Tag: hiro adachi

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.

Tags batman, death, gandalf, hiro adachi, kamen rider, kamen rider bravo, kamen rider ichigo, lex luthor, megumi hishikawa, war, wyldstyle

Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 12

We had landed in the pits below. I got a bit of a snake-like labyrinth vibe down below. I felt something beneath me. “All right, who’s under my dress this time?” I muttered, a little annoyed that this happened twice. I counted noses. In all honesty, I wish it was one of my friends, but they were all accounted for. “Then, who…?” I gulped, a little worried. I got up and moved forward. I turned, slowly, and saw that I was sitting on the skeletal remains of one of the previous tenants of those pits! I shrieked in horror and leapt into Richard’s arms. We both tumbled down, with me on top of him. He wrapped his arms around me. “Er, Richard, what are you doing?” I asked.

“Forgive me, my lady,” replied Richard in a teasing tone, “but for a lady to topple her rescuer is hardly proper. Thus, I must hold you here until you apologize.” I arched an eyebrow.

“You’ve been waiting for a chance to do this ever since I did the same on Vorton, haven’t you?” I guessed.

“Maybe,” said Richard coyly. I sighed. Since he was using my own trick against me, I may as well follow through.

“Good Sir Knight,” I murmured, “your princess would like to apologize for making you fall (despite it being beyond our control). Can you forgive me?” He released me. “Just wait until you leap into my arms!” I warned.

“If we get out of here,” muttered Lukas.

“We will,” I assured him. “We just need to find Chen.” The person we were looking for laughed after I said that. We looked around but couldn’t see him. There were four paths branching off in a square pattern from the room we were in, all obscured by greenish smoke.

“You’ll never find me!” boasted Chen’s voice. “No one has ever gotten through my maze of tunnels! You’ll rot down here! Forever running in circles, never knowing where to turn!” He finished with a laugh.

“Well, that’s disconcerting,” gulped Sheela.

“Come on,” called Wyldstyle, “I can see the way forward.”

“How?!” I said incredulously.

“See these panels?” asked Wyldstyle. I saw the panels and recognized the shapes!

“I get it!” I realized. “We use them as a compass!” Then a thought struck me. “Er…how?”

“With the good old fashioned Chroma Keystone,” explained Wyldstyle as she pointed out the Chroma discs. I said no more as I took out my i.d tag.

“Henshin!” I announced. I swapped my i.d tag for Wyldstyle’s.

“Wyldstyle Steel!” called my belt. With the armor changed, Wyldstyle and I set to work, making a clock like device with the hands holding the L-shapes at 4 and 8 and the circle in the center. The 8 o’ clock hand was red, the circle was yellow, and the 4 o’ clock hand was blue. Thank goodness, we found a Keystone transmitter down here. I got out of my Kamen Rider Royal persona and twirled.

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” announced Wyldstyle. The discs formed the paint blobs. “Chroma lock, reveal!” The design in white lines reappeared. “Let’s see, Chroma! Batman! Red!” Batman jumped into the red paint and landed on the left L-shape in the lock design. “Chroma! Emmanuel! Blue!” Emmanuel leapt into the air, passed through the blue paint, and then landed on the right L-shape in the lock design, spinning on his feet for five seconds until he stopped bowed. “Chroma! Yellow! Xiomara!” Xiomara just ran through the yellow paint and stopped on the circle in the lock design. The light streams then moved toward the clock design as the hands spun and pointed at 3 o’ clock. The paint vanished off the users.

“Merci,” called Oren and Emmanuel to the compass.

“Oh, are you lost?” asked Chen. “Don’t worry, I’m SURE you’ll get out eventually!” We picked up the transmitter, went down the tunnel indicated by the hands, and arrived at a new room. “Oh hey!” continued Chen. “I’ve sent some of my men to help you get out. They can be a bit heavy handed, but just let them take care of you!” His cackling was interrupted by Luthor’s roar.

“CHEN!” he shouted. “I WILL FIND YOU!”

“Do you really think you went the right way just then?!” taunted Chen.

“Ignore him,” I suggested as I set the transmitter down. To my surprise, I only saw one circle, a yellow one. “Erm, where are the others?” I asked. Gandalf lit up a dark area.

“I believe I found one,” he answered as he pointed out the red circle.

“I think I can find the blue one,” mused Batman. “Sheela, mind helping me out?”

“Sure,” obliged Sheela as she took out her i.d tag. “Henshin!” She then swapped out her i.d tag for the Batman one.

“Batman Steel!” announced her belt. Kamen Rider Claw then fired the grapple gun, along with Batman and they pulled down a snake statue. As they pulled, Lex Luthor mentioned something about “this infernal maze!” Batman and Claw got the blue circle out of the snake statue’s mouth. Claw deactivated her suit and returned to being Sheela. Wyldstyle’s gauntlet buzzed. We set up another compass. The left hand was red, the right hand was yellow, and the circle was blue.

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” called Wyldstyle. “Chroma lock, reveal! Chroma! Yellow! Sheela! Chroma! Red! Batman! Chroma! Blue! Megumi!” We all jumped into the paint blobs assigned and landed on the respective shapes in the lock designs. The hands moved to 12 o’ clock. We grabbed the transmitter, headed into the tunnel indicated, and found a compass pointing at 3 o’ clock already.

“Wunderbar!” (Wonderful!) cheered Lukas. We went down that tunnel and entered the room. We looked around to see if there could be something to make a compass. Wyldstyle’s Master Builder senses were tingling and so she constructed one out of a snake statue, a pair of lanterns, and some sort of altar. Once finished, the hands were made so that left, was yellow, right was red, and the circle was blue. Chroma discs were already set up.

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” announced Wyldstyle. “Chroma lock, reveal! Chroma! Yellow! Tanisha! Chroma! Red! Gandalf! Chroma! Blue! Livia!” They jumped into the paint blobs assigned while Lex Luthor screamed he would find Chen again. The painted ones landed on the respective shapes in the lock designs. The hands moved to 6 o’clock. We headed down into the tunnel and entered a room where another compass was pointing at 9 o’ clock.

“This is becoming easy,” muttered Hongo with a little worry. We went down that tunnel and found another room with another compass pointing at 12 o’ clock.

“I sense a trap,” mused Emily.

“Recommendations?” I asked. Emily smiled.

“Spring the trap,” she said. I agreed and led the group up the tunnel. We entered a room with a ton of skeletons and an altar with something on it. Wyldstyle smiled.

“Another Keystone!” she cheered. This keystone had four symbols on it. The top was a red circle with three lines protruding from the top, giving the appearance of fire. The left symbol was a small blue lightning bolt. The right one was a green circle with a line going up and a smaller diagonal line on the top line, making it look like an apple. The bottom symbol was a dark blue circle with three short lines on the bottom and separated from the circle. While Wyldstyle faced us at the altar, there was a hissing noise, like a snake.

“Behind you!” warned Gandalf. Wyldstyle turned to see a giant, spikey, purple snake lifting its head! A portal opened above it and deposited a man in reddish robes with a staff on top of the snake.

“Did you think my master would make it so easy for you, Gandalf?” asked the man.

“Saruman the White, have you abandoned all reason?!” protested Gandalf.

“Not at all, my friend, Gandalf the Grey,” replied Saruman, “for I am Saruman the Wise, Saruman Ring-maker, Saruman of Many Colors!” He discarded the reddish robes and revealed new robes that shimmered and changed hue with his movements. It was dazzling to the eye.

“I liked your white robes better, Sharkey,” hissed Michael as he spat the name Saruman took in the Scouring of the Shire at the end of the original book series by Tolkien.

“I see you know some Orcish tongue, my young lad,” said Saruman. “Why else would you alter the word ‘sharkû’? In any case, white serves as a beginning. White cloth may be dyed! The white page can be overwritten; and the white light can be broken!”

“In which case, it is no longer white,” argued Gandalf, “and he that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom!”

“Spare me your lectures, Gandalf!” snarled Saruman. “I have no use for them!” Batman was unimpressed by Saruman’s mode of transportation.

“A giant snake, is that all?” taunted the Dark Knight. Gandalf, Wyldstyle and I tried, unsuccessfully, to get Batman to stop taunting Saruman. “I think you’ll find we’re tougher than you expect!” continued Batman. The snake lashed out, destroying the altar and grabbing the Keystone.

“Then I’ll make sure he chews properly,” replied Saruman as he took the Keystone from the snake’s mouth and fastened it to its upper jaw. Saruman then bound us in magic chains. Hongo managed to wiggle out and hurl a stone at Saruman. He lost concentration as the chains disappeared. “Very well!” snapped Saruman. “Element of water, snake!” The snake started firing ice blasts at us! I then got an idea and asked Wyldstyle to help me construct three ramps for the Batmobile to launch itself at the snake. Once I had transformed into Kamen Rider Royal and activated Wyldstyle Steel, we set to work. “Element of fire, Saruman!” Saruman started firing fireballs at us. I only wish they were the candy. The ramps were built as the snake stopped in front of the middle one.

“Your mistake!” called Batman. He got into the Batmobile and launched it at the snake, stunning it. Saruman tried to get it to move again while Batman saw a transmitter. He also noticed three giant snake heads with open mouths behind Saruman. “Been a while,” he muttered. “Shift Keystone, activate! Cyan, in the mouth of the left snake head statue! Yellow, in the mouth of the middle snake head statue! Magenta, in the mouth of the right snake head statue!” The portals opened. “Shift! Batman! Yellow!” Batman went through the portal and appeared behind Saruman. The evil wizard had regained control of the snake as he got it to turn around and bite the platform Batman was on. It missed the Dark Knight, so Batman and Saruman dueled. Batman had managed to get Saruman to hit the snake, making it scream in pain and destroying the platform. I noticed that the Keystone was getting loose.

“Keep at it!” I encouraged.

“You cannot win!” shouted Saruman as he cast magic chains at us. “My master will rule all! I have seen it!”

“Saruman, come to your senses!” called Gandalf as he made a counter spell to break the chains and free us. “No victory can be had siding with evil!” He mounted Shadowfax and charged up the left ramp. Shadowfax’s hooves went deep into the snake’s head, stunning it again. “Batman, the cyan portal, if you please!” said Gandalf.

“Shift! Gandalf! Yellow!” declared Batman. Gandalf landed inside the left snake head and cast a magic bolt to the snake. It turned around and sank its fangs into the platform. Saruman and Gandalf dueled for a while in close quarters.

“I implore you, stop this madness, Saruman!” pleaded Gandalf. He then smacked his staff into the snake’s head, causing it to reel in pain and destroy the platform. The Keystone was that much looser.

“I’ll take it from here!” I called.

“Not a chance, little girl!” countered Saruman as magic chains wrapped around me.

“I’m 5’5”, you jerk!” I shouted as I broke the chains with raw strength.

“I thought average height in Japan was 5’2”?” asked Richard.

“Only among 17 year olds!” I hissed. “I’m 19, in case you forgot!” I mounted my horse.

“Element of lightning, snake!” announced Saruman. The snake fired an electric bolt at my horse. I suffered some minor electrical burns, but my horse shorted out.

“Shadowfax,” called Gandalf, “assist Princess Megumi!” Shadowfax ran up to me and had me mount him.

“I know this is a quote from Gandalf’s future,” I whispered to the horse, “but run, Shadowfax! Show us the meaning of haste!” The Lord of Horses understood that and responded by charging as fast as he could up the right ramp. He fell short, but my fist landed right on the snake’s snout! Surprisingly, the blow I delivered had enough strength to stun a creature its size. Shadowfax landed on his hooves and ran back to Batman. “I think there’s only one portal left,” I observed.

