Chapter Text
The five Rangers were walking down the streets of Claw Coast, with Travis using his enhanced vision to scan his surroundings. “Any sign of that condor animan yet?” Winter asked as she took a sip of a smoothie.
“Not yet,” Travis said as he shook his head, his enhanced vision letting him spot something from the corner of his eye . He turned to get a better look at it, spotting a fleet of Tri-Fighters flying down, “Guys, we’ve got trouble!”
On board one of the Tri-Fighters was a strange, crocodile-like alien whose entire body seemed to be composed of a head with arms and legs. His skin was pink and covered with bulging blue veins. He wore gold armor with blue patterns that looked Greek or Roman in appearance, complete with an orange crest and shields on his shoulders emblazoned with the World Wipers logo. There was a blue crystal shard pointing upwards at the end of his snout, and on the front of it was a silver coin slot. “Mmmm I’m so hungry!” the alien said as he paced behind the Crewbon piloting the tri-fighter, “let’s hope this planet is tasty enough for the ravenous Pacrunch!” He suddenly looked forward as the Cubeasts appeared, the Rangers jumping into them.
“Eagle Cubeast Zord!”
“Shark Cubeast Zord!”
“Lion Cubeast Zord!”
“Elephant Cubeast Zord!
“Tiger Cubeast Zord!”
Immediately, the Eagle, Shark, and Lion Cubeast Zords got into position to combine.
“King of beasts, Feral Megazord!”
“Oh come on, I haven’t even got a Continue yet!” Pacrunch bemoaned, “Shoot them or something!” The Crewbon with Pacrunch nodded before the fleet of Tri-Fighters opened fire on the Megazord, though the green lasers they fired seemed to have no effect.
“You know what they say, the early bird gets the worm!” Rory said smugly.
“Get off this planet!” Brooke added.
The Tri-Fighters flew past the Megazord, which slashed them with its sword as it did so, destroying a few of them even as they fired on it.
Meanwhile, the Tiger Cubeast Zord sent spinning yellow energy slashes at a few more, destroying them, while the Elephant Cubeast Zord shifted into its cube form, launching itself into the air and crashing into a few more Tri-Fighters.
“The Giraffe Cubeast would probably help now, Travis!” Ivor called from his cockpit.
Travis nodded in response, “Good idea!” He pulled out the miniature Giraffe Cubeast Zord in its cube form, which flew out of the Megazord’s cockpit, growing in size and unfolding into its animal form.
“Giraffe Cubeast Zord!”
Almost immediately, the Giraffe Cubeast Zord shifted into its cannon form, mounting itself on the Megazord’s arm.
“Move! I’ll deal with them!” Pacrunch said as he forced the Crewbon from the pilot’s seat.
“Giraffe Gatling Burst!”
“Oh shoot!” Pacrunch said as he forced the Crewbon back into the pilot’s seat as the Feral Megazord began to open fire, annihilating the remaining Tri-Fighters in seconds. Just as the one Pacrunch was on was about to be destroyed, he leapt out of it, “Abandon ship!”
“He’s escaping!” Winter called.
“Let’s see what this planet tastes like!” Pacrunch called as he fell into the forests outside of Claw Coast. Unfortunately, he landed upside down, leaving him stuck in the ground.
At the World Wipers Studio, Stabinnit laughed and Bismind gave a chuckle as Cubole groaned, “Smithsonia, can I go get him and give the Rangers a piece of my mind? It seems pretty unfair that they just pulled the Megazord out right off the bat if you ask me.”
“Be my guest, Cubole,” Smithsonia replied, “this seems like a good time for a Game Master to intervene directly.
Cubole chuckled as he approached the stage’s teleporter, “Thanks a lot!” He stepped onto the teleporter and was encased in a stack of purple energy coins that went into the floor one by one, making him disappear.
The stack of energy coins landed on top of one of Claw Coast’s buildings, parting to reveal Cubole, who was holding an angular, cleaver-like sword. “A pleasure to meet you in person, Rangers!” Cubole called as the blade of his sword became imbued with purple energy.
“Huh? The Rangers asked in unison as the Megazord and Cubeast Zords turned to the source of the voice. Cubole swung his sword immediately, sending out a massive slash of purple energy that struck the Megazord, creating a massive explosion of sparks as the Megazord was broken into its constituent parts. The Shark, Lion, and Giraffe Cubeast Zords all fell to the ground, while the Eagle Cubeast Zord was sent spinning through the air on a collision course with one of the mountains outside of Claw Coast.
“Travis!” the four animen called out with panic.
