Justice Rangers - GO! The Pilot Episode
Here is my Phoenix Wright Big Bang offering! ^_^
Phoenix pretty much had his life the way he wanted it. He’d finally become a defense attorney and had a job working under a woman he truly liked and respected. His best friend from grade school who had mysteriously disappeared years ago had now returned, and even though he was a prosecutor and thus Phoenix’s natural enemy, Phoenix was just happy to see his friend again. The money wasn’t fantastic, and there were of course a fair share of little troubles (especially with some of the other friends Phoenix had), but life was good, mostly calm, and in a nice place.
Then, during lunch on a Tuesday, the evil vonKarma came to earth and began his attempt to conquer it.
Somehow Larry, a mutual friend between Phoenix and Miles, had convinced the two to meet him at the mall for lunch - a big reunion to celebrate Edgeworth coming back from abroad. It was a bit awkward seeing as how the three of them, though friends in grade school, hadn’t really talked or met up in years. Conversation was stilted and Edgeworth looked as if he would rather be at work, but Larry was unfazed and kept up pretty much all the mouth work, as was his usual repratoire. They’d just finished lunch when Detective Gumshoe came running up to their table.
“Hey, glad I found you,” the larger man said with a relieved sigh, looking directly at Edgeworth. He gave a quick glance to Phoenix and Larry as well, the surprise of seeing the prosecutor he looked up to dining with such individuals obvious on his face. “Oh, you guys too, huh? That’s just as well. Anyway, we’ve got to get back to the precinct! Something big is going down in the city!”
Just at that moment, Mia Fey, Phoenix’s mentor and friend, also rushed into the mall’s foodcourt. Her eyes scanned the crowd and lit up once she spotted her protégé. “Phoenix, thank goodness. There’s something happening and I need you to come with me.”
Gumshoe horned in on Mia’s distress. “So you saw those weird spaceships too? Don’t worry, we’ll get everything taken care of, but you shouldn’t rush off somewhere with that guy - come to the precinct with us so you’ll stay safer.”
Mia smiled. “That’s really kind of you, but I have a very safe place I can go to and I need to speak with Phoenix about some very important secret strategies, so I’m afraid we won’t be going to the precinct with you. Come on, Phoenix,” she said in a tight voice, grabbing ahold of the defense lawyer’s sleeve and all but pulling him out of his chair, “we really need to get out of here.”
“Hey, what about me, guys?” Larry pleaded, looking back and forth between Gumshoe and Mia. “Doesn’t anyone care about my safety and where I get off to?” He had a sad, puppy-dog look in his eyes, though no one seemed about to fall for it. Finally, since no one was going anywhere and it was just silent for half a minute, Gumshoe relented.
“Yeah, all right, you can come with us, but you’ll probably get stuck in a holding cell until we can discover what’s going on and keep everyone protected.”
Larry didn’t seem to care. “Great! Extra protection for me! Now let’s get out of here and find out what the big hub-bub is!”
A splintering sound followed by the glass sunroof of the mall’s ceiling shattering and falling down to the ground quickly spun everyone’s plans into a frenzy. Strange humanoid shapes dropped in along with the glass, landing roughly on the ground but paying that no mind as they straightened up to their full height. They were mostly grey with a small ruffle of what could only be there skin puckered up around the neck. Tall spikes that could have accounted for hair topped off the nearly seven foot frame of the creatures, but the most distinguishing feature was the one eye surrounded by a large gold ring. Different bodies had either a left eye or right eye, but neither had both.
The creatures that had just dropped in took a moment to stabilize themselves while everyone else in the mall froze and stared at them. It wasn’t every day one saw giant humanoid things drop in through a mall ceiling after all. Was this a reality show prank? A movie shot? Or could this actually be some sort of alien invasion?
“What the heck are those things?!”
It was as if Larry’s words were the trigger to start the action. The creatures all turned their one eyes to Larry and began to shamble forward. The people started screaming and running towards the exits, some making it while others got grabbed by the aliens and hoisted up into the air. Phoenix watched as one man was lifted up and began convulsing as if he were being electrocuted. The alien’s eye was sparking with a strange red light, so the electrocution things was more than likely what was going down. Other people saw this too and increased their panic.
Mia wasted no time in grabbing Phoenix’s arm and dragging him out of the food court and into the mall itself. He followed along blindly, letting his legs follow Mia while his eyes were glued to the monsters and the people they were hurting. When they were a safer distance away and tucked in a nook of locker storage, Mia stopped and turned Phoenix towards her and away from the carnage.
“Phoenix, you need to listen to me. This is going to sound a bit crazy but-“
“A bit crazy?! This whole thing is insane! What are those things?” He looked around quickly and tensed up, “Where are Edgeworth and Larry? Oh man, don’t tell me they’re still back there!” He made to rush back to try and defend his friends, but Mia held on strong.
“You aren’t listening! You can’t go back there yet, I need to tell you some things first. After that, you can go and be a hero all you want!”
“Hero? But, I’ve got to see if they’re ok!”
“We’re fine, Wright, so get back into the safety of this corridor!” Edgeworth’s voice came from behind them, meaning that Larry, Edgeworth, and Gumshoe had snaked their way to the other entrance of the locker area in a grace of fate to reunite them all.
Phoenix breathed a sigh of relief and joined his friends, but he noticed how nervous Mia looked with the others there. She just gave him a half smile and waved him off, peeking her head around the corridor to see what was going on and if any of the monsters had followed the group. At her speedy return with panic-set eyes, Phoenix knew it didn’t look good.
“Hurry! Go back the way you guys came! They’re coming this way fast!” The group didn’t need to be told twice and all five went rushing down the other way only to crash into Gumshoe when he stopped dead.
“Uh, guys, I don’t think this way will work either,” he said, ending with a dramatic gulp, backing slowly away from the three monsters that were half-jogging to meet them. No doubt about it, they were trapped. Edgeworth was keeping his cool, but it was obvious the situation was nerve wracking even with his calm exterior. Larry was freaking out and trying his best to make himself a small target by cowering behind Gumshoe. The detective’s training had kicked in for the usually bumbling man and he rolled up his sleeves, prepared to defend the group of people counting on him. Phoenix himself was looking all around trying to see if there was someway they could still escape - maybe an airduct or secret shop entrance that would pop up, but to no avail. He took a glance at all his companions and saw Mia looking around nervously. It was strange though, as she didn’t seem nervous about the monsters coming at them from both ends, but more nervous as if she was hiding something. She clutched at her chest where her magatama necklace was hanging.
Mia noticed Phoenix looking at her and motioned him to come close into whispering range. Since no other random escape options had come up, Phoenix leaned in, prepared to hear a final confession or other such thing from his mentor.
“I know you won’t believe me, but you can fight these things.” She then unclasped the magatama from around her neck and put it into Phoenix’s hands. “Use this and say the word ‘Objection’ with all the passion I know you have to protect the truth and justice of this world.”
Phoenix was dumbfounded. He had no choice but to accept the magatama that was pushed into his hands, but the woman he respected most in the world was sounding like she had just cracked. Use a necklace and say ‘objection’? What kind of crazy. . .
“Watch out! Here they come!” There was no more time for wondering what had gone wrong in Mia’s head as the one-eyed lightning monsters had finally reached them. Gumshoe had shouted the warning, then barreled full on into the closest monster. To Gumshoe’s credit, the thing was pushed back, but it retaliated against the brave result by thrusting it’s chest out and sending a shock through Gumshoe, bouncing him back towards the group and knocking over Larry who was left out in the open once his Gumshoe cover had left. Larry, in turn, knocked Edgeworth’s knees out from under him, which meant one monster had managed to fell three of the five of them.
It also meant that Phoenix was a prime target as the closest standing target.
The monster that had repulsed Gumshoe shot out its arm with a ball of red electricity formed at the end of it. With no preamble, the monster shot the ball off, aiming straight at Phoenix’s chest. Frozen in disbelief, Phoenix simply stood in shock.
“No!” Mia’s shout wasn’t enough to startle Phoenix out of his shock, but the shove from the older woman certainly did the trick. He watched, horrified, as the red electric ball meant for him slammed into Mia. She screamed in pain, every muscle in her body tensed and the red lightning surrounding her and actually lifting the woman off the ground in its intensity. After what seemed an eternity but could only have been a few seconds at the most, Mia’s scream fell silent and she collapsed boneless to the ground, the red lightning sparking one more time before fading from around her body.
At her side in an instant, Phoenix could still only catch a final whispered word before the life faded from his mentor and friend completely. He heard the word, but it refused to process in his mind. Instead, all he could see and think about was the dead body cradled in his arms. How had it come to this?! He’d just been eating lunch with his friends and now Mia was dead and some crazy alien monsters were going to surely finish the rest of them off in a mall hallway. This wasn’t right at all! Mia. . . oh Mia. . .
“Wright.”
All his attention focused on Mia’s pale body, Phoenix ignored the rest of the world. Perhaps it was the lighting in the mall, or more likely the tears in his eyes streaming down his face, but Mia’s body seemed to take on a glow, almost like an angel.
“Wright!”
Actually, as he continued to stare at her, lost on how to go forward, Mia’s body was getting brighter and brighter. And he was either losing his mind, or parts of her were also beginning to go transparent.
“Dammit, PHOENIX!”
Hearing his first name shouted with such fear by his best friend who was normally the paragon of level headedness finally made Phoenix look up from the glowing body in his arms. Edgeworth was kneeling next to him, an arm on Phoenix’s shoulder trying to shake him out of the stupor he’d been in.
“I’m sorry, I really am, but we have to get out of here. You need to snap out of it so when Gumshoe rushes them again and gives us a break, we can run past them. So please, you need to put her down so we can go.” Sure enough, Gumshoe was looking back and forth between Phoenix and the nearest monsters who were circling them to close any exit. Larry was still crouched on the floor, but in a sprinter’s pose -- ready to run. Phoenix took one last look at Mia, her glowing pale skin and all, then nodded and set her down gently to the floor. Gumshoe took the cue and breathed deep before charging full on once more into the monsters.
The things were expecting another frontal attack and created the electric field to bounce him off again, but this time Gumshoe side-stepped and slammed his elbow into the monster’s torso area, making it give off a terrible grinding, screeching sound before it fell to the side. That was the break the others needed and all three rushed through the opening,
The sharp crack of a whip and the tip of it just barely missing Larry’s nose stopped them all once again.
“And just where do you think you fools are going?” A far cry from the monsters surrounding them, this new comer looked all flesh and blood, though her outfit was a bit alien. Bubble-sleeves and a ruffled collar under a vest on top and a mini-skirt with leggings on the bottom - definitely something different. However, the group wasn’t staring at her costume so much as the whip still held ready in her hand.
“When my minions are trying to kill you, you stay still and let them do their job!” she cracked the whip again and this time Larry was not so lucky. A sharp sting across his chest sent him to the floor in pain. The woman didn’t even seem to notice Larry as she stepped over him to inspect the rest of Phoenix’s group. “Now where is the Fey woman?” she asked, shoving Edgeworth’s head up with the grip of her whip to look him straight in the eye, though as she did, a strange look quickly flashed across her face. She abandoned Edgeworth and made the same move to Phoenix instead. That’s when she saw the magatama still clutched in his hand.
“Damn!” she swore, leaping back and sending the whip flying at Phoenix with real malice. He tensed for impact, but then a strange thing happened. The whole hallway flashed white and suddenly Mia was standing in front of him, the woman’s whip held fast in her hand. She turned to Phoenix and spoke that same word that she had whispered with her dying breath before shimmering away into a thousand specks of light that scattered to the winds.
Everyone, the monsters, the woman, and Phoenix’s friends alike, froze in confusion and awe of what had just happened. That was when Phoenix decided that no matter how insane it sounded, he was not going to ignore the dying advice his mentor had given him, especially when her spirit had just saved him. Looking at the magatama in his hand, he then held it out in front of him and mustered all his courage to shout out the special word Mia had needed him to say.
“OBJECTION!”
A strange wind swirled around him and suddenly Phoenix was adorned in a tight-fitting hero’s costume with gloves, boots, and helmet included. The magatama disappeared and instead a symbol of it was emblazoned on his chest. In his hand instead of the magatama, a large shield in the shape of his defense attorney pin appeared. A powerful urge swept through Phoenix and compelled him to stand tall with his shield at his side and his other hand pointing straight out to the woman with the whip. Words came to his lips before he even had a chance to process them and then they were out in the air.
