Chapter 13: Ultimate Overdrive

The Org Mirror

Eiji Takaoka tried to forget about Zadie. About Simon. And about Azmodai, the First Demon who aimed to break the Seven Seals of the Dark One's prison.

Instead, he focused on his first obsession. His first mission: To hunt the demons known as Ashu, the demons who killed his father.

The teen chased a trio of demon-possessed men through New York's Chinatown. He leapt from rooftop to rooftop as the demons scurried below.

The hunter leapt off the rooftop and flipped through the air. While upside down, he thrust his hand at the demons. "Hoi!Joso!"

He swiped his hand. "Ketsu!"

A cylinder of blue energy snapped around a demon.

He chopped his hand. "Metsu!"

The barrier collapsed with a burst of blue flame that scorched the demon from the man's soul.

Eiji landed and faced off with the remaining demons. They snarled and charged at the teen.

The hunter twirled his staff into a defensive stance. "Come on. I've been dying to hit something all day."

The demons pounced.

Eiji cracked his staff across a demon's skull and swung upward, bashing the other demon upside the head.

"Ketsu!Metsu!"

He formed a barrier that collapsed around a demon with a burst of blue flame. The impact knocked the host back and incinerated the demon within.

The last demon tried to scramble to his feet. But Eiji placed his staff against the man's neck.

"Talk," Eiji said.

"I…I...I don't know anything," the demon stammered.

"Well, then I guess I'll have to jam this staff up your-"

"Okay, okay, okay," the demon stammered. "It's the mirror. They want the mirror."

"What mirror?"

"How the hell should I know?"

Eiji lifted his staff.

"Okay, okay, okay. The Org Mirror. They think they can use it to enter the mortal world in physical form."

"Why don't they just possess people and burst through?" Eiji asked. "You demons can do that now, apparently."

"Not all of us..." the demon stammered. "Or trust me, I'd rip through this meat sack right now and tear off your head or something."

"Right, you're so fearsome," Eiji said sarcastically. "Who has the mirror now?"

"Dark Shadow. We were following them when you...ya know…attacked us."

Eiji cursed beneath his breath. The hunter waved his hand. "Ketsu.Metsu."

A barrier formed around the man and collapsed with a burst of blue flame. The fire burnt the demon from his soul. His body collapsed, unconscious.

Eiji leapt to the rooftops to find Dark Shadow.

The Titan Rangers surrounded Shizuka in the woods. But she twirled her daggers and slashed them aside with bursts of spark.

Titan Black moved in from the side and chopped his Drive Defender. Shizuka blocked with a burst of spark.

The Black Ranger pressed his blade against hers. "Shizuka...Hand over the mirror."

"Ha," Shizuka said. "Sure, let me hand that right over."

She slashed his sword aside and kicked him backward.

Yami no Yaiba leapt to the scene. He landed while chopping the Blue Ranger to the ground. The villain spun, swung his swords wide, and slashed the other four Rangers with bursts of spark that whipped their bodies backward.

"Rangers..." the villain said. "That mirror has the power to instill great fear. Power that will belong to Dark Shadow!"

"Not happening," Titan Red said as he and the other Rangers armed their Drive Defenders in blade mode and charged.

They launched at Yaiba with blades swinging. But the villain parried and slashed them aside with bursts of spark. He moved with the quickness and precision of a master swordsman, without wasting a single move.

Titan Pink and Titan Yellow chopped towards his head. He blocked high, chopped their chests, and spun with a wide swing that slashed them backward with bursts of spark.

Titan Black chopped towards the villain's back. Yaiba blocked and locked his blade with the Ranger's.

"You..." Yaiba said. "I sense a great darkness in you."

Titan Black tilted his head. "What-"

Yaiba pulled his sword free and swung both blades through a streak of blue energy; the blades slashed the Ranger with bursts of spark that whipped him to the ground.

Shizuka hopped excitedly towards Yaiba. "Good work, Yami no Yaiba!"

"They won't have this Precious," Yaiba said. "I swear it..."

The villains turned and started to walk away. But an explosion blocked their path with bursts of lightning.

The lighting crackled and took shape to form a demon-possessed man, with solid-black eyes and gray tattoos across his skin and bald head. His face looked beastial and almost cat-like.

"Gai," the demon said. "I've found it."

A blast exploded between Dark Shadow and the Rangers, hurling them backward. The Rangers crashed with a strong enough force to knock them from their armor.

Slowly, the rangers climbed to their feet and looked up to see another tattooed demon in a tree. The demon carried a mystical shoulder cannon.

"Hello, humans," the demon said mockingly. His tattoo markings looked tinted green. "We've come to take the Org Mirror."

Gai jumped to the ground next to his companion, Hyouga.

