Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“…ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred!” A little girl no older than ten dropped her practice katana in relief. But her mentor/mother’s dissatisfaction was evident in her frown, making the girl drop her head.

  “Hiromi, your strokes towards the end were getting sloppy. Redo the last twenty.”

  The girl winced at the order. Her arm muscles were screaming at her and she has been training since dawn. Thankfully, her savior came in the form of her father who showed up to check on them.

  “Kaoru, she’s been training since early this morning and she’s clearly tired. Why don’t you let her make it up tomorrow?” He tentatively suggested. “And it’s getting late. You and Takeru-sama are going to visit your grandparent’s grave early in the morning.”

  The 18^th head of the Shiba clan pursed her lips in displeasure but turned to her daughter with a stern look. “Do twenty extra strokes tomorrow. I expect them to be done when I return from visiting your great-grandparents.”

  “Yes mother.” Hiromi said straightened but her tone indicated she was sulking. Kaoru shaked her head and went back inside.  Her husband remained outside with Hiromi and gave her a sympathetic smile.

   “You’ve been improving a lot, and your mother is hard on you because, well, it’s the only way she knows.” He offered her a hopeless smile.

   Hiromi let out a huffed and stormed inside the house, leaving her father to sigh heavily. He wished his wife would understand that their daughter is not her mother. Kaoru’s childhood suffered because of the Gedoshuu and mastering the sealing character. But Hiromi didn’t need to worry about those things so Kaoru had no reason to be harsh on her daughter. Sadly, Kaoru’s upbringing meant she didn’t see any other way to train her daughter other than the way she was brought up. Hopefully Kaoru would see that before she drove Hiromi away to the point of no return.

    The next morning at the crack of dawn, Kaoru and her company arrived at the graveyard, Takeru was there with Hikoma. The two men gave her respectful bows and made their way together to the area reserved for the Shiba clan, Takeru and Kaoru in front while the rest remained at a respectable distance behind them.

  “You seem troubled, mother.” Takeru spoke up when he noticed Kaoru was deep in thought.

  Kaoru let out a small sigh and shake of her head. “It’s nothing. I’m just worried about Hiromi and her future as a Samurai and head of the Shiba Clan. She is not taking it seriously.”

  “I’m sure she will be fine. Chiaki turned out fine despite his loose Samurai training.”

  “I know.” Kaoru managed a small smile at the thought of the Wood Samurai. He was the least trained when they first started being Shinkengers, but in the end, his skills improved leaps and bounds by the time they fought Doukoku. “But Hiromi is not a wood samurai. She is a fire samurai and a Shiba.”

  Takeru quirked an eyebrow at her. “She deserves to have a normal childhood, not one where becoming a Samurai is more important than enjoying life. You and I went through that because defeating Doukoku is the only thing we could think of. But Hiromi doesn’t have to go through that. We defeated the Gedoshuu so that our next generation no longer has to go through that dangerous life.”

  “I know that you are right. But there is a part of me that needs her to be ready to fight. Even with the Gedoshuu gone, there will always be something to threaten Earth, the Zangyack for example. I want her to be ready to face those threats so that she can be safe.”

  “Hm.” Takeru was not entirely happy with her response but said no more about it as they have arrived at Kaoru’s grandparent’s gravestones. Takeru and Kaoru were no longer surprised that like every other year though, the graves and its surroundings were already cleaned and flowers were left in front of the gravestones.

  “Again? Who has been visiting them before us?” Hikoma wondered out loud.

  “I am not particularly disturbed.” Kaoru blinked as the Kuroko handed some incense. “If grandfather and grandmother are visited by people who still respect them, I see no reason to chase them down, especially if they clearly do not wish to show themselves to us.”

  “But for them to do this consistently for thirty years, they must have been very close to your grandparents.” Takeru remarked.

  “I’m just glad that there are still people who care for them.” Kaoru smiled lightly.

  Unbeknown to them, two of the Ryusoulgers were watching them from a distance and after a few minutes, the one in black walked away with the green following closely behind.

  “Senri-san’s granddaughter really takes after her.” Towa remarked once they left the graveyard and walked back to the town.

  “Yes.” Bamba nodded in agreement. “The resemblance is striking. Personality wise, I think she resembles Yojiro more.”

  Towa snorted at that. “All Shiba heads are like that, serious and stoic. By the way, are we never going to show ourselves to them?”

  “It’s for the best. There will be questions we cannot answer without giving away the Ryusoul people’s longevity.”

  Towa hummed in agreement, understanding his brother’s logic. If they had remained watching the Shibas a few minutes longer, they would have realized that they were not the only ones watching the family but with nefarious intent.

  Hiromi huffed as she made her way into the forest to play with her new friend while her mother was visiting her grandparent’s graves. For the past few weeks, she had been slipping out to meet up with her unusual friend, the Kishiryu Chibigaroo.

  How did this start? Well, it all began one day when Hiromi stormed into the forest following a disagreement with her mother and she came upon the young Kishiryu who’s first reaction was to punch her and she retaliated by hitting him with a branch like it was her training sword. Ever since then, their strange friendship was born.

  “Hey hey hey! Hiromi, you’re late!” Chibigaroo complained when she wiggled into the clearing that was their meet up spot.

  “Sorry. I couldn’t get away until mother left.” Hiromi shrugged off her backpack and grinned at the smallest Kishiryu. She swung a branch she picked up along the way at him which he dodged and Chibigaroo retaliated with a punch of its own. Thus their play fights started and ended with them rolling around in glee.

  “This is fun.” Hiromi sighed as she cleaned up in a stream.

  “Yup. But I got to go soon. Dad wants me to meet up with Koh and the others to train next.” Chibigaroo said as he splashed around in the water.

  “Hm, being a Kishiryu has a lot of duties, just like being a Samurai.” Hiromi remarked offhandedly. Staring at the sky in thought, she asked her friend a question that has been on the back of her mind for a while. “Hey Chibigaroo? Is your dad proud of you?”

  “Hm?” Chibigaroo looked at his friend weirdly. “Why are you asking that?”

  “Just curious. You are one of the Kishiryus and you regularly fight alongside the Ryusoulgers. Is your dad proud of your accomplishments?”

  “Yup, he is. He lets me know that all the time. He even praises me after every time we fight the Minosaur.”

  “Lucky you.” Hiromi huffed under her breath. “Mother only sees my faults and shortcomings whenever I train.”

  “Oh.” Chibigaroo lowered his head. But he suddenly tilted his head and dipped it apologetically. “Sorry, I got to head back now. My dad’s calling for me.”

  Realizing the time as well, Hiromi scrambled out of the stream as well. “I need to go too! Mom is going to be mad! I haven’t done my strokes yet!”

  Bidding each other goodbye, the two parted ways with Hiromi running back. She was so dead if her mom already got back and found out that not only did she not do her strokes, she also snuck out to play. Arriving back at the manor, she attempted to get back to her room by climbing the tree beside the manor.

  “You don’t have to worry about your mother catching you sneaking out.”

   Hiromi nearly slipped and clung on the tree trunk tightly. She sighed in relief when she saw it was only her father. Sliding down the trunk, she gave him a pleading look. “I wasn’t doing anything bad, I promise.”

  Her father only chuckled and led her to the veranda, waving at a kuroko to bring some water. “I knew you were sneaking out for some time. So where were you?”

  “I…I was meeting with a friend.” Hiromi ducked her head sheepishly at be caught.

  “A friend.” Her father hummed. “Alright. I won’t say a word of this to your mother. It’s good that you can make friends, as long as they are good people. Anyway, you better to your strokes. Your mother and Takeru-sama were delayed coming back because of a monster attack.”

  “Are they alright?” Hiromi asked worriedly.

  “They are fine. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time when a monster started attacking. And you know them, needing to help civilians. But the Ryusoulgers thankfully appeared and took care of the monster, especially after it grew big.”

  Hiromi nodded and took her wooded sword to start practicing before her mother returned. Now she guessed this was why Chibigaroo needed to leave suddenly. She hoped her friend was alright after the fight and will try to find footage of the monster and mecha fight.

An hour ago

  After paying their respects, Takeru and Kaoru planned to walk around the town for a bit before heading back to the manor. They did not expect to come across one of the Minosaurs rampaging around the park, terrorizing the civilians.

  “Separate…Seperate!” The cupid like minosaur was firing arrows at the terrified people running away. Those that were hit cried out in pain, clutching their chest over their hearts.

  “What’s happening to the people?” Kaoru narrowed her eyes as she and Takeru materialized their Shinkenmarus while the Kuroko, Tanba and Jii evacuated the people. The two Samurais deflected all the arrows directed at them. Then the foot soldiers showed up and the Shiba heads fought them off. They were different from the Nanashi, but equally troublesome and they can’t get close to the monster.

  Takeru’s eyes narrowed when he saw green light float out of a young boy not too far away from them and into the Minosaur. “What…?”

  Just then, the red, pink, and blue Ryusoulgers he’s heard about leapt into the foray. They gave him and his mother questioning looks but thankfully decided the Minosaur was their priority. Some of the foot soldiers broke away to engage with the Ryusoulgers instead, giving him an opening to make their way to the boy who was now pale and panting heavily, and there was a weird green mushroom monster taunting him. For some reason, with each taunt, more green lights floated to the monster who got stronger and the boy grew weaker. There was not a doubt that he needed to get the green mushroom away from the boy and fast.

    “…so lame. Your parents are separating because you can’t keep them together.” The green mushroom taunted. Takeru saw red and didn’t hesitate to slice through the monster with his flaming Shinkenmaru. He did not expect another sword to slice through the green monster, from the blue Ryusoulger at that. He can tell the Ryusoulger was surprised with his actions but turned his attention to the boy as more green lights floated out. This time however, it only made the Minosaur grow bigger.

  “This is bad.” The blue ryusoulger frowned under his helmet as he checked on the boy who was now looking very sick. “Please help him get to safety.” He addressed Takeru. “We need to defeat the Minosaur before he dies.”

  Takeru’s eyes widened at his words but before he could ask further, the blue ryusoulger flicked open a blue key and threw it towards the triceratops mecha, making it combine with the red tyrannosaurus and draw him inside. Takeru quickly scooped up the boy and made his way to Kaoru and the others who have taken shelter in an underground parking lot.

  “What’s wrong with the boy?” Kaoru frowned in concern when Takeru came over with the boy limp in his arms.

  “I am not too sure. But I think whenever he has these…negative emotions, they power up the monster and it is also draining him at the same time. The blue Ryusoulger said that he will die if they do not defeat it soon.” He explained as he carefully handed the boy over to her. “I’m going to watch them. If they cannot handle it, I will go out in the Mougyuu Dai-Oh.”

  Kaoru frowned at him but nodded curtly. “Be careful.” She was not going to stop him, not when the life of the boy was on the line, even if it is inappropriate to fight the current Rangers’ battles. Hopefully the Ryusoulgers will not need him to step in. It would be an insult to them and imply that they are too weak to handle their own battles. But as one of the past sentai teams and samurai, their duty is to protect people, not the pride of other teams.

  Much to Takeru’s relief, his intervention was not needed. Though the Ryusoulger’s mecha struggled to keep up with the Minosaur’s speed at first, once they summoned the green kangaroo/dinosaur/boxer, the fight became one sided in the Ryusoulger’s favor and they managed to destroy it within less than five minutes.

  The Ryusoulgers have indeed earned their place as the 43th sentai team, considering they finished the battle with only half the team present, Takeru thought with a small smile as he made his way back inside and to his mother. Much to his relief, the boy was now looking better with color back on his face. Kaoru gave him a small nod and gave the boy presumably to a couple who were franticly checking over him and apologizing profusely to him for the pain their separation caused. His smile widened as he came up beside his mother.

  “I’m glad for him. Hopefully his parents will reconsider their decision for separation.” He remarked to her who smiled in agreement.

  “I agree.” Sighing, she glanced at her watch and frowned. “I need to go back now and check on Hiromi. I don’t trust her to actually do her training before sneaking out again.”

  “Princess, why haven’t you stopped her from doing it? If it were up to me-Ack!” Tanba complained, only to earn a swat from Kaoru’s fan.

  “That is not something for you to intervene with. I will confront her about this, eventually.”

  Takeru and Jii exchanged looks, wondering Kaoru’s reasons for not disciplining Hiromi when the girl has been sneaking out. Then again, Kaoru has been the most difficult person to understand, even to Takeru.

Chapter Text

  As soon as the Ryusoulgers defeated the newest Minosaur, they made their way back to the Tatsui home with Koh and Asuna chatting and Melto trailing behind them in deep thought.

  “...Tyramigo said that Pachigaroo told him that Chibigaroo made a friend.”

  “Really?” Asuna clapped her hands in delight. “That’s great. Did Tyramigo say who this friend is?”

  “He didn’t know.” Koh shrugged. “Not even Pachigaroo knows apparently. What do you think, Melto?”

  “Huh?” Melto finally looked up and blinked. “What was that?”

  “Mou, what are you thinking about? The battle is already over. Lighten up!” Asuna pouted, shoveling him lightly. But her version of ‘lightly’ made the blue haired Ryusoulger stumble slightly.

  Huffing, Melto straightened himself and gave his friends a serious frown. “I was thinking about the two people who fought the Druiddons before we showed up. One of them even took on Kleon.”

  Koh and Asuna blinked back before remembering the two people with swords at the park. Koh rubbed the back of his head, saying, “Now that you mentioned it…”  He grinned at his friend, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. “Well, it’s good that someone showed up to help. If we see them again, we can thank them. But for now, I don’t think we need to worry about them. They don’t seem to be bad guys anyway.”

  “That’s right!” Asuna copied the gesture on Melto’s free side. “Relax a bit. We’re going to rub it in Towa, Bamba and Calano’s faces for not showing up for the fight.”

  “Speaking of which, where are they?” Koh wondered.

  “Towa and Bamba had personal business. I didn’t get to ask.” Melto sighed, a shiver went down his spine at Bamba’s glare when he tried to ask. “As for Canalo…”

  “He’s probably flirting with a girl again.” The other two finished with cheeky grins and Melto smiled in agreement. At the moment, any questions regarding the two people at the park were pushed aside, but Melto knew he would revisit them soon. His curiosity meant that he would find it difficult to have unanswered questions and it might help to have more non-Ryusoul allies in the long run.

  “Mou, how can I create a deadly Minosaur?” Kleon bemoaned as he wandered around the forest. His last few tries were failures and Wiserue was nowhere to be found.

  “Kleon!”

  The green alien jumped and spun around quickly. “Pricious-sama!”

  Said Druidon commander was not alone. He smirked cruelly at his seemingly human companion. “Meet Krosh, our newest ally.”

  “She is not a Druidon.” Kleon noted nervously.

