"Welcome home, Ani!"
Hiroto could barely force a smile as his sister enthusiastically welcomed him home. He had just gotten back from a week in Europe, it being one of those occasions his father insisted he learn about running the company that would be his one day (something he groaned at just the thought of), some brief sightseeing hardly making up for the tedious meetings he was forced to endure. So eager was he to get home that when his flight was canceled, he took a coach seat on the next available one, leaving him sitting in between two old ladies and unable to sleep. With him now suffering from jet lag as well, he was in a thoroughly rotten mood.
He didn't put up a fight, though, as Miu grabbed his arm and dragged him to the kitchen.
"I know you hate when you have to deal with business, so I figured we could celebrate you getting back."
Arriving in the kitchen, she proudly presented a hideous looking mess.
"See, I baked a cake!"
Well, that explained the burnt curtains in the kitchen, as well as the empty fire extinguisher lying on the floor.
He sighed.
"I really appreciate you going through all this trouble, Miu, but to be honest right now all I really want to do is go to bed."
Miu's smile didn't falter.
"Oh, it's no problem, Ani, we can save it for tomorrow."
Hiroto smiled as he hugged her.
"I don't know what I did to deserve such a wonderful sister…"
Hiroto was about to head up to his bedroom when they both felt a sensation in their heads. They saw a petal fell from one of Miu's flowers.
"Gaiark" said Miu.
Hiroto nodded.
"Let's go."
On the 18th floor of a skyscraper, Air Pollution Minister Kitaneidas was doing some final checking on his pad.
Behind him stood over a dozen barrels, a string attached to them all that ended in a detonator counting down.
"Everything copacetic, boss?"
The voice came from a being whose torso was a large round speaker in a black box, with arms that ended in two more speakers in place of hands. At the moment, he was moonwalking around the otherwise empty floor.
"Indeed, Boombox Banki. This confirms my calculations: if the explosion goes off at exactly 6:23 at this elevation, air currents will spread the gas all over the city."
Putting the pad away, Kitaneidas headed out.
"You're leaving?" asked Boombox Banki.
"Yes, I want to be gone before the explosion. That's why you're to remain here and make sure neither the Go-Ongers nor the Wings prevent it."
"Ah, gotcha boss! You can count on me!" said the Banki Beast as he saluted the departing Kitaneidas.
Once the Pollution Minister was gone, the Banki Beast did his best to keep himself amused as he waited the clock out.
Oh, light, reach out for the angels of the city, like you could make the brightest dreams come true. With the sirens' wail, it is the time to dispatch, we will not let the French kisses go to sea…wait, is that how it goes? With the sirens' wail, it is the time to dispatch, we will not let the…the…the Maker damn it it's on the tip of my speaker…Oh look it's the Go-Ongers, hey I bet they know…wait, wasn't that something I had to remember about them? Oh right!
"Hiya, Go-Ongers. You're just in time for the fireworks to start!"
"Banki Beast, what's in those barrels?!" demanded Sosuke.
Boombox Banki shrugged.
"Beats me. I'm just here to fight the power that be!"
The Banki Beast raised his arms, and waves of sound emerged from them, sending the Go-Ongers hurling back.
Man, thought Boombox Banki, it's too bad they don't have power in their names that'd been a great pun.
"You might as well head home to your mamas because you ain't getting past me. Break it down!"
Boombox Banki dropped to the floor, laid on his back and started spinning while performing kicks.
Hant could not help but clap.
"Wow, you're really talented!"
"Don't praise the Banki Beast, Hant" said Gunpei.
"Yeah, guys" said Sosuke, "let's beat him and deactivate this bomb at mach speed!"
They all charged their opponent, but he just twirled around as his legs kicked each of the Go-Ongers and sent them flying back.
"We're going to have to find a different approach if we're going to beat him before that thing goes off!" said Ren.
Suddenly, Birca appeared in hologram form out of Hant's Shift Changer.
