Disclaimer: Super Sentai and all related elements are the property of Toei. The writer makes no profit on the contents of this story.

Warning: The contents of these stories do and will continue to contain explicit materials, including detailed descriptions of violence, gore, some nudity and pervasive language. Reader discretion is advised.

Riku woke in a dark room. He sat up quickly, then grabbed his head as her got dizzy from the sudden motion. After recovering, he looked around. The room itself was well decorated, like a fancy hotel room. The bed he was in seemed to have silk sheets, which Riku thought must be very expensive. He slowly got up from the bed. As he did, he realized he was wearing very different clothes. Briefly, his mind flashed back to the last things he saw.

The monsters… the fighting… the feeling of claws digging into his guts…

"Kyuuketsuki… Sentai… Buraddo… renja…"

He shook his head. It couldn't have been real, he thought. He walked to the window, which had both curtains drawn. He pulled them apart and was shocked at the sight. The view from this window was far above the city, So high that the clouds were crossing below him.

Though he didn't know it, Riku's current location was a dark castle floating over the tallest tower of the city, surrounded by an aura of darkness. The front of the castle was made as a gruesome visage over a closed drawbridge. The eyes of this visage glowed bright red, and a growling noise seemed to echo from it.

Kyuuketsuki Sentai

BloodRanger

Night 2

Full Moon Curse; Revive, Blood Machines

An older gentleman walked into a dark chamber. He was well dressed in formal attire, with graying hair that was slicked back. In the center of the chamber were two thrones, illuminated from the ceiling by a pale light. On the thrones sat Akira and Yumi, with both their eyes closed. As the man stepped into the light, their eyes opened.

"My lord," the old man said. "Mistress Saki's ghoul has awakened."

The Vampires stood and silently walked towards the door. The old man followed at a generous distance as the doors opened before them.

Riku wandered the hallways. He was unsure what to make of this vast place. He thought it might be a hotel, but realized that none of the buildings in the city got this high. There was also the lack of rooms in the area. In fact, looking back, he could almost swear the room he came from had vanished. He continued down the hallway, despite the lack of direction.

Eventually, he came upon a door. Not certain if he'd ever find another, he entered it. Inside was a rounded table, with five seats surrounding it. The room was illuminated from the ceiling, but remained mostly dark. He walked up to the table. He saw that each chair was marked with a symbol. He quickly recognized them as the symbols he'd seen on Saki and the other's costumes. The seat that had the king's mark was larger and more ornate than the others. He reasoned that made sense if, as Saki had said, the man in the cloak was her King.

Riku still had no idea what to make of the whole situation. Vampires were real? And, even stranger, Sentai were real? That just blew his mind. He'd have geeked out right at that moment if he hadn't been slowly bleeding to death.

He reached to his stomach. There was no sign of that wound. He wondered how he could have possibly…

Oh, no! He reached to his neck. He had just briefly recalled feeling a pain there as he was knocked out. Sure enough, he felt the tell-tale incisions stereotypically associated with vampires. You've got to be kidding me!

Just then, the door opened again. In the entrance stood Akira and Yumi, followed by an older man he had never seen before. They walked in slowly and quietly, the doors opening and closing themselves as they passed. The two vampires stood before the young man before them. All was quiet for a second.

Akira reached to his collar and unfastened the cloak. He removed the garment, revealing the face and figure of a lean and rather handsome young man. Under the cloak he wore an old-fashioned white shirt under a red vest and over black pants. Riku was taken slightly aback by this. He really didn't know what to expect, but he never thought the king of the vampires would be so young looking. He then realized how stupid it was to think that, given that vampires were supposed to be Immortal.

The vampire king sighed with relief as he handed the cloak back to the older gentleman. "I don't mind saying, that thing gets a little stuffy after a while," He said.

"I told you to take it off before sleeping, darling," Yumi said. "Honestly, you complain about it, then you end up wearing it all the time."

"Well, a king needs to look presentable before an official visitor," Akira replied. "I don't want to risk being caught without it. It's hard to be intimidating when everyone can see my face, clear as day."

"Yes," Yumi said, nodding. "It's hard to be intimidated by a baby-faced king."

"Now, don't tease me Yumi. We have important matters to attend to here."

"I was merely…"

"Umm…"

Both returned their attention to Riku, who was visibly confused and unnerved by the banter of the two. This is how vampires act? he thought.

"Oh, sorry Riku," the king said politely. "We got a bit carried away there."

"Right…" Riku replied, still off-put.

The king bowed a bit and continued, "I am Akira Alucard Gustav Von Dracula; King Dracula the 13th; Ruler of the Vampires and king of all creatures of the dark."

"Ah… yes…" Riku said, bowing back briefly.

"Yeah, that's a bit long-winded isn't it?" Akira said, chuckling a bit. "You may simply call me 'Akira-sama', if you wish."

"All right," Riku replied.

"And this," Akira continued, motioning to Yumi, "lovely creature standing beside me is Queen Yumi; Formerly Lady Ketsueki; Vassal of the house of Dracul; Member of the Clan of the Soaring Bat; Warrior of the King's etcetera, etcetera. You get the drift."

Yumi smacked the man's shoulder. "Perhaps you should have that cloak fused to your skin, since it seems you can't be proper without it."

"Umm," Riku muttered again. "That's all well and good I suppose, but I have some questions."

"Of course," Akira replied. "And I'm glad to answer them."

"Am I a vampire now?" Riku asked.

Both Akira and Yumi laughed at this.

"Of course not," Akira replied. "Don't you know anything about vampires?"

"I know enough to know that when you're bit by one," he motioned to the mark on his neck, "you become one."

"Oh, child," Yumi replied. "Maybe that's how it works for Lycanthropes, but Vampires aren't quite the same."

"Lai…kan…" Riku replied, confused.

