Just for yucks, I ran my Best Match name for Build’s new form through a Circular Gallifreyan Translator.
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TimelordTardis
Tag: kamen rider build
The multiverse, so large, so imaginative, so…beautiful in diversity. I have traveled through universes of pure majesty and those constructed of filth. I have seen more than any human is usually granted in their lifetime. I have made friends with creatures of light and darkness. Through it all, I have been one of 20 beings that saved the multiverse from total stagnation. I am Megumi Hishikawa, Queen, Mutant Cyborg, and Kamen Rider. At the moment, I was leaving my history class at After Academy, taught by my House Head, Death herself, after learning about the 13th Tarlaxian King Emperor, Skrandepede. He wasn’t the most popular King Emperor, giving the Tarlaxians a bad rap for centuries as Monstrous Conquerors. It took at least 20 of his successors to dispel that stigma. I had arrived back at the dorm apartment Richard and I had shared on campus and headed on to our bedroom. While I DO like how fluffy the skirt for the girl’s uniform was and how it could allow me to write a paper on it, it DOES get a little heavy after a while. I had changed into a loose skirt and a shirt that exposed my midriff and flopped onto the couch, idly flicking on the t.v. to see my boyfriend and future husband, Sir Richard Saunders, doing his job as a news reporter on MNN, Multiverse News Network.
“…thus ending the strike at the Enchanter’s union peacefully,” he had just finished. “In recent Mad Scientist News, the search for the missing Dr. Linksano has finally yielded results. He has been located on Earth in universe 1-N-T-3-R-N-3-T-R-3-V-1-3-W-3-R, far from his native universe. Dr. Linksano is a version of his current home’s Dr. Insano, a mad scientist that has, on numerous occasions, tormented or killed The Spoony One, or Spoony for short. Unlike Dr. Insano, Dr. Linksano has retired from the evil community and now works for that universe’s champion, Linkara, an internet comic book reviewer, as his scientific advisor aboard Linkara’s spaceship, Comicron One. The ship was once under the command of Lord Vyce, Linkara’s arch nemesis and well-know conqueror. After being bribed with the holo-deck onboard the ship, to which Linkara admits a threat near the end of his offer to join, Dr. Linksano retired from being evil and now works to help Linkara defend his universe. Linkara, a current contestant of the Temlins’ 1,049th Contest of Champions, has been labeled as a Champion after defeating Lord Vyce four times over now, thus allowing him to be invited and accepted into the Contest of Champions. In related news, Pilo has won against…” I switched the t.v. off as Richard went into the Contest of Champions. I never really got into it, not after Ace Corgi: Attorney at Paw lost to Jenny Everywhere. I stretched on the couch, letting my eyes shut. It was naptime. A little later, the phone rang, waking me up. I stretched, then headed to the phone, picking it up.
“Moshi moshi,” (Japanese “hello” over the phone) I mumbled as I held it to my ear.
“G’day, Megumi. Did I wake you?” asked an Australian man’s voice.
“A bit, Joshua, yeah,” I replied, recognizing the voice. “Enjoyed your date with Emily?”
“She was over the moon when she set foot on Sodor,” answered Joshua Williams. “How about you and Richard?”
“We’re doing all right,” I replied. “He helped me buy the F.N.S’ private universe and I helped him buy his car.”
“That’s nice,” commented Joshua. “Anything romantic?”
“A little hanami and a baseball game,” I answered.
“Aces,” cheered Joshua. “Now, about Shocker Rift…”
“Did you find them?!” I asked, whatever sleepiness I had being banished.
“I was gonna ask you that,” replied Joshua. My mood went down as I sighed.
“Hiro only attacked our home ONCE!” I groaned. “With an organization that big, you’d think we’d find him by now!”
“Livia and Mikhail thought at least the Joker would attack the universe they were searching, given the craziness that accompanies it,” sighed Joshua.
“What universe was that?” I asked.
“M-U-P-P-3-T-5,” answered Joshua.
“Whereabouts were they?” I pressed.
“The main entertainment venue, the local theater,” clarified Joshua.
“That venue’s chaos is kind of tame, compared to the Joker’s brand of chaos,” I figured. “What seats did they have?”
“They didn’t have seats,” corrected Joshua.
“I thought you said they were at the theater?” I quizzed.
“I did,” replied Joshua. “Their acts almost brought the house down. Statler and Waldorf tried to finish the job from their box.”
“They were onstage?!” I realized.
“The Muppets were doing a Little Mermaid theme for their show,” explained Joshua. “Mikhail sang Under the Sea, Livia did Part of Your World, and they both did a duet of Kiss the Girl. Livia tried out her new mer-form for the show.”
“Lucky girl!” I cheered. I then went back to business. “So, you and Emily didn’t see anyone from Shocker Rift on Sodor?”
“Sorry,” replied Joshua. “The only thing I saw was a Dalek cosplayer as there was a convention at Knapford, near its harbor. Gordon wasn’t too thrilled. I believe his exact words were ‘Driver, get me out of here and away from that ridiculous thing!’ Gordon’s not the biggest Doctor Who fan, I’ve noticed.”
“I suppose not everyone in Great Britain’s a fan,” I chuckled. “Much like how not everyone in Japan is a Kamen Rider fan.”
“In any case, sorry we couldn’t find Shocker Rift,” sighed Joshua.
“It’s all right,” I replied. “See you tomorrow.”
“Cheers,” bid Joshua. I hung up and idly went to the bedroom. I pulled out a drawer that held a pair of Vortex Drivers. I pulled mine out and grabbed the i.d tag that sat near it. I went back to the living room and held the Vortex Driver to my waist as it made the belt strap and fastened itself around my waist.
“Vortex Driver!” it announced. I then made a fist with my right hand, crossed it over my front, and held my left hand to my hip.
“Henshin!” I called. I then inserted the i.d tag into the belt and the new wardrobe, a blue cylinder that attached my armor pieces and external clothing as my undersuit formed, put my suit on and disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke that I waved off with one hand in one sweep. “Kamen Rider Royal!” I announced to no one. “Evil will ultimately bow to me!” …No one responded as no one else was there. I sighed, then let off a scream of frustration, not hearing the door open. Richard had come in with the groceries.
“Er…did I come in at a bad time?” he asked.
“Two years!” I hissed.
“…Pardon?” asked Richard as he set the groceries on the counter.
“Two years,” I continued, “since Hiro attacked our home universe! Only once! Two years and not a single peep from one of his Combatmen, one of the Daleks under his command, or from one of his newly-christened ‘Hell Generals’! Two years since we were accepted at After Academy and we’re still in our dorms!”
“We all agreed,” countered Richard as he started putting the groceries away, “that living on campus would increase our chances of getting educated and help us find Hiro better.”
“Yes,” I replied, “but I thought he’d do something by now! Not just sit wherever he is while we go to class, then our, admittedly well-paying, part time jobs, then return to our dorms to just do nothing except the occasional date!”
“You were the one,” reminded Richard, “who told us that patience would be a virtue.”
“Yes! A virtue for you!” I argued. “Not me! I hate patience! Patience is for wimps!”
“Need I remind you,” remarked Richard, “that one of our guest speakers, the late Mr. Rory Williams, waited 2000 years for his wife before they married?! Besides, are you telling me you’re exempt from patience?!” I groaned in frustration.