“Don’t worry about me! Just find that guy!” Travis called before the Eagle Cubeast Zord crashed into the mountain, knocking Travis from the cockpit and unmorphing him as he rolled across the ground before falling unconscious.
Back at the World Wipers Studio, the audience whooped with excitement as Bismind gave a nod, “I must say, that’s rather impressive.”
“Cubole isn’t a Game Master for nothing, brainiac,” Stabinnit replied bluntly.
“Well, while we wait for Game Master Cubole to find his Player, how about we answer a question from the audience?” Smithsonia asked as she pulled out her datapad before reading off a question, “Dear World Wipers, given the Power Rangers are so entertaining, why don’t you make your own?”
“That’s a good question,” Smithsonia answered, “It mostly comes from the novelty, if every season were to have these Power Rangers, the appeal would run dry real fast, plus it would be expensive to make ones every time we wiped a planet to keep things fresh. We might make one at some point, since it would make for an interesting extra Player but for now it’s uncertain until we figure out the specifics of how to handle it.”
“Besides, someone suggested to our Producer that we make ninja dinosaur Rangers using artificial intelligence,” Bismind continued, “that natural stupidity led to the Producer throwing them out the airlock.”
The audience roared with laughter.
“You really had the Great Gorilla help a human?” a voice that sounded Middle-Eastern asked as Travis regained his awareness.
“He was on death’s door, Hidden Jaws in the Swamp!” another voice with a Jamaican accent.
“So you decided to have the Great Gorilla go dormant?” the other voice, Hidden Jaws in the Swamp said accusingly.
Another voice then spoke up, this one with a voice that sounded Inuit, “I know you are not fond of humans, Hidden Jaws in the Swamp, but it’s unfathomable to let someone die when we have the power to do something about it.”
“Even so, I suggest we get him out of here before he wakes up, there’s no telling how he’ll react to us animen when he wakes up,” a fourth voice said, this one sounding South African.
“I agree with that sentiment, Charging Horn across the Plains,” the Jamaican sounding voice said after a moment, presumably because he had nodded before speaking.
Slowly, Travis opened his eyes and sat up, “Animen? I already know about them.” He saw four animen standing before him, a gorilla, a rhinoceros, a wolf, and a crocodile, and that all five of them seemed to be in a repurposed mining building. In the gorilla’s hands was a red cube with the number 6 on it.
“Ahhhh!” the four animen screamed.
“Woah woah, calm down!” Travis called as he raised his hands up to calm them down as he got to his feet, “I can explain, I’m not gonna hurt you.”
“You better get to explaining then!” Hidden Jaws in the Swamp demanded harshly.
The wolf animan put a hand on his shoulder, “Calm down, he knows about us and doesn’t mean any harm, we should hear him out.”
“Maybe with some caution, we have no idea if he’s trustworthy,” Charging Horn Across the Plains suggested before going quiet again.
“I think this can show you I’m the real deal,” Travis said as he pulled out his Morpher.
The four animen’s eyes widened in shock as the gorilla animan spoke, “You’re chosen by a Cubeast?”
“The Eagle Cubeast yeah,” Travis explained as he pulled out the miniature Eagle Cubeast in its cube form, “my name is Travis Hawkins and long story short, I crashed on Feralia, an alien attacked, and me and four animen were selected by the Cubeasts to fight him and the aliens he was working for.”
“I see,” the wolf animan said with a nod.
“Alright,” Hidden Jaws in the Swamp said as he crossed his arms, “but why are you here?”
“We were battling another alien when we got ambushed, I got launched into a mountain and the last thing I remember is falling out of the Eagle Cubeast and being sent rolling across the ground,” Travis replied.
The gorilla animan gave a sagely nod as he held out the red cube in his hand, “That’s when I found you, I had to beseech the Great Gorilla Cubeast to help save you from death.”
“You have a red Cubeast?” Travis then asked, seeming almost as shocked as the four animen were a few moments before.
“We found it after we first arrived out here,” the gorilla animan explained, “we don’t have Hearts of the Earth, so we can’t understand it, but we do know it wants to protect us like it did the animen three thousand years ago.”
Travis nodded, “So why are the four of you here in the first place?”
“Curiosity, mostly,” Charging Horn Across the Plains replied.
The wolf animan nodded, “I am Howling Hunter Beneath the Moon, me and Hidden Jaws in the Swamp are merchants, we came to see what the human world had to offer that we could bring back to Feralia.”
“I’m Wise Strength in the Jungle, but you can call me Joe, I know humans prefer names like that, I heard it in a movie once,” the gorilla animan said with a smile, “Charging Horn Across the Plains and I are scientists who wanted to study what the human world is like.”
“So if that’s why you came here, then why have you stuck around?” Travis asked.
