Tag: death

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Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 38

I had many things to consider. How were we going to ultimately finish Vortech? What about those universes that had their original history altered? Will the Vortex Riders keep their belts? If so, what will happen to their home universe? I had scurried into my office at After Academy. I say office, but it was more of a bedroom with a desk than an office. A bit crude of me to hide, since it was near the end of the month-long Halloween Festival at the school, but I needed the privacy. My office was done up in the skeletal motif I’m associated with. I heard the door open but was so deep in thought. “Death?” asked a voice. “War was asking after you. She wanted to know about the construction of…”

“A secret ship…” I muttered.

“Considering all staff and students know about the ship,” replied the voice, “and that wasn’t what I was talking about being built, I don’t think it’s a secret.”

“No,” I mused in a lower whisper than usual, “I think we should make one.”

“Death?” asked the voice.

“We have the technology and magic,” I whispered, “we just need the resources. Maybe I should detail some mining operations, see if we can get some things.”

“Death, what are you talking about?!” asked the voice harshly. I was snapped out of my reverie to see Lacey and Scorpainia at the door. Lacey was in a navy blue walking mermaid tail, a red tutu and leotard with black tulle, a pair of devil horns with a halo in the center, and a set of black angel wings. Scorpainia was in her usual armor, on a visit. “You don’t usually go all bony unless you’re thinking deeply about something,” observed Lacey. I looked at my hands to see that I had, indeed, adopted the look most cultures associate me with, a skeleton in a black cowl and robes.

“Sorry, sweetie,” I whispered as I put flesh back onto the bones and changed my robes for my dress. “I was just thinking.”

“About?” asked Scorpainia.

“Things,” I whispered, vaguely. I elaborated on that as I moved to sit on my bed. “Specifically, what we have and DON’T have.”

“I don’t follow,” commented Lacey as she and Scorpainia followed me. Lacey sat on a bench while Scorpainia sat backwards in my desk chair. I rested my chin on my hands.

“It’s been a while since War visited Foundation Prime,” I whispered. “Oddly enough, he never really made a move against us, even when we freed Scorpainia. Nothing new, nothing different, nothing out of the ordinary that would normally get my attention.”

“I thought we wrote that off as a lingering after effect of the Foundation Saber,” recalled Scorpainia.

“I know,” I whispered. “It’s just…there’s something Vortech’s playing at. The fact that I don’t know worries, concerns me about the future.”

“I don’t see much point in dwelling on it,” mused Scorpainia. “Future predictions tend to be wrong anyways. It’s good to have a plan, but some things aren’t foreseen.”

“‘The chessboard is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the universe’,” I started quoting. “‘The other player is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair and patient, but we also know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, nor makes the smallest allowance for ignorance.’”

“I think you forgot a bit of that quote from Dr. Thomas Huxley,” reminded Lacey. “After the ‘phenomena of the universe’ bit, he said, ‘The rules of the game are what we call the Laws of Nature,’ and then he goes into the other player.”

“And against a force of nature like Vortech, the last of the Vortonians, we’re woefully unprepared,” I sighed. “It feels that way to me, at least. We’re trying to get new people to help and whatnot, but…it’s not shaping up to be enough. Not when the BIG fights come. Some of them, the Vortex Riders can hardly call them fights. The only reason they’re alive right now is because Megumi found help and put aside her pride. What happens when one of Vortech’s flunkies does something completely out of left field, who doesn’t care about a greater plan and just feels like stomping them?”

“By that same admission though,” countered Scorpainia, “why should they care about bothering Megumi if it’s beyond revenge or the like?”

“Tell that to Hiro,” I whispered. “He’s considered a hired gun in Vortech’s plan. One part of the Rogue Driver’s legend suggests that it can make its host ascend to godhood. And, even at THAT level, Megumi is still capable of getting her rear handed to her! Hiro tricks people in so many ways. And it’s not just him. The Daleks have pestered us more times than I can count. Shocker and its splinter group, Shocker Nova continue to take us completely by surprise! Then there was that whole fiasco with the Sontarans in the universe you were commanding before, Scorpainia. That was a defective clone batch! Imagine what a perfect one could have done!” I sighed. “We try to develop new weapons, train new fighters, plan something the enemy wouldn’t expect, but…I don’t know. Maybe we’ve lost the knack for it.”

“But we still win through,” observed Lacey.

“And that’s even MORE terrifying, though,” I whispered. “The Sontarans were robbed of their prize when Scorpainia made a last-ditch effort to stop them. The Omega Protocols are a last resort and defective Sontarans suppressed the Tarlaxians enough that they needed to move from that universe. That’s not something Scorpainia does willy-nilly!”

“Well, sitting and examining a battle down to the tiniest detail, even though we won with honor,” declared Scorpainia, “isn’t going to help us win. What do you suggest we do?”

“We need…information, knowledge,” I whispered.

“I think I know one place we can start looking,” helped Lacey. “It’s the reason I came here in the first place.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“It’s about the Foundation Saber,” explained Lacey. “I think it’s trying to say something. Whenever I pass by that room we’re keeping it in, I hear something like a very soft, low voice trying to say something. I already told War and Scorpainia told Pestilence and Famine.”

“How long has this been going on?” I asked.

“About a couple of days,” replied Lacey. “I checked with the nurse to make sure I wasn’t going crazy, but she found a psychic aura around it. That was when I told War.”

“Good thing you told us,” I whispered. “We’ll look into it after the Halloween Festival is over. Scorpainia, I need you to look into something else.”

“At your disposal,” assured Scorpainia.

“When you inherited the Eye of Tarlax,” I whispered, pointing to the jewel in her armor, “you said there was an underlying message in it. A message of reinforcement. We haven’t done a lot of study of it, but I think it’s time we learned what it means. Get your scientists and mages on it. In the meantime, I’ll see what War wants to make. Something to do with the Foundation Saber?”

“Bingo,” confirmed Lacey.

“I’m on it,” called Scorpainia. She opened a rift and returned to her new universe, Tarlax 14.

“In the meantime, I think we had better rejoin the festivities,” I suggested to Lacey. I helped her up as she got herself steady in her tail. We then walked out the door as I changed my dress into a costume of a Black Chess Queen.

“Time to move some pawns,” quipped Lacey. I chuckled softly at her joke. As we walked, Lacey got an idea. “I just need to do a written portion of Pestilence’s Apocalypse final, right?”

“Right,” I confirmed

“I think we can use our examination of the Foundation Saber to be that bit!” said Lacey. “I write down what we’re doing, what my theory is, and what the results are, and use that!”

“A lab report!” I whispered. “She will love that!” I then heard a rustling noise. “Lacey,” I whispered.

“The plants behind us, I heard it too,” confirmed Lacey. We both cautiously crept towards the plants, moved our hands toward them, and shoved them aside to see five students, Lacey’s friends. They had all gone the path of gothic angel, devil, sea creature tutu-wearing ballerinas, one of them being a male. The young man was Brendan, whose sea creature was an octopus mermaid, a Cecaelia. The tallest girl was Amelia, whose sea creature was an eel mermaid, an Anguillimer, as she called it. The short and stocky girl was Sophie who was a seahorse mermaid, a Hippocamini, as she called it. The third one, a shy girl by the name of Flora who was an Orca based mermaid, an Orcimy as she called it, was hiding behind Brendan. The last one, the spunky Ms. Charline, was a shark based mermaid, a Selayne, as she called it. “Eavesdropping, are we?” hissed Lacey.

