[971017] [Preview] With one solar sphere left, Adol acquires the assistance of Lord Vahorra making Pleadia's last cyborg, Akuma, the most deadly enemy the Astroranger battle team will ever encounter. Meanwhile, Cyborg Morpher III returns to attack LAPD H.Q. to abduct Officer Beverly Tenmei--forcing the battle team to allow Cyborg Akuma to find Earth's solar sphere in episode 48, "Begin the Final Battle". [Title Theme] Artist Bros. Enterprises presents . . . GALAXY TASK FORCE ASTRO RANGER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Starring... Sheratan Kasei, a.k.a., Dave Marcello. MarsAstro! Australis Mokusei, a.k.a., Will Richards. JupiterAstro! Nashiran Dosei, a.k.a., Tom Nevison. SaturnAstro! Messuta Suisei, a.k.a., Ron Michaeli. MercuryAstro! Lotia Kinsei, a.k.a., Amy Leven. VenusAstro! Beverly Tenmei. EarthAstro! and... Commander Leto, a.k.a., Dr. Aaron Hanson. Featuring... Detective Frank Mahoney and Detective Kathy Sanchez. with... Captain Tony Fleishman. ACT I: Last time on Astroranger: Amy looked at the tide wash up against the rocks. "It's hard to believe anything is real." "Heh," Beverly chuckled. "You're telling me." "Hehe, no what I mean is; after the past six days of Dave and I rushing through the arrangements and helping Tom and Ron set up music, my mind hasn't had a chance to actually realize that I am about to spend the rest of my life with Dave." "Home already?" Tom asked. Amy looked really confused. "Uhhh... I was wondering if you knew where Dave was." Someone who looked like Amy seduced Dave in his car in the mall's parking lot, all in an attempt to gain information that the Nazitans need... "Good, you appear obedient," Amy said. "Now tell me--what is the location of the Venus, Saturn and Neptune solar sphere?" "Drive southbound on Hawthorne Boulevard to termination on Palos Verdes Drive and eastbound on that road is a cave near a chapel where buried are spheres in a triangular pattern to avoid immediate discovery," Dave answered. Ron saw Will return to the study. "Hey, Will--who was that on the phone?" "Uh, Amy, she called to say that she and Beverly will be coming home soon." "Huh??" Tom exclaimed. "But, she was just here!" ... "But, Will, it'd make no sense for her to call if she'd already come home!" Ron insisted. "In fact, she wouldn't call here at all--she would've called Dave to catch a ride home because there's no other way they could go home from that beach. Not even by bus." "Something weird is going on around here," Tom said. "When Amy did show up, I didn't exactly get typical mental output from her. And she looked real confused when she showed up as well. Asked where Dave was." Amy looked at Beverly and smiled. Down the opposite end of the beach, walking southbound was Amy in a pink t-shirt and jeans appearing as if she were looking for something. Suddenly, Beverly stopped walking which also caused Amy to stop before she pointed. Amy, in the bikini looked at Beverly. "What is that!?!" Amy began to walk towards them when suddenly, she stood still; her clothes and lit up brilliantly causing Beverly and Amy to shield their faces. Standing before them was then a humanoid in what appeared to be a white wet-leather bodysuit. Beverly and Amy jumped back defensively. "It's a cyborg!" Amy angrily said. ... Morpher III grabbed Beverly's hips and then jumped into the air. "Woah!!" Beverly shouted as they'd flown overhead. "Ooof!" The two them had crash landed into the water. "Beverly!" Amy shouted. "Why is it still alive?" Morpher-class cyborgs have never been able to survive in water before. Beverly had resurfaced and treaded water. "What the?" Beverly looked around and the coast was clear but suddenly, she was dragged scream beneath the waves. Amy ran towards the shore and looked around. "Beverly!!" Ron looked out of his bedroom window. "Dave, when did you last see Amy?" "When I dropped her off at the beach but then when I parked here at the mall, I saw her and... Ohhh, man," Dave groaned over Ron's phone. Ron looked worried. "What? What happened?" "Aw God... Amy showed up and we were making out in my car when all of a sudden I blacked out. Then I wake up thinking that I went into the store!" "I don't know, man--but you better drive STRAIGHT home," Ron said to him via Dave's phone. "William and Tom are already on their way to the beach to find out what this is all about." Amy was pulled into the air and flew backwards through the sky. The cyborg yanked the handle in another direction, causing Amy to swim through the sky again. She was heading for the stone wall of the cliff when suddenly, the chain around her ankle had been severed by sparks caused by a green arrow shooting through the linked metal. Amy fell into SaturnAstro arms and the black Astroranger let her stand on her own when JupiterAstro had joined them. She looked at the green Astroranger and bowed her head. "I am so glad you got here!! How did you know to come??" "We ran into your doppelganger at our place asking for Dave," SaturnAstro answered. While JupiterAstro walked away from the ocean, Beverly had piggy-back rode on his back. "Problem, Aust," SaturnAstro said. JupiterAstro sighed while putting Beverly down behind himself. "What?" "The cyborg is gone." Dave couldn't sit down so he finally exhaled. "All right. I'm getting ready to go to the store to buy the wedding rings, right? Well then, I get out of the car and Amy shows up out of nowhere! God only knows how that happened but before I could think, we were in the back of my car and I'm not even thinking at all. We're just goin' at it real hot and heavy like." "Uh huh," Ron responded. "All of a sudden, she shoves something that stung like nothing else down my shorts and then I'm out like a light," Dave recalled. "So then what happened?" Tom asked. "Well, I'm asked who I am, who Amy is and where the solar spheres are... And me, like an idiot, starts spewing information like there is no tomorrow. Just singin' like a bird. (I swear, I must have my head snugly stuffed up my ass or something.)" "Now hold on a second, it seems like to me you could have been under some kind of strange trance," Ron said. "There's just no way you would've just gone and volunteered this information on your own." Tom nodded. "There is no doubt that the Nazitans will do everything they can to make sure they get it too. This might very well be the most challenging battle we will ever fight." Dave started walking towards the front door. "Yeah, well," Dave grumbled, "until that happens, I'm outta here." "What? Wait a minute, Dave," Ron halted. "Where are you going?" Dave opened the front door. "Out--need to cool off. Besides--you guys would probably be better off without someone who can't tell the difference between their own fianc‚ and a cyborg." After saying that, Dave walked out the door, slamming it behind himself. Everybody looked at each other knowing that he was truly mortified by the entire experience. Episode 48: "Begin the Final Battle" Underneath the surface of the gray, ice-covered planet Pluto--Igan had marched quickly into the primary chamber where Adol sat cross-legged in his throne, tapping his fingers impatiently. "I am really busy, right now, Igan; this better be important." Igan nodded very quickly. "It is extremely important. What I have discovered was that--while scanning Earth for the power signature of a solar sphere, I had found out something shocking!" "Well? Out with it!" Adol ordered. "You will never believe this but the jade Genesis Gemstone that EarthAstro