  “No,” Krosh’s smile was all sharp teeth despite her human appearance. “I am half human…half Gedoshuu. And I have been waiting for sixty for my revenge.” Krosh placed a cold hand on Kleon’s shoulder, making him gulp. “So I hear that you can create Minosaurs with your slime. Good. I have a plan that will benefit me and the Druidons greatly and you are the key player in it.”

  Kleon tilted his head apprehensively. On one hand, working with a new player in the game is dangerous. On the other, it might be a good chance to create a strong Minosaur that will gain Pricious and Wiserue’s respect.

  “I’m listening.”

    “Hiromi!”

  Hiromi flinched as her mother stormed out into the yard with a piece of paper which she knew was her Japanese history test from this morning. Kaoru held up the paper which showed a miserable 70%, a sorry score for a Shiba.

  “I can explain.” Hiromi said weakly.

  “Why is your history test scores so low? Has sneaking out to play worsened your performance?”

  “You know.” Hiromi lowered her head in guilt.

  “Yes.” Kaoru huffed angrily. “I let you get away with it. But clearly it has been affecting your studies. So I’m putting my foot down. No more sneaking out to play. From now on, your focus will be your training and studies to become the next Shiba heir.”

  Hiromi’s lips trembled as her fist tightened around her practice sword. “Will you be happy then?”

  “What?” Kaoru narrowed her eyes at her daughter.

  “Will you be happy if I do work hard to become your successor only?” Hiromi hissed, throwing her practice sword on the ground. “No matter how hard I try, you only see my faults! It doesn’t matter if I try hard or if I slack off. You will never be happy with me anyway!”

  With those words, Hiromi ran out of the house, intending to seek out Chibigaroo.

  “Hiromi!” Kaoru called her back to no avail. Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why is she acting like this?”

  “This is partially your fault.” Her husband stated with a frown as he showed up, having overheard his wife and daughter’s argument. “Have you ever considered Hiromi’s feelings regarding this? What if she doesn’t want to become the heir in the first place?”

  “We are not having this conversation right now.” Kaoru glared at him. She went to pull on her shoes, “I’m going to find her and bring her back.”

  “Kaoru…” Kaoru cut him off by closing the door on him and rushed out to look for her daughter.

   But despite asking around, nobody had any idea of where Hiromi went. Kaoru was getting frustrated with her lack of progress. “Where could she be?” She wondered, coming to a stop at the now empty park.

  Footsteps sounded along the pathway, though there was something wrong. Kaoru tensed, slipping her Shinkenmaru out at the aura she was sensing. It was dark, and it was something she has not sensed in years, not since the Gedoshuu was defeated.

  When the footsteps got close, she raised her sword to block what would have been a fatal blow.

  “As expected of a Shiba. You have fast reflexes.” The half human, half Gedoshuu mocked the 18^th head of the Shiba clan.

    “Who are you?” Kaoru circled her attacker cautiously, reaching for her Shodophone to transform at notice.

  “I have been known for many names, both as a human and as a Gedoshuu. Now, you can call me Krosh.” Krosh smirked as her human form melted away to show her Gedoshuu form. She had purple skin and white knee and elbow guards, long yellow talons and malicious eyes. She held a sword that Kaoru found vaguely familiar but could not recall where she saw it.

   “Whatever you have planned, I will stop you.” Kaoru quickly transformed and launched her attack on Krosh. But the Gedoshuu was strong and skilled…no, it was more than that. Krosh is able to perfectly read Kaoru’s moves.

  “Who are you?” Kaoru wondered when their swords locked.

  “That is a very interesting question. Has your grandfather erased every mention of me from the Shiba records?” Krosh purred and snapped her fingers. The foot soilders that the Ryusoulgers fight against then materialized around them with a monster that strongly resembled a Samurai in armor.

  “Grudge…Grudge!” The Samurai monster slashed everything in its path and the same green light Kaoru saw the other day coming from the boy that made the cupid monster stronger was emerging from Krosh and into the Samurai monster.

  “Go! Find the Shiba Manor and burn it to the ground!” Krosh laughed maniacally.

   “No way we’re going to let you!” Just in time, the Ryusoulgers showed up and fought the foot soldiers and Samurai monster, this time with their Gold. Kaoru took advantage of Krosh’s attention with the Ryusoulgers to contact Tanba.

  “Tanba! Contact Takeru and have him come here with the retainers! There is a Gedoshuu in the park. And find Hiromi!”

  “U-understood, Princess! Stay safe!”

  “Those meddling Ryusoulgers!” Krosh huffed in annoyance and turned back to Kaoru. “Never mind. My Minosaur and the Drunn soldiers will take care of them. Let’s continue.”

  Kaoru went into position and tightened her grip on her sword. “With pleasure. Hah!”

  “Hiromi-sama!” Tanba called as he and several Kuroko searched the forest where Hiromi’s father told them she might be. “Come out please! We need to get you to safety!”

  One of the kurokos then spotted something and waved Tanba over to a small stream where Hiromi was cleaning up with the green kangaroo like mecha.

  “Hiromi-sama! Get away from that beast!” Tanba immediately rushed to her, intending to carry her away from the strange mecha, only to be met with a punch from both Hiromi and the mecha.

  “Chibigaroo is my friend! And I’m not going back!” Hiromi scolded him, planting her hands on her hips. If Chibigaroo was human, he would have copied the gesture.

  Tanba quickly scrambled back up to try to persuade the girl to return with him. “Hiromi-sama, you need to return to the manor with me. It’s not safe. Your friend can come to if you want.”

    “I’m not going back! I’m staying out here with Chibigaroo!”

  Tanba was ready to pull his hair out. Kaoru was not this difficult when she was Hiromi’s age. “This is not the time for a tantrum! We need to go before the Gedoshuu finds you!”

  “Too late.”

Screams echoed out in the forest as something attacked them.

  “I bet you are wondering how I can predict your moves.”

  Kaoru grunted as she parried another blow. No matter what she does, Krosh is able to guess her moves before she uses it and deflect or take advantage of an opening.

“Let me tell you a secret of why I chose to become a Gedoshuu and why I know all your moves. I was supposed to be the 16^th ShinkenRed and Head of the Shiba clan.”

  Kaoru’s eyes widened in disbelief and kicked Krosh away. “You lie!” She hissed.

  “Am I?” Krosh mocked her. She lunged towards Kaoru again and whispered the sealing character into her ear, making Kaoru’s jaw to drop and lower her sword. This gave Krosh and opening and she slashed Kaoru, causing her transformation to dissolve.

  “Believe me now? I trained my entire human life to master that symbol. And I did. But instead…” Krosh’s grip on her sword tightened and she slashed the ground in frustration. “Shiba Yojiro was chosen to be the next ShinkenRed! After I toiled and slaved to master the symbol, I was casted aside like yesterday’s trash! So I vowed that if Yojiro will take away what belongs to me, I will take the sealing character with me when I join the Gedoshuu! They will never be able to seal the Gedoshuu as long as I live!”

  Krosh’s malicious eyes then turned to Kaoru with anger. “But you came along!” She hissed. “You managed to master the sealing character and even passed it on to your successor to seal the Sanzu river forever!” Krosh then lighted up and gave Kaoru a cruel smile. “But it doesn’t matter anymore. I can still get my revenge by destroying the Shiba clan once and for all. It’s a pity Doukoku could not do it, after I gave him a way around the protection spells surrounding the Shiba manor.”

  Kaoru slowly pushed herself up with anger in her eyes. “It was you! You were the reason Doukoku was able to kill my father!”

  “My wrath knows no bounds. I will do whatever it takes to wipe the Shiba Clan and the Samurai off the face of this world, even if it means sacrificing part of my lifeforce for my Minosaur.”

  “That won’t happen! Mera mera soul!”

  Krosh quickly ducked out of the way of the flaming sword and she hissed when she saw who it was. “You two!”

  The Green Ryusoulger whistled as he and Black came to stand in front of Kaoru protectively. “Wow, sixty years and you’re still as ugly as ever.”

  “How are you two still alive?! You should have died in the explosion!” Krosh shrieked in frustration.

  “Yojiro and his team saved us at the last minute.” Black raised his sword threateningly at her. “I warned you that I will stop you if you came after the Shiba family again.”

  “Curse you and the Ryusoulgers!” Krosh screamed as she moved to attack them.

  “Haya Soul!”

  With the power boost of their Ryusouls, Towa and Bamba were able to take Krosh on with their speed and power.

  Kaoru sucked in a deep breath as she pushed herself up, leaning heavily on her sword. These two Ryusoulgers knew Krosh and had some history with her and her grandfather. They were the ones who likely knew if Krosh was telling the truth. But there was a nagging feeling that bothered her. The two sounded young, but from their words with Krosh, it sounded like they knew her grandfather very well when he was the ShinkenRed which should not be likely for their age.

  “Mother!” Takeru called as he showed up beside her, Chiaki and Ryuunosuke behind him. He narrowed his eyes at Krosh and the Minosaur. 

  “Lord, that is…” Ryuunosuke gaped at the half Gedoshuu half human. 

  “That’s Krosh, she’s like Juzo and Dayu. Be careful, she is able to read my every move and likely other Samurais, especially you Takeru.” Kaoru warned them. If Krosh is telling the truth, it would make sense that she was able to read her moves as she was trained similarly to her, and likely Takeru too.

  Takeru did not have time to ponder Kaoru’s words and turned to Chiaki and Ryuunosuke. “Take care of the Minosaur. I’m taking on Krosh.”

“Got it. Can’t let the newbies have all the fun.” Chiaki waved his sword lazily. Ryuunosuke elbowed him but Takeru knew the green samurai was in fact serious. More than 10 years later, Chiaki was still the same. 

  “Let’s go. Shodophone!” Takeru, Chiaki and Ryuunosuke flicked their Shodophones to brush mode and held them up. “Ippitsu Soujou!”

Chapter Text

  “This Minosaur is tough.” Koh winced as he deflected another fatal blow from one of its swords. Canalo inserted the Biri Biri soul into his Mosa Changer and fired electric blasts at it but it was conducting the electricity into the ground by sticking its swords in the ground.

  “We need to get serious. Towa and Bamba can handle the other monster.” Melto warned them, to which they nodded in agreement.

  “Doshin Soul!”

  “Nobi Soul!”

  “Mukimuki Soul!”

   From a good distance away, Melto whipped his extended sword at the Minosaur while Asuna got close and threw a muscled punch, which combined with her natural superstrength, was powerful enough to make it budge a few feet.

  Koh used Doshin Soul’s sonic punches at the Minosaur and to his relief, they were working. Just as Koh was going to deliver the last punch, the Doshin armor suddenly became unstable and broke off. Koh cried out in pain as sparks flew out of the Doshin Soul and electrocuted him.

  “What?!”

  “What happened to the Doshin Armor?” Melto furrowed his brows as Koh yanked out the now glowing Doshin Soul.

  “Something’s agitating Pachygaroo. He’s angry.” Koh frowned.

  “Koh! Look out!” Canalo’s warning barely came in time for Koh to dodge out of the way of the Samurai Minosaur’s sword but only to be met with a kick to the head.

  “Koh!” Melto and Asuna quickly jumped in front of him to shield him.

  “Grudge!” The Minosaur swung its swords around wildly, the green lights floated from the other monster into it. Melto however grew suspicious and surprised when it didn’t grow big. He didn’t have time to pounder it though when two figures leapt overhead.

  “Green and blue?” Asuna blinked in confusion.

  “Who…?”

  Blue pointed his sword at the Minosaur menacingly. “Minosaur! We will stop you! You won’t have your way anymore! Prepare yourself!”

  “Stand back newbies. Let the seniors show you how it’s done, the old fashion way.” The green ranger waved his sword at Koh and his friends.

  “What!?” Asuna seethed as she and Melto helped Koh up. “At least we aren’t wasting our breath yelling threats at the Minosaur like your friend! It can’t think beyond its obsession so your words mean nothing to it!”

  Blue fell over when he learned his threats were in fact ineffective and cried, “No way…!”

  “Oi, look what you’ve done.” Green sighed in exasperation and nudged his companion. “Oi Ryuunosuke! Get up, we still have a job to do.”

“Ah! Right!” Blue scrambled up. The two launched their attacks on the Minosaur, slashing their swords at it, blocking where necessary. To Asuna’s disgruntlement, they were good and were holding their own against it.

  “What’s their problem?” Asuna huffed and jumped back into the foray, leaving Melto to support Koh.

  “You alright?”

  “Yeah.” Koh shook his head to get rid of the dizziness. “Who are those guys…Wait, their swords! And their movements! They’re almost the same as the two people from that day.”

  “Yes, the woman is over there.” Melto said drily and nodded at Kaoru’s position where she was recovering. “And judging from the looks of it, the one in Red is the same person who destroyed Kleon that day.”

  “Not that it lasted long.” Koh winced at the Minosaur who now had its hands full with Asuna, Canalo, and Green and Blue.

  “One of these days we need to find a way to permanently destroy Kleon.” Melto hummed in agreement. “Come on, we should help them.”

   “Right.” Koh straightened and got out the Max Claw. “I’m going to hit it and the monster Bamba and Towa are fighting.”

  “Got it. I’ll make sure everyone’s in position.” Melto nodded, knowing what his friend was asking from him. He rejoined the fight and began giving out instructions.

  “Asuna, Calano! Lure the Minosaur to my position! Bamba, Towa! Keep the monster right where it is and get clear when I tell you to!”

  “Got it!”

  “Looks like they have a plan.” Ryuunosuke muttered to Chiaki.

  “Yeah. Let’s go with it.” Chiaki spun the disk on his sword to get his spear out. He then noticed that the red had some sort of weapon in his hand that created a bulkier armor around him. Chiaki can’t help but let out an impressive whistle. “Would you look at that?”

  Even Ryuunosuke was taken aback by the other red’s armor. “Wait, doesn’t that look like Gaisorg’s armor?”

  Looking closely, Chiaki realized that the armor did indeed resemble the sentient armor they heard was rampaging during the Strongest Battle. “Oi…”

  The Ryusoulgers were oblivious to the Samurai’s sudden trepidation as they worked Koh’s plan. Asuna and Calano’s attacks pushed the Samurai Minosaur to Melto’s position with a barge of slashes from their swords. Over with Bamba and Towa, the older brother figured out their plan and nodded at his brother.

  “Grab Krosh!” The two used their Tsuyou Souls and grabbed one of Krosh’s arms each to hold her in place.

  “What?!”

  Takeru paused in his attack and read the battlefield. His eyes widened under his helmet upon seeing Ryusoul Red’s armor but figured out their plan. He rushed to Kaoru and pulled her away just in time.

  “Everlasting Claw!”

