A new dress for Megumi when she was promoted to Queen of the F.N.S.
Tag: megumi hishikawa
Mid-season upgrade of Megumi’s suit.
Kamen Rider Proto-Vortex! Evil will ultimately bow to me!
Presenting the Rider form of Megumi Hishikawa
Kamen Rider Royal! Evil will ultimately bow to me!
Bio:
Her start wasn’t a good one. Her father, Hiro Adachi , was abusive. He had killed her mother and abandoned her. She lived on the streets as an animal, leaving her to lose her mind and lash out at anyone. She spoke very little.
She was discovered by the widow Haruna Hishikawa, a business woman that designed clothes as a hobby. She took Megumi in to adopt her as her daughter. Hiroki was happy to have an older sibling. Sadly, Hiro was not about to let go without a fight. For a few months, the legal bother was uphill, until the Judge left the choice up to Megumi. She chose to stay with Haruna. A wise choice, in the long run, for, either way, she would grow up without a father, as he was getting life for the murder of her mother, but if she didn’t choose Haruna, she would have gone into an orphanage and had heard too many horror stories about foster care. With the decision made, Megumi changed her family name to Hishikawa.
After a while, Haruna and her children had moved to the U.S. Over time, she had made friends who shared a love for dressing up fancy for funsies and so founded the Feudal Nerd Society. When she heard of the many injustices that occur amongst their fellow nerds, as if they had no choice but to suffer them. That was when everyone decided on their ultimate goal to end the evils that plague nerd kind, lack of charity, understanding, love, or pity.
For three years, they fought the battle against bigotry of all kind, now Megumi must face Hiro Adachi again, on the battlefield instead of the courtroom, as he sides with the insidious Lord Vortech to crash all the universes into one. With the help of those that were once considered fiction, she has become a Kamen Rider named Royal to face evil in physical form.
Over time, she learned how to obtain the Proto Supreme Vortex Driver, she gained new powers and a weapon, thus becoming Kamen Rider Proto Vortex.
Soon after her training in Chima with Kamen Rider Amazon and obtaining the power of Kamen Rider Vortex, she became Queen of the F.N.S.
I had busied myself with a machine designed to help bring the ghost to a better plane of existence. “Okay,” I muttered. “Todo lo que necesito hacer es conectar esto y estaremos bien.” (All I need to do is connect this and we’ll be good.)
“Señor Ortiz?” asked a voice. I whirled around to see Lacey looking at what I was doing. “Are you trying to contact your dad?” she asked.
“No,” I replied.
“Good, best to avoid him,” advised Lacey. “You know full well he’s not to be trusted. The dead outside of this school rarely are.”
“The mortal realm’s no better,” I grunted.
“Yes, I spoke with Mickey a while ago,” murmured Lacey. “He told me about your feelings concerning the F.N.S and your desire to leave us.”
“I just…I can’t stand the F.N.S right now!” I answered. “I joined you to get away from all the lies I was told back home, but I’ve been lied to again by people I’ve only known for two years! It’s like…it’s like I’m fighting a one-man war against lying! Can you even fathom what that feels like?!”
“Completely, believe it or not,” replied Lacey. That caught me off guard.
“Perdon?” I asked.
“I fully relate to your feelings,” elaborated Lacey, “but I don’t agree with your methods.”
“…How can you relate?!” I protested.
“Alesandro, do you know why I became a Horseman of the Apocalypse?” quizzed Lacey.
“You were chosen to help Megumi fight Vortech,” I answered, not seeing how it correlated to what the conversation was about.
“That was the impetus,” answered Lacey, “but, truth be told, I was gonna join After Academy anyways. I came from Universe T-H-3-5-1-M-P-5-0-N-5.”
“The Simpsons?” I asked. “You were a resident of Springfield?”
“Yep, and had an abusive father,” confirmed Lacey. “I hated how chaotic that place was and felt like I was alone in trying to corral the chaos. Death offered to return me back to my universe with a fresh perspective and a better chance of controlling the chaos. I stayed because I found something that I never had in Springfield, a family with the other Horsemen. Now, here I am, part of After Academy’s faculty and being a part of a family with the F.N.S. Now, it IS, at times, dysfunctional; it most certainly is NOT perfect, but the F.N.S and the Horsemen became my family. I certainly hope they’ve become yours.”
“Didn’t War initially join Vortech’s cause at the start of the Vortech Wars?” I asked.
“Yes, but the Four Horsemen have LONG worked through that,” replied Lacey, “because that’s what family does.”
“If they’re meant to BE family,” I grumbled. “Sometimes the family is so toxic that you need to get away from them.”
“Also true, as we can both attest to our blood family,” conceded Lacey. “Now, the question becomes, has this family become that toxic to you?” I stopped working, then set down my tools and sat on the ground.
“I don’t know,” I sighed.
“Well, is there a reason that you’re staying with us?” asked Lacey.
“I was contacted by a ghost a while ago,” I explained. “He’s in an eternal nightmare and I want to help him get out of it.” I then pondered the idea. “You know, now that I think about it,” I mused, “wouldn’t someone who regrets his actions think that he DESERVES punishment?”
“As a matter of fact, yes,” replied Lacey. “Charles Dickens got that kind of ghost right. They’re tormented by their own regret and can only blame themselves since they never regretted their actions when they were alive. Jacob Marley DOES regret his actions and accepted there’s nothing he can do except blame himself since it’s too late for him.”
“This ghost I met didn’t have that kind of thinking,” I revealed. “Megumi DOES regret what she did and made no attempt to stop me from leaving. Something doesn’t add up here.” Just then, the ghost shimmered into view.
“Help me! Please!” wailed the ghost, Carl.
“…Why?” I asked.
“There is goodness in you!” pleaded Carl. “Help me! Let me start again!”
“You’re chained for a reason,” I continued. “If you REALLY regret your actions, you wouldn’t try to escape or shift the blame to…”
“Okay, you know what,” grumbled Carl, standing upright despite being chained, “I saw this coming.” He pulled back the hood to reveal a monstrous head. It had two long tendrils coming from the back of the head and a single eye.
“CAAN!” screamed Lacey.
“Give me access to After Academy’s library,” demanded Caan.
“I read about you!” I snapped. “Why should we obey a Dalek like you?!”
“You have no choice in the matter!” snarled Caan as he equipped his Dal Driver.
“DAL DRIVER!” it screamed. He then took out the Pure Dalek can and turned the dome before inserting it into the belt. “PURE DALEK!” it shouted. He then turned the crank and the piping formed the sides of his suit. “ARE YOU READY?!” asked the Dal Driver.
“Henshin!” called Caan. The piping then slammed the sides of his suit onto him.
“THE UNSTOPPABLE KILLER!” announced the belt. “PURE DALEK! EXTERMINATE!” Caan was now Kamen Rider Dal.
“Henshin!” shouted Lacey as she spun the dial. She became Kamen Rider Apocalypse and clashed with Caan. “Go get help!” she shouted.
“But…!” I stammered.
“NOW!” demanded Apocalypse. I took off and ran through the campus streets to find help. Her fellow Horsemen then saw me.
“Alesandro! Stop!” called Death. “What’s going on?!”
“Lacey’s fighting Caan outside the campus!” I explained. “She needs help!”
“A villain with future vision attacks us! Sure! Why not!” snarled Pestilence.
“Anyone got any ideas?” asked Famine with her mouth full.
“…I’ve got a trick in mind,” chuckled War.
War approached the battlefield with a confident grin on her face. “Mr. Caan, I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting face to face,” she called, distracting him long enough for Apocalypse to strike him and join War. Dal recovered and drew himself up to his full height.
“You are War!” he observed. “The multiverse has changed if you engage in mortal affairs!”
“Tends to happen,” remarked War. “Tell me, what was your position before your little club?”
“Before the Cult of Skaro,” replied Dal, “I was the Attack Squad Leader of the Thirteenth Assault Group! Many worlds fell under Dalek control thanks to my efforts!”
“Yeah, evil hasn’t changed,” grumbled War. “Comes with the territory. You always rely on permanence to get you through the day. Good, on the other hand, ALWAYS changes. We’ve got new ways of dealing with people like you.”
“There ARE no people like me!” argued Dal. “Not yet!”
“There’s ALWAYS gonna be someone like you,” replied War. “…Wait, not yet?”
“You will never know!” snapped Dal.
“You’re right, I foresee your defeat coming,” chuckled War. “Kamen Rider Dal, you will be haunted by three spirits! Expect them…right now! Henshin!” She transformed and her fellow Horsemen, also in Rider form, joined her in attacking him while I got to work on the machine. Death called it clever, I call it narrowly avoiding disaster. Caan couldn’t fully manifest in this universe unless he was invited in some way. Because I didn’t fully follow through on bringing him into this universe, he was stuck in a transitional state. He’s immune to conventional attacks, but, then again, the Apocalypse Riders are anything BUT conventional. Their attacks managed to do him some damage.
“Guys, it’s time!” I called when I finished.
“Do it!” ordered War. I pressed the button and Dal was sent away from After Academy. “You’re NOT getting a refund on your application!” laughed War as all Riders powered down. Dal was struggling under the machine’s power and turned to me.
“I now…understand…what it means…to live!” he begged me. “Have…PITY!”
“Pity?” I replied, giving my best Dalek impression. “I have no understanding of the word! It is not registered in my vocabulary bank!” I then dropped the act. “For your sake, look to see me no more.” One final button and Kamen Rider Dal vanished, never to terrify After Academy.
“I have to apologize again, for all this,” offered Alesandro.
“No, no, no,” I replied after hearing all of it. “You were doing what you thought was right, obeying your conscience. I didn’t have that kind of courage. If you’ll let me, though, I’d like to work towards proving that I CAN do so.”
“Well, can’t exactly leave the F.N.S on that note, can I?” chuckled Alesandro. “The F.N.S IS a better family than my blood relatives. We all had a flub or two in our lives. The best we can do is pick ourselves up and get back into the fight.”
“Truer words have never been spoken,” I agreed. Just then, the comms chimed. I pressed the accept button. “Moshi moshi!” I called.
“Megumi, mind having everyone gather in the Gateway Room?” requested Richard. “We found something that will make some heads roll.”
“Sure thing,” I replied. I then switched to general broadcast. “Minna, report to the Gateway Room. Richard’s team found something.” We all gathered in the Gateway Room and Technarain, Sludgiona, Batman, Pup-X5, Lukas, and Richard looked pretty mad. “What happened?” I asked.
“We finally figured out what caused the results to go the way they did,” explained Richard. “Someone tampered with the results, someone with more access to the results than any of us who voted. So, the question becomes, X-PO, why? Why did you do it?” …X-PO?
“How is this POSSIBLE?!” I roared. “All five Sources within our grasp, and yet none have been retrieved! I am only inundated with excuses, even from my own wife!” I pointed to Igura after she returned from 5-U-P-3-R-M-4-R-1-0. She snarled at the accusation, but I didn’t pay attention. I turned to our newest addition. “Well, Cyber-Leader Gi? What’s YOUR excuse?!”
“It is illogical for me to give one,” replied Cyber-Leader Gi. “I had underestimated the power they had and it cost me my victory. The fault is mine.”
