[Fluff, Tokusatsu Themes]

"...ake up..."

The faint sound of a familiar voice echoed out through a young girl's mind, the girl refusing to move despite the voice urging her to.

"Wake up..."

The voice rung out again, but the girl remained unmoving. She just snored away, quietly, peacefully, enjoying her nap. She wasn't aware of what had happened to her. The only thing that mattered to her was the sleep itself...

"MIKAI! WAKE UP!"

That is, until the voice started to raise several dozen octaves, and the girl was rather rudely shook awake by the vibrations bouncing through her, her eyes fluttering open as she tried to spin her head around and figure out who had just screamed so loudly into her ear that it almost felt like the thing was about to rupture.

"Wh-What? What's going on? I didn't sleep through class again, I promise!" The young girl, Mikai, cried out as she rubbed her eyes repeatedly to shake the sleep out of them, trembling as she slowly but surely realized something incredibly crucial...

She wasn't at home. Nor was she at school. She was in some deep, dark forest. Not the scary kind that she had seen in a couple of movies that she spent the evening enjoying with Agatha, but the kind that felt more... Moody? At least, that's what the lighting from the mushrooms around her made her think. Maybe it was one of those mystical forests that were kinda full of energy or magic or that stuff.

"Finally. Took you long enough."

Just as quickly as she had started to familiarize herself with her surroundings, everything went black. And she felt a warm but strong set of arms wrapping around her, as well as a caring pair of wings folding around her to make sure that she was nice and snug and safe.

"Chimera? Where are we?" Mikai asked as she looked around in the depths of her mental void, the only thing keeping it lit being the predator that was currently busy protecting her. "I don't remember going out and sleeping in a forest. The last time I did that, Yumeko scolded me for taking a nap without a sleeping bag..."

The tall and muscled predator let go of the young girl and slowly brushed her hand through the air, oepning up a window to the world around them, showing the glowing moss and fauna that illuminated the forest. "I don't know." She said, before pausing and blushing a bit. "Then again, it's been so long since I actually walked around in the world, so we might just be somewhere I haven't been? Your guess is as good as mine."

"Huh." Mikai muttered as she got up, stretching a bit. "What about any Jõtaijin? Can you feel their will trying to tug at the world? Maybe we can use that as some sort of anchor and then deal with a couple of baddies as a result." The girl said, grinning a little. If there was one thing she had learned from working as a heroine these last few months, it was that she could usually repurpose her abilities in a different context, as long as she had the right mindset.

Chimera shook her head. "No. I can't feel anything. Not even a sliver of willpower that seems out of the ordinary." She explained, the darkness consuming the 'window' once more, causing her to fold her arms and her wings at the same time. "It's weird. It feels like we're in some other world, since I'd be able to feel... I'd..." She paused, as her eyes widened.

"What?" The young girl asked as she tilted her head. "What's got you so worked up? Did you realize what might be wrong?" She asked, wobbling back and forth. She really couldn't stand still once there was even an inch of energy in her body...

"I can't feel Hiro."

This time, it was Mikai's turn to be shocked. If there was one person she had gotten used to over the course of the last few months, it was her fellow heroine and Jõtaider, Hiro Fukano. And she was possibly one of the most willful people she knew. That was why she had been such a challenging opponent. Because all of her willpower went into stopping the girl from getting even further into danger than she already had...

"...What if she's in danger, Chimera? What would she think if I didn't come and try to help her out?" Mikai asked, the sweat pouring down her worried face only serving to really sell how shocked this had left her. She couldn't be gone, right? Or was it the other way around, were they gone and Hiro was back home..?

Chimera took a deep breath. "She'd say that she wants us to trust her." She argued, before clenching her fists. "But I don't think that's the right thing to do. Not now. Not when we don't know where we are. We need to find out where exactly we are, and then we need to find her. You got that, Mikai?"

"Of course! There's no way I'll lose her!" Mikai shouted as the darkness around her, as well as her mental predator, disappeared as the world around her lit up once more.

She couldn't just stand around here and admire the lights and the sights and the sounds of the forest washing over her. She had a job to do. She had to find her partner and friend. Or if she couldn't do that, she at least had to try and fight her way back to her world..!

"HENSHIN!"

Mikai skipped all the fanfare of her usualy transformations as the flames of her worried will started to engulf her, a simple swipe through the air cutting through those very same flames to reveal her Flame Lion form. And as soon as she felt the armor tightening around her, serving its purpose as the second protective skin that it really was...

