I stretched in my bed, the new dream I had being pleasant and restful. I got up and saw Richard stirring. Emily wasn’t in bed, must have woken up before us. Hope her dreams were restful. I stroked Richard’s hair and blushed. My mind wandered to a possible future with me as his wife, ruling a fairytale land. However, I suppressed such thoughts as Vortech was a more immediate priority. I came into my bathroom to wash my face. The door shut and I saw Emily in the mirror. “Why don’t you just tell my brother you love him instead of burying such thoughts?” she whispered. Curse her sharpness.
“Vortech is a more important priority,” I replied.
“Those feelings you have aren’t new,” she countered. “You’ve had them for a while, before we came here.”
“He’s more interested in the duties of being a knight instead of romance,” I argued.
“Are you sure?” asked Emily. I turned to face her, blinking. “I’ve seen the way he makes the goo-goo eyes at you.”
“He what?” I yelped. He’s making lovey eyes at me?! How did I not notice?! At that point, I heard a knock.
“YO! ROSE BUSH!” called Richard to Emily. “ARE YOU DONE?! SOME OF US NEED SHOWERS!”
“Just a sec!” I replied, then covered my mouth.
“My Lady?!” yelped Richard, embarrassed. “Er, take your time!”
“Come in here, actually,” I requested. “I want to ask you something.” Richard stepped in. “Richard, I need to ask this so I can concentrate on Vortech. Emily said that you made eyes at me, eyes of love.” Richard glared at his sister. “Does she speak the truth?” Richard sighed, letting his guard drop.
“Yes, my Lady,” he responded.
“Good,” I answered, “because I have those same feelings.” Richard brightened at that. “However,” I continued, “intimacy will have to wait until we beat Vortech.” He frowned at that.
“Dude,” protested Emily, “not cool!”
“I need to focus our efforts onto cleaning this mess up and getting our loved ones back,” I explained.
“Oh, very well,” muttered Richard.
“I failed the Bechdel test for THAT?!” wailed Emily.
“Let’s just get ready for the next dimension,” I suggested.
“Not even a kiss?” protested Emily.
“Emily, why are you so hell-bent on trying to hook me and Megumi up?!” asked Richard. “This isn’t the first time you tried to pull this stunt! Can’t you just let us discover things ourselves?! Why are you so insistent…?”
“Because I don’t want you to end up like Paw Paw!” exclaimed Emily.
“Paw Paw?” I asked.
“Our dad’s father,” replied Richard. “And, why mention Paw Paw?”
“Do you know why he married Maw Maw?” asked Emily. I guessed that was Paw Paw’s wife. “Because he was told to marry her,” continued Emily. “His heart belonged to someone else, but his parents wouldn’t hear of it. He suppressed his emotions and followed his parents’ wishes, like a ‘good man’. Now, jealousy eats away at him since Dad didn’t marry the girl Paw Paw told him to marry. If anything, he proved what just obeying parents totally does to you.”
“Hence, why Dad says that a human who just follows orders…” guessed Richard.
“Is no true human at all,” finished Emily. I then considered my own lifestyle. Contrary to most Japanese people, I didn’t have much in the way of being told to follow orders. Mom just influenced where I should direct my scrappiness. I could understand where their parents came from.
“I can understand your intentions,” remarked Richard, “but, in this instance, I must invoke Mom’s rule of ‘Let people make their own mistakes’.”
“As do I,” I agreed. Emily shuffled her feet. “Still, I do appreciate the attempts. Let’s just put this to bed for now.”
“All right,” she mumbled.
“Now, Richard,” I declared, “if the ladies could have our privacy.” Richard took the hint and left as we got dressed. Emily apparently had a clothes ritual too. I never knew that.
- Put the top part on while going up from kneeling to standing.
- Put the non-connected sleeves on while going from kneeling to standing.
- Step into the dress part, then pull it to the waist going from kneeling to standing.
- Put her rose hair ornament on while kneeling, then twirl the ribbon while standing up and twirling herself.
As I watched that, I arched an eyebrow. “Did I inspire you in any way?” I asked.
“Yep!” confirmed Emily. “I kneel, then stand to emulate the flower I’m obsessed with.”
“You’re growing and blooming like a rose?” I guessed.
“Exactly!” she said. After I did my dress ritual, we left the bathroom and joined everyone in the cafeteria.