  The devastating attack pierced through the Minosaur, destroying it.

  “Bamba, Towa, now!”

  The two rolled away as Koh’s attack was now headed towards Krosh. But strangely, Krosh didn’t seem bothered by it. In fact, her smirk grew as Koh got closer.

  “What?” Melto narrowed his eyes. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw something else coming their way. “Koh! Look out!”

  Koh didn’t have time to stop his attack and was tackled harshly out of his trajectory, crashing into the ground. He rolled with a groan.

  “Koh!” Bamba and Towa rushed to him and helped him up. But their eyes were now on the second Samurai Minosaur.

  “It revived!?”

  “No, this is a different one.” Melto corrected Asuna. “This one is stronger and more dangerous.” He warned.

  His warning was correct. Fire engulfed its swords and one swing from them created a shockwave that sent everyone flying. It then slashed down Bamba, Towa and Koh before they landed, causing them to cry out in pain and demorphed.

  “Guys!” Asuna and Melto rushed to them.

  “What do you think?” Krosh turned to Kaoru with a mocking smirk. “Your daughter must hate you a lot to create such a powerful Minosaur.”

  “What?!” Kaoru jolted and stared at the Minosaur. It’s posture, the way it fought and the fire coming out of its swords...it’s the same as Hiromi. Her eyes became wide in horror. “No…”

  “Where is Hiromi-hime!?” Ryuunosuke demanded when he and Chiaki regrouped with Takeru.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Krosh laughed menacingly. She swung her flaming sword on the ground. Everyone covered their faces to protect them from the flames. When they looked up, Krosh and the Minosaur were gone.

  “Darn it!” Chiaki punched the ground in frustration.

  “She has Hiromi.” Kaoru said faintly, unable to process that her daughter was a Minosaur’s host and the bomb Krosh dropped on her all at once.

  “Mother.” Takeru gave her a worried look as he helped her up.

  Over with the Ryusoulgers, Melto, Asuna and Canalo dropped their transformations and went to help their friends up.

  “There’s no doubt the Duridrons have teamed up with a new enemy.” Melto said grimly.

  “We know this enemy. We clashed with Krosh 60 years ago.” Towa revealed. This gained surprised looks not only from the Ryusoulgers but also from the Shinkengers.

  “Wait just a minute!” Ryuunosuke called, raising his hands as he approached them. “You don’t even look old enough to be 25. How…?”

  The Ryusoulgers shared looks, debating internally if they should reveal the Ryusoul tribes’ longevity to them. Bamba caught Koh’s eye and gave him a small shake of his head.

  “We are not supposed to reveal the Ryusoul tribe to outsiders.” He reminded their unofficial leader softly.

  “But we already told Ui and her father a lot about us.” Koh reminded him.

   “That’s different.” Bamba grunted.

  “Please.” Kaoru spoke up as Takeru helped her over. “Whatever you can tell us about Krosh, please tell us. I need to save my daughter.” She bowed low to the Ryusoulgers.

  “Hime-!”

  “Bamba.” Koh gave the regal knight a meaningful look when Bamba looked uninclined to help her. “We can track down the Minosaur and Krosh. You and Towa should talk to them.”

  “Nii-san, this is about Yojiro-san and Senri-san’s great granddaughter.” Towa reminded him. That got Bamba to cave. Takeru tilted his head at the mention of one of the previous ShinkenRed’s name.

  “Fine.” Bamba sighed and turned to the Shinkengers. “Let’s go somewhere else to talk.”

  “We can go back to my manor.” Kaoru spoke, relief palpable in her voice.

  “I’ll go with the other Ryusoulgers to track down Hiromi-hime.” Ryuunosuke offered.

  “Please do.” Takeru nodded. The two groups split up, with Ryuunosuke following Koh, Asuna, Melto and Canalo to the city center while the remaining Shinkengers went back to Kaoru’s manor.

  When the Shinkengers and Ryusoulgers arrived at Kaoru’s manor, they were greeted by a battered Tanba and the remaining Shinkengers.

  “Hime!” Tanba rushed to help her despite his own injuries. “You’re hurt! Oi, someone bring the medical kit!”

  “Hikoma-san directed us to find Hiromi-chan when he didn’t hear anything from the group sent to find her.” Mako explained to Takeru her, Kotoha and Genta’s absence from the earlier fight. “We found Tanba-san and the Kuroko badly injured and brought them back.”

  “Thank you.” Kaoru sighed as Takeru and Tanba helped her to sit down on the bench in the sitting room. Her face tightened in worry when she met her husband’s expressionless face. “Dear…”

  “Will you get Hiromi back and make it up to her?” He asked.

 Kaoru lowered her head in guilt. “I need to save her. Whatever problems we have, we can wait until we rescue her to settle.”

  Her husband pursed his lips unhappily and stormed out of the room.

  “Oi! Get back here you cur!”

  “Tanba, not now.” Kaoru tugged on her retainer’s robe to stop him from chasing her husband. She heaved a sigh. “He has every right to be angry with me. I haven’t been a good mother to Hiromi. That is why she was able to form a Minosaur.”

  She turned to the two Ryusoulgers who were silent at the corner of the room. The three Shinkengers who were not part of the earlier battle were staring at them curiously. Kaoru shakily stood up with Takeru’s help and her gaze met Bamba’s.

  “Was Krosh telling the truth that she was part of the Shiba Clan?”

  Her question garnered disbelief from the Shinkengers but when Takeru thought about it, it made sense since Krosh was able to fight his attacks off and why Kaoru was so shaken.

  Bamba exhaled deeply but it was Towa who answered. “Yeah, Krosh was a human but became part Gedou when she got mad that she was not selected to become ShinkenRed.”

  “Wait just a minute.” Chiaki cut him off. “How can we be sure that you are telling the truth?” His distrust was mirrored by the other Shinkengers, Tanba and Jii.

 “Here.” Bamba showed them a talisman which Takeru and Kaoru recognized.

  “That talisman…the Shiba family only gives them to people outside the Samurai clans they can trust.” Kaoru muttered as she lightly fingered the talisman, feeling the protection spell on it that ensured it would be destroyed if it switched hands.

  “So does this mean that they are telling the truth?” Chiaki raised a suspicious eyebrow.

  “I would say that we can trust them for now.” Kaoru sighed. “And I want answers and my daughter back.”

  Bamba nodded and folded his arms as he leaned against the wall. “To start, Krosh was once known as Shiba Kira, master of the sealing character, slayer of demons, scorching flame of the Shiba clan, etc.”

  “Those are some long titles.” Chiaki whistled, making Mako hit him in the shoulder.

  “And she obtained all those titles before she became a Gedoshuu.” Kaoru frowned. “If she was that impressive, why wasn’t she selected to be 16th head?”

  Everyone quieted down as they were curious as to why an impressive member of the Shiba clan was not selected to be a Shinkenger that would cause her to become a half Gedoshuu.

   Bamba looked reluctant to tell but a nudge from Towa made him relent. Sighing, he lowered his head. “Shiba Kira had great potential to be a Shinkenger. However, her achievements made her arrogant towards the people she was supposed to protect. Yojiro’s father detected darkness growing in her so he decided to hand the title down to his son instead. She became mad and decided to destroy the Shiba Clan for denying her birthright.”

  “So she became a Gedoshuu to exact her revenge, even going as far as to expose the Shiba manor’s weakness to Doukoku.” Kaoru said grimly. The room fell silent at her revelation.

  “What...?” Takeru managed to choke out.

  “Hime, she is the one responsible for Masataka-tono’s death?” Tanba asked faintly.

  “She told me that she told Doukoku how to penetrate the manor’s defenses in hope that the Shiba clan would be wiped out. That’s why he was able to attack the manor and kill my father.” She revealed, her fist now clenched tightly. “She took Hiromi and made a Minosaur out of her to spite me for being able to use the sealing character and passed it on to all of you to seal up the Sanzu River.”

  “We will save Hiromi, Mother.” Takeru promised her.

  “Speaking of which, where’s Ryuunosuke?” Genta asked, having noticed that the water samurai was not with them for the first time.

  “He went with the other Ryusoulgers to look for Krosh and Hiromi.”

  “Ah, I just remembered, Hiromi-hime was not the only one taken.” Tanba suddenly said. “She was playing with a green kangaroo-like robot in the forest. The monster that took Hiromi also took the robot.”

  Bamba and Towa straightened at that and recalled what happened to the Doushin armor when Koh and the others were fighting the first Minosaur.

  “Nii-san, do you think that they are talking about Chibigaroo?” Towa whispered to his brother.

 “It’s likely. I’m going to tell Koh about this.”

  “Should we ask them how they know your grandparents?” Takeru asked Kaoru quietly.

  Kaoru bit her lower lip then shook her head. “Not now. I get the feeling they won’t give us an answer if we ask. So far, they seem truthful enough.”

  “Alright.” Takeru gave a small nod. He turned slightly and gestured for the Kuroko to treat Kaoru’s injuries. He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. “We’ll get Hiromi back, I promise.”

  There has been a crease on Kaoru’s forehead since learning that her daughter was kidnapped. At Takeru’s assurance, it lighten slightly but it was not enough to fully calm her. She needed to save her daughter. The Minosaur, just what negative emotion did it take from Hiromi?

Chapter Text

  “So what are we doing up here? We’re supposed to be looking for the monsters that took Hiromi-hime.” Ryuunosuke narrowed his eyes at the Ryusoulgers. The group had gone up to a high building and inwardly rolled their eyes at the Shinkenger who followed them.

  “We are looking for them so keep quiet and let us focus!” Asuna huffed. “Mie Soul!”

  “Kike Soul!” Koh and Melto followed her suit and pulled out their Kike Souls. Melto moved to the opposite side of the roof with Calano, leaving Ryuunosuke with Koh and Asuna.

  Ryuunosuke watched with secret fascination as they inserted their souls into the dinosaur heads on their swords. Asuna’s eyes glowed purple as she scanned the surroundings. Koh and Melto cupped their ears as though concentrating their hearing.

  In all the years he was part of the Super Sentai, he had seen many ways various teams would fight, using different tools at their disposal to fight. The Ryusoulgers’ Ryusoul keys were not the first power ups he encountered but the curiosity and fascination never got old.

  “I think I found them.” Melto called, breaking Asuna and Koh out of their concentration and extracted out their keys before heading over to Melto’s side. Ryuunosuke followed them, eager to know what they learned.

  “I heard Pricious and Kleon in that mountain.” Melto explained, pointing at the mountain towards the south and on the outskirts of the city.

  “Wait, I thought you were looking for Krosh.” Ryuunosuke frowned.

  Asuna opened her mouth to retort but Koh and Calano pulled her away, leaving Melto to explain.

  “Krosh was getting help from the Durridons to create her Minosaur and the second one, or more specifically, from Kleon. He is able to create Minorsaurs by making people swallow his slime. So that means that the two parties are working together. Where the Durridons are, we’ll find Krosh and her hostage.”

  “I see.” Ryuunosuke said thoughtfully. “I should let Tono know.”

  “Wait.” Melto suddenly held up his hand to stop him. He tilted his head and listened closely to what he was hearing from the mountains. He frowned and shook his head at Ryuunosuke. “Before we storm the mountain, it would be wise to scout the place.”

  “You heard something?” Koh asked, having broken away from Asuna who was now chasing Canalo around the roof.

  “Yeah. Krosh’s Minosaur is back. We were barely able to hold our own against it. Now coupled with the second one, we can’t defeat it without backup. And Pricious is expecting us there. He mentioned something about setting up a surprise.”

  “I see. Caution is definitely a must here.” Ryuunosuke said thoughtfully. He then straightened up. “Then let’s go. The sooner we confirm Hiromi-hime’s condition, the better.”

  As the group made their way to the mountain, Ryuunosuke was itching to ask about their keys that gave them power ups. Each was different and had their own power. And there was the Gaisourg like armor. He knew he should be cautious but his curiosity won out. And so far, they haven’t done anything untrustworthy.

  He eyed each Ryusoulger and decided to ask more about the keys from the blue one. He seems intellectual and would probably enjoy an exchange of information if he offered to show his mojikara to him.

  And part of him thinks that the blue Ryusoulger reminds him a lot of a friend of his. Maybe she would be interested in meeting the Ryusoulgers as well.

  Arriving at the mountain, the group cautiously moved through the trees with Melto guiding them. Eventually, they arrived close to a clearing. Druun soldiers were swarming the place and Kleon was in the center. Melto gestured for the group to crouch down so they wouldn't be seen.

  “...Ahaha! I finally created a Minosaur that can destroy the Ryusoulgers!” Kleon threw back his head laughing. He coughed when he laughed too hard and quickly cleared his throat. “Well, what are you waiting for? Get back to work! We can’t let those pesky Ryusoulgers find the hostage. And that other team…” He mumbled the last bit.

  The group hiding narrowed their eyes. Koh made hand signals to follow the Druun soldiers. The group silently followed Kleon and his footsoldiers to the quarry. Ryuunosuke tensed when he spotted Hiromi unconscious in a cage in the center of the place and was about to jump up. Asuna and Canalo, who were next to him, immediately pulled him back down, the former slapping a hand on his mouth.

  “I’m not Melto, but even I know something’s wrong. So keep quiet!” She hissed into his ear. Ryuunosuke quickly nodded and the two Ryusoulgers released him. As soon as he was free, Ryuunosuke scrambled away from the pink Ryusoulger. He felt her ridiculous strength when she pulled him down and was not eager to be on the receiving end of it again.

  “The Druun soldiers are keeping their distance from the cage.” Calano frowned.

  “And Pricious and Krosh are over there.” Koh pointed at the two monsters lingering not too far from the cage but also keeping their distance.

  “And the Minosaur.” Asuna pointed at the Samurai Minosaur that was moving too close to the cage and was quickly pulled back by Kleon.

  “There’s something suspicious about the way they are not getting too close to the cage.” Calano tried to scan the area for any possible explanation.

 “Wait…” Koh looked around nervously. “Where’s the other Minosaur?”

  Everyone tensed and looked around with visible ‘oh shoot’ faces. Sure enough, the second Samurai Minosaur was standing behind them, swords flaming, indicating it was Hiromi’s Minosaur.

  “Proud!”

  The Minosaur swung its sword, sending a wave of fire at the group.

  “Ippitsu Soujou!”

  “Ryusoul Change!”

  The group transformed in time as the attack hit them, sending them falling into the quarry.

  “If it isn’t the meddling Ryusoulgers and the samurai?” Pricious sneered.

  “Pricious! Let the girl go!” Koh growled.

  “No can do. You see, she is not my hostage, but hers.” Pricious bowed mockingly at Krosh who stepped up.

  The half Gedou smirked. “You can take her, if you can get to the cage. But you might find a nasty surprise if you step on something you shouldn’t.”

