Play "Sonic Frontiers Ultimate Anime Opening" by Thai McGrath
Subete Ushinatte mo kimi wa mada
Soko ni iru to shinjitakatta
Come and leave your mark, vandalize my heart
Brody, in Ranger form, stumbles out of the bushes and looks around before spotting a key floating on a pedestal. He walks toward it and grabs it, only for it to shock his arm.
Slowly zoom in as the pedestal shakes and a red and black pulse bursts outward. Cut to black.
Yeah! Alright!
Red binary slowly starts descending from above. The Paleo Force logo fades into view, followed by Techno walking in from behind it. He raises a hand and fires a blast at the screen.
Ame to kaminari
Danger, water rising
We cut to three large islands floating above the Rangers' hometown. Zoom out to reveal Brody looking up at them from below.
Sairenganaru
It's such a bad time
Kenny stands up, holding a wrench and wiping his brow from working on a crude-looking generator. G2 enters the room, carrying a stack of books. He walks over to grab one.
Aka reta sekai
It's full of such possibility
Shin sedai no tame ni
To run and follow their heart
In a white void, Brody grabs Cooper's shoulder, only for him to shatter into red and black pixels. Brody rushes for Duncan and Jane, growing increasingly distraught as they shatter as well. With them all gone, he looks around in a panic.
Brody lifts up a rock, revealing a red cross token. He runs up a wall in Electric-Type to grab a boxing glove token. Still in Electric-Type, he zigzags through a field, gathering up joint tokens.
Sasei e no kibo
Make new what once was old
Kyuyu ni aisatsu suru
Uncover the new adventure
Brody looks at his right hand as it flickers red and black. He clenches it and runs, leaping off the edge of a hill, landing in a field in a three-point landing. As he stands up and draws his Switch-Gun, he looks ahead to see Simba, who's grinning maliciously at him.
We get a long shot of them from the side with bigger versions of them overhead.
Subete Ushinatte mo kimi wa mada
Soko ni iru to shinjitakatta
Come and leave your mark, vandalize my heart
Brody brandishes his swords as a group of Shadows surround him. He leaps up and cleaves two of them in half in slow motion.
A bunch of the Shadows fuse into a giant Super Shadow. The Super Shadow punches the ground, just missing Brody. Brody runs by its legs, slashing its ankles and bringing it to its knees. He turns back and leaps at it and slashes its neck.
Munashi(kute) mo owarase renai
Akirameru hodo tsuyoku wanai
Come and leave your mark, vandalize my heart
Brody runs across a field toward CJ, who takes a fighting stance. Changing to Electric-Type once again, he accelerates. CJ throws a flaming punch, which Brody meets with an electric punch. The collision creates an explosion of fire and lightning.
Brody clutches his head and screams at the sky as his body flickers red and black.
We get a side shot of Brody running toward large, red cubes containing his friends. The final shot is a POV shot of Brody's outstretched hand reaching out to them.
"So you're all ready for the fun?" Calios asked.
"Oh, yes. I've finished my analysis and I've come up with quite the little game," Techno announced happily. "When all is said and done, there will be at least one less Ranger around."
Calios clapped his hands, "Well, what are you waiting for? Get this party started!"
Techno nodded. Rather than head for the launch tubes, he made for the ship's dock for his own ship, a literal flying saucer. He entered it and flew it down to Earth, landing in front of the local Wawa.
"Alright, now to send the players their invites," the robot said to himself. "And nothing draws attention-" he raised his hands outward while multiple, several-inch cylinders emerged from the circles on his chest and shoulders, "-LIKE A LASER LIGHT SHOW!" Beams fired from all his cylinders while red energy rings came from his palms. And just like that, everything in sight was leveled.
With his "signal" sent, Techno elected to simply wait for his enemies to come to him, drawing a pistol in the meantime. His lack of a mouth was the only thing keeping him from smiling when the Rangers showed up.
"Aww, he destroyed the Wawa," Cooper complained as he dismounted from his Cryo.
"What kinda villain lands in front of a Wawa anyway?" Duncan wondered aloud.