She took off. She didn't know where she was going, she didn't know where she was. All that she knew was that she'd find her friend. One way or another!

---

"Come ooonnnn!"

Or so she thought. But after running for what felt like an hour, but was more like 15 minutes give or take, she hadn't really found an exit to the forest, nor had she found any sign of her friend. How big was this forest?! Just how big?! And why couldn't she feel any willpower? Like, she understood that every Mosnter gave off some sort of willpower signature, it was what tied them to the Jõtai by concept. Why couldn't she feel anybody's presence?

"There was to be a way out of here. Chimera! Can't you take over for a bit? I wanna rest my leeegs!" Mikai shouted as she kept sprinting through the forest, panting a bit as she was starting to slow down. She really just wanted to lay down and sleep again, if she had to be honest.

'You're still going to be tired if I take over. It's your body, Mikai.' Her predator passenger remarked, sighing a bit. 'Even then. I'm just as confused as you are. We should've been able to find an exit at least a few minutes ago. Why haven't we been able to find one..?'

Just as the two were about to give up from a sheer lack of process, something started to echo through the sky above. And they looked straight up, wondering what might just be trying to get their attention...

Only to see a big ball of fire heading straight their way. A different kind of fire too, one that looked a bit more dense and magical compared to the flames that Mikai made when she weaponized her willpower.

Thankfully, due to her ears being turned enough to pick up on its descent before it happened, Mikai managed to dodge out of the way with a swift roll, the sweat filling the inside of her armor as she looked around to try and find the one that had tried to attack her. Though, she got a bit distracted by the fact that no flames had been left behind by the ball that impacted the ground...

"Hey! You're one of Pulzar's new minions, aren't you? You're like that big dragon lady she's got on her side!"

Mikai watched as a redhead slowly descended onto the ground, a simple scarf blowing in the wind as she accused the heroine of something rather... Strange. As far as she knew, she didn't recognize the name Pulzar. Much less big dragon ladies. The only big lady she knew was Spider, and she wasn't exactly a threat if you pressed her hard enough.

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Mikai said as she dusted herself off slightly, getting back on her feet as she looked at the girl a few more times. Just to make sure her design was sticking in her mind and she didn't just forget her the second she pulled her eyes off her.

The girl who decided to antagonize her was a simple looking girl. Blue shorts, black jacket with a white shirt and a black star on that same shirt. Besides that, she wore a long scarf that seemed to have lost a bit of color at the end, and a four-pronged star was nestled in her hair as a sort of accessory. Honestly, she was kind of cute? But why was she saying she was a baddie..?

"Don't play dumb!" The redheaded girl cried out, tightening her fist a bit. "You're why Esselia is gone, that has to be why you're here! I heard her call out, 'VESSA!', in my dream, and when I tried to look for her I just couldn't find her. But I find you and that weird armored dragon lady trying to take over, and I just can't stand it! I'm going to have to take you down, to make sure I can find her!"

Now that sounded familiar. That was why she was angry, she had lost somebody close to her. But if her situation was anywhere near the same as Mikai's, then that girl had to be in a different world. Maybe in hers? It was worth figuring out when she had the chance. But right now, the only things that stuck inside her mind was the antagonism from the redheaded girl, and the... dragon lady she was talking about...

She did sound more than a little familiar. If she was armored in the same way that she was, then...

"Take this!" The girl, Vessa, cried out as the color at the end of her scarf suddenly started to drain yet again, three segments of such having disappeared. All while her hands started to glow and her body started to shimmer.

Mikai barely got a chance to block before a barrage of shotgun-like blasts of light fired off at her, the girl doing her best to block all the shots. But despite her best effort, they were somehow breaking through her defenses. How was that possible? As far as she knew, it took willpow... Okay considering her opponent was really mad over losing her friend this didn't seem so weird now that she really thought about it.

Still, she tried to jump back as the blasts kept firing at the speed of a machine gun's fire, but she was quick to notice that something blocked her from backing away. A big constructed hand, one that stopped her from doing much. At least it was easy to get around, as it was mostly just a stationary obstacle, but it meant that at least a few parts of her armor had broken off by the time that she finally managed to get a bit out of the rapid fire's range.

"Come back here! You're not going to get away without giving me some answers!" Vessa cried out, as she suddenly whipped her hand forward. The bandages that had been discreetly wrapped around her hands suddenly unfurled as a yoyo extended and dragged the rest of the bandages off, the yoyo trying to smash straight into the armored girl. To make matters worse, it was covered in the same sort of light as those shotgun-like bullets, causing the impact to snap another piece of armor off the young heroine.

