[Androzani84]

Here we go with chapter 9. “He’s Here! Birth of the New Generation Warrior!”

In the last episode, divisions between 4 of the Qidengers caused them to lose focus during a battle, allowing for the Koga Konzern’s creation Epithmeus, created from parts of two defeated enemies, to destroy the enemy. In order to resolve these differences, Takuto, Kamijo, Hibiki and Wataru are sent to work on their relationship, leaving Mio alone to defend against Voldos. And speaking of Voldos…

Calam and Megaro were looking in on a news broadcast, covering the appearance of Epithmeus. “This is exclusive footage of Koga Konzern’s latest creation Epithmeus, which proved effective in the destruction of the latest monster to attack our country. We spoke with the CEO, Koga Tetsuya, about his latest creation.”

Calam fumed against this. “Two soldiers we put our pride as servants of Voldos onto the backs of… and these damn humans turn them both into… that thing.” He smashed several vials with his sword. “It’s an outrage!”

“Yes, but I do have a solution.”, Megaro posited. “He’s saying that Epithmeus could be dangerous in the wrong hands, namely ours. If we could take control of it, then we’d be able to show those humans not to cross us.”

Calam stopped destroying the laboratory and stood still, thinking about it. “And if we can use that level of firepower for ourselves, the we can destroy the Qidengers once and for all.” And maybe I can get rid of Moboroshina while I’m at it, he thought.

At the Otonaru household, Miro sat and watched as Takuto packed for his trip. “I wish I didn’t have to do this.”, he said. “It’s all Hibiki’s fault for shooting Kamijo-san.”

“Now now, Big Bro.”, Mio interjected. “It’s that kind of blaming that required you to go on this retreat. If you want it to end, you need to be quicker to let go of that unhealthy attitude.”

Takuto sighed. “You know what, Little Sis? When you’ve got a point, you’ve got a point. And remember, with the four of us gone, you’re in charge of protecting the city and proving that Koga’s science project isn’t needed.”

“I’ll do my best.”, Mio saluted.

The next day, as Mio was at the airport, seeing off the 4 Qidengers as their plane took off. “Well, I guess it’s up to me. No pressure then.”, she said to herself. Her face became confident. “I have to be strong. Never give up.”

As she was psyching herself, Mio saw a mysterious woman in a white robe, her face completely covered, appeared before her. “Do you have the courage to do what is necessary?”, the woman asked. Her voice was distorted to the point of being unrecognisable.

“I… what?”, Mio was confused by this woman.

“The time is coming when you will have to make a tough choice. Before that time comes, you must unleash the power within you.” The woman then walked away in one direction, before seemingly vanishing into thin air. Mio then took the opportunity to catch what was on the news channel.

“Later today, Koga Tetsuya of Koga Konzern will be holding a conference to fully introduce the Epithmeus project to the public. Several prominent anti-Qidenger speakers are expected to be there to ask questions about it fitting their standards.”

“And QidenBlue will be there to object to all their points.”, Mio thought as she walked off.

Four hours later, the conference began in earnest, with Koga Tetsuya stepping up to the podium. “Friends, I know you all have past bad experience with Japan’s resident heroes. Which is why I’m here to assure you that Epithmeus will not fall into your grievances.” He clicked his fingers, signalling for his suited henchmen to walk into the room, operating Epithmeus by remote control for the whole crowd to see. A target appeared at the back of the stage, with Koga standing aside so that Epithmeus could stand at a position where the target was in range without obscuring anything. The cybernetic organism then aimed the cannon modified from Gatleander’s at the target, firing at it with enough force to tear it apart utterly. “As you can see, the Gamma Sterilium Cannon we perfected from the reversed engineered technology can annihilate a target utterly, leaving nothing behind. But unfortunately, it loses power after one shot and needs to be recharged using our supplies.”

“And what happens when you run out of those supplies?” QidenBlue made her appearance, having asked her question. “Or worse, if Voldos manages to get their hands on this technology and turn it against you?” Instead of getting people murmuring, she was promptly booed by the crowd, who mercifully, had not brought objects to throw at her.

“It appears that they consider you the bigger issue here, my unwelcome friend.”, Koga said mockingly. “Perhaps you’d like to hear just exactly why some of these people have issues with other Super Sentai like yours.”

“My Doctor ran out on my transplant while a Sentai group was fighting. If it hadn’t been for another doctor there on standby, I’d have died on that operating table. By the time she came back, it was too late and I wasn’t going to trust someone like her with this or any further urgent matters.”, one man stated.

During a school trip, our group was attacked by robots.”, one woman stated. “When we tried calling out to the nearby heroes for help, only one of them answered our cries. As a result, some of my friends got hurt and my teacher got killed.”

“The Ohrangers claimed they’d destroyed a machine-beast, yet it managed to come back in the body of the local officer.”, another man, slightly plumper, yelled. “I was almost turned into a science experiment, before the Ohrangers turned up. But if they’d just done their job and killed that thing beforehand, I wouldn’t have suffered through that ordeal.”

“I think we’ve heard enough.”, Koga stated. “After all, I don’t want this to degenerate into violence.” He went over to QidenBlue and patted her on he back, seemingly condescendingly. “You can see you’ve lost this argument, missy. How about you just run along now and allow us to continue our discussion.”

As an annoyed QidenBlue leapt out of the room, no longer caring about this crowd, Dimayta, disguised as an onlooker, released a small, fly-like robot that latched onto the Epithmeus body. She then turned and left.

Later on, at the mansion, the old man and Rin watched a recording of the event on the evening news. “Well, that certainly could’ve gone better.”, Rin noted.

“Yes, a lot better.”, the old man added solemnly. “Sadly, that crowd seems too dead set on their ways to accept the word of one Qidenger. If only I knew where the KijuuSlasher was.”

The next day, Mio left her house and walked to school. But on the way, she was accosted by a man in a suit. “Hello there, Otonaru Mio. Or should I say, QidenBlue?”, the man said menacingly.

Mio tried to deflect suspicion, concerned that this man had found out her identity. “I think you’ve got the wrong person. I’m just a normal high school girl in my second year. Just because my school blazer is blue, doesn’t mean I’m a blue superhero.”

“Don’t play dumb with me.”, the man said. “President Koga placed a tracking device on you when you were at the expo. It was then merely a matter of following you back to your house, and then using logic to determine which of the occupants best matched her physical profile and vocal patterns. You were the only one who fit the bill, Otonaru-shi.” He then approached her more closely. “A little word of advice. You’d better stay as far away from our business as possible, or we’ll make it very difficult for you and your friends to perform their heroics. President Koga is very dependent on those anti-Sentai fools to increase his business and we can’t have your interference get in the way of them paying us good money.”

“Help! Help!”, Mio called out. “This man’s trying to assault me.”

A man, of about the same age as Takuto, came running from around the corner. “Hey, mister. Are you someone who gets a kick out of having their way with young girls?”, he demanded.

“No, no.”, the man said defensively. “I was just leaving.” He turned around and walked off, but not without shooting Mio a look that said “That was a dirty trick, little girl.”

“Are you okay?”, the young man asked Mio. Taking a look at him reminded her strongly of her brother, for reasons she couldn’t understand. “Did that man hurt you in anyway?”

“No, it’s okay.”, Mio said in response. “He didn’t do anything to me really. I just wanted to get him out of my face. He was one of Koga Tetsuya’s cronies, bullying me for something I said disparaging his anti-Qidenger clientele.”

“Not everyone’s like them.”, the man stated. “With guys like Kyosuke Ryuota and Koga Tetsuya riling them up, a handful of people with minor grievances think they have the right to hurl abuse at people who have done nothing to personally offend them. But once Koga slips up like Kyosuke did, they’ll lose their voice and shut up.” He then turned and walked off. “By the way, my name’s Tanjo Takumi. Look it up sometime.”

Mio nodded in confusion at this, before hearing her JuuKeitai ring. “Hello”, she answered the phone.

“Mio, Voldos has appeared in a plaza, not far from where you are now.”, the old man’s voice came from the other end. “If we want to discredit those fools, this is our chance.”

“On it.”, Mio hung up and inserted her Soul Chip, running to the site of the next battle. “Kijuu Henge!”

Kajiki! Doubutsu Gashin!

At the site, Calam and Megaro were smashing up the area and terrorising civilians using their weapons. They were flanked by a squad of Vordorons, who were knocking garbage cans over, breaking windows and scaring people away. “Foolish humans.”, Calam said, trying his best to act convincingly. “Your world will soon belong to us Voldos, the superior lifeforms.”

“Those of you who survive should prepare for enslavement.”, Megaro was marginally more convincing, but not by much.

The representatives from Koga Konzern appeared with Epithmeus. “I don’t think so.”, the operator stated. “Prepare to meet your doom.”

“Funny, I was thinking the same thing.”, Megaro commented, holding up a button. “Cross transceiver, activate!” He pressed the button.

Epithmeus then stepped over to the two Generals and then turned around, aiming its weapons at its original controllers. “It’s no good.”, the operator said as he mashed buttons on the controller, to no avail. “It’s not responding to any input commands.”

“That’s the beauty of this Guy’s little device.”, Calam said, indicating Megaro. “We planted a bug in your little project that when activated, would cause the thing to rampage and destroy the human world. We’re taking back what you stole from us and turning it back on you.” Epithmeus began charging its Gamma Sterilium Cannon and aimed at the team, firing.

QidenBlue appeared, jumping into the path of the blast, deflecting it with her Kijuu Caliber. She held on for a few seconds, before falling under the pressure. Luckily, the blast had lost more of its power, resulting in barely any of those who hadn’t moved out of the way being hurt. One of the technicians, one who wasn’t as indoctrinated to Koga’s mindset, not that of the Anti-Sentai crowd, was shocked. “You saved us, even after we were so harsh on you and your friends. Why?”, he asked.

“A real hero doesn’t save people for glory.”, QidenBlue stated, pulling herself up. “They don’t save people because they haven’t said or done anything mean to them. They save them because it’s the heroic thing to do. Your people may have been mean to me, but I won’t prove them wrong by letting them die. I’ll prove it by showing them the better way. Saving people because I have to, not because I want to.” She then paused, pondering on whether this was what the mystery woman had been talking about yesterday.

“A touching sentiment.”, Calam said mockingly. “But a shame it’ll be your last.”