"Shapeshifters," Akira responded. "Creatures able to assume the forms of humanoid beasts. You saw them last night."

Riku remembered the rat-monsters and their felid leader.

"Humans commonly associate Lycanthropes with werewolves," Akira continued. "But, in reality, they can assume any form. Their forms generally mirror their personas in some way."

"I see," Riku replied. "But, if I'm not a vampire…?"

"You're a ghoul," the older man said. "Like me, you are a creature meant to serve the vampires during the day, when they are restricted to their resting place."

"A ghoul?" Riku replied.

"Think of it as a sub-vampiric state," Akira continued. "You will be given a much longer lifespan than a normal human, but not be restricted by our weaknesses. This makes you invaluable to us. Renfield and his family have served my house for countless Generations."

"Quite happily, might I add, my lord," Renfield relied.

"So, I'm the hired help?" Riku asked, somewhat incredulously.

"Don't think of it like that," Akira replied. "We view ghouls as companions more than servants."

"You mean like a pet?" Riku replied, still somewhat incredulous.

Akira wasn't sure how best to answer that, and chuckled nervously at the statement.

"Riku!"

Just then, a familiar looking blonde charged into the room and tackled the boy to the ground. She was wearing very different clothes than the previous night. She now wore a white blouse with exposed shoulders, black pants and a pair of yellow, fingerless gloves.

"Oh, thank the elders! You're alright!" Saki exclaimed as she held the boy firmly. This lasted a few seconds before she released him and slapped him across the face.

Riku barely had a second to recover from the hug before the slap came, and his brain was already racing. "W-wha… What was that for!"

"You idiot! Who asked you to get killed for me?" She replied, glairing angrily at him. "Why would you do something that stupid? Are you so desperate to get in my pants that you'll actually die for me! You can't fuck me if you're dead, stupid!"

"W-what?" Riku asked in shock. "I wasn't… I mean… I was just trying to help you! You could be grateful that I risked my life to…"

In an instant she was hugging him again. "I am grateful," she said in a soft tone. "I really am. I just didn't want you to get hurt; especially for me."

Riku was starting to get mental whiplash. How did this girl change gears so quickly? He found himself looking up to the two royal vampires. They simply shrugged, indicating that they knew what he was wondering.

Saki got up and helped the boy to his feet. "Sorry about all that," she said. "I've just been kinda worried."

"Why were you worried?" he asked. "You saved my life, right? You made me a ghoul to save me."

"Yeaaaaaaaah, but…" she said, nervously scratching her neck. "I was worried I might have screwed up the turning."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well," She continued. "I've never made a ghoul before. Never really needed one, you see. Anyway; in order to make a ghoul, I have to inject you with my venom. Now keep in mind, this rarely happens; but if I had injected too much venom into you, there's a chance you would have died and come back as a brain-dead zombie."

"WHAT!" He exclaimed, envisioning himself as a walking corpse.

"Relax," she said. "Obviously I didn't screw up because you're still alive right now. See?"

Riku shook his head and shouted, "This is too much! Zombies; Vampires; Werewolves; Ghouls; I don't understand anything!" He collapsed the floor and groaned in frustration.

"Oh, dear," Yumi muttered. "He's suffering culture shock."

Akira turned to Renfield. "Renfield," he said, "take him to the ghouls' quarters and calm him down."

"Of course," the older man replied. He walked up to the boy and helped him to his feet. "Come now, young sir. We'll get you settled in."

Renfield lead the boy out of the room. The three vampires watched as they left.

Akira smiled and said, "I think that went well."

Yumi smacked him again.

Deep below the city, in dark catacombs no one on the surface knew exited, stood the ancient halls of the Lycanthrope race. They had carved the ornate stone halls over the course of centuries; a testament to their power and determination. At the center of the Lycanthrope city there was a great throne room. The chamber was carved of black stone and illuminated by torches with hung on the ornate pillars that lined the walls. Between the pillars stood several statues, each depicting a different animal in an attacking posture.

At the farthest end of the room sat a massive beast atop a black throne. The monster was canine in appearance, with pitch-dark fur and a long black cloak over its massive shoulders. Beside him sat a young woman in a Gothic Lolita costume, curled up by his leg with metal collar around her neck and a chain running to the wolf beast's hand. Before them stood a young woman in combat armor who had long flowing red-orange hair lowing behind her. Beside her stood another creature, clad in armor as well, with the head of a lizard and massive stature.

The woman bowed to her knees as she began to speak. "My lord. Our first attack was a success. We've spread the seeds of fear into humanity, and have drawn the attention of the Royal court in one fell swoop. All is going as you planned, my lord."

The wolf beast let out a guttural growl as he replied. "Yes, Gingitsune. All is proceeding as I knew it would. The nobles will take it upon themselves to resolve this situation. It's only a matter of time before our forces overwhelm them and then we can bring the Vampiric regime to an end. Dragon!"

"Yes, my lord," the reptilian monster replied.

"Do you have a volunteer to begin the next raid on the city?" The wolf asked.

"Several, my lord," Dragon replied. "However, I have one in mind that may suit our needs." He turned to the darkness behind him and called out, "Legarto!"

A man stepped into the light of the chamber. He was lean and muscular with buzzed black hair. He wore an alligator-skin jacket and leather pants and no shirt. The man smiled a grin that seemed almost unnaturally wide as he stood before the court.

"Legarto is a strong warrior," Dragon continued. "He is among the strongest of my vanguard."

"I live to serve, my lord," Legarto added, bowing respectfully.

The lupine beast let out a guttural chuckle of approval. "Excellent," he said. "When night falls, send him and a squadron of were-rats into the city. It's time to show these humans just where they sit in the food-chain."

The whole hall shouted, "FOR THE GLORY OF LUPIS REX! LUNATIC FOREVER!"

