Everyone was following a modified, old GMC motorhome, lovingly called the Rust Bucket 2 and belonging to Ben’s grandfather, Max Tennyson. Right now, Life was behind the wheel and the cavalcade was going across the country to Keystone, South Dakota, straight to Mt. Rushmore. Max was driving the Rust Bucket 2 with Xiomara, Sora, and Life as his passengers. They were sitting at the table with Sora looking out the window. “…Mi hijo?” asked Xiomara. “¿Está bien?”
“…No, Mama, I’m not,” mumbled Sora.
“What’s on your mind?”
“…How can I make Dad understand?”
“…No entiendo.”
“I know Dad wants me to be a Kamen Rider. Why else would he ask about me being a hero? I DO want to be one, but I’m not so sure I can specifically be a Kamen Rider.”
“Batman’s not a Kamen Rider,” reminded Life.
“And your father’s not pushing him to be one,” remarked Xiomara.
“But Dad’s always going on about how Kamen Riders are the most varied type of hero!” replied Sora.
“That’s not entirely true, the various Super Sentai teams are rather varied.”
“Sora, was it?” asked Life. “It sounds to me that you fear that you’re failing your father.”
“…I am.”
“Now that’s not true at all!” remarked Xiomara.
“Mama, what if he doesn’t accept that I don’t want to be a Kamen Rider?!”
“He WILL! …If he stupidly doesn’t, I can make him understand.”
“You know, there’s an organization that I think could help you,” mused Life. She then gave Sora a blue ring. Sora picked it up and saw that the ring had the symbol of what looked like an alien lantern on it.
“…The Blue Lantern Corps?” he asked.
“They could give you the serenity your crave and give you the ability to fight without the use of a belt.”
“I’m sure Papa would love to know that his son is a Blue Lantern,” urged Xiomara.
“…I’ll think about it.”
“Here we are!” called Max. “Mt. Rushmore!” The familiar carved faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln loomed over everyone. The cavalcade drove into the mountains and a secret entrance opened to reveal a hidden base. Ben’s Phury was taken to the medical ward and Sky Runner advised the medical staff on treatment. It required Energon to counteract the effects of the Dark Energon in Phury’s bloodstream. The two would cancel each other out and the body’s immune system would naturally purge it. She would be out of action for a few hours. As he waited, Sora looked at the ring Life gave him. Life then approached Sora again.
“…It’s a big decision,” she remarked.
“…Life, do you even WANT to leave this universe?” asked Sora. Life grimaced.
“To be honest, no.”
“Why?”
“Because this universe is one of the most diverse ones when it comes to life-forms. Yes, it has its baddies that want to burn it or control it, but this universe is proof that life finds a way!”
“Then maybe your Source would be safer here.”
“I don’t think I got the full story about why you lot are here.”
“…It’s about the boss of the ones that invaded Plumber HQ. You see, he has something called the Tome-”
“The what?!”
“Th-The Tome.”
“The same Tome that can make something real by writing it down and narrating it?!”
“Y-Yes!” Life’s face was frozen in stark terror.
“…That’s why they’re here! They want my Source!”
“They’re after your sister’s Sources too,” called a voice. It was Rosadera. “Optimus, Megumi, and Arsha’s 3V2R prizes are also needed for the Author’s grand design.”
“…Then it really IS time to go home. …Will they really accept a nine Horseman Sisterhood?”
“It’s ten again,” said Sora. Life looked to him in surprise. “The Horsemen of the Apocalypse found their new Chaos, a lady by the name of Lacey.”
“…40,000 years it took them to do that,” mused Life. She smiled. “Order’s going to like that. …I miss them so much.”
“Then maybe now’s a good chance to reconnect with them,” suggested Sora.
“…Not until we get my Source back.”
“Where is it?”
“In a hidden pocket dimension inside Plumber HQ. We must retake it soon.”
“We better discuss this with everyone, then,” declared Rosadera. “Sora, are you coming with us?”
“I…I still need to decide,” replied Sora.
“Just know this,” said Life, “you don’t need a belt to be a hero.”
Sora spent some time to himself. He still couldn’t figure out what he wanted to do when it came to stopping evil. As he looked out of Washington’s eye, his mind still spun with questions. “And they say I brood a lot,” chuckled a voice. A de-Borgified Bruce Wayne then came up.
“…Mr. Wayne, how do you cope?” asked Sora.
“…With what?”
“With being what Gotham wants you to be?” Bruce chuckled.
“Take it from me, if Gotham found out the connection between me and my night life, they’d want me to give up being Batman.”
“Then how can you really say you’re a hero?!”
“There are enough people that look up to Batman as a symbol of hope. As long as I can inspire someone to fight against evil until the day they die, then I have won. …It’s about your dad, isn’t it?”
“I worry that he can’t see that there are other means of fighting evil without a belt.”
“I don’t think he’s THAT obsessed with the Kamen Rider franchise. I doubt he’d be in the F.N.S if he was that mule-headed. Remember, I fought alongside him in the Vortech Wars. While his preferred method of hero work involves a belt to give him armor, he respects my own methods. He once compared the variety of heroes to ice cream, there are many different flavors and they all taste good to someone.”
“But what about carrying on the legacy? I mean, don’t you want one of your family to be the next Batman?”
“I’d rather they find their own path.” Sora was surprised by that answer. “That’s what any parent wants. When Dick Grayson became Nightwing and got himself out of my shadow as Batman, I couldn’t be prouder of him. And I know Hiroki, he would want you to carve out your own path.”
“…I guess I’m not so hopeful,” admitted Hiroki.
“You know, there’s an organization in my universe that fights for hope,” replied Bruce. “They usually assist the Green Lanterns.”
“…You’re not talking about the Blue Lanterns, are you?”
“You know about them?”
“I’ve done some research on each Lantern Corps. Life gave me a Blue Lantern ring.”
“Well, Kamen Riders fight for hope, why not assist them as a Blue Lantern? Just a suggestion.” Bruce then headed off and Sora took the ring out of his pocket, staring at it.
“…Hope,” he muttered. “…I could do with that myself.” He then looked to the stars. “Imagine that, a monk needing hope.”
Bruce met up with Megumi, Optimus, and Arsha. “Something on your mind, Bruce?” asked Megumi.
“Your nephew is a little lacking in hope,” replied Bruce. Megumi grimaced.
“It’s something he’s struggled with for his entire life. He looks up to his father a lot and wants to emulate him, but he’s come face to face with the fact that he’s not his father and he feels like he’s failing himself.”
“That’s a load!” remarked Optimus. “He’s not failing anyone!”
“Unfortunately, I know all too well of children that feel like they’re not living up to their parents’ ideals when they feel that their parents are wrong in some fashion,” sighed Arsha.
“One of your kids?” asked Megumi.
“Both of me and Lardeth’s kids. They wanted to be heroes like us but didn’t like combat. It was a huge relief to them when we told them we didn’t like combat either, especially after the Final War. I think Sora and Hiroki need to talk it out soon.”
“I have a feeling the conversation will be better than Sora realizes. I know Hiroki. He’s a very understanding man. The only thing he’s afraid of is that his son won’t find his own path.”
“Any parent fears that for their kid,” replied Optimus. “I went through that with my daughters. For a moment, I thought that my own kids would want to be a Prime. When I offered them the Matrix, though, they said no, they didn’t want to lead the Autobots. …Now, Glyph, on the other servo, I think she has potential to be a better Prime than me.”
“If Arcee’s okay with it,” remarked Arsha.