“I am Justice Ranger Cobalt and I will not fail to bring justice to the world! Now face your punishment!” The newly christened Cobalt Ranger then threw his shield at the woman like a discus, it’s aim true. “Take that!”
Of course, it wasn’t really that simple to do away with such a powerful woman. She was shocked by the sudden transformation, but not in enough of a stupor to simply let the shield hit her. With her whip free from Mia’s spirit, she used it to deflect the shield, which then spun in an arc to destroy the circle of electric-filled monsters that had been surrounding the group before returning to the Cobalt Ranger’s hand. He stared in awe at the weapon, forgetting about the enemy still left standing until she once again aimed her whip at him. Almost automatically, the Cobalt Ranger ducked for cover under his shield and the whip bounced harmlessly off. He stood again, ready to fight once more, but the woman no longer seemed interested.
She backed up one step, than another in high-heeled boots. “All right, Today it looks like you fools had an ace up your sleeve, but don’t think this is the end. I am Franziska vonKarma - remember my name as we will meet again, Justice Ranger!” And with that dramatic statement, she teleported out of the mall, leaving the group alone and mostly unharmed. With no enemies left to fight, the magatama on the Cobalt Ranger’s chest flashed once, and then Phoenix was back in his regular attire with Mia’s magatama in his hand instead of the shield.
Larry was still curled up in pain, but he was also staring wide-eyed at his friend. Edgeworth was confused enough to let it show on his face. “Wright. . . what in the world. . .”
Gumshoe, however, showed no hesitation. “Wow! Why didn’t you ever tell us you were a superhero!” he shouted joyously while clapping a hand across Phoenix’s back.
“I. . . uh. . . didn’t even know myself?” he squeaked back, looking at the magatama which was sitting innocently in his hand. Then a soft voice all of them recognized filled the air.
“Now you must go to the hidden Fey shrine to truly uncover your destiny and stop the evil vonKarma from taking over the earth. Go back to our office and look under Charley to find the location. Don’t worry, someday we’ll meet again.” The magatama glowed briefly and then all trace of Mia was gone.
Gumshoe punched his hand with a fist. “Okay, what are we all just waiting around here for! Let’s find Charley and get to that shrine!” He helped Larry up who was now mostly recovered from the sting of Franziska’s whip. Edgeworth, on the other hand, was still looking at Phoenix with bewilderment, but that didn’t stop him from approaching the new superhero and laying a hand on his arm.
“I. . . I’m sorry about. . .” he looked down at the floor where Mia’s body had once laid. “She was. . .”
Phoenix forced a smile and took a deep breath. “We can’t dwell on that when there’s more to do. I don’t know if you guys actually want to come with me to the Fey shrine, but I won’t stop you.”
“Of course we’ll come! We have to stop the evil vonKarma!” Gumshoe said confidently.
“Yeah, no way can we just back out of this now. . . can we?” Larry said with enthusiasm but much less confidence.
“We wouldn’t abandon you now, Wright, so don’t even think about it. Let’s go find the shrine and see what we can do.”
They left the mall through a back emergency exit since the panic was still ensuing throughout the rest of the mall. In Mia and Phoenix’s office, under Charley, the potted plant Mia had owned ever since Phoenix had known her, was an ancient looking map of the area with the Fey shrine outlined. It was quite a ways away in a place called Kurain Village, but luckily Gumshoe snagged a police cruiser and they were on their way.
Most of the trip was made in silence with no one knowing what to say. Strange monsters, Mia dying, Phoenix transforming, and a hidden shrine? It was a little much to take in. Eventually, though, Larry spoke up.
“So, does just Phoenix get to be a Justice Ranger, or are there others too? I mean, you know in all those super hero shows there is usually a team. Well, except Kamen Rider, and Ultraman, though sometimes they have partners or back-up teams and stuff. Oh! Are we the back-up team? But I want a cool costume like the Cobalt Ranger!”
“Yeah, being able to transform into a super hero like that would be pretty cool,” Gumshoe chimed in, keeping the mood in the car from sinking by talking more about the super hero part rather than the invasion and Mia. “I mean, I watch that Steel Samurai show sometimes and he’s pretty awesome.” Gumshoe grinned and Edgeworth flinched just a bit. Phoenix wouldn’t have noticed, but his old friend rarely showed a reaction so extreme for him in response to something so little.
“Oh yeah, the Steel Samurai! I forgot about that show for a minute.” Larry responded back. “That theme song is so cool too, it always gets stuck in my head.” He then commenced to singing a rather strangled version of the song, but even with the lack of talent on Larry’s part, Phoenix recognized the theme right away. He dug out his phone and dialed a number, just to be sure. In the front seat, Edgeworth jolted and quickly reached for his pocket when his cell phone went off, merrily playing the Steel Samurai theme. Larry and Gumshoe dropped their jaws in shock.
“No way! You like Steel Samurai too!” Larry shouted out, scooting as far to the front as he could to see for his own eyes that it was Edgeworth’s phone that actually played the song and not his own imagination. There was some teasing and a definite death glare from Egdeworth to Phoenix for revealing his secret, but it was all in good fun. Not long after, Gumshoe pulled up to a grassy field and put the car into park.
“Hm, well, according to that sign we can’t drive any further - the rest of the trip is a walk to Kurain Village. They must not be too big on technology and stuff if they don’t even have a road that goes straight to the place.” Sure enough, the village looked like something from hundreds of years ago with it’s ancient Japanese stylings and foot-worn roads from house to house.
Larry wandered out in front, peeking a head into each building they passed and always coming back out with a frown. “Aw man, where are all the people in this village? Did Mia give us wrong directions or something?”
Just then, Phoenix saw something move out of the corner of his eye. It was just a flash, but he saw a purple ribbon or something trailing along behind a corner. Keeping his eyes on the spot, Phoenix whispered a quick “Guys, over here” and followed the ribbon. When he got behind the building, he only caught a flash again of the same purple ribbon slipping into one of the seemingly abandoned houses, but this time Gumshoe and the others saw it too. Silently, they all lined up in front of the house and Gumshoe took point. He quickly slid the door open with a loud shout only to get bashed in the face with a frying pan.
The three conscious men yelled and jumped back, and a young girly voice from inside yelled back with “I’m sorry!” Then the owner of the voice came out, frying pan still in hand but apologetic look on her face. She was young, probably in her mid or late teens, and wearing traditional Japanese clothing, though slightly more stylish and cute. What Phoenix noticed first was the magatama around her neck that matched the one now resting in his coat pocket. What he noticed second was her stunning resemblance to Mia, his late, great mentor.
“Yikes, is he gonna be ok?” the girl asked, nudging Gumshoe’s prone body with her toe. She then looked up at the other three and gave them an embarrassed smile. “Really, I’m sorry, but you guys were kind of skulking around the village and no one comes here anymore, so I got worried. Then when he opened the door with such a loud noise, instinct just took over. Really, I didn’t mean to do it! So, uh, don’t let me spoil your image of Kurain Village, all right? We need more tourists! Oh, I know, how about I give you a free tour to make up for knocking your friend out!”
Gumshoe started to wake up then, mumbling something about a Frying Pan Samurai before sitting up with a shout. “Woah!” He looked up to see the girl with the frying pan standing in front of him and backed up closer to the others. “You’ve got a pretty good arm there, missy.”
While the girl apologized again to Gumshoe, Phoenix fished out the magatama and held it out. “Um, excuse me, miss, do you happen to know more about this? And maybe, do you know a woman named Mia Fey?”
The girl looked at the magatama Phoenix had and gasped at the name mentioned. “Mia? My big sister? But, why do you have her. . .” She pondered for a bit, then shouted an exclamation and pointed at Phoenix. “Aha! You’re the one she chose to be the leader of the Justice Rangers, aren’t you! That means you must be Phoenix Wright! Oh man, I’ve heard so much about you! But how come you came here without Mia? She told me over the phone all the time that when the time came, she’d bring you here herself and introduce us properly.”
The girl was so happy that Phoenix’s mouth froze. How was he supposed to tell this happy go lucky girl that her sister was dead? Thankfully, Edgeworth saw his dilemma and decided to help him out.
“We truly are sorry to have to bring you the news, but Ms. Fey was attacked by monsters earlier today and. . . well. . .” even Edgeworth was having trouble delivering the news, so Larry took over.
“She didn’t make it. But she gave Phoenix some transformation power thingy and told us to come here to find out how to fight those monsters.”
The girl looked back and forth at the group, eyes wide and tear-filled. No matter how many times she shifted to a new face, none of the four came to the rescue telling her it was just a joke and that her sister was fine. That’s when she collapsed to the ground and started crying.
The four men had no idea how to go about comforting a crying girl, so they stood around uncomfortably and, especially in Phoenix’s case, full of guilt for bringing this on the young girl. Eventually the girl stopped crying quite so much and was able to speak again, though tears were still running down her face and she had to wipe her nose on her long sleeves a few times.
“I guess,,” she sniffled, “this means I have to show you to the Justice Ranger’s base. So, just give me a minute in there to clean up and get myself ready, then I’ll come back out here to show you around, okay?” No one was going to argue with that, so the girl retired back to the house for a few minutes in order to get herself together. The boys stayed quiet, lost in their own thoughts, until she came back out. Her face was still red, but it had been washed and she looked a little more refreshed. She even had on a wobbly smile.
“Oh, I never introduced myself. I’m Maya Fey, and this is Kurain Village! If you will all follow me. . . well, theoretically it’s just supposed to be Phoenix coming here, but I guess since you all know about his power anyway, it can’t hurt to have you other three come along as well. But, uh, who are you guys, anyway?”
Introductions were given as Maya lead the group to the back of the village. The hut they entered looked just like the other ones, but inside was a hidden panel wall with stairs leading down into a well lit meditation style room. The room was very spacious - big enough for a small martial arts class to practice in and also have archery training on the other half. On the far end of the room was a wooden chest with a magatama painted on the top. That was the only real feature of the room as everything else was bare.
Maya stopped at the chest and swallowed audibly. “To be honest, I’m not quite sure what to do from here. I mean, Mia was in charge of finding the rangers and making the plans once vonKarms invaded, so I’m at a loss.” She frowned, but then snapped her fingers with a realizations printed on her face. “Oh! If Mia’s dead, that means I can channel her! Okay, hold on guys, this might take a few minutes, but then we’ll know exactly what to do!” It was odd hearing her be so cheerful about such a dreadful thing as her sister’s death, but Maya had closed her eyes and gotten into a concentration pose after spouting off her idea, so the boys just watched and waited to see what Maya had meant when she said she could channel her sister.
A peaceful feeling filled the room, and suddenly Maya was no longer there. Instead, Mia was standing there - though she was wearing Maya’s now rather tight-fitting clothing, though Mia didn’t seem to notice that particular aspect. She smiled warmly at ach of the boys, her gaze resting last on Phoenix. “I told you not to worry and that I’d see you again soon.”
*****
“Okay, so let me get this straight. The Fey clan is a mystical clan from a different planet that migrated here to earth when the evil vonKarma army invaded your planet and took over.”
“And then in order to fight off the vonKarma army in case they decided to spread out along the universe and make it here, the Fey’s created a defense system that would allow normal people to transform into warriors of justice to defend the planet.”
“And you chose our Phoenix Wright to be the leader of this group?!” The last was asked by Larry, who seemed rather put out that Phoenix was getting all this special attention. Mia just smiled at him and he forgot any negative feelings, though whether it was from her smile or the way her breasts jiggled in Maya’s clothing no one could tell for sure.
“I did choose Phoenix. The Fey’s created the Justice Rangers, but we were so secluded in our village that we could never find the right people to use the powers. So I volunteered to go out in the world and find candidates. Obviously we needed people who believed strongly in justice, so I went into law. And Phoenix has one of the strongest senses of justice I’ve ever seen, so I knew he’d be perfect even if he is a little on the oblivious side.”
“Yeah, he’s not exactly a tactical genius.”
“And he’s a major push-over when it has nothing to do with his morals.”
“And he’s standing right here, guys! Geez.” Phoenix commented, though mostly to himself since he knew the others wouldn’t really listen or care. Maybe they were right about not being leader material.
