Hour 3: The Workhorse Curse

A/N: Heyyyyy everyone, it's Trey-El here with the third chapter of Doubutsu Sentai Zikanger.

DISCLAIMER: The Super Sentai brand belongs to Toei, the characters are mine however.

Let's Begin.

Dillon let out another groan as he was slammed onto the mat for the fifth time today by Daemon. It had been about two weeks since the Squid TokiZyu had attacked, so Takahashi decided that while Dillon, his cousin, and Malik were able to drive off the TokiZyu, they would still need training to get to the same level that Hiro and Chiaki were at. Hence, here Dillon was, getting slammed once again.

"Do you think you could go a little softer?" Dillon asked, getting to his feet, "I won't be able to fight any TokiZyu if I'm hurt."

Daemon put his hands on his hips, "That is true, but you must understand that the TokiZyu won't go easy on you." he said.

"Can I at least get a break then? For my legs to heal a bit?" Dillon asked.

Daemon raised an eyebrow, "Your legs hurt?" He asked.

"Yeah..." Dillon said after a brief silence.

"You're just trying to worm your way out of training aren't you?" Malik said as he walked up in a grey muscle shirt and black jeans.

Dillon gave a nervous scoff, "Who me? Never. Where'd you get that impression?"

Malik regarded his teammate calmly, "I've been watching your training and you have not once landed on your feet. Back? Sure. Shoulder? Definitely. Your legs though? Never." he explained.

Dillon then began limping, "I wouldn't be limping if my legs didn't hurt." he said, walking away.

Once he was sure Malik and Daemon weren't looking at him, Dillon changed into his normal walk. He was pretty sure they knew he was fine, but he didn't care as long as he didn't have to get slammed again. He walked into the main deck of the team dubbed 'Zikan Ship' and saw his cousin sitting in one of the seats at the cockpit with a bag of ice on her shoulder.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked as he walked over to her.

"Training." Sierra said, "Chiaki went a little over board on it and ended up hurting my shoulder."

"Tell me about it, I just had to fake hurting my leg to get out of my training. Tired of being slammed on my back you know?" Dillon said, taking the seat beside Sierra.

Sierra nodded as Hiro walked into the area.

"Thought you two were supposed to be training." he said.

"We're just taking a break dude, relax. Besides, aren't you supposed to be training too?" Dillon asked with narrowed eyes.

Hiro rolled his own, "I do my training early in the morning for your information. Not that I necessarily have to since, unlike you, I'm not a newbie." he stated.

Dillon scowled, "Whatever. Can you please just leave us be for now? Don't feel like talking to pricks right now." he explained.

Hiro began to walk towards Dillon, but his father walked in.

"Dillon, Sierra. You two alright?" he asked.

Sierra gave the man a wary look, "Sir, could you please tell your daughter to take it a bit easier on me? She hurt my shoulder."

Dillon raised his hand, "Same for Daemon please?"

Hiro scoffed, "You two need to build up your endurance then. Worse injuries can happen when it comes to battling the TokiZyu." he said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Dillon shot back.

Hiro began to walk towards Dillon again, but was stopped by his father.

"While I understand your complaints, it's imperative that you two and Malik get fully prepared in order to combat the TokiZyu." Takahashi told the two teens, "Speaking of which, where is Malik?"

"Probably taking another training session with Daemon. How he doesn't complain is beyond me." Dillon said.

"He's a football player Dillon, he'd be more used to training then us." Sierra reasoned.

Dillon suddenly shot up, "Maybe I could join the football team! That'd be a boost in popularity for sure!" he exclaimed.

Sierra raised an eyebrow, "Firstly, why did you suddenly bring that up? Secondly, that's not a good idea. I remember you trying out before school started."

Dillon sharply sucked in his breath, "Good points."

Zei sat on top of a building with her legs hanging off of the side. She was waving them like a child while watching the evening sky change to an orange-like color.

"Having fun there?" A young male voice asked.

Turning around, Zei saw a young male with black hair and purple eyes just like her own. His suit was a dark grey with royal blue armor over-top that had silver lining.

