[Kiryu]

Access 16: The Dancer, The Enigma, and the New Heroes

Shortly after their battle with the new OnoRangers, the team were quickly rushed to the medical ward and treated for their injuries. “It’s not like we’ll need the treatment pods any time soon he says.” Nathan says in a mocking tone, glaring at Reggie from his bed. “Well excuuuuuuuuse me, princess! How was I suppose to know Jered would create his own team of crazies?” Reggie’s arm is broken, while Nathan has his leg broken, but both Jordan and Matt only have a few cuts and bruises. Jordan is dragged practically against his will by Kristin and once again placed on lockdown. Kyle has it the worse; he lays in his bed wearing a full on body cast, with only his eyes left exposed. Ai bows and holds it for about a minute “Gomeeeeeeee! This is all my fault...if I hadn’t been fiddling around with the treatment pods, you’re recovery would’ve been that much more quicker...” Says Ai with a frown. “And until you get better, I’ll do everything I can to make your recovery that much more comfortable.” Reggie shakes his head. “Oh that won’t be nessicar-” Before Reggie can finish, Matt discretely interrupts with: “Shut. Up. Idiot!” He attempts to hit him but he is just out of reach. Ai turns her attention towards Kyle “I think I’ll start with you, Kyle-san!” Ai approaches Kyle, and Kyle says something towards Ai, but his mouth is muffled and gagged by the bandages he is tied with, which makes his voice an inaudible series of “Hrrrmph! Hmmmm, hrmmm, hrmmm, hrm, hrum!” Whatever Kyle was trying to say, he sounded apprehensive.

Ai smiles and bends down towards Kyle. “Are the harnesses too, high Kyle-san?” She begins to fiddle with the harnesses, while Kyle lets out another inaudible “Hmmm! Hrrmmm! Hrumh!!” Suddenly the harnesses becomes loose, and all four of Kyle’s limbs drop down. This causes Kyle to scream out and writhe in pain, but even his scream is muffled by bandages. Ai lets out a gasp, saying “Oh dear! Um...w-wait right here I’ll go get a doctor!” She quickly takes off out of the room. The group can only look on, wide eyed. “Oooooon second thought...maybe letting Ai play nursemaid wasn’t the best of ideas after all...” Nathan nods in agreement while Reggie says “Oooh! I hope I’m next!” which causes Nathan and Matt to just stare at Reggie. Looking back towards the two, Reggie shrugs. “What?! You guys don’t want a cute Japanese girl nursing you?”. “Not when said girl can cause more harm than healing.” Reggie tries to grab Nathan, but his harness makes it so that Nathan is just out of his arms reach “Say that again, and I’ll have you looking like Kyle!”

While Reggie makes his vain attempt to grab Nathan, Tony passes by, hearing the commotion. He shakes his head and says to himself, “Am I really making the right decision here....?” with a long sigh.

----

“Is this thing on?” Will taps James’s camera lens, but James is quick to whip the camera away from Will. “Careful doofus! This camera is worth more than your face!” Will smiles. "Oh James...nothing is worth more than my face...so are we rolling or what?” James rolls his eyes and sets up the camera on a tripod. “Yes, we’re on! Go!” Will clears his throat and places both his hands on his hips. “My fellow Americans....I am not your president, but I am your hero!” James interjects with an “AHEM! You mean WE’RE your heroes.” Will nods. “Yes, I am your hero, and this is my sidekick!.” James quickly grabs Will by the collar “ANYHOO, the official guys decided to take an impromptu vacation and decided to leave us in charge, but fear not citizens! We’ll work twice as hard to pick up after their lazy asses.” Will flexes a muscle, while James turns back to face the camera. “And stay tuned, as we finally settle this whole side kick thing once and for all!”

Across town, in one of California’s suburbs, a little girl begins crying at the top of her lungs, a small crowd watching from a distance. “Mittens is stuck in the tree again!!!” the little girl cries, pointing to a cat lounging on a tree branch. James transforms into PhotoBomber and starts to approach the little girl. Heroically, James says, “Don’t worry little girl! I’ll get your Kitty down!” James walks up to the tree and scratches his chin, pondering what to do, as all eyes stare at him.

Meanwhile, Will watches with the camera from afar, and impatiently he says, “Any time now Inspector Gadget!”. “Don’t rush me! I’m still trying to figure out how this suit works...” A jet pack forms over James’ shoulders. “Now we’re talking. Up! Up! And awaaaaaaaay!” The smoke propels James upward, and he grabs hold of the tree, wrapping his legs around the trunk while he turns his attention to the cat. “Heeeere Kitty Kitty...” James says, reaching his arm slowly towards the cat. The cat suddenly hisses at James and a second later James is seen falling out of the tree with the cat latched onto his face. James hits the ground with an “Owe....”. The little girl gasps in delight and pries the cat off of James. “Thank you Mister!” the little girl says. “Any time....oooh that’s gonna leave a mark...”

---

Downtown, a feeble looking old lady attempts to cross the street as cars roll past. The shadow of NewsieKnight stands over her and the old woman turns around so she can shriek.,“Get away from me, you monster!” “Monster? Naw, I’m just your friendly neighborhood NewsieKnight! Here, let me help you across the street.” Will picks the old lady up but she tries to squirm free of his grasp . “Let go of me! Heeeelp!” the woman cries, beating Will with her purse. “Owe, owe! Hey Grandma, stop! It’s just me! Argh, let’s just get this over with...” Waiting for a break in the traffic, Will takes out his sword-whip and the chain extends until it hits the wall. When Will confirms it is secured, he uses the chain to drag him and the old lady across the street, with the old lady screaming, “HEEEELLLLLP!” all the way. Half way through, Will’s grip on the old lady loosens a bit. ‘Wait, you’re not my Grandma!” The old woman manages to break free from Will’s grasp “Hey! Get back here!” Before Will can put on the breaks, he crashes right into the wall. James rushes across the street and laughs. “Ready to admit that you’re the sidekick yet?” he asks, zooming in on Will as he drags himself out of the rubble. “Owe...hell no! And get that camera outta my face!”