Mia stood up for him though. “But you see, none of that matters as what fuels the Justice Rangers’ power is a person’s sense of justice and desire for it in the world. Phoenix’s powers are so great because he is truly a warrior of justice even without the magatama to help him transform. And I think,” she now pursed her lips and took a good long look at Edgeworth, Gumshoe, and Larry, “perhaps you three also have some good potential to be rangers. But there’s only one way to be sure! In the wooden chest there should be three more magatamas created by our ancestors. Each of you should take one and shout out ‘Objection’. If the magatama reacts and you transform, then we have our team!”
Those instructions would have been rather doubtful if the three men hadn’t seen Phoenix transform that same way with their own eyes. So, without further ado, Edgeworth, Larry, and Gumshoe opened the chest and each took one of the three magatama laid carefully inside. After a chorus of three “Objections”, the room flashed bright and suddenly three rangers were standing there. It was easy to tell who was who what with the colors and costumes.
Edgeworth had a maroon costume and a cravat around his neckline that very much matched his normal attire. His weapon turned out to be a sword, which was rather appropriate considering his name. Gumshoe was dressed in olive and his outfit even had a trenchcoat to match. He had an interesting looking lazer gun in his hand, but considering Gumshoe was trained in fire-arms, that also made sense. Larry was decked out in tangerine and his sleeves looked a bit too long for him, but otherwise his costume looked normal. There was no weapon in his hand, however a small armory of different weapons had appeared on the floor at his feet.
“Hmm, looks like you don’t have a weapon proficiency that the magatama can sense. I suppose you’ll just have to try out various ones before it will come to you. But besides that, it looks like the Justice Rangers are finally a team!”
“Ah, yeah, that’s great and all, but how are we supposed to stop this vonKarma army with only four of us? I mean, Phoenix took out a lot of those electric monsters with his shield, but that Franziska woman dodged with no problem. And I’m sure there are more people like her if this is an entire army.”
Mia nodded, gravely. “It’s true, vonKarma does have a few generals in his army that are much harder to defeat. But I know you four can do it. Just remember your love of justice and nothing can stop you.” Mia’s body began to slowly flicker back and forth between an image of Mia and then one of Maya. “It looks like my sister’s limit has been reached for now. It may be a while before I can see you again, but do not fear. Maya knows some information on the magatamas and how to locate where vonKarma will strike next. Please, talk with her and stop vonKarma from taking over earth like he did my planet. I know you’ll be successful!” And with that, Mia faded into Maya completely and the young girl fell to the floor once more, although this time it was in a deep sleep. Larry, still transformed as the Tangerine Ranger, carefully moved her into a more comfortable position, and then the four men gathered together to form a pow-wow of sorts.
“Hey, Phoenix, you should transform again too, so we can see how we all look together,” Larry suggested. With nothing to really argue against, he did so and the Cobalt Ranger joined his team, shield in hand.
They were a bit of a mish-mash on the color palette, but that didn’t matter since they were formed to bring justice to the world, not give it happy matching colors. Gumshoe suggested a practice session to test out their combat abilities, at least until Maya woke up, so they went to a clear spot in the room and started to fight. Surprisingly, images of the electric monsters appeared in the room, giving them something to fight with. Their weapons went straight through the images, but it was a help and made Phoenix feel less like he was just play fighting with the air. The Cobalt Ranger turned quickly to throw his shield again when the Tangerine Ranger yelped.
“Oi, Cobalt, watch your helmet! Those spikes almost caught me!”
Cobalt stopped mid throw. “I have spikes on the back of my helmet?”
“Yeah, they match your hair. It’s kind of goofy, actually.”
“Not as goofy as your baggy sleeves!” Cobalt shot back. Then they both paused and leaned in close so Larry could voice what they were both thinking. “Also, definitely not as goofy as Maroon’s fluffy neck thing!”
A sword pierced the air between them and the two sprang apart to see Maroon standing there, poised as ever. “I heard that, and it is not a ‘fluffy thing’, it is called a cravat. You two wouldn’t know proper fashion if it wore a name-tag, I swear!”
Larry would have stuck out his tongue if the Tangerine Ranger costume had allowed it. “Oh yeah, well you and that vonKarma girl certainly seem to match. Maybe you can talk fashion to her the next time we meet!”
The Maroon Ranger wasn’t so easy with the sword this time and he banged Tangerine’s helmet with the back of his blade.
“Yow! Hey, sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean it!” This action started a sparring contest between the four Justice Rangers so they could test out their new powers in the safety of their base and not just trying new things in the middle of a battle. Larry went through nunchuks, a bow and arrow set, and some brass knuckles during the fight, but didn’t seem to be satisfied with any of the three. In the midst of their combat, Maya woke up and watched them in silence for a while before chiming in.
“You guys sure fight well for being regular fellows. Well, I guess Mr. Gumshoe is a detective, but otherwise you all seem to have regular kinds of jobs, so how did you learn to fight so well?”
That seemed to be the cue for their mock fighting to end, and the Justice Rangers transformed back into their normal selves to go and sit with Maya.
Phoenix turned his magatama back and forth in his hand, looking at it fondly. “To tell you the truth, I’m terrible at fighting. I’m pretty much a wuss, as any of these guys will tell you.” Larry nodded his agreement enthusiastically, though Gumshoe and Edgeworth stayed still and silent. “But when I transformed, it was like the ability to fight kind of came into my head. It’s really cool now that I think about it, but back at the mall, I was just going with the flow and trying to protect my friends, so I didn’t think to question how I suddenly learned the ability to fight.”
“Well, I went through training and all, but I was never as good a shot as I was being the Olive Ranger. And I can do all sorts of acrobatics too! It was amazing how high I could jump with those powers!” Gumshoe added.
“I’ve never actually had any formal sword training, so I’d have to say the magatama has the ability to transfer combat knowledge to it’s owner. Which is quite useful in our circumstances.” The others agreed with Edgeworth. Well, all agreed save for Larry.
“Aw, you guys are just flat out pansies. I could already do these sorts of things before I got this magatama thing. Jumping really high, flipping around, even using all these weapons is just an everyday occurrence for me.”
Maya looked like she was about to believe Larry and invest in his blown out of proportion stories, but Phoenix put a hand on her shoulder and interrupted the process before it could begin, much to Larry’s disappointment.
“So, Maya, now that we’re the Justice Rangers, how do we find and defeat vonKarma? When you channeled Mia, she said you would let us know how to find out where vonKarma was going to attack next. So, uh, how does that work?”
Maya smiled and jumped to her feet. “Oh! This part is pretty cool, I can’t believe I almost forgot to show you. Follow me!” She walked to the end of the room that had the magatama emblazoned chest and stood in front of the plain wall there. The Justice Rangers weren’t exactly sure what was so cool about a blank wall, but Maya was so excited about it that there must be something. Once they had gathered in a semi-circle behind her, Maya explained.
“Okay, first you need to take out your magatama and point it at the wall, then you just need to ask where vonKarma will strike next. Then, well, it’s easier to just do it and see.” The sisters had in common the ability to give very strange instructions, but since saying “Objection” had transformed Phoenix into the Cobalt Ranger, asking the magatama a question and pointing it at a wall couldn’t hurt. Phoenix took a deep breath and held the magatama in his hand, palm facing the blank wall.
“Where will vonKarma strike next?” The magaama glowed and before them the blank wall shifted to show a map! A large blue dot pulsed onto the map. Edgeworth eyed it carefully.
“That blue dot must represent the cobalt ranger, considering where it’s located. Hold on, let me see if I’m correct.” Edgeworth repeated Phoenix’s actions and also asked his magatama where vonKarma would strike next. A pinkish-red dot pulsed on top of the blue one. “Ah, so I was right. Now hopefully it will tell us where-“
“Ooh! I wanna try it too!” :arry interrupted Edgeworth and followed suit with his magatama, adding an orange dot to the map. Not to be left out, Gumshoe also went for it, making it so that a dark green dot pulsed in time with the other three colors. The dot cycled through each color three times before a light blue circle appeared on the map some ways away from where their own dots were located.
Edgeworth once again came to the rescue. “If our dots are in Kurain Village, then it looks as though their next target is the museum! Maya, does this map have a time reference, or does this mean they’re there already?”
Maya faltered, looking down at the ground and chewing her lip. “I. . . I’m not really sure. I just know that it can sense where vonKarma energy is flowing to and shows that on the map.”
“Damn, if they’re there already, how are we supposed to fight them when it took us over an hour just to drive here?!”
Gumshoe started pacing. “Well, I was going the speed limit on the way up here, but since I took a police cruiser, I could switch on the lights and just speed back down to the city. It’d still take at least half an hour, but that might get us there fast enough.”
“That will have to do. Come on, we need to get to the car,” Phoenix said, waving everyone back to the surface of the village. Maya ran up ahead and threw her arms out in front of the stairway before they could ascend the stairs.
“Hoooooold it! If you’re all just worried about getting somewhere in time, I can help out! Just hold your magatama up in the air and shout out ‘Teleport!’. Then think of where you want to teleport to and it will take you there.”
The four men froze in their rush and looked at Maya, then at their magatama’s in sync.
“Is there anything these things don’t do?” Larry asked. He held his magatama to his heart. “Bring me my true love!” Nothing happened of course, but that didn’t sop Larry. “Wait, if it didn’t bring anyone else here, then that must mean. . .” he stepped up to Maya and grasped her hand in his own. “Maya must be my true love!”
“What?!”
“Gah!”
“Eh?!”
“Me?!”
Unperturbed by the not so positive responses, Larry continued to hold Maya’s hand. “The magatama can do anything, so you have to be my true love. Now let’s go off and lead our happy lives together, growing old and having tons of kids and dogs-“
Phoenix grabbed Maya away and Edgeworth slapped Larry’s hand from hers. “Concentrate, Buttz. First we need to stop vonKarma. Then you can flirt to your heart’s desire.”
“But Edgeworth! How can we leave poor Maya here all on her own while we go and fight? Someone needs to stay and protect her, right?”
Gumshoe snorted. “No way you’re getting out of this, pal. You’re the Tangerine Ranger! You fight for justice! So be a man already!”
Larry wilted with a deep sigh. Maya, now free from his tight grip, rubbed her hand and smiled nervously. “Hey, I mean, it’s not like you have to worry about protecting me or staying with me,” she said, completely skipping over the part where she was supposedly Larry’s true love. “I’ve been here on my own for a while now - well, I have visitors every now and again, but mostly I’m on my own. And besides, someone has to monitor the fight and give you guys encouragement if things aren’t going well, right?”
“Huh? You mean even though you have a magatama, you aren’t a Justice Ranger?” Phoenix asked, honestly surprised. Sure she hadn’t transformed to train with them earlier, but Phoenix figured that had just been because she didn’t need any practice.
“Me? Be a Justice Ranger? I mean, of course I am a champion of justice, but I don’t think we Fey can actually be rangers. I mean, my sister had her magatama for years and she gave it to you so you could be the ranger, not her. I think if she could have transformed, she would have done it to save you instead of. . .”
That made sense. “Right. Sorry, I didn’t think.” While Phoenix silently berated himself in his mind, Maya just shook her head, dismissing it.
“But never mind that. You guys have some vonKarma butt to kick! So go and teleport - I’ll stay here and get a feel for how you guys are doing with my magatama, okay? And when you’ve wiped the floor with those creeps, then come back here and we can celebrate!”
“All right! Nothing can stop me from coming back here to my Maya! Teleport!”
“Let’s go get the bad guys! Teleport!”
Edgeworth paused before his teleport, turning to Phoenix. “Well, Wright, shall we go defend truth and justice in a whole new way?” he asked with a half smile on his face. That little bit was enough to make Phoenix smile in full.
“You know it!”
Both men lifted their magatama high and shouted “Teleport” at the same time, disappearing from the room and leaving Maya on her own again.
“Okay, Maya, time to do your job and give them support. Although, it would be totally cool to transform and actually be able to help out. Too bad I’m no good for that. But we all need to do what we can, right sis?” She settled in and closed her eyes, focusing through her magatama to see how the Justice Rangers were faring in their fight against vonKarma.
Meanwhile, in a rather clinical and precise command room, Franziska vonKarma was gritting her teeth through the talking down she was getting.
“Really, I would have expected so much better from the daughter of our leader. Not only did you fail to stop Mia Fey from forming the Justice Rangers, but then you ran away like a little girl when you hadn’t even been scratched yet!”