“We weren’t dropping any eaves!” yelped Brendan. “We were just trimming the plants!”

“They’re office plants,” I whispered. “They don’t need trimming. How much have you heard?” No one said a word. “All right, let’s do Sir Terry’s method,” I then deepened my voice. “HOW MUCH HAVE YOU HEARD?” I said in my Discworld voice.

“We didn’t understand much of it!” cried Amelia. “All we heard was a sword giving Lacey some mental problems, some fiasco with Sontarans, a fight with Vortech, that’s all, we swear!”

“You went to the beginning of that conversation!” snarled Lacey. “I don’t believe it!”

“Please, Ms. Death, Ms. Lacey, don’t hurt us!” whimpered Flora. “Don’t turn us into anything…unnatural!”

“…No?” I whispered. “Well, I think I know something for you five. Lacey’s going to be our Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse. She needs a herald and I think the rest of Horsemen need one each. You will be our heralds.”

“We won’t disappoint you! We swear!” called Sophie.

“I don’t think you will,” I whispered. “Now, no more eavesdropping. Clear?”

“Crystal clear!” gulped Charline. “It won’t happen again!”

“Good,” I sighed. “Now, don’t you have a play to rehearse?”

“Come on, you guys,” directed Lacey. “We’ve got work to do.” As they walked away, Lacey asked Amelia how her character was getting along. I sighed with a grin as I headed to Pestilence’s lab. She needed to know what Lacey was planning.

Categories
Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 19

“My, Lord Sauron,” joked Lord Vortech. “You look a bit bent out of shape!”

“Not my doing,” replied Igura.

“Just what were you trying to pull here?!” snapped Hiro.

“A stupid move, if you ask me,” mused Ambassador Hell.

“No one asked you!” hissed Sauron. He limped off to reshape himself.

“Serves you right,” called Vortech.

“Excellent Nikujaga last night, Ambassador,” lauded Igura. “I had no idea you could cook.”

“I lived alone for a while,” answered Ambassador Hell. “Now, about the Riders…”

“Yes,” agreed Vortech, “it would seem the mice have escaped from my maze, and for some reason, I cannot locate them. So, Mr. Joker!” The Joker’s finger slipped on the trigger of the party gun he was pointing at Two-Face. “What do we do if we can’t find them?” continued Vortech.

“We make THEM find US?” asked the Joker.

“Precisely!” answered Vortech. “Hiro! Igura! With me! We’re going to find the next Foundation Element ourselves.”

“Try not to destroy anything in our absence,” called Hiro to their allies as he, Vortech, and Igura went to another dimension. The Joker felt a finger on his shoulder. He turned to the finger’s owner and got a slap from Two-Face, still sore about the party gun to his face. The Joker then tackled Two-Face and started brawling.

“A pity they don’t understand army discipline like we do, eh Lord Sauron?” asked Saruman to the newly made Sauron. The Dark Lord then slapped the Wizard of Many Colors upside his head.

“Don’t think I haven’t found out about your army of Uruk-Hai,” snarled Sauron.

“At least they understand teamwork, unlike your Orcs!” argued Saruman.

“Oh, feeling high and mighty, are we?!” growled Sauron.

“Mightier than you, perhaps!” snapped Saruman. “You were beaten down by children and you had the One Ring!”

“I warn you,” threatened Sauron, “I’m still the most powerful of us Maiar!”

“Considering a girl and a mortal man bested you in different ages,” argued Saruman, “that claim is under suspicion!”

“That’s it, COME HERE!” Sauron tackled Saruman and they started brawling. Lex Luthor just sighed.

While that went on, we tumbled through the gateway, landing on top of each other. We picked ourselves up and shook ourselves off. “Now THAT!” exclaimed the bus driver, “was AWESOME!” Something then sparked in his brain. “Everything is awesome!” he sang, poorly. “Everything is cool when you’re part of…”

“NO!” shouted Wyldstyle. “None of that! I hate that song!”

“Well done, Wyldstyle,” praised Gandalf. “It would have been a long way down had you not opened that rift.”

“Yeah,” agreed Batman, “I get the feeling that Keystone’s gonna come in handy.”

“Let’s find out how to use it properly then,” suggested Wyldstyle. The Keystone then floated in the air.

“This is the Locate Keystone,” explained the voice as the Keystone attached to the gateway. “Now you can help me find my car keys. I’m just kidding, maybe later.”

+GATEWAY 100% STABILIZED+ announced my belt. +ALL SYSTEMS FULLY OPERATIONAL+ A portal opened for the bus driver.

“Well, I gotta go,” he said. “The Missus hates it when I’m late. Before I go, something for your trouble.” He handed us a bag of, you guessed it, studs. He went through the portal and left us.

+TOTAL STUDS IN BAG EQUAL 125,000+ reported my belt. +CURRENT CUMULATIVE STUD TOTAL IS NOW 725,000+

“I’m surprised you haven’t spent them,” whispered a woman’s voice. We whirled around to see Death herself sipping tea with the Brigadier and Elphaba. Rusty was serving them.

“Would you like some sugar?” he asked Death.

“Two will suffice,” whispered Death. Rusty spooned out two lumps. “Thank you,” whispered Death.

“You’re welcome!” reciprocated Rusty.

“How did you get here?!” I yelped.

“I’m Death,” whispered the Grim Reaper. “I go anywhere. I presume you’ve heard of the two riders that can beat Vortech?”

“That’s right,” I confirmed.

“Well, we have our Kamen Rider Apocalypse being trained,” whispered Death. “Her name is Lacey and she came from Dimension T-H-3-5-1-M-P-5-0-N-5.” I blinked.

“The Simpsons?” I repeated.

“She’s tried to keep the damage in Springfield down to a minimum,” whispered Death. “She’s a sweet Goth girl who wants to expand her multiversal understanding. She’s doing very well in that regard at After Academy.”

“That just leaves Kamen Rider Vortex,” muttered Emmanuel.

“And I believe that Rider to be one of you,” whispered Death.

“My Lady,” I quizzed, “are you sure?”

“Very sure,” whispered Death. “You have to admit, no one else would have the Vortex Drivers if they didn’t have the courage to accept them.” I considered Death’s words. She was right, taking this mess on would scare the average person. Joshua nearly backed out but found courage when he remembered his father…dear Lord, I forgot!

“My Lady,” I began.

“Just call me Death,” whispered Death. “I consider you to be friends.”

“Well, Death,” I continued, “it’s about the hostages in Vortech’s domain.”

“Your loved ones?” whispered Death.

“Yes, the Mouth of Sauron said that they suffered before they died,” I explained.

“That is a lie, and I can prove it!” whispered Death harshly. She handed me a book. “This is the Book of Fate, my cousin,” whispered Death. “I have it on loan from him. Inside it details the futures of everyone in the multiverse. Open it and speak the name of the person you want to know about.” I was hesitant but opened it.

“Haruna Hishikawa,” I requested. It started forming an image. It was from the view of another person. This person was shouting in Japanese at Vortexons and giving one of them bruises. The hand the person had was one I recognized. Mom was alive and giving her captors grief! I sighed in relief and showed it to Hiroki. He laughed.

“Mom said she would give jailers grief!” he cheered.

“The same is true for the other hostages,” whispered Death. “They are ALL alive and well and causing stress for the enemy. Hence, their sloppiness.”

“You have no idea what weight has been lifted from our shoulders!” exclaimed Xiomara.