"Hant, I believe I can be of assistance. On Machine World, I was a master of all varieties of dance. I just need a body to serve him el dente."
"I can help with that" said Sosuke as he took out what resembled a small tire.
"Go, GoRoader GT!" the Red Ranger called out as he threw the tire into the air, which grew and formed into a humanoid body.
Hant took out his partner's Engine Soul and inserted it into the GoRoader.
"Hey b-Banki" said Birca as he walked up to the Banki Beast, "I'm calling you out! I challenge you to a dance off linguini!"
Boombox Banki saddled up to his challenger.
"You think you got the moves, homeboy? Then let's bring 'em!"
The Banki Beast started off by twisting his body while moving his arms up and down robotically, then dropping down and holding his hands on the ground while rapidly kicking his feet.
"Pretty fly" said Birca, "but can you do this Fellini?!"
Birca put one hand on the ground and used it to support his entire body as he spun around, the Go-Ongers cheering him on as he did so.
Boombox Banki huffed contemptuously.
"Your crew must be pretty new if they think that's impressive. Let me show you how it's done."
The Banki Beast walked while shaking, the intensity increasing as he started simulating slowly collapsing to the floor like a rag doll, only to rise up again.
"Impressive" said Birca. "But get a load of this!"
He started to started dancing, kicking his legs up, then jumped, landed on the ground with a handstand, and started kicking his legs in all directions at a tremendous speed, before jumping back up.
"All right, all right, maybe you're not a greenhorn" said Boombox Banki. "But try and match this!"
Boombox Banki jumped to the ground and did a headstand, and started twirling his body at a tremendous speed like a top.
"Two can play that game, amigo!" said Birca, who replicated the Banki Beast's move.
"Why you whack-ass biter! I'll show you!"
The two spun towards each other, sparks falling off as they made contact. After several goes at this, Birca sent the Banki Beast sliding into the wall.
The Go-Ongers applauded as Birca took a bow.
"Those moves were real fresh, Birca!" said Saki.
Hant removed the Engine Soul, and they rushed over to the detonator, their faces turning white as they found they had little over a minute left.
"Gunpei, did you learn bomb disposal as a cop?" asked Hant.
"Yeah. I mean, I was sleepy that day - some idiot's car alarm was on all night - but I'm pretty sure I got the gist of it…"
He carefully opened the detonator, and examined it. There were two wires, red and blue.
"Well, judging from the appearance, cutting one wire will deactivate it, cutting the other will detonate it automatically…"
The others remained silent as Gunpei starred at the wires.
"10 seconds" said Hant.
Sweat ran down Gunpei's forehead, as he tried to make a decision.
"5 seconds!" said Hant.
Gunpei screamed and cut the red wire.
The timer stopped, with 3 seconds to spare.
The Go-Ongers took a collective sigh of relief, all five slumping down to the floor.
Suddenly, sound waves hit right above their heads.
"Ha! You missed!" said Sosuke.
"Oh, did I?" said Boombox Banki.
He actually had, but luckily for him, his blasts did hit the barrels, unleashing a torrent of green gas. It came out fast, and before they could do anything the Go-Ongers found themselves enveloped by a cloud of it.
They all writhed as it seeped through their helmets, coughing as they struggled to breath. It was not long before they dropped to their knees.
Boombox Banki chuckled as he backed away from the scene.
"So long, Go-Ongers. It's been a gas!"
Boombox Banki had rushed down the stairs. He knew Kitaneidas would be upset about the gas not going off, but he was sure having taken care of the Go-Ongers would more than make up for it.
He spied a window, and was about to take off when two figures flew at him, striking him as they passed by him. He looked as the Go-On Wings landed and posed.
"Awwww, two more of you? That's not fair!"
Although Hiroto was tired and looking forward to sleep, he felt it was actually fortuitous to have had the Gaiark strike now. Once they were foiled, it would usually be a week, a few days at least, until they launched another scheme. If they destroyed this Banki Beast, he could rest without worry…
Boombox Banki growled and aimed his arms at them, letting two streams of sound loose.
