Tag: kamen rider

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 5

Lantern of Time: Part 3

“…Ore sanjou?” asked Lurra Rus.

“It’s a dynamic way of saying ‘I have arrived’,” explained the Doctor.

“…Nice skirt,” remarked Lurra Rus. Den-O looked down and finally saw the skirt.

“Dang it! This always happens when I possess a girl!” he grumbled.

“Kamen Rider Den-O! At last!” cackled the Lantern Imagin. “I’m gonna enjoy this little warmup!”

“Warmup?” asked Den-O. He then took four parts hanging from his belt and assembled them into a sword. As he did, he started talking. “I don’t know how things work with you Red Lanterns, but you’re on MY turf! And around here, I don’t do warmups and I don’t do warning shots!” He finished forming his sword. “Everyday, from start to finish, I’m always at a climax! Let’s go, let’s go, LET’S GO!” He then charged at the Lantern Imagin, sword ready! The two clashed with Green Lantern and the Flash helping out.

“…Everything’s happening too fast,” muttered the Doctor.

“Doctor, maybe you need another Time Lord’s help,” suggested Lurra Rus.

“…I suppose I do,” agreed the Doctor. “Owner, perhaps I had better bring you into the picture.”

“Telepathically?” asked the Owner. “This seems like quite a tale.”

“It is. Contact.”

“Contact.” The two Time Lords then had their telepathic conference with the Doctor filling the Owner in on events from Batman’s warning about the Grouping to the current crisis. They then opened their eyes.

“Drat! I completely forgot to contact Susan after the last adventure!” the Doctor chided herself.

“We’d best contact Gallifrey,” remarked the Owner. “Your TARDIS still has a means of communicating with the homeworld, the Den Liner does not.”

“But there’s the matter of the Imagin! They’re walking chronal surges!”

“They’re also from an aborted timeline. No amount of bringing them back to the future will make it better. They have become, quite literally, beings made of the Sands of Time.” The Doctor looked back at the fight.

“…Drat,” she muttered. “Momotaros, tell Amy that the Owner and I need to contact Gallifrey and that dealing with the Imagin is the only way to correct the chronal surge!”

“She heard you!” replied Den-O. He then acted as if he heard something. “…What hammer?!” he said. His arm then stretched out and, with the flick of the wrist, summoned Amy’s hammer. “Oh, now THAT’S a climactic weapon!” he said.

“What am I supposed to do?” asked Lurra Rus. “Stand here and look pretty?”

“Actually, I need help fixing the comms system,” replied the Doctor. “Mind giving us a hand?”

“All right.” Lurra Rus followed the Doctor and the Owner into the TARDIS. Green Lantern managed to restrain the Lantern Imagin so the Flash could get some rapid-fire punches in.

“Get out of the way!” called Den-O. “This flashlight’s mine!” He managed to scan his pass again.

“Full Charge!” announced the belt as red light crackled around his sword and hammer.

“Hissatsu! Ore no hissatsu waza! Hedge-hammer-sword version!” Den-O stuck his weapons out and spun like a tornado! He bashed into the Lantern Imagin repeatedly, then stopped as the blade of his sword flew out of the handle! He then swung the handle, making the blade hit the Lantern Imagin repeatedly, then swung down, chopping the enemy Imagin right down the middle and making it explode into sand. “…There it is!” said Den-O. “My new finishing move!”

“I though hedgehogs curled into balls,” remarked Green Lantern.

“And how lame would that have been?” asked Den-O. Momotaros was then suddenly ejected as Amy took her body back over and took the belt off, dismissing the Den-O armor.

“LAME?!” she shouted. “THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH COOLER THAN WHAT YOU DID!”

“EXCUSE ME?! WHAT I DID WAS COOL AND YOU KNOW IT!” retorted Momotaros. The Imagin and Hedgehog Girl then got into a shouting match.

While Amy and Momotaros argued, the Doctor had finished up her call to Gallifrey, informing them about the Owner and Stationmaster’s survival and decision to remain as they are, apologizing to Susan for not contacting her after the previous incident with two of the Doctor’s past incarnations, and learning about what caused the Grouping in the first place. “…I…I see,” muttered the Doctor.

“It seems you have a choice before you, Doctor,” said the Owner. “What will it be and how will it protect time?”

“…Well, I DID get a hint in my previous incarnation,” sighed the Doctor. “I just…don’t know how to go about it so she and Lurra Rus are safe.”

“…Speaking of Amy, we should check on her,” suggested Lurra Rus.

“Agreed,” said the Owner.

“Come on, you two,” directed the Doctor. The trio left the TARDIS and saw Amy and Momotaros arguing with Green Lantern and the Flash standing by. The Flash saw the group leave the TARDIS and whistled.

“Hey! Guys!” he called. Momotaros and Amy stopped arguing. “They’re finished in there.” He directed their attention to the group.

“…Right then,” said Amy. “Well, it looks like this adventure’s over.”

“So it seems,” replied the Owner. “Momotaros, it’s time we departed. We have more chronal surges to look out for.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” grumbled Momotaros as he and the Owner boarded the Den Liner. “Feels like the adventure went too fast.” The Den Liner then pulled out of the Watchtower like it was a station and opened a path to the Sands of Time.

“Amy, it’s time we left,” said the Doctor.

“So soon?” asked Amy. “But I wanna catch up with Diana and-.”

“Amy, we just learned something about the cause of the Grouping,” interjected Lurra Rus.

“…Oh. …Well, Hal, Barry, I guess I gotta go.”

“Momotaros was right, this adventure went WAY too quickly!” remarked the Flash.

“…Did you just tell us to slow down?!” laughed Green Lantern.

“Goodbye, everyone,” said the Doctor as she hurried Amy and Lurra Rus back into the TARDIS. The lamp on the TARDIS’ roof then flashed as it made its usual take off noise and dematerialized.

“…Doctor, Lurra Rus, what’s wrong?” asked Amy as the TARDIS continued its flight.

“…Well, let me just…try and see how to best explain-,” floundered the Doctor.

“Doctor, we can’t afford to stall,” chided Lurra Rus. “This event is too big for that.” The Doctor sighed.

“You said that the Time Lords found out how the Grouping got started,” said Amy. “How’s that possible?”

“…They’ve determined that it was one paradox that started it,” replied the Doctor.

“A paradox, huh? And how did this whole paradox unfold? Who’s the source of it?”

“I’m rather afraid you are.”

“WHAT?!” yelped Amy.

“Remember how you first stepped aboard the TARDIS?” asked the Doctor. “You were encouraged by your future, wearing your current outfit, to go along with me. The TARDIS was working overtime to try and stabilize the paradox, only…”

“Only its heart split and the original became the new Eye of Harmony,” recalled Amy. “Are you saying that when it did that-?”

“It released its stabilizing ability over the paradox and now that paradox is creating chronal surges all across time.”

“Would me going back to that point in time fix it?” asked Amy hopefully.

“I’m afraid not,” sighed the Doctor. “For one thing, the TARDIS accounts for how long its occupants have been inside it, so it only drops someone off at a later point in their native planet’s time after their initial departure. For another, I can’t take you back for the sole fact that your future said that someone else will take you back. And for yet another thing, Batman knew about the Grouping long before we did, but that mess with Den-O didn’t involve Batman at all, it’s too late into the Justice League’s future. Remember that Batman said that I had already regenerated by the time he was made aware of the Grouping. …But, hopefully, closing the paradox will mitigate the damage.”

“But…I’m at the center of it…” summed up Amy. “…The heart of the problem. …All our…recent problems!”

“Doctor, how bad would it be if Amy stayed aboard the TARDIS?” asked Lurra Rus.

“A temporal implosion,” replied the Doctor. “All of time and space collapsing into a single point, into Amy herself. …Too terrifying a concept to comprehend, even for Time Lords.”

“Then how can we keep time and space from collapsing and taking me with it?!” asked Amy.

“All we can do is mitigate the damage,” answered the Doctor. “I don’t know how to fully fix it and the Time Lords are working overtime to try and find a solution.”

“…Doctor,” mumbled Amy, “…I’m scared.”

“So am I, Amy,” sighed the Doctor. “So am I.”

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 5

Lantern of Time: Part 2

“Warning! Ring now at 32%!” warned Green Lantern’s ring. The rocket boots he created were staring to fizzle out!

“Come on! Come on!” he strained. Just then, robotic arms shot from the Watchtower and grabbed the Den Liner.

“Hal, just focus on the TARDIS!” called the Flash’s voice through the comms.

“Right!” replied Green Lantern. He shifted the glove so that only the TARDIS rested in it, then brought it to a halt. “…Phew!” sighed Green Lantern in relief.

The Den Liner and TARDIS were brought into a hangar along the Watchtower’s perimeter. Green Lantern and the Flash looked over the Den Liner. “I’ve never seen that before,” remarked the Flash. Green Lantern looked at his ring.

“Ring, scan and analyze,” he ordered as he created scanning equipment constructs.

“Scanning vehicle,” replied the ring. By then, the TARDIS doors opened and its crew stepped out.

“Oogh!” groaned the Doctor. “Headache from hell!”

“Take it easy, Doctor,” soothed Amy. That was when Momotaros stepped out of the Den Liner.

“Where’s that Doctor?!” he snapped. “I’m gonna get her for this!”

“Momotaros, I warned you about that chronal surge!” argued the Doctor. “If you had just listened to me-!”

“Oh, sure! Listen to a lady that doesn’t know the first thing about time travel!” The Doctor’s jaw dropped.

“Doesn’t know the-?! Sir, all of time and space is my backyard! The laws of time have been baked into my upbringing since day one!” The Doctor and Momotaros argued and Amy and Lurra Rus rubbed their temples.

“Just like two reckless drivers on a freeway,” muttered Amy. Lurra Rus then spotted Green Lantern and the Flash.

“Oh, hello again!” she said.

“Hey there, Lurra Rus, Amy,” replied the Flash. “Who’s the lady arguing with the demon?”

“Oh, that’s the Doctor,” replied Amy. The Flash looked in confusion at the Doctor.

“…Could have sworn…” he muttered.

“Her people have a tendency to cheat death by regenerating their bodies,” explained Lurra Rus. “That includes their minds, so there’s a new personality.” The Flash crossed his arms.

“Some aliens have all the luck!” he grumbled.

“Analysis complete,” reported Green Lantern’s ring. “Vehicle is the Den Liner, the time traveling vehicle for Kamen Rider Den-O.”

“And furthermore-!” The Doctor stopped arguing with Momotaros. “…Hang on, did that ring just say ‘Kamen Rider’?”

“It did,” replied Green Lantern.

“Kamen Rider…” muttered the Flash. “…Hey, aren’t they those karate bug people that ride around on motorcycles in Japan?”

“Karate bug-?!” spluttered Momotaros. “It’s a bit more complicated than that!”

“Yes, most Kamen Riders aren’t so reckless,” remarked the Doctor.

“Who are you calling-?!”

“Doctor,” came a voice. The argument stopped as a man stepped out of the Den Liner. He was a Japanese man in a brown suit in his late 60’s or early 70’s with his hair slicked back and carrying a cane for show. The Doctor blinked.

“…Owner?!” she gasped.

“You know the Owner?” asked Momotaros.

