[Tokusatsu Themes]

"Welcome, Natura Couleur. Welcome to your home for the foreseeable future."

That was what Lady Lumiere had told her dearest heroines when they woke up after Blanc and Noir had been recruited. For each of them, a portal opened that led to a place they had never before seen. A high tech base that had some of the same colors as their armors. Black, White, mixed in with one of the three colors that made up the vanguard of the Natura. It all seemed like the perfect place for them to live.

But there was one thing on each of their minds, as they stepped in and arrived at this brand new home. Namely... They hadn't really had the chance to introduce themselves to one another. Sure, Rouge had done a bit of heavy lifting to introduce Lady Lumiere's light to everyone not named Vert, but none of them had taken the moment to sit down and introduce themselves. Even as they stood in a circle in the living quarters of the base, they couldn't help but stare at one another awkwardly.

"Soooo... Anybody want to speak up?" Natura Rouge asked, brushing a hand through her red mane as she looked at Bleu, Vert, Blanc and Noir in that sequence. The blue-haired girl shook her head respectfully, Vert huffed and ignored her, Blanc shook her head as a bit of sweat ran down the side of her head, and Noir just tilted her head quizzically. None of them really wanted to be the first one to speak.

As the leader, the duty really did fall to her. So she stepped forward, with her new allies and friends surrounding her, and cleared her throat. "Alright. I think you've heard it before, but I'll say it regardless. I'm Natura Rouge. The Flames of Justice. Pleased to meet you all, I hope that we can fight together like proper friends and allies!" Rouge put her hand to her chest, grinning a bit as she ruffled her hair with one of her free hands. Hoping that she inspired the others to speak up with her initiative...

The blue-haired girl who served as her first ally opened one eye as she stepped forward, one hand firmly grasping one of her blades as she stabbed it into the floor. "The Waves of Conviction, Natura Bleu. Regrettably, I've lived the life of a pure brat until the moment Lady Lumiere opened up my eyes. I hope that I can serve you all well, even with this setback." She did not forget her original life after being given this brand new chance at life. But she did look back upon it with disdain. Even if she still cared for the ones that had helped raise her.

"Winds of Ingenuity, Natura Vert." Vert's turn came as she refused to step forth, grabbing ahold of the cape on her armor as she pulled it up ever slightly, covering her mouth a bit with it in the process. "You know, I never was one for being so buddy buddy. But if you guys are fine with listening and actually doing your damn jobs, fine, I'll socialize a bit." She was true to herself. Maybe a bit too true. But with this new intellect and an appreciation for the ways to approach combat from whole new angles... She thought she deserved to act that way.

Blanc skipped forth as she flashed peace signs with both hands, giggling and winking. "The Light of Kindness, Natura Blanc! I'm so glad to help you all! There's nothing in the world that makes me as happy as seeing you guys happy!" Blanc was speaking from the heart. Even if the light of her dearest Lady Lumiere had washed a good deal of the undesirable parts of her original personality away. She neither needed that stuff, nor did she come close to remembering it. She just needed to carry the Light for her. And heal those that needed it.

Finally, it was Noir's turn. And she took her turn by smashing her fists together and laughing. "Strength to smash through Darkness! Natura Noir! As long as I'm here, you've got the muscle to break through anything! Just point me at the bad guys, and I'll make sure they won't stand after I'm done with them!" She was at least honest about her role in this team. To be the ultimate muscle. And it came with a healthy and happy mindset, contrasting her original self that was buried underneath the warm light of her Lady Lumiere...

"So... This is us, huh?" Rouge said with a smile on her face. "Natura Couleur. That's what Lumiere called us, wasn't it? The natural colors?" She continued, giggling a little as the words slipped off her tongue. They sounded just right for people like them. The natural personalities, enhanced by Lumiere's light, mixing together and bringing out the best in one another.

Vert scoffed as she quickly scanned her surroundings... Only to basically disappear in a puff of wind. "I'll be in my room. I've got shows and games to catch up on." Without even trying to socialize, despite what she had just said, she made her exit. She was a ball of contradictions, that much was easy to tell...