“If you could get off the horse,” requested Batman. I dismounted Shadowfax. “Shift! Megumi! Magenta!” I jumped into the portal and landed on the last platform.

“I shall not allow this!” boomed Saruman. “Element of earth, Saruman!” Rocks started flying at me. Some hit me, but I managed to hurl some at the snake. It roared in pain and destroyed the statue. I fell, battered and bruised, but alive. Saruman was thrown off unceremoniously screaming “NO!” He landed on the floor, then was sucked up by a portal which deposited Hiro.

“Wizards!” scoffed Hiro. “Can’t do anything right!” The snake was still thrashing around in pain.

“MOVE!” shouted Wyldstyle.

“No need to tell us twice!” confirmed Oren as we all ran back a safe distance.

“Stop, you stupid beast!” ordered Hiro. Not a smart thing to say in the long run as the snake bashed him and its head into a wall, making a hole and knocking the Keystone off. Batman grabbed it as we charged into the new room to see Lex Luthor’s mech looming menacingly over a terrified Master Chen. Chen made a move to grab the staff, but Lex Luthor didn’t let him get it. Lex then grabbed the staff himself. He then commanded his mech to raise his foot over Chen with the intent to squish him.

“Hand the staff over, Lex!” hissed Batman.

“No, don’t do that!” called Hiro as he came running up behind us, holding his jaw.

“I had no intention of doing so,” replied Lex. “In fact, Batman, come and get it!”

“With pleasure!” announced Batman. All Vortex Riders then got their i.d tags, Oren got out the durian Lockseed, and Hongo struck his Henshin pose.

“Rider…” called Hongo.

“HENSHIN!” we all shouted. Hongo leapt over Lex and formed his suit, the Vortex Riders jumped into our respective circles, and Oren opened his Lockseed.

“DURIAN!” it announced. Oren put it into his belt, the Sengoku Driver, and closed it. “Lock on!” After a guitar riff, he sliced the lock open. “DURIAN ARMS! MISTER DANGEROUS!” The metal durian landed on his head, formed the undersuit, and unfolded to reveal Kamen Rider Bravo!

“Catchphrases everyone!” I called.

“Kamen Rider Outback! Better watch your backs, mates!”

“Kamen Rider Claw! My weapons shall turn you into ribbons!”

“Kamen Rider Swing! I’ll be taking your legs!”

“Kamen Rider Hunt! I shall always get my prey!”

“Kamen Rider Clash! A duel with me shall end in your defeat!”

“Kamen Rider Climb! Mountains are a warrior’s best friend!”

“Kamen Rider Gallop! My riding skills are unmatched!”

“Kamen Rider Sengoku! You shall get a taste of Feudal Japan!”

“Kamen Rider Royal! Evil will ultimately bow to me!”

“Kamen Rider Guard! None shall harm my friends, family, and lady!”

“Kamen Rider Touché! En Garde, thing of evil!”

“Kamen Rider Zhànshì! Try and stop my quest!”

“Kamen Rider Arch! My skills outdo Robin Hood!”

“Kamen Rider Kämpfer! Your defeat will be certain at my hands!”

“Kamen Rider Seeker! It’s not gold I seek, but your end!”

“Kamen Rider Battle! For friends and family, I shall be victorious!”

“I am Gandalf the Grey! Prepare to see some fireworks!”

“I’m Wyldstyle! Time to think outside the box!”

“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!”

“I am the start of a group of warriors! I am Kamen Rider!”

“Catchphrases, then?” quizzed Bravo. “Very well. Kamen Rider Bravo! Now, let us begin…the pageant of death and destruction!” We all stared at Bravo.

“Er…needs work,” I gulped nervously.

“If you’re doing catchphrases…” began Hiro as he loaded his guns with his i.d tag.

“Then it’s only fair you give us the same courtesy,” finished the Rogue Driver.

“Henshin!” announced Hiro as he fired. He ran and spun into the circle, becoming Kamen Rider Rogue. “Kamen Rider Rogue. Stand and deliver!” Lex considered his next move.

“Eh, why not,” shrugged the head of LexCorp. “I am Lex Luthor! No one can defeat my impenetrable power suit!”

“And so begins your downfall,” I mused.

“Not quite,” argued Rogue. He brought out two spheres. “Turretorg, Discornia! I summon you!” Turretorg came back with another monster sporting a feminine build. It had some sort of slinky strapless dress done up in a disco ball fashion, a large, blonde afro, blue disco balls for eyes, large red lips, puffy sleeves done up like disco balls, and silver platform shoes. The main body was silver. I presume this was Discornia. It spoke with a high soprano voice.

“Oh, how cute!” it squeed. I tried to get the ringing out of my ears. “Look at all these little backup dancers!”

“Perhaps, my lady,” mused Turretorg, “but…”

“My lady?!” I interrupted. “Hold on, there’s such a concept as gender among you monsters?” Discornia shrieked in horror as Turretorg growled.

“Of course, there is!!” shouted Turretorg. “I’m a male!! Discornia is a female!! Can’t you tell?!”

“I never make it a habit to assume gender by appearance,” I replied.

“Well, can’t fault her for that,” mused Discornia. “Not all of us are easily identified by our appearance. Sludgiona is a good example.” She brought out a black staff with a small disco ball on each end. “In any case, it’s time to defeat you and do so with style! Oh, Combatmen! Come here, my treasures!” Shocker Combatmen swarmed us alongside Nova Shocker Combatmen.

“Vortexons, fall in!” barked Turretorg. The Vortexons came through some portals that deposited them very quickly.

“Lexbots, your master needs you!” ordered Lex Luthor. Green robots with a gun arm, a cylinder with a single green light for a head, a three-fingered left hand, and a pair of treads for mobility came forth.

“Slay them!” shouted Hiro.

“We pledge obedience!” obliged Turretorg and Discornia. Discornia twirled her staff and went on the attack. She mainly used it for keeping us at bay while dazzling us with the light show she generated. The Combatmen kept attacking us as Lex fired from the gun arm of his mech and then launched a missile strike. Rogue almost got hit.

“GIVE A GUY SOME WARNING, WILL YOU?!” he shouted. The impact of the missiles made chroma discs fall. Batman and Wyldstyle found the nearby transmitter. Batman decided to make a distraction.

“I’ve taken you down before and I’ll do it again, Lex,” he snapped.

“You can try!” taunted Lex as he continued firing. The gun arm jammed. “Oh, for…I THOUGHT I PATCHED THAT!” He banged on the gun arm to get it to work, turning his back to reveal a Chroma design with all shapes in red.

“Chroma Keystone, activate! Chroma lock, reveal!” called Wyldstyle.

“STOP HER!” shouted Turretorg.

“Not a bright move!” I snapped. I managed to dispatch a good chunk of the enemy forces.

“Chroma! Red! Bravo!” called Wyldstyle. Bravo leapt into the red paint and landed on each shape in the lock design. Lex’s mech started smoking.

“Pardon, Monsieur Luthor,” apologized Bravo, “but you’ve brought this on yourself.” The design on Luthor’s back changed so that the L-shapes were blue and the circle was yellow.

“Chroma! Yellow! Batman! Chroma! Blue! Royal!” announced Wyldstyle.

“Lex, this is low, even for you,” called Batman as we jumped into our respective paint blobs. “Stop this charade!” The chroma lock made Lex’s mech smoke again.

“Will someone get these twits off my back?!” shouted Lex.

“Allow me!” called Discornia in her overly-cutesy voice. She spun clockwise three times, then twirled her staff over her head, and then tossed it, making the disco balls create a light show that almost dazzled us. That allowed Turretorg to give suppressing fire. The design on Lex changed once more with the left L being yellow, the circle being blue, and the right L being red.

“That’s easy!” I announced. Bravo took the right L, I took the circle, and Batman took the left L. The mech was blown back into the wall, making it lose the staff and knocking Lex Luthor silly. Batman caught the staff.

“MUST I CLEAN UP YOUR MESS?!” roared Rogue to Lex. A portal opened near the mech.

“You have failed me, Luthor!” boomed Vortech’s voice from the portal. Lex tried to get his mech to crawl away but was caught by Vortech’s giant hand and dragged inside.

“What…was…that?!” yelped Wyldstyle. The staff vibrated in Batman’s hands.

“I-I-I-I-d-d-d-don’t-t-t-t-kn-n-n-n-o-o-ow!” he managed to get out. The staff then got out of Batman’s hands, floated in the air, and managed to bond with the new Keystone. The upgraded staff then fell to the ground.

“Secure the target!” shouted Turretorg. We all made a mad dash for the staff, but it’s original owner grabbed it first and spun around, trying to club us in the head. It managed to score a hit on Sengoku. My brother wobbled for a bit.

“Nee-san!” I called. “Daijōbu?” (Are you alright?) He then said a snatch of an old Japanese nursery rhyme and fell, cancelling his transformation.

“I think he has a concussion!” responded Guard.

“Allow me,” called Touché. Thank goodness, she has first aid/CPR training. She managed to get Hiroki out of the way and stayed with him while we turned our attention to Master Chen.

“And now…your punishment for cheating!” he snarled.

“You’re still on about that?!” called Battle.

“I say we know who the real cheater is!” supplied Bravo as he swung his swords at Chen.

“I’m gonna use your empty skull for a bowling ball for the embarrassment you’ve caused my forces!” snarled Hiro. Chen jumped to a higher ledge.

“Now, now,” responded Chen, “no need to get violent. I think we all need to COOL OFF! Element of water, Master Chen!” Oh God, more puns! He managed to coat the entire room in ice, so we slipped for a bit while giant ice stalactites fell from the ceiling. Batman saw an opportunity to get near Chen.

“Rogue! Royal! I need your help!” called Batman.

“What?!” snapped Rogue.

“Rogue, our battle may be undecided,” I said to my biological father, “but if we don’t work together, no one will get the staff or the Keystone.” Rogue considered.

“What did you have in mind?” he asked Batman.

“Can you use armor based on us like the Vortex Riders can?” asked Batman.

“Yes, why?” quizzed Rogue.

“Do you have armor based on me?” asked Batman.

“No, why?” pondered Rogue.

“We’re going to climb the stalactites and pull the end towards that wire,” explained Batman as he pointed to a wire that travelled from one end of the room to Chen’s position.

“Then we can hit him!” finished Rogue. “Perfect!” He then leveled his guns at Batman and fired! Batman felt pain but didn’t die. Rogue had made two red semi-circles with Batman’s symbol on it, his version of the Batman i.d tag, I believe. He loaded the new i.d tag into the guns. He then pointed his guns to the side and fired.

“All right! Batman Steel!” announced the Rogue Driver. Rogue’s wardrobe closed on him at both sides before dissolving. His version of Batman Steel had turned the jacket black with a bat wing design and added points to his now black hat. I just put my i.d tag into my belt.

“Batman Steel!” called my belt. After I had changed, we went across the stalactites and fired our grapple guns to yank the ending stalactite towards us. While that was going on, Chen was firing ice blasts at us. When we got on the ending stalactite, we used our weight to tilt it towards the wire. We got on and slid down the wire. Thank goodness we had protective gloves on us. We would have suffered rope burn otherwise. We then ran towards Chen as we landed on his platform. Then the punching began! Chen managed to score some hits on us, but we barely felt them. I then punched him in the face, which prompted him to hurl us off.