“She should,” replied the man, the Owner. “We were rivals at the Academy.”

“On Gallifrey?” asked Amy. “You’re a Time Lord like her?”

“You vanished before the Time War broke out,” the Doctor recalled. “Your TARDIS was destroyed, but you left it behind. What happened?”

“I had become a singularity point along with the Stationmaster,” replied the Owner. “Now, with the train of time, the Den Liner, I can travel along the Sands of Time.”

“How did you even get into that subdimension?” asked the Doctor. Before the Owner could explain, Green Lantern’s ring flashed.

“Warning! Red Light energy signature detected!”

“Is that as ominous as it sounds?” asked Amy. “Should I be summoning my hammer?”

“Not a bad idea,” replied Green Lantern. “That always means a Red Lantern’s been spotted!”

“Oh my,” remarked the Doctor. “One of Atrocitus’ minions, hopefully.”

“Hang on! I can smell an Imagin!” said Momotaros.

“Probably you,” remarked the Doctor. “Maybe you should take a bath?” That was when a red vortex opened and the Lantern Imagin stepped out of it! “…An Imagin?! With a red ring?! Oh no!”

“I need soldiers!” snarled the Lantern Imagin. “I must fulfill my contract!” The Imagin spotted the Doctor. “YOU! You have tremendous anger!”

“The Doctor?” asked Lurra Rus. “She’s not one to surrender to anger.”

“That will change!” The Lantern Imagin vomited his napalm blood all over the Doctor’s face! The Doctor screamed in agony as the blood burned her face, filling her with hatred and anger!

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” demanded Amy as she summoned her hammer. The Lantern Imagin then created a wall construct with his ring. “Wait a minute! COPYCAT!” shouted Amy.

“This is bad!” shuddered Green Lantern. “While us Green Lanterns are powered by willpower, Red Lanterns are powered by rage and hatred! They’ve become agents of vengeance instead of justice!”

“And the Doctor is the angriest, deep down!” said the Lantern Imagin. “Atrocitus wants soldiers, I shall give them to him! You, Doctor! You’ve fought for this universe all over time and space! But your work is constantly stymied! The Daleks, the Cybermen, the Sontarans, they all have done their best to ruin the universe despite your best efforts! How can you ever forgive those evil monsters?!”

“I…I cannot…” strained the Doctor.

“THEN BURN AS I DO!” The Lantern Imagin opened his hand and a red ring floated towards the Doctor. The Doctor strained as she tried to resettle her head.

“…I cross…the void…beyond the mind!” she recited. “The empty space…that circles time! …I see where others…stumble blind…to seek a truth…they never find! …Eternal wisdom…is my guide! …I am…THE DOCTOR!” The ring shattered and the napalm blood evaporated from her face!

“WHAT?!” shouted the Lantern Imagin as the Doctor picked herself up.

“…You’re right,” she said simply. “I DO hate what my enemies do to my work. But my will to see a better universe is stronger than my hate towards my enemies!”

“All of time and space is burning, Doctor!” warned the Lantern Imagin.

“Then I’ll put out the fires where I can. Right now, you need to go back to whatever time you came from. You Imagins are walking chronal surges.”

“No! Not until my time is fully restored!”

“Oh, get over it!” complained Momotaros. “Kai was a crap leader and you know it!”

“THAT’S IT! TAKING MY REVENGE NOW!” The Lantern Imagin created a sword construct and swung it at Momotaros, but the swing was intercepted by Green Lantern’s shield construct.

“You’re under arrest for intergalactic terrorism and attempted murder!” said Green Lantern.

“I obey no law but my own!” snarled the Lantern Imagin. The two Lanterns then dueled with Green Lantern creating vehicle constructs and the Lantern Imagin countering with various sword constructs.

“This is bad!” groaned Momotaros. “With Ryotaro somewhere else, I can’t easily turn into Den-O!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked the Doctor.

“The Imagin that are associated with Den-O’s forms,” explained the Owner, “must possess a body in order to give the person wearing the belt the powers they need.”

“And the usual person isn’t on the train?” quizzed Lurra Rus.

“I’m afraid not,” replied the Owner. “Unless someone with a proper fighting spirit can step forth, the Lantern Imagin will overpower Hal Jordan.”

“Yes, even the Flash’s upcoming help won’t be able to avert that future,” remarked the Doctor. The Flash tried to get a hit on the Lantern Imagin, but the Rage-fueled creature kept creating red portals to sidestep the Flash’s attacks.

“…Momotaros, how picky are you?” asked Amy.

“…You mean about someone being Den-O?” quizzed Momotaros. “I mean, I have SOME limits, but…wait, are you-?!”

“Amy, NO!” protested the Doctor.

“That IS her choice, Doctor,” remarked the Owner.

“Doctor, if I become Den-O, will Hal have a better shot at beating the Lantern Imagin?” asked Amy. “A simple yes or no will suffice.”

“…Yes, but-!”

“Then that settles it! Momotaros, where’s that belt? It’s time I try out being a Kamen Rider!” Momotaros shook his head as he chuckled.

“Here,” he said as he handed Amy a belt and pass. It was a simple belt with a circular scanner and four buttons on the left of the buckle. “Fair warning, though, your hair’s gonna get spiky.” Momotaros then turned transparent and entered Amy’s body. Amy spasmed as red energy crackled across her body, then a fanatic grin crossed her face! Her eyes were now red, her quills gained red highlights, and she was dressed in a leather jacket and rose-patterned skirt. As she spoke, Momotaros’ voice came out. “I don’t usually like possessing girls,” he said as he held the pass, “but beggars can’t be choosers! Besides, this girl’s strong enough!” He pressed the red button and a red light within the belt’s scanner flashed while music played. “HENSHIN!” Momotaros then waved the pass over the buckle.

“Sword Form!” announced the belt. A black bodysuit with a white railway line motif then formed over Amy’s body. Armor pieces then circled around her while a red peach went down the rail line running over her face. The peach stopped at her face as the armor attached itself into a simple red configuration with shoulder pads jutting outwards. The peach then split open to make itself into red lenses with antennae. As an added flair, the suit grew a rose-petal shaped skirt like Amy was wearing.

“Ore…SANJOU!” announced Momotaros, Kamen Rider Den-O in his sword form!

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 5

Lantern of Time: Part 1

A giant creature of humanoid shape and crimson skin flew through space with a navy-blue and black striped cat. They both wore red bodysuits and wore a red ring. The creature wore his ring on his finger while the cat wore his on his tail. The creature growled as he and the cat landed on a barren world. “We must face facts, Dex-starr,” growled the creature, “there just aren’t enough people that are angry enough to join us.” The cat, Dex-starr, trilled questioningly. “No, no, we cannot do that. We tried it once and it led to Guy Gardner temporarily usurping me!” That was when an energy wave passed over them! “What in-?!” Dex-starr arched his back, yowling in a threatening posture. The creature raised his ring to his mouth. “Identify energy wave!”

“Energy wave has been identified as a chronal surge,” replied the ring’s AI. “Consequences unknown.”

“Analyze and figure out-!” the creature stopped himself as he felt something in his suit. It felt like…sand? “How in-?!” A pile of sand fell from his suit and started forming the upper torso of a strange creature. The creature’s legs hovered in the air above it! “…Ring, what IS that life-form?”

“Life-form is an Imagin,” replied the ring, “a being from an aborted timeline.” The creature’s eyes widened. He had heard of the Imagin before.

“Your wish,” said the Imagin. “Say your wish. I can grant any wish. You can pay me with one thing only.” The creature stroked his chin.

“…Any wish, you say?” he asked. “…I wish for more Red Lanterns to finally slay the Guardians!” The legs then floated to the ground as the Imagin’s torso floated above the legs and attached itself to them. The Imagin then adopted a gray color with a lantern motif.

“You want soldiers then, Atrocitus?” asked the new Lantern Imagin. “I shall provide!”

“Hold!” shouted the creature, Atrocitus. The Lantern Imagin stopped. “…You SHALL be fulfilling my wish, but you’re not ready yet.”

“Let me fulfill our contract and I shall be,” replied the Lantern Imagin.

“Not how this works, not when you’ve locked your full potential. Dex-starr would spill your guts and lap your blood in your current state…but I sense that you have a higher calling. A spark glowing within you! A spark…of RAGE!” Atrocitus then vomited his napalm blood all over the Imagin’s face. The Lantern Imagin howled in pain as he collapsed to his knees, the blood burning him!

“WH-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” he screamed. “WHAT IS THIS…THIS ANGER?!”

“You fought to restore your timeline,” replied Atrocitus, “but Den-O killed your leader, Kai! He prevented Hana from being killed! He restored her timeline over yours! …How can you ever forgive him?”

“I…I CAN’T!” admitted the Lantern Imagin.

“Then BURN!” A red ring then flew towards the Lantern Imagin, hovering just in front of his face.

“Lantern Imagin. You have great rage in your heart.” The voice came from the ring. The Lantern Imagin looked up at the ring…then held his hand out! The ring then fastened onto his finger! “You belong to Atrocitus!”

“Become vengeance!” urged Atrocitus. “Recite the oath! Join the Red Lantern Corps!” The Lantern Imagin panted, then steeled himself.

“…With blood…and rage…of crimson red, ripped from a corpse…so freshly dead, together with our hellish hate,” a suit then formed over the Lantern Imagin! “WE’LL BURN YOU ALL! THAT IS YOUR FATE!” The rage, amplified by his ring, overcame his sanity and he charged at Atrocitus. Atrocitus opened a portal and stepped aside so the new Red Lantern would fly through. Once it was confirmed the Lantern Imagin went through with a splash on the other end, Atrocitus grinned.

“Come, Dex-starr!” he ordered. “We have an army to build!” Dex-starr trilled in agreement.

The Doctor hummed to herself as she checked the console. “Dada da da, da DA da…Climax Jump!” she sang. “…That’s odd. How did that song get into my head? …Ah well, I’ll figure it out later. Let’s see…”

“Doctor, shouldn’t we have found evidence of a chronal surge by now?” asked Amy as she walked into the console room.

“Tracking them takes a while, Amy,” replied the Doctor. “It’s not like waiting for a train on the platform.”

“But we’ve gotten ahead of one before,” reminded Amy.

“That took intense calculations,” answered the Doctor. As Amy was about to protest, the console beeped.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Proximity alert,” replied the Doctor. “But that doesn’t make sense, we’re drifting in the vortex. Let me see…” As the Doctor checked her readings, Lurra Rus entered the console room.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“We found something in the Time Vortex,” replied Amy. “Maybe it’s another time machine?”

“That’s exactly what it is,” interjected the Doctor. “But the shape of it doesn’t make sense.”

“Why?” asked Amy.

“Because bullet trains shouldn’t be time travel capable,” answered the Doctor. She then worked the controls. “I’m going to come alongside it, see if I can talk to them.” The scanner flicked on to show that she successfully went alongside the train as it summoned rails for itself. The locomotive itself had angled red windows, almost like insect eyes. The Doctor then switched on the comms. “Attention! Attention! This is the Doctor aboard the TARDIS! You seem to be lost in the Time Vortex! We are capable and willing to render any assistance-!” A person on a motorcycle hooked up to a machine then appeared. The person looked like a red-skinned oni with two horns and black orbs for eyes.