"Zik!" Zei said excitedly, standing up, "What is my twin brother doing all the way here?"

"Was ordered to follow you by Emps. He doesn't want any trouble along the way as you look to make sure we win again." Zik replied.

Zei scoffed and laughed, "Like I've failed before." she said.

"You haven't." Zik agreed, "However, with people from our time being here, especially those two teens, our king needed there to be no doubt."

Zei nodded, "Guess he has a point." she stated.

"He also isn't happy that the Squid TokiZyu was defeated." Zik said.

Zei scowled at her twin, "How's that my fault?!"

Zik shrugged, "You were in charge of the attack and you are the one who created the TokiZyu so yes, it is essentially your fault."

Zei crossed her arms as Zik looked out towards the evening sky.

"Have you gotten to work on finding a new TokiZyu?" he asked.

Zei sighed, "No. You?"

Zik smiled, "Of course my dear twin."

A whistle blared as Coach Marshall Adams stopped the current practice of Jackson High's resident football team, the Hornets. He was trying to get in some last minute training in on top of the training he was already giving them to prepare for their upcoming game against the Terrence High Terrors. However, there was one problem.

"What's going on today? You guys aren't working as hard as you usually do." The coach said.

"Coach Adams," a player said, taking off his helmet, "We're all tired and we've been working on drills and plays for a week now. I think it's time for a break."

Coach Adams narrowed his eyes, "A break? Do you think I got to take a break when I was playing for this same team at this same high school? No, we sucked it up and kept going, no matter what." he said.

"But Coach-" another player whined.

"No buts! If you have forgotten, we have a game against the Terrors. If we do not come full prepared, we will start off our season with a loss. None of you want that do you?" Marshall asked his team.

The players looked at each other briefly before one came forward.

"What good will this much training do if we are all drained? If we collapse, we will lose anyway." he said.

With that, the entire team walked past Coach Adams and back towards the school. The Coach watched them briefly before growling in irritation and throwing down his hat.

"He really might be a good candidate." Zei said as she and Zik watched on from atop the school building.

"Of course. I'm not usually wrong anyway." Zik said.

Zei then pulled out a new TokiZyu Timer with a purple silhouette of a horse in the center of the silver clock on the face and looked it over with a smirk.

Some time later, Marshall was alone in his office packing his duffel-bag angrily.

"Those kids don't understand." he said to himself, "This is important. They have all the energy in the world to go out to parties and hang out with their friends at anytime, but it's too much work to train?"

"Sounds like someone's upset."

Marshall looked up, but was immediately injected by Zei. He screamed as blue electricity surged through him, shaking violently. The electricity and his screams eventually stopped as his deep blue eyes became an electric blue color. Zei smiled and pulled the TokiZyu Timer out of the injector and handed it to Marshall.

"You're right, these kids do have time to do everything but train. You can change that now though, can't you?" she rhetorically asked, "As a matter of fact, I know where they'll be tomorrow."

The next day, Dillon and Sierra entered the local mall and walked over to the food court.

"Are you sure they won't mind?" Sierra asked.

"It's just one day of skipping training. I think we deserve it. After all, aren't you tired of being slammed already?" Dillon asked.

Sierra nodded, "You have a point I guess."

Laughter then filled the court as a group of teens wearing varsity jackets walked in.

Dillon frowned, "The Jackson High Hornets football team." He said bitterly.

"Bad blood?" Sierra asked.

"They're Terrence High's rival. Full of prep kids who have the money to get basically whatever they want." Dillon explained, "Where as our school believes in coming up from the bottom and earning what you have."

"Ah. So prick-bag rich kids?" Sierra asked.

Dillon nodded, "Exactly." he said before paying for the food he had bought with Sierra doing the same quickly after.

Nearby, Coach Adams watched his football team with a scowl, turning the TokiZyu Timer over in his hand.

"You will train. Whether you like it or not." He said before pressing the button on top of the timer.

HORSE!

