A gloved hand rapped upon a doorway cloaked in shadows. The answering tap from the other side of the door received another series of knocks in return. There was a long silence, broken only by the squeak of the handle turning. A small crack might have appeared between door and frame, if only such things weren't invisible in the darkness. A voice spoke in a low whisper. "Their fangs prowl over an endless plain." Was this some sort of nonsense? Not to the one whom knocked, apparently, as a reply swiftly came. "The sleeping hawk watches their passage." No words then, but the sound of a door unlocking and swinging open, a series of footsteps, the sound of a lock being set.
On the other side of that door sat several figures, forms barely visible in the tiny bit of light that reached into the room. Dust motes swirled past a single window. With the newcomer and the guard at the door added to their number, the circle's occupants numbered seven. One of them cleared their throat and began to speak. "Greetings to you, my friends...my allies in this most honorable task. Thank you all for coming today. Now, let us begin this meeting in time-honored fashion, as my mentor taught me when I first took on the mantle we all share." The speaker's head bowed for a moment. Then, in a burst of energy and strength, a chair was shoved back with a squeal of metal on tile. Its owner leaped upright, one fist held overhead, as the young male voice shouted out a single order: "Dai-tai-tsu! Roooll! Caaaaaall!"
More metal folding chairs slid back, or banged onto the floor, or crashed into others, as the room became a sudden buzz of activity. Triumphant, heroic music began to play somewhere, complete with sound effects at appropriate moments. Dark fabrics flew through the air when each figure jumped to their feet, voices filling the air one by one.
"History's wisdom, Sentai Blue!"
"Art's inspiration, Sentai White!"
"Science's hope, Sentai Yellow!"
"Music's passion, Sentai Black!"
"Number's clarity, Sentai Green!"
"Athlete's energy, Sentai Pink!"
"Sword's honor, Sentai Red!"
A light turned on suddenly and revealed that each speaker wore a costume, including a helmet that obscured their features. Each was different in style and design, but anyone who saw their clothes and the dramatic poses could guess that they were drawing ideas from the same genre of TV shows and movies. From within one of the helmets came the first speaker's words once again. "Together, we are..." Without missing a beat, as if it had been practiced countless times, the group moved as one into a collective pose. The music playing reached its peak just as they spoke in unison. "Gakuen Mamori Sentai! Dai-Nanatsu!"
The flawless execution would have been impressive, if not for one small detail... "Aaaaagh! Who knocked over the sodas?!" cried Sentai White, who found themselves standing in a growing cola puddle. "Hang on, I'll get towels!" Green jumped over a chair and scrambled across the unused classroom that served as their base of operations. "My speakers are all wet tooooo," groaned Black, who began trying to shake off the sticky mess while moving towards the source of their theme music. Blue just sighed and picked up the bottle before things could get any worse, while Yellow could be seen trying to blockade the spreading puddle with their discarded belongings. "H-hey, that's my favorite jacket!" Pink protested loudly.
Red grabbed towels from the returning Green and joined in cleaning up the mess, only to pause on the way to the trash can. "What's with all the noise out there?" A helmet bumped against the small circular window on the wall. It was then removed for a clearer view of the world outside, though from behind, all that was visible was a dark head of hair. "Weird. Are those...maids?"
"What?!" The bang of more helmeted heads crashing into Red's, the glass of the window, and one another was noisy...but the "Ooowww!!" that followed was probably loud enough to be heard out in the hall. If anyone had looked up at just the right moment, they might have seen a face smooshed against a window by a bunch of colorful headgear, only to fall away when the owner fell to the floor with a thud. "Ooops..." one of the helmeted figures muttered.