“Ow!” he cried. “That one hurt! You know, you could just let me win. I mean, would it cost you the EARTH?! Element of earth, Master Chen!”

“Not another pun!” snarled Turretorg.

“And just when you proposed!” protested Discornia. I would have commented on the fact that Turretorg intends to marry someone, but I had more pressing matters on my mind. The ice disappeared as a set of ramps of stone with vines tangling everything. Boulders were rolling down towards us!

“What the heck!” yelped Wyldstyle.

“Indy moment!” I shouted. What I wouldn’t give to see Dr. Jones in this situation. The snake motif everywhere and the giant snake Saruman rode on might have made him shake though. A Shocker Combatman patted the shoulder of a Shocker Nova Combatman and a Vortexon and pointed at something under the ramps. After a conversation of “Yee!” from both Combatmen and electronic warbling from the Vortexon, they spoke to Turretorg and Rogue. Somehow, they can understand Combatmen and Vortexons.

“I think that’s a good plan, don’t you, sir?” asked Turretorg.

“An excellent plan, one worthy of promotion,” confirmed Rogue. “I’ll arrange your promotions with your bosses.” That got the Combatmen and Vortexon excited. Their compatriots grumbled.

“What did they say?” asked Gandalf.

“They noticed nooks and crannies in the walls supporting the ramps,” explained Turretorg. “They’re big enough for one of us to fit in.”

“They also noticed that the boulders are falling in a set time,” continued Rogue.

“I get it,” realized Wyldstyle. “Hide in the nooks and crannies as we go up and calculate the timing of the boulders.”

“I think it’s a good idea, don’t you guys?” I asked. I then noticed something. “Wait, where’s Zhànshì and Kämpfer?”

“OVER THERE!” called Discornia. Those two were already on the ramps, dodging the boulders on their way up! They managed to get up there and land some hits before Chen hurled them off.

“Let’s HEAT things up a bit, shall we?” joked Chen.

“Let me guess, fire,” I muttered.

“Element of fire, Master Chen!” announced Chen. The whole room was flooded in lava! My thoughts headed to Touché and Hiroki as the heat could NOT be good for a concussion. Thankfully, Touché, who had cancelled her transformation, had gotten Hiroki to higher ground and kept him in a cool, dark place. Thank goodness. Lava’s the last thing I would wish on anyone, even Rogue. Rocky platforms had appeared in the lava, giving Batman an idea.

“Is the transmitter intact?” he asked.

“Got it right here!” replied Wyldstyle.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” announced Batman. “Cyan, on the platform near us! Yellow, on the platform near Chen’s right! Magenta, on the platform near Chen’s left!”

“What have you got in mind?” I asked.

“We’re going to use someone to confuse Chen by going through different portals,” whispered Batman.

“Let me do it,” called Guard. I nodded that it was okay.

“Shift! Guard! Cyan!” announced Batman. Guard went to the cyan portal. Chen fired some fire balls at him, but Batman shifted him to yellow. Chen retargeted Guard, but he ended up in the magenta portal. He then jumped from the platform and whacked Chen on the back of his head. Chen then hurled him back to us.

“Ha! Good hit!” praised Chen. That’s it, he’s on the end of his rope. “Well, well, this is quite a battle, eh? I would even call it ELECTRIFYING! Element of lightning, Master Chen!” The lava disappeared and was replaced with water. Chen dipped his currently zappy staff into the water, electrifying the whole place.

“Any ideas?” I asked.

“The chroma discs are back,” replied Wyldstyle. “There’s also a design up there,” she pointed to a chroma design held by a hanging snake statue with a red circle, a blue left L shape, and a right yellow L-shape, “but there’s still the matter of the electrified water.”

“The Batmobile can handle some electricity,” explained Batman.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“The Joker tried to put 1,000,000 volts into it,” replied Batman. “It only served to power it.”

“Dang, that’s a tough car you’ve got!” I complimented.

“Chroma Keystone, activate!” announced Wyldstyle. “Chroma lock, reveal!” Thank goodness Batman’s driving the Batmobile because the lock design appeared in the middle of the floor. “Chroma! Yellow! Batman!” Batman drove the Batmobile into the yellow paint and hit the right L-shape. “Chroma! Blue! Batman!” Batman drove through the blue paint and hit the left L-shape. “Chroma! Red! Batman!” Batman drove through the red paint and hit the circle. The lights hit the statue, making it fall and knock Chen to the ground, making him drop the staff, cancelling out the electric water. Rogue, Turretorg, and Discornia made a dash for the staff and Keystone.

“No!” I shouted. “RIDER ROYAL KICK! I kicked Rogue in the head, stunning him for a bit.

“DURIAN SQUASH!” announced Bravo’s Lockseed as he made a wave of energy from his crest which hit Turretorg.

“RIDER KICK!” called Ichigō as he kicked Discornia. Batman grabbed the Keystone while Gandalf took the staff.

“It’s a little gaudy,” muttered the wizard, “but it’s always good to have a spare.”

“We should keep them separate,” suggested Batman. I nodded in agreement. Turretorg and Discornia were sparking, about ready to explode as most monsters do in Kamen Rider, from what Hiroki told me. Speaking of which, Hiroki was coming back to us with Emily helping him.

“What did I miss?” he asked.

“You haven’t missed anything,” replied Rogue as he recovered from my kick. He saw the sparking monsters. “Turretorg, Discornia, return!” They turned back into their sphere forms and flew to Rogue’s hands He put them away for later use. “Now, as for…” He was hit on the head by Gandalf and lost consciousness, canceling his transformation. A portal opened.

“And now you’ve failed!” boomed Vortech’s voice as his giant hand retrieved Hiro’s unconscious body. Another portal opened and sucked up Chen’s body. I didn’t feel a sense of dread, so it was probably ours. Chen must have been returned to his seat up top.

“Flying monkeys, giant robots, ninjas,” mused Wyldstyle, “shall we find out what’s next?”

“May I join you?” asked Bravo as we canceled our transformations.

“Go right ahead!” I agreed. We mounted got on our vehicles, bar Hiroki being put on Emily’s horse since she wanted to keep an eye on him. Oren had admitted that this was his first time riding a horse. We all charged through the portal with Gandalf falling off Shadowfax while trying to ride with two staffs in hand. Batman’s grappling hook wrapped around the Grey Wizard as he was taken into the portal. We all made our way back to Vorton!

Tags batman, gandalf, hiro adachi, kamen rider, kamen rider bravo, kamen rider ichigo, master chen, megumi hishikawa, saruman, wyldstyle

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.

Tags batman, death, elphaba, gandalf, hiro adachi, joker, kamen rider, kamen rider ichigo, lacey, lord vortech, megumi hishikawa, wyldstyle

Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 9

Homer was asleep at his post, the nuclear rod in his butt. He tossed and turned. “It’s not selling out!” he yelped. “It’s co-branding! Co-branding!” I’m surprised he slept through the crash. In any case, we picked ourselves up out of the wreckage.

“What do you suppose these infernal contraptions want here?” asked Gandalf as he brushed himself off.

“And why are there rivers of glowing green ooze flowing all around this place?” quizzed Hongo, a little worried.

“I wouldn’t worry,” assured Richard. “This thing gets reactor leaks all the time and the radiation doesn’t bother the residents.”

“They’re probably used to it!” I yelped. “We, on the other hand, aren’t!”

+THIS UNIT WOULD RECOMMEND WEARING YOUR ARMOR IF YOU’RE SO CONCERNED+ suggested my belt.

“Good idea!” I agreed. “But what about Gandalf, Wyldstyle, and Batman?”

“Never mind us,” assured Batman as we said Henshin and put our suits on. “If we don’t go anywhere near anything radioactive, we should be good. Wyldstyle, your scanner.”

“There’s something at the other end of the plant,” reported Wyldstyle, “maybe the Keystone?”

“Let’s check it out,” called Batman. We went across a catwalk to a locked room with a dial that clearly wasn’t set to keep the steam from leaking. Homer had finally woken up and was apparently informed of the steam leaks somehow. The intercom was still on, so we heard what he was saying.

“What do I do?!” he wailed. “What do I do?!” He even had the instructions in his hands! Even then, he just fiddled with random controls! After a few button presses, he looked back at the book. “All right, brain,” he encouraged said organ, “it’s all up to you!” He read aloud, “check core temperature.” I figured that there was no way he’d screw that up. Too much to hope for. He fiddled with more controls and then went to a black button. “I just press this button…” in reality, no, he shouldn’t have. That button made the steam pipes burst, causing the bridge over a vat of nuclear waste to collapse, and eliciting a “D’oh!” from Homer.

“I get the feeling this guy isn’t quite up to speed on nuclear safety,” muttered Wyldstyle. She then saw some parts. “Hey, Swing, Claw, help me out!”

“If you’re sure,” shrugged Claw. They swapped out their i.d tags for the Wyldstyle one. Once Wyldstyle Steel was activated, they started building a claw that was rolled up with a grapple hook. Batman pulled it with the grapple gun, switching it on and sending a Keystone Transmitter near us from the waste.

“That helps,” called Batman. “Shift Keystone, Activate! Cyan, near the wall outside the window! Yellow, inside top level! Magenta, inside bottom level! Shift! Ichigō! Magenta! Shift! Royal! Yellow!” Ichigō and I went to our respective places. The steam from the pipes in my area blocked my progress. Batman told Ichigō to turn the valve in his area. He did so, thus lowering the pressure so the steam won’t block my path. I then signed to Batman asking if I should go and pull the lever at the end of my area. He gave me the thumbs up and so I pulled the lever. It drained away some of the waste so it could reveal the remains of the bridge. “Shift! Ichigō! Cyan! Shift! Royal! Cyan!” We came out through the cyan portal. Thank goodness. We crossed the bridge, with Arch, Lukas, and I carrying Batman, Gandalf, and Wyldstyle, much to Batman’s annoyance, and saw a guy in a green business suit with an extended upper lip, liver spots on top of his head, and a scheming look to his eyes, and named, I believe, Mr. Burns, take down the zero on the billboard that indicated the days without an accident. It went from zero…to…three?! This whole thing isn’t an accident?!

“Um, excuse me?! Hello?! Thank you?!” yelped Touché. She only says that when something that defies logic happens or when someone says something incredibly dumb. Mr. Burns then turned the billboard that indicated the…days without an otherworldly invasion?! Apparently, it was three hundred twenty-three days without such an occurrence before this one. Mr. Burns changed it to zero, sighed while shaking his head, and walked out slowly. Meanwhile, we were running on a conveyor belt with a bunch of barrels coming out and almost squashing us. We managed to get to the other side when we heard Homer speak.

“Vent radioactive gas? N-O,” he said to himself.

“Homer,” I shrieked internally as I saw people in hazmat suits trying to escape, “anata wa bakada!” (you are an idiot!)

“Homer, you genius!” praised Homer to himself.

“Why is this guy in charge of safety?!” asked Wyldstyle. “He couldn’t cross the road!”

“We need to get across to save those people,” I resolved. The main problem with that was that there were massive covered vents in our way. We could easily reach the first vent, but the second and last were too tall for us to reach, well, maybe not Ichigō, but the rest of us aren’t…wait a minute, that’s it! “Wyldstyle!” I shouted. “Wall jump up there! I think the controls to make this easier are over there!”

“What?” yelped Wyldstyle.