“What do you want?!” he complained. The Doctor goggled.

“An Imagin?” she said. “I thought you all went extinct.”

“Some of us survived! Now beat it!” insisted the oni Imagin.

“Sir, your train appears to be travelling in something it’s not meant to,” said the Doctor.

“Come on, the Den Liner’s fine!” the oni Imagin dismissed.

“Den Liner? I thought that was fiction.”

“It’s real, all right!”

“What IS the Den Liner?” asked Lurra Rus.

“A train that travels through time,” explained the Doctor. “But it usually travels through a subdimension referred to as the Sands of Time, a byproduct of the Time Vortex.” The console then beeped and the Doctor checked the readings. Her eyes widened in horror. “Oh no!” She returned her attention to the call. “Listen, Oni Imagin or whatever kind of Imagin you are-.”

“My name is Momotaros!” barked the Imagin.

“…Imagins have-? Never mind. Momotaros, my sensors have detected a chronal surge appearing just ahead of us! I must urge you to divert your course!”

“I don’t take orders from anyone!” retorted Momotaros. “And the Den Liner’s sensors don’t detect any ‘chronal surge’ or whatever the heck you call it!”

“Well, my sensors DO! So will you please divert your course-?!” Momotaros ended the call. “…And now I have to save him!” grumbled the Doctor as she worked the console.

“Doctor, what will that chronal surge-?!” asked Lurra Rus.

“We’ll be caught up in it, there’s no two ways around this,” replied the Doctor. “For now, we can only cushion the blow against the Den Liner. Extending TARDIS shields as far as I can dare…brace yourselves!” The TARDIS shook as it was hit by the chronal surge! Both it and the Den Liner were taken out of the Time Vortex and into normal space.

Aboard a space station, a man with a green jumpsuit, eye mask, and ring was sitting at the monitors. A man in a red suit with yellow lightning decorations then appeared in a red blur. “Anything interesting?” asked the man in the red suit, the Flash.

“Nah, it’s been…well, I don’t really wanna say it now,” replied the man in the green suit, the Green Lantern. The monitors then flashed. “Oh, come on! I didn’t even say it!” complained Green Lantern.

“Is that a…bullet train?” muttered the Flash. Green Lantern then zoomed in.

“…It is! And look at the side!”

“The TARDIS! They’re gonna crash into the Watchtower!”

“You monitor the situation! I’m gonna stop them!” Green Lantern flew out of his seat and summoned a green lantern. He then pressed his ring against it. “In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight! Let those who worship evil’s might beware my power, Green Lantern’s light!”

“Ring fully charged,” reported his ring. Green Lantern then stashed his battery away and made it outside. The train and the TARDIS were racing towards the Watchtower out of control! Green Lantern created a catcher’s glove from his ring and jet boots around his feet. He caught the two vehicles in the glove and fired his jet boots, hoping to at least slow the two vehicles down!

“Hal, you’re not slowing down!” warned the Flash over the comms.

“Come on! Just a little more!” strained Green Lantern as he added more power to his rocket boots.

“Warning! Ring at 54% charge! Reserves depleting rapidly!” alerted his ring.

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 2

Riding While Masked: Part 4

The Doctor and the Ridewatch Riders intercepted Decade before he went deeper into the sublevels of Tokyo Tower in 2013. “Decade, please, listen to me!” urged the Doctor.

“Get out of my way!” shouted Decade.

“Decade, it’s not going to turn out the way you think it is!” urged Woz. Decade wasn’t listening. He slashed again with his Ride-booker still in sword mode.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this against an elder Kamen Rider!” groaned Zi-O. He then summoned a strange device that looked somewhat gun-like.

“Zikan Girade!” said a voice. Zi-O then pulled something on the device forward so it looked like a sword with a clock hand style blade. “KEN!” Zi-O slashed.

“No! Sougo! Don’t escalate this!” protested the Doctor.

“And Sougo’s brought his weapon out,” grumbled Rassilon as everyone saw the goings-on outside from the scanner.

“Hoo boy, we sure he ain’t American?” joked William. He then spotted something. “Hey, what’s that?” he asked. He pointed to a phial of a liquid on the floor. Rassilon picked it up and had the TARDIS scan it.

“…It’s anti-plastic!” she said. “Made by one of Tsukasa’s allies! Hang on, I think I have a theory.” She ran the figures through the TARDIS computers. Her eyes goggled when she saw the readings. “…It was an insurance policy!” she whispered.

“What do you mean?” asked Amy.

“Tsukasa was going to use it on the Nestene Consciousness in this time,” explained Rassilon. “But the Doctor and Tsukasa of this time will already use theirs. AHA!”

“Rassilon?” asked William.

“William, how many tests does a vaccine have to go through?” asked Rassilon.

“Millions of-.” William’s eyes popped open. “…The anti-plastic of this time would have failed somehow?!”

“It’s the chronons of 2025! They can’t be used against the native chronons of 2013!”

“…But Decade doesn’t know that!” realized Amy.

“I know how to deescalate the situation!” said William. He then snatched the anti-plastic from Rassilon and left the TARDIS!

“WILLIAM! GET BACK IN HERE!” protested Rassilon.

The Doctor was still trying to get the Riders to stop fighting. “Everyone, please!” she pleaded. “There’s no reason to-!”

“STOOOOOOOOOPPP!!” called William’s voice. Everyone turned to see William holding the anti-plastic phial above his head.

“William, get back in the TARDIS!” protested the Doctor.

“Tsukasa, tell me, does this look familiar?!” asked William.

“My anti-plastic?!” he yelped. “How did you-?!”

“You dropped it in the console room!” replied William. “Interesting that you’d use 2025 anti-plastic on a 2013 Nestene Consciousness! Now you listen to the Doctor or I smash it here and now!”

“You’re going to regret that threat!” snarled Decade as he got ready to slash.

“NO! Decade, wait! Just wait a minute, please!” begged the Doctor. “Let William smash it to the ground!”

“What?! Why?!” demanded Decade.

“Because that’s how there were remnants of the Nestene that created the Autons of 2025! That’s how the paradox started! We brought back a weapon that would fail! The leftover signal would reside in the chronons and wait until they aligned with 2025 again!”

“You…You’re lying!”

“Why on earth would I lie about that?! We’re sitting on one gigantic time paradox here and you’re the key!”

“Th…The Key?!”

“I thought it was the Ridewatches, but it’s YOU, Tsukasa!”

“I…I can’t be-!”

“William, smash the phial! Smash it to pieces!”

“Way ahead of you!” called William as he threw the phial to the ground. That’s when time went crazy! Everyone was moving in painful slow-motion!

“HUUUUUURRRRRRYYYYYYY!” called the Doctor. “GEEETTT BAAACK IIINNN THEEE TAAARRRDDIIISSSS NOOOOOWWW!”

“WHHAAAAAATTT’SSSSS HAAAAAPPPPEENNNNIIINNNNG?!” shouted Decade as he and the Riders made for the TARDIS.

“IIIITTT’SSS THEEEE PAAAARRRRAAADOOOOXXXX!” guessed Geiz. “IIIITTTT’SSSS REEEESOOOLLLVVVINNNGGG IIITTTSSSEEELLLFFFF!”

“YEEEEESSSSS!” confirmed the Doctor. “MMMUUUSSSTTTT GEEEEETTTT TOOOO THEEEE TAAAARRRRDDIIIISSSSSS!!!!!”

“Come on, guys! Come on!” begged Amy.

“If they stay out there any longer-!” shuddered Rassilon. Thankfully, she didn’t need to find out. Everyone made it inside.

“Right! Back to this location in 2025!” declared the Doctor.

“What about the Another Riders?!” argued Decade.

“They were never there, hopefully,” replied the Doctor. She got the TARDIS to take off.

Over in 2013, a man with curly blonde hair and a coat made up of a patchwork of fabrics was making the final adjustments to a machine, dodging tentacles from a tank all the while. “You won’t find me so easy to ensnare this time!” taunted the man, the Sixth Doctor.

“Doctor, come on!” called the Decade of 2013. He then inserted a card into his white Decadriver.

“Final Attack Ride: De-De-Decade!” it called. Three rings of cards appeared and Decade sailed through them, his foot outstretched and striking the Auton Copy of himself. It exploded.

“Do you mind not Rider-kicking here!” protested the Sixth Doctor. He then switched the machine on. “OUT!” The tentacles then thrashed in pain!

Right at the entrance to Tokyo Tower, Evelyn Smythe was looking anxiously at the door, not sure if she liked the rumbling. She breathed a sigh of relief when the Doctor and Decade arrived. “Oh, thank goodness you’re alright, Doctor!” she sighed.

“Only just,” replied the Sixth Doctor, rubbing the cat lapel pin in relief. “But that should do it. The Auton menace of Japan is over!”

“That’s a relief,” replied Evelyn, “because, with all the young men making flying kicks and turning into martial arts bug people, I think you could do with a bit of a sit-down!”

Over in 2025, the TARDIS arrived at the base of Tokyo Tower. No one left the TARDIS just yet. “Doctor-!” hissed the present-day Tsukasa.

“Sh!” replied the Doctor. The console beeped at a certain frequency, then the frequency lowered and lowered until…

“…Safe to talk?” asked Keito.

“Temporal Paradox: resolved,” replied the Doctor. “No bumps in the time track and no killer window dummies. The signal is nonexistent. …Erm, yes, everyone, safe to talk.”

“…Could I get some sort of explanation or will you be high-handed and Time Lordish like you were with that ugly coat?!” hissed Tsukasa.

“Try me,” said the Doctor.

“Where are the Autons?!” asked Tsukasa.

“Oh, they died before they find Geiz and Woz and duplicate them,” replied the Doctor. “You see, the prolonged fight between us is what prompts the Autons to duplicate them, not just being plucked off the streets like that. That’s just what starts the paradox.”

“I…see,” said Tsukasa. “And…”

“…Yes?”

“William, what did you intend to do with the anti-plastic?”

“Oh, smashing it to the ground WAS my intention,” replied William. “Rassilon gave me the idea.”

“You see, if the anti-plastic of 2025 touched the Nestene Consciousness of 2013,” explained Rassilon, “the latent 2025 chronons would have waited in the remains of the Nestene Consciousness and then propagated throughout the Autons the instant 2025 began.”

“So, in the correct version of history, the machine the Doctor rigged up was all that’s necessary?”

“…It’s…not so much that there’s a correct or incorrect version of history,” said Rassilon. “It’s more something to do with the survival of the universe. The paradox was triggered by us bringing the 2025 anti-plastic to 2013. It caused a dangerously high release of temporal energy.”

“Which damaged an already weakened part of the space-time continuum,” guessed Keito, “making it a bad place to have a paradox, like the Doctor said.”

“Erm…sort of,” replied the Doctor. “But Tsukasa solved the potential problem of the Nestene already in 2013.”

“So…it never happened?” asked Sougo.

“…Um…not quite. You see, the real center of the paradox was caused by the 2025 anti-plastic coming back with us and us mistakenly using it on the sly. The anti-plastic would have failed and the Nestene Consciousness would have fractured and implanted those fragments into the chronons, thus sparking the Auton Civil War.”

“But you and William forced me to realize in time that I was the one that caused the Autons of 2025 in the first place!” said Tsukasa, exasperated.