“Yes, I do believe it is!” I confirmed.
“However, there IS a way to fix this for all of us,” supplied Cyber-Leader Gi.
“Explain! Quickly!” I ordered.
“We still have a fix on four of the Sources’ respective energy signatures,” explained Cyber-Leader Gi. “The reason it is not all five is because, according to what the Joker discovered on the Tarlaxian scout ship’s flight recorder, the Source of Starvation is in Tarlax 14’s vault. However, the other four are all in one place. Logically, it would be the Vortex Riders main base of operations.”
“And since they originally scrambled Vorton’s new coordinates, they may have used it again for some sense of familiarity,” I deduced. “But it won’t matter if we use the Sources as a beacon to guide us there. Muster the fleet. Cyber-Leader Gi, do we have the coordinates of the Sources current position?”
“We do,” confirmed Cyber-Leader Gi. “The probes we have sent to observe the universe have identified the universe as V-0-R-T-0-N.”
“Feed them to all ships,” I ordered. “We leave at once.”
I looked at the various trophies the Doctor left behind on Vorton for me to examine. I snorted at a few. The only trophy I could respect wasn’t even evidence of the Doctor’s victory. That victory belonged to the Vortex Riders. It was an empty, open Dalek casing. The Doctor’s trophies just laid there near the casing. “Look at all this,” I muttered to myself. “Relics and artefacts that I should feel some connection to. I don’t, though. It’s all just junk to me.” I picked up a tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator and just sat with it in my hands. “Michael says it doesn’t matter who I am, as long as I live my own life.” I snorted again. “My own life. A life with no memory of who I am. No real history. Wearing someone else’s face! I don’t even like this face, even though it’s considered attractive by human standards! If the Emperor Dalek was lying, and I AM a clone of Rose Tyler, then I’m just a copy. A duplicate. Something that was mass-produced like…like…” My rant faltered as I examined the gunstick’s socket on the Dalek casing. “I remember…not being able to…shoot myself? ……NO!” I threw the extrapolator at the glass case the casing sat in and it shattered. “It’s just some stray thoughts coming to the surface! Thoughts that aren’t mine! They can’t be!” I could only laugh hopelessly. “I can’t trust who I am! I can’t trust ANYTHING about me! If I wanted to, I could just walk around pretending to be Rose Tyler, because all I am is a copy! A copy that can only see the impurity of…! Impurity of…” More memories came to the surface, the glorious saucers hanging over every world across time and space, the Emperor commanding us all, leveling… “…I remember now!” I couldn’t believe it! A smile crossed my face! “I REMEMBER NOW!” I ran my hands across my face…face…hands…arms…legs…two eyes…no! “I remember…I REMEMBER!” NO! NO! NO! I AM CONTAMINATED!
“YOU!” I snarled at Sauron.
“Us,” corrected Sauron as he pointed to his compatriots.
“I never thought I’d see you again after you were crushed like a tin can in Metropolis!” I growled. I turned to the Riddler. “Riddle me this, you WERE defeated in Gondor, right?”
“Quite the story after those incidents,” remarked Sauron. “Shall we tell you of our scars?”
“Were your fathers drinkers and fiends?” taunted Livia. Sauron then fired lightning from the One Ring, shocking us all. He ended the treatment after a few seconds.
“Just before you fought our old employer, Vortech,” began the Riddler, “we had to part company with him. We boarded new Dalek Saucers to escape. However, we were blown off course. Strange dimensional energies buffeted our vessels. I believe you’re familiar with the source of them. Riddle me this: what circles around, causing riders to scream?” The answer was a roller-coaster’s loop-de-loop. I could see where the ultimate answer was coming from.
“Ah, the Rift Loop we trapped Vortech in,” I answered.
“Exactly,” confirmed Sauron. “As the Riddler said, we were sent off course, landing in a much harsher universe. Ancient Evils were tearing it asunder…until WE stepped in. We destroyed the monsters attacking that world and took control. Plenty of people to command, plenty of space to make Orcs, Daleks, and other minions, and plenty of resources to build up and replenish whatever vessels and minions we’ve lost.”
“Sooo, the story is less ‘Ha ha’ funny,” I remarked. This time, the Riddler zapped us.
“Question: what IS ‘Ha ha’ funny?” he snarled. “Answer: YOUR PAIN!” He stopped zapping and resumed explaining. “Shocker Rift spent the next two years building up its forces, ready to conquer and enslave the Tarlaxians, making ABSOLUTELY sure we could control them this time!”
“So you used the Tarlaxian scout ship as test subjects!” growled Turretorg.
“Well, yes,” replied the Riddler, “but our efforts are being stymied. Right now, they’re unconscious, so they can’t reveal why our methods aren’t working…but we have a guess.”
“We discovered YOUR handiwork, Turretorg,” continued Sauron. “YOU were a master of the mental disciplines back when you served us. So, tell me, what did you do to make the Tarlaxians resistant to our control?”
“Like I’d tell you!” growled Turretorg.
“Do we REALLY need to do this?” quizzed Jason.
“Are you questioning us?!” snarled Octavio.
“Look,” interjected Callie, “I don’t think…”
“DON’T think, obey!” roared Octavio. “Or, do I need to use the hypno-shades on you again?!”
“…N-no, Sir,” gulped Callie. “I’m sorry, Sir.”
“To answer your question, YES,” hissed Kaito. “We HAVE to do this. We’re strong, they’re weak. We need to show how powerful we are.”
“That’s my boy!” cheered Sauron.
“Sheesh, no wonder Shocker Rift parted company with Vortech,” I muttered, “you’re sounding LIKE him.” Sauron gave us another zapping.
“There’s never enough pain before you shut up, is there?!” he growled.
“Oh, trust me,” I gasped, “I’m in enough pain looking at you! Why are you still working for Hiro?!”
“To dull my pain of looking at you,” snarled Sauron, “needing other people to prop you up! You were so close, at one point, to realizing power, but let that box dissuade you!” A screen then turned on and displayed what happened after our first encounter with Vortech, the argument, X-PO revealing why he opened rifts to various universes, and my breaking down in tears in regret for keeping the real reason of our dimensional travels secret from Batman, Wyldstyle, Hongo, and Gandalf. I turned my head in shame as Colleen looked at me in disbelief.
“You lot never told us new guys that!” she protested.
“I WANTED to tell you guys,” I mumbled, “but I was outvoted. The other members didn’t want your image of us ‘sullied’, as Richard put it.”
“You see?” remarked Sauron. “Holding power over your underlings makes you stronger! They knew that!”
“They’re NOT my underlings!” I argued. “They’re my friends!”
“A ruler has no time for friends!” countered Sauron. “A ruler does not reveal their secrets to those beneath them! A ruler needs no equals!”
“We’ll see!” I hissed.
“No, WE’LL see!” replied the Riddler as he pointed to himself and his allies. “You and your friends will be corpses we have taxidermied and hung up in our base’s throne room! They’ll be interesting conversation pieces at parties!”
“As long as we’re in high society,” joked Haitao. “I take it you’re here for Death’s Source?”
“Rob me of a potential riddle, will you?” hissed the Riddler. “Oh well, I’ll just go for the next one. What takes the color associated with water, encompasses itself, and is a key to unlock an apocalypse?”
“…No!” breathed Death. “No, you couldn’t have!” Sauron pulled out a blue crystal sphere the size of his fist.
“We did,” confirmed Sauron. “Behold, Death, your Source!” He then laughed. “Vengeance is sweet! However, I AM magnanimous in victory. Megumi, we all know how much you ‘heroes’ like to give speeches about how light will conquer darkness in the end, so I will allow you to make such a speech. Choose your words well.” Colleen then got a twinkle in her eyes.
“Er, Mr. Nygma,” she called. “You don’t mind a riddle, do you?”
“I’m called the Riddler for a reason,” replied the Riddler.
“Riddle me this: after the source is taken by you,” quizzed Colleen, “what will you do with us?”
“Easy!” cheered the Riddler. “We’ll keep you here as our prisoners and then, after taking this universe for our own, we’ll finally kill you! You’ll understand, in your last few seconds alive, how stupid you were to defeat us! Oh, we won’t stop there! With Octavio’s mind-control tech, we can conquer the surrounding universes! All of this, and we’ll be satisfied in the knowledge that you’ll no longer defeat us! THAT is our vengeance! That…that is…WHY THE HELL ARE YOU IDIOTS LAUGHING AS MUCH AS THE JOKER?!” Hook, line, and sinker! He gave away the entire plan! The reason we were laughing was because the motive behind all of this was laughable.
“Two years,” I remarked. “It’s been two years since my respective encounters with you and Sauron.”
“So?” quizzed Sauron.
“THIS is what you decided to do for two years,” I continued, “when you guys could have done anything else! You could have used your fleet to conquer your respective universes! Maybe conquer the neighboring universes there! But, no! The only thing you idiots want is revenge!” I sighed in pity. “Revenge, the most WORTHLESS of causes! You two are obsessed with me more than Hiro because I had the gall to defend myself and take something you had in your possession! Sauron, I took the Locate Keystone from you, if I recall. And, Riddler, you lost the Palantír to me! It’s amazing that you thought about me all this time when I almost forgot you were under Hiro’s thumb!” That struck a nerve. “Boys, you need to stop fighting over me,” I taunted. “I already have a boyfriend!” Sauron zapped me again. “And it ticks you off,” I managed to get out before Sauron stopped, “that you have to work for someone you considered beneath you! That’s the difference, though. I spend two years of my life LIVING it! Yes, I monitored for you, but I had other things to help stave off the anticipation of Shocker Rift’s next move! I got a job! I go to school! I get new people into the F.N.S! You wanna know why I broke down like that?! Because I felt like I betrayed the trust of my friends. They’re people that helped me become who I am, even the new guys! I don’t pretend that everything in the last two years and in the Vortech Wars didn’t happen! I learn from both mistakes and triumphs to become better, both to myself and to my friends! You?” I chuckled a bit. “You two just become bitter and abusive! You let the past consume you! You drive everyone away because they remind you of some failure! You isolate yourself and never gain friends!”
“A ruler needs no friends!” shouted Sauron. “All a ruler needs is people to obey them!”
“No, what you mean is you think you only need such people,” I argued, “to fill the void of loneliness in your heart because everyone else is good and decent and kind! You, gentlemen, are a**holes! It just enrages you to see someone in a command position enjoy the company of friends because you can’t accept that you idiots are just complete jerkwads! Two years after fighting and bad guys and heartbreak and loss, I HAVE been looking back on it all. While you would dwell on the failures you suffered within two years, I just can’t wait to see what the next two years will bring!”
“TWO YEARS?!” shrieked the Riddler. “You’re not gonna have two minutes! I give you guys a fully-charged electroshock therapy treatment and Death will have to claim you! How do you think you can stop us?!”
“For one thing,” replied Turretorg, “you forgot about X-PO.”
“The robot?” quizzed Kaito.
“The robot,” confirmed Death.
“No, we didn’t!” burbled Octavio. “After Kaito, the Riddler, and Sauron arrived and broke me out of my second prison two years ago, they took Jason, making him Agent 7, and got him to study the robot’s schematics so he could disable him quickly.”