“Just trust me!” I assured. Wyldstyle shrugged as she did as I requested. She found the controls and pulled a lever down. Some steam raised the cover of a vent at different intervals. She got the idea and pulled the other levers. There wasn’t an exact pattern to when the platforms raised, but that was unimportant. Clash then leapt up and landed on a vent cover when it went down. She was then lifted by the steam and raised to another platform. After a few jumps, she gave the thumbs up that our weight would be supported if we went one at a time. I wish she didn’t do that. She’s too valuable to me. We all made it to the other side and heard Homer speak.

“This is my chance to show everyone how professional I am!” he cheered. He then ran around his seat, smashed his fists on the buttons, then banged his head once, then went to sleep! Those actions resulted in a power generator holding door locks to malfunction and release the door latch. Barrels then came out of the door and onto a conveyor belt. They were then put right-side up and put under squashers. Thankfully, that wasn’t our problem at the moment. We had to get the people trapped in the gas out. Ichigō and I punched the glass, got our hands, and opened it from the other side. The people got out as we got something to block the door. Once that was done, we realized our only path was through the squashers. The controls were inside a locked room. Batman’s gauntlet light started glowing green. We looked all around until Gandalf lit up a room in total darkness in a lower level. We brought the transmitter into the light, giving Batman his Keystone Powers.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” he announced. “Magenta, on white panel inside room! Cyan, on scaffolding! Yellow, on the raised platform!”

“Oh yes?” asked Battle. “You’re just going to put the portal on a white panel?”

“Yes,” confirmed Batman.

“On a lower level panel?” quizzed Battle.

“Yes,” replied Batman.

“And people are supposed to reach the controls that way?” asked Battle.

“Yes,” sighed Batman, annoyed.

“…How?” asked Battle. Batman opened his mouth when he realized he was too eager to place portals.

“Batman, you may need me on the scaffolding,” said Gandalf. “The way I see things, there are two components that relate to the door over there. It seems locked for the person that goes in the magenta portal. However, if I were to undo the power that holds the door and transfer to the yellow portal, thus putting me on the platform, I can push something down to Madam Wyldstyle and she can build something to get that panel at a higher elevation.”

“Good idea,” I praised. “Batman, if you please?”

“Shift! Gandalf! Cyan!” announced Batman. Gandalf ended up on the scaffolding, undid the components, unlocking the door for the room and shutting the door that was spewing barrels under the crusher. He was then transferred to the yellow portal and shoved a crate off. Wyldstyle used the parts to build a giant joystick. Battle had changed into Gandalf steel and used magic to move the panel to the upper level. “Shift! Ichigō Gandalf! Wyldstyle! Outback! Hunt! Claw! Swing! Clash! Climb! Gallop! Sengoku! Royal! Guard! Touché! Zhànshì! Arch! Kämpfer! Seeker! Battle! Batman! Magenta!” called Batman, trying a different approach. Tedious, yes, but it worked. We went through the portal and walked along the conveyor belt to end up in front of a hallway with a security camera. I saw the door controls and figured I’d just waltz up and use them. My arrogance proved me wrong as the door controls locked at the sight of me. I turned on my heel and walked back.

“Any suggestions?” I asked, open to ideas.

“Allow me,” replied Batman. He then pulled his cape in front of his face and started going transparent. He went down the hall, fiddled with the controls and deactivated the camera and door locks. That door led to an area filled with toxic waste and a bunch of Micro-managers trying to yank something out of the wall, their boss, I assume, given that it spoke. He was a man in a gray business suit, had an elaborate red and black headdress with a red coffee cup on each side, a chest plate in black with shoulder pads and a red tie in the middle, a long red cape, and black boots with red light up sections that alter his height according to his whims. Judging by the look on Wyldstyle’s face, I’d say it was a certain business lord she’s been on the run from in the past.

“So,” asked the man, “what I’m saying is, why didn’t you just cut a bigger hole?!”

“Just wasn’t in the budget,” joked Rogue’s voice. The business lord didn’t appreciate the joke as Rogue walked in, laughing at the man’s predicament. The business man was the pulled out by the Micro-managers and set upright.

“Lord Business!” hissed Wyldstyle.

“Wyldstyle?” exclaimed Lord Business. “It WAS you meddling!”

“This is impossible!” snapped Wyldstyle. “You were about to graduate from the Master Builder Academy! Why are you up to your old tricks?!”

“Hey, I’d love to catch up,” replied Lord Business, “but I have to grab something and then destroy you and your friends. Mmkay? Mmkay.”

“Short, and to the point,” praised Rogue. “I like that. How about an assist for you? The element’s up there in that man’s hands!” He pointed to Homer who was looking on from an observation window.

“Get the element!” Lord Business ordered his Micro-managers. One of them chased Homer throughout the facility.

“Ow! Hoo-hoo! Ow, my thingies!” screamed Homer. He was then brought into the room in the Micro-manager’s grip. He screamed for a bit, then realized he had a drumstick in his hand, the edible kind, chomped on it, then saw Lord Business and Rogue. “I’m not normally a praying man,” wailed Homer as the Micro-manager threw the drumstick into the ooze, dissolving the meat and leaving the bone, “but if you’re up there, please save me, Superman!” Batman visibly winced at this. Homer then got the wrong idea about Rogue and Lord Business. “Oh my gosh, space aliens! Don’t eat me! I have a wife and kids! Eat them!” He was then taken away.

“Right,” chuckled Lord Business, “that’s the grabbing done. Now, what was the other thing?” A wicked grin appeared on his face.

“You’re going nowhere with this plan!” I snarled.

“And who’s going to stop us, you?” asked Rogue.

“Well, it was nice of you guys to drop by,” said Lord Business, “but Rogue and I don’t have time to play. We’re a little busy.” Batman studied the area.

“Those toxic waste pumps look useful,” he mused, “IF we can get to them.”

“HIT THE DECK!” shouted Guard. As we ducked, a red laser beam swept over us, destroying a gold apparatus, revealing parts that Wyldstyle picked up with Master Builder vision. The laser beam terminated automatically, making Lord Business growl in frustration.

“Look,” he hissed, “this is a new gun, okay! It needs a little time to recharge, so my goons will distract you, all right?”

“Don’t tell them the plan!” snapped Rogue. He summoned Turretorg again.

“There you are!” snarled the monster as it fired on us. We had to dodge its weapons as it fired. Another gold apparatus was destroyed as we dodged shrapnel.

“Do you mind!” shouted Rogue. He swept the area with another laser, destroying the last gold apparatus. “Well, I can safely be called an idiot,” muttered Rogue.

“Darn right!” agreed Wyldstyle as she built a pump, pulled the lever, and spewed toxic waste at Lord Business. After he fell into the pool of the stuff, he got back up, destroyed the pump, and sent parts of the ceiling down on our heads! It destroyed the platform we were on, so we had to use the ceiling panels to stay out of the toxic waste. Lord Business got the gun working again, but we dodged the laser until it ran out of juice again. He grunted in frustration at this.

“Why are you so difficult?!” snarled Lord Business. “Just stay still and let me get you already!” As more of the SWAT-bots came back, Zhànshì activated Wyldstyle Steel, rebuilt the pump, and pumped more toxic waste onto Lord Business. He destroyed the thing again, but Batman saw a Keystone transmitter in the vicinity.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” he announced. “Cyan, on upper left platform! Yellow, on upper middle platform! Magenta, on upper right platform!”

“Really?” asked Lord Business. “It’s like you’re just asking me to attack you in lots of different and interesting ways!”

“If I may use the Cyan portal, please?” I asked Batman.

“Shift! Cyan! Royal!” announced Batman. I went into the portal and got to a control panel for a toxic waste pump.

“Let’s see,” I mused as I looked over the controls. My eyes stopped at a lever. It asked if I wanted to activate the pump. “Y-E-S,” I exclaimed as I pulled the lever. Green ooze spilled onto Lord Business. The flow automatically cut itself off.

“Do you mind?” protested Lord Business. “This is a new suit!”

“I see waste pump controls at the magenta portal!” called Guard.

“Shift! Guard! Magenta!” announced Batman. Guard was transported to the waste pump controls and pressed a button to activate it. More green ooze spilled onto Lord Business.

“We all know that toxic waste gives you awesome super powers,” called Turretorg as it plunged its hand into the stuff, “so you just keep on trying that. Thanks!”

“What are you doing?!” shouted Rogue. At that moment, Turretorg started glowing green. Sickeningly yellow claws appeared on its hands. Its eyes started glowing yellow as well.

“Now, I am Turretoxorg!” announced the new monster. His bullets were like acid as it started melting the metal of the walls!

“Shift! Arch! Yellow!” Arch was sent through the yellow portal, activated Batman Steel, and used the grapple gun to pull the end of a waste pump towards him. It unblocked the flow of waste as it spilled onto Lord Business. He managed to get away from the stuff and switched a walkie-talkie on.

“Tell him ‘It’s showtime!’” he ordered to his forces. Meanwhile, a Micro-manager was chasing Homer as he escaped its grip. He was climbing the walls, swimming in the waste, and hiding among us in funny glasses. He was then caught by a Micro-manager as he gripped the pipes while the black box tugged at his pants, trying to get the nuclear rod stuck in them. It managed to remove the pants and send the rod flying everywhere. It bounced on the Micro-manager and towards Gandalf who used his staff as a bat and hit the rod…right into Rogue’s hands.

“Look at that!” he gloated. “Right into my hand!” Homer was distracted in the meantime.

“Hey! Get your own pants!” shouted the head of the Simpson household before he covered his crotch and shuffled off in embarrassment.

“Hey, it’s been great seeing you catch up with your old friend Lord Business, Madam Wyldstyle,” called Rogue, “but I have somewhere less exploding to be.”

“What about me?” asked Lord Business.

“What about you?” asked Rogue as he took out a remote and pressed a button. Something sparked on the back of Lord Business’ neck. He then looked around the place and saw Wyldstyle.

“Oh, hey, Wyldstyle!” he said pleasantly. “What are you doing here? Er…where IS here, exactly?”

“Don’t even try to play dumb here!” snapped Guard.

“He’s not,” replied Rogue. He held up the remote he had used earlier. “I had originally suggested to my Shocker buddies that they use a mind control chip in your cybernetics, Hongo, but they felt the usual brainwashing methods were still valid.”

“Hey, you said you came to me with a business deal!” protested Lord Business.

“And look where that latent greed got you,” chuckled Turretoxorg. It turned to a Micro-manager. “You know what to do.” Rogue took that as his cue to leave while the Micro-manager advanced menacingly towards us. Turretoxorg made a swipe with its claws as the Micro-manager grabbed a batarang and grabbed the panel we were on. We tried to steady ourselves as Turretoxorg tried to shift the weight around. The Micro-manager took us all up to an ornate office with a model of Springfield inside. Judging by the statues, I’d say that it was Mr. Burns’ office. Gandalf straightened his hat as we looked around. Turretoxorg just looked at us.

“Aren’t you going to fight us?” I asked.

“Now how selfish do you think I am?” quizzed Turretoxorg. I shrugged, and then resigned myself to looking around. I clapped eyes on a strange machine with a Keystone on top. It seemed to have a cone on each end and had a design with a red square, a blue L-shape on the left, and a yellow reverse L-shape on the right. I saw three switches and tried very hard to resist the temptation to touch them. I failed miserably as I turned the machine on. The machine then generated three portals that seemed to suspend a paint blob each, one red, one yellow, and one blue.

“Okay, what’s the power of this Keystone?” I asked to myself. My belt apparently doesn’t pick up on rhetorical questions.

+THE KEYSTONE IS CALLED THE…+

“Okay, thank you,” I interrupted. “I’ll get an explanation later.” A cackle rang through the office.