“Hope for you yet, hm?” chuckled Rassilon. The Doctor then saw Amy’s face.

“Amy? What’s wrong?” she asked.

“…Doctor, Rassilon,” said Amy, “none of what we just discussed makes any sense!”

“…Well…how should I put this…time paradoxes very rarely do. That’s why they’re paradoxes.”

“…You really think that’s clever, huh?” scoffed Tsukasa. “I’ve had enough.” He then summoned an Aurora Curtain.

“What have I told you about using those things in the-!” The Doctor didn’t get very far as Tsukasa stepped through and the Curtain vanished. “…Oh, never mind!”

“I think we’d better go,” Sougo suggested to Keito and Woz. “We still have things to do.”

“Agreed, Waga Mao,” replied Woz. “Let’s go home.” Woz, Sougo, and Keito then left the TARDIS.

“…Wait a minute, if the Autons aren’t here, and they were after the control unit-!” gulped William. Amy dashed to her room and checked something. She then sighed in relief and returned to the console room with the control unit in her hand.

“Doctor, does the TARDIS have special time shields?” she asked.

“It does,” replied the Doctor, sighing in relief, “but it’s the control unit’s original nature as a segment of the Key to Time that protected it. Speaking of which…” she took the tracer and touched the control unit with it. It then turned into its real shape of the third segment. “There we go! Halfway there! Now, let’s see where the next one is!”

As the Doctor worked on the console, Rassilon returned to her room. Her hand was glowing again. She concentrated hard, but the glow was taking longer to go away. It finally faded. “…I can’t waste this body!” she begged herself. “I need more time!”

“Erm, Rassilon?” asked Amy’s voice. It was then that Rassilon realized she went into AMY’S room with the hedgehog girl in it.

“…You saw nothing!” she hissed.

“The heck I didn’t!” retorted Amy. “Why was your hand glowing?!”

“That’s not important right now!”

“Rassilon, if there’s something wrong-!”

“Amy Rose!” Amy backed up from Rassilon at that sudden bark. “…Amy, I’d rather the Doctor not find out, otherwise she’d forget the quest and focus on me. She needs to apply her bleeding hearts on the entire universe instead of one person.”

“…All right, but you WILL tell her one day,” insisted Amy. “…Come on, let’s get you back to your room.” Amy helped Rassilon back to her room.

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 2

Riding While Masked: Part 3

The Autons outside weren’t letting up. “Come on, come on!” grumbled the Doctor as she worked the controls. She then pulled on a lever…but it didn’t move. “…Of all the-! RASSILON!”

“What?!” asked Rassilon.

“You jammed the brakes on! That’s why TARDIS maintenance is best left to me!” She then found a mallet and swung it at the lever. NOW the Time Rotor moved up and down again! The TARDIS made its usual takeoff noise, but the takeoff was rather sharp, knocking people around. After a good minute of shaking, the TARDIS settled down with everyone picking themselves up. “All right, sound off,” said the Doctor. “Who’s not dead?”

“I think I clonked heads with someone,” complained William.

“Me,” replied Amy. “You clonked heads with me.”

“Crap. Sorry.”

“Still alive,” said Rassilon.

“So are we,” said Tsukasa, speaking for his fellow Riders. Sougo, Keito, and Woz goggled again.

“So it wasn’t a dream?!” asked Keito.

“It appears not, Geiz-kun,” replied Woz.

“How-?!” asked Sougo.

“It’s a bit complicated,” replied Rassilon. “First, you have to imagine a big box inside a small box.”

“…Then?” quizzed Sougo.

“Then you have to make it,” finished Rassilon. “It’s the second step I stumbled on a lot when I made the first TARDIS.”

“Everyone, why don’t you all give them a tour of the place?” the Doctor suggested to her crew. “I need to input the data. Oh, Sougo, could you and your friends give me your Ridewatches? Perhaps I can pinpoint the exact moment the paradox began with them.”

“Sure,” replied Sougo.

“Wait a minute! Doctor, that kind of technology-!” argued Rassilon.

“Rassilon, please!” urged the Doctor. “I’d rather not risk peripheral damage to the timeline.”

“…Very well.” Rassilon turned to the Riders. “You heard her. We need to trace the origin of the paradox.”

“Fine, fine,” grumbled Keito as he handed over his Ridewatch. Sougo and Woz did the same and the Doctor wired them into the TARDIS console.

“Come on, guys!” called Amy, remembering the Doctor’s suggestion. “I know the best rooms here!”

“There’s more?!” asked Sougo.

“The other doors should have made it obvious,” remarked Tsukasa. Amy led everyone on a tour of the best rooms in the TARDIS with Rassilon and William stayed behind.

“…I suppose Amy is sufficient for-,” said the Doctor.

“Doctor, why are you doing this?” asked William.

“…I don’t know as I follow.”

“When we tried to undo Ezar’s transformation into a Krynoid…”

“…Ah.”

“So you DID say something about this kind of thing,” remarked Rassilon.

“Her exact words,” explained William, “ were that several laws of time prevent her from messing with established history for a start and those laws spawn from the simple fact that doing that is the messiest of quick fixes that just create paradoxes out across time and space.”

“…Those were my exact words, and I meant them,” confirmed the Doctor.

“But you’ve decided to mess with established history right now,” observed Rassilon.

“…If there’s no other way, yes! Look, William, there are just some secrets of time that I cannot risk divulging, and that stems from the fact that I don’t know what lies ahead for you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” snapped William.

“William, you met previous companions of mine. There will come a time where you and I will part company and I don’t know what you’ll do or who you’ll meet or what you’ll tell them or what they may force you to tell them. The basic fact of the matter is that there are some secrets that a Time Lord must never EVER reveal.”

“It’s something to do with the origin of the greater paradox surrounding the Autons, isn’t it?” asked Rassilon.

“…Yes,” said the Doctor.

“And when Tsukasa told us what was going on, you thought about something, but didn’t elaborate!” said William. “Doctor, I need to understand!”

“William!” snapped the Doctor. She then drew in a breath to calm down. “…I’ll say this much; it has to do with the nature of the universe and the fabric of time itself. Somehow, there’s an unpredictable reaction between the two. You know what a temporal paradox is, yes?”

“Yes, when someone goes back in time to alter the past, only their actions in the past caused the future in the first place.”

“That’s one example,” remarked Rassilon. “And that’s the pertinent one, isn’t it, Doctor.”

“…Yes. And that’s all that I’m prepared to say,” replied the Doctor.

“William, I think we’d best let the Doctor work right now,” suggested Rassilon. “We’d best not interrupt her and risk peripheral damage to the timeline.”

“…All right,” grumbled William. He and Rassilon headed after Amy and her group while the Doctor checked things over.

After a while, the Doctor sighed. “Useless,” she muttered. “All because Tsukasa wants a quick fix. …Tsukasa… …Tsukasa…” The Doctor tapped her chin, then typed something into the console. “Timeline check on Tsukasa Kadoya, keyword: Rider Forms.” The scanner then revealed all the forms Tsukasa took as Kamen Rider Decade. “…Why is that one separate from the base form? It sure looks the same.” The Doctor checked on the form. The minor difference was that the light on the helmet’s forehead was purple instead of yellow. She goggled when she saw what that form really was. “Violent Emotion, oh dear. Tsukasa, you can’t use that form at this time!” At that moment, everyone filed back into the console room.

“Are we there yet?” asked Tsukasa. “We seem to be taking our sweet time.”

“…You know, you’re a bit of a mystery, Tsukasa,” remarked the Doctor.

“Oh?”

“I can’t think of a single reason why you’d get so angry over a minor mistake like that,” continued the Doctor. Tsukasa’s eyes went wide.

“…You…you guessed?!” he spluttered.

“Tsukasa, you can’t risk using your Violent Emotion form like that,” urged the Doctor. “You’ve already surrendered it when you stopped being a destroyer!” By then, a strange energy washed over everyone, freezing Tsukasa, but not everyone else.

“Doctor, what’s going on?!” asked Amy. “Tsukasa’s frozen!”

“Not only that, he’s phasing in and out of existence!” observed Keito.

“That’s just confirmation of my theory,” shuddered the Doctor.

“…But you’re not gonna tell us, aren’t you?” said William.

“They’re the cogs of a great machine going in opposite directions, time and space crushing each other to death like angry beasts unleashed,” said the Doctor.

“It’s getting worse, isn’t it?” observed Rassilon. “The time paradox?”

“Yes,” confirmed the Doctor. “There are good and bad places to have them. This is a bad place, just bad luck in the game of universal dice, really. But if we don’t do something, everything could unravel.”

“Everything?” asked Woz.

“Everything!” repeated the Doctor. “Too large a concept to have any meaning, isn’t it? Can you imagine the chaos of every particle of matter accelerating to the point of destruction? And even destruction is too small a word! Terror, agony, they don’t even come close!”

“So if we don’t destroy the Autons-,” ventured Sougo.

“I’m not sure that’s what we need to do,” interrupted the Doctor.

“Doctor?” asked Rassilon.

“You mean you don’t know what’s caused the time paradox?” asked William.

“I thought the nexus point was when the Autons were activated after the death of the Nestene Consciousness in 2013,” explained the Doctor, “and that we had caused that by bringing the Ridewatches there.”

“What’s made you change your mind?” quizzed Amy.

“Tsukasa,” replied the Doctor. “His Violent Emotion state. He’s willing to bring that form into existence again.” That was when Tsukasa started moving.

“How did you-?!” he spluttered.

“The time distortion’s gone,” remarked Rassilon.

“Time distortion?” asked Tsukasa.

“Yeah, didn’t you notice?” asked William.

“We were outside time, everyone,” explained the Doctor. “Looking in on the impending disaster.”

“Doctor, have we landed yet?!” insisted Tsukasa. The TARDIS then made its arrival noise and thud.

“Oh dear, we have,” gulped the Doctor. Tsukasa then pulled out his Decadriver.

“Then it’s time to finish this!”

“Tsukasa, no!” argued Sougo. He, Keito, and Woz blocked the door.

“Get out of the way!” demanded Tsukasa.

“Tsukasa, using your Violent Emotion state won’t help this situation!” urged Geiz.

“We’ll stop you if we have to!” warned Woz as he and his fellow Riders pulled out their respective BeyonDriver and Ziku Drivers, attaching them to their waists.

“You can’t stop me!” replied Tsukasa as he opened his Decadriver and pulled out a card. Sougo, Keito, and Woz then pressed the buttons on their Ridewatches and Miridewatch, prompting them to say “Zi-O!”, “Geiz!” and “Woz!” respectively. Tsukasa flinched, then growled.

“I have to do this!” he insisted. “Henshin!” He then put the card into the Decadriver!

“Kamen Ride: Decade!” It announced once he closed it. The Ridewatch Riders then inserted their trinkets into the belts.

“Henshin!” they all called.

“Rider Time! Kamen Rider Zi-O!”

“Rider Time! Kamen Rider Geiz!”

“TOUEI! Future Time! Sugoi! Jidai! Mirai! Kamen Rider Woz! WOZ!” All the Kamen Riders were ready! Decade charged at them, but Zi-O and Geiz tripped him up while Woz pinned him down once he hit the floor. The one thing they all forgot was never let Decade reach his Ride-booker. He opened the book on his left and drew a card, then inserted it into the Decadriver.