   “What-!?” Ryuunosuke’s exclamation was cut off when he was forced to roll over to avoid the Minosaur’s swords. Just like that, chaos broke out.

  Melto and Asuna fought the Drunn soldiers while trying to get to the cage. Canalo summoned the Cosmo Armor to fight Krosh’s Minosaur. That left Ryuunosuke to fight the other. And Koh decided to try fighting Krosh and Pricious with a new weapon.

  “Ryusoul Calibur!”

  Pricious didn’t bother to move as Koh closed on them. Instead, Krosh unsheathed her sword and parried Koh’s blows. Even with the Ryusoul Calibur’s power boost, Koh found his arms shaking from the power behind Krosh’s swift yet heavy blows.

  “Nobi Soul!”

  “Tsuyou Soul!”

   Melto and Asuna used the boost provided by the Ryusouls to finish up the last of the Drunn soldiers.

  “Ah!” Kleon ducked aside before taunting them. “See if you can get to the girl without getting blown up!”

  Melto only had a second to process Kleon’s words before yanking Asuna back. But not before the tip of her boot touched something buried in the ground.

  Koh could only watch in horror as the ground exploded, throwing Melto and Asuna out of transformation and hitting the ground hard with multiple injuries. But his distraction cost him. Krosh slashed down her sword at him. He managed to leap aside to avoid it but it grazed his arm, tearing through his suit and cutting the flesh.

  “Ah!” He cried out in pain, clutching his arm in pain. He barely managed to stumble away from Krosh and back to his friends.

  “Koh! Melto! Asuna!” Calano gasped. They weren’t going to beat the Druidons and save the girl like this. He and the samurai won’t be able to defeat the Minosaurs and take on Krosh and Pricious on their own. They needed to retreat and get reinforcements. “We need to retreat!”

  “But-!”

  “Calano!”

  Canalo jerked his head to the cage where the shrunken Chibigaroo grew back in size and waved its hands frantically. “Go! I’ll keep Hiromi safe!”

  “Understood.” Calano nodded. Ryuunosuke initially was reluctant to leave without rescuing Hiromi. But the Minosaur had him pinned down and slashed at him with flaming swords, breaking his suit apart.

  “Don’t worry, Chibigaroo can protect her.” Koh spoke through gritted teeth as he clutched his injured arm. “We need to get out of here and get help.”

  Ryuunosuke punched the ground in frustration but knew Koh was right. “Fine.”

  He flipped his Shodophone to brush mode and drew the character for smoke. In the cover of the smokescreen, they escaped.

  “They’ve run away!” Kleon threw his head back to laugh.

  “But they will be back tomorrow.” Krosh huffed as her Gedou form melted back to her human form. She glared at the cage where Chibigaroo had shrunk back down and was glaring at her. Hiromi was now awake, having feigned unconsciousness and trembling. She smirked and raised her voice. “Shiba Kaoru must be disappointed to have a daughter like you. She can’t even come herself to save you!”

  As expected, green lights came out of the girl’s body and went to the Minosaur.

  Chibigaroo became alarmed with how weak and pale Hiromi was. He hopped onto her lap and waved his arms urgently. “That’s not true! Hiromi, don’t listen to her! Koh and the others got badly hurt trying to save you. I’m sure your mother got hurt as well fighting Krosh which is why she couldn’t come!”

  “You sure?” Hiromi asked in a small voice.

  “Yes.” Chibigaroo said with utter conviction. “Koh is strong. He even had the Ryusoul Calibur. Yet Krosh hurt him. You mother might be strong, but with how crazy that monster is, she would have a hard time too.”

  Hiromi felt marginally better with Chibigaroo’s assurance. Immediately, she felt some of her strength returning to her.

  Krosh watched the cage with a dark scowl. How could Pricious make such a big mistake and take that green kangaroo!? No thanks to it, Hiromi’s Minosaur became weaker and the girl regained some of her strength! If they didn’t plant the mines all around the cage, she would destroy the kangaroo already!

  She let out a huff. No matter, she will try again tomorrow when the cavalry will no doubt come to rescue her.

  But this time, she is not letting anyone leave the mountain alive.

   Back at Kaoru’s manor, none of the samurai and knights were aware of what was going on with the search team.

  Most of them have moved outside while waiting for any news. Bamba secretly was getting concerned with the lack of contact, especially when his attempts to call Koh were unanswered.

    “Niisan, the Shinkengers are getting antsy with our presence.” Towa whispered to him.

  Bamba exhaled softly. “It’s to be expected. We aren’t giving them the answers they want.” Namely how did they know one of the previous ShinkenRed and their connection to them. But he stood by what he said, outsiders are not supposed to know the secrets of the Ryusoul tribes. He made that mistake with Shiba Kira who used it to her advantage and put Towa in harm’s way. There is no way he can reveal it to the new generation of Shinkengers, even if they saved the world once.

  Eventually, the red samurai was the one brave enough to approach them. “Thank you for saving my mother just now.”

  Bamba and Towa couldn’t completely keep the surprise off their faces. “Kaoru is your mother!?” Towa blurted out.

  “By adoption.” Takeru narrowed his eyes slightly at the way Towa addressed his mother.

  Bamba noticed this and shifted Towa behind him protectively, to the green knight’s disgruntlement. “I see.” He folded his arms and leaned back against the wall. “What do you want?”

  “How did you know the previous generation of Shinkengers?”

  “None of your business.” Bamba automatically brushed him off.

  “Niisan.” Towa sighed in exasperation. Takeru barely reacted outwardly to Bamba’s words other than a slight twitch of his fingers.

  The others who were watching from the side, gaped at the rude way Bamba addressed Takeru.

  Towa’s eyes darted between Takeru and his brother. He felt that his brother’s reluctance to tell them the truth was a sign of over caution on his part. Yes, they made a mistake with Shiba Kira. But he instinctively knew they could trust them, especially Senri’s granddaughter who deserved answers.

  So he darted around his brother despite the elder’s protest. “Towa-!”

  “The Ryusoul people are not humans. We have existed since the age of the dinosaurs and have longer lifespans than humans.” Towa spoke. Takeru and the Shinkengers gaped at his words.

  “Not human?” Chiaki finally managed to say. “But you are…”

  “Nearly 200 years old.” Towa shrugged. He glanced back at his brother who looked conflicted. “Niisan is 230-ish years old. Koh and the others are just over 200. Not sure about Canalo but I think he’s close to Niisan’s age.”

  “That...explains some things.” Kaoru muttered, eyeing them.

  “But if there are people who can live that long, why haven’t we heard about them?” Kotoha questioned, curiosity and confusion evident on her face.

  “Our people isolated themselves in the mountains, with a few exceptions of those choosing to leave and live in the outside world.” Bamba grunted.

  “It was how we met Yojiro-san, Senri-san and the Shinkengers then.” Towa grinned slightly. Bamba scowled at him but he merely rolled his eyes. “Niisan, I know you don’t want to repeat what happened with Shiba Kira, but it was being honest with the Shinkengers that Yojiro-san trusted us and saved us.”

  Bamba’s scowl only deepened, knowing his brother was right. But Kaoru got up from the veranda, and bowed slightly at them. “Thank you for telling us this. I cannot imagine that it is easy for you. But I have one more question. Can you tell me about Krosh’s sword?”

  Towa and Bamba froze at the mention of Krosh’s sword. Towa looked at his brother with a slightly frightened look. Bamba saw this and knew his brother was remembering the horrible moment when Shiba Kira became Krosh, thanks to that sword.

  “That…”

  The melody from their Ryusoul Changers could not have come at a better moment. They quickly brought it up to answer them and avoided answering Kaoru’s question.

  “Bamba, do you have the Kagayaki soul?” Came Canalo’s urgent voice.

  Bamba immediately straightened at that and looked at Towa who instinctively went for his pocket and pulled out said soul.

  “Towa has it.”

  “Bring it back to the Tatsui house! Koh and the others are hurt!”

   “Understood.” Bamba gave his brother a curt nod. “Go on ahead. I’ll catch up.”

  “Right. Ryusoul Change! Haya soul!”

  Before the Shinkengers could blink, Towa was transformed and dashing out of the yard.

  “What happened with Ryuunosuke and the others?” Takeru narrowed his eyes.

 “I don’t know. But if they need the Kagayaki Soul’s healing powers, it’s bad.” Bamba said grimly.  

Chapter Text

“Guys!” Towa cried as he bursted into the Tatsui basement. Ryuunosuke was being treated by Ui. Canalo was bandaging Koh’s arm with Tyramigo fretting over his partner. Oto was tending to Melto and Asuna, biting her lip as she pressed wet cloths on their unconscious faces that were covered in bruises and cuts. Pii-tan was observing them from a high shelf, waving its wings agitatedly.

 Towa didn’t waste any time and yanked out the Haya soul, replacing it with the Kagayaki soul. “Kagayaki soul!”

  He directed the healing light onto Asuna and Melto to heal their injuries first since they were the worst off. He turned to Ryuunosuke but hesitated, for a good reason. They never used Kagayaki Soul’s powers on anyone not from the Ryusoul tribes before. There was no telling what effect it can have on humans.

  “I’m fine, help him.” Ryuunosuke thankfully waved it off and gestured at Koh. Towa nodded and directed the soul’s light at Koh’s arm.

  Koh gritted his teeth in pain as Kagayaki Soul’s powers stitched the cut shut. Canalo narrowed his eyes at how slow the process was. “That’s strange.”

  Towa frowned as well. Eventually, he had to stop as his energy was snapped. But the cut was only half way healed.

  “Towa! Koh!” Bamba then came back with the rest of the Shinkengers.

  “Ryuunosuke.” Takeru was immediately in front of the water samurai who refused to meet his eyes. Ui squeaked in surprise at the sudden appearance of more people in her home.

  “Please excuse us.” Mako bowed at the girl. She then turned to Ryuunosuke. “Are you alright?”

 “Please forgive me, tono, hime.” Ryuunosuke lowered his head in shame. “We managed to locate Hiromi-hime. But we were forced to retreat as we were outnumbered.”

  “As long as you found her and all of you came back alive, it’s fine.” Kaoru quickly spoke. “How was she? Is she hurt?”

  “She seems to be fine. She had some green kangaroo joey mecha with her.” Ryuunosuke said, sounding a little baffled.

  “That was Chibigaroo! Tyra!” Tyramigo cried as he lumbered over, startling the group. “Pai-sem said that Chibigaroo had a human friend. He is very mad that his son was taken by the Durruidons, tyra!”

  “What…?”

  “This is Tyramigo, Koh’s Kishiryuu partner. He is talking about another Kishiryuu, Pachygaroo and his son, Chibigaroo.” Ui explained. She glanced back at the Ryusoulgers with a concerned look. Bamba had taken the Kagayaki soul from Towa and took over healing Koh.

  Seeing that her friend was in good hands, she can play hostess. She clapped her hands together with a nervous smile at her guest. “Can I get you all anything to drink? Water? Tea?”

  “We’re fine, thank you.” Mako smiled at the girl who had to suddenly contend with her guest. 

  “Ui, we need more bandages!” Towa suddenly called.

  Ui jumped but grabbed the medical kit and rushed over to the Ryusoulger’s group. Thankfully the problem didn’t seem too bad. They just needed to treat a small cut Canalo gotten which neither Bamba nor Towa had the energy to treat with Kagayaki soul after exerting it on the childhood trio’s injuries. Takeru took out his Shodophone and drew a healing character to mend Ryuunosuke’s injuries.

  “Thank you, tono.” Ryuunosuke rebuttoned his shirt once the bruises were gone.

  Koh grimaced as he twisted his arm to have a look at the scar left behind by Krosh’s sword. Though healed, the cut left an ugly, visible scar. “Krosh was powerful. No one can take on her alone. Even with the Ryusoul Calibur, she has a lot of power.” He said, his hands still shaking from blocking her blows.

  Kaoru too realized that her hands were still shaking from her short duel with Krosh. She clenched them tightly. “No one can take on her alone.” Her eyes shone from the tears she was trying to hold back. She took a deep breath and bowed. “Excuse me for a moment.”

  No one stopped her when she ran out. Takeru watched her go with concerned eyes then exhaled deeply. 

  “We need a plan. We cannot charge recklessly if we want to save Hiromi. Ryuunosuke, what is the situation you encountered?”

  Ryuunosuke inclined his head sharply and recited the situation in detail. “The Ryusoulgers managed to track the Durridons and Krosh to the mountains. They are holding Hiromi…and Chibigaroo in a cage that is surrounded by mines.” He glanced at Asuna and Melto as he said that. The Shinkengers didn’t need to guess how they got their injuries anymore.

  “Krosh revived her Minosaur thanks to the green mushroom alien. So all in all, we have hundreds of foot soldiers, two Minosaurs, the Durridons and Krosh to contend with. Even with our full team, it won’t be enough.” Ryuunosuke said grimly.

  Takeru caught on to what his friend was implying. From the looks of the other samurai’s faces, they too knew.

  “Wait, you can’t be serious.” Chiaki wrinkled his nose.

  “We saw how they fought earlier. They’re not bad with the sword. It doesn’t hurt that they have various power ups that can be handy in battle too.” Ryuunosuke shrugged.

     “But still, can we trust them? One of them had a power up that resembles the Gaisorg Armor.” Chiaki crossed his arms.

  “We could ask them. It might be unrelated, for all we know.” Kotoha pointed out. 

  “Still…”

  “Chiaki,” Genta slung an arm around his friend. “There’s no harm in asking the dino team for help. You know Ryuunosuke would not easily admit that we are outmatched.”

  “I resent that.” Ryuunosuke scowled. But they also knew that Genta was right. 

  “They also know more about the Durridons than we do.” Mako added. “And this is for Kaoru-sama and Hiromi-chan.”

  Chiaki’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Fine.”

  With his team on the same page, Takeru approached Koh. The Red Ryusoulger looked at him curiously while his friend watched him cautiously.

  “We need you and your team’s help to save my sister.” 

  “Sister? Did the Durriodons take another person?” Koh narrowed his eyes in confusion.

  “Um, Takeru is talking about the girl who was taken earlier.” Mako decided to answer on Takeru’s behalf.

  Koh blinked, looking more lost and opened his mouth to ask but Towa cut him off.

  “Koh, don’t ask. You’ll only get more confused.” 

  Koh pouted at him but relented. He then flashed a bright smile at Takeru who was thrown off a little by it. “Sure. We’ll help you rescue the girl. We were planning to anyway.”

  “Thank you.” Takeru said gratefully. He extended his hand to Koh who tried to take it, only for him to wince and draw back his arm as pain flared at the spot Krosh cut him.

  “Koh?” Towa immediately straightened.

