Flare Blast was performing a final inspection of the Runner Bay doors. They had just managed to clear out the debris that was blocking it and pounded out all the dents. It was the last bit of damage that needed to be taken care of to restore it to full functionality. All that was left was to fire up the super-grill for the wrap up party.
Just then however, a large red object appeared in the air beside the base. It looked like an old tall ship, although it was completely red and it’s sails looked more like those of a Chinese Junk. Along its side was a set of cannons, which opened fire on the base with no warning. Although the damage was mainly cosmetic, numerous windows were obliterated, to say nothing of the rooms behind them. As Flare contemplated the week’s work at minimum that was just added, a second volley fired. As a third was launched, he couldn’t help but make his displeasure known.
“STOP BLOWING HOLES IN MY BASE!”
The ship fired a fourth volley into the base before continuing on it’s way, cannons and beam turrets firing off at random intervals before coming to a rest over the Everfree Forest. It’s gun batteries falling eerily silent before it vanished completely. Flare pulled out his communicator and flipped it open, “Flare Blast to Dispatch, tell me you felt that.”
“Roger that,” replied Blue Rush, “What was it?”
“Giant red airship of some sort. It has some kind of cloaking tech, came out of nowhere and fired a few volleys before heading to the Everfree. And I might be wrong, but I think it had a flag like you see on those pirate ships in the movies.”
“Understood, scanners register it, it cloaked but the gravimetric sensors are showing... nothing? That’s impossible, those things can beat Changeling grade cloaks.”
Flare thought for a minute before snapping his fingers, “Try the Paint Bomb.”
“Acknowledged,” Rush replied. A few seconds later, a hatch on the top of the base opened allowing a funny looking missile to streak out. Once it was over the forest, it exploded in a ball of bright pink paint. Most of it landed on the trees, but some landed on the ship, outlining it.
Flare grinned, “Tell the boys in the lab it worked a treat.”
”Will do, we’ll also be trying out the new deployment shuttle, A-Squad’s already morphed and loaded up.” With that, an unpainted large-bodied shuttle launched from the upper hanger and made a beeline for the ship.
“Navi! Turn the guns off! I don’t know how, but I think we lost them.” Gai said, turning on the ship’s cloaking to max, he’d rather not have to apologise for the rather rude and aggressive bombardment of whatever building he had just flew by. “Navi, can you give me a location on where we are?”
“The scanners are going haywire! I can’t pull up an area map!” Navi cried from a terminal in the main quarters.
“Dammit...” Gai muttered, rubbing at the chin of his helmet, “what about our passengers?”
“Kettle hit his head on the doorframe to the kitchen, he’s out cold. Rainbow Dash’s wound opened up again, Pipsqueak and Flurry Heart are treating her now.”
“Good, I’ll be out in a sec, just gotta confirm that we’re clear.”
At that moment, the ship’s proximity projectile alarm blared a warning, drawing Gai’s attention to the missile streaking directly towards the Galleon, it was already too close to dodge.
“Everyone! Brace for impact!” He shouted, adjusting his stance to take the impact that never came. Instead, the warhead detonated, scattering a fine pink mist over the trees below as well as, much to Gai’s chagrin, all over the Galleon.
“Is this… paint? Oh this had better wash off!” Gai half growled, half shouted to no one in particular.
“Gai! We have a small transport coming in!” Navi said, “It’s coming from the same direction as that missile!”
Gai’s eyes narrowed behind his helmet, “aww hell no. Navi! Prime the cannons, we’re gonna shoot that thing down!”
“Aye sir!”
“3 minutes till drop!” The pilot shouted back towards Dash and the rest of A-Squad. Dash nodded, although behind her helmet she was seething. She had just finished her workout and was about to have some of her personal stock of cider, when the first volley caused a piece of wood to knock her stien out of her hand, as well as punching a big hole in the barrel causing it to spill onto the floor. By the time the alarms sounded she had already planned 3 separate forms of the most vile retribution. 2 were quite good, the 3rd was rather tricky, it involved chopsticks.
All of a sudden, the vessel uncloaked, then started firing with a combination of the main cannons it used on the base as well as beam weapons. The pilot managed to evade the projectiles from the main guns, but the beams weren’t as easy. Luckily between the dropship’s shields and armor the damage was minimal. Unfortunately, the evasive maneuvers were making the Rangers without wings very glad that their helmets included a way to ensure that their puke didn’t stay in them.