Now at a construction yard, Will begins to use his sword-whip to swing across steel girders set up like an obstacle course. “Hey James, you’d better be getting my good side!” Will says. “Just one question Will...which side is your good side?” James asks, to which Will retorts, “The side that won’t be kicking your ass if you make another remark like that again!” He does a final backflip and lands perfectly on his feet. “Not bad” James claps and Will bows. “Thank you, thank you!” he says in response. “For the circus.” Will looks up and scowls. “I’d like to see you do better!”. “Hmmm….” James begins to look around the construction yard. He sees three discarded soda cans and stands them upright. “This’ll be a piece of cake!” A cannon much like Kamen Rider Birth’s, but in the shape of a camera, materializes around his body. He takes aim and fires, but the shot misses the cans entirely, and instead hits an apartment building across the street.

Will and James can only watch as the building is set ablaze. Will scowls and shouts,“See! This is EXACTLY the reason why YOU’RE the sidekick!” James shrugs. “Well, if anyone asks...let’s just say the building was already on fire when we got here.” He prepares to leave, but his arm is grabbed by Will. “Hold it! We really should do something about this...” James lets out a groan. “Aweeeee...do we have too?” Will nods “We did make that speech about being heroes and whatnot.” James lets out another groan. “Fiiiiine. Man, this hero stuff sure is a pain...” Before they can take one step forward, though, the transformation suddenly cancels out “WILL! JAMES! GET YOUR ASSES DOWN HERE! NOW!!!” Tony furiously yells out through the comlink. “On second thought....let’s let the firemen handle this one” Will says, with James nodding in agreement.

----

Deep in cyberspace, there was much cause for celebration. One Spammerbot begins dancing a Mexican dance, complete with a sombrero while Hax and a group of Spammerbots watch in delight. One SpammerBot opens a bottle of champagne, and the cork flies across the room missing Ease by a narrow margin as she steps inside. Ease scowls at the Spammerbot holding the champagne bottle. The Spammerbot freezes in his tracks, and he passes the bottle to another Bot next to him, and tries to act inconspicuous. “What is going on here?!”. Hax downs a bottle of champagne and slams the glass down in front of her. “Oh, lighten up Blackie! You should try this stuff *Hic* It’s great!”.

Ease raises an eyebrow. “Are you drunk?” “Is that what the humans call it? *Hic* Whatever it is, I liiiiiiiiike it!” Ease shakes her head back and forth. “I hate to kill the mood, but our battle isn’t over just yet...the Rangers are still out there after all” Hax pours herself another glass of champagne and downs it quickly. “Oh relax! They aren’t a threat to us any more. *Hic*” Hax begins to chuckle uncontrollably. “Oh really?...Take a look at this” Ease throws a tablet towards Hax, playing footage of PhotoBomber and NewsieKnight in action. “Whwaaaaaaaaaaat?! These two weren’t in the files we took! *Hic*” “They might not be the Rangers, but I suggest you do something about those clowns soon, before the Master hears about this...” Hax’s eyes suddenly grow wide. “Party pooper.*Hic*” Hax eyes the Spammerbot wearing the sombrero, as she tries to stand up, wobbling a bit as she does so. “Gimmie that! *Hic*” Hax snatches the sombrero from his head, and picks up a rose that was earlier thrown at him. Hax then scans both the rose and the sombrero, which results in the creation of a monster that looks like a matador covered in rose thorns and flower petrels. “Arrrriiiiiiibaaaaa! Senior Rosa ever at your service!” Removing his sombrero, the monster bows, and at that moment notices Ease. “Ooooh la la....Chica, let me ask you something: Do you have sunburns that are this hot?”

Ease glares at the monster as he raises his eyebrows at her, while Hax stands behind the monster, waving her arms and shaking her head back and forth, even though the monster is failing to notice her. “Are you a parking ticket? You got fine written aaaaaaalll over you!” Ease lets out a repulsed groan “...Hax, be a lamb and send out Senor Stupido before I put a bullet through his skull...” “Estupido! Why I oughtta...” Hax reaches out and grabs the monster’s arm “DO NOTHING! C’mon Romeo, we’ve got much work to do!” Hax drags the monster away from Ease, and Ease sighs in relief. “Her creations are getting weirder and weirder...” A spammerbot that stood beside her nods in agreement.

---

Time passed, and Ai somehow managed to juggle her own workload with CPU in addition to playing nursemaid. Ai is sitting on Reggie’s bed, and the two were gossiping, giggling, and doing whatever it was that a not-couple did. “Soooo Ai...what do you wanna do once I get this cast off?” Reggie asks with a smile. Ai places her finger on her chin and taps on it gently. “Hmmmm...well I would like to go to your place...” Reggie’s eyes widen, and he mutters, “R-Really?!” AI nods. “Hmmm! I got a lot of great redecorating ideas in mind! I’d like to make your room look less Otaku and more grown up!” Crushed, Reggie falls down, anime style. In the midst of all this, Nathan cries out, “AI!” But his cries go unheard. Reggie gets back up and says, “Actually, I was hoping we could…” He whispers something into her ear, causing Ai to blush like a cherry. “Huh?! Um...no! We are NOT doing THAT! At least, not until we’re married...” Her voice trails off at the end, causing Reggie to smile. “Oooh, so you DO wanna get married then!?” “AI!” Nathan shouts again. Ai shakes her head back and forth. “N-no! I mean yes...I mean no..I mean...tsk moooooou...” She looks away from Reggie, continuing to blush even redder. Nathan lets out a sharp whistle. “I hate to interrupt you two love birds, but we’ve been calling you for the last hour now!” Blinking, Ai hops off the bed. “O-Oh, gomenasai!” She quickly trots over to their beds. “Ai, can you please fill up my glass? And I think Kyle’s bedpan needs changing.” Ai nods