"Lunatic Forever," Lupis replied under his breath, a menacing grin spreading over his monstrous face.

Riku looked at himself in the mirror very skeptically. After being calmed down, Riku had been taken by Renfield to the Ghouls' chambers and taken into a room that was apparently a giant closet of sorts. Inside were clothes for virtually any occasion laid out on a long series of shelves and racks. Renfield had taken a time to find a formal suit and gave it to Riku to put on. Riku put on the suit, if only to try and adapt to his new situation.

The suit was very formal, just a simple black suit over a white shirt. The only stand out was the mark of a yellow wolf's head, which Riku recognized from Saki's transformed appearance, emblazoned on the collar of the jacket.. Riku was unsure if he felt refined or ridiculous wearing clothes like this, but Renfield assured him he looked fine.

After dressing up, Riku followed Renfield to a new room, which seemed to be a library. Books lined the walls, reaching over ten feet high. There was a fireplace, around which sat three individuals. On the left was a tall black man in a similar suit to Riku's, though with Kouki's green bat symbol on the collar. He had buzzed-off hair and a very lean build to him. On the right was a young woman. She had her black hair tied back and wore a leather vest over a white shirt with leather pants. A patch with Ryuji's symbol on it hung from her sleeve. The third sat in front of the fire. She appeared to be a young girl wearing a pink dress. She had long curly hair which held a tiara marked with the bat-symbol in pink.

"My friends," Renfield said, addressing the group, "this is Riku. He is Lady Saki's Ghoul."

The three nodded respectfully.

"Riku," Renfield continued, "these are your fellow ghouls;" he motioned to the man, "Mr. Seward;" he motioned to the woman, "Ms. Morris;" and finally to the girl, "and Ms. Lucy."

Riku bowed respectfully. "Nice to meet you," he said.

"Welcome to the family," Seward said, walking up and embracing the young man.

Riku strained to breathe as the tall man's embrace proved incredibly strong.

"Uh, Seward," Morris said, "I think he needs to breathe now."

The man released the boy and laughed. "Sorry kid," he said. "I sometimes forget myself."

"It's alright," Riku gasped, trying to regain his breath.

"Mr. Seward is Lord Kouki's ghoul," Renfield stated. "He trains daily with his master in physical combat, making him one of the few who can stand on equal footing with him."

"I see," Riku replied, still sore.

Morris came up next, shaking his hand. "I'm Ryuji's ghoul," she said. "I mostly maintain his bow and arrows for him. You can call me Anne."

"Nice to meet you Anne," Riku said, glad she seemed to have a more gentle touch.

Lucy also came up. "Nice to meet you, Riku," she said in a sweet voice. "I make tea for Queen Yumi and everyone. Do you like tea?"

"Yeah, sure," Riku replied. He leaned down and asked, "Say, how old are you?"

"Nineteen," she replied with a big smile.

Riku shot up in shock and turned to Renfield, who nodded, confirming the truth. "Nineteen?" Riku asked.

"As his Highness said," Renfield replied, "We age much slower than humans. I believe you will only be more surprised if you ask all our ages."

"That's okay," Riku said, rubbing the confusion out of his head with his hand. "Well, now that I know who everyone is, can someone point me to a phone? I need to call my parents. They're probably worried sick about me."

The mood suddenly shifted from amicable to concerned. All the others gave Riku a disheartened look, which left the boy very confused.

"What?" he asked. "What did I say?"

"Riku, did Renfield not tell you?" Morris asked.

"Tell me what?" Riku asked.

"I was waiting for the opportune moment," Renfield replied, sternly yet sullenly.

"What?" Riku repeated. "Tell me what?"

"Mister Riku," Renfield said. "You were reported as killed during the fight with the Lycanthropes. As far as the human world is concerned, you are no longer living."

"WHAT?" Riku exclaimed. "You're kidding! Why hasn't anyone called my family? They have to know…"

"They can never know, sir," Renfield stated flatly.

The strength of his voice stunned Riku to silence.

"Please, my boy, try to understand," Renfield continued. "Humanity is still a violent and suspicious species. They cannot trust that which is truly beyond them. Keeping the creatures of the dark from their notice is the only thing maintaining the peace in this world. If humanity knew that the monsters of their myths were real, it would be a return to the dark-ages. For the sake of all; human; vampire; lycanthrope; all creatures of darkness; the truth must remain forever hidden."

"But…" Riku tried to reply, stopped by the realization that it all made sense. This caused him to shed tears as he realized he would never see his family again.

"I'm sorry, my boy," Renfield said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But, it is for their sake too."

Riku shrugged off the hand and ran out of the room. Morris moved to follow, but Renfield held an arm out to block her. "I shall inform Lady Saki," he said. " I believe she will want to be the one who talks to him."

Legarto walked down the busy city street, a wide grin still plastered across his face. He brushed past the people in the street, not paying any mind to their complaints of his rudeness. As he walked, he saw another man standing to the side, wearing similar attire to his. His clothes were a darker green, and his hair was more grown out, but the two looked fairly similar to one another otherwise. The only other difference was the deep, angry frown marking his face.

Legarto stopped and turned to the man. "How's things, Aniki?"

The man did not speak.

"What's wrong Sucus?" Legarto asked jovially. "Jealous little brother got the honor of slaying the royal Bloodys? Ne? Ne? Come on! Don't be such a hard-ass! I'll save you a piece of Vamp meat. We'll make a feast out of it! A celebration of our victory."

Sucus still remained silent.

"Ah, fuck you," Legarto said as he continued walking off. "Almost night anyway. I got work to do!"

Before he could walk far, Legarto heard something.

"I will avenge your death."

Legarto laughed out loud at that. He continued walking, not noticing that the other man had simply vanished from sight.