is the owner of is transmitting the same electromagnetic signal as a solar sphere, but it doesn't seem to be actually be one." Igan reported. "You are right, Igan--it is hard to believe but some how, I feel it is true," Adol said. "The sphere would NOT be in our dimension but in the higher dimensions where the other spheres we found were. AND! As it were, it is my hypothesis that these Astrorangers did not come from our dimension but from one we have yet to locate." "Would you like me to begin a search on that?" Igan asked. "It would take me weeks but I..." "No! We haven't the time," Adol replied. "Get me Cyborg Morpher III--I want to re-program it to seek out EarthAstro!" A black and white police car drove northbound on Main Street, in the LAPD K-9 unit, Officer Beverly Tenmei navigated past 3rd Street. Loudly over her radio came the woman's voice at Los Angeles Police Department headquarters. "Calling all units; multiple officers down at LAPD headquarters, Parker Center. Requesting all available officers and units to report to Parker Center immediately." While she drove the police car down the street, its red and blue strobe lights began to rotate while the siren screamed out. The tall white building the dark windows featured multiple blue and white police helicopters circling the skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles. On the ground, burned out cars and surrounding brush were aflame as smoke from explosions came from out of the parking lot and the streets. Red strobe lights atop red and white ambulances were heard by their sirens screaming before the vans arrived. Officers evacuated businessmen and women from the surrounding area, particularly away from bus stops. Metro busses were making detours down alternate streets to avoid Temple and Main. On Temple Street, police cars were just turning off their sirens while parking anywhere there was room. Getting out of one of the black and white cars was Officer Tenmei who slammed the door behind herself and held her gun while walking up to another policeman. "What's going on here?" Beverly asked. "I don't see anything, Jason." "He went to the back, towards one of the parking lots," he replied. "I heard a couple of shots fired but nothing more. Men yelling is all I could hear through the noise of choppers flying overhead." All of a sudden, fire had exploded out of the side of Parker Center, tossing two policemen into the air. "HO!!" Jason shouted; he picked up his radio and hit the talk button. "This is J-33, requesting immediate paramedics to LAPD headquarters, on the double!" "Jason, look!" Beverly shouted while pointing. In the parking lot, the humanoid with the tight white body ran out towards the exit near the street. Policemen and women had followed while firing several shots from their services guns at Cyborg Morpher III. Direct hits resulted in harmless sparks bouncing off Morpher III. The cyborg's fingers had hollow tips which it had pointed ahead. Ten towers of sparks blasted the uniformed men and women off their feet and onto the ground again. The white drone turned around and fired the same grouping of shots at the police behind itself. Lined up behind various parked police cars, many officers were firing from behind their doors. Jason kept shooting when he looked at Beverly. "Come on, Tenmei! We've gotta keep shooting until it's overcome." She knew that wasn't going to work but she shook her head and pretended to be disoriented. "I'm okay--let's keep at it," Beverly replied. Cyborg Morpher III had held a hand full of red sticks with fuses attached. Tossing them through the air, two policewomen leaped away from a car they used as a shield as it had exploded into a tower of fire. Cyborg Morpher III's eyes has flashed and several police cars has sparks bounce off the body of the automobiles. Beverly hid her head under her arms while sparks popped hoods, shattered windows and blew out tires of the cars. Beverly stuffed her gun back into her belt's holster and stood up. "Enough is enough!" Jason looked up at her and reached up, trying to pull her down again. "Beverly! What in the hell do you think you're doing?!" She knew she couldn't AstroCharge before 800 police officers and every television camera in the city pointed at the intersection so she had to fight it as she was. Inside of the K-9 unit, King, Beverly's siberian husky had grown restless and the brown dog began to bark. King then stuck his head out of the window. Meanwhile, a group of men in riot gear assembled on a street corner in front of a van marked S.W.A.T. Another lieutenant had come up from the behind and tapped on his helmet-covered head. "All set!?" "Yes, sir!" the SWAT officer answered. "Wait a minute, we got a cop out there," another officer said while pointing. Beverly Tenmei caught two punches to the abs from Cyborg Morpher III, it kicked her in the ribs; grabbed her shoulders and knee kicked her in the abs. Eventually, it punched her across the face, knocking her onto the street to roll out of the way. "Fire!!" the commanding SWAT officer ordered. Suddenly, an air-pump cannon fired canister had been launched into the air. It had flown through the sky and landed on top of a manhole cover. Fog had began to leak out but Cyborg Morpher III was completely unaffected. Before a smoke screen could form, it kicked the can of tear gas across the humped roadway into a storm drain. "That wasn't supposed to happen," Jason said with disbelief. Beverly layed on her side, slightly disoriented from the tear gas when Cyborg Morpher III had come walking towards her. Beverly knew it was coming but she just couldn't get the strength together to do anything. HOW could they be so stupid as to launch pitiful tear gas against an alien, she thought. Overhead, King the policedog had leaped through the sky. Landing on the street, the husky ran as fast as it could after Morpher III while barking. The cyborg was temporarily distracted by the animal attacking and Beverly looked over and saw her dog coming to her rescue. "NO, King! Go back, boy!!" King jumped into the air and Cyborg Morpher III turned around and high spin-kicked at the same time. The dog's body was punted by Morpher III's white foot swinging the sky. King had been knocked back and Beverly crawled onto her hands. "KING!!!" Beverly shouted, suddenly managing the ability to stand on one knee. Slowly, Cyborg Morpher III had brought its arms apart and pointed its face ahead sending two rays of light out of its eyes. King fell from the sky while sparks exploded all over its body. Beverly watched his smoking body hit the pavement and reach out. "King!!" Beverly cried. She stood up and began to limply run towards her dog. It layed on the street, still hot from the shots fired. Beverly's eyes full of tears, she took two fingers to its neck and felt no pulse. "Oh my God, he's dead!" she began to sob. After high noon at the house in Los Feliz on the Hollywood Hills, Amy was lying on her bed while Tom knelt in her room, pushing specific locations of her bare foot. "Feel better?" "A lot, thanks," Amy answered. "Try the other." Outside her door, Ron walked by with an urgent look on his face but he was stopped when he heard Amy moaning behind the door. 