“Now, the reason for my visit,” whispered Death. “It’s about the nightmare you’ve all been having. Something is infecting your brains and is making you rather sloppy with lack of decent sleep.”

“And you’re here to cure it?” I asked.

“No, sadly, I cannot,” whispered Death. “Not without the identity of the creature. All I did last night was banish it temporarily. The way to achieve a cure is for everyone to sleep close together.”

“Then we’re gonna sleep in here,” I affirmed, gesturing to the Gateway room at large. “This nightmare has been driving me berserk and I want it gone!”

“I would recommend getting a good dinner and a comfortable set of night clothes,” whispered Death. “The wardrobe is over near your room, Your Highness.” After dinner, Death led us to the wardrobe near my room. It was like the TARDIS in that it was bigger on the inside! It seemed to be an entire city devoted to clothes! Various outdoor stalls on many levels and paths going above and below us were displaying proudly on streets named Petticoat Lane, T-Shirt Avenue, Jean Street, and other various street names like that. “The nightclothes should be on Sleepwear Avenue, level 4 below you,” whispered Death. “When you’re finished, just say that you want the path for the exit and the floor will show you the way. I must set up our bed. See you later.” She left the room and shut the door.

“…I guess we just grab our pj’s,” I muttered. We went down a couple of levels via an elevator and got our nightwear. I asked for the path back up and it flashed green. We followed it and made our way to the gateway room. It had a large bed to fit us all with a black and white color scheme, black being dominant.

“Is everyone ready?” asked Death.

“We are,” I confirmed.

“Then let’s get some sleep,” whispered Death. We all tucked in for the night and drifted off.

The dream was still the same one. “This is rather unpleasant looking,” whispered Death.

“Why me though?” I asked. “Why do they attack me?” My answer wasn’t gonna come as the bodies came up.

“Failure!” accused Batman’s body.

“You let us down!” hissed Hongo’s body.

“I’m very disappointed, Ms. Hishikawa,” snarled a broken Brigadier.

“Extermination is too good for you!” droned a broken Rusty.

“I wasted a second chance at life for YOU?!” shrieked Elphaba. “I can’t believe Death wanted to give me a chance!” Death raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t tell her anything about her resurrection,” she whispered.

“Unimportant!” declared Richard’s body. “What IS important is that Megumi joins me as a restless beast, as she should have been!”

“Beast?” I asked “As I should have been? ‘Me’?” The clues then fell into place. I grinned. “All right, let’s do it,” I declared. “Convert me.” Richard’s body raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you hear me? Convert me! I order you, convert me!” Richard stared, then all my friends shrugged. Richard’s body grabbed my shoulder. I then grabbed the arm. “Now,” I snarled as I decayed, “remove yourself from my friends, Hiro, or perish!” The eyes of my friends goggled. “That’s right,” I hissed, “I know who you are! You’ve been trying to make me doubt the strength of my friends. You’ve tried to undo the repairs to my psyche that my mother, Haruna, made after she adopted me! Now, get out of our minds!” My friends’ bodies stared, then, with a united voice, they started cackling. They spoke in Hiro’s voice.

“You have no power here, failure!” he declared in all my friend’s mouths. “I will not rest until I correct a mistake I made! You cannot beat me! I bested Death over there and I’ll beat her and you!” Then, as I decayed completely, Richard’s body shook. “What the?” yelped Hiro’s voice. Soon, all of my friends started shaking. A black ooze started coming out. Soon, Richard’s arm grabbed the ooze and started pulling it! He was reasserting control, finally!

“GET OUT OF OUR HEADS!” he roared in his normal voice. All of those Hiro infected were doing the same. Soon, they all pulled the black stuff out of their bodies and threw it to the ground. It started moving towards them in patches. Even still decayed, we managed to escape the stuff, with Death’s help, of course. Finally, the ooze patches came together and formed a humanoid shape. Then, like Venom’s symbiote, it peeled away from Hiro’s body and then formed the Rogue Driver, complete with guns.

“That’s it, taking the direct route!” he declared as he loaded his i.d tag into his guns. “Henshin!” He formed the suit and became… “Kamen Rider Rogue! Stand and deliver!” he said.

“I won’t be beaten by you again!” whispered Death. She pulled out her own belt and put it on.

“You’re a Kamen Rider?” asked Hongo.

“Became one a few years ago,” whispered Death. She then grabbed the skull on the front. “Henshin!” She rotated the skull right-side up and snapped the jaw shut.

“Death!” it announced. Her own suit formed.

“Kamen Rider Death!” she announced. “You cannot delay your appointment with me!” She drew her scythe and swung it at Rogue, who whirled away. He then pulled the handles on the guns down to make them straight. He then combined them to extend half of a blade from the barrels and uniting them to make a short sword. Both blades clashed and their owners struggled to get their respective weapons to hurt the other.

“We need to do something!” I hissed.

“Like what?!” asked Batman.

“I don’t know, but Death needs help!” I observed.

“You see the kind of power Hiro’s packing?!” argued Richard.

“I don’t care if he’s a god!” I countered. “I will bring him down no matter what!” Just then, a golden light flew towards me. It stopped and hovered for a second. I was compelled to touch it and let my hand go towards it. The instant I made contact, the light became a new device. It was cream colored with gold trim in a fire shape and a blue circle in the middle like my Vortex Driver. I examined the device and saw a slot on the top. It spat out an i.d tag, my own, in fact! “A new Driver?” I asked. “Only one thing to do!” I put it on my waist as it formed a golden belt strap.

“It has the old Imperial Dalek colors!” observed Rusty. Then, all at once, the decay we all suffered seemed to vanish! Flesh flowed back onto our bones! Metal came back together and polished itself on Rusty and the Brigadier!

“Henshin!” I announced. I inserted the i.d tag and ran through the circle. I appeared in my suit and drew my blade, the metal of it flashing as I swung at Rogue He managed to duck and give a sucker punch.

+NEW FUNCTION+ “available” said my belt. I didn’t register that it changed tones. An H.U.D flashed up in my helmet, detailing poses and what I need to say to activate and an image of the final result. I then pressed my hands as if in prayer, then crossed them so my hands touched my shoulders, then held my hands up and formed an energy ball.

“SUPER CHARGE!” I shouted. A bolt of yellow lightning struck me but didn’t hurt me. All of a sudden, a surge of power ran through me. I felt my suit change somehow, but I couldn’t place what changed. Everyone gawked.

“Her colors match the new belt!” yelled Rusty.

“Her suit’s as bulky as mine!” called Hongo. My sword materialized. It had gotten longer and wider and gained a hand guard. The guard seemed to have a rail that the main golden blade would travel on to fold onto the outside of my arm. It had a split to account for left handers. A hole was at the front of the guard, just under the rail’s split, leading me to believe that the rail was part of a firearm mode for my blade. I charged at Rogue and managed to knock him down with my blade. He picked himself up, trying to comprehend what was going on.

“Mid-season upgrade!” observed Hiroki.

“It’s the end for you,” I declared to Rogue. “From what the H.U.D in my helmet’s telling me, you now face Kamen Rider Proto-Vortex!” It was then that I realized how stupid the name was but didn’t say anything. I moved the blade down the right-side branch of the rail and folded it back against my arm. I then took out my i.d tag and put it into a slot on the hand guard’s rear.

“Final Attack!” announced my weapon. I then pointed my weapon at Rogue, Death got out of the way. The whole weapon glowed gold and made a yellow energy ball.