Saki wandered the halls for some time. She eventually found the target of her search, as she knew she would. He was seated before a large, tinted window that looked out over the city. The sun was going down behind the buildings, creating the kind of image any photographer would gladly take. She sat down next to him, both of them remaining silent as they watched the setting sun.

"How did you find me?" Riku asked after a time.

"Same way as I did the first time," She replied. "Followed your scent."

Riku turned his eyes to her; silently asking for an explanation.

"The time we first met," she continued. "I followed your scent to determine the path you take home. You take the same path home every night, so your scent was imprinted on the ground. That's what I meant when I said 'I was following you'."

Riku returned his gaze to the window.

"I'm really sorry," She continued. "I just… I don't know. I wasn't thinking."

"It's alright," Riku responded.

Saki turned and looked at the boy with surprise.

"If I'm honest," he continued, "I didn't really leave too much behind. I had no friends; Just school and home. Really, the only ones who will miss me are my parents."

"That's still a lot to give up," Saki said.

Riku shrugged.

They returned to silence for a time, as the sun continued to set over the city.

Eventually, Riku spoke again. "Saki," he said.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"Why are you guys Super Sentai?"

Saki's eyes widened. Then she laughed out loud at that. "I suppose we kind of are, at that!" she responded, still laughing.

"But why?" Riku asked again.

"I don't know," Saki replied with a big smile. "Just a coincidence I guess. Maybe someone saw us in the seventies and ripped us off. All I know is, the Blood Gear definitely predates all that crap."

"So, you're the real Super Sentai," Riku said. "Kyuuketsuki Sentai Bloodranger."

"Blood-what?" Saki asked.

"It's the last thing I remember thinking before passing out," Riku responded. "I saw the way you looked after you transformed and that name just came to me."

Saki's expression changed to a thoughtful one. "Blood-ran-ger, huh?" She said slowly. "I like that!"

"R-really?" Riku said in surprise. "It's kinda dorky, isn't it?"

"Well, duh!" Saki replied. "But it's kinda cool too."

The girl jumped to her feet excitedly. She held out a fist and declared, "It's settled then. From now on, we're Kyuuketsuki Sentai Bloodranger!"

Riku cocked his head in incredulity. "Can you really just decide that for yourself?"

"Hey! I can talk people into all kinds of stupid things," she said proudly. "Just you wait."

Saki!

Riku shot up in surprise. He could swear he heard a voice, but he couldn't tell from where. It felt like it came from everywhere at once. All he knew for certain was that it was the King's voice.

The Lycanthropes are acting again, the voice continued. Come to the war room.

"Yes! Akira-Sama!" she said sternly, proving to Riku that the voice was real.

"Wh-what…?" Riku stuttered.

"Get a grip, Riku," Saki stated, pulling him to his feet by his shoulder. "It's just telepathy. Come on!"

With that, she took off down the halls. Not wanting to be left behind, Riku chased after her; following down the twisted hallways.

Within virtually no-time, both arrived in the same chamber Riku had found earlier that day. All four of the other nobles were present, standing around a crystal orb that Riku was certain wasn't there before.

"Finally found the new-blood," Ryuji stated. "Hope he didn't wet the carpet or anything."

"Don't make me lop your nuts off, Ryuji," Saki replied, drawing her sickle from seemingly nowhere again. "It's not like I'm not already tempted."

"Jeez, ease off Saki-chan," He replied casually. "I was only joking."

"Enough!" Akira commanded, showing more seriousness than he had before. "We have no time for banter."

Riku watched in awe as the crystal began projecting an image into the open air above it. No one else was surprised by the fact that the crystal could do that, but they all watched intently as the image showed more rat-men, tearing into a crowd of humans in a train terminal.

"My god!" Riku exclaimed.

"This has gotten out of hand," Yumi said as she stood beside the king. "I can't believe they're being so reckless!"

"Aren't you going to stop them?" Riku asked.

"Don't be a moron!" Saki stated. "Of course we are. Bloodranger doesn't let crap like this go unpunished!"

"Bloodranger?" Ryuji said, looking at her incredulously. "What? Did the kid come up with that? Ridiculous."

"Hey!" Saki exclaimed, wielding the sickle again. "I'm not warning you again! Anyway, I think it's cool. Way better than the Council of Four-whatevers! I've always thought we needed a less stuck-up sounding name!"

Riku, worried that his little slip might cause a bloody incident, tried to calm Saki down. "Saki! Really, it's not that important."

Kouki, who had stood to the side with his arms crossed, shook his head. "Only Veria-san would think such an idea was tasteful," he muttered.

"How tacky," Yumi said, shaking her head disdainfully. "Honestly, dear, can you imagine us using such…"

"I like it!" Akira exclaimed suddenly.

The whole room fell silent. Everyone stared at the young looking vampire king, who only seemed to smile kindly in response.

"Y-you do?" Riku managed to squeeze out, past his disbelief.

"Of course," Akira replied. "Saki's right! All this stuffy terminology has gotten tiresome. I personally feel a change of pace might be exhilarating."

"But it's so stupid sounding," Ryuji muttered before Saki smacked him over the head.

"I say, we try Saki's idea," Akira replied. "And since I'm king, I'm certain none of you object to that. Right?"

The final word carried a dark menace that seemed to stun the men into rapidly nodding in agreement. Saki responded with a bright smile and excited giggling. Yumi simply put a hand to her head and muttered phrases of disbelief.

"Good," Akira said, his face returning to a serious expression. "Now that that's settled, let's go. We've wasted too much time quarreling."

Akira retrieved his cloak from the throne and threw it on. As he did, he suddenly vanished, his body fading into a red mist that shot through the light in the ceiling. The others all changed too. Yumi and Kouki became a pair of small pink and green bats, respectively. Ryuji and Saki transformed into a blue and a yellow wolf before Ryuji, Yumi and Kouki all leaped or flew into the same spot.