“I simply can’t live like this!” I sighed. “I can’t! I need to be busy!”
“Then go be busy!” snapped Richard. “I’ll watch for any Shocker Rift activity!”
“…All right, good luck!” I cheered as I barreled out the door and out of the dorm complex. I had summoned my mechanical horse and converted it to bike mode, speeding down the street on patrol for any wrong-doing. Just then, my radio tuned into a police call.
“All units, converge on the Beyond Graves Bank!” urged the dispatcher. “An armed robbery is in progress and it looks like the robber originated from the Kamen Rider Universe. Kamen Rider Build could use some assistance!”
“Armed robbery?!” I cheered. “Away I go!” I sped off to After Academy’s bank, the Beyond Graves Bank. When I arrived, Build and the police were at the entrance, leveling their weapons at the door. “What’s the situation?” I asked when they saw me.
“A new Smash was created,” explained Build. “It’s able to go to any place within a 2 block radius from itself about a few seconds into the future. Because of that, it’s called the Chronos Smash.”
“So it’s a time-based Smash,” I simplified.
“Yep,” replied Build. Another Kamen Rider then approached us. He was from the current series, Kamen Rider Zi-O. He wore white armor with what looked like a black and green-trimmed watch strap going down his front. His helmet had a smartwatch appearance and his eyes looked like the katakana for “Rider” (ライダー). His antennae were a pair of clock hands and he had shoulder pads and a green gauntlet on each arm held by watch straps.
“Woz, right?” I asked. The new Rider nodded. “Might I ask why you’re here and not on Zi-O’s heels?”
“Oh, but I am,” replied Kamen Rider Woz. “Who do you think is the Chronos Smash?”
“It’s Sougo Tokiwa?!” yelped Build. “How did he…?!”
“That’s unknown to me,” replied Woz. “What’s important is that we save my King.”
“Right then, off we go!” I declared. As we charged, the Chronos Smash came out of the bank. It was green, had clock hands for arms, and a watch for a face. The Smash was swinging its arms wildly and causing a lot of damage. As we tried to hit it, it vanished, then appeared behind us a few seconds later. I kicked, but the same result happened.
“Brute force isn’t working!” observed Build. Just then, the Smash spoke.
“Help…me!” it strained.
“What, help you rob a bank?” snarked Build.
“That’s not the Smash talking! That’s Sougo!” I realized. “He’s trying to gain control!”
“A Sisyphean effort, I can promise you that!” called a voice. A new Smash then entered the area. It looked like a guy in a brown coat and floppy hat.
“Who are you?!” I demanded. The new Smash laughed like a mad scientist.
“I thought, in Japan,” he cackled, “it was rude to ask questions without introducing yourself! In any case, I’m the Wander Smash!”
“Well, you’re gonna be wandering to the nearest hospital if you’re behind this!” I hissed.
“Chronos Smash, get rid of them already!” ordered the Wander Smash. The Chronos Smash attacked us through no will of his own. He was trying not to hurt us.
“The Wander Smash seems to be the source,” I figured aloud as said Smash took the sacks of cash. I charged at the Wander Smash and decked the back of his head. The Chronos Smash briefly stopped himself, then went back to his assault. “Theory confirmed!” I chuckled. The Wander Smash then recovered from the blow.
“Whatever happened to striking your enemy when he’s facing you?!” he protested.
“This coming from a petty crook,” I argued.
“PETTY CROOK?!” roared the Wander Smash. “I am no mere crook! I am the greatest scientist in all the multiverse! I have conquered time, hypertime, and the worst comic, Warrior! I am…”
“Dr. Insano!” I realized, remembering a few history lessons from Death and a few scoffs about him from Pestilence. “So, decided to use the methods of Evol to turn yourself into a Smash?”
“Excellent guess!” cheered the Wander Smash. “And, with Sougo Tokiwa under my command as the Chronos Smash, I will rule the world!”
“You can try!” I taunted. “I’m gonna desmashify you!”
“Er…desmashify?” quizzed the Wander Smash. “I don’t think that’s a word.” I stopped talking and started hitting. The Wander Smash was keeping me at bay with a staff. I managed to knock it away while switching my i.d tag out for Build’s. I selected his default form.
“Build RabbitTank Steel!” announced the Vortex Driver. The wardrobe came back and attached Build related armor onto me and changed my left eye to a blue color and my right eye red.
“HAGANE NO MOONSAULT!” called the Build Driver’s voice. “RABBITTANK! YEAH!” I went onto a harder offensive and kept up the assault. The Wander Smash was trying to keep his defense up but I found a way around it. I kicked the staff he had been using as a weapon away from him and caused him to lose balance by tripping him up. Once he tried to pick himself up, I spun the wheel, making the Vortex Driver gather energy.
“Final Attack!” announced the Vortex Driver.
“Rider Royal RabbitTank Kick!” I ordered. The Vortex Driver directed the energy towards my foot as an energy graph grabbed the Wander Smash.
“READY, GO!” shouted the Build Driver’s voice from the Vortex Driver as I jumped. As I travelled down the line, the Driver continued. “VORTEX FINISH! YEAH!” My foot connected and the Smash exploded. As I landed, the Smash fell on the ground in green fire, which Build has called the perfect opportunity to get its essence. The new Vortex Drivers have a small bag of holding on each hip, so I could put whatever I wanted into them. I pulled out an empty Fullbottle and pointed it at the moaning Wander Smash, taking its essence and sucking it into the bottle. Once I got it all, I closed the cap as a black web appeared on it. The Smash’s real form of Dr. Insano was a little groggy. He had black hypno-goggles on his face and a white lab coat with “Dr. Insano” on it. He had a stethoscope hanging around his neck and wore gloves, boots, and some sort of harness with a gun on each shoulder. He got up as the Chronos Smash managed to get Woz and Build to stop hitting him.
“Guys, I’m all right!” he said.
“Waga Maō!” (My Demon King!) cheered Woz.
“Sougo! You’re okay!” called Build.
“Not quite,” countered the Chronos Smash. “I’m still a Smash. Is there any way you could take the Smash essence away without kicking me?”
“Okay, THAT’S gonna be tough,” remarked Build. “Maybe sonic vibrations can move the molecules binding themselves to your human form, but it’s never been tested before.” I looked at Insano, checking to see if he was still concentrating on his physical form, which he was, then turned to the three men.
“I think I can help in that regard,” I called. I swapped out the Build i.d tag for the Doctor one and chose her current incarnation.
“13th Doctor Steel!” announced my belt. As the armor attached itself, my blade gained a new function.
“96 decibels SHOULD do it,” I mused as I set the new function. I pressed a button on the blade and the sound of the sonic screwdriver came through the air as I pointed the sword at the Smash. He started vibrating, then became a little misty as Build pulled out an empty Fullbottle, taking the essence. The Smash then reverted back into a young Japanese man, looking like he just got out of high school! This was Sougo Tokiwa. I switched off the sword and Build closed the cap while I handed him the bottle of the Wander Smash’s essence. “You may get a Best Match with those, given that Insano was controlling Sougo here,” I guessed. We then heard insane laughter as Insano picked himself up.