Not losing his scowl, Marshall roughly pressed the flat end of the timer against his chest. As he groaned, a cracked clock appeared above him and shot a beam down onto him. The beam vanished and revealed a robot with horse-like armor appeared in Marshall's place. He then let out a neigh and charged towards the group of football players.

Hearing screams, Dillon and Sierra turned to see the horse monster scoop up the players and run off.

"TokiZyu?" Dillon asked.

"TokiZyu. Let's go." Sierra responded before the two ran after the monster.

Outside, the Horse TokiZyu slammed the players to the ground.

"Wha-what do you want?" one of the boys asked.

"I want you to start training like you never have before." Marshall said in a robotic version of his own voice, "Or else."

The player raised his eyebrow, "Or else what?"

The Horse TokiZyu opened it's mouth and a cyan blue beam began to charge in the back of his throat. Before he could do anything, two blasts of energy hit him in the back and knocked him off balance, sending the beam in his mouth into a parked car that was then burned. Turning around, Marshall saw the Red and Pink Zikangers aiming their blasters at him.

"None of that kind gentleman." Dillon quipped.

Sierra turned to the football players, "Go! Get out of here!" she commanded.

The boys nodded and ran away. The Horse TokiZyu's eyes then glowed blue as it scanned the two.

"You've skipped training today." He said as his eyes dulled, "Let me teach you a lesson."

The TokiZyu then suddenly rushed forward and kicked Dillon away before swinging an arm towards Sierra. The Pink Zikanger caught it and tried to counter with a blast, but the Horse TokiZyu kicked her leg out and tossed her into some garbage cans. Sierra then watched as her cousin jumped onto the TokiZyu's back and started hitting it with the handle of his Zikan Shooter.

She then touched her helmet, "Zikan Pink to base. We need some assistance here."

Malik walked out of the boys locker room at Terrence High and stretched his shoulder. A beep from his bag caught his attention and he hastily walked away from the crowd of fellow football players. Once outside, he pulled out his Zikan Changer and pressed the red button on the side.

"This is Malik. What's the problem?"

"Dillon and Sierra need help. Meet us at the mall." Chiaki's voice announced.

"Got it." Malik said before running to his car.

Dillon was tossed into a pair of trash cans as the Horse TokiZyu turned to his cousin. Sierra ducked the attack and shot at the robot before her Zikan Shooter was knocked out of her hands. She was then swiftly tossed next to her cousin.

Dillon quickly crawled over to her, "You alright?" Dillon asked.

"Yeah." Sierra said as she got to her feet, "How'd this guy know that we skipped training though?"

Dillon shrugged as the Horse TokiZyu chuckled.

"Doesn't matter how I know." he said, "Those who skip training will never be good enough at what they do."

"Then you'll be happy that we do." A voice announced.

The Horse TokiZyu turned to the source of the noise and was pelted by two blasts as the Blue and Yellow Zikangers arrived.

Hiro turned to Dillon and Sierra, "Thought you two were taking a day off to relax at home?"

"More like skipping training." The Horse TokiZyu said as he got to his feet.

"Wasn't asking you." Hiro replied as he rushed forward while Chiaki gave him some cover-fire.

The Horse TokiZyu threw a punch, but Hiro caught it and connected with a punch of his own. The TokiZyu staggered, but stayed on his feet and stomped on the ground with spiked rocks shooting into the air before coming back down. Hiro and Chiaki were caught but some of those rocks and were sent to the ground.

The Horse TokiZyu went to step towards the downed Zikangers, but a flash of green tackled him to the ground. Looking up, the TokiZyu saw Zikan Green standing over him.

"A football tackle? You must be a fool." The robot said before swinging its leg at the green hero.

Malik jumped over the swinging leg and then tried to kick the downed TokiZyu, but his leg was caught and he was tossed aside. Getting back to his feet, Malik quickly rolled out of the way of the Horse TokiZyu as it flew at him and followed up by picking the robot up and slamming it into a wall. The Horse TokiZyu then elbowed the football player in the back before shoving him off.

Malik summoned his Zikan Shooter and shot the Horse TokiZyu in the shoulder. He then jumped, doing a flip as he extended his right leg towards the robot. The horse robot moved and then kicked Malik out of the way.

