[XW1n5t0nX]

Black, red, and even white lightning strike all around the group, they quickly putting Aimi to the ground for protection. This lightning continues for minutes, eventually stopping. Once stopped, the three come face to back with the two suited men. Syuri remains quiet, Keiji, Paige, and Aimi looking at the two in disbelief. As they stand and watch, the two turn around, staring the rangers dead on.

They then remove from their backs their weapons. Red holding to hook blades, they misshaped giving off a very medieval yet cyberpunkish look. The one clad in white holding two sickle like short swords, they fashioned the same as Red’s swords. The three rangers slowly walk forward, summoning their weapons. The two men then smirk behind their helmets, they then charging forward at the Dream Kingdom’s fighters.
The rangers slam into each other, they grinding their feet into the ground as their weapons collide. The red one stares down Syuri, the white one chuckling some as he blocks both Keiji and Paige. After minutes of standing each other down, the five burst off in an explosion of lightning and color. Aimi stays down on the ground, watching in shock at the sight she has just seen.

“T there’s…more…rangers?”

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In a world in which dreams reign supreme and bring joy to many, a dimension filled with all the world's nightmares look to take over the dream world, and are doing so by attacking civilians within the real world. To combat this, the ruler of this kingdom of dreams to combat the evils of the nightmares. These three will fight for the future of both their kingdom, and of Earth. These warriors are....

Ikiryō Sentai DreamRanger!

*Opening theme and video/credits*

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Ninth Dream: Nightmare Duel!

The five reappear yards away from where Aimi was, Keiji and Paige running while striking off against the new white ranger. The three stop running after a bit, Paige going for a quick volley of shots at the opponents’ feet. He is too quick though, he leaping backwards into the air only to move himself down in a spiral, he landing behind the two Dreamrangers, their suits sparking from being slashed at by the white rangers’ sickle swords.
Far off from them, Syuri and the mysterious red ranger stand off, staring each other down from behind their helmets. Slowly Syuri raises her sword up, she gripping onto it with both hands as she holds it off to the side of her body near her head. The red enemy then crouches back some, raising his hook blades to be position across his body out from him with one being held above his head. After a brief strong wind blows a rock past the two of them, they rush towards each other.

They collide quickly before moving away from each other, only to bring their respected blades against each other again and again. The red warrior repeatedly blocks with one of the hook blades, he slashing at Syuri with the other. Syuri manages to consistently vanish away before being struck, reappearing either to the side of him, or behind him. He always mangers to predict her strikes though, he blocking every one that she throws at him. Syuri finally lets out a growl of anger as he blocks a strike she had aimed at his neck, he responding with a slight laugh.

As Keiji goes to thrust his Dream Trident into the chest of the white ranger, the man jumps up quickly, he landing directly on the blade part of the weapon, his arms crossed mockingly. As Keiji cries out “You bastard!” at him, he simply throws his head back in mocking manner. He then jumps forwards, he falling right behind Keiji. The white devil holds his arms out with his weapons held underhandedly, the blades tearing into Keiji like paper. The pain of the strike sends Keiji to his knees, he screaming from the feeling the attack left in his back.

As he looks down at the blue warrior, he tilts his head to the side some. He then quickly steps to the side, avoiding a large energy blast from Paige. She stands there in shock at the quickness of the man’s movements.

Paige cries out “H how can he move so fast? He dodged my attack like it was nothing!"

Before she has time to even think, she notices that the ranger is now crouched down; his arms stretched outwards, his hands free of weapons. Right as she registers what has happened, the man’s weapons slash into her body, they returning to their master like boomerangs. She looks down at her abdomen area, he suit splitting apart there as sparks fly out. She does not cry out in pain, only falling down to the ground, struggling to get back up to her feet.

Dream White flies across the ground like a barrel, she quick to jump to her feet as the red opponent comes down on her, she block both of his blades with her own. She smirks beneath her helmet as she quickly switches the Dream Blade into its gun mode. Syuri manages to kick the man away, she following it up by rapid bursts of fire. This red ranger though like his partner is too fast, he swiping every blow away with his weapons. The man then vanishes from sight as Syuri stands up. When he appears again, Syuri’s body arches forward, his knee jammed up into her gut. He jumps back afterwards, he slamming the hook part of the blade against her neck until it’s wrapped around her. The man lets out a warrior’s roar as he throws his arm to the side, he throwing Syuri into her two comrades who had just stood up again. Syuri slams into them like a freighter truck, all three crumbling to the ground.