“Oh no, not him!” moaned Batman.

“Roll up!” announced the voice. “Roll up and witness the hysterically hilarious, the riotously ridiculous, the marvelously mirthful…” a certain clown Batman knew too well slid on his knees on the desk. “…me!” He caught sight of the Dark Knight. “Well, if it isn’t my old pal, Batsy!”

“Joker!” hissed Batman.

“Ding-ding-ding!” replied the Joker. “One point to the Dork Knight!” He let out a laugh. “But, can you tell me what THIS is?” He started looking at a pocket watch as Batman glared at the Joker. Sengoku turned to Turretoxorg.

“I ain’t telling!’ it exclaimed. The pocket watch started ringing as the Joker made a buzzing noise

“Too late!” sniggered the Clown Prince of Crime. “My experts say it’s a power unit! So, let’s see if it’s got enough juice to wake up an old friend of yours, Bat-brain!” The room started trembling. “Ooo hoo hoo! I think it does!” said the Joker.

“Joker, what are you doing?!” rasped Batman.

“Is there a reason behind the Joker’s actions?!” asked Seeker. The Joker blew a kiss at us, then jumped out the window!

“While he’s getting Batman’s old friend prepped,” called Turretoxorg, “how about I summon some of yours, Hongo-san?” It pulled out a radio from a concealed pouch in its chest. “Come forth, Combatmen!” A bunch of men in black uniforms with a skeletal motif and a silver belt buckle with the symbol of an eagle holding Earth came out of the woodwork, literally! They came out of the walls and drew their machete like swords, surrounding us! They kept saying “Yee!” for some odd reason.

“Shocker!” exclaimed Ichigō.

“Let me guess, these are Shocker’s grunts,” theorized Touché.

“Yep,” confirmed Sengoku. “They prefer to attack en masse. You can guess their max strength from there.” The building started shaking again. This time, a giant metallic flower on the lapel of some robot passed by to reveal a mammoth sized metal version of the Joker’s face.

“Oh, not this again!” groaned Batman. “Duck!” A giant, green, four fingered hand grabbed the power unit and attached to the back of the robot the head was attached to. The Joker Robot then lifted the ceiling and a good chunk of the walls, which I believed to be impressive since the right arm was a massive cannon.

“Ready for round two?!” asked the Joker.

“More than ready,” hissed Batman.

“No catchphrases?” asked Turretoxorg.

“Oh, catchphrases?” called the Joker. “Let me hear them!”

“As you wish,” obliged Outback. “Kamen Rider Outback! Better watch your backs, mates!”

“Kamen Rider Claw! My weapons shall turn you into ribbons!”

“Kamen Rider Swing! I’ll be taking your legs!”

“Kamen Rider Hunt! I shall always get my prey!”

“Kamen Rider Clash! A duel with me shall end in your defeat!”

“Kamen Rider Climb! Mountains are a warrior’s best friend!”

“Kamen Rider Gallop! My riding skills are unmatched!”

“Kamen Rider Sengoku! You shall get a taste of Feudal Japan!”

“Kamen Rider Royal! Evil will ultimately bow to me!”

“Kamen Rider Guard! None shall harm my friends, family, and lady!”

“Kamen Rider Touché! En Garde, thing of evil!”

“Kamen Rider Zhànshì! Try and stop my quest!”

“Kamen Rider Arch! My skills outdo Robin Hood!”

“Kamen Rider Kämpfer! Your defeat will be certain at my hands!”

“Kamen Rider Seeker! It’s not gold I seek, but your end!”

“Kamen Rider Battle! For friends and family, I shall be victorious!”

“I am Gandalf the Gray! I shall weave a spell of defeat over you!”

“I’m Wyldstyle! And I am not a DJ!”

“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!”

“I am the start of a group of warriors! I am Kamen Rider!”

“…That was long,” observed Turretoxorg. The robot then grabbed an I-beam and swung it at us. We got out of the way, but barely, what with the Shocker Combatmen something into the air. They turned out to be giant wind up teeth with the Joker’s goons and some strange beings made up of space. They were featureless and had no way to discern their gender. My belt started warbling in an alarming manner.

+VORTEXONS DETECTED!+ it warned.

“Oh, look!” cheered the Joker. “Everyone has come out to see me! Little old me! Too bad there’s no Keystone transmitter for you!”

“You want to bet, clown?!” snarled Batman. “Shift Keystone, activate! Cyan, on the cannon! Yellow, on top of the head! Magenta, on the left arm!”

“Hey, where did they come from?!” called Turretoxorg. It looked around and saw a transmitter near the cannon. “The enemy’s getting aid! Destroy the transmitter!”

“You guys protect the transmitter!” directed Batman. “The Joker’s mine! Hitting him will interrupt his sequence and do some damage, but he’s too far away unless that thing stays online!”

“Just try and hit me, Bratman!” boasted the Joker. “Chroma! Yellow! Joker!” The Joker then jumped into the yellow paint blob on the left arm and was covered in yellow paint.

“Shift! Batman! Magenta!” commanded Batman. He appeared in front of the Joker and attacked him, but the Joker seemed to laugh it off.

“Ah, the wonders of a Keystone!” cheered the Joker. “This baby has given me a very powerful shield, making me immune to enemy attacks!”

“Enemy attacks, eh?” mused Batman. “Shift! Shocker Minion! Magenta!” The Shocker Minion he was referring to was trying to make a flying chop with that blade of his before the magenta portal caught him.

“Yee!” he yelped before he appeared on the Joker Robot’s left arm. Batman used him as a club and made the Joker revert back to his, er, “normal” self.

“Hey!” protested the Joker. “Now that’s not very nice!”

“Yee! Yee!” said the Shocker minion as he smacked the Joker. The Joker threw him off, causing the poor mook to crack his skull when he hit the floor. He died on impact. A couple of Shocker minions saw this and started attacking the Joker’s goons. The Joker, in the meantime, had left a bomb that just spat out a flag that said “BOOM!” on it.

“Simple fix!” chuckled Batman as he rebuilt it to actually explode. Once he got clear, the bomb went off and destroyed the shoulder armor of the robot.

“That’s it!” declared Wyldstyle. “He’s weakening!” A Vortexon tried to jump her, but she kicked it into a Shocker minion’s backside. Soon, the Shocker minions were trying to get rid of the Vortexons and the Joker’s goons.

“WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING!” shouted Turretoxorg. It was then hit with eyebeams that came out of the Joker Robot’s optics, reverting it back to Turretorg. “WHAT’S THE IDEA!” it roared to the Joker.

“Don’t forget to go out with a smile!” called the Joker. More of his goons appeared. “Nice of you to come out and play!” praised their boss. This time, he saw the chaos with the minions. “HEY! CUT THAT OUT!” he shouted. “Chroma! Blue! Joker!” This time, he took a blue coloration.

“Shift! Batman! Turretorg! Cyan!” called Batman. Turretorg was taken by surprise.

“HELP!” it shouted as it was sucked in. Once they were on the cannon arm, Batman started taunting the Joker.

“Of all the unfunny jokes you’ve made, Joker, this has to be the worst!” taunted the Dark Knight. “How is this demonstrating that chaos is eternal? All I see is your ultimate defeat!”

“That’s it,” whispered Turretorg, “keep talking!” It swung a punch to the rear of Batman’s head, but the Dark Knight ducked, allowing the punch to hit the Joker, making him lose his color again.

“Will you just PLAY NICE!” shouted the Joker as he set another bomb. This time, Batman had a little trouble reconfiguring it to actually explode as Turretorg laid down suppressing fire.

“Shift! Kämpfer! Cyan!” called Batman. Kämpfer jumped in and took care of the bomb. It blew up, damaging the cannon arm’s armor. The robot the shot its eyebeams at us again.

“You know something,” hissed the Joker, “having a gun obsessed mole like you help me obtain the Keystone was bad comedy!”

“MOLE?!” roared Turretorg. “YOU’VE GOT A LOT OF NERVE, YOU COURT JESTER! I’LL BLOW A HOLE INTO YOUR STOMACH FOR THIS! VORTEXONS, SLAY THEM!” The Vortexons started overpowering Shocker and the Joker’s goons. “As for you,” it continued saying to the Joker, “it’s time for me to take control of this show!”

“It’s not a show without the Joker! That’s me by the way,” called the Joker. The flower on the robot’s lapel started spewing purple goo. I didn’t know what it was, but it felt toxic to me.

“This metal giant appears to have a strange contraption attached to it!” observed Gandalf as he attacked his foes with Glamdring. He was referring to something that had escaped my notice! It was next to the Keystone power unit and seemed to be patterned like a circuit board!

“I think that’s the robot’s brain!” I declared.

“Oops!” said the Joker. “Forgot to patch that! Chroma! Joker! Red!” He landed on the head to protect the brain.

“Not this time, clown!” called Batman. “Shift! Batman! Vortexon! Yellow!” Batman grabbed a Vortexon and jumped in, swinging the poor creature on the Joker. The Joker had lost his shield and set one last bomb. The Vortexon tried to keep Batman at bay but failed as he reconfigured it to explode. The brain was destroyed as the robot went to a standstill to expose the belly.

“Claw! Hunt!” exclaimed Ichigō. “With me!” They jumped into the air. “RIDER KICK!”

“RIDER CLAW KICK!”

“RIDER HUNT KICK!” The robot wobbled from the impact. It then proceeded to fall on its face! We got out of the way quickly. The minions of the enemy, not as lucky. The Joker popped out of the bloody wreckage with the Keystone in hand.

“Ooh, this looks valuable!” he cheered.

“MORON!” roared Turretorg as it punched the Joker. Batman was about to grab the Keystone, but the Joker brought out his tommy-gun. Batman backed off. The Joker got out his walkie-talkie.

“Hi,” he said, “I’m going to need a taxi from the roof of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant!”

“Add me to the list of passengers as well!” called Turretorg. A portal opened for the Joker and Turretorg.

“Oh, never mind,” laughed the Joker. “One’s here. Be seeing you around, Bat…” As he picked up the Keystone, Gandalf whacked the Joker with his staff and tripped up both the clown and Turretorg, making them fly into the vortex.

“I’ll be taking that, thank you!” snapped the grey wizard as he grabbed the Keystone. A portal opened for us. “Shall we?” asked Gandalf. I pressed the vehicle summon button to get Shadowfax, the Batmobile, the Cyclone, Wyldstyle’s bike, and the F.N.S’s horses. All riders then powered down and adopted our human forms.

“After you, good Sir Gandalf,” I said as I mounted my horse. Lord Business had caught up to us. He had apparently built himself a decontamination room and then converted it to a car. He explained that Shocker had kidnapped him after he was fooled by Hiro’s idea of a business negotiation and planted the mind-control chip on him when he was still in Octan Tower after getting his graduation invite. After accepting his request to join us until he could get home, we all boarded our vehicles and Gandalf led the charge out of Springfield. Thank goodness. I was going to enjoy a nice long bath to wash my entire body of this whole affair! I didn’t want to stay in Springfield a minute longer!

Tags batman, gandalf, hiro adachi, joker, kamen rider, kamen rider ichigo, lord business, megumi hishikawa, the simpsons, turretorg, wyldstyle

Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 8

Hongo woke up before us. He didn’t have a restful night. Shocker still plagues his mind, even after its defeat. The fact that a man that gave that organization the idea of a transformation belt for its super soldiers was still alive and travelling the dimensions had opened old wounds. He decided to head to the gateway to see Batman working at it. “Trouble sleeping?” he asked. Batman whirled to see Hongo standing there.