“Good morning!” I called pleasantly. Everyone reciprocated. It really felt like a good morning, since that collective nightmare Hiro caused was gone. We ate our breakfast and headed to the Gateway Room. Elphaba, Rusty, and the Brigadier had set our destination because they found a power signature there.
“It’s in a dimension called B-A-C-K-T-0-T-H-3-F-U-T-U-R-3!” reported Rusty.
“Everyone ready?” I asked the rest of the Vortex Riders. Everyone confirmed their readiness.
“Good luck,” called the Brigadier.
“CHARGE!” I rallied as we ran into the portal.
We ended up in a Western setting. I swear I could hear Oh, My Darling Clementine somewhere. We exited the alley we landed in. A chicken popped out from Gandalf’s hat. He jammed his hat down to avoid Batman seeing it, then took it off to have an egg pop out. It landed on the ground intact! The mama chicken then flew out of the hat, flapping its wings and squawking like mad! Wyldstyle checked her scanner. “Any luck finding the power signature?” asked Batman. Wyldstyle shook her head as a long beep came from the scanner.
“It doesn’t even look like they’ve got electrical power!” reported Wyldstyle.
“Good grief, you’d think they’d have telegraphs!” I complained. “Last I checked, those needed electricity!”
“Well now, ladies,” called a voice in a thick cowboy accent. We jumped and turned to see a heavyset gentleman in a top hat and carrying a mayor’s ribbon on his person. “I assure you,” continued the Mayor, “we most certainly DO have power of the electrical persuasion! Behold, the town light-bulb!” He pointed to the single street lamp in the town. “And of course, we have telegraphs, my Chinese lady friend!”
“I’m Japanese, you twit!” I snapped. Seriously, it’s not that hard to keep straight! The street lamp’s bulb then went out.
“DAGNABBIT!” shouted the Mayor as he threw his hat to the ground.
“Are you in charge here?” asked Batman.
“Indeed!” confirmed the Mayor as he retrieved and dusted off his hat. “Mayor Hubert, at your service!”
“Have you seen anything…weird…around here?” asked Batman. I opened my mouth to counter Batman, but Mayor Hubert beat me to the punch.
“Well,” he whispered. He leaned in closer to Batman. “I do see a lady dressed in britches and a man in a dress!” Wyldstyle and Emmanuel heard that and made noises that showed their contempt for that comment. Before she could get any further, Wyldstyle’s scanner picked something up. She discreetly motioned her head in the direction of the power signature. Batman and I caught that and winked.
“We’ll just…take a look around,” commented Batman. “Thanks.”
“Oh, er,” stammered Mayor Hubert, “then, enjoy our fair town!” He then headed into a crowd blocking the streets. “I’m afraid it’s a little congested today!” As he left, the Marshal came up on his horse.
“Who are you?!” he demanded.
“You know, where I’m from, it’s only polite to introduce yourself before you ask questions,” I replied.
“I’m James Strickland, the town Marshal,” he introduced himself. “Now, who are you people?”
“I’m Princess Megumi Hishikawa,” I replied. “These are my friends, the Vortex Riders.”
“You guys don’t look like you’re from around here!” guessed Marshal Strickland. “Not by a long shot, no sir! Prove yourself to these good folk, and maybe they’ll accept you. Meanwhile, I have to go deal Stinky Lomax.” He charged off on his horse.
“Help out the citizens and get information,” mused Batman. “Sounds simple enough.” We headed over to a sign near a train station. An old man was trying to pose in front of it. It read “Honest Joe Statler’s Fine Horses, sold, bought, and traded.”
“Joe’s the name!” called the man. “Joe Statler… or… ‘Dishonest Joe’ as they call me. I’m trying to become a straight-edge business man I need a change of image. ‘Honest Joe’, I’m thinking! Say, you strange…strangers…wouldn’t mind helping me complete my sign, would you? I need my photograph taken, but the photographer’s gone to see what’s going on down the main street!”
“Oh, we can help!” I replied. “Now, where’s the camera at?”
“Er, that’s another problem,” stammered Mr. Statler. “I don’t have a camera, per se. Can you wrangle one up for me?”
“Dishonest Joe is right,” I thought.
“Maybe a Master Build is needed,” mused Batman.
“Batman, we’re trying to blend in!” protested Haitao.
“We’re a bunch of people in fancy clothes and other costumes,” countered Richard. “I think a Master Build is the least of our worries.”
“Yes, our clothes are a little anachronistic for this area,” muttered Michael.