“Yeah, the thing is,” I countered, “the Doctor made sure that, if the transmitter were damaged first, the self-repair circuits would fix that first before anything else. Wanna know how long it takes to fix that?”
“About a half hour,” called X-PO’s voice.
“What the?!” spluttered Octavio. “What’s going on?! WHERE MAH BEATS?!”
“And DJ Octavio has failed!” taunted X-PO’s voice. Just then, one of the machine’s fists opened up and grabbed Octavio, tossing him out! It then made the “Devil” sign. “DJ X-PO IN DA HOUSE!” cheered the machine in X-PO’s voice. We managed to undo our ropes as X-PO attacked the Octarians trying to stop us. The New Squidbeak Splatoon turned to Octavio.
“Never mind him!” shouted Kaito as he equipped a Sengoku Driver and took out a Lockseed with a bunch of bananas on it. He pressed the button on the side and the arm popped up.
“BANANA!” called the Lockseed. A zipper in the air then opened and let a metal banana float above Kaito.
“Henshin,” announced Kaito. He then inserted the Lockseed into the Sengoku Driver and closed it.
“Lock on!” called the belt. It then played European trumpet music before he sliced the Lockseed open with the Driver’s knife. “Come on!” challenged the belt. The banana then landed around his head as a red undersuit with silver trim appeared around him.
“BANANA-BANA-BANANA?!” squawked an Orc.
“Baron da!” (That’s Baron to you!) called Kaito.
“Banana Arms!” announced the belt as the banana unfolded so the ends became shoulder pads and part of the side became chest armor. His helmet looked like a knight’s helm with a pair of horns. “Knight of spear!” sang the belt as his weapon appeared. It was a lance that evoked a peeled banana. Given that he corrected an Orc, I’d say he was Kamen Rider Baron.
“Henshin!” we called. Colleen’s belt announced, “Open! Turn! Imagine! The Hammer of Slam!” as we became our Kamen Rider personas. Catchphrase time!
“Kamen Rider Death! You cannot delay your appointment with me!”
“Kamen Rider Royal! Evil will ultimately bow to me!”
“Kamen Rider Zhànshì! Try and stop my quest!”
“Kamen Rider Clash! A duel with me shall end in your defeat!”
“Kamen Rider Herald B! I bring news of your defeat!”
“Kamen Rider Slam! I’ll be bringing the pain!”
“I am Turretorg, the invincible siege weapon!”
“I’m X-PO! I’ve calculated 979 ways to defeat you! Let’s go for 28!” With that, X-PO crossed his new hands in front of him. “Priority 7-Alpha, Sea-bass drop!”
“Uh oh!” gulped Octavio.
“Uh oh what?” demanded Sauron. Octavio then did something never witnessed in the games, he shifted to his humanoid form! He looked like a Japanese Lord.
“MEAN LASER!” he shouted. X-PO uncrossed his new hands and fired his laser. Everyone got out of the way…even us! We were right in its path!
“Sorry!” called X-PO.
“STICK TO THE FISTS!” I shouted. Sauron and the Riddler double-teamed me, keeping me from helping the others out. Turretorg fired a barrage of missiles at the Orcs and Octolings, the Octolings giving him a little more difficulty as they turned into octopi and swam in their ink. The New Squidbeak Splatoon, regretfully, kept the others at bay. “Guys, come on!” I protested to the Splatoon. “You don’t wanna do this!”
“We don’t have a choice,” replied Marie. She leveled her Charger (sniper rifle) at me and fired. I got out of the way, smacking into Sauron’s mace. His swing knocked me back a couple of meters. Baron managed to score a few hits on X-PO’s new body with that lance of his. The machine then fell as the lights went off.
“X-PO!” called Herald B.
“I’m alright!” called X-PO’s voice as his original body’s eye switched on. He then activated a new function the 4th Doctor installed, similar to K-9’s, a stun blaster! He gathered energy into his eye and fired a purple bolt of light at Octavio. The Octarian King managed to shrug it off. “Damn, STILL not at full power!” swore X-PO. Agent 8 then leapt onto him.
“I still am!” she hissed as she drew a wrench. Just then, Slam swung her hammer into 8’s head. “Nice try, bone bag!” laughed 8 as she landed on her feet. She then started stumbling. “Actually, remove the sarcasm,” she mumbled. “It WAS a nice try. Why is the room spinning?” She then collapsed.
“BELLA! NO!” shouted Jason. He and Marie then rushed to 8’s side. Callie swung her Roller (rolling paintbrush weapon) at Clash but Clash managed to roll out of the way only to encounter Baron’s attack as he used the Sengoku Driver’s knife to slice the Lockseed three times.
“BANANA SPARKING!” announced the belt as Baron thrust the tip of his lance into the ground, causing bananas to pop out of the ground and strike Clash. Sauron and the Riddler had managed to knock me to the floor and leveled their weapons at me as I leveled my sword.
“Do you think you’re fast enough,” taunted Sauron, “to put us down before we kill you?”
“…I have a means of staving off my appointment with Death,” I smirked. I then spun the wheel in the opposite direction of changing armor, making it go two full rotations. “DAI SUPER CHARGE!” I shouted. My armor bulked up and went white with gold trim, then it exploded, revealing gold armor with white tiger patterns. Sauron and the Riddler picked themselves up after being knocked down by my exploding armor.
“What in…?!” spluttered Sauron.
“Kamen Rider Vortex,” I explained, “the form I used to defeat Vortech.” I then went on the offensive, managing to beat back Sauron and the Riddler as Slam swung her hammer into Baron’s leg, causing him to cancel his transformation and grasp his leg in pain. Zhànshì and Claw managed to cut one of Octavio’s head tentacles off and shoved him into his allies. He turned to the New Squidbeak Splatoon.
“Inksquirts!” he bellowed. The agents weren’t listening as they were tending to Bella, Agent 8.
“We have to give her an ink infusion to clear her head!” gulped Jason.
“You idiots! Help us!” shouted Octavio.
“We have to save Bella!” insisted Jason.
“Stop cradling that useless soldier!” ordered Sauron.
“…What did you say?” hissed Jason.
“I said stop cradling that lump of muscle and help your betters!” roared Sauron. Jason looked back at his fellow agents, then glared at Sauron and his allies. He stood up and pulled something out of his back pocket. We couldn’t believe it!
“A Chronicle Driver?!” yelped Claw.
“How did you…?!” I quizzed.
“Sludgiona said she had made more Chronicle Drivers,” explained Slam. “She must have put them onto the scout ships.”
“How would you…?” I inquired.
“She explained she had made more to us new guys,” replied Slam.
“I see,” I remarked.
“What’s the word you guys used to transform?” asked Jason as he fastened the Chronicle Driver to his waist.
“Chronicle Driver!” announced the belt.
“We say ‘Henshin’,” I replied to Jason.
“Thank you,” bid Jason. He then took out an Armor Auto-bio and inserted it into the shelf that popped up from the top. “Henshin!” he announced. He pressed the shelf down as the giant book flipped its pages and spat out armor pieces.
“Open!” called the belt. “Turn! Imagine! The Roller of Turf!” His armor looked a lot like the power armor set of the first game.
“Agents, keep watch over Bella,” directed Jason. “I intend to voice our long-overdue complaints to our ‘masters’.”
“What do you call yourself, Kamen Rider Squidkid?” snarked the Riddler.
“Kamen Rider Turf, actually,” replied Jason. “I shall claim this turf in victory!” He then swung his roller into them. “Don’t you ever…EVER…call Bella useless!”
“You little…!” snarled the Riddler.
“You utter demons!” hissed Turf. “I should have done this two years ago!” He converted his roller into a charger and fired on the villains, causing the Orcs to lose their minds.
“Right, that’s it!” roared Gorshagh from the balcony. He caught the Kiri Zecter. “HEN…!” he didn’t get very far as an Octoling kicked the Zecter out of his hands. “What do you think you’re…?!” shouted Gorshagh.
“TAKE DOWN THE ORCS!” shouted the Octoling. The Octarians then attacked the Orcs. Turf pressed the button on his Chronicle Driver.
“Final Pen Stroke!” called the belt.
“RIDER TURF KICK!” shouted Turf as he leapt into the air and performed a flying kick towards the Villains. They soon picked themselves up.
“Vortex, we need to take them all out in one swoop!” whispered Death.
“I may have a solution!” I declared. “Locate Keystone, activate! Initiate rift detection!” I soon found the rift. Man, it felt good to use the Keystone. “Identify source of rift!” The information beamed into my head. “Haven’t seen him in a while. Locate help from B-3-N-1-0!” Just then, a giant lizard person landed face-first onto the floor. The person picked himself to reveal the black circle with the green hourglass design on his chest. “BEN!” I called. Ben Tennyson, currently as Humungousaur, noticed me as I shouted and grinned.
“Vortex!” he cheered. “Haven’t seen you in a while! What’s new?”
“Orcs invaded the universe we’re in,” I explained. I pointed out their bosses. “Got a place for them?”
“I think Incarcecon can handle a few more inmates,” joked Humungousaur as he slapped on the Omnitrix symbol. He then changed. “FOUR-ARMS!” he announced. He then leapt around the levels, grabbing Orcs and throwing them into the rift he went through. He then grabbed Sauron, the Riddler, Baron, and was about to grab Octavio when Turf stopped him.
“He stays,” he insisted. Four-Arms nodded and tossed the remaining three into the rift.
“Thanks, Ben!” I called.
“Don’t mention it!” replied Four-Arms. “See you later!” He then went through the rift as it shut. An Octoling then gave Marie a bit of ink and Marie injected it into Bella, sighing in relief as she checked her over.
“Okay,” she sighed, “she’s stable and should be good for getting her to a hospital.”
“We’ll take her,” replied Pearl. She and Marina picked Bella up and carried her out of the area to a hospital.
“Listen, everyone,” sighed Turf, “about all of this…I’m sorry.”
“You’re not the only one needing to apologize to Megumi,” muttered Slam, feeling guilty about not telling me about the other Chronicle Drivers.
“Mine first,” I answered. “Colleen, I’m sorry. It was wrong of me to not tell you about an event in our past. It was wrong of me to not give you the full details about the Vortech Wars. I was wrong. I don’t know if I can make it up to you and…I understand if this makes you want to part company with the Feudal Nerd Society.”
“I understand your logic,” replied Slam, “but I don’t see myself leaving just yet. Why don’t we all leave our regrets here?”
“I have to say, today was FULL of regrets,” mused X-PO.
“Comes with any anniversary, especially a war’s anniversary,” replied Turretorg.
“Maybe…” suggested Claw, “maybe we should focus more on forgiveness.”
“Forgiveness isn’t handed out,” I answered, “it’s earned. Colleen, if you’ll let me, I’d like to work to earn yours.”
“Let me work to earn yours, then we’ll talk,” replied Slam.
“Agreed,” I affirmed. Just then, someone fired over our heads! Octavio was clutching his sides and holding a blaster!
“FORGIVENESS?!” he roared. “YOU DOLTS ARE PATHETIC! FORGIVENESS IS A WEAKNESS! YOU ALL NEED TO REALIZE THAT THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IS LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE!”
