Tag: caan

Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Movie Chapters

Chapter 19

“I…I…” stammered X-PO.

“X-PO, is any of that true?” I asked. X-PO’s arms drooped as he gave up trying to hide it.

“Yes, it’s all true, I fudged the results,” he confirmed. I swear, I’ve never heard the F.N.S get so angry. They heaped the verbal abuse and threats of scrapping onto X-PO.

“URUSEI, MINNA!” (Everyone, shut up!) I shouted. I turned to X-PO, feeling rather hot from my currently sour mood. “Experimental Portal Operator, you owe us an explanation!” I demanded.

“…Guys, when was the last time we came together?” asked X-PO.

“When we just came back and I apologized to everyone for hiding my…!” I replied.

“No, I mean, before this adventure,” corrected X-PO. “When was the last time the F.N.S came here?”

“I wanna say for various dimensional excursions,” I mused.

“When we said our goodbyes after the Vortech Wars,” answered X-PO. “We were all in this room to say our goodbyes to our allies. Oh, sure, like you said, we met when we discussed the use of the Gateway for travelling to other worlds and seeing what happens, but, for some of us, we never used it! For some of us, we weren’t going to get an adventure! I…I wanted an adventure where people could live out history.”

“The Vortech Wars weren’t a fun time for us, even during the beginning!” snapped Emmanuel.

“Our loved ones were kidnapped!” continued Emily.

“We were almost killed MULTIPLE times!” snarled Tanisha.

“Some of us DID die!” interjected Rusty. Elphaba nodded.

“Some of us went on a crazy side quest that almost got everyone killed!” roared Irina.

“Gandalf, Batman, Wyldstyle, and I,” supplied Hongo, “felt lied to, cheated on, and disrespected when Megumi didn’t tell us about Vortech!”

“What in the name of all nine circles of Hell made you want ANY of that back?!” growled Richard.

“What I wanted was for you guys to be happy!” shouted X-PO. “I want you to be happy for me! I want me to be happy for you! I want us to come together and riff on bad movies! Celebrate a birthday! Be normal people! I want us to come together and feel like a family and not a bunch of war veterans! I’m not blind to what happened, but sometimes, I felt like the only thing keeping us as friends! I want that feeling back! I want things back the way they were!”

“No, that doesn’t justify a DAMN thing!” snarled Alesandro. “You gathered us here with a lie from long ago! You decided to play the long game with us and waited for some grand adventure! We’ve sent you numerous invitations for those things you mentioned. If you REALLY wanted to continue feeling that, then you would have accepted them! But, no! That wasn’t enough for you! You wanted to relive the glory days with the lies, the threats, the people getting angry with each other, things that some of us were trying to get away from! You’re only concerned with what YOU want! To be frank, I see no difference between you and what Death lectured about Vortech in her classes!”

“Still waiting on that essay on Skrandepede from you,” whispered Death.

“Dude, shut up,” grunted War.

“That’s…that’s not fair at all!” argued X-PO.

“I think what Alesandro said was VERY fair!” I hissed.

“I was NEVER going to put you in any danger!” insisted X-PO. “The adventure I had planned was just some haunted house malarkey! I would tell you guys of the supposed ‘Danger’ and you guys would solve it, and we’d have a big laugh! I never wanted you guys to be on Shocker Rift’s radar!”

“Then why did you hack into the Tarlaxian scout ship missions?” demanded Scorpainia. X-PO sighed.

“Technarain gave me a way into it,” he finally revealed.

“Oh, throw me into the warp core, why don’t you?!” snarled Technarain.

“Whoa! Hold on!” called Turretorg. “Technarain, you let him in?!”

“I couldn’t have the missions be unobserved,” replied Technarain.

“Is there some secret-keeping epidemic going on?!” shouted Scorpainia. I was about to say something when a certain… “vworping” noise, as Michael puts it, announced the TARDIS’ arrival. The Doctor, Sougo, Woz in his civilian form, and an old friend we made near the end of the Vortech Wars came out.

“Sandra Noman!” I cheered. “Long time, no see! What brings you to our side of reality?”

“The Doctor wanted me to confirm a finding she made,” explained Sandra. I then noticed the Doctor was wearing 3-D glasses.

“…Okay, what’s with the…?” I asked.

“Doctor, did you find Void Stuff?” asked Michael.

“I did! The Rose Clone is saturated with the stuff!” replied the Doctor. “During my more violent regenerations, I damaged the TARDIS, including its memory banks. I felt like I had seen the energy particles the Rose Clone has but couldn’t cross-check it…until I remembered Sandra Noman!”

“She visited the little house I made for myself,” continued Sandra, “and showed me what she found. I confirmed it was Void Stuff. The Rift usually acts as a passageway to other universes, but they usually skirt the edge of the Void. As such, you can’t get Void Stuff from the Rift. Believe it or not, the Rift is the long way around.”

“And the Void’s the shortcut?” I asked.

“Bingo,” confirmed Sandra. “However, anyone with sense would avoid the Void as it runs the risk of killing you. There ARE a few instances of people living in and travelling through the Void, I believe I’m right in naming the Pete’s World Cybermen and the Cult of Skaro., but they’re really rare.”

“So, it looks like the Rose Clone DID travel through the Void before ending up in the Rift,” answered the Doctor.

“But, Doctor, couldn’t it be Rose herself?” asked Michael.

“I checked,” replied the Doctor. “Rose is still with the Meta-Crisis me in Pete’s World.”

“So where did she come from?!” I snapped, finally getting annoyed with the mystery.

“That’s what we’re about to find out!” cheered the Doctor. “Brigadier, do you mind putting this into the Gateway computer?” She handed the Brigadier a flash drive.

“Very good, Doctor,” replied the Brigadier. He inserted the flash drive into the Gateway. The Doctor then keyed in a command.

“With the Void Stuff,” she explained, “we can find the temporal and universal origin of our guest. Rusty, mind getting her so she can figure out her origins?” Rusty grinned before replying.

“I obey!” she answered in her old Dalek tone. The Doctor flinched as Rusty headed off.

“I don’t think everything Dalek was purged when she came back,” she grumbled.

“So, Sougo-san, Woz-san,” I interjected, “what brings you here?”

“We ended up in your universe’s future and met your future self,” explained Sougo. “She handed me this before getting the Doctor involved.” He pulled out a watch similar to the one he used to transform into Zi-O but had a vortex on top and the year 2017 on it, the year the Vortech Wars started.

“I take it that’s the Royal Ridewatch?” I asked.

“Indeed, it is,” replied Woz. “I have a speech prepared for when Waga Maō uses it.”

“…I don’t…feel any different,” I muttered.

“Your future said that, because you went to different universes,” explained Woz, “the Ridewatch won’t take your powers.”

“You understood that?!” yelped Sougo. “I couldn’t make head or tails of it!”

“Oh…Rassilon!” swore the Doctor. A look of horror was clear on her face.

“Doctor, what’s wrong?” I asked.

“I never realized…I mean, I thought it destroyed itself!” whispered the Doctor.

“What destroyed itself?” asked Michael.

“The Rose Clone…” answered the Doctor. “I’ve seen it before!”

“Where?!” quizzed Michael. She turned grimly after Rusty.

“She’s in danger!” she declared.

I looked in various rooms to find the Rose Clone. “Miss?” I called. “Oh, Miss?” I found her in the Observation Deck. “Miss! There you are!”

“Traitor!” she hissed, her back turned to me.

“…Pardon?” I asked.

“You betrayed us!” replied the Rose Clone.

“Who are you talking about?” I inquired. “Are you okay?”

“I am most certainly NOT okay!” snarled the Rose Clone. “I remember everything now!”

“What do you remember?” I quizzed. The Rose Clone then started laughing.

“I was fixed!” she giggled. “It fixed me! …But I came out wrong! Don’t you understand! I’M ALL WRONG NOW!” She then punched me in the gut, grabbed the gunstick in my left forearm, and ripped it out, leveling it at me!

“Give that back!” I shouted. “That’s dangerous!”

“I tried to smash the mirrors around here,” snarled the Rose Clone as she advanced on me, “but I still keep stinking and sweating and flooding myself with hormones! I hate this shape! Am I now doomed to look like the one who contaminated me?! One…just one! One directive! The primary order! Destroy and conquer! I had that left and now I am stuck looking like Rose Tyler! I was the last…but trust the Time-Lords and Daleks to make liars of us all! No one really died in the Time War, did they?! You know about that! You were made after me!” A grave suspicion formed in my mind.

“What…manner of creature are you?!” I gasped. As she advanced, I noticed the shadow she was casting morphed and changed, looking very similar to what I traveled in. She spoke, causing a memory to stir.

“My Jailer, Van Statten, called me Metaltron!”

“Rubbish!” called Michael when we heard that the Rose Clone was the former last of the Daleks. The ones heading to the Observation Deck were me, the Doctor, Sougo, Michael, Woz, and Batman.

“I hope you’re right; I really do!” replied the Doctor, “but the spatio-temporal origin came from my universe! 2012, the GeoComTex Vault, near Salt Lake City, the start of Barack Obama’s 2^nd term as President of the United States! It would explain why she would constantly view that event when she got the chance!”

“Doctor, that’s absurd!” insisted Michael. “That Dalek killed itself when it discovered that Rose passed on more than her DNA. It exploded, remember?”

“It may have activated a hastily thrown together spatial-temporal shift,” argued the Doctor.

“What is going on?!” interjected Sougo.

“In 2012, just after the Last Great Time War between the Doctor’s people and a race called the Daleks,” explained Michael, “the Doctor locked onto a distress signal. It turned out the supposed Last of the Daleks sent it and it brought them into contact. The Doctor was in a period of extreme self-loathing because she thought she killed everyone. Seeing the Dalek sparked a rage in her, him actually, and became determined to make the Daleks extinct.”

“So, how did she kill it back then?” asked Woz.

“I didn’t,” answered the Doctor.

“What?” quizzed Woz.

“Like Michael said, the Dalek absorbed some of Rose’s genetic material to regenerate itself,” explained the Doctor, “but it absorbed more than that. It absorbed a bit of humanity from her, making itself believe it was contaminated. It couldn’t live like that, so it killed itself.”

“Doctor, it exploded!” insisted Michael. He then activated his comms. “Rusty, could you…”

“Bring her to me!” barked a voice. It sounded like the Rose Clone, but hatred laced the voice.

“…Bring who to you?” I asked, finally contributing.

“The Oncoming Storm!” came the reply. “Bring her to me!”

“We can talk about…” Batman offered.

“There will be no talking!” roared the Rose Clone. “Ka Faraq Gatri is behind this, I know it! The traitor to the Daleks is my prisoner! If the Predator is not within my sight, I will exterminate her! NOW BRING! THE DOCTOR! TO ME!” That word cinched it. Only a Dalek would threaten extermination. We hurried along.

“Sougo, Woz,” I suggested, “better transform.”

“Good idea,” replied Sougo. He brought out his Ziku Driver as Woz got his belt, the BeyonDriver, a black belt with a screen on the front and a green handle with a slot in it for the transformation trinket. Speaking of, the two men got their respective Ridewatch, or Miridewatch, in Woz’s case, while Michael and I got our i.d tags out. Sougo turned the Ridewatch’s face until it formed his helmet and pressed the button.