“Rider Proto Blast!” I called. I pressed a button concealed in the handle and unleashed the energy ball. It grew as it travelled towards Rogue. It knocked him down. When he picked himself up, he started going into spasms and sparked everywhere. A classic trope for most Japanese villains and monsters. When defeated, they spark and spasm for a while and say something before exploding. I turned around to face my audience. Death looked at me oddly.

“Er, why…?” she asked.

“Heroes don’t look at explosions,” I explained. Death looked back and forth between me and Rogue, then turned around fully and made an awkward attempt to strike a dynamic pose.

“SO BE IT!” declared Rogue. “YOU’VE WON THE BATTLE, BUT NOT THE WAR! I WILL BE VICTORIOUS!”

“Don’t hold your breath,” I quipped. Then, BOOM! The backwash of heat came over me. As it did, the dream faded and we woke up. It wasn’t in a cold sweat this time. A brief intake of air and we rubbed our eyes, getting out of bed. Death stretched.

“That was exciting!” she whispered.

“So, no more of Hiro attacking us in our dreams?” I asked.

“No more of Hiro attacking you in your dreams,” confirmed Death. “And gaining the Proto Supreme Vortex Driver to boot, I’m amazed!”

“Too bad it’s a dream,” I sighed. “That kind of power was awesome!”

“A dream?” asked Death. “Check your Driver again.” I blinked.

“But it was just a…” I began. I had grabbed my Driver at that time and felt something different. I looked to see that I held the same belt as in my dream. “What the?”

“The Proto Supreme Vortex Driver,” whispered Death, “is a test to see if the user is truly the one to be Kamen Rider Vortex. For now, you are Kamen Rider Proto-Vortex.”

“Can I still call myself Kamen Rider Royal?” I asked.

“Username accepted,” answered my belt in a woman’s voice.

“What the?” I yelped again.

“Your belt’s A.I,” whispered Death, confused, “has changed as well.”

“It’s been some time, old friend,” sighed my belt.

“If you’re someone I took in,” whispered Death, “you’re going to have to be more specific.”

“Well,” mused my belt, “we did take in tea for a while.”

“Doesn’t exactly narrow things down,” whispered Death.

“We founded a school together with War, Pestilence, and Famine,” continued my belt.

“Now THAT narrows it down to three,” whispered Death.

“The school would train those that have potential to become Apocalypse,” finished my belt. Death’s eyes went wide.

“Queen Vortoranii?!” she yelped. “Good lord, what happened?! You disappeared from my realm a while ago!”

“I had pressing business, such as watching Vortech,” explained Vortoranii.

“Now I get it!” I declared. “You buried your soul deep into the Vortex Driver’s code so it could pick its host carefully!”

“Exactly!” confirmed Vortoranii. “And the prototype Driver, the Rogue Driver of Vortech’s design, chose its host before I found one for me. When it started moving, I followed it and copied my soul into sixteen equal clones, each holding a fragment of the map to find the Kamen Riders, Apocalypse and Vortex.”

“And so, you built drivers to counter Hiro’s!” guessed Emmanuel.

“Right again!” confirmed Vortoranii.

“Oh, I can’t wait to use this in real life!” I giggled. “My…Precious!”

“Hey, Gollum,” quipped Richard, “if you could put it down, we still have questions to ask Her Majesty, like why Vortech’s gathering Foundation Elements and enslaved the Tarlaxians.”

“He’s WHAT?!” yelped Vortoranii. “Oh, sweet Lord, NO! Why would he do that?!”

“Well?” I asked. “Can you offer any explanation?”

“Sadly, no,” sighed Vortoranii. “The only one who could offer an explanation would be my spy, X-PO, but I have no idea where he followed Vortech.”

“We better find X-PO soon,” whispered Death as she made the bed disappear. “Vortech found Foundation Prime and has a few Foundation Elements in his possession.”

“Where are YOU going?” I asked Death as she made a portal.

“To the previous dimension you were in,” she whispered in reply. “Quite a few people died there and I need to get a few of them to rest easy.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, remembering the Orc prison in front of Barad-dûr. Death had a job to do.

“See you later,” whispered Death. “Hopefully, I won’t have to do my job with you any time soon.” She departed. I then noticed I was still tired.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Midnight,” reported Vortoranii.

“We better head to our rooms and go to sleep,” I mused.

“Your Highness,” asked Emily, “do you mind if Richard and I have a sleepover with you?”

“Sure,” I agreed. We headed to our rooms, with Richard and Emily following me, and climbed into bed. Our sleep was a lot more restful.

Death arrived in the DC comics world. She swung her scythe at a woman’s body. “May I give you a hand?” she whispered.

“Sure, thanks,” replied the woman in a Cockney accent. “Here, your hands’re freezing, miss!”

“Sorry,” whispered Death.

“Grief, how am I gonna explain this whole thing to my boss?” asked the woman. “I missed me flight, and he’s going to be footing the bill. That’s the last thing he does for me before giving me the sack!”

“Ah,” whispered Death, “well, there, I have good news for you, Ms. Katrina Tyler. Er, then again, I have some bad news as well.” She gestured to Katrina’s body. Her soul looked at it and made the connection.

“So, you’re…” she gulped.

“Yes,” whispered Death.

“So, do I have to…go through a door…or some such thing?” asked Katrina.

“Through a door?” asked Death.

“It’s just that,” explained Katrina, “back home, the priest said that we always approach Death’s door, and then you decide where we go, and…”

“The decision of Heaven or Hell is out of my hands,” explained Death. “As for a door, I expect it depends in the direction you’re walking in.” She led Katrina off and faded with her.

Categories
Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 13

“I’m very disappointed in you, Lex and Hiro,” rumbled Vortech as he dangled Hiro and Lex Luthor in front of him.

“It’s not my fault!” protested Lex. “You should have warned me Batman and his cronies would be there!”

“I did!” argued Hiro. “You were the one who underestimated them!”

“Batman? Again?!” snapped Vortech as he released the two of them. “Well, if mice are scurrying through my property, then I’d better put down some traps!”

“You do that,” replied Hiro as he picked himself up. He then took out the spheres of Turretorg and Discornia. “In the meantime, I’m going to regenerate these two. They were about to explode back there.” He headed to a terminal with many spheres and inserted the two in his hands into empty slots. Holograms of the monsters appeared in red and showed a status bar.

“Well, I can see Vortech’s no Shocker leader,” called a voice that made Hiro grin. He turned to see Igura. “Such a sloppy man, he can’t even keep the enemy straight,” she muttered.

“He pays well,” explained Hiro, “but he’s no true ruler. He intends to make one perfect universe at the expense of others but doesn’t understand that a multiverse needs to exist to keep ideas fresh, reality stable, and feelings to flourish.” He then remembered something. “Speaking of feelings,” he continued, “do you remember our days in Shocker?”

“Ah, yes,” remembered Igura, “you were one of Shocker’s top scouts. Discovering your belt was what inspired Shocker to make a cyborg super soldier for their needs.”

“Remember when I said that you were the only light in that dark organization?” asked Hiro.

“That was when we were young,” sighed Igura, “when I was young. Now, I am old, and far past my prime. There is someone better for you.”

“Not true,” argued Hiro, “my feelings for you have not changed. I’m going to ask you something, and I want your honest answer. ‘No’ is fine with me.” He got down on one knee and opened a ring box to reveal a ring with an eagle decoration. “Igura, will you spend the rest of your life with me as my wife?” Igura gasped.

“Is this a joke?” she asked as her eyes went misty.