“I doubt it.”, Blue responded, brandishing her Kijuu Caliber and beginning to cut through some of the Vordorons. “That thing can only fire off one shot before it requires recharging. And unless you have access to an easy supply of Gamma Sterilium…”

“As a matter of fact, we do.”, Megaro took out a green crystal and inserted it into the cannon’s fuel holder, replacing the burnt out crystal. “The humans may have figured out how to synthesise the crystals, but it occurs naturally in the Voldos dimension. You’re doomed, QidenBlue. You’re all alone and hopelessly outmatched.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” Everyone turned to the newcomer. “It was Tanjo Takumi, the man who had helped Mio earlier. “I’m also going to be your opponent.” He pulled something out of his pocket, which everyone who had seen it recognised.

“The KijuuSlasher.”, Blue said with shock. “Why do you have that?”

“You cur!”, Calam hissed. “Who are you?”

“Me?”, Takumi punched back a few Vordorons before putting the KijuuSlasher onto his fist and taking out the Tiger Soul Chip that came with it. “I’m the latest threat to your attempts to take over the Earth. As soon as I… Kijuu Change!” He then inserted the Soul Chip into its slot, causing the grip to close as the device announced ‘Denchaku! Doubutsu no Kiba!’ As quickly as the light surrounded him, it dispersed to reveal his suit. It resembled a tiger, with the suit itself sporting a more armoured chest plate and shins, being white with red highlights, the ‘Q’ on his chest being much smaller, only covering part of his chest. “The Fast, Ferocious Warrior! QidenTora!”

“Qiden… Tora…”, Blue said with shock.

Calam was only enraged. “Another Qidenger? Well, it won’t matter once Epithmeus is done with you. Gamma Sterilium Cannon, fire!”

Before it could fire, Tora pulled out his Kijuu Caliber, pushing it into the barrel of the weapon. “That’s not going to happen.”, he commented. As the Cannon tried to fire, it found itself blocked off and ended up exploding, sending the cyborg terror backwards. “And that puts paid to your Cannon.”

“Why you!”, Calam growled. “Vordorons, attack!”

As the grunts surrounded QidenTora, he merely smirked beneath his helmet. “You think this will slow me down?” He grabbed his Kijuu Caliber and used it to slash at some of the Vordorons, with those that weren’t hit with his weapon being kicked backwards. Megaro tried to make an exit, but Tora wasn’t letting him move. He clicked on his KijuuSlasher several times, activating the same feature that Drillsame had activated during his brief use of the device.

Beast Slash!

“Oh dear.”, Megaro got out before the blade went through his face and part of his torso, knocking him to the ground. “Megaro!”, Calam called out, running to retrieve his fallen comrade. “Mark my words, tiger guy. I’ll get you next time we meet.” He and Megaro then teleported out, leaving the damaged and rampaging Epithmeus as the only active threat.

“This shouldn’t take long.”, Tora commented. “Blue, when I give the word, I want you to shoot with your Powered Shot. Can you do that.” He then took his Caliber and attached it to his KijuuSlasher.

Juu Sai!

Mio was confused, but decided to go with it. “I can do that.” She took out her Kajiki Soul Chip and inserted it into her Kijuu Buster, after she had assembled it, of course.

Qiden Full Charge! Kajiki!

“Now it’s my turn.” Takumi took out a Soul Chip with a stylised G on it, inserting it into his new formation.

Go-Onger! Charge Up!

“Let’s finish this at Mach speed.”, Tora stated as he ran forward, the ground beneath him turning into a road, that pushed him forward. “Kousoku Jujizan!” (High Speed Cross Slash!)

Juu Sai Kiba Geki!

QidenTora delivered two slashes to Epithmeus, one vertical, the other horizontal, before QidenBlue pointed her weapon at it. “Qiden Super Final!” The blast hit the Frankenstein-esque creature, rendering it no more. “Your plan worked really well, Takumi-san.” She looked around, to see that she was the only one there. “Takumi-san?”, she asked, confused.

Elsewhere, Koga Tetsuya was wanted with questions from reporters as he walked to his office. “President Koga, any comment on Epithmeus’s failure? “Mister Koga, how do you intend to recover from this fiasco?” “President Koga, is it true that one of your men was detained by the police for trying to assault a high school girl.”

As Koga tried to worm out of these questions, Takumi looked on from the side. “Koga Tetsuya. He could be a danger to the Qidengers and their mission. I should deal with him.”

As the 4 Qidengers return from their retreat, the newly United team tries to find out what they can about their new ally. Takumi infiltrates Koga Konzern, where he discovers something terrible. Calam and Megaro strike back with a new plan. Next time, Revealed! Kijuu Tiger Appears! Look forward to it.

[Androzani84]

In the last chapter, Otonaru Mio was the only Qidenger left behind in Tokyo while the others left to train. She ended up catching the attention of the Koga Konzern, who discovered her identity and tried to blackmail him. When Koga’s secret weapon Epithmeus was hijacked by Voldos. The. The mysterious new warrior QidenTora appeared to defeat it. Who is he? What is he after?

“What’re you talking about?”, Mio asked. “He introduced himself as Tanjo Takumi and we met him two episodes beforehand. He said he was going to investigate Koga Konzern to make sure they weren’t a threat. I personally hope they aren’t, I don’t want another Basco situation.”

I’m thing to establish a mood here. I’m the one telling this story and making sure it’s up to snuff. I cna jsut as eesly tun thi sinto a stroy wih gramer on par with Mi Imotal. Or I could make it like that guy on fanfiction.net that makes his stories dialogue only with no

Mio: Ok, I’m sorry for killing the mood. Can we forgive and forget and move onto the main plot?

Fine, fine. We now join Koga Konzern President Koga Tetsuya in his office. He is pondering on the events that have recently occurred.

Koga reviewed footage of the recent battle, in which QidenTora had appeared and used similar abilities to those of the Engine Sentai Go-Onger to defeat his Epithmeus. He then reviewed footage of other recent appearances by the Qidenger in which they had used the abilities of Choudenshi Bioman and Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters. “The Qidengers are taking their notes from the previous groups of heroes, obviously.” He noted. “Not only will this galvanise their supporters against those fools I’m being paid good money to speak up for, but the fact Epithmeus was turned against us will really damage my company’s reputation.”

His secretary, an attractive young woman of about 30, dressed in a business suit, poked her head in the door. “President Koga, Professor Sakawa has arrived to speak to you.”, she stated.

“Show her in.”, Koga instructed, closing down his tab and turning off his computer screen. The woman he had been expecting, a young-looking woman in glasses and a labcoat, her hair in a ponytail, walked in and sat down. “You look younger than I expected, Miss Sakawa.”, he noted.

“I was a fast learner.”, was the woman’s answer to this. “Now then, I hear you have something that requires my services?”

“Yes.”, Koga said in response. “Sakawa Misa, an up and coming expert on studying exobiology and exo-technology. The Epithmeus project was made by cloning and reverse-engineering respectively, the remains of two creatures that attacked the Earth a few weeks ago. Now that Epithmeus has been destroyed…”

“…You plan to use the remains of the originals to construct a giant copy of the Epithmeus project.”, Sakawa Misa finished for him. “Don’t worry, I’m all too happy to work on your project.” She reached out her hand to shake, which was reciprocated.

“Welcome aboard, Sakawa-kun. If you’ll proceed to the hangar in this schematic, you can begin work soon.” Koga handed his newest employee said schematics and bid her leave.

When the woman left the room, she pulled a communicator out of her jacket pocket and spoke into it. “I’m in. The old fool bought my story hook, line and sinker. Now we can access the remains of VolKraken and Gatleander at will.”

Nearby, a few feet away from Koga’s main office, Takumi looked up at the building. “Koga Tetsuya.”, he mused. “You could be a real threat to the Qidengers with your knowledge and lack of scruples. Too bad for you that people like me are here to stop people like you.” He then took out the Go-Onger Soul Chip. “After all, why else would Earth’s heroes give me something like this.” He thought back to how he received the item as a man in a suit came after him.

It was twelve years ago. He had been caught up in an attack by a group of robots that looked cobbled together from junk (They were, but Takumi was too young and out of the loop to realise this.) They were led by a different robot that looked like a car crusher (A/N: Think of Boring Banki from GP 08). “Crush these puny humans down ‘til they can’t fight back bureru.”, the machine stated.

Before the machine creature could reach a young Takumi, it was shot back, as 5 voices called out “Go-On Cannonball!” The 5 Go-Ongers, those heroes that Takumi had heard people talking about lately. They then began battling the robots with their weapons.

All except for Go-On Red, who turned to him and sat down at his level. “Hey, you. I can’t say why, but some,thing”s telling me I should give you this.” He presented the young boy with a small medal-shaped item, bearing the Go-Onger logo. “Sorry I can’t stay, but I’ve got something to do.” The hero then stood up and resumed the fight. Takumi then walked away, in awe at his new acquisition.

Back in the present, a now-stripped-to-his-underwear guard lay on the floor, while Takumi put on his suit and walked into the building. “I was chosen to be a hero for a reason. And I’ll keep going until I find out what it is.”

At the airport, Mio greeted the 4 Qidengers returning from their retreat. “So, how was Kyushu?”, Mio asked. “Did any of you bring anything back for me?”

“Well, we did come away with this.”, Wataru held up the Kyuranger Soul Chip. “And for you, we got this.” Hibiki presented Mio with a commemorative keychain for the area they had visited in Kyushu.

“What about you, Nee-chan?”, Takuto asked. “What’s been happening while we were away?”

Mio smiled nervously. “Well, I’ve got good news and weird news. The good news is, we won’t have to deal with Epithmeus anymore, Voldos took control of it and it was destroyed.”

The other Qidengers celebrated this, especially Kamijo. “Perhaps this should teach the Koga Konzern not to put all their eggs in one basket. How did you handle it Mio?”, he asked.

“It wasn’t me.”, was Mio’s response. Everyone took note of how unusually serious she was, drawing their attention. “It was someone calling himself Tanjo Takumi.”

Hibiki and Wataru were even more surprised to hear this. “Tanjo Takumi?”, the former noted. “The man who was living with Hiroshi-kun? He’s a Qidenger?”

“He had that KijuuSlasher we lost a while back.”, Mio stated. “And the Tiger Soul Chip that came with it.”