 “Is your arm alright?” Oto fretted.

  “Just a sting. If we use the Kagayaki soul again, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Koh forced a smile.

  “It will take more than that to mend that wound.”

  Everyone turned to Ui’s father…no, Seth who said that.

  “Who…?”

  “That’s my father. But right now, it’s the ghost who’s possessing him who’s speaking.” Ui whispered.

  The Shinkengers…decided they’ve seen too many things to be surprised by this, non barring the revelation of the Ryusoulger’s longevity.

  Seth pointed his cane at the scar. “That scar…was the one who inflicted it a wraith of the undead?”

  The Shinkengers immediately straightened at what Seth said. “You mean the Gedoushuu?” Takeru narrowed his eyes.

  “I believe that is what the samurai clans called them.” Seth nodded. He narrowed his eyes on the scar. “Only the Sword of Wrath, a sword forged from the powers of the Sanzu River, can inflict a cut like that. Long ago, the samurai came across the sword and gave it to the Ryusoul tribe for safekeeping. For in the wrong hands, it can bring destruction and despair.”

  “The samurai and Ryusoul tribes know each other?” Takeru said in surprise.

  “Yes, but as time passed, the samurai forgot the Ryusoul tribe and the Ryusoul people reaffirmed their isolative lifestyle from the outside world. Thus, this connection was broken…until sixty years ago.”

  “When Towa and Bamba encountered the Shinkengers of that time.” Mako glanced at said knights…only to find the green knight only.

  “Nii-san left a while ago while you guys were talking.” Towa supplied.

  “Back to the point, what exactly is the Sword of Wrath?” Ryuunosuke frowned.

  Seth merely looked at Towa to answer it. The Knight of Haste swallowed heavily, lowering his head. Koh immediately picked up that there was something bothering the young knight regarding the sword. And the Shinkengers remembered the brothers’ response when Kaoru asked them about the sword. 

  Towa clenched and unclenched his fist, taking deep breaths to steady himself. He jumped when Koh placed an assuring hand on his shoulder.

  “You ok?”

  Towa swallowed heavily and nodded. He focused on the grounding sensation Koh’s presence brought and breathed in deeply. 

   “That sword…it can turn humans into Gedoushuu without needing to go down to the Sanzu River.”

 Outside of the Tatsui house, Kaoru stood in the yard, staring at the setting sun over the city. But she didn’t have the heart to admire the beautiful scene before her. There was only the feeling of exhaustion and heaviness inside.

  She nearly didn’t notice the black knight’s appearance beside her, given how silent he was. But he didn’t say anything nor did he try to get her attention. It was as though he was standing guard for her to lower her guard, even momentarily.

  Kaoru…appreciated it, she found. Bamba’s calm was grounding. She practiced taking deep breaths and letting it out.

  “Krosh can be overwhelmingly powerful. But that is only because of her psychological attacks and her sword.”

  Kaoru tilted her head back at the black knight. She knew about the first one but the second… 

  “Her sword?”

  “The Sword of Wrath. It is a Gedoushuu weapon that transforms humans into half Gedou, half Ayakashi, albeit more powerful than a normal fallen human. But if you can destroy the sword or get it away from her, she will lose her Gedou side and be forced back to her human form.”

  “I see.” A hand went to her chin as Kaoru went into deep thought. “I knew I had seen the sword before. It was recorded that the first generation of Shinkengers found a sword of that power and hid it to prevent its power from being used. But, that does not explain why you know about it. Or how Krosh got her hands on it.”

  “The first generation of Shinkengers gave it to the Ryusoul tribe for safekeeping. It is a closely guarded secret only known to the village elder and the Ryusoulgers who passed it down from master to student.” Bamba glanced back at the house before continuing. “Koh, Asuna and Melto’s masters died not long after passing the mantle to them. So I don’t think they managed to tell them about it. Canalo is from the Sea Ryusoul Tribe so he doesn’t know.”

  “But your master told you?” Kaoru figured.

  “Yes.” A shadow crossed Bamba’s features and he turned away so that he didn’t have to face her. “And I wished he never did.”

  “Why?”

  Bamba sighed heavily and turned back to Kaoru, guilt etched on his face. “Because I am the reason Shiba Kira managed to obtain the Sword of Wrath.”

Chapter Text

 “...What?” Kaoru said faintly. “What do you mean?”

 Bamba turned away, unable to meet Kaoru’s eyes. He sighed deeply and continued, “Sixty years ago, Yojiro was just selected to be ShinkenRed over Shiba Kira. So she left and began searching for the Sword of Wrath. Towa and I first came across her fighting the Gedoushuu and she told us the Gedoushuu were looking for the sword and she needed to retrieve it before they did.”

  “And you believed her?”

  “Not at first. But she kept following us, begging for us to reveal the location of the sword while fighting the Gedoushuu. In the end, I gave in and agreed to bring her to the sword.” 

  “And she turned into Krosh once she got her hands on it and attacked you and your brother.” Kaoru finished quietly.

  “Yes.” Bamba stared at the setting sun, lost in the memories of what happened. “Krosh left us for dead. But Yojiro and his team found us and rescued us. Turns out, Yojiro was suspicious of Shiba Kira’s sudden disappearance and was tracking her down.” The Knight of Glory paused and turned back to her. 

  “Yojiro’s team didn’t trust us because we let Kira get her hands on the Sword of Wrath. And I didn’t want to trust the samurai after Krosh. We nearly came to blows but Towa stopped us by blurting out the truth, that we were from the Ryusoul tribe and Krosh tricked us.” Bamba said this with fond exasperation. Despite herself, Kaoru found herself smiling at the thought of a sullen knight and the Shinkengers standing off only for a teen to jump in between to stop them. And she can understand Towa’s intentions. He was the one who offered them the truth about their past connections with her grandfather’s team to get them to trust the Ryusoulgers.

  “Sounds like your brother has a big heart and the courage to trust others again.” She remarked softly. 

  “Too much sometimes.” Bamba grumbled. He cleared his throat before speaking again. “After Towa managed to convince the Shinkengers to trust us, Yojiro allowed us to stay in the Shiba manor to recover while his team tracked down Krosh. We met Senri there.” He had a tiny wistful smile. “She was the nicest person I have encountered outside my village. She was genuinely kind and a good listener.”

  “I wish I could have met her.” Kaoru said softly.

  “You take after her looks. And Yojiro’s strictness.” Bamba supplied. 

  Kaoru smiled slightly. “What happened after that?” She asked. 

  “Yojiro and his team managed to track down Krosh but were beaten to near death by her.” Bamba’s face fell. “Towa and I felt guilty for letting Krosh get the sword in the first place and decided to fix our mistake. So we snuck out of the manor one night and went after her to take the sword away and seal it back up.”

  Kaoru could tell where this was going. “You didn’t manage to succeed.”

  “No. In hindsight, it was foolish to go after her like that. Towa and I managed to wound her grievously but she got the drop on us when she blew up the warehouse she was hiding at.”

  Bamba rubbed his wrist uncomfortably at the memory. “However long our lifespans are, it doesn’t make us immortal. We nearly died had Yojiro not figured it out and came after us.”

  The knight of glory bowed at Kaoru, startling her a little. “I’m sorry. It’s our fault your daughter was kidnapped. We didn’t think to go after her again after we recovered and parted ways from the Shinkengers.”

  Kaoru closed her eyes and took a shuddered breath. “It’s not your fault. Hiromi was outside because I drove her away.” Her fist clenched tightly as she remembered her fight with her daughter. “I was too strict with her and was not considerate of what she wanted. That’s why she ran out and the Durriodons were able to kidnap her.”

   Bamba looked at her carefully and said. “We better get back inside. Knowing Melto, he’s probably going to come up with a plan now.”

  Either Bamba was the worst at pep talk or knew that she did not want comfort, Kaoru appreciated that he was trying to tell her the Ryusoulgers were going to help her.

  When they got back inside, Ui had printed out a map of the mountain for Melto and he and Ryuunosuke were pouring over it. Koh had his shirt off and Takeru had his Shodophone out.

  “What is he doing?” Kaoru asked Mako.

  “Kaoru-sama.” Mako nodded at her. “We found that the wound was caused by the sword from the Sanzu River. So Takeru is going to try to use Mojikara to heal Koh’s arm.”

  Bamba nodded in understanding. “And everyone else?”

  “Your friends went out to buy food. Chiaki, Genta and Kotoha went with them.” Mako said, a little put out that no one wanted to let her try to cook. But Chiaki and Genta had loudly announced they were going to buy food back since Ui can’t cook for so many people on short notice and Genta didn’t have his cart.

  Takeru raised his Shodophone and drew the character for ‘heal’ and flipped it at Koh’s arm. The scar glowed black for a moment and Koh gritted his teeth from the pain. Bamba tensed and was prepared to get the Kagayaki soul out. Even Melto paused in what he was doing to shoot his friend a worried look. 

  But eventually, Takeru’s mojikara won out and the black aura was forced out and the scar disappeared. 

  Koh let out a breath of relief and gave them a thumbs up. Bamba relaxed miniscully and pocketed the Kagayaki soul. 

  Melto sighed in relief and went back to the map. Ryuunosuke eyed him from the corner of his eyes and smiled. No matter how many years passed, all the sentai teams have one important thing in common, they cared strongly for their teammates. 

  “Maybe we should make a list of what your Mojikara and our Ryusoul keys can do to make a plan that can use everyone’s skillset to the fullest.” Melto suddenly suggested.

   That was not a bad idea, Ryuunosuke admitted. The systematic way Melto operated meshed nicely against his own. And it helped that Melto had a good memory. He managed to pinpoint the exact location of Hiromi’s cage and the zone where the mines were based on the Durroidon’s positions. 

  “Tono, Hime.” Ryuunosuke straightened when the two Shibas approached him.

  “How is it going?” Takeru asked as they peered at the map. He was surprised it was so detailed. 

  Ryuunosuke jerked his thumb at the wise knight who was now fussing Koh. “Thanks to Melto, we managed to establish where the mines are. We’re going to compare our Mojikara and their Ryusoul Keys to come up with a plan.”

  “I assume you already have one in mind?”

  “Yes, Hime.” Ryuunosuke nodded sharply. “We still need to work on the finer details. My outline will need the Ryusoulger’s Ryusoul Keys to fill in some of the gaps, considering their powers.”

  “We’ll leave it to you then.” Kaoru nodded.

  “We’re back!” Asuna sang as she and the rest of the Ryusoulgers and Shinkengers returned with food. Once she saw that her childhood friend was up, she bounded over to smack his shoulder. “You idiot! You worried us so much!”

  Koh winced from the force of her blow and pouted at her. “You were knocked out the whole time! We were worried for you and Melto more!”

  Asuna rolled her eyes and handed him and Melto a bento each, keeping three for herself. “Let’s eat!”

  “Ah…what about them?” Koh gestured awkwardly at Towa and Chiaki who were locked in a glaring contest, a pudding cup being the reason for their rivalry. But Chiaki was trying to keep the pudding cup and stop Calano from flirting with Kotoha and Mako at the same time. Oto was silently cheering her brother, unaware that Kotoha and Mako were looking uncomfortable or disinterested.

  “Hm?” Asuna looked up and scowled at Canalo. She set aside her bento and stomped up to him. “Oi, Canalo!” She grabbed the sea prince by his ear and twisted it so hard that he was forced to his knees from the pain.

  “Asuna! Mercy!”

  But Asuna was not feeling generous since she had to stop eating her meal to deal with the womanizing sea prince. She started to drag Canalo out by the ear. “Why can’t you just give it a break for one day-!?” Whatever she was going to say next got cut off as the door slammed close behind her.

  The Shinkengers were too stunned to respond to Asuna’s show of strength. Towa took advantage of the distraction to steal the pudding cup from Chiaki.

  “...I’m 85% certain Asuna has super strength.” Ryuunosuke shuddered, cowering in fear behind Takeru.

  Koh and Melto shared sheepish looks and quietly resumed eating without commenting.

  Kaoru shared wary looks with her son and was about to accept a bento from Kotoha when she caught sight of Bamba staring at the door where Asuna had dragged Canalo through. He caught her staring and quickly looked away, but not before the Shiba samurai saw his cheeks turn dark red. 

  Hm, intriguing, Kaoru mused, her lips twitching upwards. Mako seemed to have caught this too and they shared a secretive smile.

  Later after dinner, Melto and Ryuunosuke were scanning through the lists they produced on Mojikara and the Ryusoul keys. Eventually they looked up and shared nods.

  “This will work. We can save Hiromi-hime with our powers combined.”

  “I agree. We’ll brief everyone on the plan tomorrow.”

  Ryuunosuke stretched his arms overhead and glanced around the room. Takeru and the others already went back to Kaoru’s manor for the night. Ui had offered to let him stay if he wanted to continue planning with Melto and he declined. 

  In the end, he decided to head back to Kaoru’s manor and brief everyone on the plan in the morning. Melto will do the same for the Ryusoulgers and they will gather at the mountain at 8 in the morning.

  Before he left the Tatsui house, Melto stopped him to give him some last advice. “Talk to the girl’s mother.”

  “What?”

  “Even with our plan, it’ll be difficult to fight two Minosaurs, powerful ones at that. What we can do is weaken the girl’s one.”

  Ryuunosuke straightened at that. “How do we do that?”

  “Ask the girl’s mother to find out what negative emotion Kleon used to create the Minosaur. If she can coax the girl to resolve the negative emotion, the Minosaur will lose power.” Melto explained.

  Ryuunosuke narrowed his eyes and nodded sharply. “I understand. I will convey this to hime.”

  Hiromi stared at the moon from the cage. Chibigaroo hopped next to her and stared out of the cage. “Hiromi, don’t worry. Koh and the others will come.”

  “I know.” Hiromi sighed, resting her head on her knees. “But, I wonder if kaasan is worried. I haven’t been the daughter she wanted. Would she want me back?”

  “What are you talking about?” Chibigaroo waved its fist and hopped onto her knees. “Your kaachan and touchan will always want you! If they don’t, I’ll punch them like crazy!”

  “Aw, thanks.” Hiromi giggled. She leaned back and took a deep breath to calm herself. “I’m just…scared. No matter how hard I work, kaasan is never happy with my effort. Maybe I’m letting that Gedoushuu get to my head, but kaasan…I love her, and I know she loves me. She had a hard childhood and does not know how to express her love. But sometimes, I just wish she would tell me that everything I do is enough for her love.”

  Chibigaroo listened to his friend and clapped his fist together in realization. “You want your kaachan to be proud of you.”

  Hiromi gave her friend a small nod. “Yeah. Just once, I want her to say that to me. But, I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again.”

  “Don’t say things like that. Have I told you that touchan and I were separated for millions of years before?”