“Not really,” replied Batman. “I usually strike at crime during the night. With no crime right now, I’ve been restless.”

“You speak as though there was tragedy in your life,” observed Hongo.

“Well, since everyone aside from Gandalf and you know my backstory,” rasped Batman as he reached for the cowl, “I might as well tell you.” He pulled it back to reveal his face. “My name is Bruce Wayne. I’m the son of Dr. Thomas Wayne, a wealthy man who had inherited a fortune that was built through industry and real estate. When I was a boy, my parents and I were leaving the theater after watching a Zorro movie. We turned into an alley to find a mugger. My parents tried to convince the man not to mug them, but he just killed them after more refusal to give up their valuables quietly. I survived the incident and will freely admit to being traumatized by the whole affair. Afterwards, I fell into a crack near Wayne Manor and discovered a cave full of bats. At first, I used to be terrified of bats. After my butler, Alfred, got me out, I went in again after a few days. I always returned, determined to face my fears until, eventually, a bat flew by my window and I didn’t blink. By that time, I was studying law and learned how corrupted my home of Gotham was. By then, I swore on my parent’s grave to fight injustice wherever it was. I started training my body to prepare for the fight against evil and took the motif of an animal that influenced my life.”

“Thus, becoming Batman?” guessed Hongo.

“Right,” confirmed Bruce. “What about you? Since I told you my backstory, might as well give me yours.”

“It’s only fair,” agreed Hongo. “Although, I was not traumatized as a child like you were. I was practicing for a motorcycle grand prix with a man I called friend, Tōbei Tachibana. During that time, people from the Sacred Hegemony Of Cycle Kindred Evolutionary Realm, the Shocker organization I’ve kept mentioning, had decided I was a perfect test subject for their mutant cyborg super soldier program as I was an athlete with an I.Q. of 600. I was kidnapped, genetically modified to accept grasshopper DNA, and cybernetically altered. I was about to be brainwashed when a professor at the college I attended had managed to cut the power temporarily to allow us to escape. I decided to fight Shocker at every turn as the Kamen Rider. Shocker didn’t like that and so tried again with another person, Hayato Ichimonji. He almost bought into the brainwashing before I interfered. I went on to fight Shocker branches overseas while Ichimonji stayed behind to be the second Kamen Rider. Nowadays, more Kamen Riders protect the planet and they aren’t even cyborgs. They can consider themselves lucky. Like you, my life can never return to normal.”

“My sympathies,” said Bruce.

“I would hate to interrupt the bonding between you two,” I called. They whirled to see me standing there with a smirk on my face.

“Shouldn’t your shoes have made noise?” snapped Bruce as he put the cowl back on and regained his raspy voice.

“Actually,” I replied, “I’ll let you guys in on a little secret.” I lifted my dress high enough to reveal my feet, my BARE feet. “I never wear shoes under this thing.”

“And you were walking around a forest in bare feet?!” yelped Batman.

“I’ve got tough feet,” I assured, “like a Hobbit.” The rest of the gang joined us. “Are we all accounted for?”

“Not quite,” muttered Emmanuel. “Some of us haven’t had our coffee.”

“Oh, yeah,” I realized. “All right, quick breakfast and coffee, then we get another Keystone.”

“Is coffee really important?” asked Hongo. “We need to get that Keystone now!” The air went quiet as we all stared at Hongo. Gandalf wisely kept quiet.

“The longer we wait for you to make sense, Hongo-san,” I threatened, “the longer you keep us from our coffee.” Hongo backed off. “That’s what I thought.” We got our breakfast, bagels and coffee, then we mounted our respective vehicles and got in front of the gateway. “All ready?” I asked. Everyone confirmed their status. I reared my horse back. “CHARGE!” I shouted, leading the charge into the portal. We ran through the vortex, ready to take on whatever dimension was our destination. “Driver, what’s our destination?” I asked my belt.

+DESTINATION IS DIMENSION T-H-3-5-1-M-P-5-0-N-5+ replied my belt.

“Thank you!” I praised. We soon arrived at the other end. I wish I could say nothing exciting happened, but that would be a lie. Something didn’t sit right with where we are, but I couldn’t place what it was. Lukas, on the other hand…

“Er, guys,” gulped Lukas, “where’s the ground?” We all looked down and saw it a couple of miles below us. Gravity then remembered what it does to all objects as we started falling.

“Where are we?!” asked Wyldstyle over the wind.

“And why does everything look…strange?!” quizzed Batman as he could see a town below us. We passed by some letters that spelled something. A choir then sang what the letters spelled.

“The Simpsons!” it said. As each syllable reached our ears, my heart sank lower and lower. The phrase “oh no!” escaped my lips. I won’t lie, I HATE The Simpsons with a passion! Given that I’ve had the misfortune of seeing at least one or two episodes out of its absurdly long run, I can guess what’s happening as we fall.

A boy with a bit of a belly, a spiky hairstyle with hair color matching his mustard yellow skin, Bart Simpson, will be writing lines in detention until the bell rings. He’ll then run out and hop on his skateboard to escape the school.

His dad, a man with a beer gut, the same skin tone as Bart, a permanent five o’ clock shadow, and a bald head, Homer Simpson, will extract a nuclear rod with tongs before the whistle blows and he takes off his hazard suit, during which, the nuclear rod gets stuck to his back.

While that’s going on, the mom, a tall lady with the longest blue beehive hairstyle, Marge Simpson, will be shopping and reading a magazine. The baby girl, a kid with spiky hair and always sucking on her pacifier, Maggie Simpson, shall ride on the checkout conveyor and get scanned and put in a grocery sack. She’ll poke her head out and gives a few sucks on her pacifier.

During which, band practice will be going on and a girl with spiky hair like Maggie, Lisa Simpson, plays a saxophone solo, annoying her band teacher as he silently tells her to get out. She does so, still playing the thing!

Meanwhile, Homer is going to be driving his pink car, get an itch on his back, remove the nuclear rod, and throw it out the car into the street.

At that point, Bart will be busy skating through Springfield…wherever! I heard from Richard’s father, Fred, an avid Simpsons fan since it came out, it’s supposed to be based on Springfield, Oregon, annoying everyone by getting too close, even the police officer on duty.

Meanwhile, Maggie shall be turning the wheel of her car seat with Marge, the pair of them honking the horn.

Homer will then drive up to the garage and open the door while Bart skates over the car, annoying Homer. Lisa will wheel by on her bike, getting too close to Homer, making him say “D’oh!” Then Marge will drive up, going in too fast, scaring Homer into running into the house. The Simpsons will then rush to their couch to watch T.V. Usually, there’s a gag involving that instance.

This time, the gag was that we crashed through the ceiling, scattering the family and getting them out of the house. Batman, Gandalf, Hongo, Wyldstyle, and I landed on the couch while the rest had piled onto the floor. The words “Created by Matt Groening” appeared on the television. The house then shook from the impact, compromising structural integrity, most likely. Gandalf then took the remote, unsure of what it is, pressed the channel button, and went to a channel with a clown, Krusty the Clown, I believe the name was. “Enough T.V!” exclaimed Batman. Thank you! “Let’s figure out why we’re here.” While Gandalf had discovered what the average donut was and munched on it, I tried to turn off the T.V.

“Come on!” I snarled. Nineties T.V’s were apparently beyond me as I couldn’t find the off button. I then resorted to slapping the thing, which, oddly enough, resulted in getting the Krusty i.d tag. I arched an eyebrow at this. “Er, Driver?” I asked.

+THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE+ faltered my belt. +UNABLE TO OFFER EXPLANATION AT THIS TIME+ I blinked, then shrugged.

“Hey, guys!” called Wyldstyle. “My scanner’s found something in the couch!”

“Let’s get it out then!” exclaimed Emmanuel. He flung the cushions off and reached in to grab something, but even his vaunted strength couldn’t get it out. “Er, I know the French can be a proud people, but may I have some help? Monsieur Batman, I believe the two of us can use your grapple gun.”

“Looks like it,” agreed Batman. Emmanuel then struck his Henshin pose.

“Henshin!” he announced as he inserted the i.d tag into the belt. He jumped through the blue circle, donning his Arch suit, and swapped his i.d tag for the Batman one.

“Batman Steel!” called the belt. The wardrobe appeared, closed on Arch, formed the new armor, and dissolved, revealing Arch in Batman Steel. Both he and Batman fired their grapple guns and yanked hard. A bunch of metal pieces flew out of the couch. Gandalf used his magic to lift a record player onto speakers, which blasted music before the vibrations shook it apart. Richard tried the back door, but it was blocked from the outside by the debris that had fallen from our landing. Wyldstyle then used her Master Builder powers to construct an elaborate slingshot and aimed it at the window. Using some of the debris as ammo, she fired at a window, shattering it and allowing us passage to the back yard. As we explored the backyard, a portal opened over the sandbox and spat out a strange device before it closed. Batman got a closer looking.

“Interesting,” he muttered. “The markings on this device appear to be the same as on the Shift Keystone. Perhaps they’re linked? Someone’s trying to help us.”

“Batman,” I observed, “I think that’s the Keystone power transmitter my belt talked about last night.”

“Then there’s another piece of the puzzle that’s missing,” quizzed Batman, “how do I use this thing?” Batman then saw instructions on how to use the gauntlet on its view-screen. “Okay then,” he said, allowing a brief smile at his fortune. “Let’s see, ‘Step one: say ‘Shift Keystone, Activate’. Step two: state where you want shift portals. Step three: Say Shift, then target’s name, then the color of the portal target will go through’.”

“I can see something on the roof!” I called.

“I think there’s something in the treehouse,” Lukas pointed out.

“Those pipes could be useful,” mused Emmanuel.

“I think there’s something stuck in the chimney!” called Emily. I craned my neck to look up to see a bit of Keystone stuck inside.

“All right,” muttered Batman, “time for a test run. Shift Keystone, Activate! Cyan, over the treehouse! Yellow, over the roof on my left! Magenta, on the roof to my right!” The portals then appeared in exactly as Batman described. “All right, time for some guinea pigs. Let’s see…” I don’t know why, but he gave me a mischievous grin. “Shift! Megumi! Cyan!” A cyan portal opened beneath me and gave me what I call a reverse Monroe moment. You know that picture of Marilyn Monroe holding down her dress over a vent? This time, the portal tried to suck my dress into it and I had to hold it up. I was sucked in and landed on the treehouse’s roof. I bounced and grabbed the edge. Sadly, that was the catalyst for bringing it down. After it fell, I landed not so gracefully, getting tangled in the skirts of my dress, requesting help, a mess of a time to get myself untangled, and finally giving Batman what for!

“GIVE A GIRL SOME WARNING NEXT TIME, WILL YA?!” I shouted. Batman appeared to pay no heed

“Shift! Hongo! Magenta!” Hongo was caught by surprise as he tried to jump out of the way, but soon ended up sliding down the roof and pulling the pipes down. “Shift! Gandalf! Yellow!” Gandalf tried to steady himself with his staff but was sucked in anyways and ended up on the roof. He pushed the object off and the slid down with Wyldstyle catching him. “All right, now to turn this thing off.” The instructions appeared on the view-screen again. Batman read them, then said “Shift Keystone, Deactivate!” The portals disappeared as we gathered the parts to make a trampoline to get up to the Keystone in the chimney. Batman got there first. It appeared to have a design with three different colored dots in the shape of a triangle. The topmost vertex was blue, the left was yellow, and the right was red with lines connecting them all. Batman was about to grab the new Keystone when a giant black box with red eyes and clawed hands came out of a portal and grabbed it first!