“Zi-O!” it announced. Woz just pressed the button on his Miridewatch.

“Woz!” it called. The two then inserted their respective trinkets into the slots on their belts.

“Action!” cheered the BeyonDriver as the Miridewatch opened. It then started playing snappy techno music while Sougo pressed the button on top and tilted the Driver.

“Henshin!” we all called. Woz pushed the handle with the Miridewatch to the BeyonDriver’s side, making it project his Rider form’s helmet onto the screen.

“Touei!” (Projecting!) it called. “Future Time! Sugoi! Jidai! Mirai! (Amazing! Time! Future!) Kamen Rider Woz! WOZ!!” Woz then became Kamen Rider Woz. Zi-O spun his Driver until it stopped and rang the bell.

“Rider Time!” it announced. “Kamen Rider Zi-O!” His suit formed as did mine and Michael’s. We arrived outside the Observation Deck. The Doctor led us through as she leveled her Sonic Screwdriver at the Rose Clone. The Rose Clone had taken Rusty’s gunstick out of the socket in her left forearm and was holding it at her while her hand was at the back of Rusty’s neck. She looked extremely angry.

“Hello again, Metaltron,” greeted the Doctor coldly.

“Don’t call me that!” snapped the Rose Clone. “That was what Van Statten did! You, on the other hand, you did THIS to me, didn’t you?! You made me into a clone of your pink and yellow companion!”

“I didn’t do anything, Metaltron,” replied the Doctor. “I thought you chose death.”

“How?!” wailed the newly dubbed Metaltron. “HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!”

“Now that I have more data surrounding this, I have a theory,” answered the Doctor. “Your casing must not have been fully repaired to restore ALL functions. It somehow mixed the self-destruct mechanism with the emergency temporal shift programs. It destroyed your casing and a good chunk of you. It sent you through the Void until you somehow happened upon a path to the Rift and took it. The energies must have restored you into looking like Rose, thinking that the human DNA you absorbed was the default. Somehow, your mind was carried along for the ride.” Metaltron’s face contorted into further anger.

“This is all YOUR fault!” she accused. “I was ready to embrace oblivion, but YOU had to interfere! You’ve always been the one to hold the Daleks back, you AND the Time Lords! And now, since our coming back, you infected this one,” she indicated her hostage, “with the notion of Daleks NOT being supreme! You’ve destroyed her pure soul with the idea that life needs diversity to have any value! You…!”

“Let her go, Metaltron!” interrupted the Doctor.

“STOP CALLING ME THAT!” roared Metaltron. “DALEKS HAVE NO NEED OF NAMES! YOU ARE NOT WORTHY OF SPEAKING THE WORD OF DALEK! ALL INFERIOR CREATURES SHOULD BE PROSTRATING THEMSELVES BEFORE US! YOU SHOULD BE BEGGING ME FOR YOUR LIFE! INSTEAD, I WILL FINALLY COMPLETE THE DALEKS’ GOAL OF EXTERMINATING YOU AND EVERYONE YOU EVER…!” Rusty ran her elbow into Metaltron’s gut and retrieved her gunstick, inserting it back into the slot. We got ready for a fight as Metaltron charged at us, her fists swinging wildly. She was acting on blind rage, so there was no form to her movements. We were just about to overpower her when someone pushed us aside and got Metaltron free. It was Caan! “RELEASE ME, MONSTER!” screamed Metaltron. “I MAY BE IN AN IMPURE STATE, BUT YOU ARE NOT FIT TO…!” She was interrupted as Caan pressed his thumb and pointer finger to her temples and seemed to induce something painful for two seconds. She gasped once the treatment ended. “…I thought you were a Time War myth!” she breathed.

“No, we were tasked with the survival of the Dalek species,” replied Caan. “Sec tried to change us but we stopped that nonsense real quick. Now, like you, I exist in a corrupted form. It DOES have its uses, though.”

“What were you doing outside of After Academy?!” I demanded.

“I needed to look something up,” explained Caan, “specifically, the creation of Gaia Memories and Ridewatches. I was denied this by Alesandro. I was about ready to destroy the school then and there, but then I realized there was another library, the Gaia Library. I completed my research there and recreated the Dalek Memory.” He revealed the Memory from his coat and pressed the button.

“DALEK!” it announced.

“So, what, you intend to recreate the Dalek Dopant through Metaltron?” I snarled.

“No, she doesn’t have the necessary connection to safely access that power,” answered Caan. “However, an Another Ridewatch doesn’t need that kind of equipment.” He pulled out a purple Ridewatch with a monstrous version of my helmet on it and pressed the button.

“Royal!” it called in a distorted voice. Caan then jammed the Ridewatch into Metaltron’s stomach, making her gasp in pain before a dark cloud surrounded her. “Royal!” repeated the voice as Metaltron turned into a monstrous version of me! Where the mouth guard was, two mouths rested there, a demonic sawblade replaced the wheel of my Vortex Driver, she had a tattered cape and skirt, the crown was rusty looking, and the word Royal was on her left arm while the year 2017 was on her right.

“Behold, Another Royal,” chuckled Caan. Another Royal then struck the same ready pose I usually do. We both attacked each other, matching one another blow for blow!

“Waga Maō,” suggested Woz, “I believe now’s a good time to test out the new Ridewatch.”

“Good idea!” praised Zi-O. He then rotated the Royal Ridewatch until it formed my face and pressed the button.

“Royal!” it called. He then put it into the left slot and pressed the button on the belt, tilting it. He spun the belt until it stopped and rang the bell.

“Rider Time!” it called. “Kamen Rider Zi-O! Armor Time!” Armor evoking me then appeared and attached itself to Zi-O while the Rider Katakana was replaced with “Royal” (ロイヤル). “Final Attack! Royal!” sang the Ridewatch. Woz gave a little giggle.

“What are you laughing about?” asked Zi-O. Another Royal and I stifled a giggle too. “You too?!” protested Zi-O. “Stop that! Look, Woz, would you just rejoice already?”

“Very well, Waga Maō,” chuckled Woz before he cleared his throat and began. “Iwae! Zen Rider no chikara o uketsugi, jikū o koe kako to mirai o shiroshimesu toki no ōja. Sono na mo Kamen Rider Zi-O: Royal Armor! (Rejoice! The one to inherit all Rider powers, the time king who will rule over the past and the future. And his name is Kamen Rider Zi-O: Royal Armor!) …This is the day where we find out you look good in a skirt, Waga Maō!” We couldn’t hold back any longer. Zi-O looked down to see that, below the Ziku Driver, he was wearing my skirt! We all laughed at him.

“It’s not a skirt, it’s a kilt!” argued Zi-O.

“Take it from me, THAT’S a skirt!” I laughed.

“Oh, get out of the way!” snapped Zi-O as he shoved me aside. I overlooked his rudeness just this once as he started fighting Another Royal. She summoned a demonic looking version of my weapon. I joined in and we continued the fight. Another Royal was keeping us at bay.

“Okay, we need to finish this quickly,” I declared. I took out my i.d. tag and inserted it into my blade. Zi-O pressed the buttons on the two Ridewatches.

“Finish Time! Royal!” called the belt. He spun the belt, making it ring the bell. “Steel Time Break!”

“Final Attack!” announced my sword.

“RIDER ROYAL SLASH!” I shouted as I swung the blade sideways. Zi-O leapt into the air and performed a Rider Kick. The attacks hit Another Royal and forced her to return to being Metaltron. The Another Ridewatch exploded, rendering it useless.

“Oh well,” sighed Caan as he picked up the unconscious Metaltron. “Best make another Gaia Memory using Rider.” He summoned a portal. “We WILL meet again when Vortech returns,” he warned.

“What are you talking about?!” I yelped. “The Rift Loop collapsed! Vortech’s dead!”

“Not what I see,” remarked Caan. “I see you fighting Vortech again. You, a red robot, and a black kitsune. Farewell. Try to survive tomorrow.” He went through the portal.

“COME BACK!” I demanded. Too late. The portal closed. I sighed in frustration and powered down. I REALLY didn’t want to be chasing after someone new. Still, at least the Sources were safe.

Tags batman, caan, gandalf, kamen rider, kamen rider ichigo, kamen rider zi-o, megumi hishikawa, metaltron, rusty the dalek, the doctor, wyldstyle

Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Movie Chapters

Finale

It took an hour of deliberation for the Cendeberon jury before they returned with their decision. “Does the jury have a verdict?” asked Legowltor.

“We, the Jury,” answered one of the Cendeberons, “find the Defendant, the Experimental Portal Operator of Vorton, guilty of willfully endangering students of After Academy.”

“Then, as Judge presiding over this case,” boomed Legowltor, “I sentence X-PO to the maximum prison sentence. A full century in Multi-Max with no chance of parole.” The resounding bang of his gavel echoed throughout the courtroom, affirming his decision. “Court is adjourned.” The Bailiff disabled X-PO’s ability to move on his own and carried him off to Multi-Max, where the worst criminals of the multiverse were incarcerated. We filed out after him, our heads hanging low. Never had I felt so betrayed. Richard had his hands on my shoulders in reassurance. X-PO was taken into the police car and it sped off, disappearing into a portal. Legowltor then approached us. “I understand how hard it is,” he sighed. “His role in the Vortech Wars is known to me. I do regret what I had to do…”

“Like you said,” I mumbled, “you had to do it.”

“…Yes, I did,” confirmed Legowltor sadly.

“Oh, for the love of…!” groaned a voice. It was Edgeworth’s.

“Is there a problem?” asked Legowltor.

“My multiversal plane has been cancelled due to a convergence of two universes about to occur!” explained Edgeworth.

“Well, my ship can get you home safely,” I offered.

“Hold it!” called Edgeworth. “Does it have a cloaking device like a multiversal plane would?”

“Well, we haven’t installed one yet, but it WILL get you home,” I replied.

“Objection!” dismissed Edgeworth. “Any vessel outside of my native universe that has no means of getting me there discreetly is a no-go!”

“Objection overruled, Mr. Edgeworth,” I replied. “It’s better than the alternative.”

“I don’t see how,” remarked Edgeworth.

“Well, it involves this first class ticket on a plane that CAN get you home…” I began.

“Now that sounds delightful!” interrupted Edgeworth. “Why wouldn’t I want that?”

“Because you’d be sitting next to the person who bought it for the entire trip,” I answered.

“Edgy-poo, I’m here!” called a voice. “Come to Wendy!”

“Permission to come aboard!” decided Edgeworth.

“All traffic will end!” barked a Dalek’s voice. A couple of people were then shot with a Dalek gunstick! They fell as us Riders got ready.

“Rider…” began Hongo.

“HENSHIN!” we called. As we transformed, we dashed towards the source of the shots. There was a new Dalek themed Kamen Rider, but the belt looked different to Caan’s. It had a miniature version of a Dalek’s limbs that stuck to the side of a wheel while the Dalek Gaia Memory rested behind the wheel. I could guess who was wearing the suit.

“Metaltron, I presume,” I guessed.