“And he wasn’t showing any signs of mutating into a monster, like Kyosuke?”, Wataru pondered. “Interesting. We should try and find him to bring him into our confidence.”

“Good idea.”, Takuto nodded. “Let’s go.”

At the Voldos Fortress, Calam and Megaro prepared to set off. “That annoying QidenTora may have stopped us last time, but he won’t this time.” Calam stabbed his sword into the ground. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“Oh will you?” Calam turned to see Moboroshina and Gelashi standing at the entrance. “Need I remind you how badly he beat you down in your last encounter?”, the former noted. “I barely trust you to lead a parade.”

“And yet, you’re still letting me carry out my plan.”, Calam responded cockily. “Probably because you can still trust me to carry it out.”

“On the contrary.”, Gelashi countered. “You’re only being allowed to go through with this plan because I’ve been assigned to take charge of it. No doubt as a response to my near success in Kyushu, I assume?”

“You assume correctly.”, Moboroshina nodded. “I would normally put Oomikaoo in the position, but he’s vanished somewhere. But be warned. If you fail as well, I won’t hesitate to inflict the same punishment on you as I will to the the others.” She turned around and left the three Generals to themselves.

“Oh sure. She thinks she can just go ahead and force the three of us to work together for her benefit.”, Megaro said in an unusually agrressive tone, which shocked the other two. “Well, I’m not going out in the field again. I don’t want that QidenTora guy damaging me again.”

“That sounds good.”, Gelashi stated. “Can I still depend on you to fire the revival beam?” This left both Megaro and Calam shocked. “That’s right, I looked over the outline of your plan. Create a giant Epithmeus under our control and then use a weaker version of the revival beams we use on our monsters to bring back VolKraken and Gatleander from the leftover limbs. An ingenious plan, if I must say so.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll operate the growth beam.”, Megaro responded dismissively. “Just give me the signal and I’ll fire.”

“Good.”, Gelashi nodded. “Though I will be making some changes to the plan.”

In the hangar of one of Koga Konzern’s warehouses, the woman calling herself Sakawa Misa was directing a team of workers in assembling a new Epithmeus from the remains of the original monsters. The operator working the crane banged one of the arms into the side of the giant body, infuriating “Sakawa”. “Be careful.”, she snapped. “These items are fragile. Do you want to accomplish what the Qidengers couldn’t?”

“I’m sorry.”, the operator radioed as he corrected his blunder and placed the arm in its intended area. “Construction complete, ma’am.”

“Good work people.”, the supervisor said to all the people who gave a sigh of relief. “Now we need to turn it over to the main department in charge of powering the Cannon.”

“Oh don’t worry.”, “Sakawa” said with a devious grin. “I can handle that myself. As for you,” she threw off her disguise, revealing Dimayta underneath “I’ve got a metamorphosis coming up and need life energy to fuel it.” She transformed into her monster form and unleashed tendrils from her mouth, grabbing everyone and reducing them to nothing but clothes. Her skin began to form cracks. “Oh yes, I’ve begun to change.” She then reverted to her human form and pulled out her communicator again. “The humans have been taken care of and the giant Epithmeus has been secured. You can come in now.”

Calam and Gelashi warped into the room as a man in a suit poked his head in through the door and placed himself against the wall. “Those foolish humans.”, Calam laughed. “They built this thing under my plans and played right into my hand.”

“Under ‘your’ supervision?”, Dimayta said with some annoyance. “You’re lucky I haven’t metamorphosed yet, or…”, she thought before responding to her superior. “And the remains are over there, waiting for the revival beams to resurrect them.”

“But first, I’d like to add my own touch to this ‘Epithmeus’.”, Gelashi pulled out a small sample of Gamma Sterilium. “All I need to do to bring my latest creation to life is have this mixed with a little personal touch.” She took out a ball of the same energy she used to create her demonic gelato and threw it into the mouth of Epithmeus, after merging it with the ore. “Now, Epithmeus. Revive with the powerful grudges of two defeated warriors of Voldos, use their anger to evolve and become a new creature of destruction!”

The eyes of the giant monstrosity burst into life, with it’s skin becoming purple, it’s cybernetics becoming grey and a large crystal emerging from its back. It then proceeded to break free from its scaffolding and rampage, destroying the building. “Now we just need to revive the two monsters that created it from the remains.”, Dimayta pointed out. She spoke into her communicator. “Megaro, fire the revival beam.”

In his lab, Megaro went over to the machine. “‘Fire the revival beam’, she says. Well if the lady wants it, the lady gets it.” He pulled the lever up and down twice, firing two beams at the specified location.

Giant copies of VolKraken and Gatleander were formed from their remnants. “Now go!”, Gelashi declared. “Join your child in destroying the humans who treated your body poorly. And the Qidengers who defeated you before.” The two monsters roared as they emerged from the building and began causing more destruction.

“That’s far enough, Voldos.” All three turned to the source of the voice. It was the man in the suit, who promptly took off his glasses to reveal Takumi. “I’m here to stop your plans.”

“You?”, Gelashi questioned. She had never seen him before. “Who are you?” Calam realised she was making a mistake and tried to dissuade her, to no avail.”

“Me?”, Takumi asked as he took out his KijuuSlasher and held it in his right hand. “I’m the latest threat to your attempts to take over the Earth.” He took out his Tiger Soul Chip and inserted it into his KijuuSlasher. “Kijuu Change!” He pressed a trigger, causing the grip to close onto his hand. Denchaku! Doubutsu no Kiba! In a flash, Takumi was transformed. “The Fast, Ferocious Warrior! QidenTora!”

Gelashi smirked at this. “So, you’re QidenTora, eh? This should be fun.” She brandished her claws and ran towards her new enemy, engaging him in battle.

Down on the streets, the main 5 Qidengers were shocked to see a familiar creature standing above them. “That’s the dragon from the first time we met each other.”, Wataru realised.

“I thought Takuto destroyed him?”, Kamijo said with confusion.

“That’s not the only familiar face we already beat.”, Takuto pointed out, as the revived Gatleander also towered overhead. “It’s that robot that unleashed the virus onto the city.” He took out his JuuKeitai and called the old man. “Oji-san, are you seeing this?”

“I am.”, came the response. “Everyone, transform. Now!”

“Okay.”, everyone said in unison. They took out their JuuKeitais and inserted their Soul Chips. “Kijuu Henge!”

Shishi! Kame! Falcon! Kajiki! Jaguar! Doubutsu Gashin!

After they were transformed, QidenRed activated the summoning function. “Hōhei Kijuu Gattai!”

Lion! Tortoise! Falcon! Swordfish! Jaguar! Complete Formation!

The 5 Kijuu appeared and merged into one. “Kanzen KijuuOh, linkup complete!” The robot went into battle, hitting both monsters with its sword. Gatleander proceeded to fire its weapons at the robot, which it blocked with its shield. KijuuPh then used its sword to block VolKraken’s claws and knock it into Gatleander, knocking both of them down.

“Let’s finish this.”, Yellow stated.

But before it could launch an attack, KijuuOh was blown backwards with a powerful energy shot, as the Kanjin Epithmeus stood before them, with its two progenitors rising from the ground to do battle. “Unforgivable! Destroy! Qidenger!”, the creature growled.

“That looks like the Epithmeus.”, Pink realised. “Mio-chan, you said it was destroyed.”

“It was.”, Blue answered. “But it looks different now. It’s got a crystal on his back. Who knows what it can do with it?” That question was soon answered when the Kanjin Epithmeus unleashed its cannon fire once more. Kanzen KijuuOh tried to block off the shot, only to find its shield insufficient to tank the shot. “The crystal is powering its Cannon.”, Blue realised. “Before, it could only fire one shot at a time.”

The three monsters proceeded to combine their beams, hitting KijuuOh with enough force to knock it into Kijuu Lion Warrior Mode and the 4 individual Kijuu. “We’re not done yet.”, Red stated as he charged at the monsters to continue fighting.

In the ruins of the hangar, QidenTora continued to fight Gelashi, blocking all of her hits with his Slasher Gauntlet and hitting her back with his Kijuu Caliber. “Oh screw this.”, Calam decided. “I’m getting in there.” He summoned his sword and ran into the battle.

“Oh no you don’t.”, Tora commented, spinning and delivering a kick to the General, before running forward to slash Dimayta back.

However, she vanished before he could land a hit. “As much fun as it would be to fight you, I’ve begun to metamorphose and need to rest up for a while. Until then.” Her voice echoed.

Tora initially seemed annoyed at this, but soon composed himself. “So, that only leaves you two for me to deal with.”, he said to Gelashi and Calam, taking out his Go-Onger Soul Chip. “I’ll finish you at mach speed.” He inserted the Go-Onger Chip into his Kijuu Caliber.

Qiden Charge! Go-On!

“Mach Jugekiha(Beast Break)!” QidenTora unleashed a slash that turned into an astral projection of a robot tiger, which slammed into the two Generals, knocking them back. When the dust settled, both were gone. “I guess I sent them running.”, he noted. He then turned and saw the mayhem in the city, with Kijuu Lion being savagely assaulted by all three enemies. “Time for me to get in there.”, he decided. He unfolded part of his gauntlet to reveal a set of 4 numbered buttons. He pressed number 1. “Now come, Kijuu Tiger!”

Kijuu Tiger!

A robotic tiger was projected from the KijuuSlasher, enlarging to a size comparable to the other Kijuu. The robot proceeded to charge towards the scene of the battle, guided by remote commands from QidenTora. “Alright, let’s go.”, he stated.

In the battle, just as Kijuu Lion was about to be taken down for the count, the three enemies were shot back. “What the?”, QidenRed asked as he saw this. Kijuu Lion stood up to see Kijuu Tiger running forward.

“Is that… a new Kijuu?”, Pink asked.

“It might be QidenTora’s.”, Yellow mused.

Kijuu Tiger leapt at Gatleander with massive force, damaging it to the point of destruction. “I’ve evened the playing field.”, the voice of QidenTora appeared over their communcator. “Now stand up and fight.”

“Okay.” As Kijuu Lion stood up, QidenTora pressed button number 2 on his gauntlet.

Tiger Fight! The tiger robot stood upright on its front legs, with the hind legs folding backwards to form arms and the tiger head folding upwards to create a chest plate. The tail disconnected and flew into the arms as a gun, while a humanoid head emerged from the tiger head.