“I’m gonna have to do a drop and dash,” the pilot said as they approached, “it’s too hot for me to land.”
Dash grinned as the others blanched beneath their helmets. “You don’t mean…” Pearl Spark started, before the floor beneath them opened up causing them to fall onto the deck of the ship, although not all of them landed on their feet. “Why does this always happen?” Pearl asked nobody in particular as she got up from a rather, ungraceful, head first landing.
Only to be laid out flat on her back as a beam of blue light impacted her forehead.
“So, they sent more of their attack dogs after me, huh? Guess I’ll have to break more of their toys.” A voice said from the far end of the deck, “I don’t suppose I could ask phantoms of dead heroes to get the hell off my ship?”
Rainbow Dash simply drew her blasters as another form of retribution for hurting one of her teammates took shape in her head. Due to its graphic nature, all that can be said about it is that it involved barbecue sauce, a bouncy castle, and 37 toothpicks.
“I’ll take that as a ‘no’,” the voice said, “since you’re the phantoms of the former DekaRangers, I’ll do this a little differently. Gokai Change!”
“DEEEEEEEEEKARANGER!!!” Another voice cried out as a figure in white stepped out from behind the main mast of the ship.
“Facing outrageous evil! Smashing the darkness of fear! Detective of the Daybreak! Dekabreak!” He shouted, the sirens on the side of his helmet flashing twice. “Let’s make this showy!”
Dash’s eyes widened in shock, she recognized it from one of Cruger’s concept sketches he showed the R&D team, but it was nowhere near ready. Whoever this guy was, he was impersonating an officer of Space Patrol Delta, and that royally pissed her off. She mentally added a swarm of Parasprites to the retribution before she and the rest of A-Squad still standing opened fire.
“Kosoku-ken! Lightning Fist!” He shouted as he was enveloped in small explosions, smoke obscuring him.
Dash grinned, “Got ‘im.”
“Is that so? You’re pretty naive for a phantom.” The figure said, stepping out of the smoke completely unharmed, “and I think you dropped these.” He opened his left hand, letting the small balls of glowing energy drop to the deck, each encased in their own stasis field.
“Wha-” Dash stammered before she was cut off by the figure’s left hand clamped over her face, “Dengeki-ken!” he said, revving the device on his wrist, “Electro Fist!”
Dash screamed as a high voltage current coursed through her body, the noise muffled by the figure’s hand.
“And then there were three, it’d probably be best if you just let me turn you back into keys now and save me the trouble.”
In response, Dash grabbed him in a one-armed suplex and threw him on the ground. “You call that a punch?” Dash said, “compared to Gilgamesh, you’re nothing.”
“Ooh, feisty.” The figure said, looping his legs around Dash’s and bringing her crashing to the deck with a twist before vaulting back to a standing position using one hand as leverage. “I guess they gave you that smart mouth of yours for interrogation purposes, huh?”
“No, that’s my job,” Night Stalker said before he used his baton to strike at all of the figure’s pressure points.
“Was that supposed to hurt? Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” The figure said, revving the device again, “Tatsumaki-ken! Tornado Fist!” He shouted, punching Night Stalker in the stomach before a whirlwind blew him headfirst into the ship’s main mast. Before he could make another comment, Evil Breaker and Hammer Fist lept down from the mast they were waiting on and simultaneously kicked him in the face.
The figure turned with the blow, using the momentum to spin himself into a mule kick that impacted both ponies where the sun didn’t shine.
“If this was the extent of the DekaRangers’ abilities, I’m sorely disappointed.” The figure said, standing and rolling his shoulders as if this were an easy workout for him.
“I don’t know what you mean by DekaRangers,” Dash said as she backed up a few steps, “but SPD doesn’t go down easy.” She then shot forward, doing a Sonic Rainboom just as she tackled him.
The figure let out an oof as the scarlet ranger barreled into him, losing his breath before being smashed against the quarterdeck wall. She didn’t stop there, continually whaling on the figure with her fists and legs, slamming him from all angles to keep him pinned against the wall. “Eat this!” She shouted, raising a fist to smash it into his helmeted face, only to have it grabbed by the figure.