“I never joke about this,” replied Hiro.

“It was a joke when you married Megumi’s mom,” noticed Igura.

“She could never fill the void in my heart that came when I was taken from our home,” answered Hiro. “Well?” He was then taken into Igura’s embrace.

“YES!” she cheered. “I would love to be your wife!” She released Hiro to allow him to slip the ring on her finger. “Of course,” mused Igura as she looked at the ring, “we need to wait for these events to end.”

“Then we need to end them quickly,” chuckled Hiro as he leaned in for a kiss, which was reciprocated. They heard a “Tch!” from behind them and turned to see Ambassador Hell watching them.

“This is exactly what makes humans weak,” he hissed. “You’ve fallen far, Igura. You forget that without me, you would have no power!”

“You forget that a world cannot be conquered unless you control the money,” argued Igura.

“Quite honestly,” mused Hiro, “if I stayed back home, I would have joined Shocker Nova.”

“That would be a very poor move,” countered Ambassador Hell. “Besides, without me, we wouldn’t have any Foundation Elements.”

“I noticed that you haven’t done anything,” said Hiro.

“He’s needed to command his troops,” replied Vortech as he approached them. “A general hardly enters the battlefield and risk getting killed. It would put his troops in disarray!”

“Oh yeah?” commented Hiro. “And you would know? A general that hangs back is a coward in my eyes! He that never fights wouldn’t know how to throw a punch!”

“I can fight!” argued Ambassador Hell.

“Yeah, poorly!” countered Igura.

“Ambassador Hell could probably locate the next Foundation Element without help!” boasted Vortech.

“I could do better!” argued Igura.

“You wouldn’t even last five seconds in another dimension before you start worrying about dirt on your coat!” snapped Ambassador Hell.

“Would you two care to make a wager on the outcome?” asked Hiro.

“I wouldn’t want to bet against your fiancée,” assured Vortech with heavy sarcasm.

“Well, if you two are afraid,” taunted Igura. Ambassador Hell’s claw clamped on Igura’s neck.

“I’m afraid of nothing!” he snarled.

“Prove it!” gasped Igura.

“Ambassador Hell, release her! We’re taking up their wager!” ordered Vortech. Ambassador Hell dropped Igura. “Name your stakes,” requested Vortech. After he made sure Igura was okay, Hiro laid out the wager.

“Once the next Foundation Element is located,” he explained, “we will split into two Shocker branches-only teams. Ambassador Hell will lead Shocker and Igura, Shocker Nova. Whoever finds the Foundation Element and returns here with it is the winner. The loser must prepare the winner’s meal.”

“Done!” agreed Ambassador Hell.

While that was going on, we returned to Vorton and got out of our vehicles. Emily led Hiroki to the med-bay while Batman turned to Gandalf. “That staff’s important, somehow,” guessed Batman.

“We should put it somewhere secure,” suggested Hongo.

“Agreed,” I replied. Gandalf decided to put it away. He leaned it up against a wall. It fell over. He tried again, same results. He was about to try once more when a green hand grabbed it. The owner of the hand, Elphaba, was nose to nose with Gandalf.

“There’s a vault on the same level as the brig,” she snapped. “You can put it there!” She shoved the staff back into Gandalf’s hands. Gandalf recovered as Batman held up the new Keystone.

“This is the Elemental Phase Keystone,” called the mysterious voice. “Also known as the Keystone with the fanciest name.”

“Can’t we just say Elemental Keystone?” I asked.

+SAYING ELEMENTAL KEYSTONE DOES ACTIVATE ITS POWERS+ replied my belt. +GATEWAY 60% STABILIZED. BATTLE ARENA ONLINE+

“Battle arena?” I quizzed.

+DIFFERENT TYPES OF COMPETITIONS WITH FIELDS FROM ACROSS THE DIMENSIONS WILL DETERMINE WINNERS+ said my belt. +IT ALSO HAS A HOLOGRAPHIC BATTLE SIMULATION WITH FAMOUS BATTLES FROM ACROSS THE MULTIVERSE IN ITS DATABANKS+

“Now that sounds awesome!” cheered Sheela.

“We’ll test it out once this mess is over,” I declared. Emily came back to us. “How’s Hiroki?” I asked.

“He’s recovering at a faster rate than most humans do,” reported Emily. “Just a good night’s sleep and he should be all right for tomorrow.”

“Good,” I replied. “I need him ready for the coming fight.”

“Do you think that we’ll be fighting Hiro tomorrow?” asked Gandalf.

“We’ve caused major embarrassment for him by taking the staff and the Elemental Keystone,” I answered. “I think a fight with him is very likely.”

“In the meantime,” requested Elphaba, “could someone technically minded help me? The gateway is making a rattling noise.”

“I’ll check it out,” answered Lukas.

“Let me help,” offered Batman. That’s when the portal opened again. I really didn’t want these people to come through. Why? I had visited their dimension once and loathed it! The people that came out were Bart Simpson, Krusty the Clown, and Homer Simpson, in that order.

“Eat my shorts, you two!” Bart taunted to Homer and Krusty.

“You’re gonna pay for dousing my new business opportunity!” snarled Krusty, in reference to his new flame grilled burgers.

“Why, you little!” shouted Homer. He managed to catch Bart and started strangling him. While that was going on, I decided to get some new i.d tags. How I got them, in fairness, wasn’t gentle, but since I hate their show, I wasn’t gonna lose sleep over what I planned to do. I kicked Homer in the teeth, punched Bart in the face, and threw them into Krusty. Since I already had the Krusty i.d tag, I had now gotten the Homer and Bart ones.

“Now then,” I snarled, “out you go!” I threw them one by one into the portal back to their world and shut it off. “Well,” I remarked, “that was entertaining.”

“Who were those people?!” asked Oren.

“No one you would want in your shop, I can assure you,” replied Emmanuel. While we were in the Vortex, Oren had revealed his past about being a former para-trooper in France, hence why he can speak fluent French, and his training and current job as the head chef and owner of the pastry shop, Charmant II. He never revealed what happened to the original Charmant after the events of Kamen Rider Gaim. It didn’t matter, for at that moment, a portal opened for him. “I guess this is Au revoir for now, Monsieur Oren Pierre Alfonzo,” remarked Emmanuel.

“If you ever visit Zawame, my home town,” invited Oren, “be sure to stop by Charmant II. Au revoir, mes amis!” He then gasped as if he remembered something. “I found this bag on the front steps of Charmant II before that portal united me with you.” He gave us the bag. I opened it to see studs!

+TOTAL STUDS IN BAG ARE 95,000+ said my belt. +CURRENT CUMULATIVE STUD TOTAL IS 380,000+

“Merci!” I called to Oren. He bowed and then jumped through the portal. “Well,” I said, “who’s up for dinner?” A collective stomach growl came from everyone. “I thought so. Let’s eat.” We headed down to the cafeteria and had our meals. Emily had brought a meal to Hiroki so he could get something in his belly. After a shower, we all went to bed, with Hiroki staying in the med-bay so Emily, with her quarters next door, could check on him.

Death had arrived at the tournament arena we were at and met with someone training a regiment under their command. The armor the leader wore disguised their gender as it gave the appearance of a muscular warrior with an angry face for the helmet design. Death dismounted her horse and approached the armored person. The person turned and took off the helmet to reveal a woman’s face with a scar across her right eye going to her left cheek. “I have come for your aid, War,” whispered Death, “in troubled times. The Vortexons are abroad. Darkness that our sisters, Light and Dark, cannot control is approaching! The Tarlaxians under Vortech’s control are alive and well!”