Wolf-Saki turned to the still awestruck Riku. Watch us on the crystal, She said mentally. This is gonna be awesome!

Riku watched, dazedly, as the yellow wolf leaped into the light and out of sight.

"Vampires are weird," was all he could think to say.

The rats poured from the terminal's exits and onto the streets, immediately biting into any passers-by and devouring them. In the midst of the carnage, Legarto casually walked out of the station in his human form. He stood by the exit and waited for his prey to arrive. His grin slowly got even more unusually wide.

The vampires left the invisible castle via a special passage meant only for them. The wolves leaped from building to building while the bats fluttered above them. The red mist surrounded them all, obscuring them from what few observers there might be.

As they traveled, Saki laid out her ideas, vis-à-vis Bloodranger, to the others telepathically. Under the king's orders, the others all listened incredulously to the thoughts of their over-excited comrade.

Darling, Bat-Yumi projected into the mist, as your wife, your queen, and your most trusted consort, I feel I can say this with impunity. This is the single most idiotic thing that you've ever gotten behind!

Humor me, love, the mist projected back. This isn't just about Saki. It's about the boy too. It's important that they maintain a connection to each other. They have to. They're going to be together for a long time.

But do they have to bond over this?

The mist seemed to laugh at the tiny pink bat.

Legarto stood quietly, taking in all the madness around him with great pleasure. He barely even noticed the five figures seemingly appearing out of thin air, if not for the tell-tale smell of vampiric blood. He turned to the five vampiric nobles, his grin never wider.

"Took you long enough," he said. "I was beginning to think you had all tucked your fangs between your legs and bit it!"

"How Vulger!" Kouki exclaimed. "You dare speak so in front of the King! I will tear out your tongue before I cut off your head!"

Legarto flashed razor-sharp teeth. "You're welcome to try, Bloody!"

A dark aura surrounded the man as his form shifted. He grew larger, his clothes tearing to reveal scales underneath. The result was a massive reptilian monstrosity with a long snout. The edges of the mouth were curled into a horrible grin.

"I'm going to gnaw your bones, you Bloody shits!" the monster snarled.

"Not much more elegant as a freak, is he?" Ryuji asked jovially.

"Most ungentlemanly," Yumi agreed.

"Fuck you!" he replied. "Fuck you, and your sensibilities! Kill them!"

The Rats charged at the vampires. The king's eyes glowed red, and the rat's suddenly found themselves in a thick fog. The monsters flailed about angrily as they tried to find their prey.

Legarto roared, then laughed maniacally. "Come on out! I promised my brother dinner! I intend to deliver!"

"Your brother will have to settle for takeout!"

Legarto followed the sound of the young woman's voice to a nearby rooftop, where the five had reappeared.

"Now just hold your tail, shithead!" continued Saki, who had called out before. "You have the very special privilege of seeing our first role-call!"

"Huh?"

"I can't believe we're really doing this," Ryuji muttered.

"Everyone!" Akira called out, lifting his Blood Gear Brace. "Henshin!"

"Wrong franchise, darling," Yumi said as she and the others held up their own transformation devices.

"BLOOD GEAR!"

They cut their hands on the braces and lifted them into the air as their transformations reoccurred. The black bands bound them into their new forms and the five stood, transformed, high over their enemies.

Akira threw forward his right hand, with his fingers bent like claws. As he slowly brought the hand to his left shoulder, he said dramatically, "Crimson Mist…" He brought both arms to his chest, left over right, held at an angle that had the left hand pointing up and the right point down. "…BLOOD…" After swinging them about, he repositioned his arms so that the left was held out straight and the right was bent to the left shoulder. "…RED!"

Ryuji repeated the first arm movement of his king. When his hand reached his shoulder, he tsk'ed with mild disdain before stating, "Hunting Wolf…" He thrust forward both arms, right hand over left, hands close together, fists pointing towards each other with only the index and pinky fingers extended. "…BLOOD…" Spreading his legs, he spread his arms up and down. "…BLUE!"

Kouki also repeated the first arm movement. "Striking Bat…"He brought both arms together, striking the fore-arms together over his chest. "…BLOOD…" He spread his arms, fore-arms bent up with the fingers splayed. "…GREEN!" He clenched his fists on the final word.

Saki also repeated the first gesture. "Howling Wolf…" She brought her hands together in front of her hips. "…BLOOD…" She slowly raised the arms straight into the air, bending her right knee, her hips turned to the side in a seductive pose. "…YELLOW!"

Yumi completed the pattern of repeating the first gesture. "Soaring Bat…" She crossed her arms, hands open, over her stomach. "…BLOOD…" She turned to the right, locked her legs together and flung out her arms in a very ballet-esque pose. "…PINK!"

"What the fuck is this?" Legarto cried out.

Akira brought his left arm to his side and passed his right fist over his face as he declared, "We are the True Super Sentai of Darkness!" He then brought his feet together and crossed his arms over his chest like a corpse. The others all performed the same movement. "Kyuuketsuki Sentai…"

"BLOOOOOOODRANGER" With this simultaneous cry, they flung their arms to the side dramatically.

Not bad! Kouki, Yumi and Ryuji inadvertently thought simultaneously.

"See!" Bloodyellow declared. "You guys think it's cool too! So no more giving me shit!"

The three looked off dismissively, trying to shove such a notion aside.

Legarto laughed out loud. "What the fuck was all that!" he asked. "Have you all gone senile in your old age?"

"Hey!" Bloodyellow declared. "I happen to be really young in Vampire years!"

"Honestly," Bloodpink continued. "I think I should do something quite unladylike to you for making light of my age, you vulgar lizard."

"We may seem absurd," Bloodgreen added, "but we shall still send you and your ilk to the dark gods of death!"