Mikai panted a bit as she hid behind the hand to try and recover from her broken armor, but that didn't earn her any breathing room as the hand soon vanished, leaving her in the range of the redhead's rapidfire once more. If she kept on trying to run away and not harm somebody that was hurting, she'd probably just end up being hurt even more...

She took a deep breath as the parts of her armor that hadn't shattered started to crack, only to let out a howl as her armor shattered completely and was replaced with a set of wolf-themed blue armor instead. "Chou Henshin!" She cried out after the fact, as claws started to slide over her fists.

"You really are like that dragon! You can transform!" Vessa cried out as two segments on her scarf started to turn pale just like before. She started shimmering yet again, but this time her hands started to swirl with wind as she tossed her that wind outward, sending small tornadoes all around.

Mikai stood her ground, despite the pull of the tornadoes. "Sorry, V... Vessa?" She paused, before shaking her head. She'd get her name properly later! "I don't want to hurt you, but I have to defend myself!" She cried out, only to seemingly vanish as the ground underneath her frosted over...

The winds didn't matter to somebody as fast as her. They just altered her course ever so slightly. But if she kept up her speed and made sure to brake whenever she turned, she wouldn't be tossed into the air by them. As long as she kept up this speed, she could keep up her assault!

Vessa blinked, and in that very same moment she was struck with a claw across the chest, causing her to get knocked back. It hurt. It hurt a lot. Not nearly as much as that dragon lady had hurt her, but enough to make her body tremble.

Another segment turned pale as she healed her wound, before she started speeding around as well. The power she had used earlier, the one that made her shimmer, caused her to speed up. And while she wasn't as fast as the other armored girl, she wasn't going to be a sitting duck!

Mikai was surprised to see the girl doing her best to outspeed her. A move that didn't quite pan out, but she had to commend her for the attempt. As long as she had the advantage in terms of speed though, she was going to put up a fight!

The two heroines clashed again and again, Mikai's attempts to slash at Vessa being countered by a Yoyo almost smacking her in the face each and every time. But no matter how much damage she took, she wasn't about to let that take her out, as she just sped up more and more.

"She's tough..!" Vessa panted as her speedup ran out, her scarf roughly halfway empty at this point. But if she wanted to keep up the good fight, she had to keep using her powers. If she could just slow her down a bit, then..!

Two more segments vanished from her scarf as one hand was now swirling with darker energies, while the other was covered in webbing. Tossing both out caused a big piece of spiderweb to cover the ground below, while the darkness started to swirl after it was tossed out, until it formed into a black hole. And unlike the tornados that were trying to spin things around after they got caught in their pull, this was definitely meant to suck the armored girl in!

Mikai, not having prepared herself for this, ended up stuck inside the webbing after the black hole started to tug at her. Leaving her a sitting duck as she struggled to break free. "Come on, that's not fair! How come you have so many different powers?!" She cried out, more than a bit upset at this fight going the way it had...

'Like you're one to talk, Mikai.' Chimera snarked a bit inside her mind. She wasn't wrong, the girl had been blessed with a lot of powers thanks to her ability to adapt to the people she fought. And by turning her willpower into different shapes thanks to the bonds that she had made...

"I'm not done yet!" Vessa cried out as she burnt another three segments of her scarf's color as she started to spin her hands around up above her head, causing a bunch of yarn to get tossed around and wrapped around itself until it all formed into a small bomb that was kind of cartoonish. Then as it started to absorb more and more of the yarn, it grew and grew until it was bigger than the girl, causing her to very nearly topple over from how big and heavy it was.

Mikai grit her teeth a bit as she clenched her fists. She couldn't break free. How was she... That's it, she knew exactly how she was going to deal with a bomb. She just hoped it wouldn't hurt more than it already was going to!

"Take thiiiisss!" Vessa shouted as she threw the bomb as hard as she could, hoping that it would fly towards the girl and land on her. Maybe even flatten her a bit. So that she could get the information she wanted.

But thanks to how much it had grown, it exploded as soon as it made impact. The yarn had done a lot to replicate the explosive effect, but it didn't replicate the fuse that was supposed to keep it safe. Leading it to blow up almost immediately as a result, the girl very nearly getting knocked back in the process.

The sheer power of the bomb was enough to kick up a rather large looking cloud of smoke, complete with a skull and bones sticking out of the top of the smoke. But once it all disappeared, it revealed something she really didn't want to see.