“C...coming!” She takes Nathan’s empty glass and the bedpan located underneath Kyle’s bed. Holding both in her hand, Ai leaves the room, causing Reggie to scowl at Nathan and Matt to says, “Alright, what’s the big idea!?”. “The big idea is YOU hogging Ai! She’s supposed to be taking care of all of us, remember?!” “Ooooh, owe, it hurts so much!” Reggie scowls at Matt. “Shut up, Matt! Kyle’s worse than the three of us put together, but do you hear him complaining?!” The three of them turn to Kyle, but they could only hear him saying “Hmmm! Hmmmh, hmmmh, hmmm!”. Matt blinks “Actually, I can’t hear him say anything at all...y’know, on account of him being a mummy and all” Reggie scowls “SO not the point!” At that moment, Ai comes back with a glass full of water, and a fresh bedpan. “Sorry for the wait everyo----whoa!” Ai suddenly trips, and the bedpan hits Nathan square across the forehead. “Awe...ew gross!” Meanwhile, the ice cold water spills all over Kyle’s lap, and he goes ‘HRMMMMMMM!!!!” His eyes glare icily at Ai. “Aaaah....g-g-gome Kyle-san! Gome Nathan-san!” “Can we just watch the news?” Nathan rubs his head and Ai nods. “G-good idea.” She turns on the TV.

The news report shows Will and James in action, causing everyone in the room to go, “EEEEEEEH?!” When WIll and James’ address comes on, Reggie begins gritting his teeth. “Lazy?! Vacation!?” Matt lets out a sigh. “We’re doomed...”, while Nathan shouts,“When I get my hands on those two...I’ll kill them!” From outside the room, they can hear Tony screaming out, “QUIT SCREWING AROUND!!!!!” Reggie blinks “Looks like Tony’s gonna beat you to it...”

---

Tony’s eyes burned with intense rage as he glared, teeth bared and hands on his desk towards Will and James. “N...now Tony, before you blow a gasket, just know that we were doing our part for the community!” James nods but Tony raises an eyebrow. “Oh really?” Tony snaps his fingers, and behind him a pair of monitors appear. On one monitor, there is James, luring the little girl’s cat away with a cattail plant, then snatching it as it got close enough. On the other, there is Will visiting an elderly lady doing yoga. “Oh Will, how nice of you visit your dear old Grandma...you should really come by more often.”.

Tony crosses his arms, and Will and James both look as though they’re going to wet themselves. “N...n...now Tony...I know this looks real bad, but there’s a logical explanation for all this and um...it’s just not coming to me right now...” Will begins to nervously scratch his cheek anime-style. James just says] “We’re boned...aren’t we?” Tony simply nods. “Completely and totally...the two of you just don’t seem to understand just how delicate the situation really is...give me your Staff Passes!” Will and James hesitantly hand their passes to Tony. He snatches them, but instead of ripping them up, like they originally thought, he inserts them into a strange-looking machine. An RF light from a scanner passes through the Staff Passes and he hands them back to Will and James. With hands shaking, the two take the passes from Tony. “As you know, the User Suits or U-Suits are designed to be the next generation Mod Suits. As such they are more powerful than even my own ModSuit. HOWEVER! Continued use puts too much strain on the human body, and the user will eventually die. You’ve already used up most of those uses, so that’s why I just put a safety lock on them: from now on, you will NOT be able to transform without prior approval from me or another staff member. Is that clear?” Tony’s eyes narrow towards them. Will and James both salute. “Y-Yes sir! Tony Sir!” “Crystal!” Tony sits back down with a long sigh. At that moment the alarms sound. “Viral signature detected coming from Point 2-A sir!” “Respond to this situation immediately....and DO NOT screw this up!” Will and James salute. “R-Roger!” And the two quickly run out of the room.

----

Senor Rosa laughs in delight, as he watches his Spammerbots gathering straggling Civilians that were unfortunate enough not to get away. The SpammerBots tie them to the chairs. “Fear not, caballeros and chickas! I merely want to put on a show for you all! Now sit back and relax!” Senior Rosa is about to begin dancing when Will’s chain blade suddenly strikes him. “Yow!!! What’s the big idea huh?!?” Rosa says. Will’s chain blade comes around, cutting the ropes of the trapped civilians. “Show’s over, pal!” James looks towards Will. “Really....that’s the best you could come up with...really?” Will shrugs “Well, someone had to say it!” “GET THEM!” Rosa suddenly shouts, and they suddenly become trapped by SpammerBots. “Piece of cake!”

Will runs ahead of James. “Hey, where do you think you’re going!” James shouts, but before he can do anything, he finds himself in the bottom of a Spammerbot dogpile. Will leaps onto the stage, his chain blade retracting back to form a regular sword. He begins to attack Senior Rosa, but by incorporating his dancing with his fighting, he effortlessly manages to dodge or parry Will’s strikes. “Ole! You’re going to have to do better than that if you wish to be my dance partner!” Will blinks. “Huh? Dance partner? Oh hell no!” Senor Rosa whips out a cane, and using this brief moment of distraction, he slams the cane into Will. “Un, deux, trois!!!” Senior Rosa says, hitting him three times with the staff. Will is thrown back by this attack. “Hey, that isn’t even Spanish!” SpammerBots suddenly go flying everywhere as James, now armed with the Photo Cannon, is able to repel his attackers. “Hey Will, I think I’m finally starting to get the hang of this thing!” Meanwhile, Will is still busy fighting sword-to-cane with Senor Rosa, none of this attacks landing a hit. “That’s. Great. James. Now. Can. You. Use. The. Damned. Thing?!” Will says in between grunts. James nods. “Um...o-oh right!” James turns the cannon towards Will and the Monster, but hesitates as they get too close to each other. “Um...ah....”. James fires, but his shot instead of hitting the monster, the laser hits Will. He is thrown back by the attack, but quickly walks up towards James “You’re supposed to hit THE MONSTER! NOT! ME! I’m on YOUR side, you IDIOT!” Will says, smacking James upside the head. “Sorry, I guess this thing is trickier to use then I thought...incoming!” Senor Rosa suddenly lands in between them, spinning his cane, hitting both Will and James, sending the two landing into the stage seats.