The friends writhe in pain, their suits torn and burnt from the blows dealt by the enemy. As they look up, they watch as the two rangers walk towards them, slowly and methodically. They soon reach the Dreamrangers, they staring down at them, listening to their moans of pain. The two then move back some, raising their weapons and position their bodies to perform a final strike against the group. Both warriors crying out as they throw themselves forward, the Dreamrangers quickly clutching onto one another.

The blow never comes though. Paige looks past Keiji and Syuri, she seeing the two warriors walking away from the group. She points this out to her comrades, all three Dreamrangers watching their latest opponents walking away from them. Slowly through struggle, Syuri stands up, clutching at her body. She staggers forward some, she shouting out to her attackers.

“Hey you bastards! Aren’t you going to finish us off!? Are you scared!?”

The two men stop after Syuri finishes going off on them. They stand for minutes, the tension getting thicker within the area. Soon without facing the three, the one clad in red speaks up.

“No.”

“Why not!?” Keiji shouts at them.

With a little chuckling, the white one speaks up. “That wouldn’t due.”

“W what do you mean?” Paige asks of the two men.

“There is no need for us to kill you on our first battle. It would ruin the fun of slowly torturing you with our power. We’ll kill you when we feel that you’ve been broken.” The white one replies, his voice cold, it unwavering in its tone.

The three Dreamrangers stand there in shock from the words of the enemy. They each repeat the words back in their heads, registering what they said. The enemy does not care about getting the job done quickly. They wish to play a game. A game of pain.

The two start to walk away again, but are once again stopped by Syuri’s voice.

“Who…who are you!”

After a moment, the voice of the red cladded one appears, he answering Syuri’s question.

“Shingai Gundan Nightmareranger.”

After the answering, the two men vanish in a burst of black light and red and white lightning, they leaving a crater where they once stood. The rangers stand there, unable to move or speak in shock.

Aimi soon finds them, they unmorphed and staring at the crater. She stands behind them, her face turning to express worry as she sees how they are standing and shaking.

“Guys?” She speaks out.

The three do not reply, they speechless still. As they stand there Syuri looks at the crater fiercely, her eyes wide and bulging. The others soon notice this, Paige covering her mouth in shock. For once in their history together, Aimi, Keiji, and Paige see fear on Syuri’s face and in her eyes.

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Start of commercial break

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“Shingai Gundan Nightmarerangers?” Edogawa asks the three warriors.

“Yes, that is what they called themselves.” Paige answers back.

Keiji, Paige, and Syuri sit in front of their laptop, Aimi sitting behind them on the couch. As they sit there and converse with Edogawa, he becomes witness to the power these new Nightmarerangers have as the three are bruised and wrapped in bandages quite well.

“Did they say anything else about themselves? Such as where they came from, who they are and who they work for?”

Keiji releases a faint sigh before answering the doctor. “No they did not. Though we can obviously assume that with a name like Nightmareranger, they’re working for Jung Moroi.”

“That would make sense. But how would she know how to make the changing devices if they use any? We were developing them while she was still a part of the Dreaming, but she never was in the area of where we were. It’s plausible she made her own system to do so but I’m not really sure.” Edogawa rambles off.

As the five sit there, Aimi keeps her head bowed as does Syuri. Aimi doing so out of seeing her friends in the condition they are, especially after she let them go off and fight for her sake. Syuri hangs her head in shame, the shame of having fear visible on her face. Edogawa picks up on this, he speaking out to her every so often, he receiving no reply each time.

“Doctor Edogawa, what should we do if they…if they return?” Paige asks of him.

Edogawa sighs again as he rubs first his forehead and then his eyes.
“I’m not really sure to be honest. Best I could say is that if they show up just confront them.”

“Heh, aren’t you suppose to tell us not to fight them unless they attack the city?” Keiji replies mockingly.

“I would, but who knows what they’ll do. If what you said is true, then they’ll continue to attack you guys until they deem you “worthy” of death. They may do anything to make you afraid or bring you out into the open. Just keep your guard up and be ready.”

