Five Stars of Heaven: Chapter Seven
Restless
Rocky's first date with Melissa was a picnic in the park. Until that date, Rocky didn't believe it was possible to be in the wrong place at the wrong time so often.
A Gorma dressed like a priest with dark sunglasses walked through the park while twirling a short staff in his hand. One end of the staff was shaped like an 'N' and the other end of the staff was shaped like an 'S'. The staff charged park goers with strong magnetic energy. The energy caused some park goers to crash against each other and others to shoot away from each other.
Melissa had fled the park with the other civilians as Rocky ran towards the Gorma. The ranger rolled his hands into fists. "Hey you! You Gorma should have realized by now...all your stupid plans do is tick us off!"
The priest smiled at Rocky and transformed into his monster form. His name was Jishoku Shinpu, meaning Father Magnet. The villain's dark body was covered with armor that made his head appear like a magnet. The Gorma third eye was in between the magnet prongs. A group of Kyonshi surrounded the villain.
"That's what makes it so fun," the Gorma said as the Kyonshi armed their staffs. "It is only through chaos that we know life."
"I'll remember that," Rocky said sarcastically as he armed his morphers. "Aura Power!" Blue energy flashed around him as he morphed into his Ranger form.
The soldiers charged forward to attack.
Tenma Ranger leapt forward with a split that kicked two soldiers upside the head. The Blue Ranger landed and spun forward while spinning a tornado kick across another grunt's head. Tenma Ranger slammed a sidekick against the next soldier's face.
The Blue Ranger spun forward while arming his Thunder Staff.
A group of Kyonshi swung their own weapons towards the Ranger's head. Tenma Ranger spun his staff wide, knocking the weapons aside.
Tenma Ranger swung the left end of his staff across a grunt's face, bashing that soldier's head and knocking the Kyonshi backward.
Tenma Ranger continued his spin and cracked his staff across another soldier's legs. The Kyonshi crashed to the ground, its legs twisted and broken.
Tenma Ranger tornado kicked another soldier and continued his spin while slamming his staff across the grunt's face.
Father Magnet stepped towards Tenma Ranger and twirled an iron staff in hand. The Blue Ranger rolled forward into a crouched fighting position and held his Thunder Staff aimed forward towards the Gorma.
Tenma Ranger sprang forward and leapt through the air, swinging his staff downward.
The Gorma aimed his own staff and fired an invisible magnetic pulse that exploded against Tenma Ranger's chest and knocked him to the ground. Tenma Ranger stumbled backward and rose back to his knees.
"You about done?" Tenma Ranger asked.
"Hardly," the Gorma answered. The villain extended his hand and fired a whirling burst of magnetic energy. The blast exploded against Tenma Ranger's chest and knocked him backward, sending him crashing through a small billboard nearby.
The Rangers later regrouped and used their MegaThunderzord to kill Father Magnet when he grew giant. But the monster's destruction did not stop the nagging feeling in the back of Rocky's mind.
Rocky shook his head as he walked along the streets with Tommy. Rocky had asked to speak with him the day after the battle.
"I fought that red-masked freak. I fought that magnet freak," Rocky said. "I got clobbered both times. I thought I was getting better, but after yesterday, I'm no so sure."
Tommy shrugged. He was not used to dealing with these kinds of issues with people except for Kimberly. It wasn't long ago Tommy was the new ranger, a formerly-evil add-on to a team of five. A liability who was losing his powers and getting weaker with every battle. Now he was being asked for advice?
"We're a team for a reason," Tommy said, trying to give some kind of support to his teammate and friend. "Sensei wouldn't have given you your powers if you didn't know how to use them. Besides...each battle is going to be different. We just have to adapt to each opponent, learn from our mistakes, and...do better next time. Like you did with the Gorma who kidnapped Justin."
"But what if..." Rocky started to say. He shook his head. "Oh, never mind. I sound like such a girl."
"What if you get killed?" Tommy asked, predicting Rocky's question.
"Well," Rocky said. "If you want to put it bluntly...yeah."
Tommy nodded. "Come with me..."
Tommy led Rocky to a section of the city cornered off by yellow tape. Massive construction vehicles and workers plowed through rubble of a nearby collapsed building.
"This is where we fought Shard a few weeks back," Tommy said. "Some people in that building never made it to the shelter. They died when the building collapsed. One of the people who died was a single mom who left behind three kids. The kids were split up into different foster homes.
"Rocky...what we do...the Gorma could attack at any time. Anyone of us could die in any one of those attacks. Whether they wear us down and finish us off, or whether they get one lucky strike. We face death every time we morph. But we do what we do to keep things like this from happening."
They stood silently and stared at the rubble.
It never seemed to end with the Gorma and their attempts to kidnap kids. A strange, pale Gorma shaped almost like a trumpet-head had kidnapped a young girl off the streets. He was one of the weaker Gorma. His goal was to sacrifice the girl to the Great Beast of Hell in return for stronger power.
His name was Tofu Sennin, meaning "Tofu Hermit."
The Hermit stood around a table as Kyonshi poured a drink into a wide red bowl. The Gorma would sip the drink before killing the girl.
They stood in a secluded construction area with piles of concrete tubes 6-feet in diameter and piles of concrete brick. The girl was tied in a rope near a pile of concrete tubes.
A chain was the only thing keeping a massive block of concrete hanging several meters above her head from crashing down and crushing her.
The Hermit stood with his shoulders squared and lifted the bowl. He gulped down the drink as the Kyonshi stood by, the group of soldiers more than ready to finish off the girl. The Hermit lifted down the empty bowl. He nodded to the Kyonshi, signaling them to kill the girl.
A soldier threw his saber. The blade cut the chain, and the massive block of concrete fell, crashing against the ground with a thundering boom. When the dust cleared from impact, the Hermit saw that the brick had been cut in half. Dragon Ranger stood in between the halves with his Thunder Sword. Phoenix Ranger stood behind him with the girl in her arms.
The Hermit shouted and kicked his table away. "Kyonshi!"
The soldiers rushed forward into battle as the other three Rangers arrived at the scene. The Rangers split up and smashed through the line of grunts.
Dragon Ranger slapped a soldier's staff aside and speared his Thunder Sword through that grunt's chest. Dragon Ranger pulled his blade away and crescent kicked the soldier across the head.
Tenma Ranger armed his pair of nunchuku. He jumpkicked a soldier upside the head and smashed the side of the grunt's head with a sharp blow from his weapon.
Another pair of Kyonshi charged forward towards the Blue Ranger. Tenma Ranger spun a tornado kick, slamming his heel across a soldier's head and continuing his spin, slamming a sidekick against the second grunt's face.
Tenma Ranger glared at the soldiers beneath his helmet. He charged forward to attack with renewed fervor.
To be continued...Chapter 08