"You heard me," said the Overlord. "They're your responsibility now. Defend the world with them."
"Defend it from what?" asked Ranma.
"Anything that shows up being properly menacing, of course. You're the leader of the Senshi Rangers," said the Overlord.
"Senshi Rangers!" declared several of the spandex clad girls as they posed. "Haiii!"
"You've got to be kidding me," declared Ranma.
"Well, it's either that or I repeat the command word I imbedded in their psyches per your mother's wishes," said the Overlord, almost sounding regretful.
"Mom? Do I dare ask?" Ranma asked, feeling not at all optimistic.
"It would be the fastest way to get her grandchildren and my great grandchildren," said the Overlord, looking as if he was pondering the possibilities.
"But - but - but," spluttered Ranma. Considering some of his mother's comments, this was not a good thing.
"Grandson," said the Overlord as he removed his helmet.
Ranma hissed involuntarily, and most of the Dark Senshi looked elsewhere.
"I was once a powerful martial artist, capable scientist, and mage. After I took over much of Asia a 'rebel' decided to try and assassinate me with a chemical agent. I survived, but many of those present at that moment did not. It burned 92% of my skin off and left me with peripheral nerve damage in my extremities that is kept under control by this very armor. Tell me, have your martial arts lessons given you techniques to protect you from a car bomb? Poisonous gasses like this that can eat away your skin? Viral agents? What about snipers with high powered rifles?"
"Uhm, ya gotta point there," admitted Ranma as his grandfather put the helm and faceplate back into place.
"That's only scratching the surface," assured the Overlord. "Not counting the supernatural menaces I'm putting you in charge of fighting."
"I'm not sure I... fighting?"
"Oh yes," said the Overlord. "There will come menaces to our world and way of life. Menaces to orderly society that normal troops are less well equipped to deal with. Therefore your troops will deal with such things."
"ME?" asked Ranma.
"Yes," said the Overlord. "You are going to learn responsibility and discipline, Ranma. Having to take command of these troops and send them into danger, saving potentially thousands of lives - that's one way to do it. They will also protect you from menaces that your Art cannot. This is another chance for you, grandson. Don't blow it, or else."
Ranma was under no illusions as to the 'or else' part of things. The Overlord was fair but ruthless.
Seeing his grandson had gotten the message, the Overlord turned his attention to the troops now standing at attention. "At ease. Senshi Rangers. Their abilities are slightly different from their originals, but they generally have better equipment. I'll also have film crews ready to roll out after you and your troops whenever you are facing these menaces."
"Oh," said Ranma, not liking this at all.
"My Legion Of Mad Scientists are working out their vehicles and equipment now," said the Overlord. "Senshi Rangers. Report!"
"Yellow Ranger!"
"Blue Ranger!"
"Green Ranger!"
"Red Ranger!"
"White Ranger!"
"Olive Ranger!"
"Aqua Ranger!"
"Purple Ranger!"
" ...black ranger..."
In unison they proclaimed: "Senshi Rangers! Kanjo!"
"Uh huh," said Ranma, having watched the girls in the skintight outfits go through various sentai poses.
"The processes used to empower and speed teach the others were perfected for these elite units," said the Overlord. "Each of them is a specialist in one kind of martial art."
"Oh?" Ranma asked, a little more interested now.
"Yellow Ranger - Tiger Style Kung Fu!"
"Blue Ranger - Aikido!"
"Green Ranger - Boar Style Bando!"
"Red Ranger - Japanese archery and karate-do!"
"White Ranger - Drunken Fist Style!"
"Olive Ranger - Shotokan Karate and Kenjutsu!"
"Aqua Ranger - Judo!"
"Purple Ranger - Goju ryu!"
"black ranger - ninjitsu."
The Overlord snapped his fingers and a flunky quickly ran up. One of the Flunky brothers, Ranma realized, a set of six brothers that the Overlord typically used as messengers around the Impenetrable Fortress and Palace. "Ben Flunky, isn't it? Take Ranma and the Rangers to their new headquarters. Oh, and give my regards to your cousin Harry Minion - good work on putting down that barber rebellion."
"Of course, great leader," said the messenger, bowing and scraping with great flourishes.
Ranma knew the dismissal when he heard it.
"This way, young master," said Ben as he led the group to a bus.
Ranma fidgeted a lot in the uncomfortable silence during the bus trip, seeing all nine of the gals go to sleep almost as soon as they had sat down.
"What's with the sleeping?" Ranma finally asked.
"Side effect of their recent awakening, young master. They'll be fine after they've had a chance to recover. More than that I can't say, I'm just one of the Master's soldiers you know."
"Yeah," said Ranma. The Flunky Brothers (and sisters!) were used around the complex because they took such pride in their work and seemed to relish the chance to serve the Invincible Overlord. Not exactly great fighters, though Ben had a lot of raw strength despite being fairly short and hunchbacked and having one eye larger than the other. They were actually thriving due to the successes of the Overlord. Technically they were maintenance and couriers, but they took such pride in their versatility that everyone around the place knew that when you needed something done right away, send for a Flunky.
"I hope Perv Flunky set the cameras up in time," mumbled Ben.
"What's that?" Ranma asked, getting the feeling that something hentai was involved.
"Oh nothing, young master, nothing." Ben brought the bus to the curb and pointed. "Well, there it is. Home. Or at least the new one for you and your young mistresses."
"I wish ya wouldn't call 'em that," grumbled Ranma, peering in the indicated direction. It looked like Ranger Base was:
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(Posted Fri, 13 Aug 2004 09:44)
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