“Kijuu Tiger, Bujin Henkei complete!”

The 4 auxiliary Kijuu recombined with Kijuu Lion. Both robots stood against the two opponents, with KijuuOh going into battle with Gatleander, while Kijuu Tiger faced Epithmeus. Every movement, Tora made, the robot matched note for note. Finally, he provoked Epithmeus into using its Cannon, a move that required it to stand still and leave itself open. QidenTora pressed button 4 on his gauntlet.

Tiger Stardust!

“Stri-Buster!” QidenTora aimed at Epithmeus and fired, with Kijuu Tiger doing the same thing. The beam hit Epithmeus, vaporising it’s flesh and robotics and causing the crystal to shatter into several black-coloured frag,ents that fell to the ground. “Try to reconstruct something from that, Koga.”, he commented.

To the side, KijuuOh managed to knock Gatleander against the wall and prepared its finisher. “KijuuOh Final End!” The robot launched its sphere and kicked it at Gatleander, destroying it once more.

“Thanks for your help, QidenTora.”, Red radioed. “But there was no response and the new hero had disappeared with his Kijuu. “QidenTora?”

“Takumi-san.”, Blue thought. “Just what are you after?”

In his office, Koga reviewed footage of Takumi transforming into QidenTora. “As far as I’ve found, you don’t have any records.”, Koga stated. “But I’ve got this footage, and from it, your face, QidenTora. It will only be a matter of time before I find you and make you pay for ruining our operation.” He turned off his computer and picked up his phone, dialling a number.

In his dimension, Kagami was musing on the recent events. “So, old man. You’ve brought a new player to the game that you can’t control. How amusing.” He giggled at this. “I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes next.”

At the old man’s house, Rin the housekeeper called someone on her phone. “Yes, you’re sure you can come by soon? That’s good to hear, darling. I’m looking forward to seeing you soon.”

The old man decides to allow Takumi to continue using the KijuuSlasher. However, Kamijo Ryosuke doesn’t approve of this, intending to find QidenTora and take back his transformation item. When Oomikaoo begins attacking holy men with a new Vorjuu, Kamijo and Takumi must work together. Look forward to “Ultimate Tag! Protect the Holy Men!”

[Androzani84]

My new chapter is out. “Ultimate Tag! Protect the Holy Men!”

At his mansion, the old man was talking with Kamijo about recent developments. “So, you are going to strip Tanjo Takumi of the KijuuSlasher, right?”, the latter asked.

The old man shook his head. “I don’t think so. He has done an exemplary job with the powers of QidenTora so far. Plus, he has proven to have a strong compatibility with the tiger, which would make it hard to find a replacement.”

“You can’t be serious, Oji-san.”, Kamijo exclaimed. “You’re going to let a rank amateur walk around with a device that isn’t even his?”

“I allow Takuto and the others to do the same.”, was the old man’s counter-argument. Kamijo, angry at hearing this, stormed out.

At the Voldos Fortress, Oomikaoo walked back through the door. “Well, look who decided to show up after all this time?”, Calam sneered. “Where were you when QidenTora dismantled our operations? Huh?”

“Calam!”, the voice of Queen Moboroshina bellowed. “Know your place. Now then, our warrior. What took away so much of your attention recently?”

“I was trying to discover a way to restore my memories.”, Oomikaoo said in response. “And I found one. I merely need to gather the essence of 5 holy men and create a new Soul Chip from that, before infusing myself with its energy.”

Calam seemed to perk up when he heard this. “Well in that case, I think I have the perfect Vorjuu to carry out this job.” He slammed his sword into the ground. “Come on, VolGagoze!” A new Vorjuu, sporting a deformed face and wearing tattered clothing similar to that of a Shinto monk, entered the chamber, crouched on all fours. “This creature can detect pure souls and absorb their essence for sustenance.”

“Good.”, Oomikaoo nodded. “He’s perfect for my task.”

The next day, Takumi, still staying at the Miyashita household, woke up, looking at the morning newspaper. “‘Two Holy Men Attacked in Savage Assault Last Night’?”, he said in shock.

“Yes, it was really surprising.”, Mrs. Miyashita nodded. “Two people who’d done invaluable services in the Kanagawa Prefecture for their communities both attacked. Who’d do such a thing?”

“I might have a few ideas.”, Takumi thought. After finishing his breakfast, he headed out, making for Kanagawa.

And at Kanagawa, Takuto and Mio were at a wedding, as guests to the former’s cousin Taiga and her fiancé Gakuto. “It’s nice to be able to get some downtime.”, Mio said with exuberance.

“Indeed.”, Takuto nodded. “Cousin Taiga gets married and we can just watch, assured that nothing will happen.”

As if on cue, VolGagoze burst in through the roof, leaping at the priest while the couple were reading their vows. He knocked the man down and began sucking at his target. The other guests chose that moment to run away. But Takuto and Mio merely chose to pull out their JuuKeitais and transform. “Doubutsu Henge!”

As VolGagoze finished sucking part of the essence from his victim, he was shot back by QidenRed and QidenBlue. “Did you have to crash a wedding while we were here?”, Blue asked.

“I don’t think he knew about us being invited as guests.”, Red commented. “Too bad for him, because we’re about to finish him off.”

But before either of them could take a shot at the monster, they were knocked back by a sword slash. The one who had hit them was Oomikaoo. “I won’t let you interfere with my operation, Qidengers.”, he stated. “VolGagoze, go.” The monster nodded nervously and leapt out of the church. “Now then, I shall deal with you.” He charged towards the two heroes, proceeding to slash at them with his sword.

As VolGagoze leapt out onto the street, QidenTora was standing in front of him. “I guessed you would go after this one next.”, he stated, brandishing his Juu Sai. “I’m going to stop you here and now.”

He began running towards the monster, only to be blocked by Calam. “I’m not going to let you go without a rematch, QidenTora.”, Calam growled, brandishing his sword. “Come at me.”

“Very well then.”, QidenTora stated, preparing his Juu Sai. Then he saw a figure leap over his head. “What the?”

It was QidenBlack. “I’ll take care of Calam.”, he stated as he pulled out his Kijuu Caliber and slashed at the enemy general.

“Oh no, you don’t.”, Calam used his sword to zap Tora with lightning, before running forward and slashing at him, knocking him down.

“Okay, you asked for it.”, QidenTora growled angrily. He turned around and delivered a slash to Calam, before kicking him back. Black proceeded to slash and kick Calam back towards QidenTora, who proceeded to kick the general aside. QidenTora then turned around to confront VolGagoze, only to see nothing. “It’s gone.”

Black tutted at this. “Well well, looks like you’re not such a hotshot after all, if you let that thing get away.”

“Me?”, QidenTora responded with an angry tone. “I didn’t tell you to join me in a fight with Calam that HE requested be with me alone, you could’ve stopped that thing.” He then turned around and leapt away, thinking about his next course of action. “I’d better find a way to lure that thing into a trap.”

Inside the church, Oomikaoo’s next attack hit the two Qidengers with enough force to knock them out of their transformed state, though QidenBlue took the brunt of the hit. “Fools. You should realise that I am the strongest warrior in Voldos. You cannot defeat me.” He then got a good look at Mio’s face, causing a flash of recognition to appear in his mind. He quickly recovered. “I’ll let you live for now. I have other business to attend to.” He turned around and warped away.

“Wait…”, Mio wheezed as she reached out. She then saw that Takuto had fallen unconscious. “Big bro!”, she said in a panic, shaking him frantically. “Wake up. Big Bro!”

Later, at the mansion, the old man was admonishing Kamijo for his actions during the prior fight. “What were you thinking?”, he yelled.

“I thought… I should take care of Calam while QidenTora dealt with the Vorjuu.”, Kamijo tried to defend himself.

“Except that Calam and QidenTora were already fighting each other.”, Wataru pointed out. “You should’ve taken the opportunity to intercept the Vorjuu before it could continue its attack.”

“Instead, you chose to prove that QidenTora wasn’t worthy by fighting the same opponent as him, with the intention of ‘outdoing him’.”, the old man continued. “Your petty animosity allowed the Vorjuu to attack another victim in the interim.”

Kamijo realised his mistake, thanks to the chiding given to him. “I’m sorry. I won’t let it happen again.”

It was then that Mio and Hibiki came in. “How’s Takuto doing?”, Wataru asked.

“He should be fine, with a little rest.”, Hibiki answered.

“Never mind that now.”, Mio said. “What matters for now is that we stop this Vorjuu before he can do anymore damage.”

Wataru stepped forward. “But how are we supposed to do that? We have no leads on where he’s going to strike next.”

As if on cue, a call came in on Hibiki’s JuuKeitai. It was Takumi. “Qidengers, I’ve figured out the pattern in the Vorjuu’s victims. He’ll be going after another holy man soon enough. When he does, I’ll be there, waiting for him. Here’s the place I’ll be springing my trap.” A series of numbers were projected into the air. “Meet me there in 30 minutes.” The message ended there.

“That’s another address in Kanagawa.”, Wataru realised. “It’s a few blocks away from that Church. We should get going if we’re helping Takumi stop him.”

However, Kamijo stuck his hand out in front of them. “No. I allowed the Vorjuu to escape before because of my mistrust of QidenTora. I’m going in first to make up for that mistake.”

Everyone seemed confused, but the old man nodded in approval. “You have realised how you failed before and pledged to improve. Go now, before it’s too late.”

In the house at the location given in the coordinates, Oomikaoo, Megaro and VolGagoze warped into the living room, where a man in a bathrobe was sitting with his face away from them. “This is almost too easy.”, Megaro stated. “Once we take this ol fool’s essence, I can combine it with the other 4 to create a new Soul Chip for your purposes, Oomikaoo.”

“Indeed.”, was Oomikaoo’s response. “It amazes me how easily you took to following my mission, Megaro. I never took you for the ‘take-action’ type.”

“Let’s just say I’ve felt some changes recently.”, Megaro nodded. “Now then, let’s get this guy now.”

“Not so fast.” The man stood up and threw his bathrobe off, revealing Takumi. “I sent the real target away and took his place so I could intercept you and thwart your plan here and now.”