“That box needs to be opened,” observed Wyldstyle.
“I see a grapple hook,” I called. I then got out my i.d tag. “Batman, need any help?” I asked.
“Let’s do it,” replied Batman. “I want to see what Proto-Vortex is capable of.”
“Henshin!” I announced. I then put my i.d tag into the slot and jumped into the circle. I still ended up in my Royal suit. I then started the Super Charge sequence. “SUPER…!” Someone grabbed my arms. I looked down to see the owner’s face. “Hongo-san,” I asked. “may I have an explanation?”
“I wouldn’t go using your Super Charge form so recklessly,” explained Hongo. “You may not realize it, but there is a weakness in that form.”
“What weakness?!” I asked. Hongo said nothing as he released my arms. Batman looked at Hongo, guessing why he would say that. I stared, not getting an explanation of any kind, then resigned myself to staying in Royal form. I swapped out my i.d tag for the Batman one.
“Batman Steel!” announced my belt in Vortoranii’s voice. I helped Batman open the box. Wyldstyle then used the parts inside the box, panels of a pile of boxes, and a camera light fixture to make a giant camera. She then jumped up onto the giant camera as Mr. Statler posed for the picture. Wyldstyle then took the picture and waited for the printout.
“Oh, darn it!” hissed Mr. Statler as he looked at the picture. “I think I blinked and I have something stuck in my teeth! That’s gonna be a terrible picture! Thanks anyway.”
“That’s one,” I observed. “Maybe another one can help?” Then we heard an Irish voice cry for help. The poor person looked like he was stuck head first in manure! Ugh! I saw a Keystone transmit…SHIMATTA! (Japanese word for when someone makes an error) “Who’s got the Locate Keystone?!” I asked. Everyone checked, but none had the Locate Keystone. “No!” I wailed. I face palmed with my left hand. I can’t believe we came here so unprepared!
“Er, my Lady,” quizzed Richard, “do you mind wiggling your fingers in front of your face?”
“What,” I muttered as I did so, “is this some obscure game Americans like to…?” I did a doubletake when I looked at my hand. On it was a Keystone gauntlet! “All right!” I cheered. I then ran through the instructions a few times, then decided to use my new powers. “Locate Keystone, activate!” I announced. “Initiate rift detection!” As I walked, my hand went greener and greener until a crack of white light appeared. “Identify source of rift!” I said. I then mimed pulling the sides of the rift crack open. My gauntlet then beamed the information of the crack’s origin into my head. “Locate help from T-H-3-L-3-G-0-M-0-V-1-3!” I ordered. A crane with a claw attachment then went through the crack.
“That’s from my home!” called Wyldstyle.
“And a solution presents itself!” I cheered.
“Allow me,” rasped Batman. Given that some of his crime fighting involves crane operation, I allowed him to help the man out. The crane swung around to hover over the man in the manure. He was then deposited away from the manure pile. He ran off to get himself cleaned after thanking us. “I don’t even want to know how this happened,” said Batman.
“Dismiss help!” I called. The crane then went into the rift it came out of. The crack then disappeared.
“Excuse me!” requested a man. He wore a Train Ticket Officer’s uniform. “Can you help me out?” asked the Ticket Officer. “I’m a spot of bother, you see. The train is stranded at the station and cannot continue on its journey.” Some of the tracks were missing! “Do you think you could help fix the track?” continued the Ticket Officer. “The supplies should be around here somewhere.”
“Allow me to fix it,” replied Gandalf. He found the rails and railroad ties (railway sleepers in the U.K.) and then examined the track ahead to gauge the measurements. While that was going on, Richard and Emily were geeking out over the train. They identified it as a 4-4-0 wheel configuration tender engine in the “American” style, a classic train used in westerns. A famous engine of that style was The General, a train that was stolen by Union spies during the Civil War in an event called the Great Locomotive Chase, or Andrew’s Raid, an attempt to cripple the Confederate Rail network. The Union spies were eventually captured, but not before damaging a vital Confederate Rail route called the Western and Atlantic Railroad. While the spies were captured, some were executed, the attempt was a success since Confederate forces couldn’t get warnings out along the route quickly enough, the Union spies cut the telegraph wires. Gandalf had fixed the tracks with his magic and the train proceeded on its way. The Ticket Officer was startled by the whole business.
“Er, I’ll pretend I didn’t see that strange heebie-jeebies nonsense,” he gulped, “as you’ve done us a good turn. Thank you kindly.”