“Is that all the news you have for me then?” grunted War as she went to improve the stance of one of her soldiers.

“Is that not enough?!” whispered Death. “Vortech is moving again!”

“We can deal with Vortech ourselves, Death,” grunted War. “You and me. One way or another, we’ll have true power as Gods.”

“What talk is this?!” whispered Death. ‘What are you saying, War?!”

“It’s time for us to choose,” grunted War. “A new age is coming to the dimensions. A new power is rising. Nothing that anyone can do will avail against it. Vortech’s enemies are utterly doomed, but his allies…well…I see no downside to a universe of his design. Ultimately, it will lead to eternal…me!”

“Are you saying that we should join with Vortech?!” whispered Death.

“Does that displease you?” grunted War. Her tone became more dangerous. “Where’s the Foundation Saber?! Why does Lacey say she no longer has it?! That blade was crafted by my hands! Have you taken it? Would you rather…”

“General War, forgive the interruption,” called one of War’s commanders, “but our intelligence network has discovered something that might be of interest.” He handed a device over to War.

“What is this?” grunted War.

“After careful study, we’ve determined it to be one of the logs of Vortech’s minions, specifically, Hiro Adachi,” replied the commander

“From the Kamen Rider world?” whispered Death.

“Yes, my lady,” confirmed the commander. “The contents have been unlocked and examined to be sure that it wasn’t doctored. You may want to take a listen before declaring the thing you personify on Death.” War took the log and pressed the play button.

“Rogue’s log, multiverse date: 37th day of the 2019th year of the 9th multiversal age (February 6th, 2019); I have managed to discover that a weapon known as the Foundation Saber is needed to stabilize the elements. I have tried to tell Vortech this, but he’s so convinced that someone may use it to kill him. He’s right though, but he’s not sure where it is. I have revisited the world of the Simpsons to get information from Lacey.” Death gasped. “She said that War had crafted it as one of the few weapons that can harm her.” War arched an eyebrow. “When I told Vortech of this, he said that there is a far cleaner way to defeat War and her associates and bend them to his rule, the Rifle of Tarlax. Since we have enslaved and brainwashed some Tarlaxians, convincing them they are advanced Vortexons, I will ask them where the rifle is. Once we have all four horsemen, Vortech will use the rifle to implant a controller into their skulls since Shocker and Shocker Nova’s methods of brainwashing will prove fruitless. Both branches are working on a solution right now. End log.” War was trembling in anger.

“His allies?” whispered Death. “Vortech claims none. There is a third choice. Stay in the enemy’s council and learn of their plans.”

“Skulk around and pass information like a rat?” grunted War. “No. I see no honor in staying another second as Vortech’s ally.” She turned to her troops. “Ladies and Gentlemen, we march for battle! Prepare for the red rain! Sharpen your blades! Load your guns! We march for glory and victory!” The troops cheered in readiness.

“Not yet!” whispered Death. “We still need to keep the Foundation Saber away from Vortech! There is a weapon that you crafted. Five to be precise.” War turned sharply on Death.

“Are you out of your mind?” she snarled. “Our own transformation belts are bad enough, but the Apocalypse Driver?! We don’t even have a rider that can carry the name Apocalypse. There is a mutant named that, but that dimension is already in turmoil and is beyond even Vortech’s reach!”

“But we DO have a rider that can carry the mantle of Apocalypse,” whispered Death. “Perhaps, you know of whom I speak. An old friend of ours. A goth girl with lacey clothes and a black flower in her hair with a skull in the center.”

“Not Lacey!” grunted War. “She can’t handle such a task. Her humanity would get in the way!”

“Just give her a chance!” insisted Death. War grunted. “She’s proven that she can put aside humanity when duty comes first! She’s a skilled commander! She’s the proper age!” War rolled her eyes.

“Ma’am,” questioned the commander, “what choice do we have? Besides, Lacey is an old friend. She may prove to be a perfect candidate for Apocalypse.” War considered.

“There’s still Pestilence and Famine to convince,” she finally grunted.

“Then we must convince them together,” whispered Death.

“Sadly, War will not join you,” remarked a voice. Everyone turned to see Hiro standing in the seats above. He chuckled as he jumped down to the arena. “Vortech’s not gonna like the fact that you betrayed him, War.”

“I don’t like the fact that you’ve proven yourself to be a rat,” grunted War.

“Hiro, this does not need to devolve into a fight,” whispered Death.

“War started it,” argued Hiro as he loaded his i.d tag. “Henshin!”

“You’re not the only one with a belt like that,” grunted War. “Soldiers, the Bellum Driver, if you please.” A soldier opened a box with a belt inside. It had a black strap with a grey sphere and a sword above it. War put the belt on. “Named after my Latin name,” explained War, “it is a new weapon that will spell your defeat! Henshin!” She slid the sword into the sphere.

“War!” rumbled the belt. Armor appeared, giving the appearance of an angry, orange soldier with pointed canines.

“Kamen Rider War!” roared War. “I shall bring battle to your doorstep!”

“I’m getting in on this too!” whispered Death as she pulled out a black belt with bones going horizontally across and an upside-down skull with the mouth open. Death put the belt on. “Henshin!” she whispered. She turned the skull right-side up, which closed the jaw automatically. The sapphires that made up the eyes started glowing.

“Death!” rumbled the belt. Her armor had a black and white skeletal motif with a cowl and scythe blades on the forearms.

“Kamen Rider Death!” announced Death. “You cannot delay your appointment with me!”

“We’ll see!” declared Rogue. “Kamen Rider Rogue! Stand and deliver!” The two charged at each other. War’s soldiers cheered War and Death on, giving them strength.

Categories
Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 10

Once he and Turretorg were retrieved, the Joker spoke to Lord Vortech back on Foundation Prime as he had an ice pack on his head. “And then they stole this shiny thing I found!” he reported.

“Chance meetings and setbacks to your petty pilfering do not concern me,” dismissed Vortech. He pulled out the nuclear rod. “We have the Foundation Element, that is all that matters.”

“Trust me,” warned the Joker, “if you underestimate the Crêped Crusader, you’ll end up getting battered!”

“Like yourself?” snickered Hiro. The Joker growled. Hiro poured himself a glass of wine. “A toast, to a successful mission,” praised Hiro.

“Maybe the rest of us would celebrate,” snarled an angry, male voice, “if we didn’t suffer!” A Japanese man strode up in a black suit with black armor, a gold eagle for a belt buckle, a black cape with a green interior, a gold right hand and left pincer claw, and an elaborate gold and black headdress covering the head aside from the face, making him look like a pharaoh of Egypt, and gold moth antennae on top. He carried a red whip and was flanked by Shocker Combatmen. This was the current leader of Shocker, Ambassador Hell. “Just look at what they’ve done to us!” snarled Ambassador Hell.

“Spare us the melodramatics, Ambassador Hell,” Vortech waved off. “Hiro’s right about the mission being a success.”

“This isn’t about success or failure of a mission!” protested Ambassador Hell. “The Vortexons and the Joker’s minions are creating dissension among the ranks of Shocker! These savages are a threat to this whole operation! They should be confined, restrained even!” He was punched in the face by Turretorg.

“You could not produce a restraint strong enough to hold us Vortexons!” it boasted. It turned to Hiro and Vortech. “In any case, my lords, Comms-Op is receiving a call from Dimension K-A-M-3-N-R-1-D-3-R.