“Nice shot,” He growled, twisting her arm so that it was pinned behind Dash’s back, “guess they upgraded you guys.” A resounding crack could be heard across the deck of the ship as Dash’s shoulder was dislocated before she was slammed headfirst into the deck, denting it.
“Cho Goriki-ken.” He said, revving the device again, “Super Power Fist!” He shouted, bringing the finishing move down on the back of Dash’s head, creating a crater in the center of the deck with Dash’s head stuck in the middle.
“Funny, pretty sure that was a killing blow there, should’ve turned back into a ranger key by now.” The figure muttered, grabbing the device’s handle again, “maybe one more for posterity…”
“Or you could just stand down Jack.”
“Who’s there!?” The figure said, looking around.
“The most powerful being in this dimension,” Cruger said as he stepped out of a portal fully morphed, “Ranger or Sentai?”
“DekaMaster!? How is that possible!?” The figure said, a silvery light enveloping him as a silver figure with a gold trident took his place. He pressed a button on his belt, causing the central plate to flip over, revealing a smaller figurine of Cruger’s fully morphed form, “Your key’s right here… what the hell is going on!?” He said, pointing his trident at the Ranger in front of him.
Cruger sighed as he drew his sword, “It’s Kat’s all over again. Now, I’m going to give you a choice, you’re going to apologize for blowing holes in my base that just got repaired and beating up my team and I take you back so I can teach you a few things. Or, I knock you senseless, and then take you back so you can apologize and I can teach you a few things.”
“Base? Do you have medical staff there!?” The figure asked, lowering his trident, “I have someone with a sniper wound to the shoulder on this ship, and another with head trauma.”
Cruger sheathed his blade, although he kept a hand on it, “Demorph and allow me to pilot it back to base, and they’ll have first class accommodations in an ICU before dinner.”
“I can only do the first,” The figure said as he undid his transformation, “the steering wheel’s fingerprint locked.” Standing in front of Cruger was a human with a mop of light brown hair wearing a silver long coat over leggings and a simple shirt.
“As long as I’m in the cockpit with you, I will allow it.”
“Right, gonna have to tell Navi to not try and claw your face off,” he muttered, grabbing Dash by the leg and pulling her out of the hole her head had been stuck in, “name’s Gai, by the way, Gai Ikari, future captain of the next Gokaigers.”
“Cruger, although something tells me you could have guessed that.”
Gai smiled ruefully, “Well, since you’re not trying to cut my head off like this guy here,” he held up the small figure, “there could really only be one other option. So I’ll return your earlier question, Ranger or Sentai?”
“Ranger. Oh by the way, you started it.”
Gai shrugged, “last thing I remember, I was trying to shoot down a potential doomsday weapon before it could have a proper detonation,” he opened the door to the living quarters, “next thing I know, that building was on the receiving end of a full salvo barrage. Which makes me question what was in that warhead to begin with.”
“Probably a warp generator or something. I hate to break it to you but you’re in a whole ‘nother dimension.”
Gai mulled it over, scratching at his chin, “that makes more sense, though I wonder where that lunatic got it from...”
All of a sudden, a red metal bullet collided with Cruger’s face, clawing and scratching at his helmet, “Take that! And that! No one messes with this ship!” Navi cried, her little parrot talons hardly leaving a scratch on the visor.
Cruger turned his head towards Gai, “So, care to call of your ProfNav?”
“Navi, you’re being rude to our guest,” Gai deadpanned, grabbing the offending parrot with one hand, “sorry about that, but you might as well demorph, you’re kind of imposing like that. And we’ve had trouble with that suit before.”
“I guess it wouldn’t be the worst, unlike most Rangers I’m not a total pushover when unmorphed, Power Down.”
“Huh, I’ve always wondered how you were ever able to cram that muzzle into a human-shaped helmet.”
“I refuse to answer that question,” Cruger grinned, “more importantly, I believe we have some patients?”
“This way, and it wasn’t a question.” Gai said, entering the main living quarters, “Dash, Flurry, Pipsqueak, we have a guest, so no pistols, paper fans, or frying pans, ok?”
“We’re clear.” Dash deadpanned, stepping out from behind the central pillar, lowering her pistol. A wide eyed Pipsqueak crawled out from under the table, clutching a small saucepan. Flurry Heart got up from behind the couch, her unusually destructive paper fan clutched close to her chest, “who is this, mister Gai?” She asked, looking curiously at Cruger.