"I personally intend to put an arrow through your brain," Bloodblue said. "It should be small enough to be a highly impressive shot."

"You and your lackeys shall pay for breaking the Code of the Dark!" Bloodred cried out. "Bloodranger, Attack!"

The five warriors dived down from the roof and into the fray.

Each warrior drew their weapon and used it to slay the rats. Green swung his axe in broad arcs, disemboweling each of his targets with ease. Blue rapid-fired his arrows into several monsters' heads before using the bladed bow itself to slice into them. He continued alternating between shots and swings throughout the brawl. Yellow gracefully twirled through the mob of rats coming at her, using her sickles to gouge the monsters as she passed. Pink swung her spear in circles around her body, slashing several rats with the tip, before using the staff of the spear to strike the others that surrounded her in a series of graceful blows.

In the castle, Riku watched intently at the conflict. Though obviously more violent, he couldn't help but feel the same nostalgia he had felt when he'd seen the newly-dubbed Bloodranger for the first time. He still couldn't fully grasp what exactly he felt about all this. What he did know was that a large part of him was really enjoying it. Whether that was good or bad he'd decide later.

Bloodred drove through the hordes, his sword decimating all in his path as he drove towards Legarto. Once he reached the beast, he immediately swung his sword at him. The blade sparked when it struck his shoulder. Legarto laughed. Red quickly realized that the blade had failed to pierce the creature's scales. Legarto grabbed the blade itself and punched Bloodred in the face, causing him to fly back while losing his grip on the sword.

Tossing the blade asside, Legarto continued to laugh. "Stupid Bloody," he taunted. "I'm nowhere near as weak as that stupid fuzz-ball you slaughtered yesterday. I'm Legarto, one of Lord Dragon's vanguard. I am not some cannon fodder rat or lousy cat. I'm a cut above!"

Bloodred casually sat up, sighing in annoyance. He held out his hand, and his sword immediately flew to him, lopping off the legs of one of the Rats that was in its way. He caught the telekinetically propelled blade with ease and stood up. He rolled his shoulder, and then ran into battle again. Legarto once again caught his blade when it was swung, this time with both hands. He knew that the Red warrior would fight back, but didn't expect the sudden kick to his abdomen. He'd felt strong attacks before. Most simply bounced off his hard scales. This, however, actually hurt. He released the blade with one claw before swinging at Bloodred. Red dodged the swipe and leaped up, still holding the hilt of his blade, and kicked the monster in the face. This time, Legarto lost his grip and fell.

Bloodred stood over the beast, pointing his sword at his face. "You could be the most powerful warrior of all the shifters and it would make no difference," He said. "There's a reason why Vampires have always ruled. It's because no other creature can compare to us. You might be one of the strongest of your kind, but even the least of mine is greater than you."

"Bullshit!" Legarto exclaimed. He kicked out at Bloodred, who leaped out of the way. The monster leaped up, roaring angrily at the Red warrior.

Having finished slaying the other lycanthropes, the remaining Bloodrangers gathered around Bloodred.

"Having fun dear?" Bloodpink joked.

Red scoffed. "Hardly even a good workout."

The monster roared again, rearing up to attack. He leaped at them, but was stuck down by an unexpected punch from Bloodgreen. He was flung into a nearby wall, creating an impressive indent in it.

"Impudent lizard," Green said, flexing his fist. "How do you wish to end him my lord?"

"I think the second formation will do nicely," Red replied. "Just make sure to aim for the mouth when ready. I'll make sure it's ready for you."

"As you command," Green replied as he held his axe out before him.

Red ran at the monster while the others began combining their weapons manually. Yellow attached her sickles to the flat sides of the axe blades. Green then flipped it around as Blue divided his bow, attaching the parts to the other side of the axe. Green held the weapon by his side, using the handle of the sickle as a support, and was joined by Blue, who held the other handle. Pink loaded her spear into the center of the axe, with the shaft sticking out the back, as she and Yellow took their positions at their male counterparts' shoulders.

Meanwhile, Red managed to catch the beast while it was still recovering and drive his sword into its mouth. Legarto proved lucid enough to bite down, stopping the blade from piercing the back of his mouth. However, he didn't foresee the Red warrior rapidly twisting the blade inside the mouth of the beast, gashing the sides. Legarto's jaw suddenly dropped and the blade was pulled out.

Legarto grunted, trying to speak but unable to close his jaw.

"I severed the tendons that support your jaw," Red said in answer to an unaskable question. "Looks like your inside isn't as tough as the outside."

He leaped and kicked off the monster's chest, throwing him off balance while Red was propelled over the rest of his allies. He threw down his sword, causing it to connect to the new combined weapon, as he landed behind his allies.

Legarto struggled to regain balance, but was in such pain that he couldn't focus.

"Crimson Shot!" Bloodred declared as he ran forward and delivered a powerful kick to the extended shaft of Pink's Spear. The weapon shot out a red arc of energy that flew into the mouth of the beast, decapitating the monster at the mouth. It's head flew off and landed several feet away as a huge geyser of blood shot from the beast's neck. The body collapsed in a bloody mess.

"YES!" Riku exclaimed as he watched the final blow.

"Enjoying yourself?"

Riku flinched at the sudden voice, but quickly recognized Renfield standing beside him.

"It would seem they were successful," Renfield continued.

Riku nodded. "They really are amazing," he said.

Suddenly, the light in the room turned red. Riku looked up in confusion, meaning to ask what this meant, but being cut off before asking.

"Oh dear," Renfield had said as soon as the light changed. "I best ready the carriage. Things are going to get rather messy in a moment."

"What do you mean?" Riku asked. "What's this red light mean?"

"Continue to observe the crystal," Renfield replied. "Things are about to get very interesting."