“Why you…!”, Oomikaoo growled, brandishing his sword. But before he could do anything, VolGagoze sniffed at the air, and snorted, sucking in glowing energy. “Of course, the essence can still be here, even if the one it belongs to isn’t.”

VolGagoze sucked up the essence and then Megaro turned his latest device on the Vorjuu. “This should make you cough up the gold.” Sure enough, VolGagoze soon coughed up a Soul Chip, that instead of an animal, featured a blank space. “We have what we need, so let’s use it.” He reached down to pick it up.

“I’ll take that.”, Kamijo leapt in and grabbed the Soul Chip, landing next to Takumi. “Sorry for not being more helpful earlier.”, he said. “I should’ve taken care of VolGagoze instead of trying to upstage you.”

“Is that what you were doing?”, Takumi asked. “I just appreciated that I had some help at the time and didn’t even consider getting mad until I saw that VolGagoze had wandered off.”

Oomikaoo on the other hand, was still angry at the two. “You cur. That Soul Chip is mine. I need it’s power.”

“You want its power, eh?”, Kamijo said slyly. “Shall we, Takumi-san?”

“Indeed we shall, Kamijo-san.”, Takumi nodded. Both took out their transformation devices, inserted their Soul Chips and did their poses. “Kijuu Change!”

“Kijuu Henge!”

Denchaku!

Doubutsu Gashin!

The two transformed into QidenBlack and QidenTora, with the former loading the new Soul Chip into his Kijuu Magnum and pointing at Oomikaoo. “I’ll let you have this power.”

Qiden Special Charge!

Kamijo fired the beam at Oomikaoo. But instead of an explosion, he was surrounded with light and collapsed, clutching his head. A human briefly appeared within the silhouette, but he vanished along with the light when the blast subsided. “What was that?”, Kamijo asked.

“My memories.”, Oomikaoo stated. “I remember everything.” He then warped out by himself, to everyone’s confusion.

Megaro however was undeterred. “I guess it falls to me to destroy you Qidengers.” He zapped his two enemies with lightning from his hand, blowing them out the window.

The two fell out onto the street outside, with Megaro and VolGagoze joining them. “He seems tougher somehow.”, Black noted as he recovered.

“Yeah.”, QidenTora nodded in agreement. “Last time I faced him, it took one hit to take him out. Evidently, something’s changed.”

“Take this.”, Megaro fired his fist at the two, with them narrowly dodging. “I’ll do what the others couldn’t and take you out here and now.” He charged forward, engaging QidenTora in hand to hand.

“I’ll handle the Vorjuu.”, Black insisted, using his Kijuu Caliber to slash VolGagoze back. When it tried leaping at him, he kicked it to the ground.

“Black, finish it.” QidenTora removed his KijuuSlasher and threw it to his ally, before resuming the battle with his Kijuu Slasher.

“Thanks.”, Black caught the KijuuSlasher, combined it with his Kijuu Caliber and entered his Soul Chip.

Tortoise, Charge Up!

“Qiden Hyper Fever!” Black swung his borrowed weapon around before bringing it down on VolGagoze, destroying it.

“That won’t stop it for long, remember?”, Megaro laughed. “And I’ve made some improvements.” The usual laser fired down, reviving VolGagoze as a giant. “Not only can I have the enlargement beam activate remotely, but there are other surprises in store.”

QidenTora caught his KijuuSlasher, equipping it once more. “I’ll handle this one.” He opened the secondary panel and pressed button 1.

Kijuu Tiger!

The robotic giant manifested from within the gauntlet, engaging the giant Vorjuu. After delivering a slash, VolGagoze’s skin fell away, revealing a completely different creature, which resembled a shark and a dragon. “I included a DNA randomisation feature in the upgrades to the laser.”, Megaro stated as he once more zapped Black down, with the mutated VolGagoze doing likewise to Kijuu Tiger. “You can’t possibly anticipate what will be your opponent.”

“Maybe not.”, QidenTora said in response. “But I can still fight it off.” He pressed button 2 on his panel. “Kijuu Tiger, Bujin Henge!”

Tiger Fight! Kijuu Tiger assumed its humanoid form, and began grappling with the mutant, managing to punch it back, while super speeding out of the way of its blasts. It then zoomed in and shot the enemy at point blank range, blowing it onto its back. QidenTora then aimed his KijuuSlasher at the mutant and pressed button 4. Tiger Stardust!

“Stri-Buster!” QidenTora had Kijuu Tiger fire its laser weapon at full power, totally vaporising the Vorjuu. “Another job well done.”

Megaro punched QidenBlack once more. “You fool. I’m much stronger than a standard human. It would take more than one of you to defeat me.”

“Qiden Powered Shot!” Megaro was knocked back by a series of blasts from behind. He turned around to see QidenPink, QidenBlue and QidenYellow standing behind him.

“Your fate ends here, Megaro.”, Yellow stated.

“Curse you.”, Megaro fumed. “I’ll deal with you Qidengers next time.” He then proceeded to teleport away.

“Geez. He got away.”, Blue bemoaned.

Pink comforted her. “Don’t worry, there’s always next time. Anyway, Kamijo-san, nice job taking on that Vorjuu on your own.”

“Oh, I wasn’t entirely alone.”, Black shrugged. He turned around to indicate his partner. “Thanks for your help…”. But QidenTora was gone. “Takumi-san?”

At the Voldos Fortress, Oomikaoo stumbled through the corridors. “Where are you? Where are you hiding?”, he yelled. “SHOW YOURSELF, COWARD!”

“What’s with the noise?”, Gelashi asked as she came out of one of the rooms.

“I know he’s here.”, Oomikaoo growled. “He’s always been here, hiding out from everyone. But I’m going to find him.”

Gelashi was confused. “Who is this ‘he’?”

Oomikaoo didn’t answer. “Come out and face me! Stop hiding like a coward.” As if on cue, he suddenly vanished from the hallway, to Gelashi’s confusion.

Oomikaoo ended up in a realm of black smoke, facing down the being Moboroshina knew as Kagami. But Oomikaoo had been freed from the clouds surrounding his mind. He could see the true being in the mirror. “So, this is where you’ve hidden yourself away, Mairak!”

To cripple humanity, Megaro creates a new Bukikai, capable of making the food of Earth indigestible to humans. Things get worse for the Qidengers when Gelashi uses this chaos to create a new Kanjin from a hungry baker’s daughter, Usaka Fuuka. Look forward to “Hungry! Earth’s Greatest Crisis!”

[Androzani84]

Chapter 12 is here.

Hibiki decided to visit a French style patisserie. She felt that with everyone on edge with Voldos stepping up their attacks, she should try and do something to cheer them up. “Hello?”, she asked, ringing the bell on the counter for service.

“Welcome to the Mabayuki Patisserie.”, a young woman, red-haired with her hair in twin ponytails, exited the back room. “What would you like to…?” The woman suddenly stopped when she noticed who her latest potential customer was. “Komaki Hibiki-chan? From year two of middle school? It’s me, Usaka Fuuka.”

Hibiki was momentarily shocked, before having a moment of recognition. “Ah, Usaka-chan. It’s been a while since we met up with each other.”

“Yeah, the reunion last year.”, Fuuka nodded. “Now then, what can I do for an old friend?”

“I was looking to order a cake for some friends of mine.”, Hibiki said in response. She then remembered something from their school days. “Did you ever get over your eating problems? Back in school, it seemed like you couldn’t stop eating unless Sensei made you.”

“Oh, I’ve got that under control.”, Fuuka claimed. “It’s barely a problem anymore.” But as she wrote down the order being placed, she rubbed some frosting off a cupcake, licking it. “Just leave us your address. My boss’s forward you the bill later.”

“Okay.”, Hibiki wrote down her address, before leaving the patisserie.

In the city, Megaro was standing there with a new Bukikai. This one was adorned with a belt of red-coloured grenades, with black pins. It also possessed a brown armour and a bulkier body, though the head was identical to that of Gatleander. “You have your mission, ArtilleRosary.”, he stated. “Get down to business.” The robot nodded, taking one of the “grenades” from its bandolier and throwing it through the air. It landed near a green grocers, releasing a gas that entered the food. “Now, I just have to sit back and wait.”

“Megaro-chan.” Megaro turned around to see Gelashi approaching him. “Did you think that I wouldn’t notice you leaving on an unauthorised mission? What are you up to?”

“I suppose I should tell you.”, Megaro sighed. “Humans are dependent on foodstuffs in order to maintain their energy levels and continue to function. My latest Bukikai is designed to exploit that by adding an element to their food that makes them inedible. Unable to eat, the humans will starve to death within days.” He then pushed his ally away. “Now, will you get out of the way? I’m working here.”

“You do that.”, Gelashi nodded, a plan devising in her head. “Meanwhile, I think I can use your plan as a launchpad for my own. Some people want to constantly eat, even if there isn’t a Bukikai-induced famine spreading. Their greed will be amplified by this.” She walked off, relishing the prospect of getting another negative emotional energy.

The next day, Kamijo was sat in the mansion, observing the newspaper. “That’s odd.”, he noted. “All the food people buy seems to be inedible.”

“That surely isn’t normal.”, the elderly caretaker Rin commented. “Someone must be behind it.”

“Yes.”, Kamijo realised. He darted from the room, taking out his JuuKeitai and calling everyone he could. “Has anyone else caught on that…?”

“All the food is turning to rubber?”, came Wataru’s voice. “It’s pretty noticeable.”

“Big Bro and I haven’t been able to get so much as a crumb eaten today.”, was Mio’s response.

Hibiki was the last to reply. “And I was going to order us a cake. We’ll have to resolve this quickly so I don’t lose my money for nothing.”

“Okay.”, Takuto’s voice came over the phone. “Let’s meet up to try and find what Voldos are up to this time.”

At the top of the largest skyscraper in Shinjuku, ArtilleRosary laughed at the people below, scrabbling for food and resorting to beating each other up. “So, you’re the cause of all this.” The Bukikai turned around to see Tanjo Takumi standing behind him. “You’ve inserted something into the food supply, something that makes it so people are unable to eat anything. Well I’m here to stop you.” The robot’s eyes glowed red as it threw another of its ‘grenades’ at its enemy, narrowly missing as it exploded. “Kijuu Change!”

Denchaku! Doubutsu no Kiba!

