Categories
Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 45

After the coronation and Death’s recent news about Igura taking a weapon that could wipe us out, I decided it was time to grab another Foundation Element. Everyone gathered in the Gateway room. Batman, Hongo, Gandalf, Wyldstyle, and I took our places while the rest of the Vortex Riders gathered in a circle. The Rider Chance music played, scaring a few of our newcomers. Ben looked disturbed. “I am not sure this is a pleasant thing,” gulped Rook.

“We’re not entirely comfortable with this, either,” replied Lukas.

“And today’s riders are…” announced X-PO as the hands rotated. They stopped on “Xiomara!”

“Yes!” she cheered.

“And Emmanuel!” called X-PO.

“Très bon!” replied Emmanuel. They took their places on the Gateway Platform.

“Good luck!” wished Mr. Babineaux.

“Come back safe, Your Majesty!” called Michael. Everybody made their farewells.

“Everyone,” I said to my team once the farewells were completed, “CHARGE!” We went through the rift and arrived in 80’s era New York. There was chaos going on and strange lights in the sky. See-through people was terrorizing the citizens, in various states of decay.

“HEY!” protested Gandalf as he was slimed and robbed of his hat. “Accursed Pilfering Phantasm!” He zapped the creature, making it drop his hat.

“Ghosts?” asked Batman.

“G-g-ghosts?” stammered Wyldstyle.

“Surely, you’re not scared of a few specters?” chuckled Xiomara.

“I ain’t afraid of no ghosts,” replied Batman.

“The dead don’t rise from their graves without good reason,” mused Hongo. “We should find out what it is.”

“Agreed,” I affirmed.

“They look like they’re coming from over there,” observed Batman. I saw the building Batman was pointing to.

“Xiomara, Emmanuel, does that look familiar?” I asked. I pointed to a light up sign with a ghost trapped in the “NO” symbol. Their faces lit up.

“Ghostbusters HQ!” called Emmanuel.

“Come on!” cried Xiomara. We then heard something in the sky.

“Is that…screaming?” I muttered.

“Up there!” answered Emmanuel as he pointed upwards. “It looks like…A MAN AND AN ICE CREAM TRUCK FALLING OUT OF THE SKY!!”

“LOOK OUT!” warned the man. We got out of the way as the man landed on his back and the Ice Cream truck falling away from him. “My back!” he groaned. We went to help him up. Hongo’s eyes went wide when he saw the man’s face.

“Takeru?!” he yelped.

“You know him?” asked Batman.

“Tenkūji Takeru,” introduced Hongo, “Kamen Rider Ghost. He helped me fight Shocker and Shocker Nova.” Takeru then got over his pain and saw Hongo.

“Hongo-san!” cheered Takeru.

“Good to see you, Takeru!” replied Hongo. “What brings you here?”

“A fight with Igura,” answered Takeru.

“You met her again?!” yelped Hongo.

“This was back home,” elaborated Takeru. “I was enjoying a nice 20th birthday with my friends, and a celebration of coming back to life, when she attacked the temple. She started demanding a Hero Eyecon, but I wasn’t about to surrender them. I fought her off, then she made a blue vortex and threw me in there which got me here. Ever since then, I’ve been fighting these ghosts.”

“I don’t think that’s what she was talking about,” replied Hongo. “She may have been talking about an Eyecon with her lover’s soul, Hiro Adachi.”

“Never heard of him,” remarked Takeru.

“Former Shocker scientist, my biological father,” I explained. “I’m Megumi Hishikawa, Queen of the Feudal Nerd Society. This is Lady Xiomara.”

“Hola!” cheered Xiomara.

“Emmanuel,” I continued.

“Bonjour,” greeted Emmanuel.

“Batman,” I went on.

“And not the Shocker monster,” answered Batman.

“Wyldstyle,” I continued.

“Not a DJ,” clarified Wyldstyle.

“And Gandalf,” I finished.

“Pleasure to meet you,” greeted Gandalf.

“We’re heading to the source of all these ghosts,” I explained. “Want to tag along?”

“Sure!” replied Takeru.

“Let’s go!” I called. We walked a few blocks to see a green blob possess another Ice Cream truck and make it go across purple goo and fly away.

“Okay, there’s no way that goo is safe,” remarked Wyldstyle.

“Agreed,” I muttered. “We need to find a way over.” I then got an idea. “Takeru-san, do you still have ghostly powers?”

“Yes, my belt keeps them. Why?” asked Takeru.

“Because we can fly everybody over the goo,” I replied. I then drew out my i.d tag. “Henshin!” I announced. Takeru was surprised when he saw me suit up.

“A Kamen Rider?!” he yelped.

“Kamen Rider Royal,” I answered. “And I have more surprises. Time to test the new Ben 10 i.d tag.” I drew out said i.d tag and swapped mine with that one. Because of the aliens Ben turns into, the icons circled. “You know, I think we should blend in with the ghostly crowd,” I mused.

“Just pay attention to it,” advised Batman.

“I’ll be fine,” I assured. “Look.” I selected an icon. “Boom, armor based off of Ben’s Ectonurite form.”

“Ben 10 Jetray Steel!” announced Vortoranii.

“What?!” I yelped. The wardrobe closed on me and altered my armor. I gained yellow horns, a red color scheme, and had flight suit wings under my arms. The wardrobe vanished as I felt something seize my vocal cords. “JETRAY!” I called. I then sighed and glared at my belt. “I asked for Ghostfreak, not Jetray!” I complained “Are you seriously gonna act like the Omnitrix?!”

“Hey, you’re the one who turned her head when Batman talked!” snapped Vortoranii. “That’s your fault. Besides, you can fly now, so quit complaining!” I sighed again.