Cruger grinned and bowed slightly, “Call me Cruger Princess Heart.”
Flurry Heart curtsied, “it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mister Cruger.” Then she cocked her head, examining him curiously, “forgive me, but I’m curious, why would a Diamond Dog know about me?”
Cruger facepalmed, “Why… every time… I need a t-shirt that says ‘I am not a Diamond Dog’ or something. Your highness, I am a Sirian, not a Diamond Dog, and unless I am very much mistaken Gai and I come from the same place, same continent at the very least.”
“About that,” Gai said, ignoring the profusely apologising princess, “we still need an explanation on the whole ‘different dimension’ thing.”
“I’ll brief you on the specifics after we get these two to Doc Plague, don’t worry it’s only a name, but for right now,” Cruger pulled off his Dash’s helmet, “let’s just say it’s not the first time I’ve dealt with such things.”
Dash’s eyes widened, “captain... why is the blue alien holding a copy of me in DekaRed’s suit?” she said, slumping down on the couch and putting pressure on the bandages on her shoulder.
“I think I’ll have the rest of you sit in on the debriefing then,” Gai said, scanning the room, “where’s Kettle?”
“He’s passed out by the kitchen,” Pipsqueak said, pointing with a thumb, “he’s too heavy for us to move, and Dash couldn’t help because of her arm.”
“I see...” Gai muttered, “we’ll be heading to some proper medical facilities soon, we can get help then.” He turned towards the manual control room, “this way, Cruger.”
Cruger nodded and followed before opening his communicator, “Cruger to DCB, have medical standing by.”
Gai opened the door, and stepped up to the wheel, turning the ship towards SPD headquarters, “your guys are gonna need medical assistance too, especially the guys who lasted longer than one headshot against me.”
“According to the built in sensors, they’re not too bad, but a checkup never hurt anyone.”
“I slammed blue boy into the main mast head first at near terminal velocity, shot pink in the head, mule kicked both green and yellow in the nards so hard that every male on the planet probably felt it, dislocated red’s arm and smashed her head into the deck with enough force to crumple the hardened alloy plates, which is enough to survive a skirmish with an entire armada out to kill me, and they’re ‘not too bad?’ I think you and I need to have a talk about your definition of ‘bad’, Cruger.”
“1, their suits are so well armored they make Abrams look like tin cans. 2, they just got off a training camp with one of the most powerful warriors in the multiverse. It’ll take a lot more than that to do serious injury to them while morphed, and they haven’t even earned SWAT Mode yet.”
“Huh, damn. Guess I better hurry with recruitment then, Dash is the only member I have so far, and she hasn’t even gone through the severe training it takes to even handle the transformation into Gokaiger. But then again, I did kinda kick their asses with just DekaBreak, so I guess they still have a long way to go as well.”
“I’ll take care of that soon enough don’t you worry,” Cruger said as they approached the base, “now, let’s get your wounded prepped for transport.”
“Right,” Gai said, mooring the Galleon next to the base, “I’ll get Kettle, I assume you’re gonna use that portal magic to get your guys to the infirmary?”
“It’s an option, but the docs get mad if I do that, something about teleportation aggravating injuries? Anyway there’ll be plenty of gurneys waiting for us.”
“With a lot of ice packs for Green and Yellow, I hope!” Gai snickered, slinging Kettle over his shoulders, “jeez, he is heavier than before.” He glanced at the stallion’s wrist, eyes widening at what he saw there, “dammit Kettle!” Gai shouted, ripping off the training brace off of Kettle’s wrist, “you could have easily died!”
“What’s wrong, Mister Gai?” Flurry Heart asked, concern in her eyes.
“What’s wrong is that this big lug is a gigantic idiot for touching something he shouldn’t have,” Gai growled, hefting the unconscious stallion onto his shoulder, “you owe me a drink when you wake up, asshole.”
“Let me guess, DBZ grade training gear?” Cruger asked.
“Not exactly,” Gai said, lifting the cuff on his left sleeve, revealing a similar brace, “It makes the user experience just enough increased gravity to not kill them as well as causing injuries to do more damage. If they’re maxed out like mine is, they act as a limiter, both magical and mundane.”
“Sounds DBZ grade to me.”