“I am Kamen Rider Ex!” barked the Rider in a Dalek voice. “Multiversal traffic will cease unless you surrender the Experimental Portal Operator!”

“I hate to spoil your fun…actually, no, I don’t, X-PO’s on his way to Multi-Max,” I replied.

“Bring him to me!” commanded Metaltron, Kamen Rider Ex.

“Not a chance!” I declared. “He’s betrayed my trust in him, he’s going to suffer the consequences!”

“…Then you are of no use!” barked Ex as she leveled her new gun. Just then, she was tackled by Elkrandek! As she picked herself up, Elkrandek stood in defiance of her.

“Trying to get my former client under your wing?” he hissed. “I think not!”

“You are a Defense Attorney!” barked Ex. “Your duty is to your client, no matter its verdict!”

“My duty is to the truth!” argued Elkrandek. “Given what X-PO revealed about himself in court earlier today, I see no reason to continue this farce!” He took out a belt similar to Den-O’s and fastened it to his waist. Mountaineer music played as he held out his pass. “Henshin!” he called. He then swiped the pass.

“Rampage Form!” called the belt. His armor appeared and a moose traveled down the face before folding in such a way that the antlers became his eyes.

“The truth above all!” he declared. “You face Kamen Rider Stampede!”

“EXTERMINATE!” shouted Ex as she fired. We all got out of the way, then managed to get in close so she wouldn’t use that gun of hers. Elkrandek, Kamen Rider Stampede, swung a punch to her gut while Batman kicked her head. She was momentarily disoriented until she took her Gaia Memory out and inserted it into the gun.

“DALEK! MAXIMUM DRIVE!” called the gun. She pulled the trigger and a large blast of energy hit behind us, knocking us off our feet!

“This is getting us nowhere!” hissed Stampede.

“We have to keep her still!” I planned aloud. “Can you distract her?”

“Permit me!” called Legowltor’s voice. He charged in while his gavel grew and he slammed it into Ex.

“…That works,” I replied. “GUYS! NOW!” We activated our respective gimmicks while Ichigō leapt into the air.

“Final attack!” called the Vortex Drivers.

“Full Charge!” announced Stampede’s belt. Energy gathered around his foot as he ran towards Ex.

“RIDER KICK!”

“RIDER ROYAL KICK!”

“RIDER GUARD KICK!”

“RIDER TOUCHÉ KICK!” Rusty fired a low yield blast from her gun, Gandalf fired a magic blast, Batman threw a batarang, Wyldstyle had built a large cannon and fired, Legowltor slammed his giant gavel onto the ground and created a shockwave, and we Riders kicked our target, causing Ex to explode and the Dalek Memory to fall out of the Driver, making her revert back into Metaltron. She grabbed the Memory again and took out a communicator.

“Requesting immediate retrieval!” she shouted into it. A portal then opened beneath her and she fell into it. We returned to our civilian forms and caught our breath.

“I must admit,” panted Legowltor, “that was exciting! I’ve never had a decent fight in ages, not since I came across a fair maiden. She was a human of Edgeworth’s universe, a beautiful girl by the name of Wendy.”

“Leggy?” asked a woman’s voice. We turned up to see an old woman in a security guard’s outfit in an embrace with Edgeworth who was trying to get away. This was Wendy Oldbag from the Ace Attorney franchise. Legowltor’s eyes went wide.

“Sweet Wendy?” he gasped. Wendy let Edgeworth go as she and Legowltor ran up to each other. They ran a hand down the other’s cheek before committing to a kiss. “Wendy, it’s really you!” cheered Legowltor.

“Oh, Legowltor, it’s been too long!” replied Wendy, the tears of happiness forming in her eyes. “I’m so sorry you have to see me like this, an old, grey woman.”

“Come now,” countered Legowltor. “You are as radiant as when we first met! That, I promise!” While they were catching up, we motioned for Edgeworth to join us. He had no objections to that.

“Oh, Leggy, why did you not come to see my folks that night?” asked Wendy.

“I went to Apartment 2B like you said,” replied Legowltor, “but you and your folks weren’t…”

“2B?!” yelped Wendy. “YOU DEAF IDIOT! I NEVER SAID 2B!”

“Oh, yes, you did!” insisted Legowltor. The argument continued long after we returned to the Virginia to take Edgeworth home. Elkrandek had decided to use the train he was living on.

No Sources, no new allies, no belt, no dead Vortex Riders, my situation was NOT good. The Daleks were getting angrier and angrier by the minute, the Combatmen’s morale was sub-par, and my fleet was still in the process of replenishing its numbers. To be frank, I just sat there in a stew. As I stared, my comms chimed. “Speak,” I grumbled.

“This is Igura,” replied a voice I loved hearing. “We have something for you in the Science Lab.”

“On my way,” I declared as I left my office. I strode through the corridors and passed by a couple of Combatmen.

“Hiro-sama,” said one. …What?

“You there!” I barked. The Combatman stopped and turned to face me. I noticed that his armor looked a lot more sturdy. “Did you say something?” I asked.

“I did,” replied the Combatman. “Igura-sama upgraded all of our vocalizers. Now we’re not stuck saying ‘YEE!’ all the time.”

“I take it she upgraded the armor?” I guessed.

“She did,” answered the Combatman.

“…Very well,” I finished. “Carry on.” Just a few more turns in the corridors and I arrived at the Science Lab where she and a few Scientist Daleks were working on something. Their blue casings gleamed in the lights of the Lab. I cleared my throat to announce my presence. Igura turned to face me. “I just spoke to an upgraded Combatman,” I revealed. “Concern for our numbers?”

“We can’t afford any more casualties,” explained Igura. “We need better armor until our numbers are at acceptable levels.”

“Understandable,” I mused. I then noticed what they were working on. “…That’s an Android Phone,” I observed.

“No, it’s your new Conquest Driver,” corrected Igura. “The a.i in the thing is limited, so no unhelpful commentary.”

“That’s a plus,” I replied. “So, how does it work?”

“Scientist 3387948,” called Igura to one of the Scientist Daleks, “activate the presentation.”

“I obey!” barked Scientist 3387948. It keyed in a command and a screen came down from the ceiling. It then started projecting how it works while Igura explained the pictures.

“First, slide back the panel on the phone’s back and insert your i.d. tag,” she instructed. “Next, key in the three-digit numeric passcode that you are going to set up when first activating the phone. Then, press the button on the bottom of the screen to have it summon your suit. It won’t put itself on until you say ‘Henshin!’ Once you say it, insert the phone onto the swivel and swing it down, then to the left until the phone clicks in the harness. The suit will then put itself onto you.”

“Is it ready for testing?” I asked.

“Whenever you are,” replied Igura as she handed me the belt with the phone harness for the buckle. My guns rested at their usual places. I set up the phone, inserted the i.d. tag into the back, typed in my new passcode (073), and pressed the button before thrusting it out in front of me.

“Henshin!” I called. I then put it onto the swivel and moved it until the phone’s screen was facing outwards. The suit then formed. “A perfect fit!” I praised. “And the Super Charge and Dai Super Charge sequences?”

“Press the button once for Super Charge,” explained Igura. “Press it again for Dai Super Charge. Press it twice in rapid succession while in your base form to immediately activate Dai Super Charge. Try it out.” I pressed the button twice as Igura instructed.

“Dai Super Charge!” I announced. My armor bulked up and exploded off of me to reveal my Kamen Rider Rift armor. “Perfect! You’ve done remarkably!” I then noticed a new device. “And what’s this, hm?”

“The Daleks had gotten schematics on that Sonic Screwdriver the Doctor uses,” replied Igura. “So, in the interests of science and our arsenal, I decided to make some for the troops. I’m just adding a few features the Doctor would never approve of.”

“Ah, so the troops are getting their own magic wands?” I mused.

“…Like I said, Sonic Screwdriver,” corrected Igura.

“Call it whatever you will,” I replied, “I say it’s a magical device that can perform a multitude of tasks with a simple spell, such as unlocking doors or acting as a crude laser. It’s a magic wand.”

“Well, what you’re holding,” grumbled Igura, “is one of our failed attempts. …Don’t give me that look! I tried studying Gallifreyan technology under the circumstances, but if it’s beyond the Daleks, it’s beyond us!”

“Nothing is beyond the…!” argued another Scientist Dalek.

“You, shut up!” ordered Igura. She turned back to me. “In any event,” she continued, “half of the circuitry inside a Sonic Screwdriver is actually bigger than the shell. Much like the TARDIS, it’s bigger on the inside and, while the Daleks HAVE dabbled in engineering dimensions, they’ve just been proceeding on what little bits they’ve taken from the Time Lords.”

“Yeah, the Time Lords don’t really share their scientific secrets,” I conceded. “Er, how do I…?” I gestured at the suit.

“Hold the button down for three seconds,” instructed Igura. “That’s standard for whatever form or Steel you’re in.” I did so and my suit disappeared.

“How are we doing on conventional weapons?” I asked.

“Much better in that area,” reported Igura. “If you would come with me to the firing range.” We went out of the Lab.

“Tell me, again, why we needed this place?!” I growled at Caan.

“Come now,” replied Caan, “don’t you want to turn your prison into a palace?” We had set up shop in the GeoComTex Vault, Van Statten’s base of operations. We had to exterminate anyone still dwelling there.

“What I want,” I argued, “is to return to my original form!”

“And you WILL,” assured Caan, “once we destroy Vortech.”

“We’ve lost our chance of having a portal operator to find him!” I hissed.

“Not really,” replied Caan. “There are OTHERS, others that I have contacted.”

“…Can we trust them?” I asked.

“We can trust them to do their job in finding Vortech,” answered Caan. “When the time is right, we will strike. Hopefully, they will stand with us and not against us.”

“Can we really trust that this…‘Convergence’ is going to happen?” I muttered.

“We can,” chuckled Caan. “On top of me seeing it, her future straight up confirmed it for us. I can still see it. She will be fighting Vortech with a childish red robot and a black kitsune.”

After Edgeworth was returned home, we had a celebration party on Vorton. At least, everyone else did. I just sat in my normal clothes and stared off into space on the upper level, the minor Gateways behind me. My mind was reeling from what happened after we retrieved the Sources the first time. Just then, a voice interrupted my thoughts, Alesandro’s voice, to be precise. “Megumi, what are you doing just sitting alone for?!” he asked. “We defeated Shocker Rift! That’s cause for celebration, ¿verdad?” (True?)

“I don’t feel like celebrating,” I mumbled.

“…¿Por qué?” (Why?) asked Alesandro.

“Alesandro, I hurt you in so many ways,” I replied.

“That was X-PO’s doing,” answered Alesandro. “We’ve all learned that.”

“I still acted against my conscience,” I countered. “I kept something from you new guys and it almost tore us apart. X-PO may have orchestrated it, but most of the time, I was the one who made the decision and I was the one who made you feel manipulated. X-PO saw us as the means to an end and I swore I would never view you guys as such. Now, here we are because I broke my vow.”

“You’re not X-PO,” replied Alesandro. “You’re not Hiro. You’re not Vortech. The best way to NOT be any of them is to wake up and hang out with your friends. Come on down and celebrate with us.” I considered, then grinned.