The other four members just watched as the girl disappeared, prompting a bit of a giggle from Blanc as she didn't see something bad about the way that the green-haired girl acted. "Well, if she wants to be alone, then that's just what we have to accept, isn't it? We want to work together the best we can, so if she's happy when she's all alone, we'll just have to accept that. Isn't that right, Rouge?"

Rouge let a bit of sweat run down the side of her face as she nodded. Yeah, it was technically true. She just kind of wanted to bond with the rest of her teammates. And that included her. "Well... Hm. Do you guys want to do anything until we need to move out?" She asked, looking between Bleu, Blanc and Noir hoping for an answer.

"...I'd like to clean this base from top to bottom, if you don't mind." Bleu said as she tapped her dial, transforming her from her combat form back into a civilian state. Not only that, but she was wearing a maid's uniform, seeing no shame in dressing like a servant if it meant that she was being more efficient. "Do you mind, Rouge?"

"Not at all! Do you need a hand?" Rouge replied, but before she got an answer the blue-haired girl had already started to rush along, using the waves of her power to make it easier to clean the dirtiest spots. Leaving Rouge with yet another inability to properly bond. She'd have to get used to that, just like Blanc said. Give everyone the space they need.

Noir laughed at how their leader had gotten burned twice, before walking over and patting her on the back. "Chin up, Rouge! We're here for you. Dunno what we'll do together, but we can figure something out. I'm sure of it!" She chimed, trying to cheer the girl up. In her own kind of way, of course. She was not exactly clever when it came to properly interacting with people that weren't her dear Blanc.

Blanc nodded, walking over to one of the chairs that surrounded the many tables that dotted their living space. "You know how to play cards, Rouge? I'd love to play a quick game against you both. I can teach you a mean poker face if you'd like me to!" She chimed, offering to bond with them through a simple card game.

"You..." Rouge paused, laughing a bit before joining her at the table. "I don't think you can give me pokerface lessons, Blanc. But I'm happy to try and learn if you're willing to teach me!" She honestly didn't know what to expect from the other four that had joined her. She only knew so much about them from Lumiere briefing her preemptively. So to see her be good at cards was a surprise in and of itself.

Noir grinned as she took a seat as well. "She's beaten me 99 times to my single. And it's always because she's got a killer look when she's dealing. I never know what she might pull, but she always manages to do it. No matter what I try." She didn't seem to be hurt by her eternal losing streak, just laughing it off. "If you win more than once, Rouge, I'll try and make dinner tonight. How about that?"

"If you can cook. Don't be afraid to ask others for help if you need it, Noir." Rouge replied, as she looked at the cards she had been dealt by the tanned cutie that served as the team's healer. She could already tell she was going to have a tough time, because her cards were... Well to call them bad would be generous.

She had her work cut out for her, as she bonded with her teammates through a game of poker...

All while Vert sighed as she slammed her head against one of the walls in her room, the pain not even registering as she collapsed against it. She had done something she really should stop. Trying to push others away because she thought she was better than them. Sure, she had the opportunity to really show them that she was better, but... She didn't want to do it this way. Not when they were supposed to fight alongside one another.

What could she do to get close to them without triggering her own personality quirk? She could... Well she could just stay back and communicate with them through the electronics that they had available. But that kind of defeated the point of it all, didn't it? She needed to look them in the face and accept them for what they were. Not talk down to them or act like they were...

"Vert."

The door to her room opened, and Bleu was standing there dressed like a maid. The sight being enough to make Vert blush and frantically scramble for something to toss at her. "D-Don't come in without knocking! Don't you know manners?! I'm supposed to have some privacy, you know!" She shouted, only to then toss a pillow straight at her once she grabbed ahold of one.

Bleu quietly just caught it out of the air as she tossed it back onto the bed, stepping inside and bowing respectfully. "I apologize. But I really do need to clean this room before you use it too much. Otherwise you'll end up being buried underneath a pile of your own filth before long. And as we are to work together, I would like for you to remain unharmed by something you could've prevented."