Yaiba lifted his blade into a defensive stance. He looked to Shizuka. "Go. Protect the mirror."

Yaiba charged to attack the demons. He slashed outward. But the demons leapt backward through blurs of motion. They bounced off trees and dashed past Yaiba, clawing the demon with bursts of spark that knocked him down.

The demons landed with their backs towards the ninja.

Yaiba climbed to his feet and swung a volley of slashes. Hyouga turned and blocked each blow, grabbed Yaiba's wrist, and kicked his chest. The demon tightened his grasp and twisted the ninja's wrist into an arm lock.

Yaiba grunted with anger. "What are you?"

Gai laughed, a low, growling purr. "A ninja? This is my first time seeing one up close..."

Hyouga let go of Yaiba just as Gai kicked the ninja, knocking him back a step. Hyouga clawed Yaiba with bursts of spark that whipped him backward.

Yaiba crashed and tumbled across the dirt.

Shizuka somersaulted through the air and landed at Yaiba's side. "Yaiba..."

"I told you to run."

Gai armed his shoulder cannon and fired a burst of jade energy. The blast exploded around Dark Shadow, hurling them backward and knocking the Org Mirror from their hand.

The mirror skipped across the ground and landed next to the rangers.

Jake scrambled to his feet and grabbed the mirror as his teammates regrouped around him.

Hyouga and Gai stalked towards the rangers.

"Hand over the mirror, lowly humans," Hyouga said.

"Lowly humans?" Will asked. "Have you not seen yourselves?"

"Who are you guys?" Shane asked. "And why are you after the mirror?"

"I am Gai. He is Hyouga," Gai said. "We're Ashu...and we will be taking that mirror."

Suddenly, the clang of metal rings sounds in the distance.

Gai grunted a laugh and looked into the trees. "So...that hunter's tracked us down..." He looked to his companion. "Hyouga...Let's go."

"But Gai?"

"We'll let you hold onto the Org Mirror," Gai said to the rangers. "But don't get too attached."

He lifted his shoulder cannon and fired a jade energy burst. The blast exploded in front of the rangers with clouds of smoke. When the smoke cleared, the rangers saw no sign of the Ashu.

"They're gone..." Jake said.

"What were those guys?" Will asked.

"They looked...human," Kelsey said. "Sort of."

"Regardless," Rose said. "We should collect the mirror."

She walked towards the mirror and pulled out a containment card.

"I wouldn't touch that," a voice said. The rangers looked to see Eiji step into the clearing, his staff in hand. "What are you? Rangers? I'm not surprised..."

"Who are you?" Jake asked.

"It's really none of your business," Eiji said. "Leave the mirror. And leave the Ashu to me."

"You know about those guys?" Shane asked. 

Will narrowed his eyes. "Who do-"

"Like I said," Eiji said. "Leave the Ashu to me. If you get involved, you'll just make things worse."

"How?" Kelsey asked.

"You're Rangers," Eiji said. "That's what you do."

"We collect the Precious," Rose said. "To keep them from-"

Eiji scoffed. "'Precious'?Seriously? Do you hear yourself?"

Rose slid her containment card over the mirror and encased the device. She lifted the box.

"This is our mission," she said. "Don't interfere."

"Your mission..." Eiji said. "Right...Keep thinking that."

The hunter turned and started to walk away. "Keep the mirror. I'll be there when the Ashu try to rip it from your dead hands."

The rangers returned to base, where Max briefed them on the Ashu.

"They're demons," he said. "A clan of them, at least. They possessed the men you saw and...twisted them somehow."

"Twisted?" Rose asked.

"Lately, some demons have been able to enter the mortal plane by possessing people, and then bursting through their hosts. These Ashu don't seem like they can do that. But they can alter their hosts, somehow," he said.

Will scoffed and shook his head. "Demons..."

Max arced an eyebrow. "You seriously have trouble believing that? I spent a year of my high school career fighting demons. The Saima. Trust me, they're bad news."

"What about the boy we saw," Rose asked. "With the staff."

"He's a hunter," Max said. "Eiji Takaoka."

"Eiji?" Jake asked. "He looked American."

"Japanese monks raised his dad and taught him how to be a hunter. His dad passed down those lessons," Max said. "That's about all we know. That...and he ran around with Hurricane Black for a while, before the battle in Silver Hills. INET wants him captured."

"He might be helpful," Shane said. "He seemed to know about the Ashu. And the mirror."

"The mirror," Rose said as she walked towards the containment box on the table. "We should analyze it."

She opened the box - which contained a rock, and nothing more.

Hyouga and Gai jumped from skyscraper to skyscraper and landed on a rooftop. The demons saw the Org Mirror resting on a pedestal.