Senor Rosa laughs. “Pathetic! Neither of you are truly fit to be my dance partner!”. Will stands up and scowls. “Who says we want to be your freakin dance partner?!” The two charge towards Rosa. Seeing this, Rosa merely jumps upward. Will and James both let out a gasp as they come crashing right into one another, with Senor Rosa laughing hysterically. “This is the end for you, muchachos! Adios!” A ball of rose-colored energy begins to gather at the tip of his spear. Seeing this, Will and James gasp. “Well it’s been nice knowing you bud...” James says, gulping, but before the attack can finish, cyan-colored arrow-shaped laser blasts slam against Senor Rosa, forcing his attack to cancel. Everyone turns with a gasp. They catch a glimpse of a female ModRanger armed with a bow and arrow; her figure is blocked by sunlight, but she quickly retreats before anyone can get a good look at her. “Ooh la la! Now there’s an attractive piece! I believe I found my next dance partner! Hasta luego, muchachos!” Senor Rosa says, retreating back into the cyberworld. Will and James stand up, and James tilts his head. “Was that really Ai...?” But Will shakes his head. “Don’t think so... do you really think she’d leave Reggie alone, let alone be able to successfully handle a dangerous weapon?” James nods. “Good point” he says, turning to where the female ModRanger stood and shouts, “Hey Babe! Why don’t you stop by at my place later? We’ll have lots of fun together!!! Owe!” Will elbows James in the ribs.

---

Will and James return to CPU HQ, and they can see Tony is still upset. He glares at them, arms crossed and shakes his head. “Sloppy, absolutely sloppy.” Will and James both hang their mouths open. “Hey, cut us some slack! We’re still new at this....” Tony scowls at the two, causing Will and James to both gulp. “If you two hadn’t been so busy goofing off and abusing your powers, you’d be more prepared to handle the monster! Take this more seriously!” Will and James both sigh “Sorry Tony...” James nods in agreement. Tony sighs. “Well, I’ve got some good news. I’ve located two members of the old team.” Will tilts his head. “Old team? Are you looking to replace us?” Tony shook his head. “That...crossed my mind, but we’ll have to make due with what we have. No rather...we need their past experience in order to restore the ModBelts.” Tony puts a suitcase on the table, then he opens it and turns it so that Will and James can see what is inside.

Both peer inside the suitcase; they see five sets of Mod Passes, each of them looking exactly like the ModPasses the current team use. “We’ll need their help to repair the ModBelts, and we’ll also need their past combat experience data. It’ll be your job to convince them to fight one more time...ModCyan can be found at a nearby school. Yellow is constantly moving, so tracking him down will take a little while longer. I suggest starting with Cyan first.” “Oh yeah, about that... Hey Tony, how come you never told us we had a girl ModRanger?” Tony smirks at James’s question. “You never asked,” causing Will and James to both fall down, anime style. “No one likes a smart ass, dude!” Will quickly smacks James. “James, we saw him stop an entire army with just one strike from his sword...do we REALLY wanna piss him off any more?” James blinks. “Huh..good point...” Tony grins. He reaches into the table and pulls out a device that looks like a cross between a smartphone and a card reader. James suddenly snatches the device off the table before WIll can get a good look at it, causing Will to scowl at James. “Hey! Cool! You have one of those...those um....” James snaps his fingers three times. “So what exactly is this... exactly?” Will gulps as Tony suddenly shoots the two a glare. “It’s called a Pass Scanner...it automatically collects and stores data from any Mod or Admin Pass inserted. Watch.” Tony takes out his own Master Pass and inserts it into a slot. After a few minutes the Scanner responds, "RECOGNIZED: MODMASTER DOWNLOADING" and on the screen the device displays all of his ModSuit’s statistics. He takes out the Pass and hands it to Will. “Haven’t you been paying attention to Ryan and Max’s lessons?” Will and James stare blankly at Tony. “Uh...that’s a rhetorical question right?” Tony once again glares at the two, and Will grabs James’ arm. “C’MON James!...” Tony watches the two leave the room. Once they leave, Tony smirks “Boy, those two are in for a surprise...quite the surprise indeed.”

---

James and Will both arrive at Woodrow Wilson High School. James lets out a sharp whistle. “So ModCyan is a teacher, eh? I’d love for her to give me a private lesson sometime, if you know what I mean?” Will’s eyes narrow towards James. “Will you knock it off dude? The last thing we need to deal with is a sexual harassment lawsuit on top of all the other bureaucratic crap that gets dumped on us...just zip your lip and let ME do the talking!” Will quickens his pace and heads towards the school, while James stands there and stomps his foot in frustration. “Dude, who said anything about harassment? Sexual or otherwise!” Grumbling something to himself, he follows WIll inside the high school.