“DBZ grade doesn’t automatically adjust for increases in strength.”
“No, just manually.”
“Touche” Gai pushed a button on the terminal, extending the ship’s gangplank to the ground.
Cruger just chuckled before turning to the medical staff that were waiting, “A-Squad is a bit banged up, and there are 2 others who need possible surgery. Also, alert the base that Displaced protocols are in effect, we’ve got another Dash.”
“Rolling out the red carpet already? You flatter me, Cruger,” Gai said, handing an unconscious Kettle to one of the medical staff, “does this happen that often?”
“Visitors from another world, yes.”
“That, is some straight up RPG shenanigans right there man - wolf - dog - person, I’m kinda confused on which word to use here...” Gai scratched at his chin, “I guess ‘man’ works, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that you were once human?”
“Yep, although as possible options go, I’m glad I didn’t go Omega.”
“I guess it would be kind of awkward to go around as a ball of light unless in combat.”
“Anyway, you hungry? I just learned a new recipe for ramen from a friendly rival of mine and I’ve been dying to try it out.”
Gai’s face paled, “I just remembered something really important,” he locked eyes with Cruger, “I haven’t eaten a full meal in the better part of a week, I’m really only running on adren-” without warning, Gai collapsed, face planting in front of everyone present.
Cruger sighed as he hoisted him over his shoulder, “Noob Displaced, no stamina.”
Gai’s nose twitched, the delicious aroma of… something, he couldn’t tell, was slowly drawing him from the pitch black abyss he currently found himself in. He groaned, stirring a little bit as his eyes slowly cracked open.
“Thought that might do the trick,” Cruger chuckled, “smelling salts have nothing on good food am I right?”
“You have no idea, is that what I think it is?” Gai said, pointing to the steaming bowl in Cruger’s hands, salivating a little.
“Hope you like beef, my Equestria is omnivorous.”
“Same,” Gai grabbbed the bowl of ramen, “itadakimasu!” With that, he began to slurp up the noodles with reckless abandon, “Kettle actually ran a curry shop in Manehattan,” he gulped, “at least until some Zangyack goons decided it was a good idea to blow it up and interrupt my first meal in about a week.”
Gai set the empty bowl down, stifling a belch, “time?” he asked, looking pointedly at the stopwatch Cruger was holding.
“8.13, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were a Jump Displaced.”
“Ramen was always my favorite, even back when I wasn’t like this,” he wiped his mouth, “now I burn more calories than I ever did. You wouldn’t happen to have like, seven more of these, would you?”
“Are you sure you’re a Sentai and not a Jump?” Cruger asked as he simply pointed to a set of large pots on the stove.
“Well, I have the Gokai Galleon, the ability to transform into literally any member of Super Sentai as long as I have the key for that member, and I use the japanese names for my forms and attacks. Pretty sure I’m not Naruto.” Gai said, taking a newly filled bowl from Cruger.
“Fair enough. Oh, by the way, your Dash and Kettle just finished up getting treated, want me to call them up so that I only have to explain things once?”
Gai nodded, “what about Flurry and Pipsqueak?”
Cruger simply pointed at a nearby table, where they were enjoying some ramen of their own, albeit at a much slower pace.
“Alright, time for explanations then. They still don’t know anything either, I’m surprised at how well they’re taking all of this...” Gai said, watching the two with a soft smile.
“In a minute, or are you forgetting your first mate and cook?”
“No, I was waiting on you to call them in,” Gai shot him a wry smile, “and technically, Dash is the only formal member of my crew, the other three are victims of circumstance.”
Cruger shrugged as he typed out a message on his comm, “Forgive me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that how half of Luffy’s crew joined up?”
“I guess so, but I have no intentions of getting them involved any more than they already have, I may be a space pirate, but I’m not really into hostage-taking.”
“Give them the option, they deserve that much.”
“And what, drag Equestria’s last living royal, a street urchin, and a retired Guard into a conflict that’ll get them killed? I don’t think so.”
“And if you just kick them off, odds are they’ll just head in on their own anyway. I talked to Pip while I was cooking, if you don’t make him a cabin boy at minimum, odds are he’ll just go after Zangyack anyway, without the support of one of the most powerful beings in his dimension.”