"Hhaaaahhh... Ow ow ow ow." Mikai muttered, her body covered in a layer of bear-like armor that had begun to shatter from how powerful the bomb was. "W-Well, I'm still standing. Guess I have to count my blessings. Isn't that what Hiro says when she makes it out of something difficult?"

'Usually she just curses until the problem's gone.' Chimera replied, sighing a bit. 'Just don't go overboard. I don't want you to end up in more trouble just because you tuckered yourself out while fighting somebody.'

Mikai nodded as she cracked her knuckles a bit, only for a swirl of wind to consume her and blow off her armor once more, a set of powerful wings blowing forward as she unleashed another one of her forms. And almost immediately after that, she took off into the skies above...

"You're not... You're not getting away!" Vessa cried out as she spent the last few segments of her scarf, three each, to use three powers in tandem yet again. First, her body was covered in a thick layer of ice, not unlike the armor that the enemy had been using to try and outspeed her. Secondly, she started to float off the ground as a thick circle formed below her, almost as if it was trying to repel her. But really, it was just gravity that had loosened its grip on her, letting her safely float upward. And finally, in that very same spot, spikes had formed all over the ground. A trap in the making!

Mikai was a little astonished at the lengths Vessa were willing to go to try and deal with her. Was that friend really so important..?

...Of course she was! Every friend was important, she wasn't about to devalue somebody's struggle just because it was for a friend. Because that was why she fought a lot of the time too!

As Vessa ascended into the air, slinging out Yoyos to try and grab Mikai out of the air before she made her swift escape just like the dragon lady that had fought and beaten her before, she thought that she really had her this time. They were both running out of steam, so she just needed to deliver the last blow, and then..!

The Yoyos made their mark, wrapping around the winged warrior's arms and getting her closer to the redheaded girl. She had her right where she wanted her. Now she just needed to throw her back down-

She didn't get the chance. As soon as Mikai got close enough to Vessa, she wrapped her arms around her. And the girl immediately started to struggle as she felt those arms wrapping around her. She thought she was going to do something terrible. Just like the dragon lady that had fought her before!

"Let go of me!" Vessa cried out, struggling the best she could. She didn't want this. She really didn't want this! The last thing she wanted was to be captured by one of Pulzar's minions. It would probably mean she'd never see Esselia ever again, if not something much worse than that..!

Mikai didn't let go. She didn't really move either. She just let herself gently glide down to the ground, wincing a little as she felt the spikes sink into her feet. But she kept holding the girl, making sure that she didn't injure herself on her own spikes. All while taking deep breaths, her armor slowly but surely cracking fully as she let go of her will to try and fight for her own survival.

Vessa blinked as the girl... really didn't do much. Causing her to pause and stop struggling, blushing more than a little bit. "U-Uh... Y-You're... Are you actually a baddie, or..:" She muttered. Ah, had she done all of this and then fought against somebody that really wasn't responsible for something bad..?

"I don't think I'm that bad." Mikai said, sighing. "But I don't think you did anything wrong, y'know?" She chimed, giggling as she let go of the young redheaded girl. "I'm Mikai. Mikai Fushimi. I'm also known as Jõtaider Mimoto in my world. Assuming that this, you know, isn't my world."

The redheaded girl sighed a bit herself, the star on her head drooping a bit as a result. "Maaaan. I messed up really baaad... I'm so sorry, Mikai. I didn't mean to cause you this much trouble!" She cried out, truly and especially sorry. She had fought against somebody that wasn't bad...

"Guess you really aren't like that other Jõtaider, if you're a hero back there. Drake's a real piece of work!" Vessa said, huffing a bit. Honestly, why were these armored girls so strong? Were all people from this other world this strong..?

Mikai laughed a little. The girl was a lot like herself. Maybe that's why they came to blows? She wasn't sure if she'd end up getting into a feud with somebody that came to her world, if they seemed similar to another baddie...

"How about we go find someplace safe, and then talk things out? I could really use a bite to eat and a good warm bed." The formerly armored heroine chimed, reaching out with one hand. Like she'd do to any other friend.

Vessa looked at the hand and immediately grabbed it, smiling back. "Sure! I'm Vessa, by the way, but I think you figured that out already, ehehe." She giggled, blushing a bit still as the two slowly but surely made their way out of the forest, using the redheaded girl as a guide since she was a native to this world.

All while they were blissfully unaware of somebody hovering far above them. A draconic armored woman, who flew off into the distance. Off towards her nest, off towards her mistress.

Off towards Dracopolis. Jõtaider Drake needed to report to Mistress Pulzar about the arrival of somebody that seemed strangely familiar to the armored woman.