Now transformed, QidenTora locked his Juu Sai with a sword that the robot deployed, with the two proceeding to slash at each other. Tora then delivered a kick to ArtilleRosary’s chest, knocking the bottom half of the robot back. “Kay, time to finish this.” He then took out his Go-Onger Soul Chip and inserted it into his Juu Sai.

Go-Onger! Charge Up!

“Mach Jugekiha!” QidenTora advanced in a manner similar to Go-On Red’s Saber Straight attack, only for ArtilleRosary to leap out of the way and only suffer some mild damage to one of his arms. “He got away. But I’ll get him next time.”

At the patisserie Hibiki visited earlier, Fuuka was clawing at most of the food, much to the concern of her manager, Madame Cuirbien. Said boss wasn’t actually French, but she adopted the mannerisms in order to increase her business. “Madamoiselle, we do not try to eat our own products if we wish to sell them.”

“I need to eat.”, Fuuka said, almost ravenous from hunger. “If I can’t get something in my stomach soon, I think I’m going to faint.”

“So, you want to eat something?” It was at that point a smell filled the air. Fuuka looked over to see a woman in the apparel of an ice cream seller, holding a bowl of what looked like strawberry ice cream. “How about I give you some of my product, on the house?”

“Eh?”, was Madame Cuirbien’s reaction. “Who are you? How did you enter my bakery when we are closed?”

The woman ignored her, instead continuing to hold the bowl in front of Fuuka. “Well, what do you say? Don’t worry, it’s perfectly edible.”

Fuuka grabbed the bowl and began wolfing down the ice cream, not bothering to use the spoon. “Oh my god, this is pretty good.”, she said as she continued to eat. After eating practically the whole bowl, Usaka Fuuka dropped the bowl, convulsing in pain as her hands and face began to cover themselves in fur. Her mouth began to grow a buck tooth as her two ponytails pointed upwards and transformed into rabbit-like ears resembling baguettes. With that, the magic trick was complete. Usaka Fuuka was gone, replaced with a humanoid rabbit woman, wearing the same clothes, bearing some resemblance to a shortcake, with one thing on her mind. “Hungry.”, the creature growled.

“Don’t worry, my Gluten Rabbit-chan.”, Gelashi, now transforming back into her true form, put her hand on the monster’ shoulder. “You’ll be able to eat to your heart’s content and beyond.”

Madame Cuirbien backed away in fear as Gluten Rabbit began grabbing the food off the shelves and stuffing it into her mouth. “Non, don’t hurt me.”, she begged. “I’m your boss.”

Gluten Rabbit turned to her former employer with hunger on her face. She grabbed the larger woman and stuffed her into her mouth in one motion, swallowing her whole. “Hungry!” Her chef’s apron began to split open, exposing a chest resembling a muffin with frosting.

“The more you eat, the stronger you become.”, Gelashi stated. “Now, I’ve got a 5 course meal waiting for you.”

In an alleyway, Megaro was working on repairs to ArtilleRosary. “Hold still.”, he snapped. “I can’t fix you if you fight me.”

“Hold it right there.” Megaro and his Bukikai turned around to see the 5 main Qidengers approaching them. “So you’re the one poisoning the city’s food supply.”, Takuto stated. “Well, that ends here.”

Megaro fumed at this. “I didn’t think you’d show up so quickly to defeat me, Qidengers.” He raised his arms, summoning a group of Vordorons. “Get them.”

“Kijuu Henge!” The 5 knocked the Vordorons away as they initiated their own transformations.

Shishi! Kame! Falcon! Kajiki! Jaguar! Doubutsu Gashin!

The 5 newly-transformed Qidengers used their weapons to knock down some Vordorons, along with some punching and kicking moves. “Now then, let’s take down this Bukikai.”, QidenRed stated.

“Hungry!” The fighting stopped as the Gluten Rabbit leapt down from a skyscraper, running towards ArtilleRosary. It grabbed the Bukikai and began chomping on its chest, causing it to let out an electronic howl of pain. Eventually, the robot fell prone, the life fading from its eyes as Gluten Rabbit continued to eat its body.

“Ugh, that’s disgusting.”, QidenBlue said, covering her eyes.

“It must be a new Kanjin.”, QidenBlack stated. “No Vorjuu would do this kind of thing.”

“That means some poor person gave into negative emotions.”, QidenPink said sadly. She then drew her Kijuu Magnum. “We’ll just have to save them.”

From the side, Megaro observed the situation. “That damn Gelashi. She used my plan to help her own ambitions. I’ll get even with her later.” He then teleported out.

“Hungry!”, Gluten Rabbit yelled once more as it bounced up and down, creating a shockwave that sent most of the Qidengers spinning backward. However, QidenPink and QidenYellow were able to keep standing, aiming their firearms at her and inserting their specific Soul Chips.

Qiden Charge! Buster! Kyu!

“Qiden Deletion Shot!”

“Qiden All-Star Break!”

The two attacks hit Gluten Rabbit directly, surrounding her with flames. Flames which cleared to reveal Usaka Fuuka, who was somewhat exhausted. “What happened?”, she asked. “Where am I?”

“Usaka-chan?”, Pink said in shock as she reverted back to Hibiki. “You’re the Kanjin?” She then had a realisation. “Your eating problem. You didn’t get over it, did you?”

“I am trying.”, Fuuka pleaded. “It’s just that with the food becoming inedible, I really needed to eat. I couldn’t help myself.” She then keeled over in pain, transforming back into the Gluten Rabbit. “Hungry!”

“Hibiki, get back!”, Black pushed Hibiki out of the way, before he was grabbed and devoured.

Blue then leapt into the fray, hitting the Kanjin with her Kijuu Caliber several times. But the monster simply took every hit, laughing. “What? It’s like it’s shrugging off my attacks.”, she exclaimed.

“Of course it is.”, Gelashi stated, as she warped into the area. “Gluten Rabbit becomes much harder to defeat the more it consumes. It also increases in size to the point that it will eventually grow on its own. And then, any people it has consumed will become new Gluten Rabbits, who will join their mother in consuming the Earth.”

“Hungry!” Gluten Rabbit then grabbed QidenBlue, stuffing her into her mouth and growing even fatter and taller.

“We need to withdraw.”, QidenRed stated. QidenYellow then threw down a smoke bomb he had created, allowing the three to make an exit undetected.

“Leave them.”, Gelashi said to her creation. “For now, gorge yourself on other entrees at the local supermarket.”

At the Voldos Fortress, Megaro stumbled into his private lab. “Curse that Gelashi.”, he fumed. “The first chance I get, I’ll get my revenge.” He then saw a portal appear before him, from which the figure of Oomikaoo flew out, crashing unconscious into the wall. “Oomikaoo! What’re you doing here?”

“I sent him there.” Oomikaoo turned to see that beyond the portal was a figure, surrounded by black fog. “He has been damaged by his previous battle with the Qidengers. I have been able to fix his mind, but his body will need to be passed on to someone else for repairs. Can I entrust you with this task?”

“Yessir.”, Megaro nodded as the vision vanished. “Now then, Omikaoo. What can I do to upgrade you into a stronger warrior?”

Down on Earth, the three remaining Qidengers reviewed footage of Gluten Rabbit tearing her way through a supermarket, devouring the customers as much as she did the produce. “It’s no good.”, Takuto fumed, knocking some papers off the table. “There’s no indication of anything we can do to slow her down.”

“Not even eating everything in that supermarket could slow her down.”, Hibiki lamented.

It was then that Wataru had a realisation. “Wait a minute.” He then rewound the footage and stopped at a certain point, zooming in on a certain detail. “The Kanjin left the flowers untouched. Hibiki-san, did Usaka-san have any allergies to flowers?”

“She did have something of an abnormal reaction to pollen.”, Hibiki remembered. She then had a realisation. “A reaction that’s carried over to the Kanjin. We just need to trick her into eating some pollen from those flowers.”

“I’ll go and get a sample.”, Wataru said, leaving the room. As he did, an alarm sounded, followed by Takuto’s JuuKeitai ringing.

It was the old man. “I’m out of town for a few days and you end up having to deal with a crisis. Turn on the tv.”

Takuto complied, showing a news report of a giant Gluten Rabbit rampaging through the city. “Reports are coming in of another monster rampaging through the city. Only this one also seems to be devouring everything in sight instead of destroying it. All attempts to take down the creature have so far failed.”

“I guess we’ll have to move out.”, Takuto stated as he and Hibiki ran out of the room.

Inside the Gluten Rabbit, Mio and Kamijo came to, seeing themselves surrounded by various bits of food and other miscellany. “So this must be the inside of that Kanjin. A lot of space for food, but no way to reasonably digest it all.”, the latter commented. “Pretty fitting, really.”

“We’d better try and get out of here.”, Mio said, as she began to notice several other people in the stomach. “If we don’t, we and all these people will be turned into more copies of the Gluten Rabbit.”

“You mean we’re all going to become like that thing that ate us?”, a panicking Madame Cuirbien yelled. “You’ve got to get us out of here.”

“We’re trying.”, Kamijo assured her. “But is pretty difficult to do anything until we can assess the situation.”

“Hungry!” The now giant and enormously fat Gluten Rabbit leapt through the streets grabbing onto buildings and taking bites out of them.

“Hey.”, Kijuu Lion landed next to the giant Kanjin, joined by Kijuu Falcon. “I know some of these buildings are ugly, but you need a permit to destroy them.”

“Hungry!” The Kanjin stumbled forward, beginning a fistfight with the robot. Kijuu Lion tried kicking Gluten Rabbit, but it’s sheer weight absorbed the hit, before it delivered a punch that sent that energy back to Kijuu Lion. Kijuu Falcon tried shooting at the target, to similar results.

“She’s tough.”, QidenPink commented as the monster continued to smash and eat the scenery. “The two of us could barely scratch her.”

“How about three of us?” Kijuu Tiger then appeared and began grappling with Gluten Tiger, pushing it back several feet and demolishing several skyscrapers. “Where’s the rest of the Qidengers?”, QidenTora’s voice echoed. “I thought they’d be helping you with this.”

“Two of them are in that thing’s stomach.”, QidenRed radioed back. “And Yellow is currently busy.”

From the ground, QidenTora was confused by this. “What could he be busy with?”