Free period has just ended for the students as they walk inside. Will and James see the mob of students quickly dissipate back into the classrooms, while a few students linger behind. The two walk down the hallway until they reach the principal's office. “Aaaah, this takes me back...I use to be quite the delinquent, you know.” Will rolls his eyes “Sure, keep telling yourself that...that’s not how I remember it.” The two of them approach the secretary, who seemed to be more focused on playing a game on her phone rather than doing any actual work. After a few minutes of being ignored, Will clears his throat and the woman finally looks up and glances at them. “Aren’t you two a little old to be in school?” she asks. “Actually...we’re here looking for someone” said Will, as James nods. “Yeah, we’re looking for Jesse.” The woman puts her phone down. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to be a little bit more specific than that...we have a lot of students named Jesse here.” Will and James look towards one another. “Well, we know don’t know what she looks like...but we do know she used to be a former Power Ranger.” “Excuse me, sorry, but I couldn’t help but overhear...you’re looking for THAT Jess?” Will and James turn towards a student, not quite in his 20s yet, but seeming to be old enough to be in his final years of high school, with three thick-looking books tucked underneath his arm. “Yeah...do you know her?” The guy nods. “I’m her mentor. I was supposed to go meet with her and help her study. Hold on, I’ll give her a call.” He reaches into his pockets and pulls out his phone, as both Will and James look on with a shocked expression, and it’s Will that speaks up first, “Eh?! Wait a minute, you mean to tell me that one of the ModRangers is still a kid?!” Will swiftly gives James a hard jab on the arm. “Owe, what was that for?!” James asks, rubbing his arm. “For sounding like a god-damned pedophile earlier! You’re lucky no one was there to hear you!” James shrugs. “Well how was I supposed to know she’s still just a kid?! She could’ve been an old hag for all I know. It’s hard to tell with those suits on!” “Who’s an old hag?”

Awkward tension suddenly fills the room, as Will and James both slowly turn towards Jesse, a woman with a slim and slender frame. She is dressed like an athlete, wearing a tank top with the school’s mascot printed on it, she has a basketball tucked underneath her arm and looks very sweaty. She wears her hair in a ponytail and has two girls that look younger standing next to her. “This had better be good, you interrupted a great game.” Will and James would remain speechless for a moment. “Wait...you mean to tell me you’re a Ranger?” Will asks rubbing the back of his neck, and Jesse raises an eyebrow and chuckles. “Aaaah....you must be the dumbasses from earlier.” “Huh?!” Will and James both shout together. “Hold this for me, babe.” Jesse hands one of the girls the basketball, and the two girls step back. She closes her hand, posing like she’s holding an imaginary bow and arrow, in the battle stance Will and James saw her in earlier. “Say what?!” Will says in surprise. James’ head scans up and down Jesse’s appearance repeatedly. “You mean...the ModRanger we saw earlier…is a GUY?! But...I...I made that pass at you...and...I.....”. James begins to freak out out and, for a moment, he has trouble forming coherent words until he gets smacked by James upside the head. “This is reason number THREE why you’re the sidekick!” Will yells as he holds three fingers in James’ face. The girls standing behind Jesse try to hold back their laughter at the scene, but fail. “Wait, so if you’re actually a guy...why does your ranger form have a dress? Don’t you think that’s a little weird?” One of the girls standing behind Jesse speaks up, “Well actu-” but she’s cut off by Jesse, who places a finger on the girl’s lips. “Let me handle this.” Jesse glares at the two and cracks his knuckles.

Five minutes later, both Will and James are on the floor, writhing in pain. “Owe....” Will says holding onto his head. “Remind me to never piss off a high schooler...” Jesse nonchalantly dusts himself off. “Man, Tony must be real desperate if he has to rely on such weaklings...” James is the first to stand up, shouting, “WEAKLINGS!? Why I oughta!!!!” He begins to roll up his sleeve, but Will reaches out and grabs his shirt. “Dude, he already kicked our asses once!” Jesse chuckles. “You two are funny. You remind me of someone I once knew. But I don’t have all day, so why don’t you just tell me what you want?” Will and James nod.

The three of them are now sitting on a picnic table outside, in the basketball court. Jesse is sipping on his water bottle as both James and Will bring him up to speed. “So that’s what’s going on, huh?” Jesse asks, as he wipes away a bit of water away from his chin and Will nods. “Yeah, so will you help us?” Jesse nods. “Okay,” causing Will and James to both do a double take. “Really, just like that?” “Wow. That was quick...okay, lets go!” Will and James turn to leave before Jesse interjects, pointing a finger upwards. “HOWEVER! There’s something I want you to do for me.” James and Will turn back towards Jesse, who is wearing a big grin on his face, and Will sighs. “There’s always a catch...is there?” “So, what do you want? The answers to the next exam? Betty’s secret diary?The latest high school gossip?” Jesse laughs and shakes his head. “Please...remember who you’re talking to here; that stuff is already easy for me to grab a hold of.” Jesse rubs his chin. “I’ve always wanted a butler. Be my personal man servant for a day and I’ll give Tony all the help he needs!” “OH HELL NO!” Will shouts in response. “Hey, I know your work is important. That’s why I’ll only need one of you...doesn’t matter who.”

Will pats James on the back “Well James, as my designated Sidekick, I hereby declare you the butler!” James stands up and responds, “Oh, like hell I am! You be the butler!”, but Will retorts, “No YOU are!” James and Will both glare at each other, and the two find themselves in a fierce game of rock-paper-scissors, both continuously picking the same things until, finally, Will’s rock crushes James’s scissors. “YEEEEEEEES! In yer face James!” James hangs in defeat. “Awe man...”. Jesse smiles and stands to his feet. “Come along now Jeremy, you have a busy day ahead of you.”. “Yes master...” James says with a sigh, and he follows Jesse into the school. At that moment, Will receives a call “You guys have any luck with Jess?” Will nods. “Yeah, James is helping him with a special project, but he agreed to give us all the help that we need.” Tony holds back a chuckle. “Good, I located ModYellow’s position... if you’re done, then head there immediately.” Will nods and salutes “On my way, boss!”