“I did not run. Away. I left to tell my father that we were already too late and that the plans needed to change. It was strategic, you fool. Besides,” she said, twisting her whip in a stringent effort not to use it on the man in front of her, “I’d like to see how you fair against a Justice Ranger.”
A cold aura ran through the room and with it came the leader of the vonKarma army himself.
“Indeed, General Payne, I too would like to see how you fair against the Justice Rangers. It will be a good test to see what kind of powers the Fey have come up with after all this time plotting. So, consider it my order to confront them if they happen to show up during your mission.” He smiled, though it was not one of warmth and instead sent a shiver down Payne’s neck. “And if you can indeed best the Justice Rangers, I’ll promote you. But if you fail. . .” The threat need not be said - any failure to Lord vonKarma resulted in nasty things.
“My Lord, as you command, it shall be done. I will head off to the museum now in order to secure any Fey belongings that may have ended up there. And if I find the Justice Rangers, I will defeat them.” With a salute, General Payne left the room to gather his troops and head off for the mission. Franziska at least waited for him to leave before snorting.
“That sniveling fool, saying that I ran away. Father, are you sure it’s wise to send him against the Rangers? He is your weakest general, so why even bother with him?”
“Because, dear daughter, I truly meant that he will be a good test subject. If the Rangers defeat him, then I will know we truly may have something interesting to fight and conquer here on earth. However, if even my weakest general can defeat the Justice Rangers, then there is no future here for earth save the one where I destroy it. If we lose Payne, it is of little consequence.”
Franziska nodded. It was cold and logical, but that was how true vonKarma thought. “Oh,” she said, remembering something else she hadn’t told her father yet. “When I had my run in with the Cobalt Ranger, there was another man with him that looked a lot like that boy who used to live with us. I know you said he was killed after proving useless, but do you think there’s some way he survived and made it to earth?”
“Hmm?” vonKarma’s tone was intrigued and his eyebrow raised. “By ‘that boy’, could you be referring to the idiotic whelp I tried to sculpt into a vonKarma? It was a failed experiment and the boy was terminated. There’s no way it could have been him. Don’t let your mind play nostalgic tricks on you, Franziska. I know you enjoyed his company as a young child, but he was not worthy of the vonKarma name and you should think nothing of him now.”
“Yes, father. It was only a fleeting thought at best anyway.”
“Good,” he responded, making it obvious that conversation was over. “Now, while Payne pays a visit to the museum, we must discuss our future strategy. We need something dramatic to truly make the earth fear us before we easily take over. Which is why I have a special mission for you.”
******
The museum was quiet when the Justice Rangers arrived. It was rather late at night, so the museum’s doors had been closed for a few hours, which explained the quiet. Still, it was a little eerie to suddenly appear in such a silent place.
“Hm, if it’s this quiet, then that means we beat the vonKarma army here.”
A voice echoing from down the hall answered Phoenix’s claim. “And in thinking that, you would be wrong, champions of justice!” Their backs were turned to the new mystery voice, but before they could turn around Maya’s familiar voice was in their minds.
“Don’t let him see who you are! Hurry and transform!”
It was good advice, so all four men shouted “Objection!” in unison and were changed into their colorful Justice Ranger forms. Through the same unknown force that let them fight while in Ranger form, the four also were compelled to stand in a grand pose together in order to deliver a witty battle speech.
“With truth and justice on our side-“
“There’s no force that can beat us!”
“You’ve met your match, agent of vonKarma.”
“The Justice Rangers will take you down!”
General Payne did not seem impressed by their posing and threats, sadly. Instead he summoned a handful of the same monsters that had attacked the mall and sent them after the rangers. “Go and defeat those silly colored idiots, Tayzers!”
The now named Tayzers quickly rushed down the museum corridor to come at the Rangers, the few in the front shooting off bolts of red lightning that the Rangers easily dodged. The weaving and ducking seemed so easy now, when before they had the magatamas they’d been cornered and almost taken down in a flash. Gumshoe, having the only long range weapon since Larry had transformed with a pair of sais this time around, started firing at the Tayzers. He hit a few, though one lazer shot didn’t seem to be enough to knock them out of the fight even if it did weaken them.
Maroon noticed a key strategic point. “Everyone, if you damage them, the flame around their eye goes down - if we can get it to go out, I assume that means they’re done for.”
“Right! Let’s keep an eye on it then!” Cobalt said. The terrible pun halted combat for a split second before the Tayzers became even more aggressive, almost as if in retribution for the pun. Payne summoned more of the monsters to rush in as well, though he himself stood back and away from the actual battle.
The battle wasn’t going bad at all. Cobalt tossed his shield out, feeling much like a superhero he’d read about as a kid. Maroon made a path through the enemy hordes with his katana and any of the Tayzers that his blade didn’t finish off, Olive went after with his gun, making sure to take care of it. Tangerine was mostly picking off any stragglers that the other three missed. General Payne observed it all from his far away position and then decided how he would strike.
Tangerine, being the most isolated, became his target. He quickly dashed from his position to one behind Tangerine and grabbed the Justice Ranger in an unbreakable hold. Tangerine flailed, but to no avail. His arms were stuck fast in the General’s hold and his legs weren’t doing any damage to the man’s armor.
“Rangers! If you don’t want your precious comrade to be harmed, I suggest you stop fighting and listen to me,” Payne shouted out. When the other three saw Tangerine’s predicament, they lowered their weapons, though not their defenses.
Maroon spoke first. “What kind of coward hides behind a hostage?” he spat out.
The general just laughed and tightened his hold. “I am no coward, I am the strategic mastermind, Payne! And obviously my strategy worked as you three won’t harm me as long as I have your comrade in my hold. Now, Tayzers, shock the one that just spoke.” The Tayzers approached Maroon and he started to raise his sword in order to fight back, but Payne squeezed Tangerine tight, making him yelp. This made Maroon hesitate, and that was enough time for the Tayzer closest to strike.
“Maroon!” Cobalt shouted at seeing his friend in pain. It was a little strange though, Phoenix, as Cobalt, could have sworn he’d shouted out Edgeworth, but instead “Maroon” had come out. Did the magatamas even have the power to resist their holder’s from being found out? But that was a mystery for another day, as right now more Tayzers were coming for Maroon and Cobalt wasn’t going to let that happen!
General Payne laughed. “You fools think you can defend him! Ha, not when I command you to drop your weapons! If anyone fights back, I give this one a big shock,” he said, shaking Tangerine back and forth like a rag doll.
“I’m so sorry guys!!” their captured comrade shouted, for one sounding truly sincere and having the others believe it. But of course it would be Larry - even if he was Tangerine at the time -- that got them into such trouble.
Cobalt and Olive put down their weapons, but that didn’t stop them from trying to defend Maroon. Olive barreled through a few Tayzers and took on some shocks while Cobalt stood in front of Maroon, taking on quite a few hits while Maroon recovered from the first barrage. Maroon saw this happening and raised his sword to strike the Tayzers, but a scream from Larry made him drop it to the ground and curl his fists in anger.
General Payne laughed his head off as the three non-captive rangers were shocked and beaten by the Tayzers under his command. Tangerine struggled more, but it was futile and he was forced to watch his friends be brought down by the most basic of the vonKarma Army.
Cobalt was kneeling on the ground now, trying to keep going even with the pain. All he could keep thinking was this wasn’t how things were supposed to go. They couldn’t lose - especially not in the first battle! Earth was depending on them to defeat the vonKarma army and all they’d managed to do was get captured and get beat up. Even worse was if they were defeated here it would mean that Maya would have lost her sister for nothing. If Phoenix couldn’t man up and be the Justice Ranger Mia had thought him to be, then her sacrifice was meaningless!
Cobalt’s shield lit up with a bright flash, blinding everyone in the room. Tangerine heard a girl whisper “Ah-ha!” right behind him, and then suddenly he was free from Payne’s hold. The General, still blind, howled in rage at his captive being taken from him and lashed out at empty air. Eventually the shield’s flare died down and the Justice Rangers were shocked to see a fifth member make its appearance. The Amethyst Ranger struck a pose and pointed at General Payne.
“Those who use cowardly tactics will never be able to defeat the Justice Rangers!” Amethyst coming in to save the day gave the other rangers the extra oomph needed to recover from the humiliations they’d suffered a mere moment ago. Olive began blasting any Tayzer in his sights, Maroon slashed through the circle surrounding him and Cobalt, and Cobalt himself wasted no time and threw his shield straight at Payne.
“Take that!”
The General was still blinking his eyes from the shield’s flare and didn’t have enough time to react to the large disc coming straight at him. The shield went straight through his torso, but instead of cutting general Payne in two, it looked like the shield went through Payne’s body with no harm, but dragged a dark and ugly shadow along behind it. Once the shadow was separated from Payne’s body, it let out a ghastly wail and disappeared into the air. With the shadow gone, all the Tayzers that were left also disappeared, leaving the Rangers alone in the museum once more.
Payne himself had fallen to the ground in a heap and didn’t stir. Tangerine and Amethyst went to check on the body since they were the closest. Amethyst crouched down to poke at Payne while Tangerine stood guard, just in case he popped up. All Payne did, however, was fall flat to the ground after being poked. Amethyst noticed he was still breathing though, and gave a sigh of relief.
“He’s still alive, somehow. That was a pretty neat trick with your shield, Cobalt! How did you know it would work?”
Cobalt dusted himself off and walked over to retrieve his shield, Maroon and Olive following after him. Once the shield had been retrieved, all five Rangers transformed back to their human selves. Standing next to Larry was the girl who turned out to be the mysterious fifth Justice Ranger. . .
“Maya?! But you said you couldn’t be a Justice Ranger! So how?”
The young girl just smiled and shrugged. “Well, none of the Fey had ever actually tried it so I figured it just couldn’t be done. But when you guys were in such deep trouble, I couldn’t stand by and do nothing. So I just kind of, well, transformed and came here to help out!”
Larry threw his arm around Maya and dragged her into a hug. “Thank you so much! You have no idea how awful it was being held by that guy! All I could do was watch everyone get hurt. If you hadn’t shown up I don’t know what would have happened!” Larry kind of swung Maya around a bit while she was plaint enough to let him. In such a joyous moment, everyone was smiling - even Edgeworth, though to a much more muted degree.
That’s when they heard the police sirens closing in. “The museum must have an alarm system that we tripped fighting General Payne! Come on, we should get out of here before the police catch us and we have to start explaining what we’re doing here,” Gumshoe told them. Seeing as he was the closest tie to the police, the others agreed. Larry stopped short and nudged the passed out former general with his foot.
“What do we do about this guy?”
Edgeworth snorted. “We leave him here, of course. He’s got no power without that shadow, so he should be no problem for the police to handle.”
Phoenix and Larry weren’t so convinced. “How can you know he’s powerless now? What if the police get hurt because we carelessly left him here?” Phoenix asked, waffling behind with Larry now.
Edgeworth’s eyebrows nearly met in the middle of his forehead with how hard he was thinking. “I. . . I don’t know how I know, but I just do. And on the off chance I’m wrong, I will take full responsibility for any harm that comes to the police,” he assured them.
Phoenix shook his head. “We’d all take responsibility since we’re a team now. But if you’re so sure, then I’m willing to believe you. Let’s all teleport back to the hidden base in Kurain Village, okay?” The others nodded, and all shouted “Teleport!” to get away from the museum and leave it for the police to handle.
Back in the village and after Larry got back from getting them some burgers to recover after the battle, the Justice Rangers sat back and tried to figure out what came next.
“So, we had a rocky start, but you can’t deny we worked together to take down one of vonKarma’s generals!” Phoenix said with some cheer. “We just need to work on staying together while we fight, or at least work on not being taken captive.” At this, he looked at Larry specifically, though Larry just shrugged it off.
“There’s a long path ahead of us, considering we don’t exactly know how big the vonKarma army is or how many generals it has, but that doesn’t matter! We will continue fighting until every battle is won, right guys!”
“Right!” Maya responded enthusiastically.
“Of course!” Larry said right after, smiling at Maya.
“We’ll do it, no sweat, pal!” Gumshoe said with a nod of his head.
“There’s no other choice; earth is depending on us,” Edgeworth said with calm surety.
“Okay, so now that we’re all together on this, let’s put our hands together and go for it!” Even Edgeworth couldn’t refuse such an honest and earnest request, so all five put their hands together in the circle between them and cheered in unison:
“Justice Rangers - GO!”