"I do," Techno answered. "And here's-"
"Holy crap, you're British!" the White Ranger interrupted.
"Yes, I am," Techno growled. "Anyway, I have quite a game planned out for you lot, but first, I'll need some volunteers."
Brody drew his Switch-Gun, "Yeah? Well, you're not getting any."
Techno aimed his pistol in turn. But, in a bit of misdirection, when Brody moved to dodge, Techno aimed at Duncan, landing a shot on the unprepared White Ranger.
Duncan instantly shattered into pixels, much to his teammates' shock.
"What the fuck just happened?!" Cooper yelled, summoning his cannon.
Techno laughed as he fidgeted with his pistol, "Wouldn't you like to know?"
Seeing the villain wasn't moving, Cooper and Brody each fired blasts. The second the shots were about to hit, a red shield of energy sprang up to protect Techno. "Nice try," Techno aimed his pistol at Cooper and fired.
The Pink Ranger ducked down, only to find that the pistol fired a scattershot this time, hitting him anyway.
"Mr. Cooper!" Brody was horrified. Both his teammates were gone, possibly dead, and this new enemy had done it so easily. Growling, he flicked his gun into its blade mode and summoned his Carnage Sword.
"What's the big deal? Couldn't you just replace them?" Techno taunted.
"They're my friends! I wouldn't just replace them!" the Blue Ranger responded angrily.
That made Techno chuckle, "Wow, that sounds almost like something I'd hear in one of your stupid little Rider shows. Now if you'll excuse me, I need a third volunteer." Without waiting for Brody to reply, he snapped his fingers, signaling Lensia to teleport him from above.
Brody's mind raced, trying to think of where the robot might go. Then it hit him, "Wait, another player, and he already got Duncan and Mr. Cooper." The Blue Ranger tapped his morpher, turning yellow and dashing off.
He got to Jane's house and into her room in seconds. Unfortunately, he was too late. Techno already had his girlfriend in a headlock with one arm and holding his pistol to her head with his other arm.
"Let her go, or I'm gonna fucking kill you," Brody growled.
"HA! You wish," Techno scoffed. He pulled the trigger, shattering Jane. He then immediately teleported away before Brody could retaliate.
Having lost a third person dear to him, Brody sank to his knees, speechless.
Just then, Jane's parents rushed in. "What happened?" Mr. Dawson asked. When the boy didn't answer, he grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to his feet. "Brody, what the fuck happened!?"
"Alright, now to set the stage," Techno said. He opened a small hatch on his forearm, revealing an array of buttons. Pressing some of them caused a dozen small drones to deploy from his ship. The drones split off in groups of four and planted themselves in square formations partially outside the city limits. "And liftoff!"
With powerful rockets, the drones tore out massive chunks of the city, each one square mile in diameter.
Once the floating islands had risen a couple thousand feet, Techno had them stop. "Activate terraformers," he announced. He deployed three larger drones that positioned themselves over the islands. They emitted rays of light that morphed the terrain, turning each island from an urban landscape into something else. One island was a desert with some rock formations, one was a grassy field with a small forest, and the third was a barren wasteland with lava rivers.
"Ah," Techno sighed, satisfied with his handiwork. "Now to give my player his instructions." He pressed some more buttons, causing screens with his face on them to appear all over the city. "Attention, Blue Ranger."
The sound of Techno's voice snapped Brody out of his stupor. He and the Dawsons ran outside and saw the projections.
"I'm sure you're real upset that your little friends are gone, but not to worry, they're still alive."
Brody sighed in relief.
"In fact, I'm even going to give you a chance to get them back. You'll find the means to enter my new islands once you get close enough to them. You'll receive further instructions once there. Oh, and to any overly-curious citizens out there, if you try to enter, I'll kill you myself."
Taking a deep breath to calm himself Brody de-morphed, pulled out his phone and called Kenny. "Hey, you saw all that, right?"
"I did," Kenny answered.
"This is probably gonna be tough. Mind sending G2 to help?" Brody asked.
Kenny sighed on the other end, "Sorry, I need his help for this project of mine. We'll need it for when this is all over."