'Mm, a little harder... Slow it down a bi; ahhh... Much better.' Ron had a sour look on his face but he dropped his hand across his eyes and twisted the doorknob upon entering. "I'M SORRY, AMY BUT I HAD TO..." Ron said noticing that Amy was fully dressed and that Tom was performing foot therapy to help Amy. They froze while looking at him. Ron's eyes shifted from side to side wondering what happened. Ron finished his sentence with, "...come in." Tom and Amy looked at each other. "Ahem," Ron cleared his throat. "Anyway, uh, Will is in the van, we have to go--NOW." Tom stood up. "Why?" "It's all over the news; somebody opened up a can of whoop-ass on LAPD headquarters," Ron answered. "It is a total disaster!" Amy looked confused. "What?" "Never mind," Tom interrupted. "I just took Beverly here! How bad is it?" Ron shook his head. "They've got every available cop in the city trying to bail City Hall South and Parker Center out of this mess! Come on, let's go!" Within the silent realm of outer space, the freezing planet Pluto housed the underground Nazitan outpost. Inside of the primary chamber, Adol looks at Cyborg Morpher III holding the pink, purple and blue solar spheres within its robot hands. "Amazing. Morpher III has survived." Pleadia nodded. "Of course it did. Technologically, this is the most advanced cyborg I have ever engineered." "Indeed it is--it managed to reclaim the last three solar spheres that the Astrorangers managed to hide from us all this time," Adol replied. "And to think it was as easy as tricking one Astroranger is even more amazing." "Adol the Great, I am ready to begin the process of energizing the Solar Spheres we have in order to give my last cyborg enough power to find the last sphere on Earth," Pleadia said. "Only then can I attempt to re-unite the Infinitum Genesis Ring." "What cyborg do you have in mind?" Adol asked. Pleadia pointed the way. "Follow me." Adol stood from his throne and stepped down the staircase. Inside of Pleadia's workshop, Adol had followed him into the laboratory where Pleadia had opened the chest built into the wall. Steam vapor streamed from the super-cooled rack that held many cybo-eggs. Pleadia picked up the last one on the bottom right hand side. "This is Cyborg Akuma. The most diabolical and deadliest creation ever. I have been saving up this monster for a mission such as this one." Adol nodded. "I see. What can it do?" "When I get through using the solar spheres in conjunction with my cyborg hatching machine--it will be able to do anything. Which is what we will need if we expect to attack all of Earth _quickly_ and manage to make anything the Astroranger's try to do totally useless," Pleadia said. "Akuma is much too valuable a cyborg to waste on anything but attempting to gain Earth's solar sphere." Pleadia walked over to a black screen on the wall and touched the surface. On it appeared the outline of a humanoid on goat legs with horns and fangs with a pointed tail. It held a pitch fork as its weapon. "Cyborg Akuma's horns can generate lightning, fire lasers from the eyes, has breath of fire and a razor sharp tail whip." Pleadia changed screens showing a profile picture of the warrior. "Akuma has the strength of a thousand Earth men and powers to be temporarily almost invisible," Pleadia had described. "It can manipulate gravity and air and cause artificial seismic activity and other meterological reactions." "Sounds rather fantastic, Pleadia," Adol said. "Are you certain it's possible?" Pleadia nodded. "Again--we have enough solar spheres to bring partial energy levels up enough to give Akuma these abilities." "Sounds good; but... We need insurance. Igan!" Adol called out. Walking down one of the caverns, he arrived, entering the doorway of Pleadia's laboratory. "You called, sire?" Adol walked away from the two of them and looked at both Igan and Pleadia. "Cyborg Morpher III needs to be taken back to Earth. It'll distract the Astroranger battle team for a short while so that Cyborg Akuma can get going." "Morpher III will be reprogrammed as soon as possible," Pleadia said. "What do you need Igan for?" "I need him to keep an eye on the Astrorangers for us," Adol answered. "We need to keep them on the run so that Akuma can freely find the solar sphere. Since we don't have a map to work with because Majute Sashai said they never found Earth's sphere, we need every opportunity for success possible." "Understood," Igan replied. ACT II: At the multi-platform station that had synchronized orbit with Uranus, Pleadia stood within his booth observing the solar sphere assembly connecting the eight spheres to the spotted cybo-egg by rays of White, Pink, Red, Green, Purple, Blue, Yellow and Gray light. When the rays were deactivated, the cybo-egg was smoking and cracked. Pleadia donned goggles after pushing a fader to the top of the slot. The solar sphere assembly had moved away from the egg that was suspended in the center of the chamber. Suddenly, bright white light had saturated the egg. Pleadia looked through the window at the bright light while wearing his tinted goggles. The bright light had faded and he stripped off the goggles. On the steel floor, smoke rolled over the surface when a red, muscle-bound foot stepped down. Veins under the tough, wrinkled skin pumped while further up both legs was brown fur. Upon the crest of it's pelvis was the beginning of it's stomach, rippling of iron-strong abs and chest of steel ribs. Its arms of massive proportion were filled with muscles that led down down its giant hands. Long nails tipped the thick fingers. Meanwhile, along it's thick, wide neck was it's bull-like face. A frowning, fanged mouth with a goatee was seated below two huge nostrils in its nose and yellow, cat-like eyes. Brown horns arched up from its rock solid skull. Cyborg Akuma turned around a snorted steam out of its giant nostrils holding a red pitch fork. Pleadia looked at his creation while its red, snake like tail swayed actively. "Eee-YES!!" Pleadia cheered. He looked at meters on his console that barely peaked above the bottom and his jaw fell open. "No!! How can this be?! This cyborg is no more powerful than an Armaton!" Standing in the massive chamber below the solar sphere assembly, Cyborg Akuma yawned and stretched--looking tired and bored. Pleadia sighed and shook his head, "Agh." Pleadia turned around and flipped a switch on the wall. "Remote Station to Base Outpost, do you receive?" "This is Igan, go ahead, Pleadia," he replied via the video link. "Patch me through to Adol the Great," Pleadia reluctantly requested. "I have some bad news to report." Igan paused, fearing what Adol's punishment will be. "As you command." Late afternoon in downtown Los Angeles at LAPD headquarters, Parker Center division. Officer Beverly Tenmei knelt on the sidewalk in front of King, her Siberian Husky pet dog. She cried while looking at the dead policedog, lying on its side with its eyes and mouth closed. Ginara looked at Cyborg Morpher III and then at Officer Tenmei. "Go get her." Morpher III nodded and walked off. Tenmei's tear-filled eyes looked up seeing Morpher III walking across the street towards her. Its cold face staring down on her, it abruptly stopped and looked into the sky. In the cloud-spotted blue sky, the pink, white, black and green Astrorangers leaped into somersaults in opposite directions and out of sight. The four of them ran through Temple Street after the cyborg. When the task force stopped charging, VenusAstro popped her knuckles while walking ahead. "It's time to send this shape-shifting goon back to hell where it came from. Right guys?" The rest of them brought up their fists and shouted, "Yeah!" JupiterAstro leaped into the foreground. "Attack positions!" While assuming the three-way pose of the