“How do you get into these messes?!” asked a woman’s voice. We whirled around to see a woman in a miniskirt shouting at a man being hung upside down on a roof. Five humanoid monsters were shouting at him as well, a red one with an Oni appearance, a blue one with shell-like skin, a yellow one with a single horn in front and the body builder’s body, a purple one in a trench coat, a Japanese dragon’s head, and a pair of headphones, and a white one with a wing-like appearance to his head.
“Who are these guys?” I asked Hiroki.
“They’re the main cast of Kamen Rider Den-O,” explained Hiroki. He walked up to them. “Excuse me,” he called. The monsters and woman turned. “Can we help you at all?”
“Sure,” shrugged the Oni. “Before we start, I’m Momotaros, the leader of the Imagin with Ryōtarō Nogami up there.” he pointed to the upside down man.
“Can someone get me down?” asked Ryōtarō pitifully.
“Allow me,” called Hongo. He jumped up and untied Ryōtarō, holding on to his feet so he doesn’t make a splat landing. Hongo then jumped down and let Ryōtarō go.
“Poor guy has the worst luck in the world,” muttered Momotaros. “Kame-yarō (Turtle Jerk) over there,” he pointed to the blue monster, “is Urataros.”
“A pleasure to meet you,” purred Urataros as his pointer finger tilted my chin upwards. My response? I bent the finger backwards. I got a womanizer vibe from him. Momotaros started laughing.
“I’m already spoken for,” I hissed. Not entirely true, as Richard and I hadn’t formally declared we were boyfriend and girlfriend, but I didn’t want to give the guy a chance.
“I understand!” yelped Urataros. “Now, could you let go, please?!” I released him. He tended to his finger.
“Kuma (the bear) over there is called Kintaros,” growled Momotaros as he pointed to the yellow monster.
“Your strength would have made anyone cry,” answered Kintaros in a voice that made him sound like he was from Osaka in the Edo period, still used today under the dialect name Kansai-ben. “I am thoroughly impressed.”
“Hanakuso Onna (Nosy Woman) over there,” introduced Momotaros, pointing to the woman, “calls herself Hana.”
“Watch it!” snarled Hana with a slight bit of hate in her voice.
“And Hanatare Kozō (Snot-nosed Brat) is Ryutaros,” finished Momotaros.
“I’m not a brat!” whined Ryutaros in a childish way.
“And you forgot me, retainer,” called the white monster.
“Like you need to be introduced, Teba-Yarō! (Chicken Wing Jerk)” snapped Momotaros.
“Hardly the attitude of a hero,” mused the white monster.
“Are you kidding?!” screeched Momotaros. “Like a pompous idiot like you can be a hero!”
“Momotaros, Zu ga takai!” (Your head is high!) proclaimed the white monster. He then pointed at the hotheaded Momotaros and he shrunk the guy down to four inches. “Apologies, Hime,” (Princess) said the white monster as he walked towards me. He knelt as if addressing royalty. “I am Sieg, Prince of the Den-Liner.”
“The train of time,” explained Hiroki.
“And who is he?” asked Sieg. Momotaros then grew back to his usual height.
“This is my brother, Hiroki,” I replied. I introduced everyone to the Imagin, as Momotaros and his monster friends were called. Ryōtarō was surprised to hear we were Kamen Riders.
“So, you’re the first one?” asked Ryōtarō to Hongo.
“I am, indeed,” confirmed Hongo.
“Hey, guys!” I interrupted. “Main Street’s clear!” The people had decided to clear traffic.
“Moving on!” cheered Wyldstyle. She turned to the crew of the Den-Liner. “Wanna join us?”
“Sure,” replied Hana. “Anything to get out of this place. We have Imagin to get rid of.”
“I thought the monsters over there are Imagin,” I mused, pointing to Momotaros and the others.
“They’re useful,” replied Hana. “They help Ryōtarō become Kamen Rider Den-O.”
“Ryōtarō’s a Kamen Rider?” I quizzed, looking at the poor guy.
“He’s proven to be a capable warrior,” replied Hana. Suddenly, thunder clapped.
“Another rift?” asked Wyldstyle.
“A storm?” asked Gandalf. All of a sudden, a fireball spat something out before it disappeared. The object landed in front of us after some clumsy flying.
“No,” answered Batman, “a DeLorean.” The DeLorean was tricked out with something that made it spark. The driver, an old man with frizzy hair and a lab coat, stepped out.