Vert felt her body trembling with a bit of anger as she heard that, but she quickly composed herself before she erupted into an outburst. "Right. Could you not be so condescending when you say that? Think about what you're saying before you do it. Unless you're really so stupid that you can't do that."

"Back at you, Vert. Please refrain from insulting me by implying that your intellect makes you better than me." Bleu didn't hesitate to turn it right back around before snapping her fingers, causing a bucket to be washed into the room. "If you'd be kind, I would like your assistance. Getting into the tightest spots might not be necessary if we put your powers to use, but two sets of hands are in general more efficient than one."

Vert twitched, before just sighing and sticking her hand into the bucket to pull out a sponge. "Fine. But don't think I'm doing this for you. I'm doing it for me! The only time I'll do something for you guys is when we're out and about!"

Bleu just smiled and nodded, as the two got to work. They had a lot of time on their hands before Lumiere would call upon them, but for now they would bond through physical labor.

After all, Vert did seem so lonely when she helped recruit her. This was her way of reaching out, just like Lady Lumiere would want her to…

---

Once the team had bonded in their own way, whether it was Blanc and Noir playing cards with Rouge (and predictably having the tanned girl sweep Rouge with her tricks and her surprising ability to manipulate the flow of the game with nothing but her body language) or Bleu forcing Vert to help her clean, it was time to move into action. The Light of Lady Lumiere inside them alerted them to the presence of a Monster in the city, and it was up to deal with the problem. Whether all by themselves or working side by side to make up for each other's weaknesses.

"Why, oh why, do we have to go straight to a fight after all that!?" Vert shouted as she stood on top of one of the rooftops that circled the Monster's position. She was exhausted, because cleaning her room was not an easy affair. The amount of times that she was forced to use her power to deal with the tiniest bit of dust regardless of how much she had already gotten rid of... Bleu was needlessly thorough, and it wore away at the green-haired girl's patience.

A snicker echoed over their communications, courtesy of Blanc, before Rouge spoke up to show some support. "Because if we don't, people end up hurt. Don't worry, Vert. You can stay up there, use your brain to figure out what we need to do, and give us the details as fast as possible. I'll trust your Wind, if you trust the rest of us."

Vert scoffed as she tapped her dial, causing a set of lenses to fold out over her face as they zoomed in on the grounds below. "Just don't mess up. I really don't want all of this to go to waste." She muttered, all while keeping the skies clear using her powers over Wind.

Further down below, the other four Natura were heading towards the scene. Blanc riding on Noir's back, with Bleu keeping her physical exhaustion at a minimum thanks to her powers letting her ride her own waves. Rouge wasn't far behind, using small bursts of flame to leap further and further ahead.

"Did the Light tell you anything about our enemy, Rouge?" Bleu asked, keeping an eye on her airborne ally to make sure that she knew where she could strike from, should they be forced to come to blows with the enemy earlier than expected.

"Nope! The Light doesn't really work like that. It's mostly just a nudge in the right direction, and then Lumiere lets us do the rest of the work. Kind of like when I showed up to save you from that icy girl." Rouge replied, her eyes sharpening for a brief moment as she noticed something in the air. "Hold on, we might want to stay back-"

"HYAAAAH!" Noir cried out right as Rouge tried to advocate for caution, slamming against a large primate-looking woman, who was knocked aside due to the sheer level of strength pouring through the black-haired heroine. "Heh! No matter if these guys show up out of nowhere, I won't be beat!"

As if to try and rain down on her parade, a small blizzard of feathers flew towards Noir, each of them more pointed than the last. But quick thinking from Blanc prevented them from meeting the mark, thanks to her wonderful Blanc Barrier stopping them all before they even got close to her muscled lover.

"If you four would use your brains before you head straight into danger, you would've noticed that we've got company!"