team they shouted, "Galaxy Task Force: Astroranger!" "Let's go," the green Astroranger commanded as they all charged ahead. Cyborg Morpher III grabbed SaturnAstro's leg when he kicked at its head. The cyborg stepped in behind the leg that the black Astroranger stood on, causing him to fall onto the sidewalk. MercuryAstro stood in the white cyborg's way and it merely kicked him in the chest, causing him to yell on the way down. JupiterAstro backed up the white Astroranger who just fell into the gutter and Morpher III high-roundhouse kicked towards the green Astroranger. "Woah!" JupiterAstro ducked and swung his fist at the white cyborg. It ducked and blocked a shin-kick to its ribs. He came in close shouting, "Jupiter Lightning-Bolt Chop!" JupiterAstro's open hand was swinging down against Cyborg Morpher III. Before his arm could come down, the cyborg put its hands behind the green Astroranger's back and on his chest and pushed JupiterAstro into the air. "Yigh!!" JupiterAstro flipped over and hit the black asphalt. "Ugh!" Cyborg Morpher III turned around and found VenusAstro leaping in front of its path so it leaped into a flying spin-kick. The pink Astroranger ducked and tried a shin-kick but Morpher III already kicked her leg back before it could even get off the ground. "Hey, what in the..." said VenusAstro but before she could finish; Cyborg Morpher III leaped up and kicked her in the helmet, knocking her into flipping onto her back in the street. MercuryAstro ran in and had tornado-kicked at Morpher III. It tumbled under the kick and past SaturnAstro. "Catch 'em, Messuta!" When Cyborg Morpher III stood again, it brought up its clenched fist and jumped into the air. Morpher III leaped up sideways and swung its legs in opposite directions, simultaneously kicking both black and white Astrorangers in the side of the head. On the sidewalk, both of them had fell face down on the black roadway when VenusAstro had ran in after them. "Messuta, Nash--are you hurt?" "Only my pride," SaturnAstro got up and answered. "I just wish I knew where the hell Sheratan was!" MercuryAstro pointed ahead and shouted, "Look out!" Leaping in front of Parker Center, Cyborg Morpher III had brought up both legs before using both feet to plunge ahead. Two feet kicked in JupiterAstro and SaturnAstro while two fists had punched out VenusAstro and MercuryAstro. All of them dropped face first on the road when Morpher III landed on its feet. Beneath the surface of the ice planet Pluto, Igan stood within the primary chamber underneath the amber dome ceiling before Adol the Great, sitting in his iron clad throne. "Sire, you have a transmission from Pleadia at Uranus station waiting for you on your crystal ball," Igan announced. "I'm afraid, it isn't good news." Adol frowned and nodded--expecting this to be the case. "Leave." Igan nodded and turned around to walk away. Adol stood up and walked towards his crystal ball and touched the surface bringing into view a visual of Pleadia. "Report." "Sire, forgive me; the experiment didn't work," Pleadia said. "I cannot explain why the cybo-egg did not respond to the treatment! Anyway, Cyborg Akuma is returning to the outpost." "Good," Adol replied. "End transmission." Pleadia's image had disintegrated on his crystal ball. "Now it is time to call on the favor I have been granted." Adol turned around and walked down one of the dark tunnels behind his throne. He marched down the dimly lit cavern approaching a torch lit chamber. Inside, a circular pit of darkness was below a platform that Adol scaled a few steps to stand upon. Adol waved his wand over the pit several times while saying, "Procyon III: I, Adol the Great, of Group HM for Mission 341 am requesting to speak with Lord Vahorra. Do you acknowledge, Procyon III?" He waited for a while for a response. Suddenly, the sound of an explosion preceded a tube-shaped rainbow beam of light blasting out of the pit of darkness, rising to the ceiling. Inside, a distorted face had appeared. In a deep voice, it spoke; "Adol the Great, I presume?" Adol bowed his head. "Correct, my Lordship." "I am Lord Vahorra." Igan took Cyborg Akuma into the chamber from behind before pausing from being awe-stricken. He had never seen this before. "Lord Vahorra," Adol had addressed, "I require your assistance in the completion of my mission. The United Dynasty of Nazitans assured me your aid." "I am aware of your predicament, Adol. Your success has brought much gratification to the Nazitan empire despite the dubious methods your minions have chosen to utilize," Vahorra had replied. "Your one request will be granted." Adol bowed his head again. "Thank you, my Lordship." The lips of its glowing face in the tube of light moved. "State your wish." "My last cyborg is all I have left to stop Galaxy Task Force Astroranger and take the last solar sphere from Earth," Adol said. "Anything you can spare will be more than enough." "Bring it to me," Vahorra said. Igan had pointed up the stair case and Cyborg Akuma had walked up the steps. Vahorra looked at Adol. "Stand back." Adol had walked down the stair case; all of a sudden, the red, horned and fanged cyborg on goat-fur covered legs had become a dark silhouette against the tube brilliant rainbow light. On the platform, an arc of electricity had formed between the red skin of the cyborg and the tube of light. Another lightning bolt had struck the cyborg and caused its body to jump once more. More electric blue arcs of light had danced across it's torso causing the cyborg to stiffen up and even vibrate. Like an aura, a red glow outlined the creature; it's yellow eyes began to pulsate with light. Its fangs grew, its horns stretched higher and its muscular arms had begun to throb with tension. Igan was forced to shield his eyes from the light shined bright as a star while Adol merely marveled at Cyborg Akuma's growth. When the lights dimmed down again, smoke left the platform as Cyborg Akuma turned around. "Now go, Cyborg Akuma and be victorious," Vahorra said. Cyborg Akuma nodded and said, "Galaxy Task Force Astroranger will die." Adol crossed his arms looking at Akuma who stood ready for battle. At Lincoln Park, it was almost noon in Los Angeles when Dave had arrived here. He'd driven via the Golden State Freeway until he came upon some familiar territory where nobody would find him. Dave didn't want to be found. He felt as if he had let down the Astroranger task force by falling for an optical illusion so easily. Being Terranian, Dave thought he should have been more alert and thus detect that he wasn't talking to the real Amy. Walking through the park with his hands in his jeans, he felt the windy air blow through his red dress shirt--still enough enough to cool him off. Dave had never been so mad that he were breaking a sweat in relatively cool weather. "Greetings, MarsAstro." Dave stopped suddenly and looked up and all around himself. The park was almost empty from everyone either being at work or at school. "Who said that?" All of a sudden, the ground began to shake and Dave stiffened his legs to stay standing. Through the rolling quake, the grass-covered ground began to open up with steam rising from the depths of the ground. All of a sudden, a dust cloud of red smoke had burst behind Dave, startling him into turning around. His eyes opened wide when he saw the red, muscle-bound cyborg. "Oh no," he groaned to himself. "I am Cyborg Akuma," it announced, using its hands while speaking. "Prepare yourself for total disintegration." Dave