He then began to pant, "You're good." he said simply.

"Yeah, but you aren't. Seeing as how you aren't paying attention to your surroundings." Malik responded.

The Horse TokiZyu turned around and was immediately pelted by the energy blasts from the other Zikangers, sending him on to his back. The five began running towards him, but multiple blue portals blocked their advance. When the portals vanished, multiple beings were suddenly surrounding the Horse TokiZyu. They all looked the same and had a black body with silver armor on their forearms and torso with a silver mask on their faces that had blue eyes.

"What are these things?" Dillon asked.

"Zikagents. The Time Wranglers' foot soldiers." Hiro explained with a growl.

"Or to put it more accurately, their cannon fodder to protect the bigger threat." Chiaki added.

The Zikagents wordlessly summoned short swords and rushed towards the Zikangers. The Horse TokiZyu then got to his feet and stealthily escaped.

Hiro blocked a slash from one agent and swept its legs out from under it. He then got to his feet and shot the agent with his Zikan Shooter before turning to his right to see another one swinging its sword at him. Dodging that attack, Hiro kicked the Zikagent in the chest and shot it in the back, sending it to the ground.

Chiaki somersaulted over the small group of Zikagents trying to attack her and then performed a roundhouse kick that knocked one down before shooting two more. The other agent tried to stab her, but Chiaki leaned out of the way and kicked the Zikagent's arm, sending its sword flying into the air. She shot this one and spotted the last one running at her. She quickly grabbed the sword out of the sky and slashed the approaching Zikagent across its chest, using the momentum to spin around and get on one knee before shooting the robot.

Malik shoulder tackled a Zikagent and rolled back on to his feet before shooting two more. Another agent managed to reach him, but Malik quickly hit in the gut with the but of the handle on his Zikan Shooter before elbowing it in the back, slamming it face first into the ground. The quarterback then looked up to see two Zikagents running at him and chuckled. Using his foot, Malik rolled the downed Zikagent in front of him into the air before kicking it towards the rushing Zikagents. When the three agents connected, Malik shot at the one he kicked, sending all three down.

Dillon dodged a slash from a Zikagent and kicked it away before both of his arms were restrained by two more. As he struggled to get out of their grasp, the foot soldier he kicked away got back to its feet and slashed Dillon across his chest. The two holding Dillon then let him go and kicked him into some trash cans.

Sierra was in a similar situation as she did her best to avoid any attack thrown at her. She eventually felt her back hit a wall, but focused on ducking a slash from another agent which sliced the wall. She was then suddenly had her legs kicked out from under her and landed on her back. She quickly aimed her Zikan Shooter at the nearest Zikagent and shot it in the chest four times before being grabbed by her legs and slung over by her cousin.

The two then watched as the Zikagents stalked towards them while trying to get to their feet.

ZIKAN BURST!

The Zikagents turned to the source of the noise and were immediately cut down by three bolts of energy. The two cousins took a sigh of relief and untransformed. Dillon was then suddenly grabbed by his shirt and lifted to his feet by a visibly upset Hiro.

"That was why you should spend your time training instead of slacking off!" He stated.

Dillon shoved his hand away, "Give us a break. That was our first time fighting those things! We couldn't of possibly been prepared." he replied.

"I did pretty well and I've never fought those things." Malik added, "Hiro has a point. You two should really train more."

"Yeah yeah, we get it." Sierra said.

"Anyway," Chiaki then interjected, "Did you two find out anything about this new TokiZyu? A motive or anything?"

"He was going after the Jackson High football team. Was talking about training as per the usual." Dillon explained.

"That makes some sense. Jackson High's team does have a reputation of not training to the fullest. They care more about parties and the like." Malik said.

Hiro then looked towards the ground quizzically, "Then the TokiZyu must be someone who wants the team to train harder."

"Their coach." Malik said.

Dillon pointed at the quarterback, "Yeah. Jackson hasn't made it very far in the season since their coach was a player in the team. He would probably want them to train just as hard."