Vert's words might've been harsh, but they weren't wrong. A massive horde of animalized men and women were standing in the Natura girls' way, each of them trembling as their veins and their bodies were growing thanks to the strain of their transformations. Whether they had been turned into muscled gorillas, speedy cheetahs, aerial predators like eagles or swimming through the ground like it was water while taking on the look of a shark. And in the middle of it all was a single woman with a whip, who seemed utterly unassuming compared to the many animalized humans under her control.

"My my, here's four brand new pets. Once I've gotten my collar on your necks, you won't be able to resist. My honor as the Beast Tamer will ensure that!" The 'Beast Tamer' made her declaration, whipping the ground as her many animalized minions started to obey her command. Just the sound of the instrument of their thorough training was enough to make them obey, even if they really didn't want to. And the subtle signs of tears running down some of the minions' cheeks would be enough evidence for that.

Bleu furrowed her brow as she drew her blades and let them split into segments to increase her overall range. "What is our plan, Rouge? The path towards the Monster is blocked by the many bodies she has at her command." As she wasn't the one in command, she deferred to their leader. Even if she could see a path that led straight to the enemy if she just stressed her power to its absolute limits.

"Vert! Plan? Quickly, please!" Rouge then called upon their support as she narrowly blasted out of the way of another onslaught of feathers, preferring the high ground which meant that she had to dodge around the eagles that tried to aim for her with their various methods of attacking her.

There was silence for a few brief moments before Vert's voice started to reach all of them once more. "Use the skies! Most of the strong ones are down below, and they're not able to get all the way up there by the time you make it close to the Monster. Blanc, I need you up on Rouge so she can make this easier!"

Blanc nodded as she looked to Noir, who shook her head. They didn't have the opening that would let them pass the healer to the one that needed her. They needed a moment. "Bleu! I need a hand!" So responsibility was once again passed to the one who could do the deed.

"I hear you, Blanc!" Bleu cried out as she dodged out of the way of one of the sleek-legged minions, swinging her weapons in a spiral around her as the waves started to bubble underneath her. "BLEU GEYSER!" She shouted as she suddenly forced the blade segments to shift upward, causing those waves to blast in the same direction. The ranks around her were sufficiently disrupted, and that water served as just what the team needed!

Blanc lowered her barrier and Noir took but a single step back to orient her toss, before throwing her partner straight towards the gushing pillar. The combined shock inflicted upon the minions that surrounded her plus the speed of the toss meant that the white-haired girl was easily caught in the flow of the water, with her healing powers causing her to quickly lose forward momentum as she overhealed the spots where the pressure from the wind were strongest.

Thanks to the quick thinking by the girls on the ground, Blanc was laughed into the air. And the moment it seemed like the predators that were flying up above would swoop in and go for the kill when she couldn't activate her barrier, a beam of heat surrounded the girl as the airborne chickens were thoroughly grilled and prevented from landing any kind of lasting damage on her body.

"Nice timing, Rouge!" Blanc cried out as she started falling, only to be caught before she went too far down thanks to the redheaded girl quickly igniting herself and using those very same flames to regain altitude once she managed to grab ahold of the tanned girl's hand.

Once Blanc had fixed herself onto Rouge's back and wrapped her arms around her, letting her healing power pour straight into the redheaded girl's body to supercharge her powers. Just as they all planned together. With Rouge as the spear breaking through the enemy's defenses, they would make it to the Beast Tamer with ease!

"Right! While Rouge rides my winds straight to the target, you two better distract the idiots on the ground! We don't want something that slipped by my calculations to take place!" Vert gave the orders as a green light shone from the rooftop she was standing on, the winds picking up and almost bringing in a localized typhoon in the process. She still didn't have fine control over her powers, but the threat would serve as another piece in their plan!

Noir nodded as she cracked her knuckles a bit, looking at her blue-haired partner. "Care to back me up, Bleu? I've got an idea if you give me a wave to ride on!" She grinned, her veins filling with Darkness as she was on the verge of doing something that could arguably be called incredibly bullheaded and at the very least dangerous.