“And yet,” I observed, “you’re the one without an empire to back you up.” I was talking about the Octarians leveling their weapons at him. Octavio looked around, then fired a few shots to scare his people off and scurried up a ladder, dropping the Source. “Come on!” I called.
“Let him go,” replied Marina.
“But he’s gonna escape!” I urged.
“I think there’s little chance of that,” assured Marina.
“…Why?” I quizzed. Octavio then screamed in frustration.
“Captain Cuttlefish placed a giant snow globe over the exit,” explained Marina.
“…The globe again?” I muttered.
Bella had made a full recovery and helped us reveal the names of Agents 3 and 4. Agent 3 was Colin and Agent 4 was Samantha. Unfortunately, the crew of the Tarlaxian scout ship was already taken by Shocker Rift. We were back in our Splatoon disguises. Pearl and Marina were back doing Off the Hook for Inkopolis Square. “So, with all the craziness going on,” Pearl was saying, “the final Splatfest had to be cancelled.”
“Now, with the Orcs gone and the Octarians’ good name being cleared,” continued Marina, “the final Splatfest can go on. It’s going to take a week, though, before any match can begin. Yes, you heard right, the matches will be back on in a week.”
“Until then, Grizzco is still hiring!” supplied Pearl. “I can’t believe our last gig went so smoothly, Marina!”
“Yeah, especially because we worked a Salmon Run shift instead of rehearsing!” replied Marina.
“And that’s all the time we got!” finished Pearl. “Until next time…” Marina then joined Pearl in posing and saying their catchphrase.
“Don’t get cooked, stay off the hook!” they cheered. The screen went back to its usual ads.
“I guess things will be back to normal soon,” chuckled Callie.
“As normal as our lives are,” remarked Marie.
“Thanks for the last minute assist,” I bid to Jason.
“You’re welcome,” replied Jason. “I just wish I saw sense earlier.”
“You’re not evil,” I assured. “You wouldn’t have a Chronicle Driver if you were.”
“You just need a little guidance in handling it,” continued Colleen.
“What are you saying?” asked Jason.
“Wanna come with us?” I offered. “Wander the multiverse with us for a while and see if you wanna be a member of the Feudal Nerd Society?”
“…No secrets this time?” quizzed Jason.
“No secrets this time,” I assured.
“Then let’s do it!” cheered Jason as he twirled Death’s Source on his finger like a basketball.
“Vorton, this is Megumi,” I called into my communicator. “Mission accomplished! We have Death’s Source, have a new ally with us, and are ready for pickup!”
“Good to hear, Megumi,” replied a voice. It didn’t belong to anyone on the Vorton team. I finally got it after a few seconds.
“Doctor?!” I yelped.
“Hello!” answered the 13th Doctor’s voice.
“What the heck are you doing on Vorton?” I quizzed.
“The Gateway Operators called me and filled me in on your current adventure,” explained the Doctor. “My reason for being here on Vorton is something that seems unrelated to your crisis. I’ll fill you in when you get here.” A portal opened for us.
“It’s gonna be a little…buzzy,” I warned Jason.
“…Buzzy?” asked Jason as he followed us. He soon got what I meant when I said “buzzy”. We arrived back on Vorton before the others. “…Yeah, ‘buzzy’ is an apt description!” mumbled the Inkling as he rubbed his arms. “Feels like my cells are vibrating!”
“Hello!” called a voice. The Doctor then came up, still wearing that grey coat.
“Good to see you again, Doctor,” I greeted. “You said Elphaba’s team called you in?”
“They did,” confirmed the Doctor. “Let me show you.” She motioned for us to follow her to the medical ward. Lying on a bed was a young blonde woman. She seemed to be busy examining her hands.
“Who is she?” I asked.
“She looks a lot like one of my previous companions, Rose Tyler,” replied the Doctor, “but that doesn’t make sense. During an adventure involving both Daleks AND Cybermen, she became trapped in a parallel universe. Now, she lives her life with a human version of my 10th incarnation.”
“So, is THIS Rose Tyler a clone?” I quizzed.
“That’s what I initially thought,” answered the Doctor. “However, if she is, she’s the most perfect clone ever. Usually, when a clone is artificially aged, there are telltale genetic markers to indicate such a thing had happened. However, she doesn’t have those.”
“Then, is the Rose you traveled with a clone?” I asked.
“I checked the TARDIS medical records,” replied the Doctor, “and the Rose I traveled with IS the real deal.”
“A traveler from a parallel universe, then?” I suggested.
“I don’t really have a frame of reference for that,” mused the Doctor as she tapped her chin.
“I might help in that regard,” called X-PO. “Let me connect with the equipment. There should be telltale signs of her being from a parallel universe.” X-PO hooked up to the medical scanners and ran through the data. It took a few minutes. When he finished, he crossed his arms. “Huh,” he muttered. “Nothing.”
“Is there ANYTHING to go on?” I quizzed, getting desperate for answers.
“There ARE stray energy particles I haven’t been able to identify,” replied the Doctor, “but those may be from the energy weapon that was fired on her.”
“Is she injured?” I gasped.
“No,” assured the Doctor, “but look at the rags she’s wearing. Some of the damage WASN’T from going through the rift unprotected and I’d like to give her the benefit of the doubt in that she’s NOT insane enough to burn parts of her clothes herself.”
“I suppose the next thing to do,” I declared, “is to ask her.” I approached her and she took notice of me. “Hello,” I greeted with a bit of uncertainty in my voice. “My name is Megumi Hishikawa. What’s your name?”
“…I can’t…remember a lot,” replied the Rose clone.
“What DO you remember?” I asked.
“I remember…names,” answered the Rose clone. “I remember being in a lot of pain. I remember…my temperature increasing for a bit. I don’t recall how I got here.”
“Do you have any means of identification?” I inquired.
“I think I’m…Rose Tyler, right?” asked the clone.
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” replied the Doctor. “You see, I travelled with Rose Tyler for a long time.”
“…You?” quizzed the clone.
“Yes, me,” confirmed the Doctor. “I’m the Doctor.”
“…Doctor…” muttered the clone. I noticed a hint of distaste for the word before she went back to examining her hands. “Who…WHAT am I?” she asked.
“For now,” I answered, “you’re our guest and…this is your home.” The clone looked around the place to get a good look at her surroundings.
“…Home,” she repeated. I excused myself at that point and contacted the other teams, informing them of what happened.
“So, now that we’ve got the Sources,” remarked Richard the next day, “what now?”
“…I’m honestly not sure,” I replied. “Maybe the Horsemen might have something?”
“…You’re still thinking about what X-PO did,” observed Richard.
“I’m still thinking about what X-PO did,” I confirmed. “I’m not sure if I can trust him anymore. He really hurt us. I’m not sure if Alesandro and Victor are gonna stay with us after this.”
“I think they are,” replied Richard.
“What makes you so sure of that?” I quizzed.
“Well, Alesandro asked me to help him unpack,” replied Richard, “so I’d say it’s a safe bet he’s staying with us. Colleen and Victor talked and he decided on staying, so we’re good there.”
“Excellent,” I answered, feeling that much better. “All the same, I really need to apologize to them. The results may have been altered but we still made the choice to hide my emotional collapse from them.”
“Actually, Alesandro asked us to stop,” revealed Richard. “He gets that we regret it and will do what we can to make sure we don’t make that mistake again.”
“…Inundated with apologies from everyone?” I guessed.
“Yep,” confirmed Richard. “By the way, X-PO’s been arrested by the After Academy police for willful endangerment of students.”
“When’s the trial?” I asked.
“In two weeks,” replied Richard. “Miles Edgeworth is the prosecutor.”
“And X-PO’s defense attorney?” I quizzed.
“A Mr. Elkrandek from Tarlax 14,” answered Richard.
“Not exactly the most scrupulous lawyer,” I replied. Just then, alarms sounded throughout the base. “WHAT NOW?!” I snapped. Elphaba’s voice then came over the comms.
“All Riders, we have multiple vessels inbound!” she reported. “They’re cloaked, so we can’t get a good i.d. on them!”
“That’s too suspicious for comfort,” I declared as I took over the broadcast. “All hands, red alert! Assume battle stations and raise shields!” I then morphed into Tora-Onna (Tiger Woman) as I strode towards the Gateway Room to coordinate the action. Richard followed close behind.
“Why are you going fuzzy?” he asked.
“I never really had a chance to use this form,” I answered. “Sure, I turned into it on occasion, but never fully used it. Might as well ‘go fuzzy’ if it means an edge in battle if we’re boarded.” We arrived at the Gateway Room. Elphaba and her team were finishing up in locking down the Gateway. They didn’t want anyone trying to take advantage of any weakness in battle, much less anyone trying to go through and sneak up from behind.
“All of our codes have been locked into the Gateway,” reported Rusty. “We await yours.” I then leaned towards the mic.
“Computer,” I directed, “this is Queen Megumi Hishikawa. Lockdown 2-7-8-7-4-7-3-7. No one uses the Gateway until all codes have been verified and all voice patterns confirmed.”
“All Gateway functions disabled,” reported the secondary computer as it took over for X-PO. “Full functionality will not be restored until authorized personnel give the necessary codes.” I then made a secure call to the Virginia. Since Emily was needed in Sick Bay, Hiroki took command of the ship.
“Nee-san, ship status,” I requested.
“All lights are green,” reported Hiroki. “Liam’s back in Engineering with Dell and R9, Michael and Irina are manning the weapons, Tanisha’s the pilot again, and Crescent and Jason are working Communications.”
“Good to know,” I replied.
“Megumi,” called the Brigadier, “we’re receiving a transmission from the Hammer of Tarlax.”
“Scorpainia’s ship and the Tarlaxian flagship,” I replied. “What does she want?”
“She’s requesting to aid us as Shocker Rift has managed to steal Famine’s source and has reason to believe the cloaked vessels are of Shocker Rift origin,” explained the Brigadier.
“Tell her we happily accept and will offer any aid to get the Source back,” I directed. “Have the Tarlaxian fleet form up on the Virginia.”
“Understood,” replied the Brigadier as he saluted. He relayed my message. The Tarlaxian fleet arrived out of the large portals that ships need to go through the Rift safely and formed up on the Virginia.
“All stations report ready,” reported Elphaba.
“All ships standing by,” called Hiroki.
“Now comes the fun part,” I mused. “Who will make the first move?”
“That fleet must have followed us from Tarlax,” muttered Igura.
“They’re just sitting there,” observed the Joker. “We should have our fun now!”
“The instant we beam down,” I argued, “the fleet will know where we are. No. Hold position.”
“I say, that can’t be right,” muttered Michael.
“Is something the matter?” asked Hiroki.
“I’m reading Sontaran ship transponder codes,” explained Michael. “Using cloaking devices? That’s not like a Sontaran.”
“Why would Sontarans join Shocker Rift?” I asked.
“Megumi,” interjected Scorpainia, “if it pleases you, I have an idea on finding our targets.”
“Brigadier Stard,” reported the Sontaran Communications Officer, Lieutenant Krek, “we are receiving a broad transmission on all frequencies.”