Keiji laughs some, Paige joining in a bit. The group says their farewells and ends the call. Upon doing so, Syuri rises to her feet, raising her head up to stare out of the window of their apartment. Aimi and the others stare at her as she does so, Aimi noticing that Syuri is clutching her fists hard enough to cause blood to drip between her fingers. After a minute Syuri speaks up, her voice cold and serious.

“Whenever those two show up…I am going to make sure they pay. They think they have me afraid of them just because they can toss us around. No. They don’t know what fear is. I will make them afraid. I will make them fear death…I will make them fear me!”

“Excellent. Excellent!” Jung Moroi proclaims as she looks down at her two champions, they kneeling unchanged, their shapes shrouded in shadows.

“We are happy we pleased you Lord Moroi.” The taller shape speaks.

“We will continue to make you happy with our progress.” The shorter one states.

“Oh I am sure you will my pretty ones. For with you two on my side I finally have a way to put those cockroaches known as the Dreamrangers in their place. Morpheus thought he had the upper hand with his little protectors of that kingdom of his. Oh no dear Morpheous. For it is I who has the advantage, I who has the ability to make dreams crumble. With you two boys on my side there is no enemy I can’t crush and no human being I can’t plague with a nightmare!” Jung goes off as she walks around her throne room.

“M’lady, what shall we do now?” Raison asks of his queen, he standing behind the two dark rangers.

Jung continues to pace around her domain in glee, her face painted like the happy harlequin mask. She trots over to a candle, she placing her hand above it, letting the flame rise up and touch her skin.

“Send them back down tomorrow. But…put them in with the animals.” She coos, grinning madly.

“As you wish.”

The next day, the four sit in the apartment’s living room, they trying to relax after the eventful day they had before. As they sit, each one ponders the events the previous day had. The rangers revisit them the most, taking in frame by frame their fight with the new rangers under Jung’s control. How she got them they did not know. Who they are they do not know. All they knew was that they now had a new enemy that could easily run through them. If they were going to continue saving the human realm, they needed to get stronger to beat these evil warriors. If they didn’t, they were doomed to fall.

At around 2:45 in the afternoon, the four jerk their heads violently to the window, they seeing a blast of fire erupt from somewhere in the city. Syuri and crew jump to their feet, vanishing almost immediately. As they do so, they leave Aimi pre speaking, she simply sighing and sitting back down, accepting that they have to go out and fight.

The group arrives in an area of homes, people screaming and running about amid the chaos. The three push through the people, urging them to safety as well as trying to find whatever caused this. While wiggling through the citizens, more explosions occur causing houses to blow into pieces. The suburban area which was once prosperous has now become a warzone, the sight and sounds of this bringing Paige to tears.

Eventually they arrive at the center of chaos, any sorrow their eyes had immediately turning to pure anger. Standing in the middle of a road with people running for dear life and screaming bloody murder stands the Nightmarerangers. They soon pick up on the arrival of their counterparts, they slowly turning to face them.

“Welcome to the party Dreamrangers.”

“I hope you find the venue acceptable.”

“You bastards! How could you attack these innocent people!” Keiji shouts
at the two, he pushing past Paige and Syuri to be closer to the evil ones.

“How you ask? Simple. It would be too boring to simply track you down and throw a glove at your feet. No no no dear rangers. You see we are the hunters, you are our prey. Any good hunter knows to let the prey come to you. So we did what was needed to bring you to us.” Nightmare Red explains, he resting his two blades against his shoulders’.

Syuri pushes past Keiji, she clutching her Dream Cellular. Keiji and Paige notice this, they drawing their changers out as well.

“I am going to make you shit heads pay.” She proclaims as she initializes her morphing sequence, Paige and Keiji taking suit.

“It looks like they want to play with us after all.”

“Indeed it does.”

“DREAMSCAPE! OPEN!”

With the words spoken, the three change into their suits, weapons already brandished. They then disappear in a flash, reappearing seconds later in front of the Nightmarerangers, their attack blocked. White laughs as he clamps his hands down against Paige’s Dream Shooter and Keiji’s Dream Trident. Red blocks with both his swords as Syuri leans in to try and force her attack through. Nightmare Red does the same to defend. The two then slam their helmets against each other, releasing a fierce battle cry.

...To be continued

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*Ending theme and video/credits*

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*Shingai means terror or shock. Gundan means corps as in a unit*