“Well now,” asked Gandalf, “who’s this?”
“Great Scott!” yelled the man.
“Gandalf,” introduced Gandalf, taking what the man said out of context. “Pleased to meet you, Scott.”
“What?” asked the man.
“Gandalf, ‘Great Scott’ is just a saying,” I explained. “His name is Doctor Emmet Brown.”
“When am I?!” asked Doc Brown.
“‘When’ are you?” asked Batman. “Did you hit your head?” He looked up at a sign that advertised a town festival on Saturday Night, September 5th. It promised Food, dance, and games and all proceeds would go into the clock tower’s construction. “You’re in Hill Valley,” answered Batman. Doc Brown looked around and saw the construction of the clock tower going on.
“Oh, no no no!” he wailed. “This is terrible!”
“I don’t know,” countered Wyldstyle. “It has a certain old-timey charm to it.”
“This could destroy the space-time continuum!” cried Doc Brown. “I don’t belong here, not now!” A caravan was blocking the path and let some rubble fall onto the DeLorean. “Quickly!” yelped Doc Brown. “You have to help me move my car!”
“Yeah, a DeLorean in 1885 is a little anachronistic, ain’t it?” I muttered.
“1885?” asked Batman.
“Doctor Brown used a DeLorean,” explained Haitao, “to make a machine that can go into the past or the future.”
“Another time-travelling Doctor?!” said Batman, exasperated.
“Great Scott,” gulped Gandalf.
“Great Scott, indeed!” agreed Doc Brown. “Quick! We need to move the DeLorean as soon as possible!” He turned the key, but the engine wasn’t making a promising sound. “Start! START! Start, you silly car! If people see this DeLorean in 1885, then…oh my!” We started cannibalizing parts from the caravan to see if we could turn the engine manually. It turned over and started purring like a kitten. “Success!” cheered Doc Brown. “I knew it would work eventually!” He turned around to go down Main Street. “Thanks!” he called to us. “Now, I’ll head off to the mines! Watch out for Mad Dog Tannen! He has a bit of a reputation if my history of Hill Valley is correct!” He sped off to the mines. As he did, we wandered down the main street, with Momotaros looking bored, if you can call that permanent scowl bored.
“What’s the matter with you?” I asked.
“I’m itching for a fight and no one wants to fight me!” he snarled.
“Not everything needs to end in a brawl,” I replied.
“This coming from a lady who wants to punch her father’s mug,” muttered Richard.
“That’s different,” I hissed. That’s when I noticed the townsfolk shutting their windows and taking cover as a cowboy with a huge mustache came up the street.
“I think that might be the Mad Dog the Doc mentioned,” gulped Wyldstyle.
“It appears to be in human form,” observed Gandalf. “Is it a skin-changer?”
“I think ‘Mad Dog’ is just a name,” explained Wyldstyle. The scanner beeped like crazy at the Cowboy. Batman and I saw it and started puzzling things out. As we did, a man ran out of a saloon. Another person was flung out of the saloon with the flinger stepping out.
“Nobody calls me Mad Dog!” snarled the man. “‘Specially not some duded-up, egg sucking gutter trash!” The poor man was the one we rescued from the manure. Judging by his face, I’d say it was Seamus McFly, the ancestor of the protagonist for Back to The Future, Marty McFly.
“Help! Anybody?!” called Seamus. The strange cowboy then sparked some purple lightning from his hand. That was the cue for Hiro in robber getup and Igura in a saloon girl dress to come out and fire.
“Y’all just move along before one of you gets hurt,” called Hiro in a terrible Texan accent. Mad Dog Tannen started laughing. “Yeah, the accent’s terrible,” muttered Hiro in his usual accent. “Here’s something you might understand.” He then fired on the people at the saloon. Mad Dog and Seamus took off in opposite directions.
“Whoever Hiro and Igura are with, whoever that is,” rasped Batman, “they’re the source of the power signature.”
“Yes,” confirmed Gandalf, “I can feel it.”
“This universe ain’t big enough for two teams!” called the cowboy in a voice that made me freeze.
“Then why don’t you take Hiro and Igura and leave?” I shouted.
“Because we have business here, Megumi,” hissed Hiro.
“Business that I reckon you’re fixing to meddle with!” continued the cowboy.
“Then it looks like we’ve got ourselves a reckoning!” declared Batman. Both sides charged towards each other with Batman leading our side and the cowboy leading the other. Both leaders bent down as if they were about to draw pistols.