"Ah, ah, ah," Techno interrupted. "This is a solo mission, so no help allowed. Now, are you gonna get moving, or are you gonna keep me waiting all day?"
"What the? How the hell are you talking to us?" Brody asked.
"Easy, I tapped your phones," Techno answered casually.
Following a moment of silence, Brody sighed, "Alright, Kenny, you keep doing what you're doing. I'll come visit you when I'm done with the first island."
Hanging up, Brody turned around to face Jane's parents.
"Please, get our daughter back," Mrs. Dawson begged.
"We can't lose her," Mr. Dawson continued, holding his wife close.
Brody nodded and morphed, "I promise." With that, he walked off and headed for the nearest island, which happened to be the desert. He saw a column of light leading from the ground up to the edge of the island. Having an idea of how it was meant to work, he shrugged and stepped into the light. He almost screamed when he shot up and was standing on the island's edge. "Wow, I felt like a Futurama character there."
"Hello there!"
The Blue Ranger looked around to see another one of Techno's screens.
"Welcome to Triassic Island. Here, you will navigate this harsh desert terrain to find your first friend, Cooper. Once you do, you'll receive further instructions. But be warned, there are enemies scattered all over."
"Eh, I'm not scared," Brody dismissed.
That made Techno growl, "Drop the 'tough guy' act. I know that's all it is."
"No, it's not," Brody spat as he began walking. Looking around, he saw a small mesa and a trench. Figuring Cooper would be in one of those two places, he began jogging toward the Mesa. Before he could get there, though, numerous Shadows sprang up from the sand. "What the hell!?"
Drawing his Switch-Gun, he shot several of them before engaging the rest in close combat. At first, he dealt with them as easily as any other group of Shadows. But this time, something different happened. The remaining Shadows merged together into a single, larger Shadow.
"Well, haven't seen that in forever," Brody commented. He vaguely remembered this trick from the last time he saw it, just a week before Cooper joined the team. This giant Shadow was shorter than last time, however, being only half the size of the Megazord. He fired a few test shots, confirming that this Super Shadow was too big for ordinary attacks to be effective.
The Super Shadow reared a fist back and threw it.
Brody leapt back, with the fist landing right in front of him. Charging up his gun, he fired again, "Ranger Shoot!" This time, his attack actually did some damage. The Super Shadow's abdomen was smoking from the shot, and it was staggering back. Pressing the advantage, Brody's legs glowed, and he ran toward the Super Shadow, jumping up for a kick.
Unfortunately, the Super Shadow wasn't as injured as he thought it was, and it brought its fist down on him before he could land his kick, slamming him into the ground.
Groaning, Brody barely managed to roll out of the way of another punch. He sloppily scrambled to his feet and broke to the left, avoiding the Super Shadow's foot as it tried stomping on him. He tried another Ranger Shoot, but this time, the Super Shadow simply swatted it away.
"Oh, shit," the Blue Ranger muttered. Running out of ideas, Brody ran toward the mesa, with the Super Shadow hot on his tail. He briefly considered switching to Electric-Type, but as he got closer to the mesa, he got an idea, so he stayed in his base form to ensure the giant Shadow could keep up with him.
Brody summoned his Carnage Sword. Once he was close enough to the mesa, he leapt forward and landed on its face. "Ranger-", he rebounded off the rock face, heading straight for the Super Shadow. "Slash!" He dragged his blade along the Super Shadow's gut before landing not-so-gracefully on the ground. Knowing that might not be enough, he scrambled to his feet and charged in once again.
Clutching its gut with one hand, the Super Shadow threw another punch.
Sidestepping the punch, Brody jumped and sank his sword into its abdomen. Swinging around a bit, he launched himself up to the Shadow's shoulder. "Ranger Punch!" he threw his punch with all his might, making the Super Shadow collapse.
Panting, Brody nodded at his handiwork and walked back to the mesa. He got out his Switch-Gun blade and resummoned his Carnage Sword. Sinking his swords into the stone, he began climbing. Once he reached the top, he found what, or rather, who, he was looking for: Cooper. As he approached, he was perplexed by the large, red cube his friend was contained in. "The fuck?"