“Out of the question,” Gai said, shooting the sheepish teenaged colt with a glare, “I’ll explain why when we’re alone, this isn’t something for them to know about.” He whispered to Cruger.
“Just be careful, we Displaced are pretty big butterflies.”
Gai gave a slight nod, turning to hear the whooshing noise of the powered door opening, allowing Dash, Navi, and Kettle to enter.
“How’s your shoulder, Dash?” Gai asked, looking pointedly at the fresh bandages over the bullet wound.
“It’ll take me a while to get back to one hundred percent, but I’ll live,” She said, rolling her uninjured shoulder, shifting the mechanical parrot violently, causing her to let out a squawk and take to the air, landing on Gai’s shoulder.
“No, I’m fine, thanks for your concern.” Kettle deadpanned, taking a seat next to Flurry Heart, “not like I also had a bullet wound and head trauma or anything.”
“Kettle, the bullet only grazed you, you’ve already been patched up. And the head trauma is your own fault for putting on the training brace without permission from me, you owe me a drink at the nearest tavern for that headache.”
“Anyway,” Cruger interrupted, “would you like to have some grub before or after I start explaining?”
“After prison food for ten years? Anything would be good.” Dash said, taking a seat next to Pipsqueak.
After Cruger passed everyone a bowl, he began. “Now Gai, what’s the last thing you remember before you ended up in command of the Galleon?”
“I was at Fanime back home, I was about to leave when this creepy guy sold me my Gokai Spear, in hindsight, someone dressed up as Xur complete with the wispy tentacles coming out from the hood standing at the entrance to the venue was probably one of the shadiest things I could have ever come across.” Gai said, a distant look in his eye.
“Pretty standard, although I’m not sure if that’s the Merchant we Displaced all know and loath or a new guy. Anyway, once you made that purchase, you became a Displaced, one of at least several dozen scattered in Equestrias across the multiverse, welcome to the club.”
“I would say it's an honor, but I really would have preferred to just walk out with my sweet new trident.”
Cruger chuckled, “Yeah, that would be preferable. So anyway, I believe it’s time I taught you how to make your Token.”
“Whats a Token?”
Cruger pulled his badge from his pocket and tossed it to Gai, “This is mine. Tokens are basically a Displaced’s calling card. You make one, send it out into the void, and other Displaced can use it to summon you if they need a hand or just to have a friendly chat.”
Gai’s eyes narrowed, “Any Displaced? Anyone from back home could summon me anywhere at the drop of a hat?”
Cruger frowned slightly, “You aren’t your verse’s only Displaced are you?”
Gai shot him a look that said: “later.”
Cruger nodded, “Well, my Token has a safety feature, and I do know a few Displaced who can control whether or not they go, so I think you’ll be fine.”
“That so? Alright, how do I go about making one?”
“Step 1, pick something that represents you. If it’s something you only have one of, I know a duplication spell.”
Gai held up the Gokai Silver key, “pretty sure this is as good as it gets, can you duplicate it?”
Cruger snapped his fingers, and suddenly Gai was holding two keys. “Next step, concentrate on it to infuse it with just a bit of your essence, and add a message you want people to hear when they pick it up.”
Gai put away the original key and focused on the duplicate in his hand, if he was right, then channeling to this would be the same as imagining the Gold Mode key. With a spark of light, a piece of his essence jumped into the key, causing it to glow with a silvery light.
“To all that discover this hidden treasure, know that I am Gai Ikari, The Silver Scourge, captain of the Gokai Galleon and leader of the Gokaigers. If you wish to call upon me and my crew, simply insert this key into any lock. But woe betide those who wish harm upon me, or those under my protection, for they will be consumed by the Black Fog.”
“Um, if you don’t mind asking, the Black Fog is?” Cruger asked as the glow subsided.
“Just hope you never find out,” Gai said, grinning, “How do I add the safeguards?”
“If I may?” Cruger asked as he held out his hand.
Gai handed him the key, “what now?”
“I’m infusing your Token with a caller ID spell,” Cruger said as the key glowed blue, “when someone uses it, the name and base of the summoner will appear on your morpher, as well as an option whether or not to pick up.”
“Guess that negates the necessity of the booby trap that I hope was set properly.” Gai muttered.
“Oops,” Cruger said as the glow faded, “you want me to set up a remote detonation or something?”