“Working on something to stop that thing.” Wataru came running towards QidenTora, carrying something in hand. “This is similar to the formula that ArtilleRosary fired, except that it will only affect that Kanjin’s ability to digest anything it tries to eat. It’s made up of elements that it doesn’t like. .”

“So if we douse the entire area with it, then the thing won’t want to eat anything. It’s negative energy will be released.”, QidenTora realised. He then signalled for Kijuu Tiger to place its weapon on the ground, while Kijuu Lion handled the fight, trying to keep its sword out of the Gluten Rabbit’s mouth. “Throw it in there.”

“Okay.” Wataru pitched the ball he was carrying into the cannon wielded by Kijuu Tiger, which then resumed the fight. “Fire it, now.”

“Okay.”, QidenTora pressed button 4 on his controller and aimed. “Stri-Buster!”

Tiger Stardust!

The robot fired its weapon, causing a red dust to enter the air. Gluten Rabbit got a hold of her enemy’s sword, and took a bite. “Hungry!” But upon taking a bite, she then spat the sword out, disgusted. Gluten Rabbit then tried taking a bite out of a nearby building, only to meet the same result. “What’s the matter, Usaka-kun?”, QidenPink asked. “Are you sure you don’t want to eat that?”

“No!”, Gluten Rabbit declared. “I don’t want to eat… anymore.” She then violently vomited out everything she had swallowed, including the people as the Kanjin returned to her original size. Gluten Rabbit then transformed back into Fuuka, as the negative energy left her body. She then noticed her boss among the people recovering. “I’m sorry.”, she pleaded. “Don’t fire me for this.”

“Relax.”, Madame Cuirbien assured her. “I’m not going to fire you for something you couldn’t control. Though if you ever feel like you’re too hungry to work, I think I can overlook some rule breaking.”

“Don’t worry.”, was Fuuka’s response. “I’m not going to be doing that anymore. But speaking of overlooking…”

At the Voldos Fortress, Gelashi walked in with another orb. “I didn’t destroy the Earth with my new Oanjin, but I was able to get the energy of pure greed for my collection.”, she noted.

“I don’t care about your petty collections.”, Moboroshina yelled. “The point is that both you, and Megaro, failed to destroy the humans with your simultaneous plans. And with Oomikaoo having gone MIA, I have very few reliable warriors to serve me.

“What’s that about Oomikaoo going missing?”, Megaro asked, entering the room with a second figure. It was Oomikaoo, now with his left arm, right leg and part of his face replaced with mechanical parts. “I found him injured following his last battle with the Qidengers. That Soul Chip he intended to create caused massive damage to him. So I repaired him as a stronger warrior.”

The now cybernetic Oomikaoo knelt down on one knee, presenting his arm in front of him and lowering his head. When he spoke, his voice was now synthesised. “I live to serve the glory of Voldos.”, he stated in a totally monotone delivery.

As Moboroshina was shocked at this new development, Calam looked on from the side, plotting his own scheme. “Let the fools fester in their own failure. I on the other hand, I’m going to take on a new power that will bring the Earth and those Qidengers, to their knees.”

Sometime later, Hibiki received a visitor to her apartment. “Usaka-chan. What are you doing here?”

“I thought I’d come in person to give you something, Komaki-chan.”, Fuuka presented Hibiki with a box, which contained the cake she had ordered from the Patisserie the other day. “It’s my way of making it up for everything that happened before.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that.”, Hibiki assured her friend. “Now then, about the payment for this cake…”

“Don’t worry about that.”, Fuuka shook her head. “We both know that you’re one of the Qidengers who helped save the two of us. So we’re going to give you this cake on the house. Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone your secret.”

“That’s a relief.”, Hibiki smiled.

Tired of constantly losing to the Qidengers, Calam enlists the aid of Megaro and Dimayta to bolster his strength. The power of Soul Chips from the Qidengers’ predecessors gives him the strength to overpower all of them. And then, something strange happens. Join us for “Calam’s Dramatic Battle! The Birh of a New Enemy!”

[Androzani84]

In a secret area within the Voldos Fortress, a cocoon like structure dissolved with a glow, revealing Dimayta, still in her humanoid form, but now in a different outfit. This one bore more of a resemblance to a military soldier. “At last, my metamorphosis is complete.”, she stated. “Now, I have to cement my new power by removing the main obstacle.”

In the main throne room, everyone turned around to see the source of several loud footprints. It was Dimayta, now sporting her new clothes. “So, you feel fit to return to us?”, Calam said mockingly to his absent assistant. “Where’ve you been hiding?”

“I’ve simply been preparing for something.”, she said to her boss, engaging in some seductive motions towards him, such as getting in close and shaking her hips. “And now, I’m ready to get rid of the obstacles impeding on our goal to conquer the Earth.”

“‘Obstacles’, eh?”, Calam thought. “Then I suppose you’ve got some plans to get rid of the Qidengers?”

“Of course I do.”, Dimayta answered, pressing her hand against her superior’s skin, fingering a lock of it, unbeknownst to him. “But I’m going to need Megaro’s help for it.”

“Me?”, the robotic member of Voldos exclaimed. “Why would I help you to -?”

Dimayta went over to Megaro and grabbed onto him in a sexual manner, a position she used to whisper into his ear. “If you help me, then I can not only get rid of your rival Calam, but also give you a whole zoo full of Vorjuu for your experiments.”

She then let go, as Megaro coughed. “As I was saying, I’d be glad to help you out with your plan.”, he said.

Moboroshina was confused, but didn’t let it show. “What plan do you have that could stand a chance over any of your superiors?”

“It’s simple really.”, Dimayta stepped forward. “Most of our strongest threats have been enhanced through the Soul Chips. So if we could enhance one of our strongest warriors through multiple Soul Chips, then the Qidengers would be unable to put up a challenge.”

“And you want me to be the test subject.”, Calam stated. “Well then. I accept.”

“Very well then.” Oomikaoo stepped forward, holding four Soul Chips, a Dragon, a Gryphon, a Minotaur and a Pegasus. “These were recovered from the bodies of the previous Qidengers who defeated Mairak-sama.”

“Yes, I know.”, Calam stated, reaching out to grab those medals. “I was there.”

Calam remembered the events of 15 years ago. Mairak, a butterfly-like being, accompanied by a group of Vordorons, made his way through 5 Qidengers, themed around a Black Gryphon, a Red Dragon, a Green Minotaur, a Blue Pegasus and a Purple Phoenix. He generated a sword and then ran through the Dragon and Pegasus Qidengers, before facing down the vengeful Minotaur warrior. “Weak.”, he commented, grabbing his enemy by the face and blowing him into a wall with his energy, knocking him unconscious. He went and picked up the Soul Chips from each of them. “Can none of you humans pose a challenge to me?”

The Gryphon hero managed to knock down a few Vordorons with his sword, before grabbing one of them as a shield. “You cur.”, he declared. “I’m going to end you here and now.”

Mairak absorbed the energy from the three Chips he had collected, before aiming his hand at his enemy. “You insolent! Take this!” He fired the energy at the Gryphon, who dodged and allowed the Vordoron to take the hit.

But instead of being destroyed, the Vordoron transformed into oni-esque creature with the damaged armour from his previous form on his left shoulder and right shin with a permanent scowl. “I am alive.”, the newly-created creature declared. “Thank you for giving me new power, Mairak-sama.”

“Well, this is unexpected.”, Mairak stated, before helping his new ally up and generating a sword for him. “Now then, my new Demon General Calam. Help me claim victory in this battle.”

“As you wish.”, Calam used his new weapon to charge at the Phoenix warrior, who used her sword to stab him directly in the chest.

In the present, as Calam looked down at the scar from his first battle, Moboroshina tried to stop Oomikaoo from handing over the Soul Chips to Megaro. “No, don’t you dare.”, she begged. “You leave those alone.”

Oomikaoo blasted her back with energy he had received from Mairak. “Don’t interfere, Moboroshina.”, he stated. He then passed the Chips to Megaro. “Use this power to bring an end to the Qidengers and that old fool’s interference.”

“I will.”, Megaro nodded, motioning Calam and Dimayta to follow him.

Down in Tokyo, Takumi could sense something strange in the air. It felt similar to the Qidengers. But at the same time, it felt like a Voldos energy. That worried him greatly.

In Megaro’s lab, Calam was ushered into a chamber, while Megaro deposited the Soul Chips into a console connected to said chamber. “This machine will break down the energy of the Soul Chips and distill it into a gas.”, Megaro told his subject. “It will then infuse you with this gas in great abundance, increasing your power.”

“Cut the explanations and actually do it then.”, Calam growled, tapping on the glass of the chamber.

“Indeed.”, Dimayta said from the other side of the lab, folding her arms. “It would be better if we could accelerate this. Please hurry.”

“Okay then.”, Megaro flicked several levers on the console, before pressing the button. “Gene Dispersion System, activate.” Red mist was released in the chamber, obscuring Calam briefly. When the mist cleared, Calam smashed his way out of the chamber. “How do you feel?”

Calam proceeded to bring his clenched fist down one of the tables, smashing it utterly. “I feel great.”, he stated. “Now, to deal with those Qidengers.”

As he left, Dimayta observed, her hand turning into a claw. “Everything is going according to plan.”, she noted.

At her elementary school workplace, Hibiki was finishing up for the day, by going through the papers. “Hmm, there’s some spelling errors here.”, she noted, looking at Hiroaki’s paper. She then tried moving onto the next paper, only to hear a sinister laughter. “Who’s there?”, she asked as she stood up and took out her JuuKeitai.

“Oh, you know me very well.” Hibiki didn’t even see Calam fall down and knock her out.

Elsewhere, Wataru was walking down the street, making a phone call to his old teacher. “Yes, Megumi-sensei. I’ve been making some good progress in my time away. I think I might be able to pay you a visit soon enough.” He then heard the same laughter that Hibiki had heard earlier. “I’m sorry, I’m going to have to call you back.” He hung up the phone and looked around, hoping to catch his attacker. But he still pulled out his JuuKeitai, pressing a sequence of buttons that sent a distress signal to the nearest Qidenger. “I know you’re here.”, he called out. “Show yourself.”

Calam stepped out of the shadows. “You’re a lot more perceptive than your pink friend was when I went after her. She didn’t know what hit her.” He then felt a twinge of pain in his chest, but shrugged it off.