“Emmanuel, get on my back,” I directed. “Xiomara, Gandalf, I’ll have to pick you up by my feet. Hongo, Wyldstyle, Batman, you’re with Takeru.” Emmanuel got on my back and I took off into the air. When I landed on the other side, I heard something say “EYE!” I turned to see a black parka with orange trim and orange eyes dancing around Takeru. He was wearing a belt that looked like an eye covered in slime. It had an orange grip that he could pull and push. The belt was saying “Batchiriminā! Batchiriminā!” (Watch out!) He then made various hand signs before putting his right pointer and middle finger in front of his face.

“Henshin!” he announced. He pulled the handle, the pushed it back in. The eye closed, then opened again.

“KAIGAN! ORE!” (Eyes open! It’s me!) called the belt. A suit similar to those of Tron: Legacy formed as the parka landed on him and made an orange faceplate with black eyes and a single horn. “Let’s go! Kakugo! (Dead Set!) Go, Go, Go GHOST! Go! Go! Go! Go!” continued the belt. Takeru pulled the hood back and allowed Hongo onto his back. He then grabbed Wyldstyle and Batman’s wrists and took off, landing on my side of the goo.

“That’s your persona as Kamen Rider Ghost?” I muttered. “Looks like a Tron suit.”

Tron?” asked Ghost.

“I’ll explain later,” I replied. We went up a street to see four men in a tricked-out hearse. It had all sorts of gadgetry on the roof and was white with red trim. The men had some sort of technological backpacks with rifles connected by a tube to the backpack. The rifles were spitting out orange streams of light with blue streams of light circling the orange ones. The streams were ensnaring the ghosts. When they did so, they threw out metal boxes and opened them with a foot pedal.

“This concentration of spectral activity is too large for us to handle!” called one of the men, wearing glasses. “We need to return to base and recharge the packs!”

“Egon, I thought you said we’d be dead before the packs run out of juice!” remarked another man, going a little bald.

“Egon’s right!” supplied a portly man. “The PKE is actually messing up the packs’ half-life! We need to head to base so we can deal with the source of these ghosts!”

“Base IS the source of these ghosts!” reminded the final man, a black man with a moustache. “Remember?! Peck shut the containment unit down again!”

“Again?” sighed Emmanuel as we stayed out of sight. The recent ghost the men had snared started dragging them and their hearse along. They followed, screaming.

“…Well, that was weird,” I muttered

“Standard fare for those men,” replied Xiomara.

“Who were they?” I asked.

“The balding one is Peter Venkman, the de facto leader,” explained Emmanuel. “The black man is Winston Zeddemore, the mechanic. The man with the glasses is Egon Spengler, the brains of the group. The portly man is Ray Stanz, the handy man. Together, those men make up the Ghostbusters.”

“And this ‘Peck’ they mentioned?” I ventured

“Walter Peck, an EPA representative that harbors a distaste for the Ghostbusters,” replied Xiomara.

“And what did he shut down?” I asked.

“The containment unit for the ghosts the Ghostbusters catch,” explained Xiomara. We then heard a fire escape ladder come down, thanks to Gandalf.

“I believe a higher vantage point will help us,” remarked Gandalf.

“Good idea,” I said. We headed to the fire escape when some ghosts started causing trouble. They messed with the traffic lights and caused a 20-car pile-up at the intersection.

“Oh, these wicked spirits are fiendish!” hissed Gandalf.

“Get them out of there!” I shouted. We got the people out of the cars and checked them over. Surprisingly, they weren’t hurt.

“Now, how are we gonna get past that?!” asked Ghost as he cancelled his transformation.

“With the Chroma Keystone!” replied Wyldstyle. “Batman, the red disc is above us on the fire escape!”

“Got it!” said Batman. He fired his grapple gun at the ladder above us and yanked hard. It didn’t move. He yanked again, but nothing happened. “Er, Megumi, a little help?” he asked.

“Did he just…?” realized Wyldstyle.

“No!” said Batman, hurriedly.

“Stop the presses, I can see it now!” teased Emmanuel. “A headline in the Gotham Newspaper, ‘Batman Asks for Help!’”

“Quit teasing him!” I giggled as I swapped out the Ben 10 i.d tag for Batman’s.

“Batman Steel!” announced Vortoranii. My suit changed, and I fired a grapple gun. Together, we yanked the ladder down. When we made it to the top, we pushed the disc down. Wyldstyle leapt onto the roof of a nearby diner and got the yellow disc down to the street. All that was left was the blue one. We found it in the trunk of one of the cars in the pile-up.

“My turn!” called Wyldstyle.

“Not yet!” I stopped. “We need the Lock design!” My left arm started buzzing. “And I think I can get us that. Locate Keystone, activate! Initiate Rift detection!” I found the rift opening near a pile of goo. “Identify source of rift!” The info beamed into my head. “That one again?” I muttered. “Oh well. Locate help from W-1-Z-4-R-D-0-F-0-Z!” The Wizard of Oz’s podium appeared on top of the goo.

“Master build senses, tingling!” giggled Wyldstyle.

“Have at it!” I directed. Wyldstyle punched the podium, turning it into Lego bricks, and built a large speaker out of them. The ghosts nearby saw this and possessed it, making it move to the pile-up and turn around to make a Chroma Lock design appear. The left L was green, the circle was blue, and the right L was red.

“Now, my turn,” called Wyldstyle. “Chroma Keystone, activate! Chroma lock, reveal!” The lock design appeared. “Chroma! Red! Takeru! Chroma! Yellow! Emmanuel! Chroma! Blue! Batman!”

“What does she…?” began Takeru before I shoved him into the red paint. “HEY!” he snapped.

“It’ll evaporate soon,” I assured. Emmanuel and Batman went into their respective colors. Batman entered the circle, making blue, before heading to the left L. Emmanuel joined Batman and I led Takeru to the right L. The speaker attracted more ghosts before it started playing a snatch of a song.

Who’re you gonna call?

GHOSTBUSTERS!