The Bloodrangers also noticed the change of color, as the sky itself had begun to glow red. The Red light came from the moon, which had been a half moon before, but was now full and glowing red. They could all detect the faint sound of arcane chanting on the air, but could not pin-down the source. The strangeness of the situation was punctuated by the body of Legarto suddenly sitting up. The body then seemed to be drawn to its feet by an unseen force, which also seemed to act on it's severed head, which was now floating towards its body.

"The Full Moon Curse," Bloodblue said. "Been a while since we've seen this."

Bloodred raised his left arm and spoke into the Blood Gear brace. "Renfield," he said. "Move the castle over us."

"Already on our way sir," came the reply from the device. "We're nearly over you now, and I've readied the carriage."

"Good man," Red said.

The monster's body started to pulse, unnervingly. With each pulse, the creature seemed to grow in size. As this was going on, the unseen castle floated over the city, coming to a stop directly over the monster. A dark fog seeped from the castle's base, covering the area in a shroud of darkness. Inside the shroud, the monster was reaching gargantuan size, loosing any humanoid aspect and becoming a monstrous giant alligator. The Bloodranger had leaped to the roof of a nearby building, one tall enough that they could look down at the beast.

"I still can't believe someone actually cast the Full Moon Curse," said Bloodblue.

"Whoever's behind all this," Bloodyellow said, "he must be really tough to get a witch to serve him."

"This does not bode well," Bloodgreen said. "It's not going to be easy to keep this madness from the human's attention."

"That's why we have the Shadow Field, Kouki," Bloodpink replied. "It was actually a brilliant foresight to have the field made extendable over the city."

"Thank you dear," Bloodred said in his more amicable tone. He then raised up his left arm and talked into the Blood Gear Brace again. "Renfield, send the carriage."

The monstrous alligator flailed about, crashing into nearby buildings. The building broke, but did not fall. A strange energy suspended the materials if the buildings in the air as the monster damaged them. It paid this no mind, as its mind was reduced to primal instinct. It did, however, notice the loud sounds. These sounds resembled the clopping of horses' hooves, and it drew closer. From the dark fog surrounding it, the monster saw the emergence of a gigantic carriage. This carriage was drawn by two massive metal horses which let out calls that mixed a horse's call with a steam-engine's whistle. They halted in the middle of the street, allowing the Bloodrangers to enter the carriage through a hidden panel.

Inside, each Bloodranger found him or her self in a coffin-like control-seat. Green and Pink were paired in a single darkened area, as were Blue and Yellow. Red was in a solo area. The roof of the carriage opened up and folded to the side, revealing three massive metal coffins which emerged in a circular formation. Each was marked with one of the three symbols of the Bloodranger.

Bloodred crossed his arms over his chest and called out, "BLOOD MACHINE, LAUNCH!"

The three coffins opened, revealing three massive mechanoids. One was a giant metal bat with wings that moved and flowed like a living bat's. This machine immediately flew from its coffin and into the sky. The next was a massive wolf-mech which also leaped out instantly, leaping from building to building towards the monster. The final coffin opened to reveal a humanoid mech, which stepped out of the coffin before doing a massive forward flip onto the ground below.

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Riku's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "MECHA?" He exclaimed. "They have Mecha too?" This is getting ridiculous, he thought.

The three mecha encircled the massive beast, which growled angrily at them. The humanoid mecha stood in a defensive stance in front of the beast. The wolf-mech growled challengingly while the bat circled above them.

"Let's make this quick," Bloodred commanded from his cockpit. "Blood Wolf, you hold it in place. Blood Bat will stun it. Dai-Alucard and I will finish it."

Images of his comrades in their dual cockpits appeared on the glass dome which allowed Bloodred to see outside his mecha. They all nodded in agreement as their mecha began to act.

Pods on Blood Wolf's shoulder's opened, revealing two sets of metal jaws in each. Its pilots shouted, "Cerberus Attack!" as the jawed pods launched from the mech on chains and clasped onto the gator's back. It leaped behind the massive animal and pulled back, using its chains to force it into a standing position.

The bat mech soared down the street. It's mouth opened as its pilots cried out, "Sonic Bullet!" The bat let out loud shrieks, causing a series of semi-transparent pulses to shoot through the air. These pulses slammed into the monster's stomach, causing spurts of blood to form.

The monster hung limply from the chains as Dai-Alucard ran at it, wielding a giant strait-sword. It came to its senses enough to perceive the giant robot running at it. An image flashed in its mind of Bloodred attacking it with his sword. As Dai-Alucard thrust the sword forward, the beast caught it in its jaws, sideways, and twisted it out of the mecha's hand.

The monster gator's right arm suddenly grew into a humanoid arm and punched Dai-Alucard, knocking the mech on its back. It's other limbs began to turn humanoid as it used its hands to rip the metal clamps from its back, tearing a considerable amount of flesh with them, and using them to pull Blood Wolf into a spinning toss. The wolf-mech was tossed into its bat counterpart and the two mecha fell to the ground.

By the time the three mechs had recovered, the monster was completely changed. It had a predominantly humanoid body, but the massive alligator head from it's previous form stuck out of its torso, roaring loudly.

"Damn," came Bloodpink's voice, "It's ascended to the second stage, already."

"This Full Moon Curse is really powerful," Bloodyellow added.

"My king," said Bloodgreen. "What shall we do now."

"I'd think that's obvious, Kouki," Bloodred replied. "We use our own second form."

"Combining?" exclaimed Bloodblue's voice. "But we've never actually used that."

"There's a first time for everything, Ryuji," Bloodred said. "The Shadow Field will only hold effect over this area for so long. We need to end this quickly."

The four others nodded.

Dai-Alucard leaped to the top of a nearby sky-scraper. Shockingly, the building held its weight. Blood Wolf landed on an adjacent building while Blood Bat hovered in the air above them.