“Hibiki-kun?”, Wataru realised. “What’ve you done to her?” He ran forward into battle, throwing a punch at Calam, who managed to catch it. “How did you…?”

“Just a little taste of my new power.”, Calam stated. He then knocked Wataru down with a hit to the chest, before rendering him unconscious by punching him in the chest. “Two down.”

Sometime later, Mio came running down the street, where she ran into Kamijo. “Kamijo-san, what’re you doing here?”, she asked.

“The same thing as you are, presumable.”, was his answer. “Responding to Wataru-kun’s distress call. Though where’s Takuto? I assumed he’d be here with you.”

“He actually went looking for you.”, Mio said in response. “He thought you’d be at the mansion like you usually are and went to get you.”

“So you’re one man short of your little group?” Both turned around to see Calam standing there with his arms folded. “Well then, I’ll simply take him out with QidenTora and get rid of you two here and now.”

“Calam.”, Kamijo said angrily. “You must be what attacked Wataru-kun earlier. And the reason that Hibiki-kun’s dropped off the radar.”

“What, Calam?”, Mio laughed. “Considering we’ve beat him a good few times by now, I find that hard to believe.”

“There’s more to me now than meets the eye.”, Calam gloated. He then felt the same pains again, before unleashing a beam of energy at the two Qidengers, who were knocked back. “I meant to do that.”, he insisted.

“Looks like he’s a lot tougher than I gave him credit for.”, Mio stated. “Let’s transform.”

“Right.”, Kamijo nodded as the two prepared their JuuKeitais. “Kijuu Henge!”

Kame! Kajiki! Doubutsu Gashin!

QidenBlack and QidenBlue emerged from the explosion, both wielding their Kijuu Calibers. “Let’s go.”, Blue commented as the two charged forward.

However, Calam blocked both swords with his bare hands, before blasting them back with his energy. “Like I implied, I’ve become much more powerful now.” He then delivered simultaneous punches that knocked the two back, reverting them to normal and knocking them out. “Now to set my trap.”

Meanwhile, Takuto arrived at the mansion, to be met with Rin, the old housekeeper. “Where’s Kamijo?”, he asked her. “Tell me!”

“He went out.”, Rin answered him. “He heard that Wataru-chan was in trouble and went out to help.”

“That’s why I came here.”, Takuto cursed himself. “I’d better check in with him.” He pulled his JuuKeitai out and called his friend. “Kamijo?”

“I’m sorry, he’s currently indisposed.”, Calam’s voice came from the other end. “As are all of your other 4 friends.”

“Calam! You cur.”, Takuto growled. “Where are they?”

“They’re fine.”, came Calam’s response. “I’ve got them at the Tokyo Bay Aqua Line. I want you and QidenTora to meet with me at that location in 30 minutes. If you don’t show, then I will kill all 4 of them. You have been warned.” With that, the call ended.

“I’ve got to go.”, Takuto decided with no hesitation, beginning to walk out. “Try and contact QidenTora to show up. I know he’s called us before.” With that said, he left.

Calam sat near the bridge, the 4 captive Qidengers bound in chains. “Your friend’s time is almost up.”, he informed them. “He’d better get here soon.”

“Don’t underestimate my Onii-san.”, Mio shouted.

“He likely to come up with a plan to free us.”, Hibiki added. “He’d never surrender to you.”

“I surrender.” Everyone turned to see Takuto walking towards them, hands in the air.

Wataru sighed. “This should be a surprise, but somehow it isn’t.”

“Yeah.”, Kamijo concurred. “He’s way too much of a hero to disobey the bad guy’s ‘comply or die’ request.”

Calam laughed in triumph. “So, you’ve decided to show up. But yet I don’t see a sign of QidenTora anywhere. So I guess I’ll have to kill your friends and you.”

“Don’t be too premature.” Everyone looked up to see Takumi jumping down from the bridge above. “Your elderly friend called to inform me of the situation. I sensed the presence of Voldos beforehand, and was already investigating. Something was up with the feeling, almost like it had been corrupted.”

“You get those feelings too?”, Takuto asked as he looked at Takumi for the first time. He could see that they had the same eyes and hairstyle. “You look… familiar.”

Even the other Qidengers could see it. “Those two really do look similar.”, Mio noted. “And now it turns out they can both sense Voldos’ presence.”

“Except Takuto hasn’t done that in a while.”, Wataru noted. “I still haven’t figured out why.”

“Enough of this.”, Calam growled. He summoned his sword and cut through the chains, releasing the Qidengers. “ ow I can destroy all of you here and now. And with the power of you predecessors as the cherry on top.”

“‘Our predecessors’?”, Hibiki asked. “Kamijo-san, what’s he talking about?”

Kamijo shook his head. “I don’t know.”, was all he could say.

“What, that old fool didn’t tell you?”, Calam said mockingly. “There was another group of Qidengers before you, during the Night of the Crimson Sky. And they all fell to our armies, allowing me to gain the 4 Soul Chips from which I draw my power.”

“I don’t care where you get your power.”, Takumi yelled. “All I care about is us taking you down, with a… Kijuu Change!” He prepped his KijuuSlasher to transform.

The other 5 likewise prepped their JuuKeitais. “Kijuu Henge!”

Denchaku! Doubutsu no Kiba!

Shishi! Kame! Falcon! Kajiki! Jaguar! Doubutsu Gashin!

The 6 no stood, transformed into their powered suits, initiating a roll call. “QidenRed!”

“QidenBlack!”

“QidenPink!”

“QidenBlue!”

“QidenYellow!”

“The Fast Ferocious Warrior, QidenTora!”

“We are… Kijuu Sentai Qidenger!”

“Pfft. You’re not so tough anymore.” Calam charged his sword with energy, sending it flying towards the Qidengers, who jumped out of the way of the explosion.

QidenTora was the first to make a move. “Let’s see you fight back against this.” He began pumping his KijuuSlasher by clenching the trigger.

Beast Slash!

The attack hit Calam, but he suffered no damage. “Nice try!”, he stated as he knocked QidenTora back.

Yellow and Pink then attacked by inserting their Soul Chips into their Kijuu Magnums. “Qiden Powered Shot!”

Qiden Charge! Falcon! Jaguar!

The two blasts hit Calam, but he knocked them back at their senders, sending them flying. Then Blue and Black tried attacking with their Kijuu Calibers. “Qiden Powered Slash!”

Qiden Charge! Kame! Kajiki!

However, as before, Calam caught the two swords, before sending the energy back to sender. “Can none of you even challenge me?”, he yelled.

“I can at least try.”, Red declared, aiming his Kijuu Buster. “Let’s see what the power of a legendary Sentai can do to you.” He inserted the Bioman Soul Chip into his weapon and aimed. “Qiden Super Electron!”

Qiden Full Charge! Bio!

This blast hit Calam head on, managing to knock him backwards. “Okay, that actually hurt slightly.”, he commented.

“That’s it.”, Takumi realised. “We can’t hurt him with our own powers because they’re equally matched. But the powers of others might help turn the tide.” He inserted his Kijuu Caliber into his KijuuSlasher, forming the Juu Sai. He then inserted his Go-Onger Chip into it.

Go-Onger, Charge Up!

“Kousoku Jujigekiha!”

Pink and Yellow then assembled their own Kijuu Busters and inserted their Legend Soul Chips. “Qiden Deletion Shot!”

“Qiden Star Crash!”

Juu Sai Kiba Geki!

Qiden Full Charge! Buster! Kyu!

The three attacks hit Calam, sending him flying with an explosion. Though he still managed a quick recovery. “You fools. It will take you more than that to…”

He suddenly collapsed in pain, a wing emerging from his back and a set of horns came out of his arm. “What’s happening to me?”, he asked as tentacles began to emerge from his scar, tearing the skin off his torso.

A noblewoman-esque laugh was heard as Dimayta appeared. “You shouldn't have placed such blind trust in myself and Megaro, ‘Calam-sama’. No being can stand up to the energy from 4 Soul Chips at once, no matter how strong their compatibility. We arranged this whole thing to get rid of you.”

“You wanted to get rid of me?”, Calam exclaimed, his hand turning into a dragon’s claw. “Why?”

“Because I’m tired of taking orders from someone who amounts to a jumped up Vordoron from a dead leader. I’ve taken a sample of your DNA to complete my evolution into a stronger life form, and with it, command over those Vorjuu I captured for you in exchange for no reward.” She then transformed, but instead of her previous monstrous form, she now resembled a blue version of Calam’s face, dressed in an alien-looking army uniform, complete with beret and staff. “I’ll be taking your place as the Demon General of the Phantom Monster Corps.”

“Dimayta. You….” Calam’s face then tore apart completely, revealing a hybrid of a dragon and a horse’s head. The creature that had torn its way out of Calam’s skin then proceeded to increase in size, before proceeding to devastate the city.” Dimayta laughed as she faded out.

“What just happened?”, a confused Hibiki asked. “Weren’t they supposed to be allies?”

“Never mind that now.”, Takuto said in response. “We need Kanzen Kijuu’Oh.”

Complete Formation!

The robot flew into battle, with the Qidengers all taking their usual places. “Let’s go.” The robot swung its sword at the chimeric abomination, but it blocked, before swinging its tale at Kijuu’Oh, knocking it sideways into a skyscraper. As the robot recovered, it tried kicking its enemy back. But the former Calam was tough, managing to tank the hit.

Tiger Fight!

Kijuu Tiger appeared in Bujin Henkei mode, pulling Calam back and throwing him to the ground. “Are you okay, Kijuu’Oh?”, QidenTora asked. “Let’s finish him together.”

“Okay.”, Red replied from within Kijuu’Oh. The two robots then prepared their attacks. “Kijuu’Oh Final End!”

“Stri-Buster!” The two attacks were launched at Calam. But before they could hit, something emerged from him, taking the form of a warrior, primarily red, with a ‘distorted’ appearance adorned with the faces of various creatures emerged from the body of Calam, generating a sword that absorbed the hit. “What?”, QidenTora exclaimed.

The creature then shot the energy back at the two robots, reverting Kijuu’Oh back to Kijuu Lion by knocking its limbs off. “What is that thing?”, Red asked.

“Me?”, the creature asked. “I am the ultimate hybrid life form, Giga-Khimaira. Remember it, for it is the last thing you will hear.” He then proceeded to charge at the robots.