“You fools!” he giggled. “I’m NOT without a back-up plan!” Sougo rolled his eyes as he pulled out a device. It was white with a slot on each side and a screen in the middle. There was a button on top as well. Sougo set the device to his waist and it formed a belt strap.
“Ziku Driver!” it announced. The screen showed the words “Ziku Driver” as they scrolled from Sougo’s left to his right. He then took out a watch which had the year 2018 on the bottom. He turned the face to make a Kamen Rider’s face. The watch’s face had a clock theme as the hands were the antennae and, like Woz, had the katakana for “Rider” instead of eyes. Sougo then pressed the button on top and the watch beeped before speaking.
“Zi-O!” it called. Sougo then inserted the watch into the Ziku Driver’s right hand slot and pressed the button on top of the Driver to make it tilt towards his right. He then let his right hand point towards the ground while his left arm went across his chest as the hand pointed to the sky. A giant analog clock spun its hands behind him.
“Henshin!” he announced. He then spun the Ziku Driver until it arrived back in its original position. The clock’s hands then stopped at 12:00. The Ziku Driver then rang a bell.
“Rider Time!” it called. It then sang “Kamen Rider Zi-O!” His suit formed silver chest armor and a black undersuit with pink gauntlets and greyish-blue boots. The front looked like a watchband went through the head, looking exactly like the face on the watch.
“Iwae!” (Rejoice!) called Woz as he opened a book. “Zen Rider no chikara o uketsugi, jikū o koe kako to mirai o shiroshimesu toki no ōja. Sono na mo Kamen Rider Zi-O!” (The one to inherit all Rider powers, the time king who will rule over the past and the future. And his name is Kamen Rider Zi-O!)
“King nothing!” taunted Dr. Insano.
“Knock it off, Insano!” called Zi-O as we advanced. “We know how this is going to end! We’ll go over there, beat you up, and…!” He didn’t get far as Insano shoved him backwards into a wall, causing some of the building to crumble!
“The Hell?!” I yelped.
“Something wrong, Riders?!” giggled Insano. “You came here, prepared to fight a madman, and instead, you find a GOD!” He then devolved into laughing madly again.
“What are those things?!” I demanded.
“Power enhancing energy gloves,” explained Insano, “the guns on my harness are twin OMG-WTF 9000’s that follow my eye movements so I can shoot at what, or WHO, I see, and the boots… power enhancing rocket boots! Not my designs, really, but I made a few improvements!”
“That’s JesuOtaku’s stuff!” I protested.
“You wanna go a few rounds?!” giggled Insano as he slammed his hands together, causing a shockwave. “Come get some!” He fired from his guns, scattering us.
“We need a plan!” called Build.
“I have an idea!” I replied. “Woz! Build! Flank his sides! I’ll get his backside! Zi-O, Rider Kick on my signal!”
“Got it!” called the Riders. Build and Woz summoned their respective weapons, the Drill Crusher and the Zikan Despear. They kept his glove-based attacks at bay while I snuck around and smashed the powerpack for his harness.
“Break off!” I called. “Zi-O! Now!” Zi-O pressed the watch’s button again.
“Finish Time!” announced the Ziku Driver. He pressed the button on top and spun the driver again. “Time Break!” it called. A series of pink Japanese characters for “Kick” (キック) surrounded Insano as Zi-O leapt into the air. He flew down with his right foot outstretched while all the characters united and imprinted on his foot. His kick connected with Insano’s face, causing the gear to short out and explode. Insano picked himself up, then fell back down, moaning in pain.
After I gave my statement to the police while they arrested Dr. Insano, I was sent back to my dorm apartment and the visiting Riders went back to their own universe. Richard was just about to start dinner. “That’s better,” I sighed as I cancelled my transformation. “Nothing like a little activity to pass the time. How long was I gone?”
“About an hour,” replied Richard.
“And did Hiro do anything?” I asked.
“Nope, not a peep,” answered Richard as he chopped some carrots.
“…I can’t do it!” I wailed. I then shoved my face into the cushions of the couch and screamed, kicking my feet like a petulant child. Richard just sighed and went back to chopping veggies for his signature stir-fry.
“Don’t worry, guys,” called Shade. “I have a spell that will teleport us out of here.”
“Good to know,” replied Build.
“INTRUDERS! DIE!” boomed a robotic voice. It was Robotron! He fired on us as we took cover.
“Someone needs to stop him!” I called.
“He’ll shoot us the instant he sees us!” replied Sengoku.
“I got this!” announced Jake. He gulped down a soda and turned invisible!
“Of course!” I realized. Sengoku got the idea and we drew out the Batman i.d tags.
“Batman Steel!” announced our belts as we donned the image of the Dark Knight. We then followed suit with Jake and attacked Robotron before he teleported to another level, near an air hockey table. We then crept up on him and attacked again! He teleported to a lower area, then we followed and attacked. He teleported to the highest level by a pair of pinball machines until we attacked again. He fell and we found Robotron’s game
“Robotron: 2084!” cheered Jake. “I love this game! Quick! Save the last human family!” Jake got to work playing it until he earned 10,000 points. The wizard appeared again.
“Robotron: 2084,” he revealed, “was first introduced to arcades in 1982. In total, there are 40 enemy waves hard-coded into the game. After Wave 40 has been completed, Waves 21 to 40 are then repeated until 255 waves have been beaten in total.” He vanished again.
“Okay, he’s gone,” muttered Build, “but what about Caan?”
“I’ll check,” called Shade. She cast a spell on the doors which allowed us to see through it. Caan had long since abandoned the area. “Okay, we’re good. Now, all I need to do is…” the doors opened by themselves. Gandalf was sitting by the doors, puffing on his pipe! “H…how did you do that?” asked Shade.
“There’s a button marked ‘Open’,” replied Gandalf as he pointed out the button with his pipe. Shade smacked her head.
“If Mom finds out, she’ll never let me hear the end of it!” she groaned. “Right, this way.” We left the room and went to the other side of the arcade where a knight was riding an ostrich and holding a jousting lance!
“STAB! KILL!” shouted the knight. He then charged us! We got out of the way and Build stepped on one of the Dance Dance Revolution machines. He heard a noise and saw that it was from a box shaking on the ceiling. He then saw another switch next to him that looked like it had a timer. An idea then formed in his head.
“Jake, do you have something that can increase your speed?!” he asked.
“I have a speed soda, why?!” replied Jake. He then saw the timer and pressure switches. “Okay, I can see why you would ask about my speed, but how will we keep the knight sufficiently distracted?! It’s taking most of us to keep him at bay!”
“Don’t worry, I have a Best Match for that!” assured Build. He then took out two more Fullbottles, one purple and one yellow. The purple one had a shuriken on it while the yellow one had a comic page on it. He then replaced the Rabbit Fullbottle with the purple one and the Tank with the yellow.
“NINJA! COMIC! BEST MATCH!” announced the Build Driver. He turned the crank and the piping came out again. “ARE YOU READY?!” asked the Build Driver.
“Build Up!” replied Build. The piping then formed the suit and slammed the sides onto Build. The red was replaced with purple, the Rabbit eye turned into an elongated shuriken, and he got a purple scarf. The blue was replaced with yellow and his Tank eye was replaced with a pen over a set of explosive panels. Surfer rock music played as the Build Driver announced the form.