“If the trap works as designed, it’ll read the intentions of the person summoning me, and unleash the aforementioned Black Fog on them if they have bad intentions. Better to just change it so that it’ll only read me the caller ID if they pass the trap.”
“Done,” Cruger said as the key glowed again slightly, “now the last step is to cast it out into the void for it to propagate.” Cruger opened a portal and dropped the key in.
“You’ve really gotta show me how to do that one of these days.” Gai said, watching his Token vanish into the void.
“Possibly,” Cruger said as a portal opened and dropped a key into his waiting hand, “I’ll give you a primer for Dimensional Magic before you leave.”
“Convenient.” Gai turned to the other ponies in the room, “could you guys give us the room? I want to talk to Cruger alone please.”
“What’s this about?” Pipsqueak asked, eyeing the human suspiciously.
“It’s nothing to worry about, just gonna be doing some reminiscing of our old world with someone from there.” Gai said, waving him off.
Pipsqueak stared at him for a second before following the rest of the group out of the room, Navi perched on his shoulder.
“So,” Cruger said as the door closed, “unless I’m mistaken, the other guy purchased a rather unique trumpet?”
Gai chuckled, “yeah, I wasn’t alone at that con, but you’ve guessed that already. My best friend Jacob went as Basco ta Jolokia.” He pulled out a silvery hip flask from his coat, “sake? It’ll make this go a bit smoother.”
“I’m more of a whisky guy, but sure.”
Gai withdrew two sake cups from the folds of his coat and poured a serving into each cup, offering one to Cruger, “the guy was like a brother to me, the both of us raided Zangyack supply transports and searched for the ranger keys together.” He drank from his sake cup, “did your medics find the matching scars on my back and torso?”
“Starvation doesn’t send you to the infirmary, it sends you to the galley, but I’m betting they’re pretty bad.”
“Guess where I got them?” Gai said ruefully as he took another sip of sake, “after we finished gathering the keys he began to slip a little. It wasn’t much, so I didn’t notice, next thing I know, I have a sword in my gut and the bastard was running off with nearly all of the keys.” Gai finished and refilled his cup, “he used them to curry favor with Zangyack and got a letter of marque and a new ship in exchange for supplying them with soldiers made from the powers of the thirty four Super Sentai.”
Cruger took a sip of his sake and sighed, “It’s a pity. I’ve been mentoring gender-bent Majin Buu who’s rather nice, if a bit lost. Just because you’re Displaced as a villain doesn’t mean you have to be one.”
“You’ve got that a little bit wrong there, Cruger.” Gai said, taking another sip, “he doesn’t see himself as a villain, he sees himself as a god. He’s gone off the deep end and there’s no pulling him back.”
“Let’s hope you’re wrong about that, plan for the worst, but hope for the best. If there’s a chance that we can snap him out of it, we should take it.”
“I already tried that, he completely kicked my ass,” Gai muttered, downing his sake in one go, “enough about that, the less I mull over it, the less I’ll hesitate when I meet him again.”
“Agreed, let us move on to more pleasant matters,” Cruger said as he downed his, “you pilot your Megazord yet?”
“I haven’t needed to, and I don’t think Gojyujin will come out in other dimensions.” Gai sighed, “I do have Gokai-oh, but I don’t have the other Gokaigers to pilot the other components.”
“Something tells me that won’t be a problem for much longer, just remember to call me when you get you know what.”
Gai scratched his chin, “That might be a while, Zangyack only dispatches it’s ‘special battalions’ under extreme duress. And only one team per sector.”
“I’m a patient guy, but make sure you call me, might need me to unlock it. Besides, it’ll be awesome to watch.”
“My verse’s Cruger equivalent has been dead for ten years, same with all the Super Sentai members and the Princesses, with the exception of Flurry Heart of course. My point is, I’ll probably be able to use it regardless as long as I oppose Zangyack.”
Gai looked up thoughtfully, “Although… I might be able to turn A-squad’s morphers into temporary keys so we could try it out the next time something bad happens, which it almost always does. How far are you guys into the SPD storyline?”
“Rather early, just faced T-Top.”
“Yeesh, your proteges really do have a long way to go. I wonder if I can help them along?”
Cruger grinned, “What do you have in mind?”
Gai grinned evilly, “Do you remember the bomb terrorist from DekaRangers?”