“Well, as animen, it’s our duty to serve the Cubeasts,” Joe said.
Travis nodded, “Well thanks for getting it to heal me, honestly I think I feel better now than I did this morning.”
“It could be because in the process of healing you, the Gorilla Cubeast infused you with some of its power,” Charging Horn Across the Plains said casually.
“Huh? So what, do I have the power of two Cubeasts at once? Can that actually happen?” Travis asked with confusion.
Howling Hunter Under the Moon shrugged, “One can’t be chosen by two Cubeasts at once, I have heard stories that another Cubeast can empower another’s chosen, so long as the Cubeast that chose them allows it. Granted you’re a human, so things could work differently and you might actually be the Gorilla Cubeast’s chosen as well.”
“Well, I guess the Eagle Cubeast didn’t really have a choice if it wanted me to live,” Travis said before looking at the cube in Joe’s hand and giving a smile and looking at the others, “Thanks for saving my life and for that.” He looked at the others, “Thank you guys too for finding me.” He looked at the door, “Now I should probably get going, I have to get back to my friends and help them out.
“Now hold on,” Hidden Jaws in the Swamp said as he stepped forward, “the Eagle Cubeast might’ve chosen you, but it’s not like it had much of a choice without any bird animen around. The Gorilla Cubeast gave you some of that power, but I wanna make sure you deserve that power, human.”
Howling Hunter Under the Moon looked to Hidden Jaws in the Swamp, “Hidden Jaws in the Swamp, I don’t-”
“No, Howling Hunter Under the Moon, I agree with Hidden Jaws in the Swamp,” Joe said, “It’s best to help Travis understand the power that he now wields, and as a gorilla myself, I think I’m the best option.”
Travis thought for a minute, “Well it isn’t the worst idea, I should probably try to understand how to use this power I have now too.” He shrugged, “Besides, I’m sure the others can handle themselves for a bit.”
Joe nodded, “Good, we shall begin immediately.”
A few minutes later outside of the mining station, Travis was knocked to the ground as Joe stood over him. “You need to be more sure of your strength, Travis,” Joe said as he helped the human stand up.
“I am,” Travis replied, “I know what I’m capable of, I’ve already defeated plenty of aliens.”
Joe hummed, “Let me put it this way, you need to fight more like a gorilla, and less like an eagle.”
“What do you mean?” Travis asked, “I just fight my own way.”
Joe chuckled, “Tell me, Travis, when you’ve battled as the Great Eagle’s Avatar, did you have any training? Did you already know how to do anything with that power beforehand?”
Travis thought for a moment, “No, I didn’t.”
“Exactly,” Joe replied, “when you became its Avatar, you gained not only power from it, but also knowledge on how to use that power. That knowledge means that you fight as an eagle does, fast, precise, and with a need to avoid attacks.”
Travis nodded along, “I think I get it, but if I have the Gorilla Cubeast’s power now, I might even be chosen by it, why don’t I have that knowledge already?”
“It’s possible since the Great Eagle chose you first, it could have had some hand in that,” Joe replied, deep in thought, “though that’s just a theory, it’s rare for more than one Cubeast to provide their power to someone, let alone a human.”
Travis nodded, “I guess that makes sense, so I guess I’ll have to learn it from scratch.”
“Indeed,” Joe replied.
“So how do I fight more like a gorilla?” Travis asked, “I’m guessing it’s pretty different to what I already do.”
Joe got into a broad stance as he spoke, keeping his legs spread wide, “While the eagle is all about speed, precision, and dodging, the gorilla is about stability, power, and resilience. Put every ounce of strength you have into each blow, and be sure to keep yourself grounded and steady, that way you don’t have to worry about taking a few hits.”
“Alright, I think I’ve got it,” Travis replied with a nod as he mimicked Joe’s stance, “Like this?”
“Exactly,” Joe nodded, “now let’s try again.”
“You think Travis is okay?” Winter asked as she and the other animen walked through the forests outside of Claw Coast.
Rory put a hand on her shoulder, “I’m sure he’s fine.”
“Besides, he told us to focus on finding the alien we knocked out of that ship,” Ivor added.
Brooke shook her head, “I don’t know, I’m starting to get worried. It’s been hours, you’d think he’d have joined us by now, or at the very least called us.” She looked around, “Plus we haven’t seen where that Player fell either when he should’ve fallen somewhere around here.”
“Maybe the fall knocked him unconscious,” Rory suggested as they walked past a bush that had Pacrunch’s body embedded in the ground directly behind it, “so there’s no bloodlust for us to sense.”
