting some awkward issues with the bureaucracy itself, but still enough to confirm that the bad guy at the time was already interested on the planet. When the first attacks happened, it took a long time before the Color Heroes acted on it. It was their debut, and it was... painfully average."

It took a serious effort from within for Tekkan to not flinch at the memory of their first fight. Not the fondest picture from that day, and it was definitely awkward to explain his parents why he came back home with a sprained wrist and bruised ribs. And late at night.

"... Then I guess there is no convincing you, Nakagome-san."

The shop-keeper shrugged at the mascot's defeated tone, and for a brief moment, he felt that this was the end of that annoying discussion and perhaps an end for a return of troubles for himself.

His hopes sure were obviously dashed away the moment a certain 'mute' girl decided it was time to speak up.

"I- Nakagome-san, please," Komeko muttered nervously, eyes closed momentarily before she flashed a most determined look. "I want you to train me."

Tekkan huffed at the stubborn rebuttal. "I told you that-"

"For myself."

...

"What?" He inquired, stunned by that unexpected reasoning.

"I-I know that it sounds selfish coming from me, but now that I'm into this mess- one that I know I don't have a way out with how things are," She reasoned despite the stuttering coming from her mascot to stop and not go further than that. "Dropping my abilities now would be stupid and- and ignoring the fact that I am not ready will not make me able to push back on any new attack!"

The man listened, interest perking at that development as he didn't expect the girl to take that desperate approach.

"And why do you think I can help you? Why not just go and make that research on your own?" Tekkan pressed on her current commitment, curious to know how she will react to this. And how far she can go with that temporary backbone of hers.

"I-I could but... but I need to train with someone that knows how to fight. And I saw you fighting against that moment so... I-I know you can try to teach me at least how to start training," The pinkette argued with a serious tone. "I understand you're busy but-"

"What if now I don't want to do it because you're just a coward? What if I don't appreciate the fact you're willing to throw your original purpose off the bus to keep your ass covered from trouble?"

"I'm not a coward!" Komeko snapped angrily, but her outburst was met with mild perplexity by the shop-keeper.

He snorted. "And why do you think so?"

"While I said that I was going to do it for myself, I would never stop at protecting mystel. I want to defend these people because they don't deserve to suffer because of my decisions," Komeko replied fiercely. "It's... something that mom always told me to do. She told me that, if you have the power to help someone, you should out of personal duty but also because it's the right thing to do. And I will not back away from that responsibility!"

"We are doing it to save others, Tekkun. We can't just... go. It can't be done. You and I, like the rest, we are doing it because it's the right thing to do!"

...Hello PTSD, didn't remember you having this nice and caring voice...

"So you would be willing to put yourself in conditions of hurting yourself, to be wounded, to be brought to the brink of death- all because you have to do the right thing," Tekkan hummed quietly, staring firmly at the girl as he recognized that, perhaps, this wasn't a silly airhead. "What do you say, Kashiwa Komeko?"

...

She smiled. No, she grinned.

"Yes. I would do so without hesitation!"

Closing his eyes for a moment, Tekkan sighed and thought of what to do next. At this point, he would just appear as a jerk in front of the rookie by telling her 'nah, but good speech' and... and yet she was making some good arguments. She wasn't kidding, but that fire could as easily be extinguished as it could be fueled.

It was a matter of who was doing the flame-check here.

"Do you have school today?"

The pinkette gave him a surprised look but still answered. "...No?"

"My second shift starts after lunch. I want you to go home, do some homework, eat a substantial lunch, and then come back at 2 PM wearing a jumpsuit, sport clothes, two water bottles, one of gatorade and two small towels," He sternly listed out all instructions, swiftly gaining numerous nods from the girl as she mentally noted these details down. "You will be going through the boring basic lessons behind controlling your powers, and I will ignore any whining. You will put some effort into improving on yourself if you want to make it out alive. Understood?"

... "Y-Yes sir."

Tekkan grinned giddily. "Good, then you should leave now. I suppose you have other things to do and I have other customers to handle."

The order to bail from the shop was complied by the girl, the floating mascot disappearing onto the gem within the Komeko's necklace chain but not before giving Tekkan a most amusing glare.

Soon the man was left alone with his thoughts and the job for the first shift.

A sigh left his lips as he wondered if this was really the right thing to do considering the circumstances and... then again, the girl would die if she didn't get some serious training - training he could coach her about. The fact that she stood up when she needed to make her voice known cut through roughly 50% of mental training that she will have to go through to be ready to handle the grim reality that waited for her in the near future.

The day progressed as expected, and things were quite calm until the girl was back.

Komeko returned to the shop a few hours later. She was wearing a set of sport clothes from her school, a jumpsuit to hide away any awkward elements of her more comfortable clothes, and a bag filled with the rest of the stuff the man told her to bring for the occasion.

Training started as simple and earnestly as it could. Tekkan soon had her put through a first test to see how good she currently was and what flaws she had to work on before moving to 'magical training'. It took her a full hour to complete it, and she looked completely wasted once that was over.

Good news? She could move when told to.

Bad news? Her movements were weak, she lacked coordination, and she too dodgy when it came to danger in her proximity. Panic was expected to make her react too 'slow-paced' early on, but Tekkan could tell that she really should get that patched up with enough care and attention.

While her physical endurance in running laps around the building's perimeter and handling extra weight-lifting showed some potential, Komeko was still far from achieving a decent situation for herself.

Since school was going to be an obligation Tekkan wasn't planning to disrupt for the pinkette, he elaborated a good strategy to keep her shaper and trained regardless of the burdens of her teenage years.

Instead of trying anything crazy, he decided to just give her a list of exercises he knew she could do back at home within moderation and in a restricted space. She was upset that she had to keep working out despite him not being around and giving her proper instructions, but Komeko quickly learned that she didn't have a choice on the matter.

As she asked him about the 'aim problem' that Tekkan had mentioned the day before, the shop-keeper merely told her that he had something planned, but nothing that could be done without calling a couple of people and cashing in some favors.

The pinkette was confused about this matter, but it wasn't Tekkan's fault that getting a little leeway into a shooting range without guardianship over her was going to be more troublesome than anyone could imagine.

She had to be trained to blast her opponents without hesitation, to know that what she was holding wasn't just a friendly stick that enlightened foes and showed them the way. She was holding a fucking energy gun that worked with her heightened life force.

With that first day concluding quite tensely. And where Tekkan's deep thoughts were soon burdening this new responsibility and the ramifications, for Komeko the situation was... a completely different matter altogether.


AN

There's another Remastered Chapter that needs some fixing, but the one after that will be a brand new one.