“Let me get dressed up,” I answered. I headed down to my old room during the Vortech Wars and got into my more regal dress. First came the top of the gown, then the skirts, then my sleeves, then my makeup, and finally the crown. I then joined everyone and danced the night away with Richard. He then pulled me to the center of the Gateway room.

“Everyone,” he began, “we’ve all had our ups and downs here. Together, we’ve persevered. However, Megumi and I can’t do this as we are.” Richard, what are you saying? “Not when we can take it a step further. Megumi, as you know, I’m terrible with fancy words. So, I’ll just ask plainly.” He then got down on one knee and pulled out a little box. My eyes went wide as I guessed what was going to happen next! He then slowly opened the box and revealed…a ring with a little diamond on it! “Hishikawa Megumi, will you be my wife?” The tears of joy came down my face as I held Richard in a tight embrace!

“YES! YES! A THOUSAND TIMES, YES!” I answered. I released him so he could put the ring on my finger. The crowd cheered and clapped at the scene before them. Kaitlyn, Kaede, hang on just a minute longer! Mommy and Daddy have a wedding to plan!

Tags caan, hiro adachi, igura, megumi hishikawa, metaltron, proposal, richard saunders, trial, verdict

Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 73

“This is it!” declared the Quad. “Your dimensions are becoming one! Lord Vortech will reign supreme!”

“Not as long as we draw breath!” I countered. The Quad’s response was to swing its sword.

“You are already too late!” it said. “Our work has been done!” It summoned Vortexons and fired ice beams from Robin’s eyes.

“Robin,” pleaded Batman as we fought off the Vortexons, “if you’re still in there, you must stop this!” Unfortunately, Robin couldn’t hear us. The Quad slammed its fists down, trying to crush us.

“We could really use some help!” yelped Cyborg as he was surrounded by Vortexons.

“We need to get into the upper chest!” Wizard pointed out as he slashed with his WizarSwordGun.

“Allow me,” said Raven. Her hands then became shrouded in darkness. “Azarath Metrion Zinthos!” she chanted. She blasted a hole in the Quad’s upper chest.

“Batman, Gandalf, Wyldstyle, Ichigō! With me!” I ordered. “Wizard, get us in there!”

“I’m not letting you go alone!” declared Guard.

“Guard, stay here with everyone else!” I demanded. “I need you to keep the enemy off our backs!”

“But…!” protested Guard.

“That’s an order!” I snapped. Guard hesitated for a bit.

“Be careful in there,” he finally said.

“No promises,” I countered. “Wizard, if you please?” Wizard flipped the levers and a familiar chant played before he cast levitate on us before returning to the fight. We landed in a room that was much bigger than I thought. There, held in an energy cage, was Ichimonji! “Get him down from there!” I shouted.

“Get away from that!” demanded a voice. We turned and Gandalf recognized the figure.

“Caan!” he gasped. Caan was wearing his Dal Driver!

“I have a raging headache,” snarled Caan, “from all the timeline changes going on now! I will only say this once! If you do not allow Vortech to succeed, allowing him at least 3,724 rels to do so, you will be exterminated!”

“It would help if you didn’t use Dalek units of time!” I snapped.

“All right,” hissed Caan, “if you insist on using your inferior measurements of time, roughly 3 hours and 6 minutes. One rel is three seconds.”

“I’m not giving Vortech even ONE second to succeed!” I declared.

“You now have 3.33 rels to reconsider,” warned Caan.

“I don’t require a third of a rel!” I declared.

“Final warning, surrender!” threatened Caan. “Consider the chaos that will follow.”

“I’m going to do what I can to prevent that!” I said.

“Allocated surrender period has expired!” declared Caan as he took out the Pure Dalek can. “Consequence: extermination!” He set the can into the Dal Driver.

“PURE DALEK!” announced the belt. He then turned the crank. “ARE YOU READY?!”

“Henshin!” said Caan. The suit formed.

“THE UNSTOPPABLE KILLER!” announced the belt. “PURE DALEK! EXTERMINATE!” Caan was now Kamen Rider Dal. He leapt onto me and delivered punch after punch to my face.

“You have been interfering for too long!” he said in the Dalek’s usual tone. Batman then grabbed one of his fists.

“I guess manners have been sifted out of the Daleks’ genetic code!” he snarled. “Davros really screwed up on you!”

“UNHAND ME!” screeched Dal as he flung Batman aside. I took that opportunity to drive my knee into his crotch. He didn’t even flinch. He just looked down with curiosity.

“…No way!” I said. Dal then flung me into a wall and punched me in the gut! I was briefly winded. Gandalf then whacked him with his staff. Dal turned to face him.

“I haven’t forgotten you!” he droned. He then held out his left hand.

“DAL GUN!” announced the Dal Driver. His gun then appeared and he fired! We got out of the way and kept our distance.

“Any suggestions?!” I asked my teammates.

“I got one!” declared Batman as he fired his grappled gun. Dal ducked.

“You missed,” he droned.

“Did I?” smirked Batman. The hook had latched onto the railing overhead and Batman tugged hard. The walkway tumbled down onto Dal and some rubble crashed onto the control panel, freeing Ichimonji! Something then tumbled out of a panel in the wall.

“ICHIMONJI’S TYPHOON!” called Ichigō, identifying the device. While Dal tried to get the walkway off of him, Ichigō fastened the Typhoon around Ichimonji’s waist. Ichimonji managed to quickly regain his strength.

“Hongo?” he asked. “Am I glad to see you!”

“It’s good to have you back, Ichimonji,” replied Ichigō. “Now that we have you free, the Quad should be less effective.”

“And we have a Foundation Element in our grasp again,” cheered Gandalf.

“You mean, my Typhoon?” quizzed Ichimonji. “With all due respect, you have it all wrong. It’s not my belt, it’s Tachibana’s pipe.”

“WHAT?!” yelped Ichigō. “I thought Mayu had it!”

“From what I’ve heard,” explained Ichimonji, “Shocker Rift attacked her home and stole the pipe away from her.”

“Desecration!” snarled Ichigō.

“Tachibana?” I asked, needing a reminder. I know I heard that name before.

“Tōbei Tachibana was my father figure after my parents’ death,” explained Ichigō. “He had a habit of smoking a pipe and, subsequently, died of lung cancer. His granddaughter, Mayu, kept his pipe as a keepsake.”

“And Shocker Rift stole it from her because it was a Foundation Element,” I guessed, “the one from your world!”

“Correct,” confirmed Ichimonji.

“And, with that,” barked a Dalek’s voice as Dal stood up, “you have permanently twisted the future to YOUR desired end! So, it’s up to me to put it back!” He jumped out of the hole we made in the Quad and joined the fight.

“I’ll help!” Ichimonji declared to us.

“You can’t have recovered that fast!” I protested.

“I’m a Kaizo Ningen,” (modified human, Japanese phrase for cyborgs) smirked Ichimonji. “I HAVE recovered that fast.” He then faced the opening we made, then flung his arms to the side and rotated them until his left fist went upwards and his right fist pointed to his left elbow. “HENSHIN!” he announced before leaping into the fight down below. The shield on his Typhoon opened and his suit formed. His suit was built like Ichigō’s, but the helmet coloration was different. It was a lighter shade of green with a white stripe going between the eyes and going to the back of the head. The mouth-guard was silver as well. Other than that, you could easily confuse him for Ichigō.

“YOU FREED KAMEN RIDER NIGŌ!” cheered Sengoku as he punched a Vortexon.

“That will do you no good!” called the Quad. “We are still in command of all the gateways!”

“Okay, we need to take care of the MetalBeard bit!” I called.

“If I may!” shouted Cyborg as he fired into the right shoulder.

“Thank you!” I replied as my team headed into the shoulder. MetalBeard was in an energy cage like Nigō was.

“Okay, I can see chroma discs,” Wyldstyle pointed out, “and the lock design,” yellow circle, blue right L-shape, purple left L-shape, “but how do we get to them? They’re behind energy shields.”

“Perhaps I can find a solution,” replied Gandalf. He found a loose wall panel in the center of the energy shields and yanked it off with his magic. Behind the panel was a machine with a control panel. The machine had a pointer that indicated which shield should go down.

“I’ll take care of it,” remarked Batman. “Wyldstyle, you better get things started.”

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” called Wyldstyle. “Chroma lock reveal!” Batman then moved the pointer to the shield around the red Chroma Disc. “Chroma! Red! Gandalf!” announced Wyldstyle. Gandalf went into the red paint and jumped into the left L-shape. Batman then moved the pointer to the yellow shield and the shield around that vanished while the shield around red went back up. The yellow disc was on a high ledge. Wyldstyle went up. “Chroma! Yellow! Wyldstyle!” she called as she jumped into the paint, then into the circle. Batman moved the pointer one last time, allowing access to the blue paint and closing off access to the yellow. “Chroma! Blue! Ichigō!” Ichigō jumped into the blue paint, then jumped into Gandalf’s position before landing in the right L-shape. The Chroma lock then activated a lever by MetalBeard’s cage.

“I got it!” I announced as I yanked on the lever. The cage deactivated and MetalBeard was released!

“Arr, ye did it!” cheered MetalBeard. “But, ye gotta free the others! Being trapped in this thing is…arr!” I presume he said that to replace whatever swear went through his mind.

“We already freed Ichimonji,” I revealed. “He’s fighting the enemy down below. Would you like to join or go to safety on Vorton? Your call.”

“After being stuffed in this contraption?!” growled MetalBeard. “Nay, I be joining the fight below!” He charged out of the Quad through the hole we made and started attacking the Vortexons. We followed him and rejoined the battle. The Quad felt its power diminish.

“No!” it protested in all four voices. “We are only a fraction of Lord Vortech’s power! He shall rule over everything!”

“Not as long as we exist!” argued Touché as she swapped i.d. tags.

“Wyldstyle steel!” announced her belt. She then built a massive cannon out of debris and fired it into the lower chest.

“Get going!” called Touché. My team and I jumped into the chest and we found ourselves in a room where Frodo Baggins was being held!

“This calls for the Scale Keystone,” reported Ichigō as he pointed to a vent.

“It’s broken, though!” I pointed out. “Where are the patches?!”

“Someone call?” asked Batman as he brought them down from the ceiling.

“Batman, you’re a life-saver!” I cheered.

“It’s what I do,” responded Batman.

“Scale Keystone, activate!” announced Ichigō. “Enlarge scale of Ichigō!” He grew and attached the patches, then held up a dangling bit. “Enlarge scale of Gandalf!” Gandalf grew and held up another dangling bit. “Lessen scale of Royal!” I shrank and traveled through the vent, messing with the electronics along the way until I heard the crackle of an energy cage deactivating. I got out of the vent to see Frodo picking himself up! “Normalize scale of all!” announced Ichigō as we all returned to normal size. Gandalf rushed over to Frodo to check on him.

“Frodo, my boy!” he called. “Are you all right?”

“A little dizzy,” muttered Frodo, “but I shall be fine, Gandalf.”

“Good to know,” said Gandalf. He then turned to me. “See if Vorton can get him home,” he asked me.

“No!” countered Frodo. He then revealed Sting! “I have a bone to pick with Vortech! Defeating his troops should help me get the message across!”