Bleu nodded as she brought her blades together and stood at her muscled ally's side, spinning those blades. "BLEU FLOOD!" She cried out as waters were spewing from the ends of her blades, creating another localized spiral in front of her. The very same spiral that started to pull her and Noir along, using the water on the ground to speed them along..!

"GENOIRCIDE!" Noir cried out as she let loose the reserves of her power, letting it all focus on her fists while Bleu took care of movement, letting her slam her fists straight into some of the stronger looking animals with so much ease that it was actually a shame that they weren't going to get the final blow on the Monster, considering what a straight path they could carve through to the enemy...

Seeing the others working together on the ground made Rouge's heart flare up. "Blanc! Keep me healed, we're going all out!" She shouted, her entire body catching on fire as those very same flames formed into a massive set of phoenix-like wings. "ROUSED ROUGE!"

Blanc did what she did best. Healed away at the girl's body as she started to flap those wings like mad and speed straight past the many predators that roamed the skies. The technique, and a lot of Rouge's other attacks for that matter, had a high risk of blowing back in her face. But by having Blanc this close she could get healed as soon as any damage was appearing on her body, letting her speed faster and faster through the air towards the one girl that still thought she would win all of this.

Beast Tamer looked at the duet bowling through her minions on the ground, as well as the spear-like flier going through the air. What the hell was she going to do when confronted by something like this?! The best was probably just to try and escape, and she had just the plan. "MINIONS! WE'RE LEAVING!" She shouted, whipping the ground to catch the attention of some of the gorillas in the back.

As Rouge and Bleu got closer on their respective fronts, the gorillas each grabbed their tamer as they tried to toss her with the combined power between them. But the second she was launched into the air, the winds picked up even harder than they ever had. Winds that were blowing her backward and upward.... Right into the path of Rouge!

"ROUSING ROUGE CROSS!"

By sticking her arms out to emulate her wings, Rouge started to spin the moment that she noticed that the enemy had been flung into the air. And by the time the latter had entered her trajectory, the flaming bird had already become a drill piercing through the skies. A drill that slammed straight through the Monster, the purifying Flames of Justice burning away at her evil body as her control over the many citizens that she had tamed quickly fading as Rouge came to an abrupt stop, recentering herself when she finished spinning like mad...

It didn't take long after that before the citizens started to recover, and cheers filled the air. Because the city of Equilibre had been saved once again by the heroes that stood to protect it, no matter what. The Natura Couleur!

"Thank you! Natura Couleur!" The citizens cried out to their saviors, each of them looking happy at the praise and love they got from the various citizens that they swore to protect...

Vert smirked a little as she heard that cheering. Maybe fighting for the sake of somebody wasn't a bad thing. Especially if that somebody showed genuine delight towards her personality.

Noir grinned a bit as she calmed down. She got a good fight out of helping people, and the cheers after the fact were making her nice and full. She'd have to share this happy feeling with Blanc in the near future...

Bleu retracted her swords and gently bowed before the people that she had sworn to protect. She was once a girl who would demand everything from those she coveted. And though she didn’t remember that time, to be needed by people just like she needed her black-haired friend... It only served to humble her more, with all the effort that went into it.

Blanc laughed as she gently drifted back to the ground with Rouge, sighing sweetly from all the cheers. It felt nice to get attention. Like she should've had it for so long. This time, it was truly earned. And that was what made her heart so hard.

Finally, Rouge just grinned as she landed. Just serving Justice itself was good enough for her. The gratitude of those around her was secondary compared to all that. If people were safe, then she was happy. And that happiness would extend until the end, as long as she had all these wonderful allies!

It was on this day that they joined together. As Natura Couleur. The defenders of the city of Equilibre...

---

"That was supposed to be me..."

A quiet voice muttered from atop the tallest skyscraper in the entire city, as the culprit behind the voice just continued watching...

To see others using her title as a group name... It didn't sit right with her. And if she wanted Lumiere's plans, as awful as they were, to cease... She'd have to do something. And fast.

Otherwise, these newcomers might not realize how badly they had all been played for fools, thanks to the wanton needs of a despicable Light…