  Hiromi perked up and shook her head, “No. I don’t think so.”

  “Ok, so about a few millions and millions of years ago, touchan and the Kishiryuus helped the Ryusoul Tribe drive the Durroidons off Earth, they were sealed away. I was just born at that time. When touchan was sealed, we went to sleep. But I don’t know what happened after that, touchan thought it was an earthquake, and I fell out of touchan’s pouch and dropped many meters underground.”

  “Then the tectonic plates shifting brought you elsewhere from where your father was originally sealed.” Hiromi hypothesized, recalling her lessons on the earth plates.

  “Eh, don’t know about that. But the next thing I knew, when I woke up, I was lost.” Chibigaroo lowered his head sadly. “I wandered around underground for many years, don’t know how long, until Koh found me and helped me reunite with touchan. So Hiromi, if I can find touchan again after millions of years, your kaachan will find you for sure!”

  “Thanks, Chibigaroo.” Hiromi smiled, feeling hope blossoming in her. She picked up her friend and wrapped him in her jacket. 

  “I’m not a toy for you to cuddle!” Chibigaroo protested the action, trying to squirm out of her jacket.

  “I’m cold. Help me keep warm.” 

  “Grr…fine.” Chibigaroo conceded reluctantly. Hiromi giggled at her friend’s fate and settled herself against the bars of the cage. It was uncomfortable, but she didn’t want to sleep on the cold, hard ground. 

  She wasn’t afraid of the Gedoushuu or Durroidons hurting her. They needed her alive for their Minosaur and there’s the mine field surrounding the cage. The worst they can do is use their words to hurt her. But Chibigaroo will always help cheer her up, rendering their insults ineffective.

Chapter Text

  The next morning at precisely 8, the two teams had gathered at the mountain. Their blues had informed them on the plan and they were prepared. Each group had their Shinkenmaru and Ryuusoul Swords out. But strangely, Kaoru was not with them.  

  “Let’s go.” Takeru shared a nod with Koh. The two sentai teams trekked through the mountain until they found the Durroidons, or rather, the Durroidons came to them.   

  “We’ve been waiting for you, Shinkengers and Ryusoulgers.” Precious sneered, Kleon and Krosh by his side. The two Minosaurs were before them and they were surrounded by countless Drunn soldiers.  

  “We’ll definitely defeat you and save the girl!” Koh said boldly.  

  “Hmph! And where is Shiba Kaoru? Does she not want to save her daughter?” Krosh said tauntingly.  

  “We’ll save Hiromi and bring her back to mother.” Takeru narrowed his eyes. All twelve warriors instantly transformed to take on the Durroidons and Krosh.  

   “Oh? Let’s see you try. Get them!”  

  On Pricious’s command, the Drunn soldiers and Minosaurs attacked.  

  It was literal chaos as everyone fought their assigned opponents. Melto and Asuna, who were assigned to take care of the Drunn soldiers along with Chiaki and Kotoha, found themselves outnumbered. And the two Ryusoulders were forced back to back.  

  “Asuna, when I give the signal, hit down that tree.” Melto nodded at said tree.  

  “Ok!” Asuna flashed an ok sign. Over with Chiaki and Kotoha, the wood samurai cocked an eyebrow.   

  “You’ll be fine?”  

  “Of course.” Kotoha flashed a smile. “Just focus on these small fry.”  

  “Right, right.” Chiaki shook his head in humor.   

  The four fighters then got into position. Melto and Kotoha were forced closer to each other and were pushed towards the old falling tree. Melto caught Asuna’s eye and gave her a small nod. Asuna nodded back and went along with the Drunn’s separation by going near the opposite end of the tree.  

  “Grr…give us a break!” Asuna huffed in frustration as she tossed off another Drunn soldier and slashed at another with her sword.   

  “Stop complaining and fight!” Chiaki snapped at her.  

  “Excuse me?!” Acting out of frustration, Asuna slammed her fist into the tree trunk. This caused it to sway dangerously and fell right on top of Melto and Kotoha!  

  “Kotoha!”   

  “Ah! Melto!”  

  Nearby, the rest of the Shinkengers and Ryusoulgers looked on in horror.  

  “Hahaha!” Krosh threw back her head and laughed. “You killed your companions!”  

  “Shut up!” Koh slashed at her.  

  “You’ve killed Kotoha!” Chiaki snapped at Asuna angrily. “You will pay!”   

  Instead of fighting the Drunn soldiers, Chiaki swung his sword at Asuna. The knight yelped and dodged the sword. “Cut me some slack! Melto’s taken many blows and turned out alright!”  

  “Maybe for your friend! But Kotoha is a normal human being! She won’t survive that!”  

  “How could you be so careless!?” Genta shrieked at Calano who was taking on Hiromi’s Minosaur with him.  

  “It’s not me, it’s Asuna! My tribe was isolated from the land precisely because of how violent they are!”  

  “Stop it! We need to take out the Durriodons to save Hiromi-chan!” Mako tried to regain control of the chaos.  

  “We have been fighting these guys longer than even the childhood trio have. We didn’t even need your help.” Towa taunted her.  

  “Hey! You’re one to talk considering that you let Krosh go that she came back to torment Hime!”  

  Bamba was instantly in front of Ryuunosuke, looming dangerously over him. “Do you want to say that to my face?”  

  Koh and Takeru could only watch helplessly as the tentative truce between the two teams disintegrated.  

   Pricious laughed cruelly, “Ah, you humans are always susceptible to your negative emotions. That is how the Durroidons always come out on top. Even the Ryusoul Tribe succumbed to its pride which brought its downfall and split.”  

  “Wrong!” Koh snapped, raising his sword. “Even if our ancestors made mistakes, even if humans make mistakes, we can always rise above them to become better people! Our path as Knights and Samurai were not meant to be crossed, but once we did, I’m glad. Because we got to see that we are not so different. Our desire to protect the innocent people bond us together!”  

   “Ho? Can you say that now when your friends are fighting each other?” Krosh sneered. With a slash of her sword, Takeru and Koh were sent flying and out of their suits. All around them, the two teams were distracted by their respective reds failing.  

  “Tono!/Take-chan!/Takeru!”  

 “Koh!”  

  This distraction cost them as the Minosaurs sent a slash attack at the two groups, sending the samurai and knights flying and demorphing. All of them landed in the center of hundreds of Drunn soldiers and the two Minosaurs circling them.  

  “Ah, if I had known all it took to destroy the pesky Ryusoulgers was a failing alliance, I would have broken them apart a long time ago.” Pricious laughed.  

  Takeru scrambled to his feet, holding his sword weakly. “Even if I have to do it myself, I will defeat Krosh and save Hiromi!”  

  “Oh, can you really do that, fake Shiba Head?” Krosh mocked. “You have no Shiba Fire mojikara. How can you hope to defeat me?”  

  Takeru suddenly smirked at that, as did the other samurai. “So that’s the Sword of Wrath’s weakness. No wonder you kidnapped Hiromi. You needed to distract Mother and keep her away from you.”  

  Krosh immediately tensed, sensing that something was amiss. Out of nowhere, green lights floated over and entered Hiromi’s Minosaur.  

  “Oh no!” Koh gasped and Takeru’s face twisted worriedly. “The girl is in danger!”  

  “Looks like all the taunting has finally gotten to her.” Pricious sneered.  

  “No! This is wrong!” Krosh snapped at the Durroidon. “The lights came from the wrong direction! The cage is behind us but the lights came from the opposite side!” Turning to her Minosaur and the giant one, Krosh screeched, “Minosaurs, kill them! Kill them now!”  

  “Grudge!” Krosh’s Minosaur swung its swords threateningly at the group. Up above them, Hiromi’s Minosaur also moved threateningly towards them. But suddenly, the giant Minosaur faltered and its movements became sluggish.  

  “Land Slicer!”  

  The large Earth Shuriken sliced through the air and struck Krosh’s Minosaur. A blur of blue and yellow flew past the Minosaur and it became encased in ice.  

  “What!?”  

  Earlier 

   When the tree was just about to fall on them, Melto inserted the Kakure soul into his Ryusoul Ken and activated the invisibility around him and Kotoha. They rolled out of the way of the falling tree and hid in the bushes.  

  “That was close.” Kotoha sighed in relief. She bit her lip as Chiaki and Asuna started fighting over the mishap.  

  “They know that we’re alive and are pretending to be arguing against each other.” Melto reminded her. “We need to hurry. They can only hold back for so long.”  

 “Right.” Kotoha created a tunnel with her mojikara and jumped inside with Melto following behind. The tunnel brought them right to the clearing where the cage was. Just as they jumped out, Kotoha got her Land Slicer out in anticipation of any remaining guards that had not gone to fight the Shinkengers and Ryusoulgers.  

  “Now, when the Ryusoulgers are defeated, we can have a party…why is there a hole!?” Kleon exclaimed when the earth in front of him gave way.  

  “Land Slicer!” Kotoha threw her weapon at the remaining Drunn soldiers.   

  “Ack! I got to warn Krosh and Pricious-sama!”  

  “Not on our watch. Hie-Hie Soul!” Melto used the freezing soul this time, forming the crystal blue armor around him. He slashed at Kleon, freezing him in a block of ice.  

  “Oi! Melto!”  

  “Kotoha-san!”  

   Melto and Kotoha turned their attention to the cage which held Chibigaroo and Hiromi.  

  “Hiromi-sama! Please wait, we’ll get you out!” Kotoha promised.  

  “I’m going to fly over. Keep an eye out for any Drunn soldiers that come back.” Melto told her.  

  “Ok.” Kotoha nodded.  

  The wings that came with the armor spread out and Melto glided over the mine covered ground to get to the cage. “Stay down.” He warned the occupants. With his sword, he created a hole large enough for Hiromi to get out. “Chibigaroo, shrink down so that the girl can carry you.”  

  “Got it.” Chibigaroo shrank back down to his chibi size and Hiromi held on to him as Melto picked her up.   

  “Hold on tight.” He told her and flew back to Kotoha.  

  “Hiromi-sama.” Kotoha immediately checked her over as soon as Melto placed her down.  

  “I’m fine. But where’s my mother?” Hiromi asked with quivering lips.  

  “We’re going to her now.” Kotoha assured her. She created another tunnel and held on to Hiromi’s hand as they jumped in. Melto followed by bringing up the rear.  

 This tunnel led them to the foot of the mountain where Hiromi’s parents were waiting.  

  “Hiromi!” Her father immediately pulled her into a hug the moment she emerged from the tunnel.  

  “Tousan!” Hiromi returned the gesture.  

  “Eh! Hiromi, let me go!” Chibigaroo wiggled from where he was trapped between them. Hiromi jumped away and let go of him.  

  “Sorry.” She apologized.  

  Her father stared at the mini Kishiryuu as it grew back to its normal size. “When you said you had a friend, you didn’t say it was a mecha dinosaur.”  

  Hiromi ducked her head sheepishly. She caught sight of her mother who hadn't moved at all but was staring at her. “Kaasan…”  

  “Hiromi…” Kaoru suddenly surged forward and hugged her tightly. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”  

 “Kaasan, you came.” Hiromi’s lips quivered.  

  Kaoru pulled away and smoothed down her daughter’s hair with tear stained eyes. “Of course I came. I wanted to save you, but Ryuunosuke said that Melto and Kotoha were better suited to do so.”  

  The two warriors who were watching offered small smiles. Kaoru sighed and grasped her daughter’s shoulders. “Hiromi, I was wrong to be harsh on you without understanding what you want. If you don’t want to be the Shiba Clan Head, we’ll figure something out.”  

  Hiromi’s face that was initially hopeful crumbled into despair. “What…what are you talking about…? No! This isn’t what I want! NO!”  

  Hiromi screamed, sending the green light out of her body and floated to the Minosaur, making it grow big.  

  The girl collapsed and Kaoru and her husband cried in horror as the samurai held her daughter close. “Hiromi! Wake up!”  

  “This is bad! Children cannot handle the strain of creating a Minosaur as well as adults can. She won’t last long.” Melto said grimly.  

  “But I tried to resolve her negative emotions! Why didn’t it work?!”  

  “Because you were wrong, Hiromi’s kaachan!” Chibigaroo snapped and hopped right in front of her and waved its fists agitatedly. “Hiromi was upset at you, but not because you were harsh on her to make her the head of whatever it is! It’s because she’s scared that you are disappointed in her!”  

  Kaoru stared at the green mecha in shock. “...What?”  

  Chibigaroo took a deep breath and explained, “Hiromi told me. She knows that you are not happy no matter how hard she tries. All she ever wanted to hear is that you are proud of everything she’s accomplished.”  

  Kaoru’s grip on her daughter tightened and she rested her forehead against her daughter’s sweaty one. “Hiromi…Hiromi, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. You do not disappoint me. It’s the opposite. I failed you every single day. I pushed you so hard, not because I am not happy with your progress, but it’s because I was selfish. I was so scared that one day, you would encounter something too strong for you to handle. So I tried to make you as strong as you could be so that you won’t have to go through the failure I went through.”  

  “Your sealing character was not a failure!” Kotoha protested. “Doukoku and Dayu were the ones who outsmarted us. And your sealing character weakened Doukoku enough that we managed to defeat him.”  

  “She’s right.” Kaoru’s husband placed a hand on her shoulder. He took a deep breath. “Kaoru, I also hold some of the blame for not giving you the support you needed.”  

  “No, it’s all on me.” Kaoru closed her eyes. “I should have been more open with Hiromi. I should have told her that she is the most precious thing to me. I would rather face Doukoku and the entirety of the Gedoushuu than lose her.”  

  “Really…?” Hiromi blinked her eyes open weakly.   

  “Hiromi!” Kaoru touched her daughter’s cheek. She nodded frantically. “Really! You weren’t the one who was failing, I was. You gave your all in everything you did but I was so wrapped up in my past failings that I never told you how proud I was with everything you accomplished. I’m sorry.”  

  Hiromi stared at her mother with her mouth open. Color began to creep back on her cheeks. “Thank you, kaasan. I forgive you.”  

 “Hiromi.” Kaoru pulled her daughter into her embrace. “I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”  

  Hiromi smiled and hugged her mother back. “But first, kick her butt.”  

  Kaoru pulled away with a sharp nod. She glanced back at the Minosaur that was now weakened with Hiromi’s negative emotions gone. She turned back to Melto and Kotoha. “Go on ahead. I’ll join everyone once I get my daughter and husband to safety.”  

  Melto and Kotoha nodded. The knight of wisdom wrapped an arm around Kotoha to carry her and took off.  

  “I need to go back to touchan so that we can kick butt. See you later, Hiromi!” Chibigaroo waved at his friend and took off.  