“SHINOBI NO ENTERTAINER!” (The Stealthy Entertainer) NINNINCOMIC! YEAH!” announced the belt. Build then held his hand out as piping formed a sword. The sword had a pen tip on top and there were four panels that made up the blade. The one nearest the hilt had multiple ninja like characters, the one above that had a ninja making an explosion, the one above that had a ninja making a circular wind, and the one at the top, just below the pen tip of the sword, had a ninja vanishing in a puff of smoke. “4KOMA NINPŌTŌ!” (Pronounced Yon Koma, means 4 Panel Ninja Sword) called the belt. He pressed a button on the handle once and the bottom-most panel lit up.
“BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!” (Art of cloning) it announced. At that point, three more Builds came into being. Jake got the idea as the clones stepped onto the pressure pads and drank the speed soda. He ran onto all four timer switches and the box fell, revealing another knight on an ostrich. The knights made eye contact and they rushed at each other; lances ready. They knocked themselves out at that time. Build then dismissed the clones as Jake found the game the knights came from. It was Joust! You flew around on an ostrich jousting enemies off theirs and collecting their eggs.
“Haha! Yes!” cheered Jake. “Classic Retro gaming at its finest!” He played until he got 1,000 points. The Wizard appeared again.
“Joust was released in 1982,” he lectured, “and was one of the earliest arcade games to feature two-player cooperative gameplay. The whole game is based around armored knights riding ostriches jousting against enemies on giant buzzards. This idea was conceived from wanting to create a flying game that wasn’t set in space.” He vanished again.
“Then, why not use dragons?” asked Build as he took the Fullbottles out and cancelled his transformation.
“Why use those wicked things?!” protested Gandalf.
“Wicked?” asked Ex-aid as he closed the Gamer Driver.
“GACHON!” it announced. He then took the Gashat out. “GASHUN!” Ex-aid went back to being Emu. Sengoku and I became Hiroki and Livia again.
“Well, in Gandalf’s world, dragons are ALL evil,” I explained. “Bred by Morgoth, Sauron’s old boss.”
“I see,” muttered Sento. I then noticed that Shade didn’t cancel her transformation.
“Er, Shade?” I asked.
“Not yet,” she replied, guessing my question. “Not until these events settle themselves. For now, we need to get to the basement.” We took Shade’s advice and headed downstairs. We could see the rocket from Defender patrolling the back, trapped behind a boiler.
“I got this,” assured Jake. He drank another soda, then shot lasers from his eyes like Superman! It freed the rocket, then it fired on us!
“Well, how’s THAT for gratitude?!” I hissed. Emu jumped up and brought the rocket down. At that point, we found the Defender game.
“Defender!” called Jake as he started playing. “Classic space shooter! 1981 arcade release!” Once he got to 2,000, the rocket vanished and the Wizard came back to give us more history.
“When Defender was released in 1981,” he commented, “many people were cautious of its complicated control scheme and high difficulty level. Ultimately, it was these very elements that made it such a huge success as they helped it to stand out as something different within the busy arcades.” When the Wizard vanished, we then noticed a buzzing noise. We turned to see a tiny car racing around a track! Jake got an idea.
“Guys, you turn over the oil drums when I say so!” he called. “I’ll lower the crossing bar, then we herd it towards the tiny garage!” We got into position. “Ready?” he asked. The car approached the oil drums. “NOW!” yelled Jake. We turned the oil drums over and spilled the contents over the track, causing the car to lose control, then Jake lowered the bar once the car was near him, then we herded it towards the tiny garage. It was stuck.
“I think that car came from Super Sprint,” I mused.
“Oh, cool!” cheered Jake. “Super Sprint! Released in 1986 to the joy of everyone! Anyone else want a turn at these things? My fingers are getting numb.”
“I’ll handle it,” I called as I found the Super Sprint machine. I won a race and the Wizard came up again.
“The arcade machine for Super Sprint,” he lectured, “released in 1986, featured three wheels as a way of controlling the cars and also allowed for three players to race each other at the same time. If the player managed to reach Race 85, a bonus track could then be played.” As he vanished, he started glitching out and we could see a trail leading into a back room. It was guarded by a security camera that shut the door whenever it saw us, so Jake went invisible and he snuck through, killing power to the door. At that point, we were attacked by the Wizard and the rest of the Gauntlet heroes.
“I guess we beat them first!” mused Emu as he got the Gashat out again.
“MIGHTY ACTION X!” it announced. Sento brought out the Rabbit and Tank Fullbottles, shook them, and put them into the Build Driver.
“RABBIT! TANK! BEST MATCH!” it called. Sento turned the crank and the piping appeared. “ARE YOU READY?!” Hiroki and I drew our i.d. tags.
“Henshin!” we all announced
“GASHATTO! GACHĀN! LEVEL UP! Mighty jump! Mighty kick! Mighty! MIGHTY ACTION X!” shouted Emu’s belt.
“HAGANE NO MOONSAULT! RABBITTANK! YEAH!” called the Build Driver. All Riders were back into our suits and we went on the offensive. It involved a lot of punching, but we managed to subdue them.
“I think it’s your turn, Sengoku,” I offered.
“Gladly,” replied Sengoku. He started playing Gauntlet as the warrior character.
“What IS this game?” asked Build.
“This is Gauntlet,” answered Jake. “It was released in 1985 and it is THE most fun a quarter can buy!”
“DAMMIT!” swore Sengoku.
“You died?” I asked.
“Er, can I get some help?” quizzed Sengoku.
“Sure thing,” called Jake. Ex-aid, Jake, and I joined in the fun. Sengoku stayed as the Warrior, I picked the Valkyrie, Jake picked the Elf, and Ex-aid picked the Wizard. We soon netted 3,000 points and the characters we fought recovered from their haze. The Wizard recovered first.
“Thor?!” he quizzed. “Thyra?! Questor?! Were we all possessed?!”
“It would appear so, Merlin,” replied Questor, the Elf.
“How did we end up in the real world?” asked Thyra, the Valkyrie.
“I’d say Vortech had a hand in it,” I called. We explained our situation to the Gauntlet heroes.
“Well then, you have our everlasting gratitude,” thanked Thor, the Warrior.
“You say you beat our game?” quizzed Merlin, the Wizard. “One last bit of history before your final battle here. Our game, released in 1985, featured drop-in, drop-out gameplay for up to four players. With four people playing at the same time, it was seen as the answer for struggling arcade manufacturers to create extra earnings whilst creating a very fun game in the process.” We heard something buzz. “Ah, that would be your way up,” mused Merlin. “Farewell and good luck.”
“You’re not coming?!” yelped Jake.
“You guys beat his game,” answered Shade. “He and the other Gauntlet heroes are going back into their electronic slumber.”
“It was good to meet you, my friends,” called Thyra. We all shook hands with them, then they faded into pixels and returned to their game. We headed out to the elevator and took it all the way to the roof. There, we saw Caan speaking to Heather!
“You’re making a mistake!” insisted Caan.
“The Apocalypse Driver will bring me back with a fully functional body!” argued Heather.
“You seem to be missing the big picture about the consequences,” snarled Caan.