The sound blew the pile-up out of the way before the speaker fell apart. We went on our way, avoiding streets with goo blocking the path, and went up one to see the Ghostbusters still being dragged along. The street was blocked by goo at the other end. “Looks like we’re flying,” I mused. I swapped out the current i.d tag for the Ben 10 one again. The alien icons scrolled by. “This time, I want Ghostfreak!” I selected his icon.

“Ben 10 Ghostfreak Steel!” announced Vortoranii.

“Thank you!” I remarked as the wardrobe closed on me. My armor changed into that of a stereotypical ghost with lines all over me. “GHOSTFREAK!” I said. I grabbed Batman, Hongo, and let Wyldstyle onto my back.

“EYE!” called Takeru’s belt. “Batchiriminā! Batchiriminā!”

“Henshin!” announced Takeru. He then pulled and pushed the lever.

“KAIGAN! ORE! Let’s go! Kakugo! Go, Go, Go, Ghost! Go! Go! Go! Go!” continued his belt. Ghost allowed Emmanuel onto his back and grabbed Xiomara and Gandalf. We went over the goo and turned right. We went down some more city blocks and flew over more goo. When we went to another intersection, the Statue of Liberty walked by. The Ghostbusters’ hearse dodged the feet. We followed the hearse to see a rift opening, allowing a dropship in police colors to fly into this universe. A billboard advertising the Ghostbusters fell on one advertising Stay Puft Marshmallows and they tumbled onto the street.

“These specters are truly restless,” muttered Gandalf. “And, rather bothersome!”

“I’ve got an idea,” called Batman. “I need to get onto the roof of that building.”

“I got you!” I replied. I flew Batman up to the rooftop to see a crane over the police dropship.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” announced Batman. “Yellow, on the same rooftop as me! Blue, on the crane! Magenta, above the dropship, same height as the crane arm! Shift! Megumi! Blue!” I arrived on the crane and found the controls. I used them to swing the crane arm over the dropship, under the magenta portal. “Shift! Gandalf! Magenta!” Gandalf appeared on the arm. He made the hook go down and latch onto the dropship. The pilot tried to get away but ended up making the dropship spin around the arm and smash the billboards, allowing us passage. We went to the alleys and arrived at Ghostbusters HQ to see a rift open up near the battered Ghostbusters. A small attack ship came out and a man with military style hair, black clothing, and a full beard flew out of the rift.

“Now, that’s what I call a Phantom Zone,” chuckled the man. He approached Egon, who waved some device over him.

“Ray, this looks extraordinarily bad!” reported Egon.

“The Foundation Element!” cheered the man. “Good!” He swiped the device from Egon’s hands.

“The PKE meter is a Foundation Element?!” gulped Xiomara.

“And PKE means…?” I asked.

“Psychokinetic Energy,” clarified Emmanuel. “The stuff ghosts are made of!”

“Your cooperation is noted,” boomed the man that stole the PKE meter. He then threw the Ghostbusters into his ship.

“Are you sure that’s needed?” burbled a voice. Sludgiona then popped up from the sewers.

“Without the Ghostbusters,” boasted the man, “the pitiful residents of this planet won’t stand a chance! New Krypton will rise from their ashes! All will kneel before Zod!” He flew up to his ship and Sludgiona headed into the Ghostbusters HQ, a firehouse refurbished.

“Krypton?” hissed Batman. “This is the one time I’d be happy to see Superman.”

“What’s General Zod doing, working for Vortech?!” asked Xiomara.

“Not so fast, Zod!” called Batman as he threw a batarang at one of the ship’s wings. It crashed onto the roof of Ghostbusters HQ. “We have to get that Foundation Element before they can escape!” declared Batman.

“Indeed!” replied Gandalf. “Although, I suspect we may encounter some otherworldly resistance!”

“Xiomara, Emmanuel, Hongo, suit up,” I directed. “We’re going in hot!”

“Understood!” replied Emmanuel.

“Rider…” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” called the three. They transformed, and we headed into the lion’s spectral den.

Categories
Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 44

I will freely admit, I was feeling nervous. Okaa-san had completed my dress in about a week. She used white with gold for the outermost skirt. My shoulders and upper arms were exposed while my forearms had sleeves from the elbow to my fingers. The interior of the sleeves and the fluffy material at my elbows were gold. My bodice was white with gold trim on top. The exposed petticoats were white like the train of my dress. This was the first time I wore a dress with a train. I was at my makeup mirror, putting on lipstick. When I finished, I noticed how worried I look, especially without my tiara on. That thing was like a security blanket. I started breathing deeply and unclenched my fingers. “You’ve been through worse, girl,” I whispered to myself. “Besides, your friends believe in you.” I heard a knock. “Come in,” I called. Hiroki poked his head through the door.

“We’re ready,” he reported.

“On my way,” I said. Hiroki left the door open. No turning back. Time to be a Queen. I walked slowly, noticing the details of the hallway from my room to the Gateway room. It took a minute to get there. When I did, I saw the aisle I was going to walk down. Death and her team, our families, the F.N.S, X-PO, Turretorg, Discornia, Team 10, the Stormtroopers and Vader, Rusty, the Brigadier, Elphaba, Chell, and Hongo were on either side. Ursula and our Transformer allies had already gone home. Batman, Wyldstyle, and Gandalf were on the Gateway platform. Gandalf was in the center, Batman was on his right, Wyldstyle was on his left. I walked down the aisle and got on the Gateway pad in front of Gandalf. When I stopped, I knelt down. Batman handed Gandalf a simple gold crown with three points on the front and an oval shaped sapphire at the base of each point. Gandalf accepted the crown and first raised it for all to see, then lowered it onto my head.

“Now come the days of the Queen,” called Gandalf. “May they be blessed.” I gave a small smile, then rose and turned to face my friends. I was met with applause and a teary-eyed Okaa-san. As I looked, I realized that they wanted me to assume more power, so I can better help them, and they can better help me. The butterflies in my stomach went down as I motioned for quiet.