"However, most teens don't train like they are supposed to." Hiro said, throwing a glare at Dillon and Sierra, which was returned by the male cousin.

"So Zei walks in and makes him the new TokiZyu. Why would he threaten to kill his players though? It doesn't help his team." Sierra stated.

"TokiZyu's have the natural urge to kill other humans. In his case, it was probably train or die." Chiaki explained.

Sierra nodded as Dillon spoke up, "One question though? Where did the Zikagents come from? The Squid TokiZyu didn't have them."

Hiro's fist balled up, "There must be another Time Wrangler here."

"Maybe Zik?" Chiaki asked.

Hiro nodded, "Most likely. We can't worry about that right now; we need to worry about how we're going to fight off this TokiZyu. Can't just storm into Jackson High and beat him up." he said.

"No." Malik said, "We can still arrive to talk to him though."

The other four looked at him with their eyebrows raised.

"Come on! I know you can do better! Let's go!" Coach Adams shouted to his team.

He watched in satisfaction as his team kept working themselves despite their obvious exhaustion. He had seen an improvement to their drive after he terrorized them with his new power. Sure, it may have been cruel, but ultimately it would make them a better team right? Marshall smiled at the thought of them defeating Terrence High for the first time in years.

Later on, Marshall walked out of the Jackson High building and towards his car. On the way there though, he saw a dark figure watching him.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Doesn't matter. What does matter is that I know you're overworking your team." the figure said.

Marshall scoffed, "Don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm talking about the clock you have. I have one too." The figure then pulled out an object similar to the clock Marshall had.

GIGANT!

They then inserted it into something on their wrist which administered a green light.

TIME STARTING!

A green holographic clock then appeared behind the figure, making them appear even darker in a blinding green glow. They then raised their arms above their head and brought them back down.

"Zikan Change!" the figure shouted.

ZIKAN CHANGE!

The holographic clock stopped at 4 o'clock and shot above the figure before lowering on to them and stopped at their feet.

ZIKAN GREEN!

"Power of the Gigantelope! Zikan Green!" Malik exclaimed.

"Oh, it's you." Marshall said in a low tone, "Been waiting for a rematch."

He then pulled out his TokiZyu Timer.

HORSE!

He then pressed it against himself and transformed into the Horse TokiZyu. He then charged at the Green Zikanger and threw a punch that was ducked. Malik then jumped up to attempt a roundhouse kick, but was swiftly dodged and punched in the stomach. He was then kicked into a car and fell on his face.

"You aren't going to stop me! I will work those kids to death if it means winning." The Horse TokiZyu said before walking towards the downed Zikanger.

However, two shots rang out and hit the TokiZyu in the chest, forcing him back. The other four Zikangers then ran on to the scene with their Zikan Shooters in hand.

"You know, I can't believe that you actually got him to transform and fight." Dillon said to Malik.

"Yeah yeah." Malik said as Chiaki helped him up.

"Glad it did though. Now we can finish this TokiZyu off." she said.

"Take your best shot!" the TokiZyu yelled.

"Thanks for the invitation." Dillon mocked before shooting at the Horse TokiZyu again.

Hiro then stepped forward, "Let's go!" he commanded.

The five rushed forward and engaged the TokiZyu. Hiro threw a cross that the Horse TokiZyu ducked but was then kicked in the back by Chiaki before taking two more blasts from Sierra and Dillon. While he staggered, Malik jumped off of the shoulders of Sierra and Dillon to perform a flying kick at the TokiZyu, knocking it down. The Horse TokiZyu growled and pressed the button on the side of his belt.

NEIGHING FIRE!

The Horse TokiZyu then opened its mouth and let out a cyan blue beam towards the Zikangers. The five teens dodged the blast and inserted their Zikan Timers into their Zikan Shooters.

ZIKAN CHARGE!

The TokiZyu tried to blast them again, but the teens were quicker and pulled the triggers on their shooters.

ZIKAN BURST!