The Wings easily dodged the attacks, and thrust forward their Jet Daggers.
"Burning Dagger!" said Hiroto, and the dagger sent a wave of flame at the Banki Beast, who cried out in pain.
"Freezing Dagger!" said Miu, and a cold mist emerged from the dagger that froze Boombox Banki in ice before it broke apart, causing the dazed Banki Beast to collapse.
The Wings turned to each other.
"Good work, Miu. Let's finish him off."
"Okay!"
"Hold on! Sure, you could finish me off, but even as we speak, your pals the Go-Ongers are choking on toxic gas upstairs! Maybe you can save them, though, if you hurry…"
Hiroto was still for a moment, then turned and ran up, Miu following right behind.
Boombox Banki chuckled as he pointed his arms at the ground, firing off continuous sound waves that propelled him in the air. He went through a the window and flew off into the sky.
The Go-On Wings arrived on the next floor, only to find it completely flooded with gas, obscuring everything.
Miu stuck out her Wing Trigger.
"Search Mode!" she said, and it's thermal vision displayed the Go-Ongers laying on the ground, still conscious but only able to slowly writhe.
"Ani!" cried Miu in panic.
"Aim for the wall, we need to get rid of the gas!" said Hiroto.
The two aimed their Wing Boosters.
"Wing Booster! Boost Up!" they called out as they fired, blasting a hole in the wall.
They took their Jet Daggers out again.
"Tornado Dagger!" the Wings cried out, and two torrents of wind emerged, combining and growing larger, sucking up the gas then going through the newly created hole, carrying it into the upper atmosphere where it would disperse harmlessly.
With that done, the Wings' focus turned back to the Go-Ongers.
"Are you guys okay?" asked Miu, helping them up.
The team took off their helmets as they took long deep breaths.
"Yeah…(huff)…I think so…" said Saki.
Gunpei went up to Hiroto, who was facing away with his arms crossed, and stuck his hand out.
"Thanks, Hiroto-"
"I don't want to hear it" said the Gold Ranger, not even turning to look at them.
The Go-Ongers looked at each other in confusion.
"Ani?" said Miu, worried about where this was going.
"It's because we had to rescue you the Banki Beast got away! Who knows what harm he'll cause until we find him again!?"
"Ani…" said Miu, uncomfortable with what was transpiring.
"Well at least we stopped that bomb from going off!" said Ren.
"Yeah, Gunpei cut the wire with just seconds to spare!" said Hant.
"I see" said Hiroto. "Tell me, did you know which wire to choose? Or did you just pick one at random?"
The Go-Ongers stood silent.
"So you want to be praised for getting lucky? And why were you all focused on that anyway? You have five members, you could have easily dealt with the Banki Beast while Gunpei handled the bomb at the same time!"
"We…we felt we all needed to support Birca in the dance of" said Saki, meekly.
"'Dance off'!?" Hiroto yelled in disbelief. "Unbelievable. Every living thing on this planet is depending on us, and you still act like children playing a game!"
"Ani!" shouted Miu.
Ren stepped up to the Gold Ranger.
"Hiroto, you are being completely out of line!" shouted the Blue Ranger.
"No" said Sosuke, standing and looking away from them. "Hiroto is completely right."
Even Hiroto was taken aback at the Red Ranger's statement.
"We've been fighting the Gaiark for over half a year and we're still acting like amateurs. It's unfair to burden the Wings with saving us every time we put our heads up our asses."
"Sosuke, what are you saying?" asked Saki.
"I'm saying we're supposed to be heroes. It's time we acted like it."
His fellow Go-Ongers considered his words.
"Sosuke is right" said Ren.
"Yeah!" said Gunpei.
At once, the Go-Ongers were all eagerly planning a training regime, any anger about Hiroto's words seemingly forgotten.
"We'll start first thing tomorrow!" said Ren.
"Why wait for tomorrow?" said Hant. "We can start tonight, once we get home!"