“Attack Ride: Slash!” it announced. The Ride-booker then unfolded into a sword and he slashed at the Riders pinning him down. He got up and ran out of the TARDIS!

“STOP!” called Zi-O as he and his friends rushed out after Decade.

“NO! PLEASE! GET BACK-!” protested the Doctor. She growled when they didn’t listen. “Rassilon, Amy, William, stay here and monitor the situation!” she ordered as she left.

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 2

Riding While Masked: Part 2

“…Temporal compression technology!” whispered the Doctor.

“But…how?!” asked Rassilon.

“You’ll get your explanations later,” replied Tsukasa. “Right now, we need to get you to safety.” He pulled out a strange device, then put it to his waist. The device then created a belt around him. He then pulled out a card as he opened the device. “Henshin!” he said. He then slid the card into the device.

“Kamen Ride!” it announced. He then closed the device. “Decade!” Armor then appeared around him. It was magenta and his helmet looked like cards with green eyes.

“Kamen Rider Decade,” said the Doctor. Plas-Keito then put his strange watch device to his waist. It entered him, surrounding him in dark energy, then he turned into a monstrous creature that vaguely was modeled after a red and black digital watch with teeth and horrid eyes.

“GEIZ!” came the demonic voice. On the shoulder was “Geiz 2068”.

“Another Geiz, huh?” scoffed Decade. “Shouldn’t be too much trouble.” The two then fought.

“You don’t possess the Geiz Ridewatch,” said Another Geiz. “You cannot defeat me now.”

“No, but I bought time,” replied Decade. Another Geiz then noticed that the Doctor and her crew were gone, along with the control sphere!

“Locate and destroy thieves!” ordered Another Geiz. “Destroy Enemy Autons as well!” Decade went off in pursuit of the Doctor.

The TARDIS crew ran as fast as they could, but then more Autons approached, led by someone in gray robes and a scarf. “Control Unit located,” he said as he pulled out a device like Another Geiz’s! “Destroy. Total destruction.” He pressed the button.

“Woz!” said a demonic voice. He then put the device to his waist and, like Another Geiz, he was surrounded by dark energy. The energy dissipated to reveal a monstrous white and green-trimmed monster with teeth and horrid eyes, modeled after a smart-watch. “WOZ!” This one had the words “Woz 0000” on his thigh.

“Another one?!” asked William.

“What’s going on here?!” asked Rassilon. “How did the Nestene Consciousness get ahold of temporal compression technology?!”

“I have theories, none of them are good,” replied the Doctor.

“Hey! Another Woz!” called a voice. Everyone turned to see another high-school boy. “You leave them alone!”

“Target: Tokiwa Sougo,” droned the Auton Commander known as Another Woz. “Eliminate.”

“I don’t think so! Those people are too important!” retorted the kid, Sougo. He then pulled out yet another device!

“No! Kid! That’s dangerous!” urged the Doctor.

“Don’t worry, Ma’am,” assured Sougo. “I have a feeling it will work out!” He then rotated the face of the device and attached another machine with a slot on either side to his waist. It formed a belt strap like Decade’s. Sougo then pressed the button.

“Zi-O!” announced a more normal voice. Sougo then inserted the circular device into the right hand slot, then pressed a button on the belt. The belt tilted so the attached device went down. Sougo then posed.

“HENSHIN!” he called. He then spun the belt and it rotated once until it returned to its horizontal position.

“Rider Time!” it called. It then sang “Kamen Rider Zi-O!” Armor then appeared over him. It was dark blue gray with a wristwatch theme. The helmet looked like an analog watch with the kanji for “Rider” in the middle of the clock face.

“…A Kamen Rider using temporal compression technology?! But that’s impossible!” said the Doctor. “…Unless…of course! The device and belt were meant to be paired!”

“You guys get out of here!” called Sougo, now Kamen Rider Zi-O. “I’ll handle Another Woz and his dummies!”

“But Decade’s fighting Another Geiz and his Autons!” protested Rassilon. Speaking of Decade, he arrived on his motorcycle, modeled after his helmet.

“Everyone, get ready for transit!” he called. Another Geiz and his Autons arrived.

“Enemy Commander!” he called when he spotted Another Woz. The two Another Riders then fought each other.

“What the-?!” The Doctor’s question was cut off as a curtain of gray energy swallowed them up.

The group arrived at an abandoned warehouse. The two Kamen Riders cancelled their transformations and resumed their civilian identities. “Sorry for the Aurora Curtain, but we had to make our escape,” explained Tsukasa.

“Don’t worry,” said Sougo, “this place was cleared a while ago.”

“Then, perhaps,” said the Doctor, “someone could kindly explain why two Auton Commanders attacked one another?! The Nestene Consciousness won’t allow Autons to fight Autons!”

“There’s no Nestene Consciousness controlling them, Doctor,” replied Tsukasa. “They activated after the passing of the Nestene, when we both dealt with them in 2013.”

“…Those Autons,” said the Doctor, “are acting independently?”

“The signal never fully cut out in 2013, Doctor. It’s been slowly building power since we shut it down beneath Tokyo Tower.”

“…Then I wasn’t as thorough as I thought. And now the Autons have control over temporal compression technology.”

“Doctor, what IS temporal compression technology?” asked William.

“I’m a bit lost in the Time Vortex here myself,” admitted Amy.

“Temporal compression technology,” explained Rassilon, “steals timelines and historical events around a certain person, putting it all into one device, creating a harmful causal loop, a Bootstrap Paradox, if you will.”

“Unless, of course, you’re a time traveler yourself,” said the Doctor. “If you make a device based on YOUR history, your power, theoretically, is amplified, but it would cause damage to your body and cause a time paradox that would rend you and all you love asunder…unless you had something to handle and correct the paradox, such as Sougo’s belt. Sougo, where did you get that belt?”

“It came to me from an old future version of me where I became a king of time known as Ohma Zi-O,” replied Sougo.

“Ohma Zi-O?” asked Rassilon. “…I think I tried to recruit him for the Time War. He refused and sent me and my soldiers away.”

“Serves you right, frankly,” remarked the Doctor. “So, it’s a paradox that eventually erased him…but the technology can be made in the present.”

“So how did the Autons find that tech?” asked William.

“The Autons would have to keep the people they copied alive so they could access the twisted powers of their Rider forms,” replied the Doctor. “…And there’s a massive paradox right now. Those Another Riders shouldn’t exist, yet they are.”

“Therein lies why we’re here,” said Tsukasa. “Doctor, we need you to take us back to 2013 and eliminate the Nestene Consciousness utterly.”

“Out of the question!” barked Rassilon. “That’s against the laws of time!”

“I already looked into the past with my Time Mazine,” said Sougo. “There’s too much damage to the timeline there thanks to the original Geiz and Woz being captured. That’s why the Autons are independent.”

“And they know that one of their Control Units,” said Tsukasa, “is a segment of the Key to Time.”

“…So they’ll try to use its latent chronon field to become the new Lords of Time, but one has to become the new Nestene Consciousness, hence the Auton civil war,” theorized the Doctor. Her brow furrowed in thought.

“…Doctor?” asked Rassilon.

“…Tsukasa, you’ll need to help me retrieve the TARDIS,” said the Doctor.

“It’s in Tokyo Tower, one of the lower levels,” replied Tsukasa. “So, you’re going to help us?”

“…It looks that way,” muttered the Doctor.

The group made its way to Tokyo Tower with Tsukasa disguised as an employee there. He flashed his badge to the guards and explained the situation. The guards nodded and let them through. He led them down to the lower levels where a cauldron stood. It looked like it could hold something. Nearby…was the TARDIS! “There she is!” called the Doctor.

“Halt!” called Another Geiz’s voice. He and his Autons arrived. “The Control Unit. You will not be asked again.” Just then, everyone heard muffled voices. William turned to see what looked like Plas-Keito and the Woz Duplicate tied up and gagged. They were mumbling something. William first headed over and pinched their cheeks, confirming they were real. The two protested through their gags.

“Had to make sure you weren’t plastic,” he said as he untied them.

“Move away from them!” called Another Woz’s voice. William didn’t listen and freed the real Keito. Just as Another Woz was about to grab him, Keito decked the monstrous Kamen Rider. He then reached for something as William freed the real Woz.

“NO!” called the Doctor. “Not now! Quick! Into the TARDIS!” Everyone dashed into the time machine.

The Ridewatch using Riders goggled in surprise. Tsukasa, on the other hand, just looked around with mild interest. “You’ve redecorated,” he said. “…I don’t like it.” The TARDIS then rocked, causing everyone to fall to the floor or hold onto something.

“What’s going on?!” yelped Sougo.

“The Autons are firing on the TARDIS,” replied the Doctor. “That’s the trouble with encountering a race that hates your guts!”

“But the TARDIS is indestructible!” argued Amy. “You said so yourself!”

“I said it was VIRTUALLY indestructible!” countered the Doctor. “I think the Autons are taking advantage of the temporal com…the Ridewatches!”

“What do you mean?!” asked William.

“They’re using the paradoxical energy to weaken the TARDIS shields!”

“That kind of temporal stress will crack the outer shell!” yelped Rassilon.

“And collapse the internal dimensions!” finished the Doctor.

“An implosion with us inside?!” asked William.

“A violent one!” confirmed the Doctor as she worked the console feverishly.

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 2

Riding While Masked: Part 1

With a third of the segments of the Key to Time now in their possession, the TARDIS crew were sailing through the Time Vortex. Rassilon was at the console this time, checking things over with a huge book to occasionally look at. “Let’s see…Doctor, you really shouldn’t leave the brakes on.”

“Erm, Rassilon,” said the Doctor once she entered the console room, “what are you doing?”

“Replacing your brakes, Doctor,” replied Rassilon. “The TARDIS could use it.” The TARDIS shuddered a bit. “There we go! And the noises are switched on! The arrival and takeoff noises can be switched on and off. It was the Type 40’s that made it a feature!”

“Rassilon, I don’t want you to take umbrage, but might I suggest TARDIS maintenance be left to me? I know you’re the creator of the first TARDIS-.”

“That’s rather patronizing of you!”

“The point is, the old girl IS rather dimensionally temperamental, and Type 40’s aren’t your forte, are they?”

“They are when the manual is available,” retorted Rassilon as she closed the book and waved it in the Doctor’s face. “Maybe indulge your TARDIS and fix it according to the manual once in a while, hm? It would keep its grumblings down to a minimum.” The TARDIS shuddered again.

“Yes, all right, you don’t need to test the brakes again!” remarked the Doctor.

“I’m not, we’re slowing down for arrival,” replied Rassilon. The TARDIS made its arrival noise and the thud followed.

“…Well…thank you,” mumbled the Doctor. She then put her hands on the telepathic circuits. “Is that really what you’ve been telling me?” she asked the TARDIS. “You just want the occasional repairs according to the book?” The TARDIS mentally responded. “…Every 2,000 years, then. All right, old girl. I’m sorry for not listening properly.” The TARDIS sent waves of reassurance. “Now then,” the Doctor checked the readings on the other console panels, “let’s see where we are. …Huh, Japan again.”