“And you idiots seem to forget about your enemies!” I revealed. At that point, Caan smirked and pulled out the device the Thief used to turn himself into a Bugster!
“The Gashacon Bugvisor?!” called Sengoku.
“Baiyō,” announced Caan as he used the blaster end of the device to spray Jake with orange pixels. Jake started spasming, then morphing until he became George from Rampage! “Quite the Bugster, wouldn’t you say?” asked Caan.
“Bingo!” cheered Heather. She punched Jake’s monstrous form and got out a quarter circle. It had a canister’s image on it. “Two parts down, three to go,” she mused. She then fled through a rift!
“NO!” I shouted. Too late.
“Won’t do her any good,” mused Shade.
“Never mind the talk!” snapped Sengoku. “Jake just became a Bugster!”
“I’ll remove it!” replied Ex-aid as he closed the Gamer Driver.
“GACHON!” it announced as Ex-aid went into his level 1 form. He went on the offensive to keep Jake back.
“Now, for you,” hissed Caan. He pulled out a version of the Build Driver that was done up in the colors of a Dalek’s shell. The gear was replaced with a Dalek’s eye. He put the belt on.
“DAL DRIVER!” called the belt in a Dalek’s voice.
“A vastly superior version of the Build Driver,” boasted Caan. “And this,” he took out a can with a dome on top, “is my Pure Dalek can.” He shook the can and turned the dome so a Dalek eyestalk could come out and the speech indicators would pop out. He then put it into the Dal Driver as it took up both slots.
“PURE DALEK!” it announced. Caan then turned the crank and piping came out, forming parts of a suit behind and in front of him. “ARE YOU READY?!” asked the Dal Driver.
“Henshin!” called Caan. The suit slammed onto him, giving him a distinctly Dalek appearance. He had shoulder pads that looked like half of a Dalek’s neck, boots that resembled a Dalek’s skirt, and a blue light in the center of the head. His eyes took their cues from Build, the left giving the appearance of the Dalek gun, the right giving the appearance of their plunger. The left forearm looked like the gun and the right had a sleeve similar to their plunger as well.
“THE UNSTOPPABLE KILLER!” shrieked the Dal Driver. “PURE DALEK! EXTERMINATE!”
“Kamen Rider Dal!” droned Caan in his old Dalek voice. As he spoke, the eyes flashed like the lights on a Dalek. “You will be exterminated!” More piping formed a pistol with a Dalek gun on the end.
“DAL GUN!” announced the Dal Driver. He caught the gun in his left hand. We dodged the blasts as Shade assisted Ex-aid. Gandalf helped us keep Dal at bay.
“You may win this universe,” boasted Dal, “but Shocker Rift will win the entire Multiverse!”
“Not gonna happen!” I declared.
“I have foreseen it!” replied Dal. “It is inevitable!”
“You can’t win!” I insisted.
“We’ll stop you!” called Sengoku.
“You do not have the capacity to do so!” shouted Dal.
“EX-AID! NOW!” yelled Shade. Ex-aid hammered George and managed to separate Jake from George. Jake was…lacking…in clothes aside from his tighty-whities. Jake got out of his haze, then felt the draft around his legs. He covered his crotch and sidled off. “I got you,” assured Shade as Ex-aid went to Level 2 again. Clothes came back onto Jake.
“Thanks!” called Jake.
“KIMEWAZA!” announced the Gamer Driver. “MIGHTY CRITICAL STRIKE!” Ex-aid then did his Rider Kick and knocked George silly.
“My turn!” called Jake as he found the Rampage machine.
“NO!” shouted Dal as he leveled his gun at Jake.
“RIDER CLASH KICK!” I announced as I delivered my kick to his head. Dal recovered as he turned the crank again.
“READY, GO!” shouted the Dal Driver. An orangish hologram of a Special Weapons Dalek gun enveloped Dal and targeted us. “PURE DALEK FINISH! EXTERMINATE!” announced the Dal Driver as the hologram fired Dal in a flying kick before it faded. We ducked out of the way and Dal hit a wall, just as Jake finished the first level of Rampage. That was all that was needed to put George back. Build then turned the crank of his Build Driver.
“READY, GO!” it called as an energy chart trapped Dal in its dotted line. “VORTEX FINISH! YEAH!” Build then flew down the line and drove his right foot into Dal’s head. There was an explosion that knocked Dal backwards and made the Pure Dalek can pop out of the Dal Driver, causing him to revert back to Caan.
“Pitiful creatures!” he hissed as he picked himself up.
“Caan,” I called, “you REALLY need to drop this whole Dalek business. One of our allies did and her life is for the better now.”
“I’m familiar with the Ex-Dalek that the Doctor nicknamed Rusty!” snapped Caan. “She is weak!”
“Hardly,” I argued. “She’s stronger than any Dalek fleet. She’s allowed diversity to enter her genetics and it made her stronger. If you promise to drop this notion of purity, we can grant you asylum. What say you?”
“Vortech, I require a rift back!” demanded Caan. A rift to Foundation Prime opened for him and he went through!
“NO!” I called. “Accidenti a lui! (Damn him!) We could have used him!”
“I think the ONE Dalek we have is enough,” replied Sengoku.
“Caan is not someone who gives up his Dalek ways so easily,” confirmed Shade.
“In any case, we failed our mission,” I sighed. I contacted Vorton. “X-PO, we need a ride home.”
“Coming up,” called X-PO. A rift opened for us and Shade , Ex-aid, and Build started following us.
“You’re coming with us?” I asked.
“You’re my only way home,” replied Ex-aid.
“And I want to see your base!” cheered Build.
“Besides, I’m needed on Vorton,” replied Shade.
“Fair enough,” I conceded.
“What about you, Master Jake?” asked Gandalf. Jake looked around and still saw video game characters running around.
“I think I’ll stay here for a bit,” he mused. “The world still needs the Gamer Kid!”
“Then, farewell,” I bid. “And I hope we meet again.” We went through the rift after that and left Jake to take on his new mantle as the Gamer Kid.
When we came through, Mia Regina, we noticed our surroundings were NOT 8-bit. I looked a little further. “No health bars,” I observed, “no score counters, no profile versions of our faces, no text boxes, and we’re not even polygonal.”
“Is this the right place?” asked Gandalf.
“I’ll find out,” replied Hiroki as he called up Vorton. “X-PO, where are we? This doesn’t look like an arcade game.”
“You must be in the main dimension,” answered X-PO. “I did say that the dimension you were in was a trans-reality pocket dimension. What Chell meant when she translated it as ‘weird’ was that it means that it’s a universe WITHIN a universe. You guys were in the shared reality most arcade games share.”
“Hold on,” I quizzed, “are you telling me we were INSIDE the video games? The actual arcade machines?!”
“Exactly,” replied X-PO.
“And we’re in the ‘real world’ of this dimension?” asked Hiroki.
“If you want to put it like that, yes,” answered X-PO. “In any case, you’ve got a mission to complete.”
“Right, we’ll call back when we’re done,” finished Hiroki. He ended the call. “Well, no point sitting on our butts. Let’s find that part.” We started walking around the city for a bit, looking for Heather. As we walked, we heard noises near an arcade. A young man was walking by with a green shirt with the alien from Defender on it. He also wore a black jacket and was playing a game on his phone. He had earbuds on and was so engrossed in the game.