---

Will arrives outside a large shopping mall, the same site where Reggie and Ai had their very first date. He stands across the street from the entrance, where a crowd of people are gathered. As he gets closer and pushes through the crowd, he hears loud Korean pop music playing. When he gets near the front of the crowd, he sees a young Korean man dancing rather impressively to the upbeat tune, with a big, scary-looking and muscle-bound bodyguard wearing a pair of sunglasses and an all-black attire beside him. The song ends. as does the dance, and the crowd and Will begin to applaud, with the boy bowing in response.

The crowd dissipates, and the Korean boy reaches into his bag to douse himself in a bottle of cold water, Will approaches him, and he asks “Excuse me. Are you Sky Yun? I’m...” Before Will has a chance to finish, Yun stands up. “My biggest fan? That’s great! Thanks for coming out and supporting me. Here, have an autograph!” Yun hands him a photo of him dancing with his signature written on it, much to Will’s confusion. “Yeah...thanks...but actually I’m....” Yun’s bodyguard interjects, standing in front of Will, causing him to gulp. “A bodyguard...really? Dude you’re a Power Ranger!” Meanwhile, Yun takes a sip from his water bottle and says, “And you’re a sidekick, who really shouldn’t disappoint me or Tony. Yeah, I know who you are... Jesse gave me a heads up. I was just messing with ya.” Yun winks at Will before placing a hand on his chin. “So, you and the butler are the replacement for the replacements eh? Hmmm...” He examines Will with an intrigued eye, but a second later he shakes his head. “Nope, no good. No good at all.” His response causes Will to fall down, anime style. Getting right back up, he shouts, “I’ve just about had it with you original Rangers acting all high and mighty and superior all the time!” The bodyguard suddenly walks up towards Will, and he grabs him by the shirt collar and lifts him up, staring right back into his eyes. Will gulps; he could see his own reflection in the guard’s sunglasses. A smile cracks on Yun’s face. “That’s because we are mighty...and your superiors. Put him down.” As instructed, the guard throws Will roughly onto the floor. Will stands up and dusts himself off. “Look, I know why you’ve come, so let’s just cut to the chase: You need my help, right?” Will nods. “And let me guess...you want something in return?” Yun nods. “Bingo,” causing Will to sigh. “Why can’t things ever be simple...alright, what do you want?”

Yun smiles. “There’s a little pet project that I’ve been working on for a very, very long time. And I think if I can pull it off, it’ll be my ticket to the top. With your resources, I maybe able to do it!” Will blinks. “If you need money, I’m afraid I can’t help you there.” Yun shakes his head, saying, “Oh, I don’t want money. See, I’ve got everything already paid for and taken care of. I just need background dancers, and your site to promote the video.” Will raises an eyebrow. “I run a website catering to nerds... what makes you think anyone that reads my blog will have the hand eye coordination, much less the fitness level, to work in a music video?” Yun shrugs. “That’s your problem to figure out, not mine. Meet me back here later, okay?” Yun puts a firm hand on his shoulder, and Will sighs.

---

Back at CPU HQ, Tony has his head buried in a clipboard, flipping through the papers. He looks up to see Will frantically asking people to be background dancers for Yun’s music video. “Will? Where’s James? What are you doing here? I thought you were helping Sky out?” Will sighs. “Work in progress, Tony...speaking of which... you wouldn’t be interested in helping out with his music video, would you?” Tony simply crosses his arms and glares at him in response. Will places a hand on the back of his head. “Um...ah..heh...heh..never mind,” he says. Tony shakes his head and continues onward. “I’ll help you ,Will-san!” Will turns his head to see that he is standing right outside of the infirmary. The scene is much the same: Kyle is now sleeping, having took a dose of painkillers; Matt is kicking back on the bed, channel surfing, and Ai is sitting next to Reggie in his bed, much to Nathan’s annoyance. Ai motions Will to come in, and Will does exactly that. “I use to be a famous ballerina, you know!” Will laughs. “Ai...are you trolling me?” In response, Reggie snatches the remote out of Matt’s hand and throws it at him. “Owe!” Will rubs his head as the remote lands on his feet. “Yo, can you pass it back?” Matt asks. “How about getting it yourself, you lazy ass!” “Yeah, but the remote is all the way over there, and it’s just out of reach...c’mon Will, help a bro out!” Will sighs and grumbles to himself, but he bends down and tosses the remote haphazardly at Matt. “You know, if it weren’t for this cast, I’d love to help out with the music video!” Ai nods in agreement. “Yeah, he can dance!” Nathan chuckles. “Showed Ai “the moves” huh?” Reggie quickly bonks Nathan in the head with his cast, causing them both to yell, “OWE!” Ai gasps. “Reggie-san, daijoubu?!” Nathan rubs his head. “Why are you worried about him!? He just bonked me on the head!”

Will shakes his head back and forth. “Why am I even wasting my time here?” Alarms suddenly flare in the background. “Anons detected at Point 2-2! I repeat...” Will snaps his fingers. “That’s it!”