"That's the spirit, Hant!" said Sosuke, rubbing the Green Ranger's hair.
The Go-Ongers said their goodbyes, the Wings still taken aback by the sudden change in attitude their allies had.
As they headed home, the siblings were uncharacteristically silent, a thick tension hanging between them.
"You didn't have to be so harsh with them, Ani…" said Miu finally. "It's not like they haven't saved us, too…"
"That only makes it worse! Think how much greater heroes they could be if only they took it seriously!"
"Ani, they're our teammates, you can't talk to them like that!"
"First, we are not teammates, we are two teams who work together. Second, if they want my respect they can earn it!"
Miu wanted to respond but decided to hold her tongue. She always found it difficult to argue with her brother, to say the least when he was in a mood.
"Well, at least they seem pretty dead set on improving themselves-"
"We know them better than that, Miu! Once they get back to the Ginjiro they'll forget all about training and fall asleep watching cartoons!"
The next day, Miu was walking through a park, baking under the hot sun. Summer was almost over, but clearly it decided to go out with a bang. It was much hotter than the weatherman had predicted, making her decision to make her trip to the store a walk an ill-advised one.
As she sat on a bench under the shade to cool down, she heard the sound of feet hitting the ground and panting.
Who would be running in this weather…?
She turned to see the Go-Ongers, running in track suits.
"Okay, quick break!" said Sosuke, which made everyone promptly stop, Hant practically collapsing onto the ground.
"Go-Ongers?" said Miu as she walked up to them.
"Oh, (huff) hey Miu…" said Hant as he struggled to rise and greet her.
"You guys are training in this heat?" the Silver Ranger asked.
"We can't expect the Gaiark to call off an attack because it's too hot" said Sosuke.
"We must be prepared to fight in any scenario" said Ren.
Miu remembered Hiroto's adamance that the Go-Ongers would never stick to training, and made a satisfied smile.
"I'm sorry for Hiroto yesterday; he was in a bad mood, but he had no right talking to you like that-"
"It's all right, Miu" interrupted Sosuke, "both of you have been trying to get us to shape up since we've met. It's only natural he'd be frustrated by our refusal to listen."
Miu was surprised to hear Sosuke say this; he had been the one most offended by their insults before the Wings had accepted them as capable allies.
"Well, I'll be very happy to tell Hiroto I ran into you. Good luck, guys, I know you'll make him eat his words."
"Thanks Miu" said Sosuke, putting his hand on her shoulder. "With your faith in us, I don't know how we could fail."
Sosuke then called rhe break over, and the Go-Ongers all got up and said bye to Miu as they took off again.
Once they were out of sight, Miu released the swoon she had been holding in.
Sosuke is inspired by my faith in him!
She almost skipped home.
The day after, Hiroto was out running some errands (having gotten a full day of rest the previous day) when he passed a 24 hour gym, and happened to see the Go-Ongers through the glass wall.
His first thought was to get away before they saw him, feeling a meeting between them would be awkward so soon after the other day and his words to them (words that, though he didn't tell Miu, he had come to regret as soon as he calmed down.)
"Hiroto!" he heard Sosuke call out, putting an end to any thought of avoiding them.
He came into the gym like the Red Ranger had motioned for him to, still taken aback. Miu had told him she ran into them in the park yesterday, saying they were indeed training despite his skepticism that they would follow through their vow. Even with his sister's sworn testimony, he found it a bit hard to believe.
But now he was seeing it with his own eyes. Gunpei was lifting weights, as Ren did the leg press, while Hant used a rowing machine, all the while Saki climbed a climbing wall.
Sosuke came up to Hiroto.
"Why come here?" asked Hiroto. "Don't you have exercise equipment in the Ginjiro?"
"This place has more than we can keep in the Ginjiro. It's not as if it's as big as your villa, after all."
"I see…"
Hiroto decided it was time to swallow his pride.
