Ultimate Power Rangers: Reloaded
Ninja Rangers: Chapter Five
Coming
of a Prince
The five
rangers drove through the winding streets of Tokyo in Nekomaru. Jonathan was at
the wheel. His forehead unusually sweaty. He keeled over in pain, causing the
vehicle to slightly swerve.
“Jonathan!”
Trini shouted as she reached from behind the driver’s seat to steady the wheel.
“Yeah,”
Jonathan said nonchalantly, despite the pain in his voice.
“What’s wrong?”
Trini asked, knitting her brow with concern.
“Oh, my stomach
feels like it’s going to rip open,” he said. “No big deal.”
________________________________________________________________________
The doctor’s
office was white and stale, in direct contrast to the sickness that hung in the
lobby. Patients coughed or sneezed as others held onto their sore stomachs. The
nurse led each patient out of the lobby and into the doctor’s office one by
one.
Jonathan and the
other rangers had been waiting in the office for 30 minutes. Jonathan seemed
more uncomfortable from the room itself than the pain in his gut. “You don’t
understand…” he said as he paced back and forth. “I hate doctors.”
“We can’t
afford to have you sick,” Trini said as the nurse walked in for Jonathan. Trini
looked to Jonathan. “Go.”
Jonathan walked
into a small, sterile room in the back of the doctor’s office space. He hated
doctors and hospitals. When he was a kid, his mother had to have critical
surgery. Jonathan couldn’t remember what the surgery was, only that his mother
had almost died.
As if that
wasn’t bad enough, Jonathan had gotten lost while wandering the halls of the
hospital at the time. The boy had opened a door he should not have entered. He
saw a young girl his age on a surgery table, blood everywhere. Her eyes were
glazed over, staring directly at Jonathan when her heart monitor
flat-lined.
Jonathan shook
his head to clear the memory from his mind as he waited for the doctor.
A doctor with
shaggy white hair entered the room while mumbling to himself in Japanese. He
placed his hand on Jonathan’s chest and forced him to sit on the bed. The
doctor started poking and prodding at Jonathan in random places.
The teen
noticed a look of insanity in the doctor’s eye. It was a look Jonathan was
becoming more and more familiar with.
<Wait>
Jonathan said in Japanese as he struggled to back away from the doctor.
<What do you think you‘re doing? Stop poking me, you bastard.>
The room’s door
open in and two nurses brought in trays of knives and other bladed instruments.
Jonathan bolted
past the doctor and nurses while slapping the trays aside. He turned down a
narrow hallway and burst back into the lobby, running past his friends as he
shouted to them. “Let’s get out of here.”
________________________________________________________________________
Richie was at
the wheel of the van, driving away from the doctor’s office. The doctor
actually chased after the van on foot and picked up speed with every
stride.
“Looks like a
Youkai,” Jason said as he looked back towards the doctor.
The doctor
pumped his legs faster. He past the van and sprang through the air. The Youkai
landed on top of a 12-story building while transforming into his monster form.
Brown fur covered his body. Several spikes and claws protruded from his body.
The van skid to
a halt as the teens piled out and looked up to the roof.
The monster
started shedding. His fur descended on people below. The fur choked many,
causing people to collapse to their knees and hack for air.
The teens ran
to the roof and stood in fighting stances behind the Youkai. “Hold it right
there, fuzz ball!” Jason shouted.
The monster
turned and fired an energy blast that exploded around the teens as they rolled
for cover and pulled out their morphers.
“Shogun
Transform, Ninja Power!” the teens yelled as energy whirled around them and
they transformed into their armor. They each snapped into a fighting stance.
“Ninjared!”
“Ninjablack!”
“Ninjablue!”
“Ninjayellow!”
“Ninjawhite!”
Together they
shouted. “Shogun Task Force, Ninja Rangers!”
The Youkai, Furuazz, fired a volley of fur darts that
exploded around the Rangers with a massive burst of sparks.
The Rangers
vanished as their limp uniforms fell and wrinkled on the ground.
The Rangers
reappeared in a pyramid formation behind the monster. Ninjablue and Ninjablack
stood on the shoulders of their teammates.
“You’ll have to
do better than that!” Ninjared shouted to the monster.
Ninjablack and Ninjablue leapt forward and unsheathed
their swords. They swung the blades downward while landing, their swords
sparking across the monster’s body upon impact.
The other three
Rangers somersaulted forward through the air and thrashed their swords down
across the Youkai, knocking him backward.
Furuazz
recovered from the blows and pounced forward to attack. Ninjared tossed small
black floor spikes onto the roof. The monster stepped on the spikes and yelped
in pain before crashing onto his tailbone.
The Rangers had
spent some time practicing fighting techniques in between class projects, which
they never seemed to get done on time.