“A Micro-manager?!” yelped Wyldstyle.

“Hey!” snapped Batman to the one that stole the Keystone.

“Batman!” called Hongo as a Micro-manager grabbed him. We were all grabbed and taken to the sky. While we went up, the Micro-managers caused havoc in Springfield. Such examples were shooting one of Homer’s co-workers in the rear, setting fire to Krusty Burger with Krusty the Clown fleeing with his money, but not before putting up a sign saying “Now Flame Grilled”, setting the elementary school on fire, making Bart and his best friend, Milhouse, high five each other, tearing the town hall apart, making the Mayor run into a tree, shooting Chief Wiggum’s car with him being unaware of the chaos going on, and chasing Krusty, causing him to run into Marge and try to woo her, but end up getting tossed into the stratosphere.

“What the heck is going on!” snarled Batman as he tried to escape the grip of the Micro-manager holding him.

“I don’t know!” exclaimed Wyldstyle as a trio of Micro-managers entered a portal.

“If you want my opinion,” called a voice, “I’d say our careers just reached new heights!” Hiro came in on top of a Micro-manager. As we stared, he rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, not feeling that one either!”

“You put us down, now!” I shouted.

“Are you sure you want that?” asked Hiro.

“You heard her!” shouted Batman as he took out a Batarang. “Put us down!” He threw it at Hiro’s head, then it travelled to hit the hands of our respective Micro-managers. “Here we go again!” called Batman as gravity caught up to us. Hiro regained his balance and saw us fall.

“Oh, no you don’t!” he roared. He took his guns and pointed them at us after he loaded his i.d tag into them. “You won’t get away from me that easily! Henshin!” He fell into the red circle and became Kamen Rider Rogue.

“Rogue’s on our tail!” reported Lukas.

“Then we fight him once we find a decent platform!” I suggested.

“I see a massive Micro-manager!” called Wyldstyle.

“Then that’s where we fight him!” I said as I took out the i.d tag.

“Rider!” announced Hongo as his belt opened.

“HENSHIN!” we all called as we sped towards the giant Micro-manager. SWAT-bots then clambered on top as Hiro caught up to us. When we clashed, there was a massive brawl between us! Between all the punches and kicks, we managed to loosen a panel which raised a computer terminal. Swing pressed a button to broadcast a transmission coming from somewhere to all Micro-managers.

“The Foundation Element has been located,” reported the voice, making Wyldstyle widen her eyes in fear. “It’s in the nuclear power station in the hands of an employee.”

“System compromised,” came the computer voice of the Micro-manager’s computer. “Self-destruct initializing in 3, 2, 1.”

“Self…what?” gulped Gandalf. The Micro-manager exploded.

“Oddly enough, Hiro,” remarked Hiroki, “I don’t think that’s the entire plan!”

“Like I’d tell you!” snapped Hiro as he raised his guns and fired.

“Sengoku’s right,” called Batman as we dodged the shots, “that sounded like only part of the plan! We’ll need to hack more terminals to find out more!” We soon found another giant Micro-manager, you know, let’s call it a Macro-manager, and landed on its roof. More SWAT-bots came out and opened fire once we landed. Our capes morphed into shields as we took up positions, but we couldn’t effectively return fire. The only one who could was Kämpfer with his stylized crossbow. Thank goodness there’s no recoil on it. Arch wanted to fire, but he can’t exactly fire arrows with one hand. The rest of us only had melee weapons.

“Drat, we can’t fire back!” I hissed.

+INCORRECT STATEMENT+ countered my belt. +ALL WEAPONS CAN SWITCH FROM RANGED TO MELEE FORMS+

“What about those that need two hands to fire?!” snapped Arch.

+YOU DO NOT NEED TWO HANDS TO FIRE+ replied my belt. +THERE IS A BUTTON UNDER YOUR RIGHT POINTER FINGER+ Arch blinked under his helmet and looked at the bow. The button was small and red. He pointed the bow at the SWAT-bots and pressed the button. An energy shot pierced the metal of the robot.

“Merci beaucoup!” thanked Arch as he continued to return fire.

“Is there recoil on our weapons’ ranged mode?” I asked.

+NEGATIVE+ replied my belt.

“Then we’re going to have some fun!” I chuckled as I folded my sword into a rifle. We unleashed a volley of laser fire and raised a platform with a green tube with a satellite dish. A Micro-manager grabbed the dish in an attempt to stop our progress, but Batman pulled it down, destroying it and the tube, but a certain Master Builder made another terminal which started broadcasting more of the transmission.

“Do everything it takes to get hold of this employee, one Homer J… Sampson? …Sempson? …Sim…oh, whatever! JUST GET HIM!”

“That idiot broadcasted the plan to all Micro-managers?!” snapped Rogue.

“Second system compromised,” came the Macro-manager’s A.I. “Self-destruct initializing in T-minus 3, 2, 1. Detonation.” The Macro-manager blew up. A bit of free-fall later and we landed on another Macro-manager. This time, we had to take care of three Micro-managers shooting at us. Hunt then swapped her i.d tag for the Batman one.

“Batman steel!” announced her belt. Batman Steel came on as she swung a batarang at the Micro-managers, destroying them. The panel was removed by Gandalf’s magic and the terminal raised, but Rogue shot it.

“Not this time!” he snarled. He then took out a ball of some sort. It was blueish gray with a red dot in the center. “I summon you, Turretorg!” He threw the ball onto the floor where it melted, then grew, then formed an ugly shape. It was vaguely humanoid, had fur everywhere, had gun turrets on its shoulders and head, gun barrels for hands, cannons coming out of the mouth, and a gun on each knee.

“Turretorg, awaiting orders, sir!” said the monster.

“Slay those dolts!” ordered Rogue.

“I pledge obedience!” saluted Turretorg. He…she…it turned on us and unleashed a volley of fire. We took cover where we could.

“Another computer terminal must be inside,” called Wyldstyle. “If we can get in…”

“How do you propose we do that?!” I snapped. “We’re under heavy fire, in case you forgot!”

“But the grapple guns can reach pretty long,” remarked Wyldstyle.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” I asked, exasperated.

“My scanner found two grapple hooks on either side of this thing’s roof,” explained Wyldstyle. She pointed them out to me. “We just need someone with Batman Steel.”

“Hunt!” I called, getting Hunt’s attention. “Tell Batman to fire a grapple gun at one of those hooks over there!”

“Got it!” she confirmed. She told Batman of the plan. Batman and Hunt then fired their grapple guns and pulled a couple of pylons out of the Macro-manager. The rear swung out and a green light glowed on Batman’s Keystone Gauntlet.

“What’s the green light for?” he asked.

+KEYSTONE TRANSMITTER IN VICINITY+ replied my belt.

“Clear a path for me!” called Batman. “I need to see where to place the portals!”

“Everyone, give Batman cover fire!” I shouted. We managed to separate Rogue and Turretorg and keep their attention on us while Batman got the lay of the land. The interior was set up in two levels, the lower of which had an electric dome over a terminal. The rear door had platforms underneath pipes that begged to be disconnected.

“Shift Keystone, Activate!” announced Batman. “Cyan, over rear most platform! Yellow, on roof of Macro-manager! Magenta, near electric dome!” The portals appeared. Gandalf had jumped inside the Macro-manager to undo a pipe on the door. It weakened the electro-dome around the terminal. Gandalf got an idea.

“Batman!” shouted Gandalf. “Get me into the Cyan portal!”

“What?!” yelped Batman.

“Trust me!” assured Gandalf. Batman shrugged but complied.

“Shift! Gandalf! Cyan!” This time, Gandalf was ready. He allowed himself to be sucked in and ended up on the farthest platform on the door. He then used his magic to undo two more pipes. The electro-dome disappeared and Batman decided to try something. “Shift! All in vicinity! Magenta!” he commanded. Everyone got sucked into the magenta portal. And when I say “everybody”, I mean everybody. Perhaps Batman should have specified his targets. Everyone tumbled into the second level of the Macro-manager. It became a firefight between us and Rogue and the monster. We surrounded the terminal as I switched it on.

“Once we have the artefact, we move back,” came the transmission. “Utilize the Asset and his secret weapon if there’s any resistance.”

“Hm,” mused Batman. “There may be trouble ahead.”

“Proximity alert,” came the computer. “Emergency Landing incoming. Raise in altitude suggested.” Batman continued looking at the terminal.

“This says that we’re heading towards Springfield Nuclear Power Plant,” he reported. The Macro-manager started shaking.

“And that, I assume,” I gulped, “was our brakes?”

“Yep,” replied Batman.

“Master, we must fall back!” called Turretorg.

“No!” snarled Rogue. “We give our lives to eliminating them!”

“This is a suicide mission!” argued Turretorg. “There’s no honor in this! We must retreat so we can claim the Foundation Element more quickly!” Rogue considered this.

“You’ve successfully swayed me,” he sighed. He opened a portal. “We’ll regroup in the main building. Fall back!”

“I pledge obedience!” saluted Turretorg as it followed him into the portal. Meanwhile we tried to control our ride, but to no avail.

“Guys, if we don’t make it out,” I called, “it was an honor serving with you!”

“The pleasure’s all ours, my lady!” replied Guard. We crashed into the main building.

Tags batman, gandalf, hiro adachi, homer simpson, kamen rider, kamen rider ichigo, lord business, megumi hishikawa, the simpsons, turretorg, wyldstyle

Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 2

As we were pounding through the vortex, an old man sat on a bench in Arakawa Nature park, over in Tokyo. The man was a little battle weary, with wavy hair, a well-defined muscle structure, and wore motorcycle gear. He looked at the young’uns playing and gave a small, sad smile. “The days of youth,” said a voice. The man turned to see another man about his age. He had lost his hair and wore similar gear to the man on the bench. A warm smile spread across his face.

“Haven’t seen you in a while, Ichimonji,” he mused.

“Like you, I’ve been busy fighting Shocker around the world,” explained Ichimonji. “I just came back for the nostalgia, much like you, I’m guessing. How are you doing, Hongo?”

“I’ve been well,” replied Hongo. “About a year ago, Shocker was in a civil war with a branch called Shocker Nova. Unlike the one we’re familiar with, these people wanted to take control of the economies of the planet. Much more sinister than simply subjugating the people.”

“And you fought them off by yourself?” asked Ichimonji.

“No, I met with the new Rider at the time,” explained Hongo. “This one was interesting. He had died when he wasn’t supposed to, so he set out on a quest to find these things called Eyecons, which hold the spirits of famous people, like Musashi, Robin Hood, and Edison. He had to collect all 15 within 99 days or he would cease to exist. From what I heard, he succeeded.”

“A ghost as a Rider?” quizzed Ichimonji. “That’s a new one.”

“Well, the Heisei generation can be a little strange,” mused Hongo.

“Still, it’s nice to see the fight against evil goes on,” replied Ichimonji.

“Yes, the planet is in good…” it was then that Hongo saw the portal. “What in the…? Ichimonji, look out!” said Hongo as he tackled Ichimonji to the ground. That was when we flew out of the portal, over the bench, and landed right in front of the two men.

“That was a rush!” announced Emily.

“Everybody okay?” I asked. They all confirmed their status as we dismounted. “Good. Now then, where are we?”

“You’re in Arakawa Nature Park,” explained Hongo as we turned to the speaker. The instant he clapped eyes on the two men, a look of pleasant surprise and fanboying popped onto Hiroki’s face.