“No sense in not getting local knowledge,” I mused. We approached the kid and I tapped him on the shoulder. The poor boy jumped a bit and took his earbuds out as he faced us. He looked a bit confused.
“Is there some sort of fancy convention going on?” he asked. We then realized he was talking about our clothing.
“Actually, we usually dress like this,” replied Hiroki. “I’m Hiroki, this is Livia, and that’s Gandalf. Who are you?”
“I’m Jake,” introduced the kid, “former Retro Gaming Champ under the title of Gamer Kid.”
“Gamer Kid?” I chuckled. “Just that?”
“Short, simple, why not?” asked Jake.
“Fair enough,” I conceded. At that point, we heard a rumble.
“That came from the old Coin-Op arcade!” yelped Jake. That was when Emu and another man were tossed out and various characters and enemies from the old arcade games came out of the arcade. Still inside the arcade was a humanoid man with one single, yellow eye in his forehead and three tentacles for hair. His armor looked almost like a Dalek.
“My business here doesn’t concern you,” he snarled. “Normally, I would say ‘Do not interfere,’ and shout ‘Obey’ a lot, but I can see that you won’t listen to my old Dalek ways.”
“You? A Dalek?!” I yelped. The creature saw us.
“And Livia, Gandalf, and Hiroki arrive,” he sighed. “I must admit, I thought I would be wrong, but it only makes sense.”
“Just a minute,” interjected Gandalf, “how did you know we would come?”
“I’ve flown through the Time Vortex,” answered the creature. “I have the gift of prophecy. You won’t succeed in you mission.”
“We’ll see about that!” declared Hiroki as we readied our Drivers. The creature pulled out a Dalek gunstick and fired at the ground.
“You WILL wait there until the appropriate time,” he ordered. He then disappeared into the arcade.
“Okay, no WAY am I obeying,” I snarled.
“Indeed,” replied Gandalf. “If he used to be one of those unsavory Daleks, we MUST stop him.”
“And get that belt part,” continued Hiroki. “We’re pressed for time. Quick intros. Hiroki Hishikawa.”
“Livia Acqua,” I introduced.
“Gandalf the Grey,” replied Gandalf.
“Jake, Gamer Kid,” called Jake.
“Hojo Emu,” introduced Emu.
“Kiryū Sento,” finished the new man.
“Right, let’s get in there!” declared Hiroki. We came into the arcade and found the Wizard from Gauntlet. It spoke in the usual arcade beeps with a text box translating it.
“Greetings, mortals,” greeted the Wizard. “Just as was foretold to me, a Gamer of Legend has appeared upon the anarchic uprising of the arcade.” He pointed to Jake when he said that.
“…Me?!” yelped Jake.
“As you can see,” remarked the Wizard, “evil powers have possessed the heroes of these once beloved video games and the entire world needs your help in setting them free. You must find a way to banish the taint from these heroes and then defeat their games so they can return to their electronic slumber. Go now and fulfill your destiny!” He zapped Jake with a spell.
“What was that?!” called Jake as he recovered from the tingle.
“That,” explained the Wizard, “was a spell that gave you a supply of special sodas that give you a certain power. The powers you have are laser vision, stealth, super strength, invulnerability, and speed. Farewell!” The Wizard disappeared.
“Well, what do you know?!” cheered Hiroki. “A new superhero’s born!”
“Why me?” moaned poor Jake.
“Why NOT you?” asked Emu.
“You guys fight this kind of thing all the time, it looks like!” argued Jake. “I’m dead weight!”
“Never heard of it,” I remarked. Jake opened his mouth to explain. “And, I don’t want to hear about it! Nobody is useless! Your gaming knowledge will help us succeed! You can become something greater!”
“Can’t I just think things over?!” asked Jake, terrified out of his mind.
“Nerds across the world, no matter their affiliation,” I argued, “have been thinking things over for far too long!”
“Tell me,” pressed Gandalf, “when did those little lights and sounds in those magic boxes become so important to you? I know of at least 16 people who are off in search of adventure! People who would love nothing better than to learn what was beyond the borders of their world! The world is not in maps, books, or plays. It’s out there.”
“I can’t just go running into a fight!” protested Jake. “I’m a gamer!”
“You’re also a 21st century nerd,” replied Hiroki. Jake snorted and leaned against the wall; arms folded. “Did you know that my great-great grandfather worked for Nintendo when it was a hanafuda card company? It’s true. He personally oversaw the quality of hanafuda cards and ensured that Nintendo was huge in the playing card industry. He left the company but was still invested in its interests. With his help, Nintendo followed the meaning behind its name, ‘Leave luck to Heaven’.”
“…Half of that sounds made up,” muttered Jake.
“Okay, truth be told,” replied Hiroki, “my great-great grandfather swept the place back in the day. He still used ‘Leave luck to Heaven’ as his motto though.”
“All stories deserve a little embellishment,” affirmed Gandalf. “You’ll have a tale or two to tell when you succeed.”
“Can you promise that I WILL succeed?” asked Jake. The silence we gave was deafening to him.
“No,” I finally replied. “And, if you do, you will not be the same again.”
“I thought so,” sighed Jake. “I’m sorry, guys, I can’t help you.” He then put his hands in his pockets and started going home. “You got the wrong guy,” he called. When he rounded a corner, there was no doubt in our minds that he wasn’t helping us.
“It looks like we lost our local knowledge,” I muttered.
“Perhaps it’s just as well,” sighed Sento. “After all, what are we? Nerds, a wizard, a doctor, and a genius hero?”
“We ARE fighters,” replied Emu.
“For some of us, the fight is over,” remarked Sento. “I already beat my main bad guy.”
“That’s two endings I missed!” hissed Hiroki. “I gotta binge-watch when we get back to Vorton!”
“Pardon?” asked Sento.
“Okay, I’m gonna say something that will surprise you,” I answered. “We’re all from different universes. In our world,” I pointed to myself and Hiroki, “you, Emu, and Gandalf are fictional, seen in TV shows, movies, or read about in books.”
“I’ve called myself the Rider Encyclopedia,” continued Hiroki. “And we’re all in a different universe as well. That creature was also from another universe.”
“No way!” cheered Sento as a part of his hair stuck up when he became excited. “Multiverse theory is multiverse FACT?!”
“You know about multiverse theory?” asked Hiroki.
“I’m a genius theoretical physicist,” answered Sento. “No scientific theory escapes me.”
“A scientist?” I quizzed.
“And Kamen Rider,” answered Emu. “That’s Kamen Rider Build, the one I told you guys about when we met in those games.”
“Oh, YOU’RE his successor,” realized Hiroki. “I went on this adventure in the middle of Emu’s run. Could you show me your Rider form?”
“Sure,” replied Sento. He then took out his main belt. It was a black on with a gear on the right side of a space that had slots for two things, much like the Double Driver. On the right of the gear was a hand crank. “This is my main belt, the Build Driver,” explained Sento. “And THESE,” he took out a pair of little bottles, “are the items I use to transform, my Fullbottles.”
“Fullbottles?” chuckled Hiroki.