"Kyuuketsuki Gattai!"

"Stage 1! BREAK DOWN!" Bloodred called out as his mech launched into the air. It's lower legs disconnected from its thighs, which folded into its torso. Its arms folded back and collapsed in at the elbows as the chest plate disconnected from the torso and its detached legs flipped around and folded out.

"BREAK DOWN!" called Blood Bat's pilots. The bat's wings detached as the body divided. The tail section detached as the body split into three parts. The bat head folded in as the parts hovered in the air.

"BREAK DOWN!" The Blood Wolf's pilots repeated as their mech leaped into the air. The mech's tail and rear panel detached together before splitting again. A metal helmet also detached from underneath the mech. The rest of it split into three parts. The head folded down in the central part. The fore-legs folded into the side-parts, while the hind-legs extended fully.

"Stage 2! BUILD UP!"

The Legs of Dai-Alucard came in from the side and linked over the body. The chest-piece locked over the front abdominal area while the Blood Wolf's rear panel locked over the rear. The sides of the wolf-mech linked into Dai-Alucard, forming legs. The pods opened into feet. The central bodies of each animal mech locked into the sides, forming shoulders. The body parts of the bat formed fore-arms and the wings attached to the back of each shoulder. Clawed hands extended from the fore-arms. These were made to reach up and grab the floating helmet above them. They pulled it over Dai-Alucard's face as a mask locked over the mech's mouth and a pair of fins extended from the sides of the head. The silver panels on the chest folded out into a skull-like face on the torso and a sharp hiss could be heard as the mouth opened.

"Kyuuketsuki-Oh, DAI-DRAAAAAACULA!"

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Riku was now completely collapsed on the floor of the chamber, his head spinning. "Giant… robot… uhh…" was all he could verbalize.

The predominantly black mecha landed before the massive beast. Its five pilots now were in one command space and looked out of the mecha at their quarry.

"It's time to put an end to this," Bloodred commanded.

The mecha held forward its arms as the giant beast ran at them. "Dracula Knuckle!"At the command, the fore-arms of the mecha shot off and collided, fist- first, with the approaching beast. The monster was knocked down as Dai-Dracula's arms returned to it.

While the beast remained on the ground, Dai-Dracula leaped into the air above it. "Cerberus Kick!" The sharp fangs on the feet of the mecha extended longer as it readied to drop down on the giant monster. However, the beast caught the legs in its claws and flailed the giant mech around, slamming it against nearby buildings. It let go, flinging the mech wildly into the city. Dai-Dracula extended its wings, regaining balance before landing again.

"He's a fighter this one," Bloodpink remarked. "Still, at least we're finally putting this thing through its paces."

"But the Shadow Field is at its limit," Bloodblue said as he observed the arcane symbols displaying before them. "If we're going to end this, it has to be now."

"Agreed," Bloodred replied. "Kyuuketsuki Ken!"

The remaining parts of the mechs, Dai-Alucard's sword, Blood Bat's tail-section and Blood Wolf's tail, formed together into a large curved sword. Dai-Dracula wielded the heavy weapon with force. It lifted the blade in the air, the tip suddenly glowing red. It slowly waved the sword in a circular manner. As the blade move it created a line of red that seemed to flow like blood in the air. Completing the arc, it brought the sword to its shoulder as the monster charged at it.

"CRIMSON NIGHT…"

It brought the sword up.

"…CRASH!"

The swing of the sword created a torrent of red that cut through the body of the beast. It stood for a moment before its upper torso slid off along the cut, the two halves crumbling to the ground.

The eyes of the mech's skull-face glowed red as its jaws opened wide. "ITADAKIMASU!" called a loud, booming voice.

The monster's blood began to pour from its body, pulled through the air by an unseen force and drawn into the mouth of the skull-face. As the blood drained, the body faded into nothingness, disintegrating into dust.

After finishing the blood, Dai-Dracula extended its wings and flew upwards into the castle. As it did, the fog lifted. As the fog lifted, the structures that had been damaged in the fight began to reassemble themselves. It was as if they were breaking apart in reverse. Soon, there was no sign of the conflict at all.

Inside the castle, the five vampires, now returned to their normal forms, reentered the meeting chamber to find Riku still in a daze on the floor.

"Oh dear," Yumi said. "He's gone mental now."

Saki bent down by the boy's head and poked it. "Yep, he's out of it," she said. "Poor little otaku couldn't take it."

Akira smiled and chuckled a bit. "Saki, I think you'd best take him to his room," he said. "I think we need to let him process everything."

"As you command," She said, giving a quick bow before hauling the boy up onto her shoulder.

The four watched as Saki carried the boy out of the chamber and into the hall.

"This is getting rather unpleasant," Yumi said after thy had gone. "If these Lycanthropes do have a witch helping them, then we're going to have a hell of a fight on our hands."

Akira nodded, his expression solemn. "Contact the Lycanthrope Minister. I want any information he has on this 'Lunatic' movement. It's time I knew my enemy."

In an alley in the street, Sucus stood stoically, unmoving as people moved past him on the sidewalk. One person paused. He had noticed the man and walked up to ask him what he was doing. This person was dead before he could even utter a single word, dragged into the darkness at lightning fast speed and decapitated with a single bite. Crimson eyes shone in the darkness and a word was hissed with poisonous intent.

"Revenge…"

To Be Continued

AN

Finally Done. Delayed after losing the flash drive containing the file; not once, but TWICE!

Probably a bit rushed at the end, but really, I just wanted to get this chapter finished.

Links in the text lead to my deviant art page where the mecha designs, as well as character designs, are available. I'm sure you all can fill in the gaps. Hopefully will manage to carry on with more chapters. I have a lot of ideas for this series and I've barely started.

More explanations in Episode 3 for sure.

Please Read and Review.