Blasts of energy then went into the open mouth of the TokiZyu and an explosion followed. When the fire died down, Marshall Adams collapsed and the Horse TokiZyu Timer landed on the pavement. The five teens went to move, but their bodies and the world around them suddenly froze.

"What's going on?' Dillon asked.

Zei and Zik then walked up with Zei picking up the TokiZyu Timer.

"You two!" Hiro yelled out.

While Zik slowly turned to him, Zei shot up with a smile on her face.

"Hello again dear Zikangers! Hope you're having as much fun in the past as we are." she said.

"As we are? How do you know this is the past?" Chiaki asked.

"We are not bound by the rules of time child." Zik said, "We have no past or future, just an everlasting present."

With that, the two Time Wranglers disappeared and time started once again.

"Everlasting present? What does that mean exactly?" Malik asked.

"Like the guy said, they have no past or future." Sierra said.

"Which means we aren't fighting a past version of them." Chiaki added.

"We're fighting the Wranglers as they are in our future. They followed us here." Hiro explained.

"So, exactly how dangerous are they in your future?" Dillon asked.

"None of us could beat them. Even together." Hiro replied.

The five then heard a groan and looked on as Coach Adams began to stir. Chiaki rushed over and helped the man up.

"Are you okay sir?" She asked.

"I think so. Why was I on the floor?" The coach asked.

"That's not really important right now. What is important is that you give your team a break." Malik said.

"But the game-"

"Will be okay if they take a day off." Dillon said, "Overworking them won't make them better."

"Overworking? I don't overwork them." Marshall stated.

"You did for a bit. Trust me, giving them a break is in your best interest." Hiro said.

"How are you going to win a game if all your players end up collapsing on the field?" Sierra asked.

Marshall looked down, "You have a point."

"Yeah. Oh, by the way? Stay away from the woman with the purple eyes and black hair okay?" Chiaki asked.

"How did you know about that?" Marshall asked.

"She made you into a monster that was trying to overwork the football team here since you wanted to beat Terrence High. Trust us, she's no good." Hiro said with a growl.

Marshall nodded, "I promise I will stay away from her."

"Good." Hiro said before turning and walking away.

Chiaki shook her head, "Let me help you to your car." she said to Coach Adams.

Dillon got slammed on his back again and groaned.

"Have mercy man." He said to Daemon as he struggled back to his feet.

Malik chuckled nearby as Hiro watched stoically.

Dillon turned to Malik, "I don't know why you're so happy. Didn't you lose to Jackson High?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I'm gracious in defeat. Now, you might want to focus." Malik replied.

Dillon turned back to Daemon only to have his legs swept out from under him.

"Ow." Dillon groaned as he landed on his back again.

"You need to train on not turning your back to your opponent." Daemon said, earning a glare from Dillon.

Sierra and Chiaki then walked into the room, Sierra holding an ice pack on her shoulder.

"Not doing much better than I did huh?" Sierra asked.

"Nope." Dillon replied as he got up to his feet again.

'Never skipping training again.' he thought to himself.

A/N: FINALLY! Wow was this chapter difficult one to write. Not because it's complex; because I honestly wasn't feeling this one at all. I don't what it is, but this was just a case of constant writer's block and laziness when it comes to this one. Byte's issue was internet troubles, this was just me not really wanting to finish this.

Anyway, there's something I wanna bring up here and I'll try to make it as quick as possible. Even though it's only happened three times, can you please not ask when something is going to be released or if I'm still doing things? If I'm not continuing a story, I'll inform you all. If there's nothing saying I'm not writing it, odds are I'm still working on it. For those who have read my stuff for a while, you know I have a TERRIBLE track record when it comes to updating stories. I'm trying to fix it, but I can't make any promises.

I'm not annoyed with those who asked (it was only two people if you're curious), but asking me won't make finish things faster because I tend to take my time an put out at least decent work.

Okay, that's all.

So, as always if you liked this story, don't forget to review, follow, and maybe even favorite this story. Even if you didn't like it, try leaving me some constructive criticism to tell me how I can make the story better (this extends to the people who may like this story as well).

Till Next Time, Happy Reading Everyone ~ Trey-El ;-)