“Hey, look!” I called as I pointed to the red one. “That one’s got a picture of a rabbit!”
“What on Earth is the image on the blue one?” asked Gandalf.
“That’s…a tank,” I muttered.
“Wait, are those stickers on the caps?” asked Hiroki.
“These stickers,” replied Sento, “indicate a Best Match.”
“The best kind of pairing?” I asked.
“Exactly,” confirmed Sento. “Originally, the Build Driver was used to just detect Best Matches, but I modified it to become a transformation belt.” He then set the Build Driver to his waist. “Sā, jikken o hajimeyou ka?” (Now, shall we begin the experiment?) asked Sento as he put a Fullbottle in each hand. He then shook the bottles as they made a clicking sound. After a few seconds, he twisted the caps so the labels faced outside. He put the bottles into the Build Driver, the red Rabbit one first, nearest to the large gear, then the blue tank one, on the right side of the Rabbit. As he put them in, holograms of the symbols on the bottles appeared.
“RABBIT! TANK! BEST MATCH!” announced the Build Driver. A bit of music played before Sento turned the crank. We could hear machinery as Emu moved us back to make room for the glass tubes that were coming out of the gear. They formed the thing that would hold the plastic parts in model kits in front of and behind Sento and the contents of the bottles flowed through the tubes to form the parts of the suit. The front allowed the red bottles contents to form the left part of the head and eye, the right arm and shoulder with torso, and left leg while the contents of the blue bottle formed the right part of the head and eye, left arm and shoulder with torso, and right leg. The parts were forged at a diagonal. “ARE YOU READY?!” asked the Build Driver.
“Henshin!” called Sento. The suit parts were then slammed onto Sento and the suit filled in the gaps with black armor. Sento, as Kamen Rider Build, had an interesting motif to him. His left leg had a spring and his right foot had a tank tread. His left eye and antenna looked like a bunny’s head in profile with the ear sticking up and the right eye looked like a tank pointing its gun barrel upwards.
“HAGANE NO MOONSAULT!” (The Moonsault of Steel!) announced the Build Driver. “RABBITTANK! YAY!” Build then ran his finger along the tank eye’s gun barrel.
“Shōri no hōsoku wa…” declared Build before he made his fingers splay out, “…kimatta!” (The law of victory is set!)
“Okay, I’m impressed,” breathed Hiroki.
“I know, right?!” cheered Sento. “I’m amazing! I’m the best! I’m a genius!”
“And the ego comes out,” sighed Hiroki. He was about to say something more when an explosion came from the arcade. “Crap! Our mission!”
“We better get moving!” I declared. We drew our i.d tags out.
“Henshin!” we called. Emu then got his Gashat out and pressed the button.
“MIGHTY ACTION X!” it announced.
“Dai Henshin!” called Emu. He then put the Gashat into his Gamer Driver.
“GASHATTO!” shouted the belt. He then pulled the lever. “GACHĀN! LEVEL UP! Mighty jump! Mighty kick! Mighty! MIGHTY ACTION X!” He went straight to his level 2 form.
“Let’s go!” called Ex-Aid. We all charged in to see Caan trying to get away from a white car. It seemed to be shrouded by a black mist.
“Is that the…?” asked Sengoku.
“The G-6155 Interceptor from Spy Hunter!” I confirmed.
“I LOVE that game!” cheered Ex-Aid. The car then fired on us! “I DON’T LIKE THAT!” yelped Ex-Aid as we took cover.
“I knew it! Couldn’t resist interfering, could you?!” snarled Caan. He drew a Dalek gun on us. “Exterminate!” he shouted as he fired.
“Better stay out of range,” muttered Build as more piping came out of the gear on his belt. It formed a large drill with a single handle.
“What, in the name of sanity, is that?” asked Sengoku.
“I call it the Rotary Sword/Gun Drill Crusher!” proclaimed Build as he took the drill head off and placed the point of the drill into a slot on the handle that was a little perpendicular to the main grip. He pulled the trigger and the shots came out in a rotary blast.
“This is getting us nowhere!” snapped Sengoku as he fired.
“‘Pointless’ would have been the word I used,” muttered Caan. “Just give…ARGH!” He clutched his head in pain. “A…timeline change?!” he gasped. “How?!”
“GET OVER HERE!” shouted a voice. At that exact moment, Jake jumped into the battle zone, grabbed Caan’s tentacles, and threw him into the car, making the mist fade away!
“Keep him covered,” called a woman’s voice. “That Strength Soda he drank won’t last long. Jake? If you please? I believe 8000 points is the minimum.”
“Got it, Shade!” replied Jake. We all turned to see a new Kamen Rider! It was a woman in obsidian armor with gold trim. Her eyes were red and her helmet was in the shape of a witch’s hat. She wore a black cape and had large gauntlets. Her belt was silvery with a silver jewel in the center. Her undersuit was silver as well.
“Who are you?!” asked Gandalf.
“Don’t be rude!” chided Sengoku. “Introduce yourself before you ask!”
“It’s all right,” assured the woman. “I was raised with an American father. Besides, I’m from the future. I already know you guys.”
“The future?!” asked Sengoku.
“No way!!” cheered Build.
“Don’t bother asking me questions about the future,” directed the woman. “I swore an oath not to reveal things until the proper time. Temporal Prime Directive and all that.”
“…Of course,” remarked Sengoku.
“Now then,” declared the woman, “I’ll just introduce myself. I am Kamen Rider Shade, a magic based Rider, like Wizard.” She then drew her wand and a jewel sphere, a ruby, to be precise. She leveled her wand at the sphere. “One move against Jake,” she warned Caan, “and I cast a spell that will allocate the explosive power of my Ruby Under-sphere to the external lattice-work. BOOM! Instant bomb that will kill us all! So, back away from the Gamer Kid!” Caan snarled as he lowered his gun. “That’s better,” remarked Shade. “All right, you guys may ask questions.”
“Allocate the…?” muttered Gandalf.
“Quiet, Gandalf,” hissed Sengoku. “She’s doing a Thing!”
“You come here,” I said to Caan, “to get something for Vortech, but the search is interrupted by someone. A backwoods ghost?”
“And who are you to ask that?” asked Caan.
“The one who’s gonna stop you,” I resolved.
“Magic?” asked Build.
“Could we have a bit of hush, please?” requested Shade.
“Magic exists in a few worlds,” replied Gandalf. “One of you Kamen Riders is a wizard.”
“I said hush,” insisted Shade.
“Grazie,” (Thank you) I replied. “As for you, Caan, you came here for a reason. What is it, being the Daleks’ herald for their invasion?”
“Why would we invade this backwater universe?” asked Caan.
“So, what brings a member of the Caan breed of Daleks here?” asked Ex-Aid.
“Caan breed?!” snapped Caan, offended. “There is only ONE breed of Dalek! We will not accept any mutations! Caan is my name! Caan of the Cult of Skaro, at your service!”
“So, you’re part of a cabal?” I asked.
“Last member of a cabal,” clarified Caan.
“Then you’re here to resurrect it!” I guessed. “How can you do that with people from a backwater universe?” Caan didn’t answer my question.
“You there, Shade, was it?” he asked. “You have a spell that will do what? Allocate the explosive power of your Ruby Under-sphere to the external lattice-work, making it a bomb that will explode in an instant?”