"I'd congratulate you on reaching your friend, but then again, you didn't need to look that hard," Techno said, one of his screens appearing nearby.
"How do I get him out of there?" Brody asked.
"That's the easy part in all this. Just tap the cube," the villain politely informed him.
A part of Brody didn't buy that it could be that easy. Another part of him wanted to try slashing the cube open, but he didn't wanna risk hurting his friend. Deciding to take a chance, he placed his hand on the cube. He received a nasty jolt for it, but the cube still shattered instantly.
The Blue Ranger would've been more relieved, but something was clearly wrong with Cooper. The Scotsman was bright blue, translucent, and kinda static-y. He looked kind of like a hologram from a sci-fi movie.
"Ah, finally outta there," Cooper sighed in relief. It was then he noticed his teammate. "Brody! I knew you'd get me out. Where's everyone else?"
"You're actually the first one I got to," Brody informed him. "Speaking of which," he looked around, "What's the deal? Why's he look like this?"
Techno laughed, "Oh, come on, you didn't really think it'd be that easy, did you? You, my little Ranger, have a big fetch quest to go on. Would you like instructions as you go, or would like an information dump right here and now?"
"If I ask for the info dump, can I get visuals to go with it?" Brody asked.
"Hmm, I suppose so," Techno nodded. His face on the screen was replaced by an image of a game token. "This is a Memory Token. They'll look different for each friend you're trying to rescue, but you should know them when you see them. All you need to do is collect 30 of them and that will give you access to a Cyber Key."
Three pedestals with fancy-looking keys appeared next to the token. The token divided into three, moved over to the pedestals, and inserted itself into coin slots on the pedestals.
"You'll collect one key per island. The three keys together will give access to the final piece needed to restore your friends to normal. Got everything so far?" The duo nodded. "Then get to it!"
Brody instantly shifted to Electric-Type and sped around the island. He returned less than a minute later. "I only found 20. Where are the others?"
"Nice try. I knew you had super speed, so I didn't just leave all the tokens lying around. If you want all of them, you're gonna have to put in some actual effort," Techno informed him. "Think you can take the pressure?"
"Sure I can," Brody said. Before he could walk away, Techno went on.
"Like you did earlier today? You crumbled like a sheet of paper when I captured your little friends." That made Brody pause. "But you bounced back, I presume, because it's what the stars in a show aimed at children would've done?"
"Hey, lay off him, why don't you?" Cooper glared.
Techno ignored Cooper and continued, "But don't listen to me. Go on, play hero." The screen got up in Brody's face. "Little boy." With that, the screen disappeared.
"…Let's go, Mr. Cooper," Brody muttered as he began walking away.
Cooper frowned but followed his young friend. He stopped when they reached the edge of the mesa, though, and pointed. "Hey, lad, lookee there!"
Brody stopped and followed the janitor's finger. He had to squint but he could see it: a Memory Token shaped like a boxing glove in the sky. "No wonder I didn't find all of them." The Yellow Ranger looked from where he was to where the token was.
"What are you waitin' for?" Cooper asked.
"Just wanna get the angle right," Brody pointed out. He accelerated and jumped off the mesa, making direct contact with the token. Upon touching it, it floated around him before absorbing into his body. He touched down on the ground in a three-point landing. "Now just nine to go." He then sped back to the mesa to reconvene. He took a second to catch his breath, "Nice catch. Any other ideas?"
Cooper nodded and smiled, "One or two. Let's go."
The duo hopped off the mesa. Neither was hurt by that fall, Brody because of his suit and Cooper because of his digital state. Before they could explore, though, more Shadows sprang up from the ground.
"Alright, let's get this over with," Cooper said. He tried to tap his morpher, only for his hand to phase through his wrist. "Well, that's a rip-off."
Seeing he wouldn't be getting any help from Cooper, Brody zapped around and slashed up the Shadows, not giving them a chance to merge. When he was done, he shifted back to his blue form and put his hands on his knees as he panted. He perked up when he saw a bonus: another Memory Token. He promptly absorbed it. "I guess some enemies have prizes in 'em. Kinda feels like a video game."
"You alright?" Cooper asked.