"Sosuke, I want to apologize for the other day. I was suffering from lack of sleep, but that's no excuse for-"
"You have nothing to apologize for, Hiroto" Sosuke interrupted. "You were only telling us what needed to be said."
Again, Hiroto was surprised at Sosuke's attitude. Before the teams started to formally work together, he had bristled at much less harsh words the Wings had made to them.
Sosuke put his hand on Hiroto's shoulder.
"I promise, we won't rest until we can be allies you can be proud of…"
Hiroto felt guilt at that statement; still, the fact that they were doing this had him feeling optimistic. Perhaps his words would actually lead to a change for the better….
Hiroto and Miu came into the local library the next day, Miu wanting to check out some cookbooks; they had the cake she made last night, and Miu concluded she clearly needed better ones than she had.
It was almost no sooner than they got in when they heard a familiar voice.
"'…Andean condor has a wingspan of 3.3 meters, making it the largest bird of prey in the world…' Man, that's so cool…"
"Speedor?" said Miu.
At recognizing the voice, the Sutous followed it to the Children's Section. There, they saw the holograms of the six engines who served as the Go-Ongers' partners surronded by children who held books open for the Engines to read aloud to them.
"'Despite their enormous size, grizzly bears are capable of running up to 30 miles per hour…'" read BearRV to a small boy. "Wow, and they don't even have wheels…"
The boy turned the page to reveal a two page spread of a full grown male grizzly bear, the sight of which made BearRV instantly turn red.
"Oh - oh my! What a- a strapping spec-specimen… dear me, and this book is for children?"
"BearR? Speedor?" said Miu as she and her brother entered. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Miu! Hiroto!" said Buslion.
"The librarian who usually reads to the kids was out sick today, so we volunteered to help out while the Go-Ongers get some books for research" said Carrigator.
"Research?" said Miu.
"Yes, they've really been going at it these last few days" said Gunpherd.
"A little too much, if you ask me" said BearRV. "Saki's been so busy, we haven't had any time for girl talk."
Given the Engines' usual friendliness to him, Hiroto wondered if the Go-Ongers had told their partners the reason for their sudden decision to better themselves.
"Well, we'll keep an eye for them" said Miu.
As they left, their Wing Triggers suddenly projected the holoforms of Toripter, Jetras, and Jum-BoWhale.
"What's with you guys?" asked Miu.
"If you please, we would also like to help nurture these children's growing minds" said Jum-BoWhale.
"Sure" said Hiroto as he and Miu placed their Wing Triggers with the Go-Phones and Shifters.
"Ah, excellent" said the whale Engine. "Gather around, children, and I shall regale you with the inspiring true saga of Humphrey the Whale…"
The Sutous looked around the library until they saw the Go-Ongers, each carrying a stack of books to be checked out.
"Oh, it's Hiroto and Miu" said Saki.
"Where?" asked Hant, his book stack so high it blocked his eyes.
"We saw your partners, they said you were here for research?" asked Miu.
"Surprised eh, Hiroto?" said Sosuke. "Probably didn't think I even knew what a library was, huh?"
Hiroto awkwardly smiled.
He turned to focus on Hant, who held the highest tower, and was doing his best to keep balance when he tripped over and spilt them all on the floor. Hiroto and Miu knelt down to help him pick them up, and the Gold Ranger couldn't help examining the books his allies were checking out.
Anthropogenic Emission Pathways and Bioaccumulative Contaminant Flux: A Systems Analysis of Environmental Degradation; Recursive Neural Networks and Cognitive Emergence: A Meta-Framework for Autonomous Decision-Making Systems; Quantum Decoherence and Multiverse Topologies: A Theoretical Exploration of Non-Linear Reality Structures…
"I must say" said Hiroto, "these seem like heavy reading; I think some of my university professors would have trouble with these…"
"We need to train not just our bodies but our minds as well" said Gunpei.
"We can better fight the Gaiark if we understand them" said Ren.
"I'm really proud of you guys" said Miu. "I know you're really going to show us something."
"We won't betray your faith" said Gunpei. "From now on, you're going to see a whole new Go-Ongers."