Ivor shook his head, “Travis has been chosen by the Great Eagle, I’m sure he can handle himself, as for the Player-”
Before Ivor could say more, all four animen’s tails stood on end as Cubole stepped into view in a nearby clearing, “Where’s that Pacrunch? He better not’ve died from that.”
“Cubes?” Ivor asked, prompting Cubole to turn to face them.
“Animen?” Cubole responded, and as he did a wave of concentrated bloodlust struck the four Rangers.
“Oh my Cubeasts…” Rory muttered to himself.
Winter nodded, “I feel sick…”
“Who are you?” Brooke demanded.
Cubole chuckled, “I’m one of World Wipers’ Game Masters, Cubole!”
“Another Game Master? You’re the one that Deadeye mentioned, aren’t you?” Ivor questioned.
“Sure am!” Cubole laughed, “Now as much as I’d like to fight you, I’m here to find my Player, so if you don’t want anyone getting hurt, then leave me be.” Cubole turned away from the four Rangers and began walking.
“Like we’re just gonna let you walk away!” Rory replied as he and the other Rangers pulled out their Morphers.
“Shark!”
“Lion!”
“Elephant!”
“Tiger!”
The four were surrounded by multicolored light, which immediately died down to reveal them in their Ranger forms. They immediately opened fire on Cubole with their blasters, though none of their shots seemed to have any effect.
Slowly, Cubole turned around, chuckling, “Didn’t even tickle.”
“Let’s see how you like this then!” Rory replied as he and the other Rangers swapped their blasters to blades and ran at Cubole. They swarmed the Game Master and slashed at them with everything they had, but each attack harmlessly bounced off of him with no effect.
All at once they struck him, but even that did no damage. Cubole chuckled again as he emitted a massive shockwave of air from his body that knocked each Ranger back several feet onto the ground.
“This guy is crazy strong!” Winter called.
Cubole snickered as the Rangers got to their feet, “Well if you wanna fight me, then don’t say I didn’t warn you…”
“We defeated a Game Master before,” Brooke replied, “you’re nothing we can’t handle!”
“Feral Fury!”
Rory swung his enlarged claws, striking Cubole with electrified yellow energy slashes. Winter then swung her own claws, launching pink energy slashes punctuated with snowflakes at Cubole, though neither her nor Rory’s attacks seemed to do anything.
Brooke then launched herself at the Game Master, spinning like a buzzsaw and cutting into him, though he didn’t seem impressed and tossed her to the side, sending her rolling across the ground. Ivor got between Brooke and Cubole and stomped an enlarged foot down, creating a massive shockwave of dirt from below Cubole.
As the dirt fell, Cubole swung his sword, launching forth a purple energy slash, the shockwave not seeming to have affected him at all. Brooke and Ivor managed to dodge the attack as Cubole began swinging it and spinning around, sending out purple slashes in all directions, forcing the Rangers to dodge them and the resulting explosions. Cubole swung his sword again, sending out a single circular purple energy slash all around him, striking each Ranger and knocking each back into the trunk of a tree.
The Rangers recovered with moderate difficulty and got away from the trees they were knocked into, but before they could make any further attacks against Cubole, he separated into dozens of blue crystalline cubes that swirled around a gold-spiked crystal core. The cubes struck each Ranger dozens of times and knocked to the ground as the cubes flew inward, reconstituting themselves back into Cubole.
At the World Wipers Studio, the audience cheered as they watched Cubole brutalize the Rangers. “Seems like Cubole’s giving them a real run for their money!” Smithsonia declared to the audience, “For those new here, most Game Masters aren’t allowed to fight without permission, but if they’re on a planet and end up being attacked, it’s fair game!”
“He’s certainly doing far better than you were under these circumstances, Stabinnit,” Bismind said dryly as he looked to the other Game Master.
Stabinnit glared at him, “I already told you, the only reason I lost was because I wasn’t expecting them to be as strong as they were, I was holding back, but Cubole here knows exactly what they can do, brainiac.” He pointed his cannon-like arm at Bismind, “You know, I’d really like to see how well you’d do in a fight against them, I bet you wouldn’t stand a chance against them!”
“Hmmm you can believe whatever you want, Stabinnit,” Bismind replied, “but I assure even if I did lose to them, I would’ve put up far more of a fight than you did.”
Stabinnit snarled, “Why you-”
“Alright, knock it off,” Smithsonia said as she turned back to look at the screen displaying the fight between the Rangers and Cubole, “Let’s focus on seeing how the Rangers like a taste of their own medicine!”
Elsewhere, Travis and Joe walked through the forest, with Joe leading the way. “Alright, so what are we doing now?” Travis asked curiously as he and Joe stepped over a felled tree.