Phoenix pretty much had his life the way he wanted it. He’d finally become a defense attorney and had a job working under a woman he truly liked and respected. His best friend from grade school who had mysteriously disappeared years ago had now returned, and even though he was a prosecutor and thus Phoenix’s natural enemy, Phoenix was just happy to see his friend again. The money wasn’t fantastic, and there were of course a fair share of little troubles (especially with some of the other friends Phoenix had), but life was good, mostly calm, and in a nice place.
Then, during lunch on a Tuesday, the evil vonKarma came to earth and began his attempt to conquer it.
Somehow Larry, a mutual friend between Phoenix and Miles, had convinced the two to meet him at the mall for lunch - a big reunion to celebrate Edgeworth coming back from abroad. It was a bit awkward seeing as how the three of them, though friends in grade school, hadn’t really talked or met up in years. Conversation was stilted and Edgeworth looked as if he would rather be at work, but Larry was unfazed and kept up pretty much all the mouth work, as was his usual repratoire. They’d just finished lunch when Detective Gumshoe came running up to their table.
“Hey, glad I found you,” the larger man said with a relieved sigh, looking directly at Edgeworth. He gave a quick glance to Phoenix and Larry as well, the surprise of seeing the prosecutor he looked up to dining with such individuals obvious on his face. “Oh, you guys too, huh? That’s just as well. Anyway, we’ve got to get back to the precinct! Something big is going down in the city!”
Just at that moment, Mia Fey, Phoenix’s mentor and friend, also rushed into the mall’s foodcourt. Her eyes scanned the crowd and lit up once she spotted her protégé. “Phoenix, thank goodness. There’s something happening and I need you to come with me.”
Gumshoe horned in on Mia’s distress. “So you saw those weird spaceships too? Don’t worry, we’ll get everything taken care of, but you shouldn’t rush off somewhere with that guy - come to the precinct with us so you’ll stay safer.”
Mia smiled. “That’s really kind of you, but I have a very safe place I can go to and I need to speak with Phoenix about some very important secret strategies, so I’m afraid we won’t be going to the precinct with you. Come on, Phoenix,” she said in a tight voice, grabbing ahold of the defense lawyer’s sleeve and all but pulling him out of his chair, “we really need to get out of here.”
“Hey, what about me, guys?” Larry pleaded, looking back and forth between Gumshoe and Mia. “Doesn’t anyone care about my safety and where I get off to?” He had a sad, puppy-dog look in his eyes, though no one seemed about to fall for it. Finally, since no one was going anywhere and it was just silent for half a minute, Gumshoe relented.
“Yeah, all right, you can come with us, but you’ll probably get stuck in a holding cell until we can discover what’s going on and keep everyone protected.”
Larry didn’t seem to care. “Great! Extra protection for me! Now let’s get out of here and find out what the big hub-bub is!”
A splintering sound followed by the glass sunroof of the mall’s ceiling shattering and falling down to the ground quickly spun everyone’s plans into a frenzy. Strange humanoid shapes dropped in along with the glass, landing roughly on the ground but paying that no mind as they straightened up to their full height. They were mostly grey with a small ruffle of what could only be there skin puckered up around the neck. Tall spikes that could have accounted for hair topped off the nearly seven foot frame of the creatures, but the most distinguishing feature was the one eye surrounded by a large gold ring. Different bodies had either a left eye or right eye, but neither had both.
The creatures that had just dropped in took a moment to stabilize themselves while everyone else in the mall froze and stared at them. It wasn’t every day one saw giant humanoid things drop in through a mall ceiling after all. Was this a reality show prank? A movie shot? Or could this actually be some sort of alien invasion?
“What the heck are those things?!”
It was as if Larry’s words were the trigger to start the action. The creatures all turned their one eyes to Larry and began to shamble forward. The people started screaming and running towards the exits, some making it while others got grabbed by the aliens and hoisted up into the air. Phoenix watched as one man was lifted up and began convulsing as if he were being electrocuted. The alien’s eye was sparking with a strange red light, so the electrocution things was more than likely what was going down. Other people saw this too and increased their panic.
Mia wasted no time in grabbing Phoenix’s arm and dragging him out of the food court and into the mall itself. He followed along blindly, letting his legs follow Mia while his eyes were glued to the monsters and the people they were hurting. When they were a safer distance away and tucked in a nook of locker storage, Mia stopped and turned Phoenix towards her and away from the carnage.
“Phoenix, you need to listen to me. This is going to sound a bit crazy but-“
“A bit crazy?! This whole thing is insane! What are those things?” He looked around quickly and tensed up, “Where are Edgeworth and Larry? Oh man, don’t tell me they’re still back there!” He made to rush back to try and defend his friends, but Mia held on strong.
“You aren’t listening! You can’t go back there yet, I need to tell you some things first. After that, you can go and be a hero all you want!”
“Hero? But, I’ve got to see if they’re ok!”
“We’re fine, Wright, so get back into the safety of this corridor!” Edgeworth’s voice came from behind them, meaning that Larry, Edgeworth, and Gumshoe had snaked their way to the other entrance of the locker area in a grace of fate to reunite them all.
Phoenix breathed a sigh of relief and joined his friends, but he noticed how nervous Mia looked with the others there. She just gave him a half smile and waved him off, peeking her head around the corridor to see what was going on and if any of the monsters had followed the group. At her speedy return with panic-set eyes, Phoenix knew it didn’t look good.
“Hurry! Go back the way you guys came! They’re coming this way fast!” The group didn’t need to be told twice and all five went rushing down the other way only to crash into Gumshoe when he stopped dead.
“Uh, guys, I don’t think this way will work either,” he said, ending with a dramatic gulp, backing slowly away from the three monsters that were half-jogging to meet them. No doubt about it, they were trapped. Edgeworth was keeping his cool, but it was obvious the situation was nerve wracking even with his calm exterior. Larry was freaking out and trying his best to make himself a small target by cowering behind Gumshoe. The detective’s training had kicked in for the usually bumbling man and he rolled up his sleeves, prepared to defend the group of people counting on him. Phoenix himself was looking all around trying to see if there was someway they could still escape - maybe an airduct or secret shop entrance that would pop up, but to no avail. He took a glance at all his companions and saw Mia looking around nervously. It was strange though, as she didn’t seem nervous about the monsters coming at them from both ends, but more nervous as if she was hiding something. She clutched at her chest where her magatama necklace was hanging.
Mia noticed Phoenix looking at her and motioned him to come close into whispering range. Since no other random escape options had come up, Phoenix leaned in, prepared to hear a final confession or other such thing from his mentor.
“I know you won’t believe me, but you can fight these things.” She then unclasped the magatama from around her neck and put it into Phoenix’s hands. “Use this and say the word ‘Objection’ with all the passion I know you have to protect the truth and justice of this world.”
Phoenix was dumbfounded. He had no choice but to accept the magatama that was pushed into his hands, but the woman he respected most in the world was sounding like she had just cracked. Use a necklace and say ‘objection’? What kind of crazy. . .
“Watch out! Here they come!” There was no more time for wondering what had gone wrong in Mia’s head as the one-eyed lightning monsters had finally reached them. Gumshoe had shouted the warning, then barreled full on into the closest monster. To Gumshoe’s credit, the thing was pushed back, but it retaliated against the brave result by thrusting it’s chest out and sending a shock through Gumshoe, bouncing him back towards the group and knocking over Larry who was left out in the open once his Gumshoe cover had left. Larry, in turn, knocked Edgeworth’s knees out from under him, which meant one monster had managed to fell three of the five of them.
It also meant that Phoenix was a prime target as the closest standing target.
The monster that had repulsed Gumshoe shot out its arm with a ball of red electricity formed at the end of it. With no preamble, the monster shot the ball off, aiming straight at Phoenix’s chest. Frozen in disbelief, Phoenix simply stood in shock.
“No!” Mia’s shout wasn’t enough to startle Phoenix out of his shock, but the shove from the older woman certainly did the trick. He watched, horrified, as the red electric ball meant for him slammed into Mia. She screamed in pain, every muscle in her body tensed and the red lightning surrounding her and actually lifting the woman off the ground in its intensity. After what seemed an eternity but could only have been a few seconds at the most, Mia’s scream fell silent and she collapsed boneless to the ground, the red lightning sparking one more time before fading from around her body.
At her side in an instant, Phoenix could still only catch a final whispered word before the life faded from his mentor and friend completely. He heard the word, but it refused to process in his mind. Instead, all he could see and think about was the dead body cradled in his arms. How had it come to this?! He’d just been eating lunch with his friends and now Mia was dead and some crazy alien monsters were going to surely finish the rest of them off in a mall hallway. This wasn’t right at all! Mia. . . oh Mia. . .
“Wright.”
All his attention focused on Mia’s pale body, Phoenix ignored the rest of the world. Perhaps it was the lighting in the mall, or more likely the tears in his eyes streaming down his face, but Mia’s body seemed to take on a glow, almost like an angel.
“Wright!”
Actually, as he continued to stare at her, lost on how to go forward, Mia’s body was getting brighter and brighter. And he was either losing his mind, or parts of her were also beginning to go transparent.
“Dammit, PHOENIX!”
Hearing his first name shouted with such fear by his best friend who was normally the paragon of level headedness finally made Phoenix look up from the glowing body in his arms. Edgeworth was kneeling next to him, an arm on Phoenix’s shoulder trying to shake him out of the stupor he’d been in.
“I’m sorry, I really am, but we have to get out of here. You need to snap out of it so when Gumshoe rushes them again and gives us a break, we can run past them. So please, you need to put her down so we can go.” Sure enough, Gumshoe was looking back and forth between Phoenix and the nearest monsters who were circling them to close any exit. Larry was still crouched on the floor, but in a sprinter’s pose -- ready to run. Phoenix took one last look at Mia, her glowing pale skin and all, then nodded and set her down gently to the floor. Gumshoe took the cue and breathed deep before charging full on once more into the monsters.
The things were expecting another frontal attack and created the electric field to bounce him off again, but this time Gumshoe side-stepped and slammed his elbow into the monster’s torso area, making it give off a terrible grinding, screeching sound before it fell to the side. That was the break the others needed and all three rushed through the opening,
The sharp crack of a whip and the tip of it just barely missing Larry’s nose stopped them all once again.
“And just where do you think you fools are going?” A far cry from the monsters surrounding them, this new comer looked all flesh and blood, though her outfit was a bit alien. Bubble-sleeves and a ruffled collar under a vest on top and a mini-skirt with leggings on the bottom - definitely something different. However, the group wasn’t staring at her costume so much as the whip still held ready in her hand.
“When my minions are trying to kill you, you stay still and let them do their job!” she cracked the whip again and this time Larry was not so lucky. A sharp sting across his chest sent him to the floor in pain. The woman didn’t even seem to notice Larry as she stepped over him to inspect the rest of Phoenix’s group. “Now where is the Fey woman?” she asked, shoving Edgeworth’s head up with the grip of her whip to look him straight in the eye, though as she did, a strange look quickly flashed across her face. She abandoned Edgeworth and made the same move to Phoenix instead. That’s when she saw the magatama still clutched in his hand.
“Damn!” she swore, leaping back and sending the whip flying at Phoenix with real malice. He tensed for impact, but then a strange thing happened. The whole hallway flashed white and suddenly Mia was standing in front of him, the woman’s whip held fast in her hand. She turned to Phoenix and spoke that same word that she had whispered with her dying breath before shimmering away into a thousand specks of light that scattered to the winds.
Everyone, the monsters, the woman, and Phoenix’s friends alike, froze in confusion and awe of what had just happened. That was when Phoenix decided that no matter how insane it sounded, he was not going to ignore the dying advice his mentor had given him, especially when her spirit had just saved him. Looking at the magatama in his hand, he then held it out in front of him and mustered all his courage to shout out the special word Mia had needed him to say.
“OBJECTION!”
A strange wind swirled around him and suddenly Phoenix was adorned in a tight-fitting hero’s costume with gloves, boots, and helmet included. The magatama disappeared and instead a symbol of it was emblazoned on his chest. In his hand instead of the magatama, a large shield in the shape of his defense attorney pin appeared. A powerful urge swept through Phoenix and compelled him to stand tall with his shield at his side and his other hand pointing straight out to the woman with the whip. Words came to his lips before he even had a chance to process them and then they were out in the air.