The Sutous walked out of the library, having gotten some cookbooks Miu found promising.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they looked at each other for a moment.
"'We know them better than that, Miu!'" said Miu in a mock angry tone.
Hiroto smiled and chuckled.
"This is one case where I'm happy to be proven wrong. They're really dead set on impressing us, aren't they?"
Miu's smile suddenly vanished.
"It's…kinda strange, isn't it? That they seem to have no anger about what you said."
"Yes…that does seem out of character, for Sosuke in particular. But I suppose people do change. In any case, you know what they say: don't look a gift horse in the mouth."
A few months ago, Miu would have agreed; hell, she would have just seen it as natural the Go-Ongers recognized the Wings' superiority and adjusted to meet their approval. Since then, she had grown to respect them as warriors, and like them as people. Now, the idea they'd just accept Hiroto's tirade as constructive criticism was one she couldn't help but find…upsetting.
Before she could raise any of her concerns, though, she and HIroto felt a familiar sensation in their heads. The Gaiark were striking again.
"Change Soul Set!" they called out. "Let's Go On!"
They posed as gold and silver suits materialized over their bodies, as well as helmets right above their heads.
"'Met On!" they said as they put the helmets on.
They then summoned their Jet Daggers and took off with them in Rocket mode.
The Wings landed at a quarry, Boombox Banki standing out in the open.
"Nice to see yah again, Wings. I admit, you made me look pretty foolish last go, but this time: advantage Boombox Banki!"
Suddenly, two sets of blasters popped out of the rocks and fired at the Wings. The two easily dodged the blasts, and fired attacks from their Jet Daggers that instantly destroyed them.
"No…no!" yelled Boombox Banki.
The Banki Beast whimpered and went on his knees.
"Please, Wings, have mercy! I was just following orders, I'm not a bad guy! I'm just a patsy, a victim of circumstance! I never got the love every child oughta get!"
As the Wings wondered what to make of this pathetic display, the Banki Beast took out a remote.
"And then, when your guard is down, I spring the REAL trap!"
Boombox Banki pressed a button on the remote, and a pair of crosses rose out of the ground.
Suddenly, the two Wings felt themselves hurled to the crosses, two sets of chains appearing and wrapping around them. They struggled fruitlessly to break free of them.
Boombox Banki laughed at their plight.
"Haha, you dummies fell right into our trap!"
He pressed another button on the remote, and the siblings screamed as electricity surged through their bodies.
Boombox Banki laughed.
"Looks like it's the end of the Go-On Wings! Hahaha-"
His laughter suddenly ceased when he was hit with several blasts.
Despite their pain, the Wings managed to turn and see the Go-Ongers arrive.
Gunpei immediately leapt at Boombox Banki and engaged him in battle, the Banki Beast struggling to hold his own.
Sosuke turned to the others.
"There must be a power source for the electricity" he said. "Find and destroy it!"
Hant scanned the area, when he noticed a patch of ground that seemed to have been recently disturbed. He took out the bridge axe and used it to unearth what resembled a car battery.
He tossed it into the air. Saki took out her Mantan gun and blasted it, and the electricity surging through the Wings ceased.
Immediately, Ren slashed the chains holding Hiroto while Sosuke did the same for Miu (as always when he saved her, Miu was grateful her helmet prevented anyone from seeing her blushing and smiling).
Boombox Banki managed to land a blow on Gunpei, knocking him away, but he had no time to press his advantage as the other Go-Ongers ganged up on him.
"Come on, Miu" said Hiroto, "we can't let the Go-Ongers win for us."
"Right!"
The Wings flew to the battle, taking out their Jet Daggers, with Miu in the lead.
Boombox Banki, seeing them approach, also saw an opportunity. Just as the Silver Ranger was about to strike him, he grabbed Go-On Red and used him as a shield, Sosuke yelling in pain as Miu instead struck him.
"Sosuke! I'm so sorry!" said Miu, horrified at her mistake.