“…Are you quite sure?” quizzed Gandalf.

“I’ve never been more sure in my life!” affirmed Frodo. He went through the hole we made and jumped down into the fight, Sting flashing in the moonlight. “FOR THE SHIRE!” he called.

“Our power will not be diminished!” called the Quad as we leapt out of it.

“It looks like it IS!” I replied as we fought the Vortexons.

“You cannot!” rebuked the Quad. “You cannot free them from our bonds!”

“I’d say,” countered Wizard as he hefted a large stone, “we just did!” He tossed the stone into the Quad’s lower chest and made one last hole.

“Hold on, Robin!” called Batman as we leapt in. There was a ledge that was on fire when we got inside and something that required electricity.

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” announced Gandalf. “Element of fire, Wyldstyle!” Wyldstyle was surrounded in a red aura and leapt onto the ledge, deactivating part of the cage. “Element of lightning, Royal!” I fired a stream of lightning into a coil that powered a switch. Gandalf set it to the off position and the cage faded, releasing Robin. Batman went to check on his son.

“Robin, speak to me!” he called as he shook his young ward.

“STOP SHAKING ME!” shouted Robin. Batman stopped as he realized what he was doing. “Sheesh, Batman,” commented Robin, “I didn’t know you cared!”

“Well, he’s your dad,” I responded, “of course he does.” Robin stared at me until he remembered something.

“That’s right, you’re from a universe where we’re fiction and our lives are lain bare,” he remarked. Just then, an alarm sounded and our exit was blocked.

“Uh oh!” I yelped. I then called Vorton. “Guys, we need an immediate evac! Lock onto to us and our allies! Get us to Vorton!”

“Got you!” responded Elphaba’s voice. “I got your allies here, but you five are the only ones we can’t get a lock on! There’s a clear area deeper in the Quad! See if you can get there!” We did as she asked, dodging rubble along the way. We got to the clear area to see the blob Vortech had used to make the Quad.

“Yeah, that looks like a bit of Vortech to me!” called Wyldstyle.

“I can almost taste the malevolence emanating from it!” hissed Gandalf.

“Well, IT’S about to taste some justice!” snarled Batman as he pulled out a batarang.

“Holy clichés, Batman,” remarked Robin. I then stared at Robin. He guessed what I was saying in my head. “I was being purposefully ironic!” he protested.

“Uh huh, sure,” I replied. Batman tossed the batarang and it hit the blob. Just then, the place started to shake and things were being pulled into it!

“It’s collapsing in on itself!” yelped Wyldstyle.

“I hadn’t noticed!” I roared, sarcasm not even bothering to be disguised.

“I hope Vorton provides us with a means of escape soon!” called Gandalf.

“They better have!” shouted Batman. Unfortunately, things went awry!

Tags batman, caan, dc comics, gandalf, kamen rider, kamen rider ichigo, kamen rider nigo, megumi hishikawa, the quad, wyldstyle

Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 63

“I revealed myself to be Kamen Rider Shade when we got back,” answered Kaede once Livia finished.

“So you DID resort to magic one time!” called a voice. It was 70-year-old me!

“I didn’t actually follow through with it!” wailed Kaede.

“You were about to use magic!” argued 70-year-old me.

“This is monumentally bad,” gulped Michael.

“How so?” I asked.

“Caan’s returned, mentally, to his old Dalek ways,” explained Michael. “Hating other lifeforms, that’s bad enough, but he’s now in a form he considers impure. He’s being driven mad by his own flesh. The stink of his ancestral Kaled genes. He hates his own existence and that makes him deadlier than ever.”

“Not exactly something Daleks want to do,” mused Rusty, “hating their flesh.”

“Can you guys give any hint on him?” I asked my future and her children.

“No need to worry about him,” assured 70-year-old me. “He’ll die a few years from now.”

“It’s gonna be a surprise for him,” replied Kaede.

“Caan isn’t exactly someone to underestimate,” muttered Michael.

“Maybe,” I commented, “but enough about that Dalek, let’s talk about Haitao and Joshua! Where are they?”

“Right here, Your Majesty,” called Joshua. “Boy, do we have a story to tell you!”

“I really don’t see why you’re making such a fuss, after she failed you,” I said to Vortech.

“Making a fuss?!” snapped Vortech. “Caan, she’s got intimate knowledge about our operations!”

“She’s not interested in us anymore and she hates the Vortex Riders as much as we do,” I assured Vortech. “We’re fine.”

“Forgive me if I’m skeptic,” replied Vortech.

“Trust the one who looked into the Time Vortex, we’re fine!” I insisted.

“Has anyone found Heather?” asked War.

“She’s building too near Hell’s outskirts,” I whispered.

“I felt it too,” wheezed Pestilence. Famine mumbled a response.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full!” I whispered sharply. Famine mumbled “Excuse me,” and swallowed whatever she was eating.

“So why aren’t we there?” she said before chowing down again.

“Sonic’s presence concerns me,” I responded, fear creeping into my soft voice. “If he’s the Sonic from THAT universe, it could prove catastrophic if the Vortex Riders find out.”

“You mean…you think Sonic may be the Sonic from the combined universe resulting from Clusters C-Y-8-3-R-T-R-0-N and 5-3-G-4?” War grunted.

“The same,” I replied. “If it is, we may experience the Convergence a lot sooner than we’re ready for.”

“I wish you didn’t say that,” wheezed Pestilence.

Tags apocalypse horsemen, caan, kamen rider, lord vortech, megumi hishikawa

Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 62

“Don’t worry, guys,” called Shade. “I have a spell that will teleport us out of here.”

“Good to know,” replied Build.

“INTRUDERS! DIE!” boomed a robotic voice. It was Robotron! He fired on us as we took cover.

“Someone needs to stop him!” I called.

“He’ll shoot us the instant he sees us!” replied Sengoku.

“I got this!” announced Jake. He gulped down a soda and turned invisible!

“Of course!” I realized. Sengoku got the idea and we drew out the Batman i.d tags.

“Batman Steel!” announced our belts as we donned the image of the Dark Knight. We then followed suit with Jake and attacked Robotron before he teleported to another level, near an air hockey table. We then crept up on him and attacked again! He teleported to a lower area, then we followed and attacked. He teleported to the highest level by a pair of pinball machines until we attacked again. He fell and we found Robotron’s game

“Robotron: 2084!” cheered Jake. “I love this game! Quick! Save the last human family!” Jake got to work playing it until he earned 10,000 points. The wizard appeared again.

“Robotron: 2084,” he revealed, “was first introduced to arcades in 1982. In total, there are 40 enemy waves hard-coded into the game. After Wave 40 has been completed, Waves 21 to 40 are then repeated until 255 waves have been beaten in total.” He vanished again.

“Okay, he’s gone,” muttered Build, “but what about Caan?”

“I’ll check,” called Shade. She cast a spell on the doors which allowed us to see through it. Caan had long since abandoned the area. “Okay, we’re good. Now, all I need to do is…” the doors opened by themselves. Gandalf was sitting by the doors, puffing on his pipe! “H…how did you do that?” asked Shade.

“There’s a button marked ‘Open’,” replied Gandalf as he pointed out the button with his pipe. Shade smacked her head.

“If Mom finds out, she’ll never let me hear the end of it!” she groaned. “Right, this way.” We left the room and went to the other side of the arcade where a knight was riding an ostrich and holding a jousting lance!

“STAB! KILL!” shouted the knight. He then charged us! We got out of the way and Build stepped on one of the Dance Dance Revolution machines. He heard a noise and saw that it was from a box shaking on the ceiling. He then saw another switch next to him that looked like it had a timer. An idea then formed in his head.

“Jake, do you have something that can increase your speed?!” he asked.

“I have a speed soda, why?!” replied Jake. He then saw the timer and pressure switches. “Okay, I can see why you would ask about my speed, but how will we keep the knight sufficiently distracted?! It’s taking most of us to keep him at bay!”

“Don’t worry, I have a Best Match for that!” assured Build. He then took out two more Fullbottles, one purple and one yellow. The purple one had a shuriken on it while the yellow one had a comic page on it. He then replaced the Rabbit Fullbottle with the purple one and the Tank with the yellow.

“NINJA! COMIC! BEST MATCH!” announced the Build Driver. He turned the crank and the piping came out again. “ARE YOU READY?!” asked the Build Driver.

“Build Up!” replied Build. The piping then formed the suit and slammed the sides onto Build. The red was replaced with purple, the Rabbit eye turned into an elongated shuriken, and he got a purple scarf. The blue was replaced with yellow and his Tank eye was replaced with a pen over a set of explosive panels. Surfer rock music played as the Build Driver announced the form.

“SHINOBI NO ENTERTAINER!” (The Stealthy Entertainer) NINNINCOMIC! YEAH!” announced the belt. Build then held his hand out as piping formed a sword. The sword had a pen tip on top and there were four panels that made up the blade. The one nearest the hilt had multiple ninja like characters, the one above that had a ninja making an explosion, the one above that had a ninja making a circular wind, and the one at the top, just below the pen tip of the sword, had a ninja vanishing in a puff of smoke. “4KOMA NINPŌTŌ!” (Pronounced Yon Koma, means 4 Panel Ninja Sword) called the belt. He pressed a button on the handle once and the bottom-most panel lit up.

“BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!” (Art of cloning) it announced. At that point, three more Builds came into being. Jake got the idea as the clones stepped onto the pressure pads and drank the speed soda. He ran onto all four timer switches and the box fell, revealing another knight on an ostrich. The knights made eye contact and they rushed at each other; lances ready. They knocked themselves out at that time. Build then dismissed the clones as Jake found the game the knights came from. It was Joust! You flew around on an ostrich jousting enemies off theirs and collecting their eggs.

“Haha! Yes!” cheered Jake. “Classic Retro gaming at its finest!” He played until he got 1,000 points. The Wizard appeared again.

“Joust was released in 1982,” he lectured, “and was one of the earliest arcade games to feature two-player cooperative gameplay. The whole game is based around armored knights riding ostriches jousting against enemies on giant buzzards. This idea was conceived from wanting to create a flying game that wasn’t set in space.” He vanished again.

“Then, why not use dragons?” asked Build as he took the Fullbottles out and cancelled his transformation.

“Why use those wicked things?!” protested Gandalf.

“Wicked?” asked Ex-aid as he closed the Gamer Driver.

“GACHON!” it announced. He then took the Gashat out. “GASHUN!” Ex-aid went back to being Emu. Sengoku and I became Hiroki and Livia again.

“Well, in Gandalf’s world, dragons are ALL evil,” I explained. “Bred by Morgoth, Sauron’s old boss.”

“I see,” muttered Sento. I then noticed that Shade didn’t cancel her transformation.

“Er, Shade?” I asked.

“Not yet,” she replied, guessing my question. “Not until these events settle themselves. For now, we need to get to the basement.” We took Shade’s advice and headed downstairs. We could see the rocket from Defender patrolling the back, trapped behind a boiler.

“I got this,” assured Jake. He drank another soda, then shot lasers from his eyes like Superman! It freed the rocket, then it fired on us!