stood tall and clenched his fist. "I am NOT in the mood for a puppet show. I am having the worst day of my life and you've picked a bad time to mess with me." Pointed towards the grass was the iron red pitch fork that Cyborg Akuma held in front of itself. "Underestimation will be the cause of your decimation!" It began to charge ahead, the cyborg's huge feet taking fast steps towards its target. Dave put his white running shoes together and jumped into the air. In the sky, he flipped over Akuma's horned head. His two shoes bounced off the side of a tree taking Dave into the sky. With both feet, he plunged ahead. "Comet Kick!!" Dave's two shoes slammed into Cyborg Akuma's chest but, like a brick wall, nothing happened. Seen between Cyborg Akuma's legs, Dave dropped onto the grass in the distance after failing to knock it down. "Awgh! What happened?!!" Cyborg Akuma stepped forth with its mouth shut, communicating telepathically to Dave, "Resistance is ineffective against me." "Yeah, well, it sure as hell beats givin' up!" he shouted while trying to get up. Akuma's fists pounded its chest before snorting steam. Dave ran after Cyborg Akuma and turned around to kick across its head. Even though Dave's foot crashed into the side of its face, it's head returned as if nothing happened. "Oh NO..." Cyborg Akuma turned around and swung it's tail through the air; the razor sharp fin cut through Dave's shirt as he stumbled back, holding his chest. Dave looked at the blood on his hand and then at the cyborg again. "Aw man!" An upper-cut from Akuma's right fist into Dave's abs lifted him off his feet; the red cyborg then knocked his face to the side with a punch to the right and then a follow up punch to the left. Cyborg Akuma continued to whale into Dave's face, each blow causing him to involuntarily stumble backwards. Even though he managed to stay standing, Dave wobbled and was unable to retaliate. Akuma grabbed his shirt and threw him into the air. "Woaaah!!!" he yelled when he corkscrew-twirled through the blue sky. Dave's back crashed sideways into the tree before dropping onto the grass. The two feet of Akuma appeared in front of Dave's bruised and bleeding face. Dave put his hand on the small of his lower back while trying to get up. "Surrender to the Nazitans or be crushed into dust!" Cyborg Akuma ordered. Dave stood up to face the red creature and took deep breaths. "Never. There is nothing you can do or say that will ever stop me or my task force!" Cyborg Akuma stepped forth holding its staff. "That remains to be seen, red Astroranger." "That's right. But you wont remain to see it!" Dave replied. "ChangeForm to red MarsAstro!!!" he shouted holding up his right fist. The ruby on his golden ring shined. While Dave stood against the blue sky, his head blocking the sunlight, he pushed his fist forward shouting, "AstroCharge!!" The ring on his fist flashed brilliantly. His face appeared before a black, smokey background as it had dissolved into a dark silhouette. While body was a black silhouette in front of a red grid, a white bar of light scrolled across her body from left to right. When the light returned to the left, he was in a shiny red Astroranger uniform as a bright white light had flashed again. The helmet's mask was seen in the park before he had assumed the three battle positions of MarsAstro shouting, "Galaxy Task force--AstroRanger!!" Drawing the dagger from his belt's holster, he leaped into the air. "Moleculatom Dagger!" MarsAstro shouted while attacking. Over Cyborg Akuma's head, the red Astroranger had flown off target when Akuma struck his uniform with its pitchfork, causing a flash of sparks. MarsAstro hit the grass and rolled over when he looked up and noticed Cyborg Akuma running after him with the red razor fin on the bottom end of its pitch fork pointed at MarsAstro. "Gotta move!" he said rolling out of the way. The fin crossed a tree behind him, blowing sparks out of its bark. MarsAstro stood up and aimed his dagger. Cyborg Akuma turned around looked at him. "You should have attempted your escape in that brief moment. Now my chance to kill you has returned." MarsAstro ran after the red cyborg with his dagger ahead of himself. "I liked them better when they didn't talk!" The red Astroranger's blade sparked off the metal pects of Akuma before he tried again, cutting across it's iron abs. After the white smoke cleared, Akuma scratched MarsAstro's chest. Sparks broke out of his chest and before he could recover, Cyborg Akuma turned around, whipping its tail across MarsAstro's uniform's. The razor sharp fin causing more sparks to break out of his uniform. The red Astroranger hit the ground rolled over with two strips of smoke seeping off his chest. "This thing's too powerful, I need the others!" "They will not arrive in time," Akuma stated. "You will now meet oblivion." "No!!!" MarsAstro pointed his weapon at Cyborg Akuma and opened fire. Bright blue beams of electricity shot forth and caused a fountain of sparks to flash out of its abs. Akuma slowly walked through the white smoke curling off its undamaged skin. "Stay back, damn you!" MarsAstro shouted while firing more shots. Sparks exploded over and over but Cyborg Akuma didn't feel a thing. When the red Astroranger put away his Moleculatom Blaster, he stood up. Akuma put both of its big hands on his shoulders, trying to push him down again. MarsAstro's Genesis powers enabled him to raises his arms, knocking Akuma's hands off his shoulders. MarsAstro double-punched Cyborg Akuma in the abs twice and then side-kicked it in the chest. No effect. "Goodbye, red Astroranger," Akuma said. To MarsAstro, it seemed to have been going in slow-motion when the red cyborg pulled back it's right arm. Its throbbing muscles powered the blazing fist that was heading straight for his face. When all five knuckles smashed into the red Astroranger's helmet, he screamed as a blast of sparks exploded from the punch. As the yellow bits from the sparks dripped away from his helmet, MarsAstro stumbled back away from Akuma, holding his helmet's face. On the grass, MarsAstro's body bounced off the ground before landing again; his head bobbing around while still groaning loudly. Time moved all too quickly now as MarsAstro did not want to face reality, his hands trembled while he took them away from his face. The black visor in his red helmet had a circular crack in the center. MarsAstro layed back in the grass with smoke rising from his face while Cyborg Akuma stood before him, pointing his red pitch fork at him. "You are not as easy to destroy as I originally estimated." MarsAstro looked at it step closer. "However, now I am certain my speculation will be more accurate from now on." MarsAstro turned over onto his hands and knees and tried to barely managed to stand up. Wobbling when he came to, the red Astroranger pointed at Akuma. "This isn't over!!" "Fool," Akuma replied. "Can't you see that it already is?" MarsAstro took deep breaths before eventually walking backwards and then running away. ACT III: Around the dark side of the moon in orbit of Earth was the cloaked opal, sphere-shaped space station. Onboard the SpaceBase, Commander Leto watched the Astrorangers fight Cyborg Morpher III when the door had opened behind himself. Leto turned around and saw bruised Sheratan, holding his right rib while trying to walk onto the top deck. "Sheratan!!" Leto said walking away from the main viewer. "What happened to you?" Leto studied the blood in the corner of