“Japan?” asked William’s voice as he and Amy entered the console room. “Are we gonna see Godzilla again?”

“Hopefully not,” replied the Doctor. “We’re in Tokyo. Ginza, to be precise. A high-end fashion shopping district in Chūō, built on an old swamp before becoming what it is today.”

“I suppose the big question is when we are,” mused Amy.

“Readings say the local date is…the 13th of April, 2025,” said the Doctor.

“Ah, my native time,” chuckled William. “Only four months from when I first went inside the TARDIS.”

“So, what alley did we land in?” asked Rassilon.

“…We…We didn’t,” replied the Doctor.

“Doctor!”

“We’re somewhere public?” asked Amy.

“Won’t the TARDIS stick out like a sore thumb?” quizzed William. “I mean, it’s got English words and the Japanese-.”

“It’s all right,” assured the Doctor.

“All right?! Doctor, you and Rassilon look human, yes, but your accents sound British to me. I’ve got African features and have an American accent. The three of us could at least pass for human, but Amy…she’s pink, wearing black, and she’s a three-foot-tall talking hedgehog with connected eyes!”

“William’s right, Doctor,” agreed Rassilon. “We Time Lords don’t care to be conspicuous…some of us, anyways.”

“Everyone, here’s what I observed about average people, even the average people within Time Lord society,” said the Doctor. “You put a mysterious blue box with a bunch of foreigners in it slap bang in the middle of town, what do you do? You walk past it because it’s too weird for you and you’d quickly focus on normal things like bills or jobs or train schedules. Now please, everyone, let’s not get bogged down by our oddities. Let’s just, I dunno, go find the third segment.”

“…Oh, very well,” sighed Rassilon. She retrieved the tracer and everyone headed to the door.

William was surprised that he was looking at the signs and reading English. “…Doctor, you said the TARDIS had universal translators, right?” he asked. “Do they also work on signs?”

“Of course. Why?” asked the Doctor.

“Nothing, just checking.”

“…It’s somewhere in this vicinity,” remarked Rassilon as she looked at the tracer. She then pointed it down an alley. The clicking then spiked! “Down there!” she said.

“Come on, let’s try and make this quick,” urged the Doctor. Everyone then headed down the alley. There didn’t seem to be anything worthwhile, but they couldn’t take the chance. What they didn’t realize was that they were being watched. As Rassilon waved the tracer, it clicked rapidly as it pointed at a pile of objects. One of the objects seemed to be a roughly-shaped sphere made of pale-pink plastic.

“…Doctor!” called Rassilon. Everyone rushed to her.

“What is it?” asked the Doctor. Rassilon pointed the tracer at the plastic sphere. The Doctor’s eyes widened. “…Oh dear,” she muttered.

“A shopping district will make a perfect place for its army,” said Rassilon.

“Doctor, Rassilon, what’s going on?” asked William. “Is that thing really the third segment?”

“Yes, but now it’s become one of the more dangerous segments,” replied the Doctor. “That’s a Nestene Control Sphere. The Nestene Consciousness is here.”

“What’s the Nestene Consciousness?” asked Amy.

“A creature that can control anything made of plastic,” explained the Doctor. “Toys, electronic casings, usually shop window dummies.”

“…Like the one over there?” asked William as he pointed down the alley. The shop window dummy was for women’s clothing, evidently. It had ditched the heels as it walked. Yes, walked. It was moving.

“That’s not a dummy anymore!” warned Rassilon. “That’s an Auton soldier for the Nestene Consciousness! Grab that sphere and run!” William grabbed the sphere and was about to run, but the exit was blocked. It looked like a Japanese school boy was standing there, adolescent and with the build of a young judo fighter.

“Kid, get out of the way!” protested William.

“The Control Unit,” demanded the kid. “Hand it over.”

“…Wait a minute,” muttered William. He noticed that the kid looked too shiny, almost…like plastic. “…Doctor, can this Nestene thing make plastic people?!”

“It can create duplicates, yes,” replied the Doctor. She then looked down the other end of the alley. “…Oh dear! William, come back here!” The plastic kid looked down to the dummy.

“Destroy. Total destruction. The Time Lords first. They must pay for what they’ve done to us.”

“Yep, still sore about that!” gulped the Doctor.

“Sore about what?!” asked Rassilon. “And why us first?! We were allies!”

“Until they lost their food planets in the Time War!”

“They can’t blame us for that!”

“Doctor, I’m not sure I like what the Auton’s doing!” warned Amy. The Auton raised its right hand, then the fingers came down on a hinge at the pinky joint and a thin tube extended.

“GET DOWN!” called William. Everyone ducked as the tube fired something, making a noise that sounded like a click and a woosh. The shot caused a trash bag to explode!

“Great! A dummy with a gun!” said Amy.

“Sounds like the average American!” replied William. Rassilon then threw another trash bag at the Auton, knocking it down.

“RUN!” called the Doctor. The group ran down the alley, taking the sphere with it!

“STOP!” called the kid. He chased after them while raising his right hand, his fingers falling away on their own hinge, revealing his own Auton gun. He fired, but couldn’t get a decent shot.

“I have to admit, I never thought I’d be running from a window dummy!” said William as the crew escaped. They found a place to catch their breath.

“…Doctor, we HAVE to defeat the Nestene Consciousness,” panted Rassilon. “On top of them converting Earth into a new food planet, they’ll possess the third segment.”

“Both bad in the long run,” remarked the Doctor. “We need to find where it’s broadcasting from.”

“Broadcasting?” asked William. “You mean the Nestene thing is using a signal to make plastic killers?”

“Yes, and it would need a powerful transmitter.”

“What about Tokyo Tower?” The Doctor pondered William’s guess.

“That would be a likely place,” she said. “But we’d need to get there quickly and the Autons will certainly intercept us if we used Japan’s public transport.”

“Crap, and I don’t have yen on me,” muttered William.

“What about the TARDIS?” asked Amy.

“The TARDIS is now ours,” came the voice of the plastic kid as he and the Auton caught up, aiming their arm-guns. “The Control Unit belongs to us. Hand it over.”

“Hold on a minute!” called the Doctor. “The kid you’re impersonating, the one still alive! What’s his name?!”

“…Keito Myokoin,” replied the kid.

“Right, calling you Plas-Keito here,” said the Doctor. “Look, we need to borrow this and-!”

“That is our property,” replied Plas-Keito. “You have spoken long enough. Auton, destroy. Total Destruction.”

“That’s enough of that stupidity,” scoffed a voice. A man then stepped out of the alley. He had a pink camera and took a picture of the scene. The Doctor blinked.

“…Tsukasa Kadoya,” she said. “…Still taking pictures of alternate worlds, huh?”

“I see you still get into scrapes, Doctor,” replied the new man.

“New target. Tsukasa Kadoya. Destroy. Personal,” droned Plas-Keito. He put his fingers back on, concealing the gun, then pulled out a purple, circular device with a monstrous face on it. He pressed the button on top.

“Geiz!” announced the device in a demonic voice. The two Time Lords realized what was going on!

Categories
Journey Through Wonder story

Chapter 92: Epilogue

So…how did everyone’s lives unfold? Well, let’s start in the Realms. Endea and Glanthelantir enjoyed nice, long working lives and retirement before they eventually passed on. Their ship forms were respectfully moved to different Realms to become living accommodations for other denizens. Endea passed long before Glanthel did. They each had monuments erected in their honor.

The Barmeks became the richest family in the Realms (second only to the Royals). Bashoon founded the Royal Society for the Ledd Fortunate, a society of rich folk that take direct action to get the poor and destitute a comfortable lifestyle. Delselii’s inventions helped benefit the Realms. Hejema Barmek eventually became Hejema Elizondo once she and Sora hit it off. Her Homunculus pet business became very popular and, when she passed, she joined Sora in Beyond City. Torya became the Head Wizard for the Largandra Royal College, married his Zephyr partners, and lived a comfortable life of academia.

The previous rulers of the original Three Realms passed on comfortably, secure in the knowledge that their grandkids’ future is going to be a good one. The Emboramii Bakery, founded by Orbak, still exists to this day. Elmpam was made a saint for her service in both the Final War and the Source Crisis. The Felomphas had whole books written about them and people still read them long after their passing. Arsha’s parents eventually moved to the Sakuran Kitsune Province in the Over-realm to live out the remainder of their lives in peace and quiet.

Arsha and her spouses handed the reins of power over to Geltar, Farmee, and Yufantel. Officially, Geltar ruled the Over-realm, Farmee ruled the Mid-realm, and Yufantel ruled the Under-realm. Arsha passed her rose hair ornament to Farmee, making him the first man to wear it and returning it to Foresna’s bloodline. The Gateway Construction Project was hailed as the biggest success under their rule, making the Realms one of the most powerful universes in the multiverse. Geltar married an Orc/Zephyr Blender man named Mulmaf and they had five children; four girls, one son. Farmee, in a twist that united universes, married Kaede Saunders Hishikawa and brought two twin girls into the world. Yufantel married her lovers she picked up during her Tour and had children with them.

The Doctor of this reality never reconnected with Donna, unlike the main timeline. She and her universe’s Jack Harkness went back. Jack went on to become the Face of Boe once they parted company again. The Doctor would learn of her origins as the Timeless Child later, but she was never a part of Division and never reconnected with Tecteun. What she DID do was slow down enough to give whizzing around time and space a break so she could get the therapy she needed. She lived a quiet life, reconnecting with Susan still living on Earth post Dalek Invasion. After the two regenerated at the end of that peaceful life, they returned to the TARDIS and resumed their adventures.

Shockwave and her Mini-con companions returned to Mars, only this time, they were slightly more social. Shockwave spent her scientific life atoning for the horrors she unleashed during the two wars and, after her passing, had to spend some time in Cybertronian Purgatory before fully getting her final reward. After her death, her Mini-con friends reconnected with Soundwave and journeyed with him and his crew aboard the Enigma until the end of their days.

Hot Rod became Override’s ambassador to Galactic Council. After the passing of Kup, he dedicated his life’s work of peace to the mech’s memory and name. He was responsible for creating the Galactic Olympics, a series of sports games dedicated to fostering peace across the Milky Way Galaxy.

Kong Primal continued ruling Animatros with wisdom, courage, and compassion. He brokered real peace between his fellow Maximals and the Predacons, making Animatros a jungle paradise. He eventually stepped down and named Slash, a Dyno-bot, his successor as the Flame Convoy.

Knuckles and Rouge eventually had a daughter named Citrine. Her status as an echidna/bat hybrid made her a curiosity, but she became an influential figure in magical history once she became the Grand High Witch of Mobius and the first Magical Ambassador to the Galactic Council.

Sira and Natalie continued living as they did, raising Sandy to be an excellent Witch. Sandy became a Witch of the Green Order, learning under Grimlock himself with Amy as her secondary teacher. She still guards the Master Emerald when Rouge and Knuckles are away on business.

Tails and Cosmo eventually had a daughter named Marigold Prower. Because of her hybrid nature, she wouldn’t be able to change genders during her regenerations like Cosmo did. Marigold became the head of Miles Electric and created galactic branches of the company on all allied worlds.

Shadow eventually stepped down as G.U.N Commander and retired with Maria. Shade became the new head of the Space Colony ARK as its chief scientist and joined Tails and Shockwave on many a scientific adventure. She eventually married a man and lived a long life with him.