  “Bye!” Hiromi waved. She turned back to her parents and found them staring at her. “What?”  

  “Nothing.” Kaoru sighed, shaking her head. She let her husband carry Hiromi and had her Shinkenmaru out. “Come on, let’s go.”  

Back to Present 

  Melto landed and let go of Kotoha who caught her returning Land Slicer, and the two dropped their transformations.  

  “How…?!” Pricious narrowed his eyes. “I see. You tricked us into thinking you were crushed and the two teams fought to distract us so that we wouldn’t realize that you two were saving the girl.”  

  “Yup. Hiromi-sama is back with Hime-sama.” Kotoha said triumphantly. Chiaki went up to her and patted her shoulder with a proud smile.  

  Asuna bound over to Melto and punched his shoulder, making him wince in pain. “Never make me do that again! I thought for a second there that I really did crush you!”  

  “Sorry.” Melto ducked his head.  

  “But, the plan worked!” Ryuunosuke cheered.  

  “And we know the weakness of the Sword of Wrath now.” Bamba said darkly.  

   Koh smirked as he and his teammates got their Ryusoul Keys out. “We’re going to defeat you now! We’ll show you the chivalry of the Knights…”  

  “...and the Samurai!” Takeru finished, his teammates coming to line up on his sides. He and his teammates snapped their Shodophones out and drew their henshin characters. “Shodophone! Ippitsu Soujou! Ha!”  

  “ShinkenRed! Shiba Takeru!”  

  “The same in blue! Ikenami Ryuunosuke!”  

  “The same in pink! Shiraishi Mako!”  

  “The same in green! Tani Chiaki!”  

 “The same in yellow! Hanaori Kotoha!”  

  “The same in gold! Umemori Genta!”  

  On the other side, the Ryusoulgers flipped open their Ryusoul Keys and inserted them into the dino heads of their changers. “Ryusoul Change!”  

  Que Boom! Ryu so cool!  

  “The knight of valor! RyusoulRed!”  

  “The knight of wisdom! RyusoulBlue!”  

  “The knight of vigor! RyusoulPink!”  

  “The knight of haste! RyusoulGreen!”  

  “The knight of glory! RyusoulBlack!”  

 “The knight of grandeur! RyusoulGold!”  

  Back to the Shinkengers, the retainers knelt down before Takeru. “The samurai authorized by providence…”  

  “Shinkenger! Going forth!”  

  The knights of the dinos held up their swords proudly. “Noble souls that are pledged to justice! Kishiryuu Sentai Ryusoulgers!”  

  Krosh swallowed heavily. They knew the weakness of the Sword of Wrath now. And even though the Shinkengers and Ryusoulgers were outnumbered, she was once trained to become a Shinkenger. She knew the chances of the Drunn soldiers winning were slim to none. And the brat’s Minosaur was barely moving anymore.  

  “Calano, take care of that Minosaur.” Koh pointed at the giant Minosaur.  

  “Right! Mossa Rex!” Canalo threw his Mossa Key to summon his Kishiryuu partner.  

  “Genta, go.” Takeru nodded at his childhood friend.  

  “Righty ho! Ebizo! Ika-chan!”  

“Ryusoul Gattai! Kishiryuu Neptune!” Canalo’s Kishiryuu partner emerged from the oceans and transformed into its giant mecha form.  

“Samurai Henkei!” Once Ebizo transformed into its giant mecha mode, Genta spun the wheel to change to ‘North’ Mode. “Samurai Busou!” As the head turned to its North Mode, the Ika Origami detached its body to form the armor on the mecha. “Ika Daikaiou! Armed under providence!”  

  “No need to drag this one out! It’s already weakened and the sooner we defeated it, the sooner Hiromi-chan will be alright!” Genta told his fellow Gold.  

“Got it. Mossa Rex! The Finishing Strike. Kishiryuu Neptune! Tornado Strike!”  

“Spear Squid Charge!”  

  The Minosaur let out a loud shriek as it blew up.  

  “Ah.” Hiromi suddenly lifted her head. “I feel better now.”  

  “They did it.” Kaoru sighed in relief.  

  “Dear, go.” Her husband shoved her lightly. “I can bring Hiromi back. Go punch that Gedoushuu in the face for me.” He joked with a crooked smile.   

  Kaoru was reluctant to part from her husband and daughter. But she was going to do what she had to do.   

  Just then, a large shadow loomed over them, startling the family. But Hiromi’s eyes widened when she spotted her friend. “Chibigaroo!”  

  “Hey, hey, hey!” Chibigaroo waved from his father’s pouch. “Hiromi’s kaachan! Touchan said you can ride in him if you want to go join the fight!”  

    “Thank you!” Kaoru thanked them. She ruffled her daughter’s hair and pecked her husband’s cheek. “I’ll see you when we’re done.”  

  “Stay safe.” Her husband offered.  

  Hiromi pouted and folded her arms as her mother transformed and jumped inside Pachygaroo’s cockpit. “No fair. Kaasan gets to ride in a Kishiryuu.”  

  Her father threw back his head with a laugh.  

Chapter Text

On the ground, chaos erupted again. The Shinkengers and Ryusoulgers went back to their original opponents: Melto, Asuna, Chiaki and Kotoha taking down the Drunn soldiers; Bamba, Towa, Mako and Ryuunosuke facing Krosh’s Minosaur; and Koh and Takeru fighting Pricious and Krosh. And this time, no one was holding back.

  “Pachygaroo is back to normal.” Asuna noted as she held up the now not glowing Doshin Soul Key.

  “That means that Chibigaroo got back to him safely. You can use it now.”

  “Yes! Doshin Soul!” The green armor formed around her with the boxing gloves on her hands.

  “Time for me to pull my weight.” Chiaki said to Kotoha as he got his Wood Spear out and slotted in the Kabuto Disk. 

  Kotoha smiled and patted his shoulders. “Thanks for distracting them just now.”

  “Kotoha-san! Chiaki-san! Stick close to us!” Melto called them over.

  As soon as Chiaki and Kotoha were safely back to back with her and Melto, Asuna used the sonic punches on the ground. The Drunn soldiers made startled noises as some invisible force sent them flying into the air.

  “Get down!” Chiaki at least was courteous to give them a heads up, unlike Takeru who unapologetically nearly decapitated everyone around him many times in their first battles.

  “Ha!” With a swing of the Wood Spear, an orange light shaped like the Kabuto Origami drilled through the Drunn soldiers, destroying all of them.

  “Yay!” Asuna cheered, and raised her hands to hit Melto and Chiaki on the shoulders. The problem is that she forgot she still had the Doshin Armor and that she didn’t pull back her strength. As such, while Melto anticipated this and ducked under her hand to avoid it, Chiaki was sent flying.

  “Ah!” The wood samurai screamed as he flew through the air and landed right on top of Ryuunosuke.

  “Chiaki!?” The water samurai wheezed.

  “You weren’t kidding when you said that the pink one could punch a hole in the mountain.” The wood samurai groaned as he rolled off his friend. 

  Towa offered him a sympathetic glance then blocked the Minosaur’s sword.

  “Grudge!”

  Bamba glared at the Minosaur. It represented every emotion of hate Shiba Kira had towards the Shiba Clan. The would-be ShinkenRed would have fulfilled her dreams if she did not become a twisted, spiteful woman. He heard stories from Yojiro about his older sister. She was once a kind, caring person when they were children. But after Shiba Kira did what no ShinkenRed could do before in mastering the sealing character, something in her changed. The prestige and attention she received from mastering the sealing character twisted her heart to give birth to the darkness that made her arrogant and spiteful.

  It was with a heavy heart that Yojiro’s father picked his son over his daughter to become the next ShinkenRed, in hopes that Shiba Kira would be humbled. But instead, she chose to become the very thing her clan was sworn to destroy: a monster.

  To his dying breath, Yojiro wished to have his sister returned to him, a wish that can never be fulfilled. Shiba Kira was the reason why Yojiro’s son was dead, and why Kaoru’s childhood had to suffer.

  “Old friend, forgive me.” Bamba muttered under his breath as he inserted the Mera-Mera soul into his Ryusoul Ken, letting the orange armor form over him. “I will make up for all the mistakes I have made to your family today.”

  “Let me help with that. My winds can empower your flames.” Mako offered, having her Heaven Fan out.

  Bamba glanced at her and nodded sharply. “Ah. Towa, move out of the way!”

  “Right, Niisan! Haya Soul!” Towa inserted his favorite Ryusoul into his sword and dashed to grab Ryuunosuke and Chiaki out of the way of Bamba’s flaming attack which was made twice as powerful thanks to the winds Mako was providing.

  “Hah!” Bamba slashed down his flaming sword on the Minosaur.

  “Grudge!” The Minosaur shrieked and fell to the ground immobile.

  Krosh jolted when she felt her Minosaur was defeated. She let out an inhumane scream and tried to claw at Takeru’s helmet.

  The lord flipped away and inserted the Kyoryu Disk into his sword before his feet touched the ground. “ Hyper ShinkenRed! Kyoryumaru!”

  “Max Soul!” Koh activated the claw trigger to become Max Ryusoul Red. Crouching, Koh launched his finishing move on Pricious. “Everlasting Claw!”

   The Durroidon general managed to avoid the attack and was poised to deliver his own Everlasting Claw. “Don’t forget! I know how to use the attack and I know its weakness as well!”

   Koh glanced at Takeru. The samurai caught on to what the dino red was thinking and nodded.

  “Everlasting Claw!”

  Koh waited until the very last second and arch backwards to avoid the move. Takeru then extended his sword to wrap around Krosh and held her in place.

  “What!?”

  Takeru swung Krosh right into the path of Pricious, causing them to crash together.

  “What are you doing!?” Krosh screeched at the Durroidon.

  “Payback for that sneak attack the Minorsaur did on me.” Koh said triumphantly. Takeru extended his sword to them and the Kyoryu head thrashed wildly at them.

  “Gr…I’m out of here.” Pricious decided to bail out.

  “Wait!” Krosh shrieked as Pricious unexpectedly disappeared behind a checkered door.

  “Give it up Krosh.” Takeru said sternly. 

  “Never!” With an inhumane scream, Krosh unleashed her negative emotions in one huge burst that flew over to her immobile Minosaur. The samurai Minosaur’s eyes glowed as it grew big.

  “Ah-!” Genta screamed as the Minosaur caught him and Canalo off guard as they thought the ground team defeated it already. The Minosaur slashed down on Daika-Oh, causing the lobster mecha to explode and eject Genta.

  “Gen-chan!” Chiaki was the first to reach him and pulled him up. “Are you alright?”

  “Ah, somewhat. I thought you guys defeated it.”

  “We thought that too.” Ryuunosuke spoke in confusion.

  “This is what happens when the Minosaur is completed. Under normal circumstances with humans, if a Minosaur is completed, even if we defeated it before, it will be revived at the cost of the host’s life.” Melto explained grimly.

  “But, Krosh is still alive.” Kotoha pointed out.

  “If I had to guess, it’s the Sword of Wrath protecting her from the full effects of completing her Minosaur.” Bamba inputted. 

  With the Minosaur, Canalo found himself getting thrashed around. “It’s too powerful!”

  “And Krosh isn’t slowing down one bit!” Koh grunted as he endured another slash from the insane Gedou-human’s sword.

  Takeru gritted his teeth as he used the Kyoryumaru to attempt to knock the sword out of Krosh’s grasp. But she anticipated this and knocked the dino sword away.

  “I will destroy the Shiba Clan if it takes me another century to do so!”

 “That will never happen!”

  Just as the Minosaur was about to stab Kishiryuu Neptune, a giant green fist punched it in the face.

  “Hey, hey, hey! Don’t think that touchan is not going to stand back when he wants to kick your butt for kidnapping me!”

  “Chibigaroo!” Asuna waved at the Kishiryuu who showed up with Pachygaroo. 

  Kaoru leapt out of the Kishiryuu and activated the Inroumaru. “Inroumaru! Super ShinkenRed!”

  The white long coat formed around the Shiba Head, and she attached the box onto her sword as she slashed down at Krosh.

  “Mother, the Sword of Wrath’s weakness is the Shiba Clan’s Fire Mojikara!” Takeru called out to her.

  “I understand. Go help take care of the Minosaur. I can deal with her.”

  “Understood!” Takeru ran off to join his friends. “Let’s go. Origami Dai Henkei!”

   The Shinkengers drew the character ‘Big’ over their Origami. “Samurai Gattai!”

  Shinken-Oh was formed and the giant mecha parried the Samurai Minosaur’s swords, but they couldn’t touch it.

  “Koh, go form King KishiryuuOh with Canalo. We’ll take it from here.” Bamba told the Knight of Valor.

  “Are you sure?” Koh asked uncertainty.

  “Oh yeah!” Asuna punched her fist together threateningly. We still need to get back at Krosh for blowing us up.”

  “Asuna…” Melto sighed in exasperation, but he nodded at Koh. “What she said. I already have an idea how we can do that. It’ll take our KyoRyuSouls working together to do it.”

  “That means I’ll need the Cosmo Soul.” Towa pipped in.

  “Right.” Koh tossed said Soul to Towa. He summoned Tyramigo and Pii-tan to form King KishiryuuOh. “Tyramigo! Pii-tan!”

  It didn’t take long for Pii-tan to swoop in with Tyramigo. “Hey Koh!”

  “One King KishiryuuOh coming right up! Tyra!”

  “Ryusoul Gattai! King KishiryuuOh!”

  The land, sea and sky Kishiryuus came together to form the strongest combination. 

  “Grudge!”

  “Hah!”

  Takeru and co watched from the cockpit of Shinken Oh in amazement over King Kishiryuu Oh’s power as it punched the Minosaur. Suddenly, the Kyoryumaru roared and shook violently in Takeru’s hand.

  “Kyoryumaru?” Takeru lifted it up curiously.

  “Tono, I think it wants to fight as well.” Ryuunosuke pointed out.

  “I think so too.” Mako smiled.

  “If we are going to fight alongside dinosaur warriors, we might as well show off the Kyoryu Origami.” Chiaki grinned.

  “Yeah.” Kotoha clapped her hands eagerly.

  “Right.” Takeru raised the Kyoryumaru with a nod. “Lend us your power again, Kyoryu Origami. Hah!”

  Shinken Oh’s sword was replaced with the Kyoryu Origami. The dino Origami screeched as it rolled towards the Minosaur as it punched King Kishiryuu Oh away and bit off one of its hands.

  “Woah!” Koh exclaimed when he spotted it. “That’s so cool!”

  “That’s not the end of it.” Takeru smirked. He spun the Kyoryu Disk. “Samurai Busou!”

  The Kyoryu Origami broke apart with parts of its body becoming the helmet while the head became the sword for Shinken Oh. 