his lip and the band-aid on his cheek bone. "A cyborg is what happened to me," Sheratan answered. "Its name is Akuma. I don't know how or why but that is the deadliest cyborg I have ever fought." Leto looked at Sheratan. "How did you find out its name?" "Because it told me." Commander Leto was stunned and Sheratan nodded, confirming that he did not make a mistake. "This cyborg appears to be more than just an assimilated android or robotic beast. It seems to have a mind of its own but it claims to be working for the Nazitans." "What did it want?" Leto asked. Sheratan shook his head and exhaled. "I don't know. They pulled out all the stops on this one, though. The Nazitans are probably desperate to get that last solar sphere that's on Earth." Commander Leto rubbed his chin and nodded. "I see." Dave rubbed his neck to try and ease his pain. "They aren't going to take a chance on anything that can't kill us five times before we hit the dirt." "Trouble is, I just wish we knew where the final sphere was," Leto said. "Since we don't know where to go, the Nazitans could find it first." "I know but what's worse is what they're going to do while trying to find it, but I think..." Sheratan interrupted himself when he looked at one of the consoles on the right side of the chamber. "Leto, what's happening?" "A part of downtown was attacked by the same cyborg that was impersonating Lotia," Leto answered. "The others are fighting it without much luck. Before you arrived, I was doing analysis and came to the conclusion that it's weakness may be it's neck and head but I can't get it more specific then that." "That's okay--I'll take it from there," Sheratan said. "Thanks." "No no no, wait a minute now, Sher," Commander Leto replied. "You are in bad shape. You have got to heal if you're going to be any good." "Commander, with all due respect, you should know better than to think that I will let my team get beat stupid by the Nazitans if I can help it," Sheratan told him. "I've already let us down. Where are they?" Leto looked at the screen. "A building called Parker Center." "Damn it, why didn't you tell me in the first place!? Nashiran drove Beverly there so she could go to work!" Sheratan said while walking towards the exit. The doors automatically opened when he approached. "She's in serious trouble." "Sheratan," Leto said before he left. "Be really careful." Sheratan nodded and walked out of the door before it closed behind himself. In front of Parker Center in Downtown Los Angeles, paramedics rushed wounded policemen into multiple ambulances parked. Smoke came off the street while grass and bushes stayed on fire from the attack. Ginara stood in front of Officer Beverly Tenmei. "Okay, we can do this the easy way or the hard way but either way you look at it--you're coming with me." "After what you maniacs have done to me and my best friend, I would rather die than to do anything you say!" Beverly shouted. Ginara popped her metal-covered knuckles. "That can be arranged." VenusAstro's body flipped out onto the street but when she looked up at the sidewalk, the pink Astroranger found Beverly being dragged by Armaton soldiers, holding each arm. "Guys, Armatons have Beverly!" "Right now we better seek shelter!!" SaturnAstro shouted. Cyborg Morpher III had arms with huge holes where the hands would be. Two powerful explosions came from the tubes. Several dust clouds had blasted out of the black roadway as the Astrorangers were blown into the air. The four of them were on their sides trying to get up off the smoking pavement while Morpher III had walked towards them. While it did, its arms had transformed back to normal with its black fists ready. In the sky, red Astroranger somersaulted over, holding his sword with the red guard. Holding his Celestial Weapon, MarsAstro shouted, "Flying Fire Strike!" Cyborg Morpher III found the double-sided blade swinging down against its chest as sparks broke out of its body. Morpher III tumbled into the street. "Sheratan!!" VenusAstro cheered. MarsAstro swung his sword from side to side before holding it up beside his mask as a white gleam of light had rolled across his black visor. "Wash those troubles down the drain!" Cyborg Morpher III got up and ran after MarsAstro. Morpher III kicked at the red Astroranger's side and he pulled his knee up high, blocking its shin. Using the handle of his sword, MarsAstro hammered the cyborg's silver face and punched Morpher III across the face. It stumbled back but when it tried attacking, the red Astroranger turned around and sliced past it flank. The sparks blasted Morpher III into twisting around. "HYGH!" MarsAstro bellowed while swinging his sword down against its chest. It stumbled back after a huge blast of sparks resulted in a cloud of white smoke. Officer Beverly Tenmei was dragged while kicking and screaming by her arms, two Armatons holding each. "Help! Sheratan! Save me!!" MarsAstro turned his head and looked at her as Tortan and Ginara walked into a vortex that had opened up in midair. "Agh! NO!" Cyborg Morpher III grabbed the red Astroranger's shoulder and punched him across the helmet. MarsAstro hit the street and rolled into the gutter; the others had ran up to him. VenusAstro helped him to stand up while SaturnAstro kept an eye on Cyborg Morpher III. "You okay?" MercuryAstro asked. JupiterAstro nodded and looked at him. "Yeah, normally blows like that don't phase you." The green Astroranger helped MarsAstro to his feet. "Right now, all I want to do is get rid of this cyborg!!" MarsAstro shouted. The red Astroranger charged forward as the others watched. While running ahead, he had quick flashbacks of the false Amy kissing him and taking off her shirt. Eventually, he thought of when he was paralyzed by her and blacked out. As MarsAstro moved after Cyborg Morpher III standing stood in the intersection of Temple and Main, he sliced by as sparks blasted off its chest. Standing in a smokey setting, stars appeared behind MarsAstro while red lines had drawn themselves to become the constellation of Aries. The planet Mars had faded into view when MarsAstro had turned his sword upside down into his left hand. "Celestial Weapon!" he shouted while running his white, gloved hand the length of the sword's blade. "Blazing FireSword!" The blade had become a red beam of light. Cyborg Morpher III stood there smoking, it's visual systems so badly damaged, it had appeared as if MarsAstro were running in slow motion. He held his blade horizontally in front of himself when attack. Dramatically, the red Astroranger leaped up and sliced across through its neck causing many sparks to blast out from the blow. On the black pavement, Morpher III's smoking head had dropped to the ground. Morpher III's body stumbled around, waving its arms in random directions while sparks continuously spewed up out of its headless neck like a fountain. The five Astrorangers stood by as Cyborg Morpher III collapsed onto the street and suddenly burst into flames after exploding. The task force watched the fire fighters extinguished the disintegrated electronics of Cyborg Morpher III. MarsAstro wasn't at all happy from this because Beverly was still capture and felt responsible for that. "The demise of Cyborg Morpher III was inevitable. However, it served its purpose and now I will serve mine." The five Astrorangers turned around and saw Cyborg Akuma standing above them, on top of a two story building. "Oh my goodness, there it is again," MarsAstro said. SaturnAstro looked at