The monster
called upon bolts of lightning from dark clouds that formed above. Furuazz
absorbed the lightning power and used it to grow giant on the streets.
The Rangers
pulled out their coins. “Battlezords, power up!” they shouted and tossed the
coins into the air with streaks of golden energy. The coins flashed as the five
slender Battlezords appeared.
The zords
struck one-by-one. Battle Crane extended its arms in an ‘x’ pattern and crashed
against the Youkai. Battle Frog and Battle Bear slammed flying sidekicks
against the monster. Battle Wolf and Battle Ape dropkicked the monster. The
Youkai tumbled backward across the ground.
The skies above
suddenly turned black. The Rangers
looked up from the roof as a ghostly image appeared above. It appeared like the
head of a skeleton wearing an army-type helmet. Half the creature’s face was
gray, and the other half looked camouflaged.
“What the…?”
Ninjared started to say.
Jagged optic
blasts of crimson energy lashed from the ghostly image and exploded against the
five zords with a massive burst of sparks and flame.
The skeleton
fired another blast that exploded around the Rangers, sending them falling
towards the ground below. The Rangers crashed against the streets as rubble
from the building slammed around them.
The monster
disappeared with a flash of dark light. The skeleton image vanished as the
clouds and skies returned to normal.
“Who was that?”
Ninjablack asked.
Ninjayellow
keeled over in pain as he grasped his stomach. “Okay, I’m out,” he said as he
passed out.
________________________________________________________________________
A broken down
eerie mansion was hidden in the wilderness. The Youkai named Juniya was on the
upper level of the mansion. The room was lit only by candles that sat across a
wide banquet table. Dorodoro and other Youkai sat around the table or stood as
Juniya went mad on his electric guitar.
Juniya
resembled a punk rocker. His dark hair was spiked up. He wore a dark outfit
with leather armor and chains.
Furuazz slowly
entered the room in his human form. His eyes darted nervously around the other
Youkai gathered as he moved to Juniya. Furuazz knitted his brow at Juniya. “Who
are you?”
Juniya slammed
his guitar against the doctor’s gut. “You dare to ask me questions after being
beaten by children?” Juniya slammed his guitar on the back of the doctor’s
neck.
________________________________________________________________________
Juniya used his
guitar to lead Furuazz down a dark, winding stairwell. The Youkai scientist
named Yugami was in the mansion‘s basement. A small lab was set up across the
stone floor. Juniya knocked Furuazz down onto the basement floor. “Yugami! Make
this whelp stronger.”
Juniya turned
and left the basement, leaving the doctor and scientist alone. Furuazz looked
over at the Youkai scientist. “Who is that?”
“That is
Juniya…prince of all the Youkai,” Yugami said.
“Absurd,” the
doctor said as he shook his head.
“Don’t tell him
that…now…” he watched a television display of the Battlezords killing three
monsters. “These Battlezords are quite a problem….but I think given a few
upgrades…” He looked over the Youkai doctor. “Yes…you’ll do quite nicely.”
________________________________________________________________________
“Maybe it was
something he ate?” Richie said. Jonathan was wincing in pain while lying in the
back of the van. They were driving down the busy city streets during a rush
hour.
“It could be,”
Jason said.
The rangers
skid the van to a halt as a group of screaming people ran across the street.
The streets shook as a giant Youkai stomped nearby. It was Furuazz.
“Let’s go,”
Jason said as he and the others started to leave the van. He looked to
Jonathan. “You stay here.”
The rangers ran
onto the narrow street as a group of Dorodoro charged towards the. Jason
launched forward with a flying sidekick that slammed against a soldier’s chest.
He and the others readied their morphers as more of the grunts appeared.
“Shogun Transform!”
they shouted as energy whirled around them and they morphed into their armor.
Ninjared
unsheathed his sword and thrashed through a soldier while spinning forward,
slamming the handle of his weapon across another soldier’s head.
A Dorodoro charged at the Red Ranger from behind a
swung a jagged blade towards his collar bone. Ninjared held his blade high and
blocked the blow. The Red ranger twisted the grunt’s sword downward and held it
at bay as the ground started to shake.
Ninjared looked
up to see the giant monster stomping in
the distance. “We have to call on our zords,” he said as knocked the soldier’s
blade away and swung a backhand strike that slashed across the soldier’s chest
with a burst of spark.
The Rangers
regrouped and readied their Power Coins. “Battlezords, power up!” they shouted
as they tossed the coins forward in streaks of golden energy. The coins
shimmered as four slim Battlezords appeared.
The giant
Youkai activated a mechanical enhancement around his right arm. The bladed enhancement
aimed forward and launched a stream of energy that exploded against the zords
with a massive burst of sparks.