“Thank you,” I began. “All of you. In all my years, I never had such valuable friends and family. Without you, I would be a totally different person. I am truly grateful to have you as my friends and family, even those that were once thought of as fiction. So, I say again, thank you, and may our days be blessed.” I was met with applause. “Now then,” I decreed after it had died down, “to the cafeteria? Ready to feast?” I was met with cheers. “Let’s go!” I called. We sojourned to the cafeteria. As we ate and drank, I noticed War get something on her phone. “Everything alright?” I asked in a low voice, not wanting to disturb the party.

“Not really,” grunted War in the same low tone. She called Death over. My brother joined us. “I just got a message saying Jō had entered the campus.”

“Jō?” I asked.

“Shigeru Jō,” whispered Death, “a guest lecturer when we have a history lesson.”

“The name sounds familiar,” muttered Hiroki.

“Hiroki, you, of all people, should know him!” whispered Death. “He’s the 7th Showa Era Rider, the 7th Rider of all Riders, Kamen Rider Stronger!”

“Stronger?! Seriously?!” yelped Hiroki.

“Yes, and it said he just entered After Academy,” grunted War.

“So, another lecture?” I asked.

“Except, he’s been in the campus for a week now,” whispered Death.

“That’s…disturbing,” I muttered.

“Pardon me,” whispered Death. “I must investigate this.”

“See you later, then,” I bid. Death bowed and left.

“If this worries Death, should it worry us?” asked Hiroki.

“I should hope not,” grunted War.


I had arrived back at After Academy. Something was going up my spine and it wasn’t good. I entered the selectively permeable wall and found Jō. He was with his girlfriend, Misaki Yuriko. They both had the halo mark on their brow to show that they were dead. Yuriko noticed that Jō’s eye and hand were ashen gray. Jō was confused about it. He brought it to my attention and fear gripped my heart. I ordered a Lockdown. Nothing was going in or out. “What’s gotten into you?!” asked Jō.

“The only way any dead person’s body parts would go ashen,” I explained, “would be because those parts were stolen from your grave!” Jō and Yuriko then realized the implications. I got my belt on. “Henshin!” I announced.

“Death!” called my belt. My suit formed. Yuriko jumped into the air and landed in a red, black, and yellow suit with a ladybug motif. This was her hero form, Denpa Ningen Tackle (Electro-wave Human, Tackle). Jō took his jacket off to reveal a yellow shirt with a large, black S on the front. He then stuck his right arm to the side and his left arm pointed towards the right. He then rotated his arms so they were sticking out to the left.

“Henshin!” he announced. He then pulled an imaginary rip cord on his left arm with his right. “STRONGER!” His suit appeared in a crackle of electricity. The belt looked like an eight-pointed star. His suit was black with red shoulder pads connecting at the rib cage and sporting a large, black S. He was sporting a white scarf. The whole motif was based off the Rhinoceros beetle. This was Kamen Rider Stronger.

“Is there any artefact that the intruder would want?” asked Tackle.

“There is one,” I whispered. “We’d best check it out.” I led the two heroes to the room where the Foundation Saber was kept. Shocker Nova Combatmen were accompanying Igura. One of them alerted her to our presence. Igura turned to see us. Her left hand looked like it belonged on a man and her eyes were a different color. One was black, the other was brown. What scared me was that her right arm was like a Vortonian’s. I didn’t need to guess the donor.

“Well now, Kamen Rider Stronger!” she chuckled. “Thank you for donating your hand and eye to me. Rest assured; you will not be forgotten when the new multiversal order is here.”

“Back away from that room!” I whispered. “I’m warning you!”

“You’re warning me?” hissed Igura. “No, I’M warning YOU! Don’t interfere. You have no idea what I’m capable of.”

“You have no idea what that blade will do to your psyche!” I whispered. “You’re about to unleash forces you cannot control, nor comprehend! The Foundation Saber’s power will tear you asunder!”

“I AM power!” growled Igura. She turned to her men. “Keep them occupied.” The Combatmen swarmed us, slowing us down sufficiently to allow Igura access. She entered the wall and I went through enough to clear a path. I went through the wall, too late. She had already disabled the security measures and grabbed the sword. She then put it in a metal harness shaped like a blade. After that, the sword started unleashing power, as did Igura. The energies synced with each other, signifying that Igura had mastered the Foundation Saber. “At last, the power of the multiverse belongs to ME!”

“No…” I breathed, my transformation cancelling automatically. I fell to my knees. Igura then put the tip of the blade at my throat.

“I would cleave you in two for taking my Hiro’s soul!” she snarled. She then guided my head upwards with the sword. “But, you didn’t, did you?” I was confused. “I looked through your Ledger of the Dead,” explained Igura. “You keep track of all the souls you’ve claimed. Hiro’s soul is marked with a blue circle instead of a green check mark. You couldn’t find his soul in Chima, could you?”

“…No, I couldn’t,” I admitted. “However, Hiro is dead and will remain so!”

“Time will tell,” laughed Igura. She then grabbed me by the hair and dragged me out of the room. She released me and ordered her men to retreat. Stronger and Tackle looked and saw Igura make a circle with the Foundation Saber, creating a rift. “Farewell,” she bid. She and her Combatmen departed. Stronger and Tackle checked me over.

“This war has just tipped in the enemy’s favor,” I muttered.


“A harness for the blade?” asked Vortech when I returned. “Surely my genetic donation would be sufficient.”

“Vortech, you warned me about the power this thing has,” I replied. “I am not a fool. For all I knew, the sword’s power would still make me lose my mind, even with my new Vortonian arm. Better to play it safe.”

“Fair point,” conceded Vortech. “Now, we should be prepared for Universe G-H-0-5-T-8-U-5-T-3-R-5-1-9-8-4. Zod will be in charge and Sludgiona will take your place.”

“Pardon?” I asked.

“You have bigger priorities, locating Hiro’s soul, for a start,” replied Vortech. “Why settle for just one edge when we have a chance for two?”