“Well, how’s THAT for gratitude?!” I hissed. Emu jumped up and brought the rocket down. At that point, we found the Defender game.

“Defender!” called Jake as he started playing. “Classic space shooter! 1981 arcade release!” Once he got to 2,000, the rocket vanished and the Wizard came back to give us more history.

“When Defender was released in 1981,” he commented, “many people were cautious of its complicated control scheme and high difficulty level. Ultimately, it was these very elements that made it such a huge success as they helped it to stand out as something different within the busy arcades.” When the Wizard vanished, we then noticed a buzzing noise. We turned to see a tiny car racing around a track! Jake got an idea.

“Guys, you turn over the oil drums when I say so!” he called. “I’ll lower the crossing bar, then we herd it towards the tiny garage!” We got into position. “Ready?” he asked. The car approached the oil drums. “NOW!” yelled Jake. We turned the oil drums over and spilled the contents over the track, causing the car to lose control, then Jake lowered the bar once the car was near him, then we herded it towards the tiny garage. It was stuck.

“I think that car came from Super Sprint,” I mused.

“Oh, cool!” cheered Jake. “Super Sprint! Released in 1986 to the joy of everyone! Anyone else want a turn at these things? My fingers are getting numb.”

“I’ll handle it,” I called as I found the Super Sprint machine. I won a race and the Wizard came up again.

“The arcade machine for Super Sprint,” he lectured, “released in 1986, featured three wheels as a way of controlling the cars and also allowed for three players to race each other at the same time. If the player managed to reach Race 85, a bonus track could then be played.” As he vanished, he started glitching out and we could see a trail leading into a back room. It was guarded by a security camera that shut the door whenever it saw us, so Jake went invisible and he snuck through, killing power to the door. At that point, we were attacked by the Wizard and the rest of the Gauntlet heroes.

“I guess we beat them first!” mused Emu as he got the Gashat out again.

“MIGHTY ACTION X!” it announced. Sento brought out the Rabbit and Tank Fullbottles, shook them, and put them into the Build Driver.

“RABBIT! TANK! BEST MATCH!” it called. Sento turned the crank and the piping appeared. “ARE YOU READY?!” Hiroki and I drew our i.d. tags.

“Henshin!” we all announced

“GASHATTO! GACHĀN! LEVEL UP! Mighty jump! Mighty kick! Mighty! MIGHTY ACTION X!” shouted Emu’s belt.

“HAGANE NO MOONSAULT! RABBITTANK! YEAH!” called the Build Driver. All Riders were back into our suits and we went on the offensive. It involved a lot of punching, but we managed to subdue them.

“I think it’s your turn, Sengoku,” I offered.

“Gladly,” replied Sengoku. He started playing Gauntlet as the warrior character.

“What IS this game?” asked Build.

“This is Gauntlet,” answered Jake. “It was released in 1985 and it is THE most fun a quarter can buy!”

“DAMMIT!” swore Sengoku.

“You died?” I asked.

“Er, can I get some help?” quizzed Sengoku.

“Sure thing,” called Jake. Ex-aid, Jake, and I joined in the fun. Sengoku stayed as the Warrior, I picked the Valkyrie, Jake picked the Elf, and Ex-aid picked the Wizard. We soon netted 3,000 points and the characters we fought recovered from their haze. The Wizard recovered first.

“Thor?!” he quizzed. “Thyra?! Questor?! Were we all possessed?!”

“It would appear so, Merlin,” replied Questor, the Elf.

“How did we end up in the real world?” asked Thyra, the Valkyrie.

“I’d say Vortech had a hand in it,” I called. We explained our situation to the Gauntlet heroes.

“Well then, you have our everlasting gratitude,” thanked Thor, the Warrior.

“You say you beat our game?” quizzed Merlin, the Wizard. “One last bit of history before your final battle here. Our game, released in 1985, featured drop-in, drop-out gameplay for up to four players. With four people playing at the same time, it was seen as the answer for struggling arcade manufacturers to create extra earnings whilst creating a very fun game in the process.” We heard something buzz. “Ah, that would be your way up,” mused Merlin. “Farewell and good luck.”

“You’re not coming?!” yelped Jake.

“You guys beat his game,” answered Shade. “He and the other Gauntlet heroes are going back into their electronic slumber.”

“It was good to meet you, my friends,” called Thyra. We all shook hands with them, then they faded into pixels and returned to their game. We headed out to the elevator and took it all the way to the roof. There, we saw Caan speaking to Heather!

“You’re making a mistake!” insisted Caan.

“The Apocalypse Driver will bring me back with a fully functional body!” argued Heather.

“You seem to be missing the big picture about the consequences,” snarled Caan.

“And you idiots seem to forget about your enemies!” I revealed. At that point, Caan smirked and pulled out the device the Thief used to turn himself into a Bugster!

“The Gashacon Bugvisor?!” called Sengoku.

“Baiyō,” announced Caan as he used the blaster end of the device to spray Jake with orange pixels. Jake started spasming, then morphing until he became George from Rampage! “Quite the Bugster, wouldn’t you say?” asked Caan.

“Bingo!” cheered Heather. She punched Jake’s monstrous form and got out a quarter circle. It had a canister’s image on it. “Two parts down, three to go,” she mused. She then fled through a rift!

“NO!” I shouted. Too late.

“Won’t do her any good,” mused Shade.

“Never mind the talk!” snapped Sengoku. “Jake just became a Bugster!”

“I’ll remove it!” replied Ex-aid as he closed the Gamer Driver.

“GACHON!” it announced as Ex-aid went into his level 1 form. He went on the offensive to keep Jake back.

“Now, for you,” hissed Caan. He pulled out a version of the Build Driver that was done up in the colors of a Dalek’s shell. The gear was replaced with a Dalek’s eye. He put the belt on.

“DAL DRIVER!” called the belt in a Dalek’s voice.

“A vastly superior version of the Build Driver,” boasted Caan. “And this,” he took out a can with a dome on top, “is my Pure Dalek can.” He shook the can and turned the dome so a Dalek eyestalk could come out and the speech indicators would pop out. He then put it into the Dal Driver as it took up both slots.

“PURE DALEK!” it announced. Caan then turned the crank and piping came out, forming parts of a suit behind and in front of him. “ARE YOU READY?!” asked the Dal Driver.

“Henshin!” called Caan. The suit slammed onto him, giving him a distinctly Dalek appearance. He had shoulder pads that looked like half of a Dalek’s neck, boots that resembled a Dalek’s skirt, and a blue light in the center of the head. His eyes took their cues from Build, the left giving the appearance of the Dalek gun, the right giving the appearance of their plunger. The left forearm looked like the gun and the right had a sleeve similar to their plunger as well.

“THE UNSTOPPABLE KILLER!” shrieked the Dal Driver. “PURE DALEK! EXTERMINATE!”

“Kamen Rider Dal!” droned Caan in his old Dalek voice. As he spoke, the eyes flashed like the lights on a Dalek. “You will be exterminated!” More piping formed a pistol with a Dalek gun on the end.

“DAL GUN!” announced the Dal Driver. He caught the gun in his left hand. We dodged the blasts as Shade assisted Ex-aid. Gandalf helped us keep Dal at bay.

“You may win this universe,” boasted Dal, “but Shocker Rift will win the entire Multiverse!”

“Not gonna happen!” I declared.

“I have foreseen it!” replied Dal. “It is inevitable!”

“You can’t win!” I insisted.

“We’ll stop you!” called Sengoku.

“You do not have the capacity to do so!” shouted Dal.

“EX-AID! NOW!” yelled Shade. Ex-aid hammered George and managed to separate Jake from George. Jake was…lacking…in clothes aside from his tighty-whities. Jake got out of his haze, then felt the draft around his legs. He covered his crotch and sidled off. “I got you,” assured Shade as Ex-aid went to Level 2 again. Clothes came back onto Jake.

“Thanks!” called Jake.

“KIMEWAZA!” announced the Gamer Driver. “MIGHTY CRITICAL STRIKE!” Ex-aid then did his Rider Kick and knocked George silly.

“My turn!” called Jake as he found the Rampage machine.

“NO!” shouted Dal as he leveled his gun at Jake.

“RIDER CLASH KICK!” I announced as I delivered my kick to his head. Dal recovered as he turned the crank again.

“READY, GO!” shouted the Dal Driver. An orangish hologram of a Special Weapons Dalek gun enveloped Dal and targeted us. “PURE DALEK FINISH! EXTERMINATE!” announced the Dal Driver as the hologram fired Dal in a flying kick before it faded. We ducked out of the way and Dal hit a wall, just as Jake finished the first level of Rampage. That was all that was needed to put George back. Build then turned the crank of his Build Driver.

“READY, GO!” it called as an energy chart trapped Dal in its dotted line. “VORTEX FINISH! YEAH!” Build then flew down the line and drove his right foot into Dal’s head. There was an explosion that knocked Dal backwards and made the Pure Dalek can pop out of the Dal Driver, causing him to revert back to Caan.

“Pitiful creatures!” he hissed as he picked himself up.

“Caan,” I called, “you REALLY need to drop this whole Dalek business. One of our allies did and her life is for the better now.”

“I’m familiar with the Ex-Dalek that the Doctor nicknamed Rusty!” snapped Caan. “She is weak!”

“Hardly,” I argued. “She’s stronger than any Dalek fleet. She’s allowed diversity to enter her genetics and it made her stronger. If you promise to drop this notion of purity, we can grant you asylum. What say you?”

“Vortech, I require a rift back!” demanded Caan. A rift to Foundation Prime opened for him and he went through!

“NO!” I called. “Accidenti a lui! (Damn him!) We could have used him!”

“I think the ONE Dalek we have is enough,” replied Sengoku.

“Caan is not someone who gives up his Dalek ways so easily,” confirmed Shade.

“In any case, we failed our mission,” I sighed. I contacted Vorton. “X-PO, we need a ride home.”

“Coming up,” called X-PO. A rift opened for us and Shade , Ex-aid, and Build started following us.

“You’re coming with us?” I asked.

“You’re my only way home,” replied Ex-aid.

“And I want to see your base!” cheered Build.

“Besides, I’m needed on Vorton,” replied Shade.

“Fair enough,” I conceded.

“What about you, Master Jake?” asked Gandalf. Jake looked around and still saw video game characters running around.

“I think I’ll stay here for a bit,” he mused. “The world still needs the Gamer Kid!”

“Then, farewell,” I bid. “And I hope we meet again.” We went through the rift after that and left Jake to take on his new mantle as the Gamer Kid.

Tags caan, gamer kid, gandalf, kamen rider, kamen rider build, kamen rider ex-aid, livia acqua, rampage, retro video games

Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 61

When we came through, Mia Regina, we noticed our surroundings were NOT 8-bit. I looked a little further. “No health bars,” I observed, “no score counters, no profile versions of our faces, no text boxes, and we’re not even polygonal.”

“Is this the right place?” asked Gandalf.

“I’ll find out,” replied Hiroki as he called up Vorton. “X-PO, where are we? This doesn’t look like an arcade game.”

“You must be in the main dimension,” answered X-PO. “I did say that the dimension you were in was a trans-reality pocket dimension. What Chell meant when she translated it as ‘weird’ was that it means that it’s a universe WITHIN a universe. You guys were in the shared reality most arcade games share.”