Before he could reply, Boombox Banki, taking advantage of his foes being distracted, fired a sound wave at the two of them.
"Miu!" said Hiroto as he rushed to his sister's aid.
Boombox Banki aimed and fired at the Wings and Sosuke. Seeing the Go-Ongers distracted by the attack, he saw his opportunity to get out of Dodge.
"You haven't heard the last of me-AH!"
The Banki Beast took off as the Go-Ongers opened fire at him with their Mantan guns.
Once he was gone, the Wings rushed up to their allies.
"You guys were amazing!" gushed Miu, hugging Saki.
"Oh, it's nothing that we shouldn't have been doing since the start" said Hant.
After the Wings assured them they were okay, the Go-Ongers turned to leave.
"Just a moment…" said Hiroto. "Go-Ongers, I realize I have often been critical when I've felt your efforts to be less than satisfactory, at times…harsher than I should have been."
The Go-Ongers looked at him silently, awaiting what he had to say.
"So, I would be remiss if I didn't also offer praise when you've more than earned it. Your conduct today was impeachable. I'm ashamed for having doubted your convictions; I will always be proud to call you comrades."
The Go-Ongers stood still for a moment. Then, Sosuke approached the Gold Ranger.
"Hiroto…coming from you, those words really mean a lot; I can imagine no better reward for our efforts. Thank you."
He extended his hand, and Hiroto took and shook it.
The Wings turned and walked away.
"…I only wish we could say the same for you."
The siblings turned in shock at what they heard.
"What!?" said Miu. "What are you saying!?"
"You blundered in like idiots. You should know by now that the Gaiark aren't as dumb as they appear; you should have assumed something so easily dealt with was just a decoy" said Ren in a cold, unsympathetic tone.
"And then, not satisfied with that, you leap in even though we clearly had the situation well in hand and only succeeded in getting in our way. We would have been able to finish him if you two hadn't been so desperate to soothe your wounded pride" said Gunpei.
"And you, Miu" said Saki, "that was a rank amateur mistake, one that caused your brother harm. Your job is supporting Hiroto. How is he supposed to focus on the Gaiark when he has to look out for his little sister?"
Behind her helmet, Miu's jaw dropped.
"Arrogance" said Sosuke. "That's always been your Achilles heel, your utter refusal to believe anyone could possibly be smart enough to get one over you."
Miu was beside herself at what the Go-Ongers were saying.
"I can't believe this! Where do you guys get off acting like we're a couple of amateurs-?"
"It's all right, Miu" said Hiroto, putting his hand on his sister's shoulder to calm her.
"What are you talking about, 'all right'?! They-"
"Your criticism is noted" said Hiroto, ignoring his sister. "We'll be sure to train more so as to do better next time."
"See that you do" said Ren.
"Yeah, we didn't do all this training just to carry you two" said Hant, he and his teammates breaking into laughter at the remark (laughter, Hiroto thought, that sounded much different from their usual - meaner.)
"'Carry us'?!" said an angry Miu.
"Let's go, Miu" said Hiroto, motioning his sister to turn around as they started off for home, the Go-Ongers leaving as well.
"I can't believe the nerve of them! Like we haven't saved them numerous times!"
"Miu, we've certainly given the Go-Ongers plenty of criticism, we can't be outraged when they do the same to us."
"Well they didn't have to be so rude about it!"
"If they act more like they did today then I'll gladly accept some rude remarks. And they were right, we did perform poorly today. We should step up training; see, this is how it should be between us, encouraging eachother to get stronger!"
'Encourage'? thought Miu. Hiroto had torn apart the Go-Ongers, and now they had done the same to them. She frowned at the thought of this being how things would be going forward, where anyone who made a mistake would instantly get their noses rubbed in it by the others.
"I thought Instructor BoWhale said that it was our strength that we have different styles, that that we complement each other."
"I wouldn't worry about that, Miu. This is still the Go-Ongers we're talking about; how much do you think they'll really change?"