[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!”