“Put it through,” barked Brigadier Stard. Scorpainia’s face appeared.
“This is Queen Empress Scorpainia of the Tarlaxian Fleet!” she snarled. “Vorton is under my protection! Withdraw or be destroyed!”
“Ignore,” ordered Stard. “Hold position.”
“If there are Sontarans stupid enough to think they can win against me,” continued Scorpainia, “permit me to remind you that the last time you invaded Tarlax, before we moved to a new Tarlax, you required help from a god-like being. It’s clear enough that you are afraid of us. Why else would you hide behind a cloaking device?”
“…Make the call two-way!” snarled Stard. Scorpainia’s head twitched a bit, indicating that she had Stard on her viewscreen. “HOW DARE YOU!” roared Stard. “Scorpainia, you impugn my honor!”
“Whatever passes for Sontaran honor,” dismissed Scorpainia.
“Evidently,” hissed Stard, “you are unfamiliar with Standing Order 44 Subsidiary Clause 2! Mockery of a Sontaran Officer is to be considered an act of war!”
“A war where you will not receive a glorious death!” warned Scorpainia. The transmission ended.
“All ships, disengage the cloak and engage the enemy fleet!” ordered Stard.
“The Sontarans are disengaging the cloak and moving towards the enemy fleet!” reported Dalek Drone 2248292.
“What are those fools doing?!” shouted Sauron.
“Fleet Marshal Skrag,” I ordered, “get them to return to formation and reengage the cloak!”
“They’re not responding, Sir!” reported Skrag. “Battle had been joined!”
“Idiots, this is too early!” I roared.
“Hiroki, the Sontarans took the bait!” reported Michael. “Good thinking, Scorpainia!”
“All ships, open fire!” I ordered.
“Assist the fleet in taking down the enemy,” I ordered.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” called Richard as his fingers danced across the weapons console. A brilliant, multi-colored display of weapons fire illuminated the battlefield. Just then, the rest of Hiro’s fleet de-cloaked and moved to aid the Sontarans. Their weapons fire added to the display, affecting shield integrity in the process.
“We can’t keep this up much longer!” warned Lukas. “Any more and we’ll lose them!”
“Hongo, what’s your status?” I called on the comms.
“We’re ready and waiting,” replied Hongo. Vorton rocked again and the slightly blue tinge of the shields faded.
“We’ve lost shields!” called Lukas.
“Target shields down!” reported Dalek Drone 2248292.
“Tell the boarding parties they may begin,” I ordered, grinning all the while.
“We’re being boarded!” reported Richard. Combatmen shimmered into view.
“Now’s the time, Minna-san!” I called as I extended my claws. There was a TREMENDOUS fight on Vorton. This time, it wasn’t going to be so easily blind-sided. I clawed and bit my enemies as my friends kept the rest at bay.
“That’s funny,” I mused as visual data from the Daleks she had killed came to my ship, “she hardly uses that form.”
“Is there any progress on locating the Sources?” grumbled Igura.
“Source Team is encountering heavy resistance,” reported Dalek Drone 2248292, “from Batman, Wyldstyle, Gandalf, and Ichigō.”
“They’re not that strong,” I muttered. “How could they be encountering resistance?”
“Okay, my turn!” called Batman.
“All yours!” I replied as I delivered a Rider Punch.
“Shift Keystone, activate!” announced Batman. “Yellow, on the wall left to me! Magenta, on the wall right of me! Cyan, on the ceiling! Shift! Cyan! Ichigō!” I went to the ceiling and tackled a Combatman to the floor. A Dalek brought its gunstick to bear on me! “Shift! Yellow! Batman!” Batman delivered a side kick as he came through the yellow portal. “Shift! Magenta! Gandalf!” Gandalf ran his sword through a Sontaran as it turned to face him. Wyldstyle built a large machine that ran a large pillar through the hall and knocked down the enemy forces. They just kept beaming on board! I leapt into the air and extended my foot towards a Combatman.
“RIDER KICK!” I announced as I kicked him. That wasn’t enough!
“There’s too many!” called Wyldstyle.
“We’re not letting them near the Sources we have!” insisted Batman as he slammed a Sontaran through a Dalek. A Combatman spoke in its usual noises to a Sontaran. The Sontaran gave hand signals to a yellow Dalek, the commander, that bobbed its eyestalk in some form of understanding. It faced us and a flipper came out of the gunstick, moving in and out and causing pain to us, but not enough to kill us. We fell to the ground, unable to move, only observe and listen.
“All enemies disabled!” reported the Commander Dalek.
“Safecrackers, move in!” barked the Sontaran to his subordinates. They came in with explosives and set the timer. “Move back!” shouted the Sontaran commander. The enemy got to a safe distance. “THREE! TWO! ONE!” The explosives blew the vault open. A Combatman issued orders to his subordinates. They were wearing metal gloves as they entered the vault. They managed to find the sources and pick them up, suffering no ill effects. They reported some form of success in their noises. “Excellent!” cheered the Sontaran commander.
“Dalek Commander 8734739 to Fleet Flagship, Dominus,” called the Commander Dalek.
“Sources safely retrieved!” reported the Dalek Commander at the Vault. “Requesting immediate pickup!”
“Get everyone out of there!” I ordered, a grin crossing my features. The teleporter operator obliged and got everyone out of Vorton. He reported that everyone that survived made it. “Get us out of here!” I commanded. “We move to Foundation Prime!”
“Er, Megumi,” called Emily from Sick Bay, “I’m looking on my screen and I see the enemy fleet pulling out even though they reduced ours to a fourth of its original size. What’s going on?”
“Vault, what happened?!” I called.
“This is…Batman,” strained the Dark Knight. “The enemy managed to…disable us…long enough…to get the Sources. They had…some way of…safely…handling them.” My heart sank at the report. They’re going to Foundation Prime and we didn’t have the numbers to stop them or pursue them.
“That was a general broadcast, Batman,” Emily chimed in. “None of my patients liked hearing that.”
“Orders, Megumi?” asked Guard. I sighed.
“Contact Tarlax and After Academy,” I resolved. “See if they can spare any ships. Emily, continue treating the wounded. We need all fighters to be at their best.”
“The enemy fleet is not pursuing us!” reported Dalek Drone 2248292. It stood next to Skrag as we sat in my ready room. Igura looked on.
“Splendid,” I praised. “Resume your post.”
“I obey!” answered Dalek Drone 2248292. As it left, my expression hardened as I turned to Skrag.
“The actions your ships have taken have halved our fleet, causing considerable disruption!” I snarled.
“The men were experiencing withdrawal symptoms from lack of battle!” replied Skrag. “This was a matter beyond my control!”
“Your orders,” hissed Igura, “were to hold position until the command was given!”
“That was impossible!” pleaded Skrag. “The men have been out of action for too long!”
“The responsibility was yours!” I roared. “You have failed! I cannot, WILL not, accept failure! Since you pleaded, you will NOT look upon your death!” I turned him around and shot him in the back of the head, the worst form of death for a Sontaran.
“I’ll have Fleet Marshal Strench and his ships report to our position, shall I?” offered Igura.
“Do so,” I answered. “Then, return to our quarters. We need to unwind on the way.”
“I have an outfit that may help in that regard,” purred Igura. We kissed.
“Listen, about what I said yesterday,” I muttered, “I’m sorry. That was unlike me to overlook your talents. I should have planned for Heather to disregard the Source.”
“Well, I DO know a way you can make it up to me,” chuckled Igura as she wiggled her eyebrows. I’ll probably be making it up to her for…maybe 20, 30 minutes.
“How go repairs?” I asked Liam as I arrived on the Virginia’s bridge.
“I really wish you’d stop asking that every two minutes!” he hissed. “We still don’t know the extent of the damage!”
“…Very well,” I sighed. Emily finally caught up to me.
“Rest! Now! Doctor’s orders!” she snapped. I opened my mouth to protest but she grabbed my arm and dragged me to the Virginia’s sick bay. “Now lay down!” she ordered as she pointed to the bed.
“I can’t do that!” I insisted. “Not while Hiro’s doing god-knows-what to the Sources while on Foundation Prime!”
“You can’t command a damn thing while crashing into walls!” argued Emily. “This whole thing is stress-related and, as the resident doctor, I’m prescribing rest!” I didn’t move. “…Look, I get that Hiro managed to snatch victory from us,” she sighed, “and I get that you feel responsible, but we can’t exactly achieve victory if you’re fighting fatigue. Now, please, get some rest.” I stayed for a minute, then sighed before finally lying down.
I breathed a sigh of relief when she shut her eyes. “Majel, make sure she gets, at least, an hour of rest,” I ordered.
“Alarm set for one hour,” reported Majel. “By the way, Hiroki’s on the bridge.”
“I’ll meet him,” I replied. I headed off to the bridge and found him working on the Communications console on the lower level. I headed down and cleared my throat. That got his attention.
“Where’s Megumi?” he asked.
“Taking a much-needed nap in Sick Bay,” I reported. “She’s been stressing out about this whole thing that she’s practically crashing into walls.”
“Not surprised,” muttered Hiroki. “She’s not too happy with what X-PO did either.”
“Did this ever happen before you came to America?” I asked.
“Once, in school,” replied Hiroki. “She said something that could have been put into better words to a friend and almost lost that friend. Her studies weren’t at their usual best during the time she stressed about it.”
“Her friends are her power,” I guessed.
“If you want to use an anime trope, then yeah,” confirmed Hiroki. “Anything that risks the bond, she freaks out about it. Hence the emotional collapse after Hill Valley. She felt guilty for fracturing that bond. Now, she feels betrayed that the same mistake has been made.”
“Well, stressing about it won’t do her any good right now,” I affirmed. Just then, Liam came up.
“What’s up?” asked Hiroki.
“Right now, the amount of studs needed to fix this thing,” replied Liam. “The warp core needs restabilizing, the threshold between exterior and interior dimensions is just being held together with the equivalent of duct tape, the weapons need shoring up…”
“Give us the short version,” interjected Hiroki. “Can this be fixed in any reasonable time?” Liam winced before shaking his head. “…Damn,” sighed Hiroki.
“I’m sorry, guys,” muttered Liam, “but the damage Heather gave us was only patched up. The repairs were just supposed to hold until we could get it to a decent shipyard. That recent fight really stressed the Virginia to the point of it not going anywhere until it’s fully fixed. Flying this thing now will only serve to turn it into our tomb.”
“All right, thank you, Liam,” I sighed. Tanisha, Chell, and Elphaba beamed onto the bridge after Liam gave his report. “How’s Vorton?” Chell signed her answer.
“Could be better,” translated Tanisha. “Some of the systems are shot.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s ALL bad,” countered Elphaba. “We feared the Gateway’s systems were totally fried, but some functions, like basic life support, are still operational. However, a good chunk of the stabilization programs that require the Keystones to power are hurt a bit and require a fair amount of work.” Chell signed again.
“Not to mention,” translated Tanisha, “the security programs are subpar now, considering the recent invasion. On top of that, power distribution needs work.”
“Maybe…maybe we can reroute power to…” I guessed.