him. "Again?" "He fought me before and lost. Now you will all realize why," Akuma answered. "Anything you got, we're ready for!" VenusAstro said. Cyborg Akuma shook its head. "Somehow, I doubt that." It leaped off the top of the small building and somersaulted overhead. "Astroranger," JupiterAstro had begun to command, "Celestial Weapons!" MercuryAstro nodded with the others and shouted, "Ready!!" Beneath the surface of the gray, ice-covered planet Pluto within the Nazitan outpost, Ginara carried Officer Tenmei over her shoulder while she beat her back, kicked and shouted out in protest. In the primary chamber, Igan had turned around while Adol the Great stood up to see Ginara sit Beverly on the floor, blind-folded and gagged with her hands and feet tied. Igan walked over to the bruised woman and took off her gag. "Hey, what about the blindfold!?" Beverly shouted. Igan pulled that off as well. Her face covered with soot, Berverly looked all around herself and noticed Adol sitting within his throne recognizing him. "Hey, I remember you," Beverly said. "I was in that cave with the others when you told Tortan to kill us! Yeah--you're Adol, aren't you?!" "Terribly sorry," Adol replied. "May I welcome again to the Nazitan outpost at Pluto." "Pluto? Again!?" Beverly screamed. "Adol, you're going to be _real_ sorry you brought me back here. I vowed never to return to this hell hole!" Adol stood up and walked down the stairs. "I'm afraid we have underestimated you repeatedly. We require you to perform a special service for us once we find something very important to us." "Such as the Earth's Solar Sphere? Well, I've got news for you, Looney Tune, I'm not helping you and as far as I'm concerned, you can just drop dead!" Adol knelt down in front of Beverly and looked at her. "I'm afraid, you're helping me whether you like it or not." Early evening in the war zone that the civic center had become, Cyborg Akuma flew in with its fists stretched out ahead of itself. Its fists slammed into VenusAstro's chest and Akuma's horns sparked off of the uniform of MarsAstro. Cyborg Akuma watched them both go down before turning around and seeing MercuryAstro run after him. Cyborg Akuma turned around and high-spin kicked as MercuryAstro came and shoved his PowerStaff at the cyborg. Akuma's foot knocked the staff away and the white Astroranger continued to run by. SaturnAstro spun around, slicing his BattleScythe into the red cyborg's abs. Sparks leaped out of cut and the black Astroranger brought his Celestial Weapon high for a second strike. Akuma held his wrist up there and upper-cut punched his abs and turned around and kicked SaturnAstro across the helmet. JupiterAstro looked at VenusAstro, holding up his green ThunderBow. "Lotia!" "All set!" the pink Astroranger replied while bringing into view her Sonic Boomerang. "Go!!" the green Astroranger shouted; she threw her boomerang while he fired an arrow. Cyborg Akuma caught both the arrow and the boomerang and then threw them back. A pair of sparks exploded upon the chest of both the green and pink Astroranger, knocking them down. MercuryAstro pulled out the weapon in his belt's holster "Nash!" "Ready, Messuta!" SaturnAstro replied, "Fire!" Two yellow rays streamed out of their hand held weapons. The two rays became replaced by thin blue beams of electricity when they shot Cyborg Akuma. Two pairs of sparks broke out of its metallic pects but when the smoke cleared, Akuma was unaffected. SaturnAstro increased voltage on his weapon. "Again!" The two had fired another pair of thin beams and before they could reach Cyborg Akuma, a blurry but transparent shield of rectangular shape appeared in front of its body. The electricity harmlessly drilled the shield with no effect until the Astrorangers discontinued firing. "What the?" SaturnAstro wondered. He fired again while Cyborg Akuma took slow steps toward him. The shield reappeared each time the black Astroranger fired on Akuma. "I have adapted to your weapon, Astroranger," Cyborg Akuma said, "so, it's useless to attack me." All of a sudden, Akuma looked up to his side. The pink Astroranger corkscrew kicked through the air. Her foot kicked Cyborg Akuma's neck, knocking it down. On the street, Akuma tumbled over and got up on one knee holding his pitch fork. VenusAstro landed on her feet to face him. "You will be punished, female Astroranger," Cyborg Akuma proclaimed. It took its pitch fork and lifted the weapon to the sky. The three prongs began to send down a group of red rings that encircled a parked police car on the street. She looked to her side and noticed the black and white car's headlights came on. "How'd he do that?" she asked herself. The ignition had started despite the lack of a driver and suddenly, the Chevrolet Caprice began to accelerate after the pink Astroranger. "Oh man!" she exclaimed while running. VenusAstro ran down the street as the black and white car began to chase her down. "If you can't beat 'um," she gasped, "get on top of 'em!" Eventually, she turned around and leaped into the air. The pink Astroranger somersaulted into tumbling onto the top of the moving police car. She held onto the strobe lights, noticing it sped up. "Woooah!!!" With its hands against its forehead, Cyborg Akuma stepped forth and took its fists away. Two red arcs of light formed between Akuma's horns before sending out a bolt of red lightning. The police car with no driver swerved around fire balls bursting from the street as the car zig-zagged around the explosions. The pink Astroranger holding onto the top of the car was starting to dangle off the sides as black smoke rushed up from the flames blasting out of the road. "Nash! Stop this crazy thing!!" she shouted. On the inside of the patrol car, the brake pedal had self-depressed against the floor. Its front white-lined tire holding a reflective dome hub cap had immediately screeched to a halt. The Caprice jerked to a complete stop and catapulted VenusAstro off the roof. "Heeagh!!" Overhead, her body flew away from the Chevrolet's hood and landed on the street. Sparks broke out of MarsAstro's chest when Cyborg Akuma turned around and tail-whipped his red uniform with its razor-sharp tail fin. MercuryAstro leaped up, plunging forth with his PowerStaff. "It is impossible to defeat me," Cyborg Akuma had stated before disappearing. MercuryAstro landed, swinging through where Akuma used to be. "Oh great!" MercuryAstro complained. Akuma had reappeared behind him. On her side, VenusAstro looked up and screamed, "Messuta, look out!" MercuryAstro turned his head, looking to his side. "Huh?" Cyborg Akuma had opened his mouth and exhaled fire. The napalm like stream of fire and black smoke had caused a huge fire ball to explode behind the white Astroranger. As a flaming tower of fire rushed upward, MercuryAstro hollered from getting tossed into midair before dropping out of sight. Cyborg Akuma stabbed its pitch fork into the ground and suddenly, the wind began to blow. The flow of air changing from high winds turned into gusts that blew debris on the street down the road. MercuryAstro's body swung backwards through the sky until finally he landed on the sidewalk. Cyborg Akuma bent over beside a black and white Ford Crown Victoria and put both hands under the police car's body above the tires and pulled up. The tires hung looser from the car's suspension as the car was lifted off asphalt. The red Cyborg was actually lifting the patrol car above its head. MercuryAstro stood up. "Aw hell," he