“Batman,” muttered Wyldstyle, “you know you don’t have an actual gun, don’t you?”
“Besides, that’s the form I’m responsible for,” muttered Ryutaros.
“Why don’t we all transform?” I suggested.
“Now THAT’S something I like!” cheered Momotaros. The Imagin and Ryōtarō took out belts and strapped them on. The Taros brothers, as Momotaros and his other similarly named friends call themselves, had the same belt design as Ryōtarō. It had a circle in the center with an L-shape at a diagonal facing the arrow on the right side of the buckle and had four colored buttons on the left side, going from red, to blue, to yellow, to purple downwards. Sieg’s belt had a gold wing design on the front. Ryōtarō took out a flip style cell phone and pressed some buttons before attaching it to the circle part of his belt, unfolded. They took out passes and pressed their respective color buttons as we took out our i.d tags and Hongo struck his Henshin pose. Hiro loaded his i.d tag and Igura put her hands on her belt’s wings.
“Rider…” began Hongo.
“Nova…” announced Igura.
“Henshin!” called all Riders, both good and evil. We all transformed. I heard the Den-O belts say, “Sword Form”, “Rod Form”, “Ax Form”, “Gun Form”, “Wing Form”, and “Liner Form”.
“Kamen Rider Rogue. Stand and deliver!” began Rogue.
“Kamen Rider Talon. You’ve made a poor decision to go against Shocker Nova,” called Talon.
“Kamen Rider Outback! Better watch your backs, mates!”
“Kamen Rider Claw! My weapons shall turn you into ribbons!”
“Kamen Rider Swing! I’ll be taking your legs!”
“Kamen Rider Hunt! I shall always get my prey!”
“Kamen Rider Clash! A duel with me shall end in your defeat!”
“Kamen Rider Climb! Mountains are a warrior’s best friend!”
“Kamen Rider Gallop! My riding skills are unmatched!”
“Kamen Rider Sengoku! You shall get a taste of Feudal Japan!”
“Kamen Rider Royal! Evil will ultimately bow to me!”
“Kamen Rider Guard! None shall harm my friends, family, and lady!”
“Kamen Rider Touché! En Garde, thing of evil!”
“Kamen Rider Zhànshì! Try and stop my quest!”
“Kamen Rider Arch! My skills outdo Robin Hood!”
“Kamen Rider Kämpfer! Your defeat will be certain at my hands!”
“Kamen Rider Seeker! It’s not gold I seek, but your end!”
“Kamen Rider Battle! For friends and family, I shall be victorious!”
“I am Gandalf the Grey! Prepare to see some fireworks!”
“I’m Wyldstyle! Time to think outside the box!”
“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!”
“I am the start of a group of warriors! I am Kamen Rider!”
“Kamen Rider Den-O, Sword Form,” proclaimed Momotaros. He had red armor with shoulder pads jutting out and a mask that looked like a peach was split from the top. He then pointed his thumb to himself. He then struck a pose with his legs spread out and his hands spread out. While that went on, he said “Ore…sanjou!” (dynamic way of saying I have arrived!)
“Kamen Rider Den-O, Rod Form,” purred Urataros. He had blue armor with antennae on each side of the head and a blue visor with orange eyeholes and samurai style shoulder pads. “Omae… boku ni tsuraretemiru?” (Loosely translated; Won’t you let me string you along?)
“Kamen Rider Den-O, Ax Form!” boomed Kintaros. His yellow armor was ridged on the front and had an ax head placed in between the triangular visor for the eyes. “Ore no tsuyosa ni, omae ga naita!” (Loosely translated; My strength has made you cry!) He then slammed his foot into the ground like a sumo wrestler and cracked his neck. It made a popping sound that made me wince. “Namida wa kore de fuitoke!” (Loosely translated; Wipe your tears with this!) he said as he tossed a hankie at Hiro’s team.
“Kamen Rider Den-O, Gun Form!” cheered Ryutaros. It looked like a set of speakers was on each shoulder and his mask looked like his usual face. He danced around as he said “Taosu kedo ii yo ne?” (Loosely translated; Mind if I defeat you?) He then leaned back and pointed at the enemy. “Kotae wa kii te nai!” (Loosely translated; Can’t hear your answer!”
“Kamen Rider Den-O, Wing Form,” called Sieg. His armor was white and the eyeholes looked like swan wings. “Kourin, man o jishite.” (Loosely translated; Advent, at the top of everything.)