“They’re real!” he muttered. “I don’t believe it! They’re real!”

“Who are they?” asked Sheela.

“THE FIRST KAMEN RIDERS!” shouted Hiroki happily.

“What now?” quizzed Richard.

“Kamen Rider is an iconic franchise alongside Godzilla and Ultraman,” explained Hiroki. “The whole thing is based around a masked motorcycle rider fighting evil organizations.”

“After the earthquake in 2011, the statue of the very first Kamen Rider was discovered still standing, giving courage and hope to the victims.” I supplied. “Even one who has basic knowledge, like me, can’t deny the impact Kamen Rider has left us.”

“And Ichimonji’s coming with me,” called a voice. That’s when an electrical bolt shot Ichimonji and made him freeze up. We looked in shock to see Hiro with a smoking pistol in his right hand. My lips curled into a snarl and Hongo noticed this.

“Do you know him?” he asked.

“That man had abandoned me and tried to reclaim me when I was adopted by a more loving mother,” I explained. “This was after he murdered his wife, my birth mother!” Hongo gave a dirty look at Hiro.

“I’m guessing, because of that, you no longer acknowledge him as your father,” guessed Hongo.

“That’s right!” I snarled.

“How dare you, sir!” hissed Hongo to Hiro. “She was a gift to make your life joyful and you ruined her life! I shall not forgive those as evil as you!”

“Evil?!” snapped Hiro. “No! I don’t accept that! I needed a super soldier! One who could communicate with their bestial side! It was for the good of Japan!”

“The good of Japan?!” roared Hiroki as Hiro rambled. “You animal! You almost got her killed! It was lucky that my mother adopted her when she did! You’re an evil man that has descended into nothing more than an animal and shall be put down as such!”

“You are welcome to try!” boasted Hiro as he loaded a red semi-circle into both guns.

“Oh, this is gonna be good!” giggled the Rogue driver as both semi-circles joined together inside the red circle, with the split going from top to bottom. Hiro then pointed his guns at us. “Reach for the skies!” said the driver.

“Henshin!” announced Hiro as he pulled the triggers. A red circle appeared in front of us with an image of armor going sideways. Hiro ran towards it and jumped into it, twisting sideways, and landed on both feet in the armor. It looked like a black, full bodysuit with blackish gray armor on the arms, chest, and legs, and a black trench coat. His helmet had red compound eyes, a pair of short antennae, and a black, wide brimmed hat. The eyes had a pupil and the lights making it glow altered to show the emotion he had underneath.

“Meg,” gulped Xiomara, “your birth father, did he just…?”

“He did,” I said, “Hiroki, is that…?”

“It is!” confirmed Hiroki.

“I am Kamen Rider Rogue,” announced Hiro. “Stand and deliver!”

“You disgrace the name of Kamen Riders everywhere!” hissed Hongo. “I shall teach you what a Rider truly is.” He pulled his jacket back to reveal a belt with a white strap and a silvery metal shield covering something around the buckle area. The shield had a symbol on it with the front of a motorcycle, almost insect like, over a red R. After he revealed the belt, He put his left fist to his hip and thrust his right hand across his front in a diagonal fashion and slowly rotated it to his right side. As he was doing this, the shield split to reveal a red fan that turned with the wind. “Rider…HENSHIN!” He then pulled his right hand into a fist and put it to his hip and thrust his left arm across his front. He then leapt into the air at an impressive height for anyone, even men his age! As he landed, the wind had kicked up so much debris that I couldn’t see his suit form. When it cleared, there he stood. He wore a green mask with red compound eyes, a pair of antennae, a lighter green face shield that looked a lot like an insect’s mandibles, armor all over him with the chest, gloves, and boots being colored in green. He also wore a red scarf with both ends on the left side. My brother was about to squee.

“I thought his outfit was slimmer than that,” I pondered aloud.

“There was a movie with him and Kamen Rider Ghost,” explained Hiroki with a big fat grin. “He had upgrades done before the events of that movie!”

“Okay, that makes sense,” I muttered. A thought then entered my head. “Er, driver…”

+WHAT IS YOUR QUERY?+ quizzed my belt.

“Do you have similar transformation functions?” I asked.

+ALL VORTEX DRIVERS ARE BUILT WITH TRANSFORMATION IN MIND+ replied my belt. “SIMPLY INSERT THE IDENTIFICATION TAG INTO THE SLOT ON TOP+ +ENCOUNTERING MORE PEOPLE WILL ALLOW YOU TO GAIN THEIR IDENTIFICATION TAGS AND ABILITIES+ +SIMPLY PRESS THE RED BUTTON ON YOUR RIGHT TO SWAP OUT YOUR IDENTIFICATION TAG AND INSERT A NEW ONE TO GAIN ARMOR BASED ON THEIR IMAGE+

“So, you’re saying we all have a Henshin sequence like Hiro?” I asked.

+CORRECT+ confirmed my belt. I grinned.

“Hongo-san,” I pleaded, “please, let me fight with you. Kamen Rider Rogue is my enemy too.”

“As you wish,” replied Kamen Rider Ichigō. (The first)

“Thank you,” I thanked. I then took out the blue disk I got when this adventure started and held it in my right fist. My left fist went to my waist and my right fist came across my front to my left shoulder.

“Meg!” called Richard. “What are you doing?!”

“Not without us!” declared Hiroki.

“I was wondering when you guys would speak up,” I mused. “Form up and strike a pose, lords and ladies.”

“Oh, for the love of…I don’t have time for this!” snarled Rogue as he charged towards Ichimonji. Ichigō then threw a punch and started pushing him back.

“You kids get into your suits!” he called. “I’ll hold him off for as long as I can!”

“Thank you, Hongo-san!” thanked Hiroki. The line soon went from Joshua with his right fist holding his i.d tag above his head and his left hand splayed in front of his belt, Sheela with both hands in the air over her right shoulder with the i.d tag in between her right ring finger and pinky, Tonje with her right fist holding the i.d tag on her forehead and her left fist at her belt buckle, Tanisha with her right pointer finger and thumb holding the i.d tag and her left hand behind it, Livia with her right hand holding the i.d tag on her left shoulder and her left hand holding the other shoulder, Irina crossing her arms in front of her with the i.d tag in, you guessed, her right fist, Mikhail simply putting his left arm under his right arm, Hiroki holding an invisible katana, myself keeping the same pose before Rogue tried to interfere, Richard holding his right arm like a sword, Emily in a fencing ready position with an invisible foil, Haitao putting his right hand into his left palm, Emmanuel throwing his left arm out in front while his right hand with the i.d tag went into the air as he turned to face his right, Lukas throwing his right fist in front while his left hand held the elbow, Xiomara with her left hand holding part of her dress and her right arm straight across her belly, and Michael holding his right arm straight from the side and his left hand about to draw an imaginary sword.

“Henshin on three,” I declared. “Ichi! Ni! SAN!”

“HENSHIN!” we all shouted as we slid our i.d tags into the slots on top of the belts. Rogue stopped fighting Ichigō to look at us. Ichigō stopped as well to get a look. A blue circle appeared in front of each of us with silhouettes of armor for us. Us dress wearers had to hitch up our skirts as we all ran towards the circles and jumped through. When we came out, we were in armor with a black undersuit and light blue plating. Joshua’s motif made him look like a hunter. Sheela looked like an Indian soldier in old armor. Tonje had the Viking thing going, without the horns on her helmet. Tanisha had a pre-colonial look to her armor. Livia’s armor was styled around Gothic Plate armor. Irina’s armor covered every square inch of body that showed the black undersuit. Mikhail looked like one of the Cossacks. Hiroki was styled after a samurai. I was in armor that had a crown affixed to my helmet and a purple cape. Richard took the classic medieval armor look, complete with feather on top. Emily was in metal fencing gear. Haitao took the look of an old Chinese soldier. Emmanuel looked like a French archer. Lukas looked like an old German knight. Xiomara looked like a conquistador. Michael looked like a medieval English soldier. Our weapons looked more futuristic. Our compound eyes were blue and, like Hiro, had pupils and could show our emotions. We all approved.

“Everyone,” I ordered, “introduce yourselves! Make sure you have a good name and catchphrase!” I’ve seen enough Kamen Rider to know how it’s supposed to go.

“Kamen Rider Outback!” began Joshua. “Better watch your back, mate!”

“Kamen Rider Claw,” announced Sheela as she closed her fists to extend her new Bagh Naka. “My weapons shall turn you into ribbons!”

“Kamen Rider Swing!” declared Tonje. “I’ll be taking your legs!”

“Kamen Rider Hunt!” called Tanisha. “I shall always get my prey!”

“Kamen Rider Clash!” announced Livia. “A duel with me shall end in your defeat!”

“Kamen Rider Climb!” called Irina. “Mountains are a warrior’s best friend!”

“Kamen Rider Gallop!” declared Mikhail. “My riding skills are unmatched!”

“Kamen Rider Sengoku!” called Hiroki. “You shall get a taste of Feudal Japan!”

“Kamen Rider Royal!” I declared. “Evil will ultimately bow to me!”

“Kamen Rider Guard!” announced Richard. “None shall harm my friends, family, and lady!”

“Kamen Rider Touché!” declared Emily. “En Garde, thing of evil!”

“Kamen Rider Zhànshì,” called Haitao. “Try and stop my quest!”

“Kamen Rider Arch!” declared Emmanuel. “My skills outdo Robin Hood!” Michael looked towards Emmanuel at that.

“Kamen Rider Kämpfer!” announced Lukas. “Your defeat will be certain at my hands!”

“Kamen Rider Seeker!” called Xiomara. “It’s not gold I seek, but your end!”

“Kamen Rider Battle!” announced Michael after he shook off Emmanuel’s comment. “For friends and family, I shall be victorious!”

“You face 17 people, Hiro!” I called. “Give up now, and this goes no further!” Rogue looked all around, then bent down slightly. Given the tremble in his body, I thought he was crying. I was wrong. He then bent over backwards giving an insanely loud laugh.

“You morons!” he laughed. “What was your objective?!” I was puzzled by the question.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “Our objective is to beat you.”

“Really?” he countered. “Nothing to do with Kamen Rider Nigō?” (The Second)

“Well,” said Hiroki as he turned around, “given that…er…where’s Ichimonji?!”

“What?!” I quizzed. All riders aside from Rogue started looking for Ichimonji.

“The instant you lot started doing your roll call,” explained Rogue, “a portal opened up and sucked up the paralyzed Ichimonji! No doubt he’s on Foundation Prime!” Another portal opened behind him. “And there’s my ride!”

“You’re not going anywhere!” I shouted as I charged him. My futuristic rapier slashed across his back. He turned around and delivered a punch which I blocked. I threw a punch which he blocked. And so, the process continued, blow after blow blocked until he pulled one of his guns on me and fired. I staggered backwards as he leapt into the air.

“Rider Rogue Kick,” he said as he flew down with his left foot outstretched and a nasty red aura surrounding him I tried to get out of the way but stumbled over my cape. That’s when Ichigō threw himself between us and took the hit. It canceled his transformation as Rogue landed and disappeared into the portal. Hongo boarded his bike that was nearby and sped into the portal after Hiro.

“Hongo-san, WAIT!” called Hiroki. Our transformations cancelled as our horses trotted towards us to let us on. We entered the portal ourselves to get Hongo to see sense.

Tags hiro adachi, kamen rider, kamen rider ichigo, megumi hishikawa