“You’ve got the basics down, Travis, but I think what we must do next is to strengthen your bond with the Great Gorilla further,” Joe replied, pulling out the miniature Gorilla Cubeast Zord’s cube form.
Travis nodded, “Alright, how do we do that?”
“The Great Gorilla fell dormant after healing you, at least for a time,” Joe replied, “Given your connection with the Great Eagle and your Heart of the Earth, if you meditate, you should be able to commune with it.”
Travis gave a concerned look, “You sure that’ll work? I know Cubeasts understand me and you, but you guys need Hearts of the Earth for you to understand them, and I’ve never been able to understand them even with one.”
“You said the Great Eagle blessed you with enhanced vision, yes?” Joe asked, “I’m sure it’ll grant you comprehension given the circumstances.”
“Let’s hope so,” Travis replied as they continued walking. It was quiet for a few moments, with only the sound of the dirt under their feet before Travis broke the silence, “So like, no offense or anything, I know you two are probably pretty close, but what’s Hidden Jaws in the Swamp’s problem?”
Joe shook his head, “He had a rather… unfortunate encounter with you humans when he first arrived here.”
“Ah,” Travis nodded, “yeah, the animen that got chosen with me were lucky. Their Hearts of the Earth let them disguise themselves as humans. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for you guys.”
“We have disguises ourselves, but they’re… lacking, all things considered,” Joe replied, “though me and Howling Hunter Beneath the Moon are the only ones who regularly use them, it’s why I decided to take up a human name when interacting with your kind.”
“Guess that explains how you got your name from a movie,” Travis replied, “Well now that we know each other I’m sure I can help bring stuff to your place if you need anything.”
Joe chuckled, “We’d appreciate that, Travis, especially Howling Hunter Under the Moon, he’s always had the most fondness for you humans. I’ve had to get between him and Hidden Jaws in the Swamp on a few occasions because their debates can get a bit too heated.”
“What about you and Charging Horn Across the Plains then?” Travis asked, “Where do you two stand?”
“We’re scientists, Travis,” Joe replied, “we understand not to make generalizations. There are good humans, and there are bad humans.”
“Fair enough,” Travis nodded, “you sure know a lot about like, spiritual stuff and fighting for a scientist.”
“Don’t judge a book by its cover, as you humans say. To us animen, science and spiritualism are two sides of the same coin,” Joe chuckled, “As for the fighting, me and Charging Horn Across the Plains had to train to fight for ourselves, seeing as we came here by ourselves and had no idea what could be here.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Travis replied with a nod, “seems like the line between your technology and magic is pretty blurry.”
Joe nodded in response, “Indeed it is, Travis, though I must admit you humans are doing rather well for yourselves in your own right.” They continued walking for a few more feet before they came to a waterfall with several rocks sticking out of the ground beside the stream it fed into, “We’re here.”
“Alright, so what do I need to do?” Travis asked as he looked around
Joe patted a chair-sized rock, “Sit.” Travis did as he was asked, and upon sitting down, Joe placed the Gorilla Cubeast Zord into Travis’s hands. “Now Travis, I’m going to blindfold you,” Joe said as he pulled out a piece of cloth, “this and the waterfall are going to deprive you of your senses for meditation.”
“Well if that’s what it’s gonna take to help me understand this power, then go for it,” Travis replied as he looked back at Joe momentarily.
“Alright,” Joe replied as he tied the cloth over Travis’s eyes. Travis’s vision went dark, and all other noise was drowned out by the waterfall, leaving only a kind of natural white noise.
In a few moments, Travis’s vision came back and he could see Joe, the waterfall, everything, like the blindfold hadn’t even been put on at all. Suddenly, his vision seemed to rush through the forest, weaving through trees and over rocks until he found himself in the clearing where the other Rangers were in the process of battling Cubole. He watched as the Game Master punched Rory in the face before delivering an upward slash to Brooke with his sword. Ivor tried to slam Cubole with his hammer, but the Game Master simply batted him away before it could connect. Winter leapt at him from above with her spear, but he struck her with his sword and sent her tumbling across the ground before the hit could properly connect.
“Guys!” Travis yelled as he ripped off the blindfold, still holding the Gorilla Cubeast Zord.
“Travis, what’s wrong?” Joe asked with worry as he approached Travis.
“I didn’t talk with the Gorilla, but my friends, they’re in big trouble!” Travis replied as he got to his feet, “did you not feel it?”
“Us gorilla animen don’t have tails,” Joe replied, “we can’t sense bloodlust.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Travis sighed before speaking up, “Listen, I know this training is important, but my friends need me, I can’t just leave them to fend for themselves.”