“Hold on,” I quizzed, “are you telling me we were INSIDE the video games? The actual arcade machines?!”

“Exactly,” replied X-PO.

“And we’re in the ‘real world’ of this dimension?” asked Hiroki.

“If you want to put it like that, yes,” answered X-PO. “In any case, you’ve got a mission to complete.”

“Right, we’ll call back when we’re done,” finished Hiroki. He ended the call. “Well, no point sitting on our butts. Let’s find that part.” We started walking around the city for a bit, looking for Heather. As we walked, we heard noises near an arcade. A young man was walking by with a green shirt with the alien from Defender on it. He also wore a black jacket and was playing a game on his phone. He had earbuds on and was so engrossed in the game.

“No sense in not getting local knowledge,” I mused. We approached the kid and I tapped him on the shoulder. The poor boy jumped a bit and took his earbuds out as he faced us. He looked a bit confused.

“Is there some sort of fancy convention going on?” he asked. We then realized he was talking about our clothing.

“Actually, we usually dress like this,” replied Hiroki. “I’m Hiroki, this is Livia, and that’s Gandalf. Who are you?”

“I’m Jake,” introduced the kid, “former Retro Gaming Champ under the title of Gamer Kid.”

“Gamer Kid?” I chuckled. “Just that?”

“Short, simple, why not?” asked Jake.

“Fair enough,” I conceded. At that point, we heard a rumble.

“That came from the old Coin-Op arcade!” yelped Jake. That was when Emu and another man were tossed out and various characters and enemies from the old arcade games came out of the arcade. Still inside the arcade was a humanoid man with one single, yellow eye in his forehead and three tentacles for hair. His armor looked almost like a Dalek.

“My business here doesn’t concern you,” he snarled. “Normally, I would say ‘Do not interfere,’ and shout ‘Obey’ a lot, but I can see that you won’t listen to my old Dalek ways.”

“You? A Dalek?!” I yelped. The creature saw us.

“And Livia, Gandalf, and Hiroki arrive,” he sighed. “I must admit, I thought I would be wrong, but it only makes sense.”

“Just a minute,” interjected Gandalf, “how did you know we would come?”

“I’ve flown through the Time Vortex,” answered the creature. “I have the gift of prophecy. You won’t succeed in you mission.”

“We’ll see about that!” declared Hiroki as we readied our Drivers. The creature pulled out a Dalek gunstick and fired at the ground.

“You WILL wait there until the appropriate time,” he ordered. He then disappeared into the arcade.

“Okay, no WAY am I obeying,” I snarled.

“Indeed,” replied Gandalf. “If he used to be one of those unsavory Daleks, we MUST stop him.”

“And get that belt part,” continued Hiroki. “We’re pressed for time. Quick intros. Hiroki Hishikawa.”

“Livia Acqua,” I introduced.

“Gandalf the Grey,” replied Gandalf.

“Jake, Gamer Kid,” called Jake.

“Hojo Emu,” introduced Emu.

“Kiryū Sento,” finished the new man.

“Right, let’s get in there!” declared Hiroki. We came into the arcade and found the Wizard from Gauntlet. It spoke in the usual arcade beeps with a text box translating it.

“Greetings, mortals,” greeted the Wizard. “Just as was foretold to me, a Gamer of Legend has appeared upon the anarchic uprising of the arcade.” He pointed to Jake when he said that.

“…Me?!” yelped Jake.

“As you can see,” remarked the Wizard, “evil powers have possessed the heroes of these once beloved video games and the entire world needs your help in setting them free. You must find a way to banish the taint from these heroes and then defeat their games so they can return to their electronic slumber. Go now and fulfill your destiny!” He zapped Jake with a spell.

“What was that?!” called Jake as he recovered from the tingle.

“That,” explained the Wizard, “was a spell that gave you a supply of special sodas that give you a certain power. The powers you have are laser vision, stealth, super strength, invulnerability, and speed. Farewell!” The Wizard disappeared.

“Well, what do you know?!” cheered Hiroki. “A new superhero’s born!”

“Why me?” moaned poor Jake.

“Why NOT you?” asked Emu.

“You guys fight this kind of thing all the time, it looks like!” argued Jake. “I’m dead weight!”

“Never heard of it,” I remarked. Jake opened his mouth to explain. “And, I don’t want to hear about it! Nobody is useless! Your gaming knowledge will help us succeed! You can become something greater!”

“Can’t I just think things over?!” asked Jake, terrified out of his mind.

“Nerds across the world, no matter their affiliation,” I argued, “have been thinking things over for far too long!”

“Tell me,” pressed Gandalf, “when did those little lights and sounds in those magic boxes become so important to you? I know of at least 16 people who are off in search of adventure! People who would love nothing better than to learn what was beyond the borders of their world! The world is not in maps, books, or plays. It’s out there.”

“I can’t just go running into a fight!” protested Jake. “I’m a gamer!”

“You’re also a 21st century nerd,” replied Hiroki. Jake snorted and leaned against the wall; arms folded. “Did you know that my great-great grandfather worked for Nintendo when it was a hanafuda card company? It’s true. He personally oversaw the quality of hanafuda cards and ensured that Nintendo was huge in the playing card industry. He left the company but was still invested in its interests. With his help, Nintendo followed the meaning behind its name, ‘Leave luck to Heaven’.”

“…Half of that sounds made up,” muttered Jake.

“Okay, truth be told,” replied Hiroki, “my great-great grandfather swept the place back in the day. He still used ‘Leave luck to Heaven’ as his motto though.”

“All stories deserve a little embellishment,” affirmed Gandalf. “You’ll have a tale or two to tell when you succeed.”

“Can you promise that I WILL succeed?” asked Jake. The silence we gave was deafening to him.

“No,” I finally replied. “And, if you do, you will not be the same again.”

“I thought so,” sighed Jake. “I’m sorry, guys, I can’t help you.” He then put his hands in his pockets and started going home. “You got the wrong guy,” he called. When he rounded a corner, there was no doubt in our minds that he wasn’t helping us.

“It looks like we lost our local knowledge,” I muttered.

“Perhaps it’s just as well,” sighed Sento. “After all, what are we? Nerds, a wizard, a doctor, and a genius hero?”

“We ARE fighters,” replied Emu.

“For some of us, the fight is over,” remarked Sento. “I already beat my main bad guy.”

“That’s two endings I missed!” hissed Hiroki. “I gotta binge-watch when we get back to Vorton!”

“Pardon?” asked Sento.

“Okay, I’m gonna say something that will surprise you,” I answered. “We’re all from different universes. In our world,” I pointed to myself and Hiroki, “you, Emu, and Gandalf are fictional, seen in TV shows, movies, or read about in books.”

“I’ve called myself the Rider Encyclopedia,” continued Hiroki. “And we’re all in a different universe as well. That creature was also from another universe.”

“No way!” cheered Sento as a part of his hair stuck up when he became excited. “Multiverse theory is multiverse FACT?!”

“You know about multiverse theory?” asked Hiroki.

“I’m a genius theoretical physicist,” answered Sento. “No scientific theory escapes me.”

“A scientist?” I quizzed.

“And Kamen Rider,” answered Emu. “That’s Kamen Rider Build, the one I told you guys about when we met in those games.”

“Oh, YOU’RE his successor,” realized Hiroki. “I went on this adventure in the middle of Emu’s run. Could you show me your Rider form?”

“Sure,” replied Sento. He then took out his main belt. It was a black on with a gear on the right side of a space that had slots for two things, much like the Double Driver. On the right of the gear was a hand crank. “This is my main belt, the Build Driver,” explained Sento. “And THESE,” he took out a pair of little bottles, “are the items I use to transform, my Fullbottles.”

“Fullbottles?” chuckled Hiroki.

“Hey, look!” I called as I pointed to the red one. “That one’s got a picture of a rabbit!”

“What on Earth is the image on the blue one?” asked Gandalf.

“That’s…a tank,” I muttered.

“Wait, are those stickers on the caps?” asked Hiroki.

“These stickers,” replied Sento, “indicate a Best Match.”

“The best kind of pairing?” I asked.

“Exactly,” confirmed Sento. “Originally, the Build Driver was used to just detect Best Matches, but I modified it to become a transformation belt.” He then set the Build Driver to his waist. “Sā, jikken o hajimeyou ka?” (Now, shall we begin the experiment?) asked Sento as he put a Fullbottle in each hand. He then shook the bottles as they made a clicking sound. After a few seconds, he twisted the caps so the labels faced outside. He put the bottles into the Build Driver, the red Rabbit one first, nearest to the large gear, then the blue tank one, on the right side of the Rabbit. As he put them in, holograms of the symbols on the bottles appeared.

“RABBIT! TANK! BEST MATCH!” announced the Build Driver. A bit of music played before Sento turned the crank. We could hear machinery as Emu moved us back to make room for the glass tubes that were coming out of the gear. They formed the thing that would hold the plastic parts in model kits in front of and behind Sento and the contents of the bottles flowed through the tubes to form the parts of the suit. The front allowed the red bottles contents to form the left part of the head and eye, the right arm and shoulder with torso, and left leg while the contents of the blue bottle formed the right part of the head and eye, left arm and shoulder with torso, and right leg. The parts were forged at a diagonal. “ARE YOU READY?!” asked the Build Driver.

“Henshin!” called Sento. The suit parts were then slammed onto Sento and the suit filled in the gaps with black armor. Sento, as Kamen Rider Build, had an interesting motif to him. His left leg had a spring and his right foot had a tank tread. His left eye and antenna looked like a bunny’s head in profile with the ear sticking up and the right eye looked like a tank pointing its gun barrel upwards.

“HAGANE NO MOONSAULT!” (The Moonsault of Steel!) announced the Build Driver. “RABBITTANK! YAY!” Build then ran his finger along the tank eye’s gun barrel.

“Shōri no hōsoku wa…” declared Build before he made his fingers splay out, “…kimatta!” (The law of victory is set!)

“Okay, I’m impressed,” breathed Hiroki.

“I know, right?!” cheered Sento. “I’m amazing! I’m the best! I’m a genius!”

“And the ego comes out,” sighed Hiroki. He was about to say something more when an explosion came from the arcade. “Crap! Our mission!”

“We better get moving!” I declared. We drew our i.d tags out.

“Henshin!” we called. Emu then got his Gashat out and pressed the button.

“MIGHTY ACTION X!” it announced.

“Dai Henshin!” called Emu. He then put the Gashat into his Gamer Driver.

“GASHATTO!” shouted the belt. He then pulled the lever. “GACHĀN! LEVEL UP! Mighty jump! Mighty kick! Mighty! MIGHTY ACTION X!” He went straight to his level 2 form.

“Let’s go!” called Ex-Aid. We all charged in to see Caan trying to get away from a white car. It seemed to be shrouded by a black mist.

“Is that the…?” asked Sengoku.

“The G-6155 Interceptor from Spy Hunter!” I confirmed.

“I LOVE that game!” cheered Ex-Aid. The car then fired on us! “I DON’T LIKE THAT!” yelped Ex-Aid as we took cover.