“I am Justice Ranger Cobalt and I will not fail to bring justice to the world! Now face your punishment!” The newly christened Cobalt Ranger then threw his shield at the woman like a discus, it’s aim true. “Take that!”
Of course, it wasn’t really that simple to do away with such a powerful woman. She was shocked by the sudden transformation, but not in enough of a stupor to simply let the shield hit her. With her whip free from Mia’s spirit, she used it to deflect the shield, which then spun in an arc to destroy the circle of electric-filled monsters that had been surrounding the group before returning to the Cobalt Ranger’s hand. He stared in awe at the weapon, forgetting about the enemy still left standing until she once again aimed her whip at him. Almost automatically, the Cobalt Ranger ducked for cover under his shield and the whip bounced harmlessly off. He stood again, ready to fight once more, but the woman no longer seemed interested.
She backed up one step, than another in high-heeled boots. “All right, Today it looks like you fools had an ace up your sleeve, but don’t think this is the end. I am Franziska vonKarma - remember my name as we will meet again, Justice Ranger!” And with that dramatic statement, she teleported out of the mall, leaving the group alone and mostly unharmed. With no enemies left to fight, the magatama on the Cobalt Ranger’s chest flashed once, and then Phoenix was back in his regular attire with Mia’s magatama in his hand instead of the shield.
Larry was still curled up in pain, but he was also staring wide-eyed at his friend. Edgeworth was confused enough to let it show on his face. “Wright. . . what in the world. . .”
Gumshoe, however, showed no hesitation. “Wow! Why didn’t you ever tell us you were a superhero!” he shouted joyously while clapping a hand across Phoenix’s back.
“I. . . uh. . . didn’t even know myself?” he squeaked back, looking at the magatama which was sitting innocently in his hand. Then a soft voice all of them recognized filled the air.
“Now you must go to the hidden Fey shrine to truly uncover your destiny and stop the evil vonKarma from taking over the earth. Go back to our office and look under Charley to find the location. Don’t worry, someday we’ll meet again.” The magatama glowed briefly and then all trace of Mia was gone.
Gumshoe punched his hand with a fist. “Okay, what are we all just waiting around here for! Let’s find Charley and get to that shrine!” He helped Larry up who was now mostly recovered from the sting of Franziska’s whip. Edgeworth, on the other hand, was still looking at Phoenix with bewilderment, but that didn’t stop him from approaching the new superhero and laying a hand on his arm.
“I. . . I’m sorry about. . .” he looked down at the floor where Mia’s body had once laid. “She was. . .”
Phoenix forced a smile and took a deep breath. “We can’t dwell on that when there’s more to do. I don’t know if you guys actually want to come with me to the Fey shrine, but I won’t stop you.”
“Of course we’ll come! We have to stop the evil vonKarma!” Gumshoe said confidently.
“Yeah, no way can we just back out of this now. . . can we?” Larry said with enthusiasm but much less confidence.
“We wouldn’t abandon you now, Wright, so don’t even think about it. Let’s go find the shrine and see what we can do.”
They left the mall through a back emergency exit since the panic was still ensuing throughout the rest of the mall. In Mia and Phoenix’s office, under Charley, the potted plant Mia had owned ever since Phoenix had known her, was an ancient looking map of the area with the Fey shrine outlined. It was quite a ways away in a place called Kurain Village, but luckily Gumshoe snagged a police cruiser and they were on their way.
Most of the trip was made in silence with no one knowing what to say. Strange monsters, Mia dying, Phoenix transforming, and a hidden shrine? It was a little much to take in. Eventually, though, Larry spoke up.
“So, does just Phoenix get to be a Justice Ranger, or are there others too? I mean, you know in all those super hero shows there is usually a team. Well, except Kamen Rider, and Ultraman, though sometimes they have partners or back-up teams and stuff. Oh! Are we the back-up team? But I want a cool costume like the Cobalt Ranger!”
“Yeah, being able to transform into a super hero like that would be pretty cool,” Gumshoe chimed in, keeping the mood in the car from sinking by talking more about the super hero part rather than the invasion and Mia. “I mean, I watch that Steel Samurai show sometimes and he’s pretty awesome.” Gumshoe grinned and Edgeworth flinched just a bit. Phoenix wouldn’t have noticed, but his old friend rarely showed a reaction so extreme for him in response to something so little.
“Oh yeah, the Steel Samurai! I forgot about that show for a minute.” Larry responded back. “That theme song is so cool too, it always gets stuck in my head.” He then commenced to singing a rather strangled version of the song, but even with the lack of talent on Larry’s part, Phoenix recognized the theme right away. He dug out his phone and dialed a number, just to be sure. In the front seat, Edgeworth jolted and quickly reached for his pocket when his cell phone went off, merrily playing the Steel Samurai theme. Larry and Gumshoe dropped their jaws in shock.
“No way! You like Steel Samurai too!” Larry shouted out, scooting as far to the front as he could to see for his own eyes that it was Edgeworth’s phone that actually played the song and not his own imagination. There was some teasing and a definite death glare from Egdeworth to Phoenix for revealing his secret, but it was all in good fun. Not long after, Gumshoe pulled up to a grassy field and put the car into park.
“Hm, well, according to that sign we can’t drive any further - the rest of the trip is a walk to Kurain Village. They must not be too big on technology and stuff if they don’t even have a road that goes straight to the place.” Sure enough, the village looked like something from hundreds of years ago with it’s ancient Japanese stylings and foot-worn roads from house to house.
Larry wandered out in front, peeking a head into each building they passed and always coming back out with a frown. “Aw man, where are all the people in this village? Did Mia give us wrong directions or something?”
Just then, Phoenix saw something move out of the corner of his eye. It was just a flash, but he saw a purple ribbon or something trailing along behind a corner. Keeping his eyes on the spot, Phoenix whispered a quick “Guys, over here” and followed the ribbon. When he got behind the building, he only caught a flash again of the same purple ribbon slipping into one of the seemingly abandoned houses, but this time Gumshoe and the others saw it too. Silently, they all lined up in front of the house and Gumshoe took point. He quickly slid the door open with a loud shout only to get bashed in the face with a frying pan.
The three conscious men yelled and jumped back, and a young girly voice from inside yelled back with “I’m sorry!” Then the owner of the voice came out, frying pan still in hand but apologetic look on her face. She was young, probably in her mid or late teens, and wearing traditional Japanese clothing, though slightly more stylish and cute. What Phoenix noticed first was the magatama around her neck that matched the one now resting in his coat pocket. What he noticed second was her stunning resemblance to Mia, his late, great mentor.
“Yikes, is he gonna be ok?” the girl asked, nudging Gumshoe’s prone body with her toe. She then looked up at the other three and gave them an embarrassed smile. “Really, I’m sorry, but you guys were kind of skulking around the village and no one comes here anymore, so I got worried. Then when he opened the door with such a loud noise, instinct just took over. Really, I didn’t mean to do it! So, uh, don’t let me spoil your image of Kurain Village, all right? We need more tourists! Oh, I know, how about I give you a free tour to make up for knocking your friend out!”
Gumshoe started to wake up then, mumbling something about a Frying Pan Samurai before sitting up with a shout. “Woah!” He looked up to see the girl with the frying pan standing in front of him and backed up closer to the others. “You’ve got a pretty good arm there, missy.”
While the girl apologized again to Gumshoe, Phoenix fished out the magatama and held it out. “Um, excuse me, miss, do you happen to know more about this? And maybe, do you know a woman named Mia Fey?”
The girl looked at the magatama Phoenix had and gasped at the name mentioned. “Mia? My big sister? But, why do you have her. . .” She pondered for a bit, then shouted an exclamation and pointed at Phoenix. “Aha! You’re the one she chose to be the leader of the Justice Rangers, aren’t you! That means you must be Phoenix Wright! Oh man, I’ve heard so much about you! But how come you came here without Mia? She told me over the phone all the time that when the time came, she’d bring you here herself and introduce us properly.”
The girl was so happy that Phoenix’s mouth froze. How was he supposed to tell this happy go lucky girl that her sister was dead? Thankfully, Edgeworth saw his dilemma and decided to help him out.
“We truly are sorry to have to bring you the news, but Ms. Fey was attacked by monsters earlier today and. . . well. . .” even Edgeworth was having trouble delivering the news, so Larry took over.
“She didn’t make it. But she gave Phoenix some transformation power thingy and told us to come here to find out how to fight those monsters.”
The girl looked back and forth at the group, eyes wide and tear-filled. No matter how many times she shifted to a new face, none of the four came to the rescue telling her it was just a joke and that her sister was fine. That’s when she collapsed to the ground and started crying.
The four men had no idea how to go about comforting a crying girl, so they stood around uncomfortably and, especially in Phoenix’s case, full of guilt for bringing this on the young girl. Eventually the girl stopped crying quite so much and was able to speak again, though tears were still running down her face and she had to wipe her nose on her long sleeves a few times.
“I guess,,” she sniffled, “this means I have to show you to the Justice Ranger’s base. So, just give me a minute in there to clean up and get myself ready, then I’ll come back out here to show you around, okay?” No one was going to argue with that, so the girl retired back to the house for a few minutes in order to get herself together. The boys stayed quiet, lost in their own thoughts, until she came back out. Her face was still red, but it had been washed and she looked a little more refreshed. She even had on a wobbly smile.
“Oh, I never introduced myself. I’m Maya Fey, and this is Kurain Village! If you will all follow me. . . well, theoretically it’s just supposed to be Phoenix coming here, but I guess since you all know about his power anyway, it can’t hurt to have you other three come along as well. But, uh, who are you guys, anyway?”
Introductions were given as Maya lead the group to the back of the village. The hut they entered looked just like the other ones, but inside was a hidden panel wall with stairs leading down into a well lit meditation style room. The room was very spacious - big enough for a small martial arts class to practice in and also have archery training on the other half. On the far end of the room was a wooden chest with a magatama painted on the top. That was the only real feature of the room as everything else was bare.
Maya stopped at the chest and swallowed audibly. “To be honest, I’m not quite sure what to do from here. I mean, Mia was in charge of finding the rangers and making the plans once vonKarms invaded, so I’m at a loss.” She frowned, but then snapped her fingers with a realizations printed on her face. “Oh! If Mia’s dead, that means I can channel her! Okay, hold on guys, this might take a few minutes, but then we’ll know exactly what to do!” It was odd hearing her be so cheerful about such a dreadful thing as her sister’s death, but Maya had closed her eyes and gotten into a concentration pose after spouting off her idea, so the boys just watched and waited to see what Maya had meant when she said she could channel her sister.
A peaceful feeling filled the room, and suddenly Maya was no longer there. Instead, Mia was standing there - though she was wearing Maya’s now rather tight-fitting clothing, though Mia didn’t seem to notice that particular aspect. She smiled warmly at ach of the boys, her gaze resting last on Phoenix. “I told you not to worry and that I’d see you again soon.”
*****
“Okay, so let me get this straight. The Fey clan is a mystical clan from a different planet that migrated here to earth when the evil vonKarma army invaded your planet and took over.”
“And then in order to fight off the vonKarma army in case they decided to spread out along the universe and make it here, the Fey’s created a defense system that would allow normal people to transform into warriors of justice to defend the planet.”
“And you chose our Phoenix Wright to be the leader of this group?!” The last was asked by Larry, who seemed rather put out that Phoenix was getting all this special attention. Mia just smiled at him and he forgot any negative feelings, though whether it was from her smile or the way her breasts jiggled in Maya’s clothing no one could tell for sure.
“I did choose Phoenix. The Fey’s created the Justice Rangers, but we were so secluded in our village that we could never find the right people to use the powers. So I volunteered to go out in the world and find candidates. Obviously we needed people who believed strongly in justice, so I went into law. And Phoenix has one of the strongest senses of justice I’ve ever seen, so I knew he’d be perfect even if he is a little on the oblivious side.”
“Yeah, he’s not exactly a tactical genius.”
“And he’s a major push-over when it has nothing to do with his morals.”
“And he’s standing right here, guys! Geez.” Phoenix commented, though mostly to himself since he knew the others wouldn’t really listen or care. Maybe they were right about not being leader material.