----

Spammer Bots begin to tend to Senor Rosa’s face, which now had a big red hand mark covering it. “Mama Mia, who knew Senorita Ease could be so scary? Talk about playing hard to get!” Will quickly arrives on the scene, with Ai’s remote in his hand. “I hope this works...” He straps the U-Belt around his waist, and with the Staff Pass in hand, he shouts, “User Access! Log In!” and slides the pass in. Bits of binary appear around his body, as his suit forms around him, the belt responding:

USER KIRYU, LOGIN SUCCESSFUL, DOWNLOADING NOW

“Better make this count!” Will charges towards the Spammerbots, just as one of them is buffering out the handprint on Senor Rosa’s face. He sees Will charging towards him and gasps, “You again!”. “Out of the way, Senor Ding-Dong!” Senor Rosa pushes the SpammerBot away, shouting, “The Name is Rosa! ROSA, you IDIOT!” Rosa fires at Will, but Will blocks the shots with ease. His Dragon Fang separates, becoming it’s whip mode. He swings it forward so that it would wraps all around Rosa’s body. “H-hey wha?! Let go of me you, idiota!”. Will lets out a grunt, with Rosa wrapped up in his chains, and he spins around and throws the monster with all his strength, hurling Rosa into the air and watching as he soon becomes a tiny spec in the sky. Will’s attention changes to a SpammerBot as it attacks him. “Whoa!” Will easily dodges out of the way, but makes no attempt to fight back as the rest of the mob joins in. In his hand, he holds the remote. “Please don’t put me in the body of one of these mindless Bots...oh dear god, please don’t put me in the body of one of these things...” Will pushes a button, and the Spammerbot suddenly begins spitting electricity before exploding into a million pieces, its head landing in front of Will’s feet. “Well, that’s one way to lose your head... oh crap, now I’m Nossan!”. The SpammerBot’s head beneath him suddenly comes alive, causing Will to freak out. “How may I serve you?” the Spammerbot head says. Will grins. “Ai was onto something after all!” Will then turns to the fleeing Spammerbots. “Oh no you don’t!” He pushes a button, and the Spammerbots all stop in their tracks. They turn around, saying, “How may we serve you?” Will grins underneath his helmet. “SpammerBots, can you dance?” The SpammerBots nod. “Good. Follow me then!”

---

“What’s taking him so long?” Yun paces back and forth impatiently while, behind him, his crew works on setting things up in the outdoor stadium. Jesse sits in the bleachers, watching above, while James stands behind him, now dressed in a full black tux with white gloves on. “More tea please, Jeremy.” James grumbles to himself as he pours Jesse a cup of tea. “I already agreed to being your stupid butler, so is this monkey suit really necessary?” Jesse downs his tea and presents his empty cup to him. “Why of course, Jeremy. If one is to be my butler, then one must simply look the part..two lumps of sugar this time please.” James mumbles to himself, “I’ll give YOU two lumps...” He begrudgingly drops two sugar cubes into the dark brew. “What was that, Jeremy?!” Jesse says, eyes narrowing at James. “Nothing sir...and will you STOP calling me Jeremy?! It's JAMES damnit! JAMES!”

Out of breath from running, Will arrives on the scene. He bends down to catch his breath, panting heavily. “Finally! What took you?!” Yun asks. “Sorry...traffic...” Will says in between gasps of air. “Well, did you find my backup dancers?! The investors aren’t going to let me hold this off any more!” Will nods. “Don’t get your panties all twisted up in a bunch...I found your dancers!” With a snap of his fingers, the SpammerBots strut on stage, the sight of this causing the frightened staff workers to scurry away. Jesse spits out the tea he was sipping, and a shocked James drops the teapot. “That pot was a family heirloom, you moron!” an angered Jesse yells. “Dude, are you sure this is safe?!” Will nods. “Relax Jeeves, they’re totally under my control. Right guys?” The SpammerBots nod. “Besides, if they revolt, we’ll just turn them into scrap, no biggie.” With an inquisitive eye, Yun examines each SpammerBot like a general inspecting his troops. “Show me your dance moves!” Yun orders, and on command the SpammerBots begin dancing just as well as Yun had done earlier, with one even beginning to break dance. Seeing this, Yun cracks a smile. “This might just work out after all.” he says with an approving nod. “Yo Jeeves, you’re the camera guy right? Start recording!” Jesse turns towards Yun, scowling at him “Hey, nobody orders my butler around except for me!” Jesse then turns towards James once more and points down at the stage. “You heard the man, get out your camera and start recording!”. James blinks. “But that was exactly what he just said and...” Jesse continues to scowl at James ‘Yes sir...” He bends down and takes out his camera.

--

James begins to record the footage of Yun dancing. Much to everyone’s surprise, the SpammerBots were very co-ordinated in their dancing. The dance number ends with explosions being seen behind them and the crowd applauds. “Yes! Turned out better than I hoped! Did you get all that Jeeves?!” James growls at Yun “Yes I did, and for the last time, my name isn’t Jeeves or Jeremy!” A tiny spec sparkles in the sky, and Senor Rosa suddenly drops into the bleachers. “Wow...what a rush!” Senor Rosa says, stars dancing around his head which he shakes. He sees Jesse and gasps “Ooooh mama! Where have you been all my life!” Senor Rosa stands up, shoving Will and James out of the way. Yun gasps. “Jesse!” he cries out, but the Spammerbots suddenly grab him from behind. “Do you have a map? Because I just keep getting lost in your eyes!” Repulsed, Jesse crosses his arms and rolls his eyes. “Oh Baby, you make me melt like fudge on a sundae!” Jesse laughs and shakes his head. ‘Um yeah. I’m actually a guy.” Shocked, Senor Rosa would step back “Huh?! Wha?!” Seeing that Rosa now left himself open, Jesse delivers a swift Roundhouse kick which knocks him several feet away.