“What is their reason for calling us?” asked Ambassador Hell.

“How did they even get this dimension?!” asked Vortech as he handed the nuclear rod to a Vortexon.

“Unclear, Lord Vortech,” reported Turretorg. “All we can glean is that the caller will only speak to Hiro.”

“Me?” yelped Hiro.

“They requested you by name, my lord,” confirmed Turretorg.

“Patch it here,” ordered Hiro.

“I pledge obedience,” saluted Turretorg. It fiddled with a machine which made a giant view-screen come out of the floor.

“This is Hiro Adachi, Kamen Rider Rogue,” demanded Hiro. “State your business or face destruction.”

“Hiro-san, now really,” purred a feminine voice, “is that any way to address your lover?” A Japanese woman appeared on the screen. She wore a white lab coat with a red arm band on the left arm, a woman’s business suit, with pants, short, black hair, and was flanked by Shocker Combatmen. These had the skeletal motif made in raised silver and had armor on the suits.

“Igura!” cheered Hiro as a smile appeared on his face. “I heard from Ambassador Hell that you were dead!”

“I was,” confirmed Igura, “but I had some help in coming back. Sadly, Urga and Buffal weren’t so lucky.” She heard a snicker and saw Ambassador Hell with a look of amusement on his face. “I’m glad to see that my allies’ permanent death causes amusement for you,” hissed Igura.

“Oh, you misjudge me,” countered Ambassador Hell as he sobered up. “I shall miss them deeply. They were worthy adversaries. In any case, why are you calling?”

“Can you get the person creating portals to send one to my base?” asked Igura.

“Of course, my dear,” obliged Vortech. “Bring your minions as well.”

“Thank you,” said a grateful Igura as she bowed. The transmission ended as a portal opened to let the last remnant of Shocker Nova onto Foundation Prime. Igura broke into a sprint and gave Hiro a hug which he reciprocated. Ambassador Hell rolled his eyes.

“Is that jealousy I detect, Ambassador?” mused Hiro.

“Hiro,” purred Igura, “my men need access to your database. Could we use it?” She gave a sweet smile.

“Absolutely not, traitor!” hissed Ambassador Hell. Igura and Hiro rolled their eyes as they broke their embrace and glared at Ambassador Hell. “That database is for Shocker use only! Traitors like you…”

“What our old boss, Damon, meant, Igura-chan,” interrupted Hiro, “is that our entire database is open to Shocker Nova. Feel free to use it at your leisure, my sweet eagle.” He kissed Igura’s hand.

“Flatterer,” complimented Igura as she walked off to a terminal with a smile on her face.

“Surely, you don’t mean that?!” protested Ambassador Hell. “How did you even know my real name?!”

“That’s unimportant,” dismissed Hiro. “What IS important is that I was most sincere when Igura could use our entire database at her leisure.”

“It builds trust, you see,” supplied Vortech.

“They don’t need to know every single detail about our military operations!” protested Ambassador Hell.

“The decision has already been made,” shrugged Vortech. “In fact, I’ve seen how effective the Nova Combatmen have proven, so from now on, whatever decision you make about Shocker must be submitted to Igura for approval and, if approved, she will submit it to me either in person or through Hiro.”

“That will NOT happen!” declared Ambassador Hell. The tension could be cut with a knife. Vortech then used his powers to lift Ambassador Hell into the air and throw him into the wall. Hiro then walked over to the Shocker Leader.

“I trust that was an unguarded emotional comment,” he whispered, “so I will convince Vortech to ignore it THIS time. Make plans to do exactly as you’re told or I will have you move for practice six feet underground!” Hiro stormed off to help Igura with access to the database while Ambassador Hell looked onwards. “Now,” said Hiro to the Joker as he moved towards the terminal, “where’s the robot? I had it modified to use the Keystone for your use.”

“And a keystone is…?” ventured the Joker.

“Purple shield thing?” explained Hiro, hoping the Joker would catch on.

“Oh, the shiny thing Batman took!” exclaimed the Joker with a grin.

“Wait a sec,” gulped Hiro as his smile turned into a warning one, “is that what really happened, or a joke?”

“That’s what happened,” explained the Joker, unaware of the now dangerous position he was in.

“What a terrible joke,” whispered Hiro.

“I told you, it wasn’t a…” the Joker was interrupted.

“You allowed the Vortex Riders to take the Chroma Keystone?!” snarled Hiro. “DO YOU HAVE ANY NOTION OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR BLUNDER?!”

“Wait a sec,” yelped the Joker, “we have the Foundation Element. I don’t see why…”

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT SOME TRINKET!” roared Hiro. “My daughter and her little band have a color activated Keystone, meaning any and all Chroma-locks are under their control!”

“Daughter?” quizzed Igura. Hiro slightly relaxed.

“How about I tell you what happened in my absence from Shocker,” he offered as he turned and led Igura away.

Meanwhile, we had arrived back on Vorton. Lord Business massaged his rear. “That could have gone a little more smoothly,” he said. A portal opened back to his home dimension. “I believe that’s my ride,” said Lord Business. “Well, it’s been fun, but I have some reconstruction to do. Oh, before I go,” he handed us a bag of studs, “I believe the total should be 160,000 studs. Bye bye!” He stepped into the portal and it disappeared

“There it is, the Chroma Keystone!” exclaimed the voice. “Now we’re talking!”

“Let’s see what this one can do,” mused Batman. “Chroma Keystone, activate!”

“Incorrect Keystone request,” reported Batman’s gauntlet.

“What?!” snapped Batman.

“I guess you can only use the Shift Keystone,” I guessed.

“Then who’s using the Chroma Keystone?” asked Emily as the Keystone attached itself above the Shift Keystone.

+GATEWAY 40% STABILIZED+ reported my belt. +MINIMAL SECURITY MEASURES ONLINE+

“We won’t be blindsided then,” sighed Emily in relief.

+ALERT+ called my belt. +UNKNOWN PRESENCE DETECTED IN CAFETERIA+

“You were saying?!” I hissed as I drew my sword. We all flew down to the cafeteria. The doors were closed. “On three, we swarm the place,” I directed, “Ichi! Ni! SAN!” We burst in and spread out to give ourselves cover. What we saw just…wasn’t possible! There, holding a small glass of water, in all of her green skinned- black wearing, pointy hatted glory, was the Wicked Witch of the West! She saw us and gave a smirk.

“Red alert,” she joked. She then drank the contents of the glass! My eyes widened. Surprisingly, she wasn’t dissolving and squawking “Oh, what a world! What a world!” As she finished, she licked her lips and sighed. “You know,” she mused, “long before I was a Wicked Witch, I used to drink this religiously. I missed that part of my past. Of course, that was negligible as I had better things to do than try and find a cure to my old water allergy, like conquering Oz.”

“Up to your old tricks?” asked Emily.

“I haven’t the vaguest notion of doing so at this point in time, Rosie” dismissed the Witch, making a reference to Emily’s dress, “considering that there’s something greater going on. I need to destroy it before it destroys me. But, that’s rather hard for me to do. I no longer have any magic! I was hoping to go into business with your wizard.”

“My dear lady,” protested Gandalf, “you gave us magic folk a bad name! Couldn’t you have toned the wickedness down a tad?”

“I don’t know,” purred the Witch, “I found good to be dumb.” She then saw my expression. “You don’t believe me. Do you really think I would humiliate myself like this?”

“When it serves,” replied Emily.