“So, you want me to find Hiro and bring him back to us?” I quizzed.

“Correct,” confirmed Vortech. “Do not come back empty-handed again.”

“Understood,” I obliged.

Categories
Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 43

“That was a week ago, Your Highness,” said Emily as she finished. I was reeling from the shock.

“That’s…wow…that’s a lot to take in,” I breathed. I then shook my head and turned to Lacey. “Kamen Rider Apocalypse?” I mused. “Congrats! Now we can beat Vortech together!”

“Can’t wait!” cheered Lacey.

“Question,” interjected Mrs. Acqua. “Why are you still in your school uniform?”

“The staff sometimes wears the student uniform to bring them to their level,” replied Lacey. “I think this is gonna be standard dress for me. I don’t know. Haven’t decided yet.”

“Have you picked a color yet?” I asked.

“I was thinking of using purple,” answered Lacey. “A nice, calming color.”

“Can’t wait to see you in action,” I giggled. I turned to Emily. “So, feasting for a week?”

“Special orders from the Dinobots,” explained Emily, “after taking over management of this establishment.”

“Speaking of, where’s the newly christened Siege?” I asked.

“Over here,” snarled the velociraptor. “Siege, Maximize!” Siege transformed. “Welcome to Jurassic World,” he greeted. “Forgive the lack of staff right now, but there is a human to deal with.”

“Lead me to her,” hissed Mrs. Saunders. “She’s under arrest!”

“HELP!” cried a voice.

“That was her!” called Emily.

“Quick!” I directed. We all ran like Hades down Main Street to see a woman, Heather, by Emily’s description, locked in combat with a robot. The robot seemed to gain the upper hand as it wrapped its pincers around Heather’s throat. Heather tried to get out of the robot’s grip, but to no avail. She was thrown down and I heard snapping. Emily rushed to her and checked her over. She dropped her shoulders and turned to us.

“She’s dead,” she pronounced. I turned to look at the robot. It stayed there, so I examined every detail. It had a single grey antenna, a square head and rectangular body, arms with pincers, and a single yellow eye. It floated like X-PO did and summoned a rift to escape.

“STOP!” I demanded, but it was too late.

“Damnation!” roared Mrs. Saunders. “She had valuable intel on Vortech’s plans!”

“First Hiro, now this!” I hissed.

“What about Hiro?” asked Richard.

“Oh, yeah,” I explained. “After I became Kamen Rider Vortex for the first time, Hiro blew himself up.”

“He’s dead?!” yelped Haitao.

“I’ll explain on the way back,” I promised. “X-PO, we need a rift back!” A rift opened up. “Shall we?” I called. We all entered the rift.


I had managed to secure permission to begin a little expedition from Vortech after my embarrassment in Jurassic World. Ambassador Hell accompanied me. We headed to a universe in Cluster N. The landscape was a barren, dark one with nothing but grey sand. The gravity was 1/6th of what we’re used to. Ambassador Hell looked around and stopped when he saw what was in the sky. “Nice, lush planet, is it not?” I remarked.

“We’re on a planet’s moon?!” he asked. “How are we breathing?!”

“In most versions in this dimensional cluster,” I replied, “the moon has an atmosphere. This specific universe is 5-U-P-3-R-M-4-R-1-0.”

“Is…that a…church?” asked Ambassador Hell.

“A sham wedding was stopped in that church,” I answered.

“Is that a taxi?!” yelped Ambassador Hell.

“And tourists are around,” I mused.

“But…the moon is a barren wasteland, isn’t it?” asked Ambassador Hell.

“Indeed,” I replied, “but, it isn’t this universe that’s our destination.”

“Then, why are we…?” Ambassador Hell’s question was answered as we stopped at a crater. “A gateway?”

“Our very own,” I confirmed. “Salvaged from the wreckage of GLaDOS’ bungling. Come! We’re going to the outskirts of Hell itself!” I activated the Gateway and we entered to arrive at another wasteland with a blood-red sky and air filled with the screams of the damned. Ambassador Hell looked down the crater to see many of the people were once under his command.

“I had underestimated how many of our allies are here,” he hissed. “Curse all Kamen Riders to this very pit!”

“Come,” I called. “Our destination is in sight.” We approached a large building with gargoyles.

“A tomb? Here?” asked Ambassador Hell.

“One said to contain guardians,” I answered. “Come now, Ambassador, you’re not averse to desecration, are you?”

“It’s just that being here evokes powerful memories,” replied Ambassador Hell, “considering the fate of my brother.”

“Ambassador Darkness of the Badan Empire, correct?” I mused. “Then, you shall delight in our purpose here. For our actions here shall ensure that we avenge our fallen comrades.” We entered the tomb and located a coffin

“Don’t touch that!” snapped a voice.

“Says…who are you?!” I asked. The creature was humanoid, was grey-white, had a large tail, black lips, and purple areas on the scalp, shoulders, sternum, and lower legs, which had three toes. He had a halo above his head.

“I am Frieza,” introduced the creature. “At the moment, I’m supposed to guard this tomb. Anything to get away from that absurd tree! Much as I prefer to allow desecration, I’m on assignment to prevent it. So, if you value your lives, back off!”

“Hold that abomination off!” I ordered.

“Hold him off?!” protested Ambassador Hell as he turned into Garagaranda. “I’m the leader of an organization! I don’t hold things off! I squash them!” As he held Frieza off, I opened a coffin and took out my blades. I used a small one to get the eye and used a larger one to get the left hand.

“I have what I need!” I called. “Vortech, Garagaranda and I need a rift home!” Garagaranda shoved Frieza away and we entered the rift.


We had returned to Vorton to cheers. Everyone was back, well, aside from Death. We told everyone the events of what went on in Jurassic world and told them about the robot that killed Heather. I then told everyone what happened in Chima. After the story, I called for silence. “Everyone,” I began, “I’m just reminding those that heard, but the Jurassic team needs to know. There’s been an idea floating around that I should be crowned Queen of the F.N.S.”