Mia stood up for him though. “But you see, none of that matters as what fuels the Justice Rangers’ power is a person’s sense of justice and desire for it in the world. Phoenix’s powers are so great because he is truly a warrior of justice even without the magatama to help him transform. And I think,” she now pursed her lips and took a good long look at Edgeworth, Gumshoe, and Larry, “perhaps you three also have some good potential to be rangers. But there’s only one way to be sure! In the wooden chest there should be three more magatamas created by our ancestors. Each of you should take one and shout out ‘Objection’. If the magatama reacts and you transform, then we have our team!”
Those instructions would have been rather doubtful if the three men hadn’t seen Phoenix transform that same way with their own eyes. So, without further ado, Edgeworth, Larry, and Gumshoe opened the chest and each took one of the three magatama laid carefully inside. After a chorus of three “Objections”, the room flashed bright and suddenly three rangers were standing there. It was easy to tell who was who what with the colors and costumes.
Edgeworth had a maroon costume and a cravat around his neckline that very much matched his normal attire. His weapon turned out to be a sword, which was rather appropriate considering his name. Gumshoe was dressed in olive and his outfit even had a trenchcoat to match. He had an interesting looking lazer gun in his hand, but considering Gumshoe was trained in fire-arms, that also made sense. Larry was decked out in tangerine and his sleeves looked a bit too long for him, but otherwise his costume looked normal. There was no weapon in his hand, however a small armory of different weapons had appeared on the floor at his feet.
“Hmm, looks like you don’t have a weapon proficiency that the magatama can sense. I suppose you’ll just have to try out various ones before it will come to you. But besides that, it looks like the Justice Rangers are finally a team!”
“Ah, yeah, that’s great and all, but how are we supposed to stop this vonKarma army with only four of us? I mean, Phoenix took out a lot of those electric monsters with his shield, but that Franziska woman dodged with no problem. And I’m sure there are more people like her if this is an entire army.”
Mia nodded, gravely. “It’s true, vonKarma does have a few generals in his army that are much harder to defeat. But I know you four can do it. Just remember your love of justice and nothing can stop you.” Mia’s body began to slowly flicker back and forth between an image of Mia and then one of Maya. “It looks like my sister’s limit has been reached for now. It may be a while before I can see you again, but do not fear. Maya knows some information on the magatamas and how to locate where vonKarma will strike next. Please, talk with her and stop vonKarma from taking over earth like he did my planet. I know you’ll be successful!” And with that, Mia faded into Maya completely and the young girl fell to the floor once more, although this time it was in a deep sleep. Larry, still transformed as the Tangerine Ranger, carefully moved her into a more comfortable position, and then the four men gathered together to form a pow-wow of sorts.
“Hey, Phoenix, you should transform again too, so we can see how we all look together,” Larry suggested. With nothing to really argue against, he did so and the Cobalt Ranger joined his team, shield in hand.
They were a bit of a mish-mash on the color palette, but that didn’t matter since they were formed to bring justice to the world, not give it happy matching colors. Gumshoe suggested a practice session to test out their combat abilities, at least until Maya woke up, so they went to a clear spot in the room and started to fight. Surprisingly, images of the electric monsters appeared in the room, giving them something to fight with. Their weapons went straight through the images, but it was a help and made Phoenix feel less like he was just play fighting with the air. The Cobalt Ranger turned quickly to throw his shield again when the Tangerine Ranger yelped.
“Oi, Cobalt, watch your helmet! Those spikes almost caught me!”
Cobalt stopped mid throw. “I have spikes on the back of my helmet?”
“Yeah, they match your hair. It’s kind of goofy, actually.”
“Not as goofy as your baggy sleeves!” Cobalt shot back. Then they both paused and leaned in close so Larry could voice what they were both thinking. “Also, definitely not as goofy as Maroon’s fluffy neck thing!”
A sword pierced the air between them and the two sprang apart to see Maroon standing there, poised as ever. “I heard that, and it is not a ‘fluffy thing’, it is called a cravat. You two wouldn’t know proper fashion if it wore a name-tag, I swear!”
Larry would have stuck out his tongue if the Tangerine Ranger costume had allowed it. “Oh yeah, well you and that vonKarma girl certainly seem to match. Maybe you can talk fashion to her the next time we meet!”
The Maroon Ranger wasn’t so easy with the sword this time and he banged Tangerine’s helmet with the back of his blade.
“Yow! Hey, sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean it!” This action started a sparring contest between the four Justice Rangers so they could test out their new powers in the safety of their base and not just trying new things in the middle of a battle. Larry went through nunchuks, a bow and arrow set, and some brass knuckles during the fight, but didn’t seem to be satisfied with any of the three. In the midst of their combat, Maya woke up and watched them in silence for a while before chiming in.
“You guys sure fight well for being regular fellows. Well, I guess Mr. Gumshoe is a detective, but otherwise you all seem to have regular kinds of jobs, so how did you learn to fight so well?”
That seemed to be the cue for their mock fighting to end, and the Justice Rangers transformed back into their normal selves to go and sit with Maya.
Phoenix turned his magatama back and forth in his hand, looking at it fondly. “To tell you the truth, I’m terrible at fighting. I’m pretty much a wuss, as any of these guys will tell you.” Larry nodded his agreement enthusiastically, though Gumshoe and Edgeworth stayed still and silent. “But when I transformed, it was like the ability to fight kind of came into my head. It’s really cool now that I think about it, but back at the mall, I was just going with the flow and trying to protect my friends, so I didn’t think to question how I suddenly learned the ability to fight.”
“Well, I went through training and all, but I was never as good a shot as I was being the Olive Ranger. And I can do all sorts of acrobatics too! It was amazing how high I could jump with those powers!” Gumshoe added.
“I’ve never actually had any formal sword training, so I’d have to say the magatama has the ability to transfer combat knowledge to it’s owner. Which is quite useful in our circumstances.” The others agreed with Edgeworth. Well, all agreed save for Larry.
“Aw, you guys are just flat out pansies. I could already do these sorts of things before I got this magatama thing. Jumping really high, flipping around, even using all these weapons is just an everyday occurrence for me.”
Maya looked like she was about to believe Larry and invest in his blown out of proportion stories, but Phoenix put a hand on her shoulder and interrupted the process before it could begin, much to Larry’s disappointment.
“So, Maya, now that we’re the Justice Rangers, how do we find and defeat vonKarma? When you channeled Mia, she said you would let us know how to find out where vonKarma was going to attack next. So, uh, how does that work?”
Maya smiled and jumped to her feet. “Oh! This part is pretty cool, I can’t believe I almost forgot to show you. Follow me!” She walked to the end of the room that had the magatama emblazoned chest and stood in front of the plain wall there. The Justice Rangers weren’t exactly sure what was so cool about a blank wall, but Maya was so excited about it that there must be something. Once they had gathered in a semi-circle behind her, Maya explained.
“Okay, first you need to take out your magatama and point it at the wall, then you just need to ask where vonKarma will strike next. Then, well, it’s easier to just do it and see.” The sisters had in common the ability to give very strange instructions, but since saying “Objection” had transformed Phoenix into the Cobalt Ranger, asking the magatama a question and pointing it at a wall couldn’t hurt. Phoenix took a deep breath and held the magatama in his hand, palm facing the blank wall.
“Where will vonKarma strike next?” The magaama glowed and before them the blank wall shifted to show a map! A large blue dot pulsed onto the map. Edgeworth eyed it carefully.
“That blue dot must represent the cobalt ranger, considering where it’s located. Hold on, let me see if I’m correct.” Edgeworth repeated Phoenix’s actions and also asked his magatama where vonKarma would strike next. A pinkish-red dot pulsed on top of the blue one. “Ah, so I was right. Now hopefully it will tell us where-“
“Ooh! I wanna try it too!” :arry interrupted Edgeworth and followed suit with his magatama, adding an orange dot to the map. Not to be left out, Gumshoe also went for it, making it so that a dark green dot pulsed in time with the other three colors. The dot cycled through each color three times before a light blue circle appeared on the map some ways away from where their own dots were located.
Edgeworth once again came to the rescue. “If our dots are in Kurain Village, then it looks as though their next target is the museum! Maya, does this map have a time reference, or does this mean they’re there already?”
Maya faltered, looking down at the ground and chewing her lip. “I. . . I’m not really sure. I just know that it can sense where vonKarma energy is flowing to and shows that on the map.”
“Damn, if they’re there already, how are we supposed to fight them when it took us over an hour just to drive here?!”
Gumshoe started pacing. “Well, I was going the speed limit on the way up here, but since I took a police cruiser, I could switch on the lights and just speed back down to the city. It’d still take at least half an hour, but that might get us there fast enough.”
“That will have to do. Come on, we need to get to the car,” Phoenix said, waving everyone back to the surface of the village. Maya ran up ahead and threw her arms out in front of the stairway before they could ascend the stairs.
“Hoooooold it! If you’re all just worried about getting somewhere in time, I can help out! Just hold your magatama up in the air and shout out ‘Teleport!’. Then think of where you want to teleport to and it will take you there.”
The four men froze in their rush and looked at Maya, then at their magatama’s in sync.
“Is there anything these things don’t do?” Larry asked. He held his magatama to his heart. “Bring me my true love!” Nothing happened of course, but that didn’t sop Larry. “Wait, if it didn’t bring anyone else here, then that must mean. . .” he stepped up to Maya and grasped her hand in his own. “Maya must be my true love!”
“What?!”
“Gah!”
“Eh?!”
“Me?!”
Unperturbed by the not so positive responses, Larry continued to hold Maya’s hand. “The magatama can do anything, so you have to be my true love. Now let’s go off and lead our happy lives together, growing old and having tons of kids and dogs-“
Phoenix grabbed Maya away and Edgeworth slapped Larry’s hand from hers. “Concentrate, Buttz. First we need to stop vonKarma. Then you can flirt to your heart’s desire.”
“But Edgeworth! How can we leave poor Maya here all on her own while we go and fight? Someone needs to stay and protect her, right?”
Gumshoe snorted. “No way you’re getting out of this, pal. You’re the Tangerine Ranger! You fight for justice! So be a man already!”
Larry wilted with a deep sigh. Maya, now free from his tight grip, rubbed her hand and smiled nervously. “Hey, I mean, it’s not like you have to worry about protecting me or staying with me,” she said, completely skipping over the part where she was supposedly Larry’s true love. “I’ve been here on my own for a while now - well, I have visitors every now and again, but mostly I’m on my own. And besides, someone has to monitor the fight and give you guys encouragement if things aren’t going well, right?”
“Huh? You mean even though you have a magatama, you aren’t a Justice Ranger?” Phoenix asked, honestly surprised. Sure she hadn’t transformed to train with them earlier, but Phoenix figured that had just been because she didn’t need any practice.
“Me? Be a Justice Ranger? I mean, of course I am a champion of justice, but I don’t think we Fey can actually be rangers. I mean, my sister had her magatama for years and she gave it to you so you could be the ranger, not her. I think if she could have transformed, she would have done it to save you instead of. . .”
That made sense. “Right. Sorry, I didn’t think.” While Phoenix silently berated himself in his mind, Maya just shook her head, dismissing it.
“But never mind that. You guys have some vonKarma butt to kick! So go and teleport - I’ll stay here and get a feel for how you guys are doing with my magatama, okay? And when you’ve wiped the floor with those creeps, then come back here and we can celebrate!”
“All right! Nothing can stop me from coming back here to my Maya! Teleport!”
“Let’s go get the bad guys! Teleport!”
Edgeworth paused before his teleport, turning to Phoenix. “Well, Wright, shall we go defend truth and justice in a whole new way?” he asked with a half smile on his face. That little bit was enough to make Phoenix smile in full.
“You know it!”
Both men lifted their magatama high and shouted “Teleport” at the same time, disappearing from the room and leaving Maya on her own again.
“Okay, Maya, time to do your job and give them support. Although, it would be totally cool to transform and actually be able to help out. Too bad I’m no good for that. But we all need to do what we can, right sis?” She settled in and closed her eyes, focusing through her magatama to see how the Justice Rangers were faring in their fight against vonKarma.
Meanwhile, in a rather clinical and precise command room, Franziska vonKarma was gritting her teeth through the talking down she was getting.
“Really, I would have expected so much better from the daughter of our leader. Not only did you fail to stop Mia Fey from forming the Justice Rangers, but then you ran away like a little girl when you hadn’t even been scratched yet!”