“It’s the truth!” insisted the Witch. “What you see before you is a defrocked Elphaba Thropp, condemned to live out her days as a normal person!”

“The question of whether or not you have magic is irrelevant,” I dismissed. “The question of your return to life, however, I would like answered.”

“As would I,” replied Elphaba. “Last time I saw you, I was melting away in my observatory. The next thing I knew, I woke up, screaming in the dimensional vortex. After that, I ended up here. That’s all I know.”

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Your compassion,” explained Elphaba. Need I describe how I felt about that? “All right,” Elphaba tried again, “sanctuary on Vorton, dreary as it is for all parties concerned.”

“Get on that broomstick of yours and get out!” I demanded.

“I have no powers!” protested Elphaba. “You look upon Elphaba Thropp, the ordinary!”

“Elphaba the Tyrant!” I argued. “Elphaba the Conqueror!”

“Elphaba the Miserable!” Elphaba argued back. “Elphaba the Desperate! What must I do to convince you?!”

“Take a swim,” suggested Batman.

“Oh, very clever, you poor excuse of a winged monkey,” snarked Elphaba. “Eat any good books lately?”

“For the last time, I’m a bat!” snarled Batman. “Not a dog! Not a brat! And I’m CERTAINLY not one of your Flying Monkeys!”

“You wish for compassion? Sanctuary?” I asked.

“Yes,” confirmed Elphaba.

“Hongo-san, Duke Emmanuel, Dame Emily,” I directed, “have the computer help put Elphaba in the brig.” A grin crossed Emily’s face.

“Delighted, Your Highness,” she chuckled.

“You can’t do this to me!” protested Elphaba. Emily then grabbed her by the shoulder, digging her nails into it.

“You will walk,” ordered Emily as a blue path lit up for her, “or I will carry you.” Emmanuel was holding the door open while Hongo directed them to leave with is hand and a smile.

“…Given the option,” mused Elphaba, “I’ll walk.” With Emily’s hand still firmly on Elphaba’s shoulder, the group was led to the brig. Emily picked out the cell wand led the boys back up to the cafeteria. We decided to have lunch while we pondered our options.

“If she can drink water,” guessed Irina, “splashing her in the night won’t do the trick.”

“I hate to pander to a stereotype of a manner-driven culture like most Southern states,” replied Richard, “but I fail to see the honor in killing her.”

“I fail to see the honor in letting her live,” argued Lukas. “She has proven unrepentant.”

“Her comments have demonstrated that fact,” I granted, “but Mom always said that mercy is the greatest weapon of all time.”

“She usually follows up with a warning to the effect of mercy being misused!” argued Hiroki.

“When it comes to killing,” I countered. “If we kill her, who are we being merciful to?”

“The multiverse,” replied Xiomara.

“Too vague,” countered Batman.

“I’m not exactly wild about her coming back,” agreed Wyldstyle, “but there are other ways to deal with her.”

“If she stays,” argued Michael, “we’ll probably have two messes to contend with instead of just one.”

“I say we listen to Megumi,” suggested Gandalf.

“You cannot be serious!” protested Hiroki.

“If we kill her when she didn’t make any threatening moves against us or the multiverse,” explained Gandalf, “we would prove ourselves as low as the enemy.”

“You’ve killed people before!” argued Hiroki. Probably not the brightest thing to say.

“I gave them a chance to back off before I attacked,” hissed Gandalf with a hint of anger. “I never kill unless it’s the last resort!”

“Someone, talk some sense into him!” cried Hiroki.

“He speaks sense,” argued Mikhail. “There is no need to kill Elphaba.”

“Really?!” snapped Irina. “My younger brother decides to let a known threat live?!”

“She has made no move to attack us,” countered Mikhail. “I say we observe her. If she makes a move against us, all bets are off and she dies. If not, she may prove valuable.”

“Her magic is impressive,” observed Tanisha. “I agree with Mikhail.”

“As do I,” called Emily as she, Hongo, and Emmanuel reentered the cafeteria. “She had given us valuable info on operations in Oz. Once she helped us, she could only do a simple levitation spell. Her story on once being powerless checks out.”

“And you three are just taking her word for it?!” yelped Haitao.

“Of course not,” replied Emmanuel. “Lie detectors line the cells in the brig. It proves useful for interrogation.”

“And on a side note, her compliment on my and Emmanuel’s dresses proved sincere,” supplied Emily.

“Much as I want to rehabilitate her,” argued Richard, “we’ll need more proof than a compliment on your clothes!”

“Then she stays alive so we get that proof,” I said with a tone of finality.

“Nee-san, please!” protested Hiroki.

“Your princess has made her decision!” I declared. “Killing Elphaba in any way, shape, or form is out! Am I clear?” Silence permeated the room. “Good.” I said. “Now, let’s get our meals. Bring one to Elphaba.”

“I’ll bring it to her,” volunteered Emily. Elphaba’s meal was a chicken breast with broccoli. As we ate, Emily eating with our prisoner, the debate ran through my mind. Throughout the journey, I was hellbent on killing Hiro. Looking back, that might be an escape for REAL justice for him and his allies. I started mulling over options on keeping him confined for life. Hongo’s right, killing someone should always be a last resort. We then finished our meals, took our showers, and then headed for bed.

Back in the Simpsons world, Death had arrived at a house. She knocked on the door to reveal a girl in stereotypical goth clothing. “Pardon me,” whispered Death, “may I have a moment of your time, Ms. Lacey?”

“Sure,” agreed the girl, Lacey. Death was let in. “What are you doing here? Business as usual? Am I your client?”

“Hardly,” replied Death. “I’ve been away on a long journey and saw something…peculiar.”

“It’s that sword you gave Mom,” guessed Lacey. “That stupid looking thing that you told her never to touch.”

“Your mother’s ‘stupid’ sword?” asked Death as she sat down. “The one that feels ‘wrong’ to you?” She held out her hand. “Give it to me.”

“Give you the sword?” quizzed Lacey.

“For a moment only,” whispered Death. Lacey got the sword down from the mantelpiece. It was a broadsword in a black scabbard with a silver handle and guard. “Can you see any markings on it?” asked Death.

“No,” answered Lacey. “Kind of plain, if you ask me.”

“How about now?” asked Death as she casually tossed the sword into the fire. Lacey gasped and rushed towards it only to be held back by her visitor. “Wait!” hissed Death. “Do you desire it so much?”

“…N…no!” stammered Lacey. “But why burn it?!”

“Because I had unwittingly given your mother a fragment of the enemy’s power!” explained Death as her whispering voice went up a fragment. “It will corrupt and destroy any who have it until he or she passes under the enemy’s power. Named after the enemy’s desire for a perfect world, this was called the Foundation Saber!”

“That isn’t how Mom kept her appointment with you, is it?!” gulped Lacey, getting frantic.

“No, she is still safe from the enemy,” assured Death, “but you are in danger!” Death then picked up the sword from the fire. Much like the One Ring, the sword was unharmed. Death tossed it to Lacey, who instinctively caught it. She was surprised at the temperature. “Reveal part of the blade,” instructed Death. Lacey blinked, but obeyed. Instead of metal, the blade seemed to be made of solid space.

“It was metal before, I swear it!” declared Lacey.

“Oh no, this is the Foundation Saber’s natural state,” whispered Death as she took the sword back. “Stay here. I must take it and seek out War, the one who was duped into making this thing.”

“Be safe,” called Lacey. Death left the house with the sword, mounted her white horse, and charged off into a portal of her own design.