Hyouga tilted his head. "Why is it here...out in the open? Are those Rangers trying to set a trap?"

Gai scoffed. "Traps don't worry me. They're only human. Whether there's five of them or 10, they're no threat to us."

Gai and Hyouga walked towards the mirror.

"The only threat to us is-"

"Ketsu!"

A blue barrier snapped around the Ashu.

Eiji landed on the rooftop in a crouched stance. "The only threat to you? I wonder who that is."

"Takaoka!" Gai shouted. "How long do you plan to follow us?"

"Until I wipe out every one of you," Eiji said as he stood. "And that starts today."

He lifted his hand. "Met-"

Explosions sparked across the rooftop. Eiji looked to see the Titan Rangers dash onto the building. The Titans held their blasters forward. 

Eiji narrowed his eyes. "Are you serious?"

"Hand over the mirror," Titan Pink said.

"Shouldn't you be back in Angel Grove?" Eiji asked.

Titan Red ignored the hunter. "Yellow, get the mirror."

The Yellow Ranger walked to the pedestal and lifted the mirror.

Suddenly, the Ashu burst from Eiji's barrier. They clawed Titan Yellow with bursts of spark that whipped her off the building.

"Kelsey!" Titan Black shouted.

Hyouga launched himself at the Rangers and clawed them with bursts of spark.

Gai leapt from the building and landed on the street near Titan Yellow.

"Hand over the mirror..." he said.

Titan Yellow climbed to her feet and clutched tightly onto the mirror. "Why...What do you even want this for?"

"Hand it to me, and find out," Gai said.

He lunged at the Yellow Ranger. Titan Yellow snapped a volley of kicks the demon dodged.

Gai sidestepped and punched Titan Yellow with a burst of spark. The impact knocked her to the ground, and she rolled across the street. 

The Yellow Ranger struggled to climb to her feet.

Gai armed his shoulder cannon and fired. The jade blast sparked against Titan Yellow's chest and whipped her to the ground. The impact knocked her from her armor, and she lost consciousness.

The demon grunted a laugh and stalked towards her. "Who thought this would be so much work?"

Hyouga leapt to the street next to his fellow demon.

Gai leaned down to pry the Org Mirror from Kelsey. He hesitated when he noticed the bracelet around her wrist.

"Is that..." He laughed with insanity. "This is perfect. This girl will make the perfect sacrifice!"

Hyouga grunted and nodded with agreement.

Gai lifted Kelsey over his shoulder.

Eiji landed on the street and swung his staff behind his back.

"Stop!" he shouted.

But the two demons leapt through blurs of motion and vanished into the distance.

Eiji cursed beneath his breath.

"Kelsey!" Will shouted as he and his teammates ran to the scene.

Eiji scowled at the rangers. "Way to ruin everything. You Rangers are good at that."

"Where's Kelsey," Will demanded. "Where did they take her?"

"Stay out of it," Eiji said. "Did those look like guys in rubber suits? They were demons. I'll handle it. You stick to fighting to your giant robots and space lizards."

Rose shook her head. "We're not leaving this to you..." She noticed Kelsey's fallen morpher and lifted it from the street. "Kelsey's our comrade."

"That's really not my problem," Eiji said.

"Man, what the hell is wrong with you, Ashu?!" Will shouted as he lunged at Eiji.

Eiji grabbed Will by the throat. "I'm not an Ashu, dumbass." He let go pushed the ranger away. "I'm a hunter."

"You're trying to stop them," Jake said.

"Obviously," Eiji said. "The Ashu think they can use that mirror to take physical form. I can't let that happen."

"Where did that mirror even come from?" Kelsey asked.

"An Org named Jindrax used it to fish his friend Toxica from hell a few years back," Eiji said.

Jake nodded. "During the Gao Rangers battles with the Org."

"Right," Eiji said. "The mirror's been passed through black markets ever since. But no one's been able to make it work."

"What's the big deal, then, if it doesn't even work?" Will asked.

"If anyone can make it work, it's the Ashu," Eiji said.

Hyouga and Gai stood on a rocky shore along with Kelsey. Hyouga grabbed Kelsey by the arms to keep her from running, while Gai positioned the Org Mirror on a pile of rocks.

"What are you doing?" Kelsey shouted. "Let go..."

"This mirror..." Gai said. "Will connect a path from this world to Hell. And then...the Ashu will walk the Earth. And rule it!"

The mirror pulsed with dark energy.

Gai grinned at the sight. "It's already started."

Gai and Hyouga burned with dark power. The energy burnt their hosts into ash, and they assumed physical form.

Gai looked cat-like, with intricate jade markings across skin, tinted shades of gray and purple.