Meanwhile, Yun elbows a Spammerbot and flips two of them over so they all topple over each other. Yun runs towards Jesse’s side “Just like old times, eh Yun?” Yun nods, and the pair turns towards James and Will and helps them up. “Thanks,” Will says and James nods along with him. “Well, you guys did your part. It’s only fair if we hold up our end of the bargain.” Yun nods in response. “Now I’m REALLY mad!” Senor Rosa says, a pair of SpammerBots helping him back to his feet. “Step back, and watch how the pros handle it!” Yun says. “Hey! Don’t think we’re going to be sitting this one out!” Will says. James nods and the two strap on their User Belts. Together, Will and James shout, “User Access, Log in!” and insert their Staff Passes, while Jesse and Yun shout, “ModAccess! Log In!” and insert the Mod Passes into the belts. The belts respond;
USER KIRYU LOGIN IN, DOWNLOADING NOW

USER CONUNDRUM, LOGIN IN DOWNLOADING NOW


YELLOW ACCESS GRANTED, DOWNLOADING...

CYAN, ACCESS GRANTED...DOWNLOADING...


And the suits materialize over each user. “ModCyan!” Jesse cries out, posing a lot like a magical girl would. “ModYellow!” Yun shouts out, doing Battle Japan’s roll call pose. More SpammerBots appear in front of Senor Rosa, adding to the legion which stood behind him. “Get them!!!” Senor Rosa shouts as the legion charges into battle. “Hey Newbies, try not to lag behind!” ModYellow charges ahead of the group, with Cyan nodding and following behind them. “Lag behind?! We’ll show them! Right Will!?” James asks. Will nods in agreement. “ModArrow!” Mod Cyan shouts, and Jesse’s Bow and Arrow appears in her hand. He lets out a hot-blooded battle cry and separates the arrow into twin blades, which he uses to slice his way through a group of Spammerbots, which explode behind him. Senor Rosa lunges towards Jesse, but he manages to leap back. Senor Rosa says, “I’m confused...are you a Senor...or a Senorita?” He tilts his head, causing Jesse to giggle. Jesse manages to catch his staff and knocks it out of his hand. He breaks the staff over his knee. “That’s for me to know and you to figure out,” and tosses the two staff pieces over his shoulder.

Meanwhile, a group of SpammerBots charge towards ModYellow. He finds himself surrounded by SpammerBots and they begin to attack. He backflips out of the way, landing on his back. He spins as though breakdancing and manages to knock several SpammerBots off their feet. “ModBaton! Ignite!” A baton-like weapon appears in his hand, and both ends of the baton are engulfed in fire. He begins to spin his fire staff above his head, and swipes it down twice, causing flames to ripple forward which eliminates the SpammerBots.

Will and James find themselves engaging three Trollers that appeared, along with five SpammerBots. Will runs forward while James laid down cover fire. James’s shots easily take care of the SpammerBots, leaving only the Trollers. Will brings his NewsFang downward slicing a Troller in half. He then extends the Fang into whip mode, and uses it to ensnare a Troller. “Pull!!!” James cries. Will grunts, but manages to toss the Troller several feet into the air, allowing James to shoot the troller down. “Whoa!” Will cries as a Troller suddenly attacks him. Will leaps out of the way and guards against the attack, but ModYellow leaps overhead, thrusting his staff at the Troller. It hits, and the Troller staggers back along with Senior Rosa, who was just knocked away by Jesse’s attack. “All together guys?” Jesse asks. The group nods and each one inserts their own pass into the their personal weapons.

The nozzles of James and Jesse’s weapons begin to build up with laser particles while Will’s and Yun’s weapons become engulfed in fire. Jesse and James fire, and WIll and Sky slash towards the enemy, unleashing the flames that had built up. The finishers come together into a golden ball of energy that charges at high speed towards the stunned monsters. The energy strikes both the Troller and Senior Rosa. “Exit...stage left!” are Senor Rosa’s last words before he explodes in a two-story tower of fire.

---

“Here.” Jesse and Yun say, handing Will and James their ModPasses, much to Will and James’ surprise. “Just like that?” Will asks, followed by James, who adds, “No further strings attached?” Jesse and Sky both nod. “A deal’s a deal after all...” Yun says. The expression on both WIll and James’ faces brightens up. They both take the passes from them and one by one they insert the passes into the Pass Scanner, which responds: RECOGNIZED: MODYELLOW DOWNLOADING...; RECOGNIZED: MODCYAN DOWNLOADING. “Hey! We still haven’t settled that whole sidekick thing, have we?!” James asks. “Really? You’re bringing this up NOW?! Really?!” James grins “That sounds like something a sidekick would say!” causing WIll to scowl at James. “Like hell! We’re gonna settle this right here! Right now!”

Amused, Jesse and Sky watch the two fight it out. “You’re looking as radiant as ever, Jess.” Yun says. “Flattered...but I’m still not gonna be your backup dancer.” Yun falls over, anime style. “Who said anything about being a backup dancer? Can’t a guy just give you a compliment? No strings attached? You are, like, my little sister, after all.” Jesse smiles, and the two turn to see Will and James grabbing each other in a headlock. “First one to say Uncle is the designated sidekick!” Will says, causing James to tighten his grip around Will’s neck. “That’s it, I’m settling this once and for all!” Tony suddenly yells on the comlink, so loud that even Jesse and Sky can hear. “The two of you are MY sidekicks, understood! Now get back here with that data. Pronto!”. Will removes his comlink and puts his pinky into his ear. “Who died and made him boss!?” James exclaims. “Well he does have MASTER in his name after all...” Seeing this, Jesse laughs. “So, are you ever gonna tell them you’re really a girl?” Yun asks, as he watches Will and James leave. Jesse taps her chin and shakes her head. “Naw, it’s more fun watching the two trying to figure it out.” Yun laughs. “That never gets old does it?” “Nope!” Jesse says with a big smile on her face.



Next time on Tokunation Sentai ModRanger!


????: For the last time Tony, I’m retired!
ModWhite: Hunter! What’s gotten into you?!
????: You may call me...Z-RO!
ModHunter: Nobody double crosses me and gets away with it!

Access 17: The Knight, The Hunter, and the Hacker