"I'll be fine," Brody panted. "Just feels like I've been doing a bit more than usual today. Let's keep going."
The walk was completely silent, making Cooper uncomfortable. "You alright?"
"You asked me that already," his young friend pointed out.
"I'm not talkin' about your body," Cooper clarified. "I'm talkin' about your brain."
"What do you mean?"
Cooper folded his arms, "You're lettin' your head hang. And I may not be able to see your face through that helmet, but I know you're frownin'. Is this about what that robot guy said?"
Brody lifted his head, "It's just, I-"
"Hold on one sec," Cooper interrupted. He got down on his hands and knees and stuck his head into the ground.
"Uh," Brody scratched his head, not sure what to make of the display.
"Found one!" the Scotsman declared as he got up. "Just dig a few meters over there!"
"…Okay."
As the Blue Ranger dug for another token, Cooper resumed their chat, "Sorry about that. So, what's botherin' you, lad?"
"What the robot said. About me playing hero," Brody clarified. "I started all this because I wanted to be like the characters in a series I like. What if he's right? That I really am just some kid playing hero? I did fall apart when he captured you guys and-"
"Alright, cut the shit," Cooper stopped him. "Have you paid attention to anything all these months?" Seeing Brody perk up a bit, he continued. "You've been fightin' monsters that would've killed off the whole town if they weren't stopped. You call that 'playin'?"
"I guess not," Brody admitted. "Still, it seems at least a little dorky that I got the idea for fighting from a kids' show."
Cooper waved this off, "Pff, so what? Who cares if it's a kids' show? If it inspired you to do good, then there's not much to criticize."
Brody was wide-eyed under his helmet. After a moment of stunned silence, he chuckled, and that chuckle turned into full blown laughter. Cooper joined in soon after.
"I hope that means I got through," the janitor said.
"Yeah, you did," Brody nodded. "I don't know why I bothered listening to that guy."
"Don't feel too bad. A few choice words can mess with anyone's head," Cooper assured him. "I've seen it happen at the bar once or twice."
"Of course you have," Brody rolled his eyes. "Let's keep going. I've got my second wind."
"Right!" Cooper stuck his head in the ground again and began crawling around rapidly. Brody couldn't help but laugh at the sight. This time, however, finding a memory token wasn't so simply. They had to search about a quarter of a mile through the desert before they found what they were looking for.
"Nice," Brody said as he absorbed the token. He then paused as he felt a tremor, "Uh, do you feel that?"
Cooper gestured to his digital body, "I can't exactly feel anything right now."
"Then what's-oh," Brody stopped. Turning around, he saw the source of the tremors: another Super Shadow, this one a bit bigger than the last one. "You know what? I'm finishing this fast." He shifted back into his Electric-Type form and dashed up the giant Shadow's leg.
The Super Shadow was ready for this, however, and its leg dispersed into the numerous Shadows that composed it.
With no more surface to run on, Brody stumbled and fell back to the ground.
The Super Shadow transferred mass from its left arm to its missing leg as a substitute and threw a massive punch.
Rolling backwards to avoid the punch, Brody got up, only to be immediately tackled by a regular-sized Shadow. He managed to stay on his feet, though, and, seeing other Shadows coming for him, he aimed his arms and fired his arm feathers. With the small fry taken out, he drew his Switch-Gun and ran circles around the Super Shadow, firing dozens of charged-up lightning blasts. "Multi-Ranger Shoot!"
Unable to take so many blasts, the Super Shadow sizzled and exploded, yielding three more Memory Tokens.
Cooper tried to clap his hands, only for them to phase through each other, so he just pumped a fist in the air, "You did it, lad!"
"Indeed you did," said yet another of Techno's screens. "I suppose now I'll throw the monster with the last three tokens at you. Enjoy."
As the screen popped out of existence, Brody turned to Cooper, "Mind searching for the key thing while I'm fighting?"
Cooper nodded and began running off, "On it!"
With his friend on the case, Brody looked around the barren desert, wondering what direction his new enemy might show up from. He got his answer when he heard a whirring noise. He ducked as a buzzsaw of energy flew over his head. He quickly turned around to see the attacker.