The furred
monster stomped forward for another attack. Battle Ape rolled to its feet and
leapt forward, slamming a flying kick against the Youkai that knocked him
backward. The monster regained his balance and thrashed his bladed weapon
across the red-armored zord’s body, sparking on impact.
Battle Frog and
Battle Wolf leapt forward to attack from opposite sides of the Youkai. The monster
swung his weapon in a wide arc, firing an energy stream that lashed against the
zords, exploding against their armor and knocking them from the air.
The Youkai
readjusted his mechanical appendage and fired a wide energy stream that
exploded against the zords, sending massive bursts of sparks ripping across
their armor, as they tumbled backward and crashed on top of buildings. The
concrete and steel buildings buckled beneath the zords and crumbled to the
ground with a thundering boom.
Back on street
level, Ninjared spin kicked a soldier out of his way. “They need help…”
The Red Ranger
and his three teammates regrouped and held their scrolls forward to summon
their other zords. “Shogunzords awaken!”
The massive
warrior forms of the Shogunzords rose from the earth as the Rangers levitated
backward, merging with their zords. The Shogunzords stood in attack formation
and charged forward.
From afar,
Yugami activated his trap. Massive chains and bindings sprang from the pavement
and wrapped around the four Shogunzords. Electric power traveled along the
chains and exploded against the zords’ armor repeatedly. The power intensified
every time the zords tried to snap free.
On the streets
below, Jonathan stumbled from the van and looked up to see his friends get
fried. He winced in pain as he pulled out his morpher. “Shogun transform!” he
shouted as energy swirled around him and he morphed into his Ranger form. The
influx of energy made him feel better and relieved his pain, but like before,
the pain relief was only temporary.
Ninjayellow
pulled out his Power Coin and tossed it forward with a streak of golden energy. “Battlezord, power
up!” The slim, yellow Battle Bear appeared with a burst of energy and landed on
the streets.
Battle Bear
leapt forward and tore the chains free from the Shogunzords. The electric
barrage stopped as the Shogunzords regrouped.
Furuazz growled
with annoyance and aimed his appendage forward. The Youkai fired a jagged burst
of energy that exploded against the zords, knocking them backward.
“Enough is
enough…” Red Ape said with frustration as he rose back to his feet. The Red
Ranger felt a calling from his Battlezord. “Guys…transfer into your
Battlezords.”
The Rangers leapt
out of their zords and hovered to their Battlezords. The Rangers merged with
the Battlezords and willed the zords to snap into fighting stances.
Furuazz fired
another energy blast that the zords dove away from as explosions tore through
the streets.
Battle Ape
rolled back to his knees and sprang forward, flipping through the air as red
energy ignited around his armor. The zords became a streak of energy and shot
through the monster, piercing through its chest and destroying the creature.
The Youkai fell
backward and exploded, its body bursting into flames and disintegrating.
________________________________________________________________________
Juniya didn’t
notice the destruction of the monster. He just assumed it was going to happen
and went on to his plan. Unlike other freaks that had tried to take over Earth,
Juniya knew his plan would work.
Juniya stood on
a wide stairwell of concrete while outside at night. Pillars lined each side of
the stairwell and supernatural fog slowly spread across the area. Juniya played
his guitar, a heavy-metal sound that helped the Youkai focus his power.
He stopped
playing and snapped his fingers. Five young women ran to the base of the
stairs. Each woman was dressed in gray-colored ninja garb and skirts. They had
multi-colored scarves around their necks. Their faces were refined and quite
stunning.
They kneeled and lowered their heads. Juniya said each
of their names.
“Yuri…” The
girl with orange raised her head.
“Sakura…” The young woman with a dark-pink
scarf raised her head.
“Ayame…” The
girl with purplish-blue looked up.
“Suiren…” She
wore an olive-green scarf. She looked up.
“Ran…” The
ninja in dark violet glanced up.
“I have given
you five life to become my Hana Ninja team. You will kill Ninjaranger. That is
your only purpose and your only pleasure.”
The Ninja
snapped to their feet and placed their hands in front of their chests. Sparks
of energy twirled around them as they transformed into ranger-style armor. The
armor appeared almost feline.
Their one-piece
main armor suit was white around their breasts and stomach, and trimmed with
black along the edges with a black V-shaped cut over their chests. Scarves with
their signature colors wrapped around their collarbone. Slender black swords
were attached to their backs. They wore black gauntlets and black boots, with
their signature color running down their arms and legs. Their feline helmets
were all black except for the mouthpiece. An intricate image of a flower was
painted along the front of their helmets with their signature colors.
The Hana
Rangers turned and ran off to complete their mission. Juniya turned to watch
them run off, admiring how their agile bodies and forms moved. Maybe killing
the Ninja Rangers would not be their only pleasure, he thought with a
smile.
To be continued…Chapter Six