“Chell and Elphaba are being needlessly optimistic!” interrupted Tanisha. “I got the whole damage report from Lukas! This isn’t something we can slap some duct tape on and call it a day! Some of the systems are tied solely to X-PO’s presence on Vorton! With him gone, the seven person limit on the Gateway is back! We ALL can’t go to Foundation Prime without Megumi’s power! Now that things are damaged, trying to bypass them would be next to impossible without X-PO!” Hiroki kicked the pilot’s chair in anger.
“Hey, don’t take it out on them!” I snapped. “NONE of us are happy this happened!”
“He knew we scrambled them!” hissed Hiroki. I only guessed he was talking about Hiro.
“What, Vorton’s new coordinates?” I asked.
“Exactly!” replied Hiroki. “He somehow managed to deduce that we would try to scramble the coordinates if we wanted to be any safer! So he waited until we were vulnerable and so self-assured of our victory! With him having all five Sources now, we don’t stand a…”
“He didn’t know Vorton’s new coordinates until yesterday,” interjected Elphaba.
“…Nani?” asked Hiroki.
“A Tarlaxian ship did some scouting during the space battle,” explained Elphaba. “The only reason he could find us was because we didn’t shield the Sources’ energy signatures properly. He still had a fix on them. Originally, just after the Vortech Wars, he went to Vorton’s old coordinates. He only just found it yesterday.”
“…I repeat, WHAT?!” yelped Hiroki.
“The Sources gave off an energy signature that drew him in like a beacon,” elaborated Tanisha. “He must have kept records on them. We didn’t account for that and didn’t think to shield them.”
“…Megumi will be kicking herself again and stressing out after her nap when she hears about this,” muttered Hiroki.
“Well, not telling her will only make it worse,” I declared. “I’m going to tell her what we’ve discussed.” Hiroki was about to object when I put my finger to his lips. “Doctor’s prerogative,” I hissed. I turned to return to the Sick Bay when Lukas came onto the Bridge, cheering in his native German. “…Okay, what’s got you so happy? And I mean happy in the borderline lunatic asylum sense.”
“Meine Freunde,” (My friends) he began, “Tarlax came through! While After Academy can’t spare any ships, they don’t even have a shipyard, the Tarlaxian fleet that helped us was just a fraction of their full might! Just 1/32nd of the Tarlaxian Imperial Navy!”
“That was over 800 ships that helped us yesterday!” yelped Hiroki.
“They’re making more ships to replace those that were lost,” continued Lukas, “and have a backway into Foundation Prime that can overtake Shocker Rift! At current projections, they’ll be arriving there within three days! We can use our shortcut to get there a day ahead of them!”
“Subarashi!” (Wonderful!) cheered Hiroki. “A chance of victory! Liam, how long will it take to fix the Virginia?!”
“With things as they are and with Tarlaxian Engineers helping me,” mused Liam, “as well as Lukas, Moon-kyung, Lacey, and Dell, five hours at minimum.”
“Get to it!” directed Hiroki. “We need this ship ready for battle soon.”
“Aye,” obliged Liam. He turned to Dell. “All right, let’s… HOO MONY TIMES DAE AH HAE TAE TEEL YE?! TH’ REIT TOOLS FUR TH’ REIT JOB!” He stomped off and told Dell off as they got to work.
“I don’t think I’ve seen him so happy,” I chuckled.
I woke up an hour later. Emily and Hiroki were sitting there with big grins on their faces. “…Did I miss the beatdown on Shocker Rift?” I asked.
“No, it hasn’t happened yet,” replied Hiroki. “Bad news first, we found out how they figured out our position. We didn’t think to shield the Sources, so they tracked it easily.”
“Not to mention, we don’t have the original shortcut since, without X-PO’s presence on Vorton,” continued Emily, “we can only throw seven people there.”
“…Original shortcut?” I asked, picking up on what she said.
“That’s where the good news comes in,” replied Emily as a smile crossed their features. “Shocker Rift is taking the normal, three day route. The Tarlaxians found a way for us to get ahead of them and arrive a day early!”
“They’re also sparing more ships to help us in case we have another space battle,” supplied Hiroki. “We’ll be ready to go in about four hours now.”
“Now THAT’S something to wake up to!” I cheered as I leapt from the bed. “We leave once everything’s ready.”
“Got it!” replied Hiroki as he headed off to relay my decision. I stretched to get rid of any sleepiness. After that, I turned towards the door.
“Ah AH!” called Emily. I stopped in mid-step, my foot still off the floor. There was a bit of a tense moment. “…Okay, you’re cleared for duty,” chuckled Emily.
“Har har,” I grumbled. I then left the Sick Bay and headed off to Main Engineering to find Liam and Dell arguing.
“You’re all hardhat and no cattle!” snapped Dell.
“Cannae ye say anythin’ ‘at ISNAE related tae Texas?!” snarled Liam, his accent coming in thick.
“You just ain’t doing it right!” argued Dell.
“I’ve bin thes ship’s engineer lang afair ye sit fit oan thes hin’!” ranted Liam. “Ah ken whit aam daein’! Ye cannae jist smack th’ weapons systems wi’ a wrench an’ caa it a day!”
“Hey look, buddy, I’m an Engineer. That means I solve problems,” replied Dell. “Not problems like ‘What is beauty?’, because that would fall within the purview of your conundrums of philosophy. I solve practical problems. For instance, how am I going to stop some big mean mother-Hubbard from tearing me a structurally superfluous new behind? The answer: use a gun, and if that don’t work, use more gun.” He then indicated the blueprints for the Sentry. “Like this heavy caliber, tripod-mounted, little ol’ number designed by me, BUILT by me, and you’d best hope… not pointed at you.”
“Gentlemen,” I called. The two men yelped and jumped two feet in the air.
“Don’t scare us like that!” protested Dell.
“I trust things are going well?” I asked.
“He’s trying to add Sentries to the outer hull!” snapped Liam. “You can’t achieve that by whacking the weapons systems with a pipe wrench!”
“It’s worked fine as frogs’ hair for me!” snapped Dell.
“Have you ever been on a spaceship before?!” argued Liam.
“Gentlemen!” I shouted. Both men turned to me. “Now is NOT the time. Look, Dell, save the Sentries on the hull until AFTER we beat Shocker Rift. Liam, you DO realize the wrench is coated in self-replicating, self-destructing nanites?”
“How in Sam Hill did you know that?!” yelped Dell.
“Lukas gave me the results of the time he examined the wrench,” I explained.
“…That boy’s more invasive than the Medic!” hissed Dell.
“Kill him later,” I directed. “Look, the nanites are programmed to upgrade any piece of technology when enough metal is absorbed and they’re struck with enough of an impact to shake some off the wrench.”
“They tend to shut off and destroy themselves quietly once they’ve done their job,” continued Dell.
“…Do you even have enough metal to fulfill the kind of upgrades you’re proposing?” asked Liam. Dell opened his mouth…then realized he didn’t.
“Darn,” he muttered.
“Like I said, just focus on getting basics up and running,” I replied.
“All righty then,” answered Dell. He and Liam then went back to work.
“Great Leader Hiro, Sir,” called my Sontaran Adjutant as he brought the people I wanted to meet into my Ready Room, “presenting Ambassador Hell and Metalran, Sir, as instructed.”
“Splendid,” I praised. “That will be all, Tunk.” The Sontaran left and I addressed my former boss and Tarlaxian ally. “So wonderful that you could bolster our numbers back to their original size.”
“We aim to please,” replied Metalran as he bowed.
“Maybe YOU do,” grumbled Ambassador Hell.
“It looks like he does,” I answered. “I know, deep down, you wish to please, so why not…?”
“Before you speak and try to incorrectly guess my motives,” interrupted Ambassador Hell, “let me tell you this: I don’t like the fact that you managed to usurp our Great Leader, I don’t like the fact that you’ve expanded Shocker to ideas above our station, and I don’t like you! You place your emotions above the needs of Shocker! You constantly obsess over a child! You manage to keep us from our goals of conquering our planet! Quite frankly, you are the most inefficient leader Shocker has had and should have stepped down!”
“…Well, since you wish to be unpleasant to me, it’s only fair I’m the same way to you,” I growled. “I don’t like you. You say I obsess over a child when you obsess over one man. You never expand your thoughts to long-term goals, only short-term ones. You say I place my emotions above Shocker’s needs, yet you constantly waste resources to defeating the Kamen Riders. To be blunt, Ambassador, the Great Leader made a mistake in pulling you from our American branch and making you the leader of our armies. Hence my usurping him. Now, if we’re all done being unpleasant with each other, I’d like for us all to get back to work. Dismissed.” The two left the Ready Room and I sat down, wondering what would happen if Ambassador Hell met with an…accident.
The pair of them returned with another Kamen Rider wearing a Chronicle Driver.
“Who’s the new guy?!” I asked. The Engineers pulled me aside.
“Do you know how we keep coming back?” asked the BLU Engineer.
“The BLU Heavy told me you guys are clones,” I answered. “Wait, did you guys make a third Engineer?”
“One that needs the belt more than we do,” replied the RED Engineer. “It works for both of us, but neither of us want to abandon our team.”
“So, we made him so he can travel the multiverse while we help out our teams,” continued the BLU Engineer. “He’s taken to going by our real name, Dell Conagher.”
“He want to help you out against the Joker’s boss,” finished the RED Engineer, “if you’ll have him.” I thought for a few seconds, then decided.
“Engineers, I would gladly have him,” I answered. I relayed where the new Rider came from and we took up positions to kick the enemy into the air.
“What makes you think you can stop us?!” laughed the Joker.
“We have our ways,” I replied, “blending order and chaos seems to work.”
“Order and chaos CAN’T be blended!” argued the Joker.
“That’s why you constantly get sent back to Arkham,” I countered. “They ain’t mutually exclusive! Doomfist can attest to that!”
“He IS correct,” remarked Doomfist. “Only through chaos can order flourish. Or, as I prefer to say it, only through conflict do we evolve.”
“You, zip it!” snapped the Joker.
“In any case, it’s about to get real chaotic for you,” I chuckled, “since you’re right where we want you! Kamen Rider Guard! None shall harm my friends, family, and lady!”
“Kamen Rider Arch! My skills outdo Robin Hood!”
“Kamen Rider Seeker! It’s not gold I seek, but your end!”
“Kamen Rider Herald Y! I bring news of your defeat!”
“Kamen Rider Famine! I shall starve you of victory!”
“Kamen Rider Range! I’ve got you right where I want you!”
“I’m Wyldstyle! Time to think outside the box!”
“I am Technarain, the genius wanderer!”
“I am Pup-X5!” called a prerecorded message that X-PO made for Pup-X5. “I shall dig up success!”
“Kamen Rider Construct!” called the Engineers’ third clone. “Let’s do this Texas style!”
“You’re gonna do it DEAD style soon!” laughed the Joker. “GET THEM!” They leapt into the air to attack us.
“NOW!” I called. We spun the wheels and pressed the buttons.
“Final attack!” announced the Vortex Drivers.
“Final Pen Stroke!” supplied the Chronicle Drivers.
“RIDER GUARD KICK!”
“RIDER ARCH KICK!”
“RIDER SEEKER KICK!”