“No kidding?!” asked Emily as she wiggled happily in Joshua’s lap.

“No kidding,” I confirmed. “So, I need everyone’s opinion. To save time, I need everyone to speak with their families and we’ll tally family votes. Okaa-san, Hiroki Nee-san, you two will have to debate alone. I’m not voting.”

“We understand,” assured Okaa-san.

“All right, get debating. Let me remind you that a single no vote will defeat the motion,” I declared. “I’ll call you in five minutes.” The F.N.S, our families, Hongo, Batman, Wyldstyle, and Gandalf departed. Ben and his team, Ursula, and the Dinobots were staring at the Star Destroyers hovering above Vorton.

“I swear I saw those before,” mused Ursula as she turned into Vanessa.

“A pleasure to see you,” boomed Vader’s voice.

“YOU AGAIN!!” shouted Vanessa.

“You know him?” I asked.

“We were on the same side for a while during an event called the Balance Wars,” snarled Vanessa. “If memory serves, you and your Emperor nearly killed us all when you fought each other! Loki wasted too much power to get us out of the Death Star Mark III!”

“Perhaps it would be in your best interest to not underestimate the power I wield,” rumbled Vader. “Your magic is nothing compared to the Force.”

“You prattle on and on about that Force nonsense,” hissed Vanessa, “but, in the end, anyone can wield it! It’s nothing special, just a…!” She didn’t get very far as Vader held out his hand and Vanessa started gasping for air.

“I find your lack of faith disturbing,” growled Vader.

“LET HER GO OR OUR ALLIANCE IS OVER!” I thundered.

“As is your will,” complied Vader. He released Vanessa. She coughed and spluttered.

“Vader, it would be in your best interests NOT to choke people that annoy you,” I warned. “You want my help, reign it in! Whatever beef you have with her is irrelevant. Unless Vanessa wishes to stay, I’m sending her home after the vote.”

“I’m not staying a second longer!” snapped Vanessa.

“Truth be told,” rumbled Grimlock, “Dinobots need to go home.”

“I must return as well,” replied Siege.

“I don’t know about you guys,” cheered Ben, “but I’m staying!”

“Not without me, you are not!” protested Rook.

“I’m staying too,” called Gwen.

“I see no reason to not kick butt and take names,” mused Kevin.

“I’m in, too,” declared Max.

“Very well,” I said. I then heard footsteps. “Five minutes, already?” I muttered. “All right, we’ll start with the Saunders.”

“The Saunders say yes!” called Emily.

“Archers?” I asked.

“The Archers say yes,” replied Michael.

“Kuznetsovs?” I quizzed.

“The vote is yes,” answered Irina.

“Akintolas?” I queried.

“We say yes!” cheered Mr. Akintola.

“Ackermanns?” I gulped.

“The vote is yes,” reported Mrs. Ackermann.

“Babineauxs?” I mumbled.

“Oui, you should be Queen!” called Emmanuel.

“Haugens?” I asked, hoping for a “no” vote.

“You will make a fine Queen. The vote is yes,” replied Tonje.

“Elizondos?” I said weakly.

“Of course, we say yes!” cheered Mr. Elizondo.

“Acquas?” I quizzed.

“Sì!” called Livia.

“Williams?” I mumbled.

“God save Queen Megumi!” praised Mr. Williams.

“Kumars?” I mumbled.

“Yes, of course!” replied Sheela.

“Lins?” I quizzed.

“We say yes,” said Mrs. Lin.

“Okay, my family has the final say,” I said, really hoping for a “no” from them.

“And we say yes!” cheered Okaa-san. “You shall make a fine Queen!”

“It’s…decided…then,” I whispered, feeling the weight of the crown, even though I was still wearing my tiara.

“I’ll make you a new dress!” cheered Okaa-san.

“Okay,” I mumbled, nervously.

“No worries, Megumi,” assured Richard. “You’ve led us this far and haven’t let us down. I feel confident in following you.”

“Thank you,” I sighed. “I just worry about that kind of power going to my head.”

“Just remember your friends,” reminded Okaa-san. I smiled.

“Friends do keep one grounded, don’t they?” I mused. I was feeling a little more confident about being Queen. “When my new dress is finished, we will hold a coronation.” I decreed.

“God save the Queen!” cheered Michael.

“God save the Queen!” called everyone.


When we returned, Vortech met us as he held a female version of his right arm. “And, what do you intend to do?” he asked.

“The hand and eye I had obtained from Hell are merely tools to allow me into After Academy,” I explained. “The arm I requested should serve as a buffer for the power that resides in the school. Power that I intend to use!” We stopped at the Medical Ward with the Rani by the surgery table. “So, you CAN do it?” I asked her.

“I mean, yes, I CAN do it,” she replied, “if you’re certain that’s what you want?”

“Like nothing I’ve ever desired!” I declared, making it clear that there is no going back.

“Then, prepare for…” said the Rani.

“No anesthetic!” I demanded as I laid down. “I want to bear witness as you upgrade my limbs and eye!”

“Coming up,” complied the Rani. She got to work on my right arm first. The pain was excruciating, but I managed.

Categories
Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 39

Day 1: The Beaver tribe had just finished our training field and were given a new job to reinforce some buildings in the Lion Temple. This would definitely serve our purposes. “All right,” called Daisuke, “you want to be beast?”

“Yeah!” I shouted.

“Then we begin today!” declared Daisuke. “We start by running through that maze!” We got into position. “Go!” shouted Daisuke. We ran in and that’s when I got the full brunt of it. Balls on chains whacked into my sides, sending me into the air. When I landed, a bunch of arrows whizzed past, one of them sticking into my butt. As I ran, a wall popped up and I ran smack dab into it. I passed out. Later, I woke up at the start with Daisuke shaking his head. “We have lots work to do,” he muttered.