“I understand, Travis,” Joe nodded, “and that might just be what the Great Gorilla wants you to do too.”
“Why’s that?” Travis asked as he looked at the Gorilla Cubeast in his hands.
“The Great Gorilla was the one to fend off the Orgs as the Great Whale and Great Eagle created and shrouded Feralia,” Joe replied, “I get the feeling that going to battle to protect others will surely resonate with it.”
Travis took a deep breath as he looked up at Joe, “Let’s see if that’s true. Thanks, Joe, I’ll be back.”
“Best of luck, Travis,” Joe said with a nod.
With that, Travis broke into a sprint down the path he had seen previously.
Elsewhere, the other Rangers continued to battle Cubole, though it was going far from well. He batted Rory away before striking Ivor with his blade, then jabbing Brooke in the waist and slashing Winter’s leg, making her fall over. He pushed Rory down on her before shoving Ivor and Brooke down on them too.
He slammed his fist down on them, stunning them before swinging his sword upward, launching the four animen upwards and far back. As the four of them got to their feet, Cubole infused the blade of his sword before nonchalantly swinging it, launching a horizontal purple energy slash forward. The slash struck the Rangers, making them scream as they fell back to the ground, unmorphing and returning to their true forms.
“Heh, hardly worth my time,” Cubole said as he began to walk away.
“Back off!” Suddenly, a morphed Travis flew in in his Feral form, delivering a flame-wreathed kick to Cubole’s side.
This didn’t faze Cubole at all, who simply laughed and didn’t even bother looking at Travis, “Ah right, I forgot there was one more of ya.”
“Huh?” Travis asked as Cubole grabbed his leg and slammed him into the ground. “Ah!” he cried as he rolled to the side, avoiding a downward swing from Cubole’s sword.
Cubole in return stomped on him repeatedly before kicking him back. Travis got to his feet and pulled out his Eagle Feather Sword, charging at Cubole and taking a slice at the Game Master with it. Cubole blocked the strike with his own sword before batting Travis’s out of his hand and slashing the Ranger’s leg, making him fall prone again.
Cubole stood over Travis before reaching down to grab him, lifting the human up with one hand. “I was expecting the leader of you Rangers to put up more of a fight than this!” Cubole laughed before tossing Travis hard, sending the human rolling across the ground.
“You’re tough…” Travis said as he got to his feet, “but I’m not done yet!”
“Well you’re about to be!” Cubole laughed as he swung his sword low, creating a purple energy slash that tore through the ground as it headed towards Travis.
“Travis!” Brooke called, her and the other animen now having gotten to their feet
“Watch out!” Rory yelled.
“Move!” Ivor demanded.
“No!” Winter screamed.
Moments before the attack collided with Travis, he reached up to his mask and moved it upwards. The entire face portion of his helmet aside from the visor flipped upwards, exposing a new face under it, this one looking considerably more ape-like. “Feral Fury!” Travis called. The attack collided with Travis, creating a massive explosion, though it was very quickly dispelled by a shockwave of red energy.
As the smoke cleared, Travis could be seen standing there, unfazed, though he did look considerably different than before. The eagle face on his chest was replaced with a gorilla’s though most notable was the fact that his entire upper body seemed to have become significantly more muscular to an almost comical degree.
“Gorilla’s strength, Feral Red Ranger!”
“A gorilla?” Brooke asked with confusion.
Cubole stalked toward Travis, tapping his sword against one of his hands, “You look ridiculous.”
Suddenly, Travis punched forward, annihilating the half of Cubole’s body holding his sword and launching the sword itself backwards along with the crytaline cubes that once made up his arm, making the other animen gasp. “The only thing ridiculous is my strength!” Travis said with determination, “It’s game over for you!”
“He just tore through him like it was nothing!” Rory said with awe.
Cubole looked at the missing chunk of his body and chuckled, “Heh, now that’s more what I was hoping for!” The scattered cubes of what were once his arm floated back towards him, reforming into his arm.
He took a swing at Travis, but Travis had already taken a swing himself, striking Cubole in the chest and making him stumble backwards, allowing Travis to strike the Game Master with another punch. Cubole recovered and punched Travis in the abdomen in turn, making the human stagger back. Travis managed to shrug off the attack quickly, leaping high into the air and delivering a downward slam to the Game Master, knocking him prone.
“His strength is incredible!” Ivor observed as Travis beat his chest while Cubole got to his feet.
Cubole took another swing at Travis, but the human blocked it, and the two ran off deeper into the forest with their arms locked.