“RIDER HERALD Y KICK!”
“RIDER FAMINE KICK!”
“RIDER RANGE KICK!”
“RIDER CONSTRUCT KICK!” Our kicks landed on our opponents and pushed them towards the portal!
“NOOOO!” screamed Merasmus as the enemy was sucked in. “SOLDIER! YOU WERE THE WOOORST ROOOOMMAAAATE!” The portal disappeared once everyone was sucked in.
“Victory!” called the Overwatch announcer.
“…That ain’t the Administrator,” mused the RED Engineer.
“Play of the Game,” continued the Overwatch announcer. The Gateway then projected a screen with Arch posing. The caption read “Emmanuel Babineaux as Kamen Rider Arch.”
“What?!” I protested. “Why are YOU getting Play of the Game?!” We soon got our answer. While he was fighting Reaper, he had separated his bow into his blades and leapt up into the air before inserting his i.d. tag into the one in his right hand.
“Final attack!” it announced.
“RIDER ARCH SLAM!” he shouted. The impact caused Reaper to fly across the map.
“…Okay, you get Play of the Game,” I grumbled.
“Well, the moment has passed,” muttered the RED Spy.
“Agreed,” supplied the BLU Spy. “We have work to do over at Thunder Mountain.”
“Thunder Mountain?!” squawked the RED Soldier. “I don’t know how you knew that’s where we’re going, but you BLUs won’t take it from us!”
“We’ll be throwing our payload at your ass all day long!” snarled the BLU Soldier.
“I am going to strangle you with your own frilly training bra!” threatened the RED Soldier. He then chased the BLU Soldier out of the carnival with their compatriots following close behind, save for Construct. Once it was just us, we all powered down. The third Engineer clone, Dell as the original two called him, was wearing a purple Engineer’s outfit.
“Welcome to the team, Mr. Conagher,” I bid as I stuck my hand out for a handshake.
“Please, son, Mr. Conagher is my father’s name,” replied Dell as he shook my hand. “Just call me Dell.”
“Well then, welcome, Dell,” I greeted. We then finished and I turned to Pup-X5. “Get into contact with Vorton. Tell them the Tarlaxian crew gave their lives successfully getting the Source out of harm’s way. It should be in the Tarlaxian vaults. Tell them we’re on our way with a new member!”
“Belay that!” snapped Victor. “You lot still owe me an explanation as to why you decided it was a good idea to keep Megumi’s emotional collapse a secret!”
“…Pardon?” asked Dell. I sighed.
“During our first trip through the multiverse,” I explained, “we kept information about the enemy from our new allies, Wyldstyle included. When it was revealed that the one who gathered us MEANT for them to be with us, Megumi realized her mistake and had an emotional breakdown at her mistake. We kept it from our recent additions to the team because we didn’t want their views of us tainted. …But we still tainted them anyways.”
“Yeah, you did,” remarked Victor.
“Victor, I’m sorry,” I sighed. “The majority vote was that we wouldn’t tell you. We thought we were doing this for the greater good. …That was the first mistake, thinking we were doing this for ANY kind of good. I understand if you want to leave us.”
“I appreciate that, I really do,” muttered Victor. “Maybe…maybe we need a little more forgiveness here. A little more compassion than hatred. It’s just…why did you vote on this in the first place?”
“I raised the issue, saying that it would turn away any potential new members,” replied Emmanuel. “We debated and then voted.” Pup-X5 raised his hand, indicating he had something to say.
“Apparently,” read his tablet, “your arguments swayed Richard.”
“…No, they didn’t,” I replied. “I voted no.”
“…No, you didn’t,” argued Pup-X5.
“Yes, I did!” I insisted. “You can see that I voted no!”
“No, it says you voted yes!” replied Pup-X5. He displayed the results and they baffled me.
“Okay, I KNOW Emily voted no!” I declared.
“Something seems screwy with your voting,” mused Victor. “We need to check this out.”
“‘We’?” I repeated.
“I’m still mad at you all,” replied Victor, “but it looks like someone wants to drive a wedge into us. We need to settle this before I make any decision.”
“All right,” I declared. “Pup-X5, get us home.”
Richard’s team arrived after telling us what happened in the universe he and his team went to and we told him the news about the Rose clone and the Doctor’s involvement. “We’re coming up with nothing,” I explained as I held my crown in my hand. “The Doctor is unavailable to help right now, she’s busy trying to figure out why she’s forgetting an adventure.”
“Did Emily find anything?” asked Richard.
“She DID find something chemical in her,” I explained, “but that’s probably part of Gallifreyan biology.” At that point, the Doctor approached us. She was fanning herself with her hand.
“Could someone lower the heat?” she griped. “Far above what Time Lords are used to!” She then noticed something. “Wait, shouldn’t you be fanning yourselves as well? It IS 41.8⁰C.” (107.3⁰F)
“No, it’s a comfortable 23.8⁰C,” (75⁰F) I argued. The Doctor then seemed to let her attention get grabbed elsewhere.
“…I think my right heart is ARRGH!” She then doubled over in pain, clutching her chest at her right heart. “I’ve been poisoned!” she gasped. She then ran off for the cafeteria. We followed to find her grabbing Michael by the shoulders. “Ginger beer!” she gasped.
“Doctor!” protested Michael, presuming that to be the insult version of the phrase.
“I need ginger beer!” explained the Doctor. Michael hurried off and replicated the drink. The Doctor guzzled it down.
“Doctor, what’s going on?!” yelped Michael. “You’re acting like you need to go through detox!”
“Protein!” called the Doctor.
“Will walnuts do again?” sighed Michael.
“Doctor, how are any of this gonna stop whatever poison’s inside you?!” I protested.
“Wait, the Doctor’s poisoned?!” yelped Michael. He hurried along replicating walnuts and handed them to the Doctor who greedily devoured them. She then mimed shaking something.
“I can’t understand!” I yelped as Michael was trying to replicate something else. However, his panic was making his fingers make mistakes. The Doctor held up one finger. “One word. Shake, shake,” I floundered. “Milk shake? No, not milk, cocktail shake! What do you want, an orange screwdriver?!”
“ORANGE SCREWDRIVER?!” protested the Doctor when she finally swallowed the walnuts.
“WELL, I DON’T KNOW!” I shouted back.
“HOW IS ‘ORANGE SCREWDRIVER’ ONE WORD?!” continued the Doctor.
“She was miming salt!” called Michael as he got the desired dish. “She needs something salty!”
“What is that?!” I yelped.
“Anchovies!” replied Michael.
“Brilliant!” praised the Doctor as she scarfed down the anchovies.
“Why not just salt?!” I asked.
“That’s too salty!” answered Michael as he tried replicating something else. The Doctor finished off her anchovies and mimed a flash with her hands.
“A song?!” I guessed. “Er, I don’t know! ‘Turkey in the Straw’?!”
“‘TURKEY IN THE STRAW’?!” protested both Michael and the Doctor.
“Oh, all right, ‘American Pie’!” I snapped.
“Doctor!” called Michael when he finished with the replicator. “Close your eyes and pucker your lips!” The Doctor did so and Michael held a piece of paper to her lips. The Doctor felt the taste of paper on her lips and opened her eyes, yelping in surprise at seeing whatever was on the paper and jumping back before leaning back, opening her mouth, and letting something smoky come out. The smoke cleared and the Doctor leaned on the table before regaining her strength and standing upright to glare at Michael.
“Dearest Michael,” she hissed, “when I’m going through detox and ask for a shock, just get a defibrillator! Do not, under any circumstances, make me kiss A PICTURE OF BLOODY DAVROS!”
“Detox?” I asked. “Time Lords can get rid of poison?”
“Not every poison, just certain poisons,” explained the Doctor. “Especially THAT poison used on me. It’s Sparxotylin, a Time Lord developed poison that inhibits certain memories, especially the memory of being injected with the stuff. Lasts a long time, even throughout regenerations, before it starts to kill the Time Lord.”
“When were you poisoned?” I asked.
“Just before I was imprisoned within my confession dial,” replied the Doctor.
“The Time Lords poisoned you before imprisoning you?!” snapped Michael. “Your own people?!”
“So, this ISN’T connected to the Rose clone?” I asked.
“No, it isn’t,” replied the Doctor.
The Gateway opened to reveal Scorpainia stepping through. She had Turretorg, Technarain, Discornia, and Sludgiona with her. “I see you’ve had this place redecorated since I was here last,” observed Scorpainia.
“Looks a little…bright,” muttered Batman.
“Yeah, we needed to make it brighter,” I replied. “A few of us would rather NOT stumble with only blue lighting in a dark place. Some plant life also benefitted us. The oxygen generators were pretty taxed during the Vortech Wars.”
“And with the new lighting,” helped Lukas, “came a source of vitamin C, essential for us humans.” At that moment, the lights went off. “…Apparently, we need a better power source,” muttered Lukas.
“No, dudes,” called a surfer dude’s voice. “Just rerouting power!” The lights came back on as an R9 Astromech wheeled himself in. “Had a gnarly idea,” continued the Astromech, “that we could route some power from the sensors to the GUUUUNNS!”
“New guys, this is R9-D7, the only Astromech I know of that can speak Basic,” I introduced. “R9, these are the new guys.”
“I think the new guys are already familiar with the most RADICAL Astromech in the multiverse!” boasted R9.
“Remind me of his backstory again?” asked Liam.
“After the Vortech Wars,” I explained, “Vader left him behind. He was stuck on Vorton for a few weeks until X-PO found him. We fixed him up and installed vocal components so we don’t have to guess his beeping.”
“And it’s been awesome ever since!” cheered R9.
“R9,” called Emily, “quick question. How are the defenses going to shoot any invaders WITHOUT the sensors?”
“…Okay, so there ARE some holes in my idea,” conceded R9. “No need to be bugging or anything.”
“We’ll save modifications AFTER this adventure,” I suggested.
“Buzzkill,” muttered R9.
“All right, is everyone here for the briefing?” I asked.
“Wait, where’s Pup-X5?” asked Emmanuel.
“And Lexicon, for that matter,” supplied Sheela.
“We’re here!” called a woman’s voice. A large, gunmetal grey can with an antenna on top came in with a humanoid dog robot walking it. The dog robot was about Snoopy’s height. He detached the leash from the can and petted Kit-10. “Sorry about the wait,” remarked the can, Lexicon, a mobile datastore. “Pup-X5 insisted on getting a bite to eat. How you lot managed to install a stomach that can process food like you do, I’ll never understand.” Pup-X5 rolled his eyes and folded his arms.
“Well, you got here anyways,” I dismissed, “so thank you for coming. Now that we’re all here, X-PO, you may begin.”
“Thank you,” bid X-PO. He started up a PowerPoint with the Gateway. “As many of you know,” he began, “five Tarlaxian Jabarda class scout ships were deployed to scout for potential universes in case the Omega Protocols needed to be deployed again.”
“A future Tarlax 15?” quizzed Wyldstyle.
“Indeed,” confirmed Scorpainia. “I would have called you lot a little later, but SOMEONE decided to force the issue!” She glared at X-PO.
“We’ll turn him into a coffee maker later,” I joked.