  “Kyoryu Shinken Oh! Peerless under Providence!”

 The mecha thrusted its sword at the Minosaur to deal a good amount of damage on it.

  Krosh shrieked in anger when she saw the Kyoryu Origami. She fended off Genta’s attacks and glared at Kaoru. “It was supposed to be mine! The Shodophone! The Inroumaru! The Kyoryu Disk! I was supposed to be the ShinkenRed with those things!”

  “Good grief.” Genta groaned at her rant. “She’s sounding more and more like a spoiled, entitled kid.

  Kaoru sighed beside him, fully agreeing with the sentiment. She straightened and pointed her sword at Krosh. “Krosh…no, Shiba Kira, answer me this. Why did you turn your back on the path of the Bushido? Why did you choose to go down the path of Gedou? Answer me!”

  Krosh glared at her with a hateful glare. “You of all people should know just how hard it was to master the Sealing Character. But do you know what my father told me when I couldn’t make any progress in months? He said that Yojiro could make better progress than me in weeks! I, who slaved and toiled to learn it, got told that I am worthless by my own father! So I decided right there and then that I will master the Sealing Character. But when I did, guess what? My father decided that my worthless brother who couldn’t even master the Sealing Character should be ShinkenRed, not me!”

  Kaoru lowered her sword slightly. Shiba Kira was truly pitiful. She couldn’t see that her own father was trying to spur her on, not demean her. Bamba stepped up to her side, his body language reflecting grief.

  “Yojiro never stopped loving you, even when you chose to go down the path of Gedou.” The Regal Knight spoke up quietly. “He never wanted the position at the cost of your humanity.” His voice hardened, “But you were too engrossed with your spite to see that. You have no one to blame for losing your birthright. You chose to destroy it with your own hands when you picked up that sword.”

  “Like I want a lecture from you! You and your brother had your Ryusoul Keys given to you. You didn’t have to earn them, they were just handed to you on a platter!”

  In that instant, Bamba’s posture changed to anger. “It seems that you are incapable of learning anything. Until now, you shift the blame to others when it is your own actions that caused your downfall.”

  “Talking will not convince you to let go of the sword.” Kaoru sighed, raising her sword again. “I will defeat you, but not to remove the dark stain in the Shiba legacy, rather to let my grandfather and my father’s souls rest.”

  “Even with Shiba Mojikara, you cannot overpower me!”

  “We know. That’s why we have our trap.” As soon as Bamba said that, a crack opened in the space above Krosh.

  “What-!?”

   Over at the other side of the crack that Towa opened, Melto nodded at Asuna. “Now!”

  “Ok! Hya!” Asuna began to use the sonic punches to lift the mines out of the ground. To prevent them from setting off, Melto froze them over. Once all of them were out, Asuna sonic-punched them into the crack. 

  As the frozen mines fell onto Krosh, Bamba ignited his sword and slashed down, sending a wave of fire at the mines which unfroze them and set them off. The deafening explosion threw Krosh off her feet and dealt some damage to her.

  She pushed herself up unsteadily. “Resorting to dirty tricks!? How unchivalrous of you!”

  “You’re the last person to talk about dirty tricks. You kidnapped Hiromi-hime and blew up the Ryusoulger with those mines!” Genta hackled back.

  “If I remember correctly, you also used a similar trick to kill Bamba and Towa all those years ago.” Kaoru added. She raised her sword to stop Bamba and Genta from rushing forward. “Stay out of this from now. I will be the one who defeats Krosh.”  

  Genta nodded, sheathing his sword. “Got it.”

  Bamba on the other hand was pensive. “This is my mess to clean up.”

  “Krosh can only be defeated with Shiba Fire Mojikara. And she made it my business to end her the moment she dragged my daughter into her vedanta.”

  Bamba stared down at her through his helmet and slowly nodded. “I understand.”

  Kaoru nodded in gratitude. She placed the Shishi Disk in the Inroumaru and spun the Truth Disk to ignite her sword.

  Krosh glared at her, holding up the Sword of Wrath. “I will not let you defeat me.”

  Kaoru sighed under her helmet. “To be frank, I pity you. You could have had a happy life if you did not let the Sealing Character rule your life. I know now that the Sealing Character was not the absolute way to defeat the Gedoushuu. It was the bonds with our comrades that enabled all of us to do so.”

  This did not sit well with Krosh who charged at her. Kaoru calmly stood her ground until the half Gedou was close and side stepped her. 

  “Shin Kaen no Mai!”

  Deflecting the Sword of Wrath with her flaming sword, Kaoru thrusted hers forward at the cursed swordswoman, causing her to be sent flying. And she lost her grip on the Sword of Wrath. A second slash at the sword destroyed it.

  At the same time, Pachygaroo flew at the Minosaur with its booster tail to deliver a barge of punches as it was locked in a deadlock between King KishiryuuOh and Kyoryu ShinkenOh. 

 “Take that! Koh, Samurai-chan! Now’s your chance!”

  “Thanks.” Takeru thanked Chibigaroo. The samurai pulled their swords out of their dais. “Kyoryumaru! Tenchi Issen!”

    Kyoryu ShinkenOh brought the dino sword down on the Minosaur. It screeched in pain as sparks flew from its body. But it was not done yet.

  “This will finish it!” Koh and Canalo drove King KishiryuuOh to grab the Minosaur and flew up into space. “King KishiryuuOh! Big Bang Evolution!”

   Que Boom!

  Images of all the Kishiryuus gathered around the mecha and fired at it. The Minosaur screeched as it was sent flying to the moon where it exploded.

  Back on Earth, Krosh was withering on the ground and screaming in pain. Her Gedou side was melting away, leaving her as a mere human. And a human who had completed their Minosaur.

  “She doesn’t have much longer now that the Sword of Wrath is no longer protecting her from the consequences of completing her Minosaur.” Bamba murmured to Kaoru and he and Genta went to her side.

  Kaoru dropped her suit and went over to Krosh…no, Shiba Kira. “I hope that when you go to the afterlife, you will apologize to my grandfather.”

  “Never! I will rather rot in hell!” Kira hissed. Her body was now glowing green as her legs were starting to dissolve.

  Kaoru closed her eyes and straightened. “So be it then. Shiba Kira, you will die a bitter woman who cannot let go of your grudges. No one, not even my grandfather would forgive you for that. I can only hope that he finds peace in your defeat so that no one will harm his family again.”

  Kira’s poisonous glare was the last thing she saw of her before she completely dissolved.

  “Niisan.” Towa came to join him as he, Melto and Asuna returned. 

   Bamba lowered his head. “It’s over.”

  “We did it!” Asuna cheered, waving her fist.

  Kaoru took a deep breath and smiled. “Ah.”

  King KishiryuuOh touched down on the ground beside Kyoryu ShinkenOh. Koh and Calano heard what Bamba said.

  “We did it!”

  “Yosha! Let’s have a clap of victory! Ryusoulgers, join us!”

  The Ryusoulgers tilted their heads inquisitively so Kaoru showed them by holding up her hands. “Like this.”

  “Alright!” Koh pumped his fist, holding up his hands.

  His friends, the samurai and Pachygaroo followed his suit.

  “Yosh!”

  *Clap*

  “This brings the act to a close.” Kaoru and Takeru declared.

Chapter Text

  “I propose a toast! To friendships, to having Hiromi-hime back with us safely, and to the Shinkenger-Ryusoulger alliance!”

  “Cheers!” The two Super Sentai teams held up their glasses at Genta’s toast. Right after the battle wrapped up, Kaoru and Takeru invited the two teams back to the former’s manor to celebrate their victory and to thank everyone for their help in rescuing Hiromi. Naturally, CHibigaroo, Pi-tan, Ui and Oto were invited too.

  And Hiromi and Chibigaroo were having a blast being able to play together and touring the manor with Tanba and her father fretting behind her, not that she paid them any mind.

  Over at the sushi cart that Genta somehow got into the yard, Koh was admiring the Kyoryu Disk while Takeru ate the sushi prepared by the sushi chef.

  “I can hear the Kyoryu Origami’s voice.” The Knight of Valor suddenly said, making Takeru and Genta pause. Koh for his part seemed mildly surprised. “I can normally hear the voices of the dino souls of our keys. I didn’t think it was possible with the Origami Disk.”

  “Perhaps, regardless of the form, there is still a dino soul inside it?” Takeru wondered.

  “But, that would mean that the first ShinkenRed had to find a dino soul to make the Disk in the first place.” Genta pointed out.

  The three of them exchanged looks and looked at the Kyoryu Disk. Koh then simply smiled, “Regardless of how it was created, it enjoyed the battles after being in a slumber for a very long time, or so it told me.” He said, handing the Disk back to Takeru.

  “Is that so?” Taker gave him a small smile. Fingering the Disk, he said, “Then Mother and I will use it more often when we are training.”

  “By the way…no one has really explained how you are Kaoru-san’s son when she seems so young.”

  Genta broke into snorts of laughter at Takeru’s deer-in-the-headlights stare.

  Meanwhile, Canalo was trying unsuccessfully to woo Kotoha with promises of marriage, with Oto edging him on. But Chiaki was fuming and doing his best to keep him away from her.

  “Shouldn’t you do something?” Ryuunosuke asked Melto pensively.

   The Knight of Wisdom sighed and wondered for the hundredth time if they should just throw the womanizing knight back into the sea and be done with it. He glanced around the yard and noted that Asuna was nowhere to be seen. And Mako too for that matter. (Was that smoke coming from one of the windows?)

  “Maybe…”

  Before he could intervene though, Kotoha had enough with the knight and decided to shut him down by pulling Chiaki into a kiss. Silence fell upon the yard as the present Shinkengers blinked in surprise at Kotoha’s uncharacteristic pettiness and the Ryusoulgers at Canalo’s frozen, crumbling expression.

  When the couple pulled apart, Chiaki smirked cheekily at his girlfriend. “Finally decided to get rid of him?”

 “I got tired of seeing your annoyed frown. Those wrinkles don’t suit you.” Kotoha smiled angelically while brushing her fingers against his forehead. She turned back to Canalo with a sweet smile, “Oh, by the way, Mako-chan’s married already. So don’t try to flirt with her too or she’ll smack you.”

  “...No way.” Canalo figuratively crumbled into dust and was blown away. It didn’t help that Ui had recorded the whole thing for her new ‘Flirt and Dump’ series featuring Canalo’s many failed flirting attempts. 

  Chiaki sniggered and hi-fived Kotoha. Koh and Melto were torn between laughing and pitying the golden dino warrior. Towa and Pi-tan had no such qualms and were rolling on the ground with laughter. And Bamba merely rolled his eyes at the spectacle. 

  The two missing pink rangers then emerged from the kitchen. (Taker could spot several kuroko running around in the background with fire extinguishers and mentally gulps.)

  “I cooked up more food.” Mako said proudly as she and Asuna laid a variety of chard, half-cooked and appetizing dishes on the table brought out for the occasion. 

  Asuna clapped her hands together eagerly. “I can’t wait to try them!”

  “Oi, does your friend have an iron stomach or something?” Ryuunosuke whispered to Melto in fear.

  Melto blinked at the food and something stirred in his memory. “You said that Mako-san is the most sisterly/maternal person in your group?”

  “Um, yes.”

  Melto glanced at Asuna and huffed with a small smile. “Then Asuna will love the food, regardless if it is bad or not.”

  The answer confused the water samurai.

  Sure enough, when Asuna picked up a burnt nugget and popped it into her mouth, she melted in delight, “So good!”

  “EH?!” The male Shinkengers cried in shock while Mako was delighted.

  Koh watched Asuna who was eating happily but at the same time had moist eyes. He sighed, “Master Pink wasn’t the best cook either.”

  “Master Pink?” Ryuunosuke tilted his head as he and Melto joined the group at the cart.

  “She was Asuna’s mentor and the one who took care of her after she lost her parents and was moved to our village.” Melto explained as he slid into the stool beside his friend. “Master Pink…always burned her cooking.”

 Koh nodded solemnly in agreement.

  “How does she stomach it?” Genta asked in bafflement.

  “Her super strength plays a part in it.” Melto shrugged. “She’s able to stomach food easier than others since she needs to consume a lot of food to maintain the energy she needs. And she always tastes the feelings put into the cooking to enjoy it better…or so she claims.”

  “This is so good…” Asuna paused as she realized her cheeks were wet. Suddenly, the memories of Master Pink and her care towards her that she was suppressing burst forth. Unable to control herself, she burst into tears and started brawling.

  “What’s wrong?” Mako asked her worriedly.

  “This food…this food might taste bad, chard, or looks unappealing, but it has your love and care put into it. That’s why it’s so good! Just like…just like my mentor’s.” Asuna sobbed out.

  “Oh, there, there.” Mako pulled her into a hug to comfort her.

  With Asuna well in hand, Bamba relaxed against the wall where he sequestered himself to avoid the chaos.

  Kaoru spotted him and went over to join him, not that he minded. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for my family.”

  “I didn’t do anything.” He grunted.

  “Still, you helped me more than you realized. I could not have rescued my daughter if not for the Ryusoulger’s help.” She smiled at him. “If you need anything in the future, please don’t hesitate to seek me out so that I may return the favor.”

  Bamba looked like he wanted to decline. But he suddenly paused when he caught a glance of her smile. Towa then slid over to his side and grinned at her. “We’ll take you up on that.”

  “You have Senri’s smile.” Bamba suddenly said.

  “My grandmothers…?”

  Towa squinted at her then nodded. “Not the small Shiba Head smile, but the smile you give to your family and the one you gave Nii-san just now.”

  Kaoru blinked and looked away to hide the fact her eyes were moist. A smile crept up on her face. She had inherited her legacy from her grandfather but she also inherited something just as precious from her grandmother.

  “Kaasan, you should smile more! You look prettier.” Hiromi said from Tyramigo’s back as the T-rex Kishiryuu lumbered into the yard with Chibigaroo in her hands and her father and Tanba panicking behind her.

  “Hiromi! Maybe you should get down. That looks unsafe.” Her father whimpered.

  “Tyra!” Tyramigo roared affrontedly. “I never let any kid fall off my back!”

  “Let them have their fun, dear.” Kaoru admonished her husband. “It’s not like I wasn’t learning to ride a horse when I was her age.” She turned to her daughter. “Have fun and be careful.”

  “Thanks, Kaasan!” Hiromi grinned.

  Towa nudged his brother. “Ne, Nii-san, Kaoru-san’s daughter has Yojiro’s grin.”

  “Ah.” Bamba nodded. Humans were so different from the Ryusoul people. They do not live as long as they do. Yet, their shorter lifespans never meant that they were gone completely when they died. Their memories can be found anywhere if they just looked hard enough.