Travis and Cubole matched each other blow for blow, each delivering punches that didn’t seem to slow the other down at all. Cubole took a few swings at Travis’s head, but the human managed to duck under the attacks before delivering an uppercut that sent the Game Master reeling. Cubole attempted to punch Travis with both hands, but Travis caught Cubole’s hands. With some exertion, he managed to flip Cubole over him and onto his back.
As Cubole got to his feet, Travis released a blast of pressurized air from the nostrils on his mask, the force of which knocked the Game Master back into a tree. Travis then ran forward to deliver a charging punch, the force of which knocked over the tree Cubole was knocked against. Travis continued charging forward, knocking over several more trees.
“He’s giving Cubole a run for his money!” Winter declared enthusiastically.
“That he is!” Joe said from behind the four animen, prompting them to turn around to face them.
“An animan?” Brooke said with surprise.
Ivor tilted his head, “Who are you?”
Joe chuckled, “I am Wise Strength in the Jungle, and I’m… a friend of Travis.” He shook his head, “I’ll explain more later, but it seems he’s putting the power of the Great Gorilla to good use.”
“About time someone gave me a real fight,” Cubole said as he got to his feet. He charged towards Travis, preparing to deliver a punch to the human. Before the hit could connect, Travis punched forward in turn, their fists connecting with the other’s. A shockwave of red energy was sent through Cubole’s arm, making it fall apart into crystalline cubes. Cubole clutched where his missing arm would be as he staggered back.
“This is the end!” Travis declared as he delivered a flaming uppercut that launched Cubole into the air.
Cubole landed on the ground a few yards away, propping himself to look up at Travis and chuckle as his body sparked, “Not bad, human, not bad at all.”
“You hurt my friends, and you feel my fury,” Travis said as he walked away, briefly glancing over his shoulder as Cubole laughed before exploding into a hail of crystal cubes.
“Well that was certainly an… interesting episode,” Bismind said as the audience cleared out of the World Wipers Studio.
Stabinnit stood with his arms crossed, “Wondering why Diremond didn’t want Smithsonia to give Cubole a Continue?”
“Of course not,” Bismind replied, shaking his head and grumbling, “I’ve done my research on this show, Stabinnit, I’m well aware that death seems to have an issue with the two of you.”
“Besides,” Smithsonia added, “we already had a Megazord battle this episode, no use in doing another.”
A nearby Crewbon then spoke with Diremond’s voice, “Granted a battle with Tri-Fighters is more boring than with an enlarged Player. Nevertheless this episode isn’t the worst we’ve ever made.”
“Say, boss,” Stabinnit said as he looked at the Crewbon with some curiosity, “since Cubole got slimed, is he suspended now too? I’ll be happy to take over if he is, can’t let this boring brainiac have all the episodes.”
The Crewbon shook its head, “No, Stabinnit, you are still suspended, and Cubole will remain active.”
“What?” Stabinnit asked demandingly as he looked at the Crewbon, “He got taken out by those Rangers too! How come he’s getting special treatment?”
“Probably he wasn’t defeated in a season premiere,” Smithsonia replied bluntly.
“Exactly, my dear Smithsonia,” the Crewbon responded, “additionally, he didn’t go down there with the express purpose of wiping the planet like you did, he went to retrieve his Player and engaged only after the Rangers had attacked, it makes his defeat far less of a bad look than yours.”
Bismind nodded, “I imagine that Red Ranger’s new power also had something to do with this decision?”
“Indeed, Bismind,” Diremond replied, “while the Rangers were not anticipated, we still expected some of form or resistance, while this new power the Red Ranger possesses is something we had no way of anticipating, and Cubole was handling them all fairly well before that.”
“Ugh! Are you kidding me?” Stabinnit yelled, “this is ridiculous!”
The Crewbon looked at the Game Master blankly, “If you do not calm down then I will suspend your pay on top of your suspension.”
Stabinnit immediately seemed to calm down and sighed, “Oh fine!”
“I’m glad you can see things from my perspective, Stabinnit,” the Crewbon replied, “Though I will admit, I understand that you’re feeling rather antsy, so during tomorrow’s episode, I will give you a brief reprieve from your suspension to join him, so I recommend that you use that time wisely.”
“Really?” Stabinnit asked with disbelief, “Well, thanks boss, I guess I’ll get to have some fun at least.”
The Crewbon nodded before speaking again, “Now, I recommend that you get yourselves prepared for tomorrow, it’s rare that we have episodes two days in a row, though I believe that under these circumstances, it’ll have to be done.”
“Of course, Producer,” Smithsonia replied, “we’ll be prepared for whatever will happen in the next episode.”
“Excellent,” the Crewbon nodded before walking away.
