黙示戦隊スカイファイター
Apocalypse Sentai Skyfighter

Red VS Red

A hiking trip goes terribly wrong for Davis, when he loses his Skyfighter powers, and is forced to fight his worst enemy... himself!

Summary

The Apocalypse Empire has been quiet lately, so Davis wants to take advantage of the lull to go on a hiking trip out of town. It'll only be for a day, he explains; he asks Oji if he can temporarily pass on his Skyfighter powers to another person. Not possible, Oji tells him, since once activated, the transformation badges are bound to his DNA. Only someone like a brother could use it, but Davis is an only child. But Oji thinks they'll be fine without him for a day, and encourages him to go anyway.

Meanwhile, the villains are scheming. Kime-Ra reveals his latest creation: a set of clones of the Skyfighters! Just in time, too, since the Fangwings have reported back data saying that Davis is all alone, far from help; Apocalie has just the plan. Oblivious, Davis washes his hands in a river, enjoying his trip, thinking out loud that it's nice to not have to worry about the rest of the team. Suddenly, someone announces himself. Davis is shocked to discover that he looks exactly like himself! They fight, seemingly evenly matched; right when Davis is about to transform, Fangwings swoop in and snatch the badge. Davis struggles to get it back, but it's too late: instead, the clone transforms into Skyfighter Red! Soon realizing that he's no match in an even fight, Davis is forced to run. The evil Red and his Fangwings chase after him.

Even having managed to escape, hiding just off the trail, Davis is overcome with the feeling that he's doomed. He asks himself how he could possibly defeat someone with all his strengths. Then he hears the evil Red shouting at one of his minions, and he realizes he knows exactly how: because he has all his weaknesses, too. Knowing how to beat him, Davis emerges and shows himself. The evil Red is about to order his minions to attack, but Davis just laughs at him, telling him that the whole thing was just a trick.

He asks the evil Red if he knows how he was able to get away, trying to convince him that it was actually one of his minions that helped him. Red questions the Fangwings, demanding an explanation; of course, naturally not getting one from the silent henchmen. Furious, he turns on them, fighting his own minions! Taking advantage of the distraction, Davis clubs his clone on the head from behind with a walking stick, knocking him out and depowering him. Davis wastes no time in taking back his badge, and the Fangwings quickly flee. Davis leaves the clone to his fate as he walks away, realizing that his greatest enemy isn't the Apocalypse Empire; it's himself.

Quotes

Davis: "If they're bound to your DNA, then how could you have been Skyfighter Red before?"
Oji: "It wasn't the same transformer. Different red. More of a maroon compared to yours, really."

Davis: "Oh, I needed this. No responsibilities, no team to worry about. It's just me now."
Davis clone: "That's right... just you!"

Davis: "It's over, it's all over. If he gets back to the city, they'll think it's me... there's no telling how much damage he could do! But I'll never be able to stop him, not in time. He has all of my strengths; how could I possibly beat him?"
Davis clone: "You morons! What's wrong with you all?! How could you just let him get away?!"
Davis: [ Pause. ] "Of course! He also has all my weaknesses! But I bet he hasn't realized what they are yet..."

Davis: "I almost wish that didn't work. But of course it did, he didn't realize he has the exact same problem that I do... the only person he ever really trusted was himself. [ Long pause. ] The only difference is, I know I have to fight that. For the sake of the team."

Comments

• This marks the first appearance of an evil version of the hero, a concept infrequently visited in other tokusatsu series.
• The Skyfighter clones themselves are revisited much later on in the series.
• "Skyfighter Maroon" is just the Skyfighter Red costume filmed in different lighting, with the chest decoration removed.
• Davis sure does think out loud a lot.