Day 4: I was doing some laps around the training field with Daisuke passing me a couple of times, but I was hardly sweating.


Day 6: Weight training was going miserably. Daisuke was lifting a quarter of a ton while I could barely lift 10 pounds.


Day 13: Chin-ups. My grip was so awful, I fell on my butt a lot.


Day 17: Swimming. This one went a little better. In fact, it seemed to make Daisuke change tactics. “You say Hiro tiger cyborg?” he asked.

“Yes,” I confirmed.

“Tigers good swimmers,” remembered Daisuke. “We going at this wrong way. We need to use tiger strengths, like swimming. Running also strength. We need to work on power in arms, tree climbing, and jumping.”


Day 25: Daisuke’s new Tiger regimen seems to be working. I was climbing trees rather well.


Day 28: I don’t know the full details of what happened, but I can tell you what went on in my mind. Daisuke and I were sparring, rather brutally, I might add. I was falling on the kicks and punches of traditional fighting, but Daisuke grew up in the wilds. He didn’t pull any punches. After a few minutes, he slashed across my face and something happened. For a while, my vision went red, and then I blacked out. I woke up looking at the ceiling of the healing hut next to the training field. “Wha…happen…?” I asked, groggily.

“We were hoping YOU could shed some light,” replied Batman. He brought out a camera, showing what happened. When Daisuke slashed across my face, I twitched for a while. My face seemed to contort into a primal rage. My eyes…were not human. If anything, they looked more beast like. All of a sudden, my mouth and nose elongated into a feline’s mouth. My ears sunk into my head while rounded ears sprouted from the top. My muscles were rewriting themselves and bulking out while hair was sprouting all over my body. The hair was taking an orange color and black stripes were coming out too. My fingers and toes then unsheathed claws as metal piping sprouted from my arms, legs, and back. Monster-me then unleashed a roar and went on a savage rampage, knocking Daisuke off his feet. At that point, he crouched and got into a defensive stance, getting his fingers in a claw fashion as he snarled. He then raised his hands up, then crossed them across his chest, then uncrossed and raised them again.

“A-MA-ZON!” he roared. His eyes turned a demonic red as his body changed. He turned into a lizard based Kamen Rider with a white scarf. “Amazon!” he announced. I presume this was the name Hiroki used for Daisuke’s rider form. We charged at each other and grappled. It seemed I was fighting blindly, and Amazon saw this. He got the upper hand quickly and delivered an uppercut. I was sent spinning as Amazon leapt at me. “Jaguar Shock!” he said before his helmet split apart enough for his teeth to sink into my arm. Apparently, that’s when I passed out again and he brought me to the healing hut. I saw my arm in bandages and my own form in the usual human one.

“Well, that could have gone better,” I sighed.

“No focus on bad,” encouraged Daisuke. “We need know why you went nuts.”

“It seems like a scratch did it,” I observed, “but why? I’ve been shot at, blown up, stabbed at, poisoned, and what have you. A simple scratch to my face shouldn’t have done that.”

“When you finished healing, we continue training,” declared Daisuke.

“Sensei,” (Teacher) I countered, “with all due respect, we need to finish training as quickly as possible.”

“Can’t do that when hurt,” replied Daisuke. “Rest. Nothing will…” Tanisha’s belt buzzed.

“Happen?” I said, completing Daisuke’s sentence. “Who is it? Vorton?” I asked Tanisha. Her eyes went wide.

“No, Vader. And he wants to meet in front of the Lion Temple,” she replied.

“Vader? You’re talking about Darth Vader, right?” I yelped. Tanisha nodded and I gulped.

“Who’s Vader?” asked Batman.

“A very dangerous man,” gulped Tonje. “Once known as a Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker, he was seduced by Darth Sidious to become his apprentice. One of the best pilots in the Galactic Empire and one of the most powerful Sith Lords, Vader is a very skilled cyborg.”

“Another cyborg?” hissed Batman. “Robin’s friend is one! That’s enough!”

“Regardless,” continued Tonje, “he also possesses a skill with something called the Force, that universe’s name for magic, if you will.”

“So, a dark wizard, then?” guessed Gandalf.

“A dark wizard/knight, yes,” I replied. “Am I good to move?”

“Megumi, you’re not about to agree to meet Darth Vader, are you?!” asked Tanisha.

“I want to see what he wants,” I declared. “I’m fully aware of his reputation in his native universe, but I want to hear him out, get a bead on who’s side he’s on and all that.”

“He’s probably on Vortech’s side!” argued Tanisha.

“But why would his master, Emperor Sheev Palpatine, bother?” asked Tonje.

“Sheev?” I muttered. “That’s his first name?”

“Think about it, you two,” continued Tonje. “Palpatine wouldn’t dare have anyone over him. He’s too power hungry for that.”

“True,” conceded Tanisha, “but who’s to say that he won’t bide his time like with the Republic?”

“Another point,” I muttered, “there IS the Rule of Two to consider.”

“Rule of Two?” asked Hongo.

“There’s always two in the Sith,” I explained, “a Master and an Apprentice. And the Apprentice must kill their Master to take their place.”

“You think this may be part of Vader’s plan to kill his master,” guessed Batman.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “We’re going to meet him.”


We arrived at the Lion Temple Entrance, where a vessel was waiting. The center cockpit was spherical and had connections to curved wings on the side. A hatch opened from the top, allowing a figure to jump out. There he crouched, with the Lions ready to strike at a moment’s notice. “Lower your weapons,” I called to the Lions. “He’s been expecting me.” The figure stood up. Standing at 6’7”, the figure was clad all in black. His helmet evoked that of the Samurai, minus the crest. A control panel was on his front. A black cape was held by his metallic shoulder pads and a silver tube was clipped to his side. His breathing was deep and clearly assisted by the machinery that makes up a good chunk of his body. Darth Vader stared right at me.