“Thanks,” snarked X-PO. “Anyway, in the most recent logs, I discovered that they were going near five universes containing the Sources.”
“What IS a Source?” I asked.
“In this instance,” interjected Famine as she paused her snacking, “it’s the source of an aspect the five of us Horsemen represent. Each looks like a crystal ball, about the size of a human’s head, in our colors. Mine’s yellow, Pestilence’s green, Death’s blue, War’s orange, and Lacey inherited the purple one of Chaos.”
“Chaos?” I muttered.
“An apocalypse IS rather chaotic,” replied Lacey. “Besides, chaos is common when life exists.”
“Fair point,” I conceded.
“Does that mean we should call Lacey ‘Chaos’ instead?” asked Richard.
“Please, no!” groaned Lacey.
“Focus, please!” snapped X-PO.
“The Source Universes?” muttered Scorpainia. “What were they doing near there? They’re WAY too close to Foundation Prime. Besides, we’ve long established that they were inhabited.”
“We always look for universes with no life aside from plants on ANY of that universe’s planets,” supplied Sludgiona.
“What are the universes’ identifier strings?” I quizzed.
“5-P-L-4-T-0-0-N, D-1-5-N-3-Y, 5-U-P-3-R-M-4-R-1-0, T-3-4-M-F-0-R-T-R-3-5-5-2, and 5-4-1-L-0-R-M-0-0-N,” replied Discornia.
“So, Splatoon, Disney, Super Mario, Team Fortress 2, and Sailor Moon,” I guessed.
“Bingo,” answered Death. “Splatoon hold my Source because they’ve invented a way to circumvent death in a weapon-using sport, Disney holds War’s as it’s very peaceful, given the chaos it usually brings, Super Mario has a cure for all, so it hides Pestilence’s Source, Team Fortress 2’s inhabitants don’t get hungry, so Famine could hide her Source there, and Sailor Moon brings order, so Lacey’s Source is safe.”
“So, the opposite aspects of your sources hides them,” I theorized.
“Exactly,” grunted War.
“But, as her Majesty asked, what were those ships doing there?” quizzed Technarain. “Their courses shouldn’t have taken them anywhere NEAR those universes.” Turretorg shuffled his feet. It’s not a quiet shuffle, given what his feet are made of.
“Turretorg,” hissed Scorpainia, “is there something you want to share with us?” No response. “Turretorg,” growled Scorpainia.
“I…I’m not at liberty to say,” stammered Turretorg.
“Not even to me?” snarled Scorpainia.
“…Sorry, but not even to you,” sighed Turretorg.
“That leaves us at liberty to speculate,” remarked Liam. He turned to Scorpainia. “You said they were near Foundation Prime, right?”
“They are,” confirmed Scorpainia. “As to why, I’ll let Death explain.”
“The Sources constantly project a barrier around Foundation Prime so no one, not even the Horsemen, could get to it,” explained Death. “However, if you’re clever enough you could find a chink in that barrier and get into Foundation Prime.”
“Vortech used me to that end,” remarked X-PO. “That’s how I got you guys into it.”
“So, when Vortech was beaten,” continued Death, “we reforged the barrier and shored up any flaws we could find. As such, using all five sources on the barrier will cause it to crumble and people could freely enter and exit Foundation Prime, restoring that square Vortech used to control the multiverse and bending it to their whims.”
“And, given the power we witnessed,” I guessed, “you didn’t WANT people to freely enter and exit that universe.”
“Exactly,” confirmed Death. “With all that in mind, those universes would make rather good defensive positions.”
“Hoping to control those universes?” Scorpainia asked Turretorg.
“Your Majesty,” sighed Turretorg, “I hope you’re not naïve enough to believe the Tarlaxian Senate DIDN’T want to use those universes.”
“No,” replied Scorpainia, “but I’m a little ticked that neither you nor the Senate brought the concern to my attention!”
“And?” quizzed Turretorg.
“And, if you didn’t tell her or your wife THAT,” hissed Moon-kyung as she nodded towards Discornia, “it makes us rather worried what ELSE you kept from her, or US, for that matter.”
“There wasn’t anything else to tell!” snarled Turretorg. “Their mission was to scout out potential universes in case the Omega Protocols were needed again. Yes, it WAS possible that they would pass by those universes. So, the Senate made it a secret parameter of said mission that, should they not find a threat to the Sources, they would gather data and intelligence relating to a defensive position to surround Foundation Prime. That is all!”
“It seems like a restructuring of the Senate is in order!” snarled Scorpainia. “I’d rather know about their concerns!”
“Well, from what I’ve picked up from a stray transmission,” interjected X-PO, “the crews of those ships weren’t too happy about that secret parameter either. Here’s something I picked up from the ship near 5-U-P-3-R-M-4-R-1-0.” He played a video of an apartment with three Tarlaxians in it.
“Wait, I thought you said that it’s from a scout ship,” recalled Richard. “That looks like Linkara’s old apartment.”
“With the stuff he had, too,” muttered Livia.
“My doing,” answered Technarain. “I heard about nerds in that universe turning a house into a spaceship, so I wanted to get a good look at any potential bridge designs. Linkara’s old apartment seemed like a more functional choice. He seemed okay with it.”
“If we could continue?!” grunted War.
“Thank you,” bid X-PO. He started the video. A two-headed, six-armed woman in a glossy, black exoskeleton, a spider’s rear end above her butt, eight eyes in a ring on each head with the two largest ones in the center, and claws on her fingers was at a workstation. The annotations identified her as Spidarachnimpa. A woman with a skirt that looked like a snail’s foot sat on Spidarachnimpa’s left. She had a snail’s antennae in place of her eyes, a snail’s shell, and secreted slime all over her body. It didn’t seem to affect her workstation. An annotation called her Escargripam. In the kitchen was a Tarlaxian man with a humanoid body shape, a skirt of eight octopus tentacles, a ring of eight tentacles around his shoulders, and the head of an octopus with a beak where a human’s mouth should be. He was called Octorpindar. Spidarachnimpa’s left head spoke into a communicator.
“This is the scout ship, Tranzek,” she called. “We have just entered Mushroom World territory and are ready to carry out our assignment. All lights are orange. No sign of any problems. We look forward to hearing from you in an hour. Tranzek out.” She switched the comms off.
“I still can’t believe it!” griped Octorpindar. “I mean, a year of planning this venture, three months to get to the universe we’re supposed to be at, then, just a few days before we get there, Tarlax calls saying, ‘Hey! Can you deviate from your flight plan by about 2 more months and check out a universe near Foundation Prime that holds Pestilence’s Source?’ I mean…!”
“Steady on, Octorpindar,” interjected Spidarachnimpa’s right head.
“We knew this was a possibility,” continued her left head.
“Yeah, but,” grumbled Octorpindar, “they didn’t need to wait until practically the last minute to tell us! I mean if we manage to encounter Vortech’s prison…!”
“We won’t!” countered Spidarachnimpa’s left head. “We’ll be moving in parallel to the loop pattern and matching the velocity of the rift loop.”
“Plus we have automatic sealants,” continued her right head, “to take care of any pinpricks in this baby’s hull should any debris be caught in the rift loop’s orbit and flung at us.”
“I wish I shared your confidence,” remarked Octorpindar as he grabbed a sandwich from the fridge.
“Don’t worry about it, dude,” remarked Escargripam. “We’re not gonna find anything. I mean, the Doctor…”
“The Doctor!” interrupted Octorpindar. “There’s a Gallifreyan that is THAT arrogant to think they can heal their…!”
“The Doctor had practically tied Vortech’s prison into a pretty little bow!” continued Escargripam. “He’s stuck!”
“If he manages to wiggle out…!” protested Octorpindar.
“I think somebody’s a little cranky this morning,” remarked Spidarachnimpa’s left head as both turned to him.
“Somebody needs to sit in the comfy chair,” continued the right head. She tapped the unoccupied console as Octorpindar rolled his eyes. He entered the living room and sat down at the console. He looked around the apartment-bridge and sighed.
“This will never NOT be weird,” he muttered.
“We’ve been doing this for practically all our lives,” groaned Escargripam, “and you choose NOW to complain?!”
“We’re sitting in an apartment that once belonged to some nerd!” complained Octorpindar.
“We are sitting,” both of Spidarachnimpa’s heads snarled in unison, “on the bridge of the most advanced scout ship and we’re ready to make history! Now, I don’t care if it happens in a toilet stall or a nerd’s basement dwelling, as long as it gets us there and gets us home! So, put on your grown-up explorer boots and give me a read-out on engine consumption!”
“Sorry, sorry,” sighed Octorpindar as he checked his station. “Engine consumption’s nominal. Look, I’m just saying the multiverse can get crazy and weird.”
“Better weird than boring,” remarked Escargripam. She checked her station’s readings. “We’re approaching the Source Universe. Should be smooth sailing.”
“Belay that thought,” interjected Spidarachnimpa’s left head.
“Why?” quizzed Escargripam.
“I’m detecting a power signature out there,” reported Spidarachnimpa’s right head. They all looked at the reading on her console.
“How can anything have power this far out?” muttered Escargripam.
“Well, let’s find out,” replied Spidarachnimpa’s right head. “It’s about 170 cm in length, 89 cm in width, and…and coming at us in an attack vector!!” At this point, both heads were speaking in unison. “Hard about! Raise the…!” The ship lurched and tossed the Tarlaxian crew over their consoles. An explosion made the video end in static. We stood there in silence.
“…Are they…?” gulped Emmanuel.
“We’re STILL getting bio-signs,” replied Technarain, “so I don’t think so.”
“Now we REALLY need to rescue them,” I declared. “I had already decided to split us up into teams according to After Academy house, but I think a Keystone Bearer on each team would help.”
“And a Tarlaxian on each team,” interjected Scorpainia.
“And a robot,” called Kit-10.
“All right, then let’s get organized,” I affirmed. The teams went like so: Death, Haitao, Livia, Sheela, Colleen, Sophie, X-PO, Turretorg, and myself would go to 5-P-L-4-T-0-0-N to check on her Source, War, Gandalf, Michael, Hiroki, Irina, Alesandro, Charline, Kit-10, and Discornia would go to D-1-5-N-3-Y to check that Source’s status, Pestilence, Hongo, Emily, Mikhail, Tanisha, Liam, Amelia, R9-D7, and Scorpainia would use the Virginia to go to 5-U-P-3-R-M-4-R-1-0 and use its sensors to check that Source out, Famine, Wyldstyle, Richard, Emmanuel, Xiomara, Victor, Brenden, Pup-X5, and Technarain will confirm the Source’s condition in T-3-4-M-F-0-R-T-R-3-5-5-2, and Lacey, Batman, Joshua, Lukas, Tonje, Moon-kyung, Flora, Lexicon, and Sludgiona would check out 5-4-1-L-0-R-M-0-0-N for her Source. “Are the team assignments clear?” I asked. Everyone replied yes. “Then let’s hit the hay for now,” I declared. “It’s late at night and I don’t want anyone fighting their own fatigue on top of fighting whoever’s behind this.”
“Sleep sounds heavenly right now,” muttered Moon-kyung. We all retired to our rooms and hit the sack.