“Kamen Rider Den-O, Liner Form,” stammered Ryōtarō. “Er…none shall stop me on my journey to the station of your defeat!”
“That was awful!” shouted Sword Form. The cowboy had had enough and drew his staff! It was Lord Vortech! He made a noise with his mouth that sounded like he fired a shot into the sky as a portal opened to drop the Daily Planet building onto the street! The globe on top fell and rolled towards us!
“Watch out!” called Batman as we all ran from the globe. No duh! The globe bowled us over!
“Goodness!” yelped Gandalf. Vortech then made a shotgun reload noise and then said “Boom,” as he opened another portal.
“MOVE!” I warned. We got out of the way as the Kwik-E-Mart from The Simpsons dropped in. Homer poked his head out and looked around. He saw us, screamed, and shut the door, running inside and causing a huge mess.
“This is a rather inconvenient store!” joked Wyldstyle. We all groaned. “Okay, in all seriousness, I see a Keystone transmitter and a chroma lock design on the front of the store. Let’s find the chroma discs.” I found the red one under a wagon from this dimension, Gandalf found the blue one in a dumpster belonging to the store, and with Arch in Batman Steel, both he and Batman yanked down the store’s sign to drop the yellow chroma disc. I noticed something.
“Guys, the chroma design doesn’t have blue!” I yelped. The design had a yellow left L shape, a red circle, and a green right L-shape.
“No problem,” called Wyldstyle. “We just combine blue and yellow.”
“You can mix and match colors?” I asked.
“Sure can!” confirmed Wyldstyle. “Hey, Momotaros, Urataros, Kintaros, want to use a Chroma lock?”
“This should be fun!” cheered Sword Form
“It sounds intriguing,” purred Rod Form.
“It would be bad not to try it,” said Ax Form.
“Chroma Keystone, activate!” announced Wyldstyle. “Chroma lock, reveal!” The design appeared on the ground, surprising the Den-Liner crew. “Let’s see, Chroma! Red! Den-O Sword Form! Chroma! Blue! Den-O Rod Form! Chroma! Yellow! Den-O Ax form!”
“What do you want us to do?” asked Ax Form.
“Jump into the paint blobs,” explained Wyldstyle. “Then Sword Form goes into the circle. Rod Form goes into the right L-shape, and Ax Form first jumps into the left L-shape, then the right!” The three Den-O’s did as they were told and unlocked the Kwik-E-Mart. We ran through the place, startling the poor owner, Apu. We ended up going through the backway with Apu trying to sell us something at an exorbitant price. Not a chance. He still said, “Thank you, come again,” when we left without buying anything. We saw Vortech again.
“And now, for my next trick!” he called. He summoned one of the statues of the Argonath in Middle Earth and a giant aircraft carrier that could fly! It crashed, blocking the path again.
“Oh, the poor Valiant!” wailed Battle recognizing the airship. “UNIT of 2015 will be so disappointed!”
“Never mind that!” dismissed Wyldstyle. “I can master build something!” She made a giant cannon and fired on part of the aircraft. She then made a ladder that ran up a building out of the rubble. She climbed up the ladder and found a transmitter. “Up and over, guys! This is just what we need!” said Wyldstyle. We came up. Batman decided to use his Keystone.
“Shift Keystone, activate!” he announced. “Cyan, on the roof of the building across from us! Yellow, on the roof we’re on! Magenta, on the top of the aircraft wreckage! Shift! All allies! Magenta!” We got to the top of the aircraft carrier and jumped over the other side.
“Oh, you’re still here?” mused Vortech. “Very well then!” He summoned the Sphinx, the Statue of Liberty, and a pirate ship to block our path. “As you can see,” said Vortech, “nothing is safe from my reach!” The ship seemed to be familiar to Wyldstyle. She got a look at the name before it caught fire.
“The Sea Cow?” she gulped. “That’s MetalBeard’s ship! Oh no, this isn’t good!”
“How are we gonna get past that?!” snapped Sword Form.
“With the Elemental Keystone,” explained Gandalf. “Elemental Keystone, activate! Element of water, Ichigō!” Hongo doused the flames, allowing us safe passage over the roadblock. Vortech and his cronies were hiding behind an electric coil. “Element of lightning, Royal!” I zapped the coil with lightning, making it explode in the enemy’s face. They retreated as we climbed the Sea Cow and pursued them.