Sonic and Amy eventually abdicated the throne in favor of Silver. Silver eventually married a cat from the Sol Dimension, Princess Blaze, the Guardian of the Sol Emeralds. In THIS timeline, the two had a long, happy, peaceful life with a daughter.

Trema retired from her duties, passing them onto her grandson, the blood son of Galen and Llyra. Llyra ruled Nebulos with her spouses for a long time and the planet knew peace and prosperity well past her death and the death of her spouses.

Teletraan-1 returned to Mobius to retire there as he enjoyed the planet more than Cybertron. He and his daughter, T-AI, helped the Autobots and allied Decepticons defeat the Eggman Empire on numerous occasions.

Thundercracker successfully reforged the Seekers into an honorable organization that accepted both Autobots and Decepticons. Because of this, he earned the forgiveness of Ironhide, Chromia, and Firestar when he finally passed into the After-spark. He joined them in the After-Fighters, an independent group of deceased warriors that protected the multiverse, formed after Quake Hammer moved to Beyond City.

Jazz became one of the greatest Cyber-Ninja Grandmasters, teaching Autobot and Decepticon alike. He passed away at a ripe old age, but, like his and Optimus’ sensei, Yoketron, could still fight as if he were still a spry young man. His successor was a former Decepticon named Jetfire, twin brother of Skyfire.

Goldbug Magnus stepped down and returned to being Bumblebee a few years into Solara’s reign. He and Arcee helped Solara with the Universe Bridge Construction Scheme and, thanks to a good deal of looking, helped Solara pick a Decepticon as her Magnus, the Decepticon Cyber-ninja, Charger.

Megatron and Nightbird went on to serve in the Black Block Consortia, the Galactic Council’s military arm. Galvatron continued ruling the Decepticons well after his parents died. He helped defend against the Rock Lord attack on Cybertron by negotiating with both the Guardian and Renegade Go-bots.

After Optimus’ passing, Blackarachnia went on to become the head chemist at the Iacon Research Institute. After passing away after a long, peaceful life, she rejoined Optimus in After Academy. Their daughters helped Solara with Gateway Construction and helped to usher in a new era for their universe.

Scorpainia and Eelinape abdicated in favor of Lobstornias. A new era of peace for the Tarlaxians was ushered in and he is usually credited with their current prosperity. Under his rule, Tarlaxians were no longer the exploitable monster race, but the staunch monster allies of good.

The Chizaran Major Princesses continued to organize the 3V2R for themselves. The prizes were still dangerous in the wrong hands, but they learned to put limits onto the prizes. Now they offer first place winners either the prize or a cash equivalent. The matches are still a sight to see!

Jason Babineaux married Gabriella and Willmef, forming a vigilante crime-fighter trio themed after their fashion work. They were officially deputized by Beyond City’s police department and his fathers, Emmanuel and Lukas, happily support his endeavors.

Vortrina set herself up as the Guardian of Foundation Prime, tasked with making sure no one tries to get access to it. She married Sandra Noman and became a goddess with her, forming a new universe to help guard Foundation Prime.

The Horsemen of Flourishment joined their Apocalypse sisters and formed new houses centered around Philosophy, Psychology, Medicine, Biology, and Life Skills. After Academy students enjoy their new teachers and, with the Sources tucked away safely, all Horsemen can enjoy their lives.

Liam and Palmarta eventually have a daughter, a Naga like Palmarta but with her father’s skin tone. Their daughter goes on to become a talented engineer and now serves aboard the newest ship for the F.N.S, the Journey Through Wonder.

Lacey still heads the Technology department at After Academy and Agus is still the Chief Roboticist of the F.N.S. Emma became known as the female David Attenborough thanks to her being as dedicated to ecology as him. She has done quite a bit of work to help everyone understand nature.

Barbara Zhou has managed to expand her audience to universes outside her own. Her parents, Sophie and Henry, still tune in when they can and enjoy that their daughter is still telling funny stories and trading quips through her show.

Charline, Twaldar, and Fordelam left the more combative life in exchange for a nice, quiet life out in the country outside the borders of Beyond City. They still visit from time to time, but aren’t all that eager to return to combat.

Michael and Irina started looking into forming an organization that would answer to temporal incursions, asking the Doctor for advice so they don’t become complacent like the Time Lords did. Archer helps with the architecture of their headquarters while Dinara is still working as Flora’s secretary.

Dr. Emily Williams formed her own medical practice and Joshua still preaches from time to time. Tom took over as Police Commissioner for Beyond City and Sam continues testing out planes for Beyond City’s air force.

Flora is still the Grand Mayor of Beyond City with her husband, Swalmu, making sure she doesn’t stress herself out. Fitri, Leemii, Sweemar, and Willmef occasionally pool their resources to create nice, relaxing vacations for their parents to forget about the stresses of politics just for a while.

Jandro, Brendan, and Brittney formed a Vampire Quarter in Beyond City for Vampires to dwell both during the day and at night. They advocated for more nocturnal people to do work while day people are asleep and for the day people to take over when the nocturnal people are asleep. Thanks to their efforts, no one is pulling long shifts!

Amelia and Wilson formed an art school under the umbrella of After Academy. They saw their daughter, Katrina, marry her Chizaran lovers and she now enjoys a life of non-violence and peace, occasionally indulging in a mud bath.

Like their friends, Megumi and her family graduated from After Academy. Megumi went on to become a professor of multiversal archaeology, Richard continued being head anchor for MNN, Kaede moved to the Realms and acts as both Queen of the Mid-realm and that universe’s Batman, and Kaitlyn took over as head of the F.N.S and married her girlfriends. Lisa continued dutifully serving the Hishikawa/Saunders family as their Alfred.

Metaltron, Nemesis, and Intrag came to a bad end. They were discovered by Hana and her Combatmen and were mercilessly killed. Hana then went on to conquer the universe they were in and absorb it into Shocker Rift! Hana made her parents’ organization into a force to be reckoned with. She’s still biding her time, waiting for the proper moment to strike.

Dr. Borg and her spouses and friends successfully took over a universe and created their own utopia, though it was through conquest. They also gave birth to quite a few kids and are training them to take the reins of power. Their policy, so far, is to keep out of multiversal affairs.

As for Khan, well, he ended up in Hell thanks to his plans. He’s now in the same therapy cul-de-sac he pulled the others out of. He lives in a house with John Lumic and Sauron as his housemates!

…But the adventure is not over. Death is not the end for heroes like our friends. Once every mortal ally had passed and made their way to Beyond City, everyone gathered at the shipyards for the launch of a fleet under the command of Kaitlyn. Everyone was boarding the ships with Solara, Kaitlyn, Kaede, Geltar, Farmee, Yufantel, Optimus, Arsha, and Megumi taking the flagship, the new Virginia-A. “Mama,” said Kaitlyn once everyone familiarized themselves with their stations, “hail all ships, have them report their status.”

“Aye aye, kiddo,” replied Megumi. She began her work.

“…Hey, how long do you guys think it will take?” Kaitlyn asked everyone.

“To explore the outer universes?” asked Arsha.

“I’ll accept an estimate,” replied Kaitlyn. Arsha tapped her chin

“Well, taking into account all the variables, applying all the necessary formulas, checking and rechecking all the relevant facts, I’d say it would take…forever. Optimus, Megumi, your findings?”

“…I’d say forever sounds about right,” said Optimus.

“Same here,” agreed Megumi. She then checked her console. “All ships ready!”

“Broadcast to all ships!” ordered Kaitlyn. “We leave at once! Set course for hijinks and adventure!”

“Best order I ever heard from a ship commander!” chuckled Solara. All the ships rose from the shipyards and then took off into a rift for the fleet. Sadly, therein lies the end of our tales of Kamen Rider Royal, Arsha Royana, and Optimus Prime and their respective universes. But there are other parts of the multiverse that remain unexplored. So, let’s explore!

Categories
Journey Through Wonder story

Chapter 91: Finale

Over in the Royana Castle in Largandra, there was a crowd of media people gathering in front of a stage. An unusual event was held as the heirs to the thrones (Geltar, Farmee, and Yufantel) were holding a press conference before their coronation. While a bit unheard of, it wasn’t unwelcome. The press people were giving all sorts of theories until Farmee took the central podium and magic avatars of Geltar in the Over-realm and Yufantel in the Under-realm appeared behind the podiums to either side of him. The three of them raised their hands for quiet from the audience. “Lords and ladies from the original Three Realms to the New Realms, my sisters and I will agree,” began Farmee, “that it IS unusual for the heirs of the thrones to make an address to the people before their coronation.”

“However,” continued Geltar, “that is because we believe you all have the right to know about our plans for when we do take the thrones.”

“As many of you are aware,” Yufantel went on, “we went on a journey that took us and our parents beyond the Realms, through other universes!”

“A few stops were familiar to our parents, and they reconnected with old friends,” said Farmee. “And those old friends have also stepped down, either through unfortunate death or through simple announcement.”

“We made friends with the new rulers and we all came up with an idea that the three of us believe,” Geltar indicated her siblings and herself, “will make our universes better.”

“The Cybertronians,” continued Yufantel, “have Space Bridge technology that can open portals between two points in space. We have the Realmgates. …The technology to make Gateways that can open rifts between universes is there already for both universes!”

“You heard us correctly!” cheered Farmee. “We’re planning on making Gateways for us to visit other universes! Now, we will admit that traveling between universes is not for the timid. …I’m confident in saying that ‘timid’ is not a word used to describe any denizen of the Realms.”

“Now, we DO need to seek counsel on this,” said Geltar, “but we believe we can at least start this project after our coronation.”

“And our first universes we’re connecting with are ones we know are in a state of peace,” assured Yufantel. “We need to make negotiations as easy as possible for this endeavor after all.”

“We’ll tell everyone how everything goes, but we hold high hopes for this particular project,” said Farmee. “Now, any questions? You, with your hand up in the third row.”

“Your highnesses,” asked the reporter, “are you suggesting immigration at this stage of the game?”

“No, not yet,” replied Geltar. “We’re suggesting visitors and trade.”

“One of our allied universes,” explained Yufantel, “has real life Change-a-trons. Our media mentions that they’re the size of our giants, some getting higher.”

“So we need to work on accommodating them in visitor terms first, THEN we start thinking about immigration,” said Farmee.

“Now, that readiness might not come during our rule or our heirs’ rule, but we believe we can lay out the groundwork for that long-term goal,” continued Geltar.

“And we will have help in constructing these new gateways,” said Yufantel.

Solara Prime and Silver made a similar announcement on their planets in their universe. Daniel had a few words with them after that. “Guys, are you sure we’re ready for that?” he asked.

“Positive,” replied Silver. “And we’re starting with universes we KNOW are friendly to ours.”

“Besides, we’re starting to reach a period of stagnation,” said Solara. “This project will help us stay innovative.”

“Well, that WILL be a mercy,” conceded Daniel. “…What about that offer made to Optimus?”

“About him being resurrected? They’re not all that hopeful,” sighed Solara.

Megumi, Optimus, and Blackarachnia waited outside a building. “You think they WILL resurrect you?” Megumi asked Optimus.