It was a centipede…Sort of. Its lower half was a looked like a regular centipede's body but it had an upper torso resembling a well-built man and a centipede's head. It had a coloration of red and silver. Brody didn't even need to ask this monster what its inevitably stupid name was because a red and white caption, likely courtesy of Techno. The caption read "Ultrapede."
Not wasting any time, Brody charged up an electric Ranger Shoot and fired.
The centipede monster brought its forearms together in the shape of an L and fired a beam of its own. The two attacks collided for a moment before causing an explosion.
Brody changed tactics and rushed in at lightning speed.
His opponent was clearly ready for this, however, and did a handstand. His many legs all undulated, launching more energy saws in all directions.
"Oh shit!" Brody yelled as he began darting about. He was thankfully fast enough to dodge most of the saws and blasted any others away with his pistol. Seeing Ultrapede stop spinning. Brody saw his chance and unfolded his gun into its blade mode and went in for the kill.
Ultrapede wasn't worried and met him head on. The two fighters passed each other and paused, turning around to see the result. A yellow gash opened up diagonally across Ultrapede's chest. "Hehe, sucker." He chuckled before collapsing and exploding.
"What did he mean by that?" Brody wondered aloud He took a step, only to suddenly fall to one knee, clutching his side. "I guess there's my answer," he said through clenched teeth. He spent the next few minutes sitting down, rubbing the injured spot.
Thankfully, Cooper chose that moment to return to the scene, providing a minor distraction from the pain, "Hey, lad, I-uh, you okay?"
"I think that new enemy got me with a liver shot," Brody said, getting to his feet. "I'm gonna be feeling that tomorrow. So, you find the key?"
"Sure, did." Cooper led his young friend back to the mesa. "Turns out it's hidden within. You just gotta bust through."
Nodding, Brody shifted back into his base form. Charging his Switch-Gun blade with ice energy, he let loose, "Ranger Slash!" The attack caused the spot on the rock face to crumble. As they waited for the debris to finish falling, Techno appeared on another screen for another trash talk session.
"Seriously, are those the best attack names you could come up with? You sound like that Hulk character I heard you humans read about."
"Shut the mouth you don't have," Cooper spat. He beckoned for Brody to follow him, and the two approached the pedestal holding the Cyber Key.
Brody turned back to Cooper, pointing a finger at the pedestal, "So, how do I give the to-" He unwittingly answered his own question when all the Memory tokens he'd collected flew out of him and into the pedestal, prompting the key to appear on it. The Blue Ranger reached for the key, but the second he touched it, red and black electricity traveled throughout his body. As he twitched from the shock, various images appeared before his eyes before shattering.
Cooper's eyes widened, "What gives?!"
"Just a little side effect," Techno giggled.
Brody panted stumbled back, his right arm now flickering red and black, "I'm…okay?"
"Seems like it," Techno replied. "Anyway, you've done well to conquer the first island. Feel free to take a breather before you move onto the next one. "With that, his screen disappeared.
"I could use a break," Brody admitted. "Come on, Mr. Cooper."
The janitor seemed a bit uncertain, given what just happened, but went along anyway. After a decent walk, the two exited the island the same way Brody entered. Before they could decide which way to go, Brody got a call. He de-morphed and answered, "Hello? Kenny? Yeah, we can head to your place. We'll be there in a few."
Brody and Cooper entered Kenny's living room to find the boy taking notes from a textbook about gravity. "Uh, is there an exam or something coming up?" Brody asked.
"No, I'm building something to help with that new enemy," Kenny said as he finished copying down a note. "Hmm. Kelly? How much earth can you manipulate at once?"
"Like, a whole lot!" the Zord proudly replied through Brody's morpher.
"I mean as in how many tons?" Kenny clarified.
"Uuuuuuh."
Kenny sighed, "Just come over soon and we'll talk."
At that moment, G2 entered the room carrying a small stack of books and a sack of metal parts. "I have the supplies, Master."
"Jeez!" Brody flinched at the sight of the robot, making everyone look at him in confusion. "Kenny? Why is there been a robot in your house?"