“That’s what I said,” replied Shade. “One that would kill us all!”
“You made that up, didn’t you?” muttered Caan.
“WHOOO!” cheered Jake. “HIGH SCORE! Now, see this! THIS is a real video game!”
“It served its distraction well,” mused Shade. At that point, the Wizard appeared again, causing the car to vanish!
“Spy Hunter was first released in arcades in 1983,” translated his text box. “It is said that Spy Hunter was originally made to be based on a popular spy movie franchise, but the license could not be acquired.” He then vanished and a gate opened to reveal another section of the arcade.
“Now, with no further distractions…” declared Caan as he raised his gun.
“No, you don’t!” replied Shade as she swapped her belt’s jewel for the ruby in her hand.
“UNDER-CHANGE!” announced her belt. “RUBY PATRIOT!” Her undersuit changed to a ruby color!
“Inspired by the hot-headedness of my American father!” called Shade. She then decked Caan, causing an explosion to occur on impact!
“Fireworks?!” yelped Sengoku.
“Well, some cultures view rubies as the July birthstone for patriots,” I recalled. “And she said she has an American dad, and they usually launch fireworks around July, so why not?”
“Fair point,” replied Sengoku. Caan was picking himself up as we moved to the area on the left.
“You know, fun fact about this place,” chuckled Jake. “In the 70’s, this was made into a flower shop by someone who was a paranoid kook. He made an area called a War Room. In the event of a robbery, the War Room will become the four safest walls in the building. End of lesson!” He shut the door as we entered the room and pressed a button that activated steel doors. “There,” declared Jake. “Now, Caan the alien can’t get in!”
“So, how do WE get OUT?!” I asked.
“……Ah,” remarked Jake.
“Those proton packs may prove useful for the confrontation,” I mused when Emmanuel finished. “Good work, you three.”
“Just doing our job,” replied Emmanuel.
“GET AWAY FROM THAT!!” boomed a voice.
“That was Rusty!” I realized. “Come on!” We followed the shout to see Rusty, Hiroki, Livia, Emu, and the Brigadier holding a young man back. The man was Japanese, from what I could see in the struggling, had a beige coat, a pair of jeans, a grey shirt under the coat, and mismatching sneakers. They were the same brand, but the right sneaker was blue and the left was red. He had tools in his hands and was about to dissect Rusty’s old shell! “HEY!” I snapped as I turned into Tora-Onna and hoisted the man up. “Don’t you know it’s rude to be poking around someone’s old shell?!” I growled. The man’s reaction surprised me. Instead of terror at the prospect of being lifted by a tiger woman with machinery sticking out of her, his face showed excitement at being in the presence of what would usually be a scientific impossibility.
“HOW COOL!” he cheered as he ran his fingers through his hair. “How did all of your machinery grow like this?!”
“Good question, not the point,” I replied. “How did you get here?! Who are you?!”
“That’s Sento Kiryu,” answered Hiroki. “He’s Emu’s successor, Kamen Rider Build.”
“And did your team have a hand in his arrival here? Along with Emu?” I asked.
“Actually,” clarified Emu, “some monster by the name of Caan did that.”
“Khan?” I asked, going off the pronunciation.
“Yeah,” confirmed Livia. “He spelled it C-A-A-N, and said he was part of a cult called the Cult of Skaro.”
“The Cult of Skaro?” asked Rusty.
“You know them?” I asked as I set Sento down.
“That’s just a myth amongst the Daleks,” answered Rusty.
“What’s this about Dalek Myths?” asked a British voice. Michael came in to say hi to Xiomara.
“Michael, do you know anything about a cult of Skaro?” I asked.
“I think you mean THE Cult of Skaro,” replied Michael. “A group of four Daleks that were given what Daleks consider a curse that Humanity is saturated with.”
“There are many aspects of Humanity the Daleks consider a curse,” commented Rusty, “you will have to be more specific.”
“Imagination,” replied Michael. “Those specific Daleks were to imagine like their enemies so they could better exterminate them. Thankfully, they broke up, like a band. Except, not, unless most bands resort to killing one member, the other two dying by their entourage, and the last survivor flying into the Time War to save Davros from the jaws of the Nightmare Child, only to die when Davros’ Reality Bomb was destroyed before it could wipe out all non-Dalek life in the universe. They were the only Daleks to have names.”
“What were they?” I asked.
“Sec, the one that was killed first, was a Black Dalek,” answered Michael, “Jast and Thay died by humans that they had spliced Dalek DNA into, and Caan was the one who saved Davros. It cost him his mind, but he could see into the future.”
“And is Caan spelled C-A-A-N?” asked Livia.
“…Yes, why do you ask?” asked Michael, suspicion forming in his brain.
“He’s alive,” replied Hiroki. “Our mission led to an encounter with him.”
“That’s impossible! I just said when he died!” wailed Michael.
“That’s a bit of a tale,” muttered Livia.
“Then tell it,” I directed.
“This is it!” cheered Heather as her spectral fingers worked with the internal mechanics. “I’m gonna do it! I’m gonna come back to life, pure and fully equipped!”
“All this,” snarked a voice, “just to get your old body back, but with ovaries.”
“I thought I told you to stay out of this!” hissed Heather as she turned to a monstrous looking humanoid. It had three tentacles on the back of its head with a single eye in the center of its forehead. Its armor was reminiscent of a Dalek. Its shape was that of a humanoid male.
“I don’t need to be a prophet to tell you that your plan will fail,” replied the monster.
“Go away, Caan,” snarled Heather. “This isn’t your fight!”
“Why can’t you just accept the fact,” asked the former Dalek Caan, “that this is going to backfire miserably?”
“Because I never saw your name listed as one of the prophets in the Bible!” argued Heather.
“No, because you can’t get your head out of your rear when someone who can see the future says that this is a bad idea!” snarled Caan.
“I need to come back to life and my own Apocalypse Driver will get me exactly what I want!” insisted Heather.
“And you’ll spread pure humanity when you do,” mocked Caan, “and your descendants will continue your mission of purity, and everything will be wonderful! Except, that’s where you humans get it wrong. You never knew purity and will never know that.”
“Says the mutant!” roared Heather. “I WILL succeed!”
“I’m the one that looked into the Time Vortex,” mused Caan, “I’m generally well informed in these matters.”
“Go away, I have work to do!” insisted Heather.
“Well, I DID foresee you not listening to reason,” sighed Caan. “But, I warn you, you’re about to unleash a force you cannot control nor comprehend. Toodle-oo!” He then summoned a portal and went through.
“Stupid Dalek,” snarled Heather. “What would THEY know about purity?”
“Failure, as I predicted,” sighed Caan as he arrived on Foundation Prime.
“Won’t that change things?” I asked as the picture switched off.
“Not really,” replied Caan. “The Vortex Riders’ little skirmish with Heather won’t affect us.”
“And if there’s a new person to arrive at the end of that skirmish?” I queried.
“Rest assured, Madame Igura,” assured Caan, “she won’t help much. She will be a newborn.”
“She?” I asked.
“Unimportant,” dismissed Caan. “The point is, she’ll be too busy deciding who she is to help.”