“I did not run. Away. I left to tell my father that we were already too late and that the plans needed to change. It was strategic, you fool. Besides,” she said, twisting her whip in a stringent effort not to use it on the man in front of her, “I’d like to see how you fair against a Justice Ranger.”
A cold aura ran through the room and with it came the leader of the vonKarma army himself.
“Indeed, General Payne, I too would like to see how you fair against the Justice Rangers. It will be a good test to see what kind of powers the Fey have come up with after all this time plotting. So, consider it my order to confront them if they happen to show up during your mission.” He smiled, though it was not one of warmth and instead sent a shiver down Payne’s neck. “And if you can indeed best the Justice Rangers, I’ll promote you. But if you fail. . .” The threat need not be said - any failure to Lord vonKarma resulted in nasty things.
“My Lord, as you command, it shall be done. I will head off to the museum now in order to secure any Fey belongings that may have ended up there. And if I find the Justice Rangers, I will defeat them.” With a salute, General Payne left the room to gather his troops and head off for the mission. Franziska at least waited for him to leave before snorting.
“That sniveling fool, saying that I ran away. Father, are you sure it’s wise to send him against the Rangers? He is your weakest general, so why even bother with him?”
“Because, dear daughter, I truly meant that he will be a good test subject. If the Rangers defeat him, then I will know we truly may have something interesting to fight and conquer here on earth. However, if even my weakest general can defeat the Justice Rangers, then there is no future here for earth save the one where I destroy it. If we lose Payne, it is of little consequence.”
Franziska nodded. It was cold and logical, but that was how true vonKarma thought. “Oh,” she said, remembering something else she hadn’t told her father yet. “When I had my run in with the Cobalt Ranger, there was another man with him that looked a lot like that boy who used to live with us. I know you said he was killed after proving useless, but do you think there’s some way he survived and made it to earth?”
“Hmm?” vonKarma’s tone was intrigued and his eyebrow raised. “By ‘that boy’, could you be referring to the idiotic whelp I tried to sculpt into a vonKarma? It was a failed experiment and the boy was terminated. There’s no way it could have been him. Don’t let your mind play nostalgic tricks on you, Franziska. I know you enjoyed his company as a young child, but he was not worthy of the vonKarma name and you should think nothing of him now.”
“Yes, father. It was only a fleeting thought at best anyway.”
“Good,” he responded, making it obvious that conversation was over. “Now, while Payne pays a visit to the museum, we must discuss our future strategy. We need something dramatic to truly make the earth fear us before we easily take over. Which is why I have a special mission for you.”
******
The museum was quiet when the Justice Rangers arrived. It was rather late at night, so the museum’s doors had been closed for a few hours, which explained the quiet. Still, it was a little eerie to suddenly appear in such a silent place.
“Hm, if it’s this quiet, then that means we beat the vonKarma army here.”
A voice echoing from down the hall answered Phoenix’s claim. “And in thinking that, you would be wrong, champions of justice!” Their backs were turned to the new mystery voice, but before they could turn around Maya’s familiar voice was in their minds.
“Don’t let him see who you are! Hurry and transform!”
It was good advice, so all four men shouted “Objection!” in unison and were changed into their colorful Justice Ranger forms. Through the same unknown force that let them fight while in Ranger form, the four also were compelled to stand in a grand pose together in order to deliver a witty battle speech.
“With truth and justice on our side-“
“There’s no force that can beat us!”
“You’ve met your match, agent of vonKarma.”
“The Justice Rangers will take you down!”
General Payne did not seem impressed by their posing and threats, sadly. Instead he summoned a handful of the same monsters that had attacked the mall and sent them after the rangers. “Go and defeat those silly colored idiots, Tayzers!”
The now named Tayzers quickly rushed down the museum corridor to come at the Rangers, the few in the front shooting off bolts of red lightning that the Rangers easily dodged. The weaving and ducking seemed so easy now, when before they had the magatamas they’d been cornered and almost taken down in a flash. Gumshoe, having the only long range weapon since Larry had transformed with a pair of sais this time around, started firing at the Tayzers. He hit a few, though one lazer shot didn’t seem to be enough to knock them out of the fight even if it did weaken them.
Maroon noticed a key strategic point. “Everyone, if you damage them, the flame around their eye goes down - if we can get it to go out, I assume that means they’re done for.”
“Right! Let’s keep an eye on it then!” Cobalt said. The terrible pun halted combat for a split second before the Tayzers became even more aggressive, almost as if in retribution for the pun. Payne summoned more of the monsters to rush in as well, though he himself stood back and away from the actual battle.
The battle wasn’t going bad at all. Cobalt tossed his shield out, feeling much like a superhero he’d read about as a kid. Maroon made a path through the enemy hordes with his katana and any of the Tayzers that his blade didn’t finish off, Olive went after with his gun, making sure to take care of it. Tangerine was mostly picking off any stragglers that the other three missed. General Payne observed it all from his far away position and then decided how he would strike.
Tangerine, being the most isolated, became his target. He quickly dashed from his position to one behind Tangerine and grabbed the Justice Ranger in an unbreakable hold. Tangerine flailed, but to no avail. His arms were stuck fast in the General’s hold and his legs weren’t doing any damage to the man’s armor.
“Rangers! If you don’t want your precious comrade to be harmed, I suggest you stop fighting and listen to me,” Payne shouted out. When the other three saw Tangerine’s predicament, they lowered their weapons, though not their defenses.
Maroon spoke first. “What kind of coward hides behind a hostage?” he spat out.
The general just laughed and tightened his hold. “I am no coward, I am the strategic mastermind, Payne! And obviously my strategy worked as you three won’t harm me as long as I have your comrade in my hold. Now, Tayzers, shock the one that just spoke.” The Tayzers approached Maroon and he started to raise his sword in order to fight back, but Payne squeezed Tangerine tight, making him yelp. This made Maroon hesitate, and that was enough time for the Tayzer closest to strike.
“Maroon!” Cobalt shouted at seeing his friend in pain. It was a little strange though, Phoenix, as Cobalt, could have sworn he’d shouted out Edgeworth, but instead “Maroon” had come out. Did the magatamas even have the power to resist their holder’s from being found out? But that was a mystery for another day, as right now more Tayzers were coming for Maroon and Cobalt wasn’t going to let that happen!
General Payne laughed. “You fools think you can defend him! Ha, not when I command you to drop your weapons! If anyone fights back, I give this one a big shock,” he said, shaking Tangerine back and forth like a rag doll.
“I’m so sorry guys!!” their captured comrade shouted, for one sounding truly sincere and having the others believe it. But of course it would be Larry - even if he was Tangerine at the time -- that got them into such trouble.
Cobalt and Olive put down their weapons, but that didn’t stop them from trying to defend Maroon. Olive barreled through a few Tayzers and took on some shocks while Cobalt stood in front of Maroon, taking on quite a few hits while Maroon recovered from the first barrage. Maroon saw this happening and raised his sword to strike the Tayzers, but a scream from Larry made him drop it to the ground and curl his fists in anger.
General Payne laughed his head off as the three non-captive rangers were shocked and beaten by the Tayzers under his command. Tangerine struggled more, but it was futile and he was forced to watch his friends be brought down by the most basic of the vonKarma Army.
Cobalt was kneeling on the ground now, trying to keep going even with the pain. All he could keep thinking was this wasn’t how things were supposed to go. They couldn’t lose - especially not in the first battle! Earth was depending on them to defeat the vonKarma army and all they’d managed to do was get captured and get beat up. Even worse was if they were defeated here it would mean that Maya would have lost her sister for nothing. If Phoenix couldn’t man up and be the Justice Ranger Mia had thought him to be, then her sacrifice was meaningless!
Cobalt’s shield lit up with a bright flash, blinding everyone in the room. Tangerine heard a girl whisper “Ah-ha!” right behind him, and then suddenly he was free from Payne’s hold. The General, still blind, howled in rage at his captive being taken from him and lashed out at empty air. Eventually the shield’s flare died down and the Justice Rangers were shocked to see a fifth member make its appearance. The Amethyst Ranger struck a pose and pointed at General Payne.
“Those who use cowardly tactics will never be able to defeat the Justice Rangers!” Amethyst coming in to save the day gave the other rangers the extra oomph needed to recover from the humiliations they’d suffered a mere moment ago. Olive began blasting any Tayzer in his sights, Maroon slashed through the circle surrounding him and Cobalt, and Cobalt himself wasted no time and threw his shield straight at Payne.
“Take that!”
The General was still blinking his eyes from the shield’s flare and didn’t have enough time to react to the large disc coming straight at him. The shield went straight through his torso, but instead of cutting general Payne in two, it looked like the shield went through Payne’s body with no harm, but dragged a dark and ugly shadow along behind it. Once the shadow was separated from Payne’s body, it let out a ghastly wail and disappeared into the air. With the shadow gone, all the Tayzers that were left also disappeared, leaving the Rangers alone in the museum once more.
Payne himself had fallen to the ground in a heap and didn’t stir. Tangerine and Amethyst went to check on the body since they were the closest. Amethyst crouched down to poke at Payne while Tangerine stood guard, just in case he popped up. All Payne did, however, was fall flat to the ground after being poked. Amethyst noticed he was still breathing though, and gave a sigh of relief.
“He’s still alive, somehow. That was a pretty neat trick with your shield, Cobalt! How did you know it would work?”
Cobalt dusted himself off and walked over to retrieve his shield, Maroon and Olive following after him. Once the shield had been retrieved, all five Rangers transformed back to their human selves. Standing next to Larry was the girl who turned out to be the mysterious fifth Justice Ranger. . .
“Maya?! But you said you couldn’t be a Justice Ranger! So how?”
The young girl just smiled and shrugged. “Well, none of the Fey had ever actually tried it so I figured it just couldn’t be done. But when you guys were in such deep trouble, I couldn’t stand by and do nothing. So I just kind of, well, transformed and came here to help out!”
Larry threw his arm around Maya and dragged her into a hug. “Thank you so much! You have no idea how awful it was being held by that guy! All I could do was watch everyone get hurt. If you hadn’t shown up I don’t know what would have happened!” Larry kind of swung Maya around a bit while she was plaint enough to let him. In such a joyous moment, everyone was smiling - even Edgeworth, though to a much more muted degree.
That’s when they heard the police sirens closing in. “The museum must have an alarm system that we tripped fighting General Payne! Come on, we should get out of here before the police catch us and we have to start explaining what we’re doing here,” Gumshoe told them. Seeing as he was the closest tie to the police, the others agreed. Larry stopped short and nudged the passed out former general with his foot.
“What do we do about this guy?”
Edgeworth snorted. “We leave him here, of course. He’s got no power without that shadow, so he should be no problem for the police to handle.”
Phoenix and Larry weren’t so convinced. “How can you know he’s powerless now? What if the police get hurt because we carelessly left him here?” Phoenix asked, waffling behind with Larry now.
Edgeworth’s eyebrows nearly met in the middle of his forehead with how hard he was thinking. “I. . . I don’t know how I know, but I just do. And on the off chance I’m wrong, I will take full responsibility for any harm that comes to the police,” he assured them.
Phoenix shook his head. “We’d all take responsibility since we’re a team now. But if you’re so sure, then I’m willing to believe you. Let’s all teleport back to the hidden base in Kurain Village, okay?” The others nodded, and all shouted “Teleport!” to get away from the museum and leave it for the police to handle.
Back in the village and after Larry got back from getting them some burgers to recover after the battle, the Justice Rangers sat back and tried to figure out what came next.
“So, we had a rocky start, but you can’t deny we worked together to take down one of vonKarma’s generals!” Phoenix said with some cheer. “We just need to work on staying together while we fight, or at least work on not being taken captive.” At this, he looked at Larry specifically, though Larry just shrugged it off.
“There’s a long path ahead of us, considering we don’t exactly know how big the vonKarma army is or how many generals it has, but that doesn’t matter! We will continue fighting until every battle is won, right guys!”
“Right!” Maya responded enthusiastically.
“Of course!” Larry said right after, smiling at Maya.
“We’ll do it, no sweat, pal!” Gumshoe said with a nod of his head.
“There’s no other choice; earth is depending on us,” Edgeworth said with calm surety.
“Okay, so now that we’re all together on this, let’s put our hands together and go for it!” Even Edgeworth couldn’t refuse such an honest and earnest request, so all five put their hands together in the circle between them and cheered in unison:
“Justice Rangers - GO!”