“I frankly doubt it,” sighed Optimus. “I mean, Solara IS currently running Cybertron.” Life and Death came out looking downcast.

“They said no?” guessed Blackarachnia.

“Sorry, Blackarachnia,” sighed Death.

“It’s all right, I kind of expected it.”

“That doesn’t mean Optimus can’t visit you,” assured Life. “But the visits to the more mortal universes will be for moments at a time.”

“Still…” sighed Blackarachnia. “…Promise me that he’ll be happy here.”

“You have our word,” promised Death.

After a few days, everyone was giving their goodbyes. Batman and his family departed for Gotham, then Gandalf returned to the Undying Lands, Wyldstyle then headed back to her home with Emmet, then Hongo returned to Japan. Arsha and her compatriots waited until the gateway was tuned to the Realms. “Hey, Arsha,” called Megumi, “did you ever learn what happened to Dr. Borg after she abandoned us?”

“As a matter of fact, I found out through Death,” replied Arsha. “She and her spouses are currently ruling an outer universe as gods in flesh and she and Remsu are pregnant with Shefarn and Tensam’s kids.”

“…Huh. …Well, congratulations to them both. May their pregnancies be smooth.”

“And may your future be filled with happiness, old friend,” said Arsha as she brought Megumi into a hug.

“Yours too,” returned Megumi as she reciprocated the hug. The two Queens hugged each other for a while, then Arsha pulled back.

“Arsha to Endeavor,” she said through her comms, “let’s go home.” Everyone was teleported to the Endeavor and Glanthelantir, then the two ships flew into a ship-sized rift. All that were left were the Transformers and their organic allies.

“Kong,” called Optimus, “before you go, why DO you not like being called Optimus Primal?”

“Because I want my accomplishments to be my own, Prime,” replied Kong. “I know how much my head looks like yours, but Prowl and Bluestreak have the same head sculpt, right?”

“I see your point, Kong.” Optimus looked to Solara. “Prime, the heroes of Cybertron as well as the citizens they gathered have helped you a lot.”

“I WILL be returning the favor like Galvatron is doing,” promised Solara. “We’ve commissioned a monument to those that fell during the crisis and getting all the facts of their lives so their stories can be told.” Optimus smiled at that.

“Making sure their lives have meaning,” he said. “That’s the highest honor anyone can get.”

“Optimus,” interjected Blackarachnia, “don’t you forget about us.”

“I ask the same of you,” replied Optimus, “but don’t be weighed down by my memory, okay?”

“I won’t,” promised Blackarachnia. She then hugged and kissed Optimus. It took a while before they finally separated and Blackarachnia rejoined her people.

“Goodbye, Daddy,” called Sky Runner.

“Stay safe here,” said Firestorm.

“You girls too,” replied Optimus. “That goes for all of you.”

“Megatron, before you go,” called Richard. Megatron looked down. “…Megatron, I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but I need to open with this. I can’t forgive or forget the actions you and the Decepticons took when we first met on Mobius…but I CAN forgive the individual Decepticons…and their leader.”

“…You forgive the people, but not the actions those people took?” asked Megatron.

“That’s the idea. …And Megatron…I’m sorry for being so unfair throughout this entire adventure to you and the Decepticons.”

“You changed, Mr. Saunders. You HAVE been fair to us during this adventure. Making friends with Thundercracker was proof enough. …But I do accept your apology. And I must apologize for using your wife like that when we first met.” Richard smiled.

“…I accept,” he replied. With that, everyone from Megatron’s universe (sans Optimus) gathered around.

“Solara to all ships,” called Solara, “we’re ready to return.” Everyone was beamed up to their ships and entered the rift. With that, everyone was back home.

“…That’s twice we met during a crisis,” muttered Optimus.

“Well, our kids have the right idea in planning the Gateway Construction Program,” replied Megumi. “…I think they said they got the idea from when you guys just wanted to idly visit the Realms and us.”

“A great moment in time to draw inspiration from.”

“Well, let’s make some more peaceful moments. Want a good look around?” At that suggestion, Optimus transformed to vehicle mode and activated his holo-form.

“I drive, you point,” he said. Megumi hopped in.

“Welcome to Beyond City, Optimus Prime!” called Richard as Optimus rolled away.

Categories
Journey Through Wonder story

Chapter 90: Winding Down

The next day, Richard was invited to go for a ride in the Batmobile. He accepted and left his wife and girls to their own devices. “So,” said Megumi to her girls, “what do you want to do today?”

“Honestly, Okaa-san,” sighed Kaitlyn, “I just wanna do nothing today.”

“Hear, hear,” agreed Kaede.

“…Well, we’ve been rushing around a lot lately,” conceded Megumi. “…But there IS a bit of news your father and I discussed.”

“Oh?” asked Kaitlyn.

“First off, your father and I will be graduating next month and believe it will do your sanity some good if you two do the same sometime soon, but that’s entirely your call.”

“Congratulations, Okaa-san!” said Kaede.

“Second, I’ve been thinking about the future for me…and I believe it’s time for me to step down as head of the F.N.S. I’ve spoken with everyone in it and, Kaitlyn, after yesterday…I can safely say you will be my successor.”

“ME?!” yelped Kaitlyn.

“You have the necessary strength, compassion, and intelligence to rule,” replied Megumi. “What do you say?”

“W-Well, I always thought Kaede-!”

“I’m more like Batman in that regard,” replied Kaede. “I don’t really NEED to lead, nor do I want to.”

“…Okaa-san, are you and Dad really sure?” asked Kaitlyn.

“Beyond the shadow of a doubt,” assured Megumi. Kaitlyn thought for a bit, then smiled.

“I accept.”

“We’re all proud of you, Miss Kaitlyn,” said Lisa as everyone hugged her.

“You think Kaitlyn will accept?” Batman asked Richard as the Batmobile continued on its way.

“I know she will,” replied Richard. “She’s got the skills needed to lead. What about you? Any plans for passing on the cowl?”

“You weren’t there for that conversation, but Persephone’s going to inherit the mantle.”

“Really? She’s gonna be BatMAN?”

“We already designed a suit for her that will mask her feminine features, even a voice modulator.”

“Wow, you really DO think of everything. …Now if you’d learn how to cook-!”

“We’re here.” The Batmobile DID stop at the Beyond City Police Department’s lockup, but Batman also said that to avoid a conversation on his crap cooking skills. The two men left the Batmobile, went inside, were subjected to security procedures, then escorted to Katie Barker’s cell. She fell a long way from the glamorous appearance she had during the crisis. Now she had a prison uniform, no makeup on her face, and her hair was in a loose ponytail.

“You’re gonna be in here for a long time, Katie,” said Richard. “All that proselytizing about God making you Barkers into the supreme beings, look where that led you.”

“Richard, I long accepted that there is NO God out there,” replied Katie. “If there were, He would have let me take his place, kept my wife alive, and there’d be a new multiverse for me to rule! Poverty would be a thing of the past! Travel would be granted to ALL universes!”

“People would live in terror of you. There’d be resistance cells against you lot. Trust me, I’ve seen universes where people went against their god and succeeded.”

“That wouldn’t have happened if we were in charge! And, rest assured, when the time comes, these bars will dissolve like the wax of a candle and I WILL be free!”

“If I were in your position, I’d pray,” remarked Batman.

“Oh, I will!” hissed Katie. “I’ll pray for everyone! For every Lost Child in New York, Sodor, Adrexia, and especially Gotham! I’ll pray for you, even! I’ll do one special, just for you!”

“I’ve heard enough, you’re unrepentant,” said Richard.

“I haven’t exactly sinned,” replied Katie.

“And that’s why I’m pushing for your psychiatric treatment instead of execution.”

“…You’re locking me in an asylum?! Which one?! Arkham?!”

“Nothing so porous in terms of security. You’ll see.”

“I’M NOT GOING TO LIVE AMONG FREAKS LIKE THEM! I’M NOT CRAZY!” By then, Richard turned away with Batman following them.

“…Did the judge really say no to Arkham?” asked Batman.

“Bats, you once told Megumi during the Vortech Wars that you’re surprised the inmates of Arkham don’t use a sign-in sheet for when they get out,” replied Richard. “I’m siding with the judge on that one.”

“…That was when we fought the Riddler in Minas Tirith,” recalled Batman. “How did you learn about it?”

“Megumi told me later in our marriage.”

“…Makes sense. Now, there IS something we need to discuss, not as superheroes,” Batman then took off the cowl to reveal Bruce Wayne, “but as entrepreneurs,” he finished, dropping the Bat-voice.

“…Mr. Wayne?” asked Richard.

“Your idea for an electric minivan has merit,” explained Bruce. “What say WayneTech helps you refine it? Add it to our list of electric vehicles in production?”

“…How much will you sell it for and how much of a cut of the profits should I expect?” asked Richard.

“That’s what we need to discuss,” said Bruce. Richard stroked his chin in thought.

“…Not here. A little gauche to talk numbers outside my best friend and nephew’s place of work. Let’s head home.”

What about Hiro and his family? They escaped to a fallback universe once established by Shocker Rift. There was only one remnant of that organization left and they established a small fortress there. Imagine their surprise when Adachi Hiro himself returned with his wife and their daughter having been born already! The Combatmen and loyal Cybermen assembled at a stage with Hiro at the podium. “My loyal followers,” he began, “I cannot begin to express the gratitude I feel about your loyalty. Now, you’re all eager to see me show you how it’s done, from what I’ve heard. However…our enemies know our tricks, MY tricks. …It’s time for this old dog to step aside. And, in my place, my daughter, Adachi Hana, born when Igura and I were unjustly rotting in Hell, shall lead us.” The audience applauded politely as Hana took the stage.

“My friends,” she began, “my father told me that he lost sight of our long-term goal of control over the multiverse.” The crowd didn’t argue, she was right. “You all have heard of our supposed rival, Shocker Umbra. You all became general nuisances in their buttocks. …Here’s where you finally get some good news. Your sacrifices paid off! Because, as of now, Metaltron is the only survivor of that group and she’s mortal again!” The crowd whispered amongst themselves in astonishment. “Granted, she has a man named Intrag and an evil version of Miles ‘Tails’ Prower known as Nemesis Prime, but they’re just as mortal…and unlike us, they have no remnants! They committed all their forces to a major battle on Foundation Prime and lost it horribly! Whereas we…we were smarter than that. We kept remnants in reserve! We kept up an economy for our eventual return to power! We accomplished the short-term goal of staying alive…now let’s think a little more long-term! We need to start recruiting more soldiers, infiltrating the local government, and constructing more weapons! We have the means to build up our army, Metaltron and her flunkies are starting completely from scratch! We must build on that advantage and defeat her quickly! Once that’s done, we turn our attention to the rest of the outer universes! And once they’re completely under our sway, we turn our attention to the inner universes and destroy all who stand in our way! Even the heroes that defeated us in the past will not withstand that kind of onslaught! We’ll be more than just a nuisance! The single pistol will become a fleet of warships! The scant few silver studs you all have in your pockets will turn into a multitude of purple! Shocker Rift Gundan BANZAI!” (Long live the Shocker Rift Army!)

“SHOCKER RIFT GUNDAN BANZAI!” cheered the audience. Hiro and Igura smiled, proud of their daughter for taking over so beautifully.