As night fell over the abandoned mining facility, the Rangers had gathered to eat with the four animen Travis had met that day, with the animen Rangers currently in their true forms.
“Must be nice having some more of your fellow animen around,” Ivor said as he took a sip of the drink that Joe had provided them.
Hidden Jaws in the Swamp nodded in reply, “Yes, it is, you’re much preferable to those humans, even if yours is more tolerable than most.”
“It’s part of the reason why we came together, actually,” Charging Horn Across the Plains said as he looked up from a book he was reading, “there aren’t a whole lot of others that we can really talk to.”
Howling Hunter Under the moon nodded in reply, “It’s a shame, humans seem so interesting.”
Rory stopped devouring his food for a moment to speak, “Yeah, I can’t imagine how hard it would be for us if our Hearts of the Earth didn’t give us disguises to use.”
“Well, it’s an honor to meet you all,” Joe said with a grin, “though you’re young, I have no doubt that you’ll do incredible things as the Avatars of the Cubeasts.”
Brooke nodded, “Thank you, Wise Strength in the Jungle, it’s good to hear you have faith in us.”
“Thanks for the food too,” Winter said as she finished cleaning off her plate, “human food’s good and all, but it’s nice to finally have some Feralian stuff again.”
“It’s my pleasure, Razor Claws in the Tundra,” Joe laughed.
Travis pulled out the miniature Gorilla Cubeast Zord, looking at the red cube before looking up at the four animen he had met that day, “So what’s next for you guys? You said that you’re staying here because of the Gorilla Cubeast Zord, so what happens now that I have it?”
“Honestly, we don’t know,” Howling Hunter Under the Moon replied with a shrug, “I mean sure we can go back to Feralia, but we’ve been here so long it would probably feel weird to go back, especially now with other animen that we can talk to.”
“Even I have to admit this place is growing on me,” Hidden Jaws in the Swamp nodded despite grumbling.
“So you guys have been here for a while, huh?” Travis asked, “Can I ask you something?”
Charging Horn Across the Plains nodded, “Go right ahead.”
“Well this is probably going to sound completely crazy, but have any of you three ever seen or heard of this?” Travis asked as he pulled out a rough sketch of the condor animan he had seen.
“A bird animan?” Hidden Jaws in the Swamp asked with disbelief.
“Yeah, yeah, I know I sound crazy,” Travis replied, “but I know what I saw, the Eagle Cubeast helped me see it, and I don’t think it would just show me something that doesn’t actually exist.”
Joe shook his head, “I’m afraid we haven’t, Travis, in all of our years here on the mainland we’ve never seen or heard of another animan here, let alone a bird one.”
“What about a book about Feralia?” Brooke asked, “Travis had a book about it, and the level of detail means an animan had to have written it. Did any of you do that?”
Charging Horn Across the Plains shook his head, “I’m afraid not, if we did something like that it could have put as all at risk.”
“Uh, dang it,” Travis said with a sigh as he put the sketch away, “I figured if anyone had seen this guy or wrote that book it’d have to be another animan.”
Winter patted his shoulder, “It’s alright Travis, I’m sure we’ll find something eventually.”
“Yeah, besides, we ruled out some suspects for it, right?” Rory said as he continued eating, “I mean that should make things easier, right?”
“Or harder,” Ivor replied, shaking his head, “they don’t know anything, so we still don’t have any kind of lead.”
“Well, we might not know anything about this, but we can try to,” Joe responded, “You obviously think that this is something extremely important, so we’ll be happy to help you in any way that we can.”
Howling Hunter under the Moon nodded, “We don’t really have much to do anyway, so we’ve got plenty of time on our hands.”
“Really? Travis asked before smiling.
“We sure can, Travis,” Joe said with a smile and a nod.
Hidden Jaws in the Swamp gave a nod as well, “Even if you are a human, the Great Eagle and the Great Gorilla seem to have taken a liking to you, so we might as well try.”
Travis continued grinning as he spoke, “Thanks a lot. I know this all probably feels like a wild goose chase, but I really do feel like the condor animan and that book means something really important, I just feel it.”
Joe chuckled again, “It’s no problem, Travis. It’s good to finally meet a human that understands us.”
“Thanks, I’m glad I met you guys too, if I hadn’t met you and the Gorilla Cubeast, who knows what could’ve happened to the others,” Travis replied, still smiling, “We’ll be sure to visit you guys often. I really hope that some day more humans will be able to see you guys and understand you too. ”
Outside, the condor animan watched the conversation unfolding through a window, giving a small nod, “I hope so too, Travis Hawkins. I hope so too.” With that, the condor animan walked away from the building and into the night.