groaned. Akuma pushed the Crown Victoria off its hands and into the air. The black and white unit sailed through the sky and crashed into the white Astroranger's body, causing sparks to break out of his chest. When the car hit the sidewalk, the strobe lights fell off as MercuryAstro hit the grass and rolled over and over. "AGH!" "Messuta!" VenusAstro shouted. "I've got to do something. Celestial Weapon!" The pink Astroranger drew her pink boomerang. "Sonic Boomerang, go!" Tossing it, Cyborg Akuma had caught the boomerang right in his fist. "Oh no," VenusAstro whispered to herself. She watched Akuma hold the pink Astroranger's boomerang with both fists while bringing it above its head. "Don't throw things away if you don't want them..." it said while smashing it down against its raised knee, busting it in half. "...destroyed," Akuma had finished saying. On the pavement, sparks sprayed out of both halves of VenusAstro's Sonic Boomerang. "My boomerang!!" VenusAstro cried out. "No!!" Akuma stepped forth and opened its mouth again. It's red, forked tongue leaped out of its jaw and streamed through the sky. It was tied around VenusAstro's white neck like a lasso and Cyborg Akuma's yellow cat-like eyes had begun to glow. Arcs of electricity had jumped along its tongue until the lightning danced all over the pink Astroranger's uniform. She started to scream from being electrocuted before sparks popped out of her shiny battle suit, knocking her down. "That's it, I've had it with you!" JupiterAstro shouted. "Celestial Weapon: ThunderBow!!" the green Astroranger yelled while pulling back the bowstring in preparation to shoot Cyborg Akuma. Akuma bent over and his red horns had created red bolts of lightning. Suddenly, sparks exploded all over JupiterAstro and his weapon causing him to fall. His ThunderBow fell to the sidewalk, smoking with the bowstring snapped next to the arrow, also smoking and broken. "You are rather old to be playing with toys." Cyborg Akuma then put out the palms of his hands. JupiterAstro was suddenly lifted into midair. Akuma swung his arms to the side causing JupiterAstro to coast through the sky. Half of the green Astroranger's back landed on top of an abandoned Metro Bus as he dropped off onto the street in front of the advertisement on its side. "Fair well, JupiterAstro," Cyborg Akuma said before blinking. Its eyes had sent jagged rays of yellow light into the bus. JupiterAstro had jumped away just in time as the bus was literally boosted into the air by a huge explosion of fire. JupiterAstro was spinning out of control away from the towering inferno that had caused the bus to fly upwards into the air. The green Astroranger hit a lamp post sideways, by his arm and fell down again. "Damn it, my arm!!" MarsAstro attacked Cyborg Akuma with his FireSword but it spin-kicked his weapon out of the way. MarsAstro used his sword to block a sideways attack from Akuma's pitch fork. Akuma took his fork away and smashed the prongs against his chest as sparks whipped the red Astroranger right off his feet. SaturnAstro high-kicked its pitch fork away and turned around to kick its face. No effect became of the blow; the black Astroranger swung his scythe down but Akuma had suddenly jumped high up and in mid-air, its legs swung around into a hurricane kick. The black BattleScythe was kicked out of SaturnAstro's white gloved hand and flew into the sky. Akuma pointed its pitch fork as the three prongs sent rays of red light into the sky. In midair, SaturnAstro's black BattleScythe had spontaneously combusted into flames. "You son of a bitch!" SaturnAstro shouted. Knowing Cyborg Akuma's battle style, MarsAstro reached out to the black Astroranger calling out, "Nashiran!!!" Before he knew what hit him, SaturnAstro's shoulder was stabbed by the triangle tip on the bottom of Akuma's staff being shoved into his shiny black uniform. He screamed as the sparks broke out of his suit. When the cyborg backed away, SaturnAstro had his glove upon his left shoulder and sparks had continued to spray out of his shoulder as if it had sprung a leak. On the street, SaturnAstro fell onto his back, arching upward before fully landing. When he took his hand away from the smoking wound, there were blood stains in his glove as he'd soaked his intact uniform with his wound. "Nashiran!" MarsAstro shouted. "You can't do this to us, Cyborg Akuma!!" Cyborg Akuma had stood before all of the wounded Astrorangers with everything still on fire. "I already did it and I'm about to finish doing it to you!" "Cyborg Akuma, you will pay for what you have done to my team and to this world. So help me, I will punish you!!" MarsAstro shouted while running after the red cyborg. The red Astroranger shoved his FireSword directly into Cyborg Akuma. It held the end of his sword firmly in place. MarsAstro looked up and saw Akuma's fist come swinging down like a hammer. It busted through the double-sided silver blade of the red FireSword causing a huge blast of sparks to erupt out of the Celestial Weapon as well. The smoking blade dropped onto the asphalt and MarsAstro looked at his sword where the blade had been severed, also smoking. "FireSword," he moaned. Cyborg Akuma stepped forth and grabbed MarsAstro by the neck. In the sky, the red Astroranger was held above itself as Akuma said, "To the fall of Galaxy Task Force Astroranger!!" Pushing him into into the sky, MarsAstro had sailed a great distance through the air. Through the glass doors of a building, MarsAstro had crashed through and onto the floor rolling over. Shoving its fist into the air, Akuma had called out, "Adol the Great! Witness this day of victory as the Nazitans are victorious in the defeat of Astroranger!" "Guys," VenusAstro gasped. "We have to get out of here or else we're all going to die!" SaturnAstro nodded. MarsAstro got up on one knee and took his hand to the sky. "Galaxy Task Force Command: HydroCycles!" Cyborg Akuma looked at the Astrorangers pull themselves together as the flying motorcycles had landed. "You will be forced to return, Astrorangers. I will leave you no alternative." MarsAstro climbed aboard red HydroCycle and looked at the others. "Ready guys?" They silently nodded. "Okay then, let's get out of here," he said. They'd driven down Temple Street and past Cyborg Akuma. TO BE CONTINUED Next week on Galaxy Task Force Astroranger. . . The ultimate cyborg now faces the cosmic battle team as they attempt to combat the seemingly omnipotent Cyborg Akuma. Soon, the deadly battle between AstroMan and Titan-Akuma ignites in episode No. 49, "The Fall of AstroMan" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Galaxy Task Force Astroranger" is a trademark of Artist Bros. Enterprises. The above text is protected under laws of the United States and other countries. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution. Copyright (c)1998 Artist Bros. Enterprises, Artist Bros. Music and Dairenn Lombard. All Rights Reserved. Country Of First Publication: United States of America. Artist Brothers and Dairenn Lombard are the author of the preceding text. The characters and events depicted in this story are fictional. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and unintentional. This copyright notice does not extend to infringe upon the existing copyrights for `Super-Sentai' titles maintained by Toei Company LTD., Toei Agency, Toei International, Asahi-TV, Marvel Comics and Ishimori Productions. [TV-PG] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------