“I knew it! Couldn’t resist interfering, could you?!” snarled Caan. He drew a Dalek gun on us. “Exterminate!” he shouted as he fired.

“Better stay out of range,” muttered Build as more piping came out of the gear on his belt. It formed a large drill with a single handle.

“What, in the name of sanity, is that?” asked Sengoku.

“I call it the Rotary Sword/Gun Drill Crusher!” proclaimed Build as he took the drill head off and placed the point of the drill into a slot on the handle that was a little perpendicular to the main grip. He pulled the trigger and the shots came out in a rotary blast.

“This is getting us nowhere!” snapped Sengoku as he fired.

“‘Pointless’ would have been the word I used,” muttered Caan. “Just give…ARGH!” He clutched his head in pain. “A…timeline change?!” he gasped. “How?!”

“GET OVER HERE!” shouted a voice. At that exact moment, Jake jumped into the battle zone, grabbed Caan’s tentacles, and threw him into the car, making the mist fade away!

“Keep him covered,” called a woman’s voice. “That Strength Soda he drank won’t last long. Jake? If you please? I believe 8000 points is the minimum.”

“Got it, Shade!” replied Jake. We all turned to see a new Kamen Rider! It was a woman in obsidian armor with gold trim. Her eyes were red and her helmet was in the shape of a witch’s hat. She wore a black cape and had large gauntlets. Her belt was silvery with a silver jewel in the center. Her undersuit was silver as well.

“Who are you?!” asked Gandalf.

“Don’t be rude!” chided Sengoku. “Introduce yourself before you ask!”

“It’s all right,” assured the woman. “I was raised with an American father. Besides, I’m from the future. I already know you guys.”

“The future?!” asked Sengoku.

“No way!!” cheered Build.

“Don’t bother asking me questions about the future,” directed the woman. “I swore an oath not to reveal things until the proper time. Temporal Prime Directive and all that.”

“…Of course,” remarked Sengoku.

“Now then,” declared the woman, “I’ll just introduce myself. I am Kamen Rider Shade, a magic based Rider, like Wizard.” She then drew her wand and a jewel sphere, a ruby, to be precise. She leveled her wand at the sphere. “One move against Jake,” she warned Caan, “and I cast a spell that will allocate the explosive power of my Ruby Under-sphere to the external lattice-work. BOOM! Instant bomb that will kill us all! So, back away from the Gamer Kid!” Caan snarled as he lowered his gun. “That’s better,” remarked Shade. “All right, you guys may ask questions.”

“Allocate the…?” muttered Gandalf.

“Quiet, Gandalf,” hissed Sengoku. “She’s doing a Thing!”

“You come here,” I said to Caan, “to get something for Vortech, but the search is interrupted by someone. A backwoods ghost?”

“And who are you to ask that?” asked Caan.

“The one who’s gonna stop you,” I resolved.

“Magic?” asked Build.

“Could we have a bit of hush, please?” requested Shade.

“Magic exists in a few worlds,” replied Gandalf. “One of you Kamen Riders is a wizard.”

“I said hush,” insisted Shade.

“Grazie,” (Thank you) I replied. “As for you, Caan, you came here for a reason. What is it, being the Daleks’ herald for their invasion?”

“Why would we invade this backwater universe?” asked Caan.

“So, what brings a member of the Caan breed of Daleks here?” asked Ex-Aid.

“Caan breed?!” snapped Caan, offended. “There is only ONE breed of Dalek! We will not accept any mutations! Caan is my name! Caan of the Cult of Skaro, at your service!”

“So, you’re part of a cabal?” I asked.

“Last member of a cabal,” clarified Caan.

“Then you’re here to resurrect it!” I guessed. “How can you do that with people from a backwater universe?” Caan didn’t answer my question.

“You there, Shade, was it?” he asked. “You have a spell that will do what? Allocate the explosive power of your Ruby Under-sphere to the external lattice-work, making it a bomb that will explode in an instant?”

“That’s what I said,” replied Shade. “One that would kill us all!”

“You made that up, didn’t you?” muttered Caan.

“WHOOO!” cheered Jake. “HIGH SCORE! Now, see this! THIS is a real video game!”

“It served its distraction well,” mused Shade. At that point, the Wizard appeared again, causing the car to vanish!

“Spy Hunter was first released in arcades in 1983,” translated his text box. “It is said that Spy Hunter was originally made to be based on a popular spy movie franchise, but the license could not be acquired.” He then vanished and a gate opened to reveal another section of the arcade.

“Now, with no further distractions…” declared Caan as he raised his gun.

“No, you don’t!” replied Shade as she swapped her belt’s jewel for the ruby in her hand.

“UNDER-CHANGE!” announced her belt. “RUBY PATRIOT!” Her undersuit changed to a ruby color!

“Inspired by the hot-headedness of my American father!” called Shade. She then decked Caan, causing an explosion to occur on impact!

“Fireworks?!” yelped Sengoku.

“Well, some cultures view rubies as the July birthstone for patriots,” I recalled. “And she said she has an American dad, and they usually launch fireworks around July, so why not?”

“Fair point,” replied Sengoku. Caan was picking himself up as we moved to the area on the left.

“You know, fun fact about this place,” chuckled Jake. “In the 70’s, this was made into a flower shop by someone who was a paranoid kook. He made an area called a War Room. In the event of a robbery, the War Room will become the four safest walls in the building. End of lesson!” He shut the door as we entered the room and pressed a button that activated steel doors. “There,” declared Jake. “Now, Caan the alien can’t get in!”

“So, how do WE get OUT?!” I asked.

“……Ah,” remarked Jake.

Tags caan, cult of skaro, gamer kid, gandalf, kamen rider, kamen rider build, kamen rider ex-aid, livia acqua, retro video games

Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 60

“Those proton packs may prove useful for the confrontation,” I mused when Emmanuel finished. “Good work, you three.”

“Just doing our job,” replied Emmanuel.

“GET AWAY FROM THAT!!” boomed a voice.

“That was Rusty!” I realized. “Come on!” We followed the shout to see Rusty, Hiroki, Livia, Emu, and the Brigadier holding a young man back. The man was Japanese, from what I could see in the struggling, had a beige coat, a pair of jeans, a grey shirt under the coat, and mismatching sneakers. They were the same brand, but the right sneaker was blue and the left was red. He had tools in his hands and was about to dissect Rusty’s old shell! “HEY!” I snapped as I turned into Tora-Onna and hoisted the man up. “Don’t you know it’s rude to be poking around someone’s old shell?!” I growled. The man’s reaction surprised me. Instead of terror at the prospect of being lifted by a tiger woman with machinery sticking out of her, his face showed excitement at being in the presence of what would usually be a scientific impossibility.

“HOW COOL!” he cheered as he ran his fingers through his hair. “How did all of your machinery grow like this?!”

“Good question, not the point,” I replied. “How did you get here?! Who are you?!”

“That’s Sento Kiryu,” answered Hiroki. “He’s Emu’s successor, Kamen Rider Build.”

“And did your team have a hand in his arrival here? Along with Emu?” I asked.

“Actually,” clarified Emu, “some monster by the name of Caan did that.”

“Khan?” I asked, going off the pronunciation.

“Yeah,” confirmed Livia. “He spelled it C-A-A-N, and said he was part of a cult called the Cult of Skaro.”

“The Cult of Skaro?” asked Rusty.

“You know them?” I asked as I set Sento down.

“That’s just a myth amongst the Daleks,” answered Rusty.

“What’s this about Dalek Myths?” asked a British voice. Michael came in to say hi to Xiomara.

“Michael, do you know anything about a cult of Skaro?” I asked.

“I think you mean THE Cult of Skaro,” replied Michael. “A group of four Daleks that were given what Daleks consider a curse that Humanity is saturated with.”

“There are many aspects of Humanity the Daleks consider a curse,” commented Rusty, “you will have to be more specific.”

“Imagination,” replied Michael. “Those specific Daleks were to imagine like their enemies so they could better exterminate them. Thankfully, they broke up, like a band. Except, not, unless most bands resort to killing one member, the other two dying by their entourage, and the last survivor flying into the Time War to save Davros from the jaws of the Nightmare Child, only to die when Davros’ Reality Bomb was destroyed before it could wipe out all non-Dalek life in the universe. They were the only Daleks to have names.”

“What were they?” I asked.

“Sec, the one that was killed first, was a Black Dalek,” answered Michael, “Jast and Thay died by humans that they had spliced Dalek DNA into, and Caan was the one who saved Davros. It cost him his mind, but he could see into the future.”

“And is Caan spelled C-A-A-N?” asked Livia.

“…Yes, why do you ask?” asked Michael, suspicion forming in his brain.

“He’s alive,” replied Hiroki. “Our mission led to an encounter with him.”

“That’s impossible! I just said when he died!” wailed Michael.

“That’s a bit of a tale,” muttered Livia.

“Then tell it,” I directed.

“This is it!” cheered Heather as her spectral fingers worked with the internal mechanics. “I’m gonna do it! I’m gonna come back to life, pure and fully equipped!”

“All this,” snarked a voice, “just to get your old body back, but with ovaries.”

“I thought I told you to stay out of this!” hissed Heather as she turned to a monstrous looking humanoid. It had three tentacles on the back of its head with a single eye in the center of its forehead. Its armor was reminiscent of a Dalek. Its shape was that of a humanoid male.

“I don’t need to be a prophet to tell you that your plan will fail,” replied the monster.

“Go away, Caan,” snarled Heather. “This isn’t your fight!”

“Why can’t you just accept the fact,” asked the former Dalek Caan, “that this is going to backfire miserably?”

“Because I never saw your name listed as one of the prophets in the Bible!” argued Heather.

“No, because you can’t get your head out of your rear when someone who can see the future says that this is a bad idea!” snarled Caan.

“I need to come back to life and my own Apocalypse Driver will get me exactly what I want!” insisted Heather.

“And you’ll spread pure humanity when you do,” mocked Caan, “and your descendants will continue your mission of purity, and everything will be wonderful! Except, that’s where you humans get it wrong. You never knew purity and will never know that.”

“Says the mutant!” roared Heather. “I WILL succeed!”

“I’m the one that looked into the Time Vortex,” mused Caan, “I’m generally well informed in these matters.”

“Go away, I have work to do!” insisted Heather.

“Well, I DID foresee you not listening to reason,” sighed Caan. “But, I warn you, you’re about to unleash a force you cannot control nor comprehend. Toodle-oo!” He then summoned a portal and went through.

“Stupid Dalek,” snarled Heather. “What would THEY know about purity?”

“Failure, as I predicted,” sighed Caan as he arrived on Foundation Prime.

“Won’t that change things?” I asked as the picture switched off.

“Not really,” replied Caan. “The Vortex Riders’ little skirmish with Heather won’t affect us.”

“And if there’s a new person to arrive at the end of that skirmish?” I queried.

“Rest assured, Madame Igura,” assured Caan, “she won’t help much. She will be a newborn.”

“She?” I asked.

“Unimportant,” dismissed Caan. “The point is, she’ll be too busy deciding who she is to help.”

Tags caan, dalek, igura, kamen rider, kamen rider build