“You are wise to have them stand down, Your Highness,” he said in his familiar booming, deep voice, “In any case, I am NOT here to fight, but to give you this.” He held out a glowing orb.

“That’s a Chi Orb!” called a Lion.

“Fire Chi, if memory serves,” mused Tanisha. Wyldstyle’s scanner went crazy.

“It’s also putting out the same energy signature as the Foundation Elements,” she reported when she checked it. “We’re being gifted the Element of this universe!”

“And your loved ones, bar a Mr. Hayato Ichimonji, a Mr. Dick Grayson, a Mr. Frodo Baggins, and a Mr. MetalBeard, are in Crocodile Swamp, under the combined ‘benevolent’ care of Shocker Rift and Crooler,” boomed Vader.

“Then the ones you named are still on Foundation Prime,” guessed Batman.

“Correct,” confirmed Vader.

“In my universe, everything about you is detailed,” I commented. “I know you too well. What do you want in return?”

“A place in your organization,” replied Vader.

“Say what?” yelped Tonje.

“Vortech had attacked my universe and nearly destroyed my master,” explained Vader. “That kind of blood is reserved for the apprentice, so I want to show him the power of the Dark Side of the Force.”

“But we’re practically Jedi,” I argued. “Besides, you have an army. Why come to us?”

“Because this endeavor requires something beyond the scope of even the Emperor’s command,” replied Vader, “your power, the very power you’re attempting to tap into, Your Highness.”

“Then I see no reason to have a Sith Lord in my team,” I declared.

“On the contrary,” countered Vader. “You and Kamen Rider Apocalypse may be our only hope to defeat Vortech, but only I can provide you with troops.”

“You think our team is insufficient?” I asked.

“Do you really think guerilla tactics will stop someone like Vortech?” boomed Vader. “Like the Emperor, he doesn’t need to worry about every single detail. He has many soldiers at his beck and call.”

“You can provide us troops?” I ventured.

“If you let me join, I can give you the vast resources of the Empire,” offered Vader. It took a few seconds to consider.

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” shouted Batman. “Dealing with a reformed witch and a living trashcan is bad enough but having an unrepentant villain in our ranks?! Besides, he’s working his own agenda!”

“One that’s being interfered with,” I countered. “Lord Vader, forgive my suspicion, but how long do you think our alliance will last?”

“As long as mutually beneficial,” replied Vader.

“And after we beat Vortech?” I continued.

“I will return to my universe to destroy my master,” declared Vader.

“Like with Starkiller?” I quizzed.

“Make no mistake,” growled Vader, “this time, I will require no such apprentice.” Judging by the tone, Vader needed my decision now.

“All right, you can join us,” I said.

“Megumi, what are you doing?!” yelped Tonje.

“Meg, NO!!” wailed Tanisha. Oh, how I hate that nickname. Everyone in the F.N.S knows that!

“We’re at war, right now,” I declared. “We need soldiers.” I then fired up my communicator. “X-PO, get me in contact with Hiroki and Emily.”

“What, no ‘Hello, X-PO, I have an update for you on my training’?” snarked X-PO.

“Just do it,” I hissed. X-PO grumbled, but I was soon connected. “Hey, guys,” I called. “How are you holding up?”

“Well, the Dinobots, Beast Wars Dinobot, and the Dinosaurs they’re based on are rampaging across the island to stop Igura, my childhood tormentor, and Beast Era Megatron in a techno-organic body from getting the Foundation Element,” reported Emily. “The Genetically modified Dinos haven’t been spotted, so I don’t think they’re joining in the fight. Oh, did I mention that we’re in Jurassic World?” She then blew a raspberry. “The first movie was enough.”

“Nothing exciting on my end,” commented Hiroki.

“Well, I’m about to send some your way,” I sighed. “Make all necessary preparations for Darth Vader’s arrival. He’s joining us in our war against Vortech.” There was a long silence. “…Guys?”

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR TINY LITTLE MIND?!” shrieked Emily.

“That’s the second time that phrase was used towards me today,” I hissed. “Frankly, I’m getting annoyed.”

“Nee-san, you’re talking about letting Darth Vader, a Dark Lord of the Sith, join us!” yelped Hiroki.

“He gave us the Foundation Element of this universe, told us that our families are here, and can provide us troops,” I argued. “We need his help.”

“Oh, how considerate of him!” yelled Emily. “That will totally pardon his sins!”

“Look, I’m not thrilled about it either, but we need every advantage we can get!” I snapped. “Lord Vader, do you have Vorton’s coordinates?”

“I do, Your Highness,” confirmed Vader.

“Then Hiroki will receive you and whatever troops you decide to bring,” I replied. “And, Hiroki, Emily, Vader is to be treated with respect, is that clear?!” After a pause, I heard two people sigh.

“Crystal clear,” mumbled Hiroki.

“We understand,” muttered Emily.

“Good,” I declared. “I’ll stay behind to focus on a new development that happened to me. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back. Megumi Out.” I ended communications. “Lord Vader, forgive us if the welcome is…less than welcoming.”

“I understand,” replied Vader. “I shall see you on Vorton.” He entered his TIE fighter and took off. A rift opened for him and he went in.

“Megumi, I must continue to object,” hissed Tanisha.

“Noted, and I will deal with the consequences if it turns out to be a poor choice,” I commented. “For now, I need to control my animal side.”

“Not control,” argued Daisuke. “That always bad idea to try to control and suppress. Treat tiger side as partner, like you do with horse.” The thought never occurred to me. I considered my sensei’s words. In all honesty, it makes sense.

“When do we begin again?” I asked.


Five…weeks. …Five weeks since I came here, and only now does Hiro decide to move us. “Where are you taking us?” I demanded.

“That’s not your concern,” hissed Hiro. “What IS your concern is that you will bear witness to an experiment.”

“What experiment?” I asked.

“You’ll see,” said Hiro cryptically. We arrived at an intricate wooden structure. “Megumi! I’m calling you out!” That was when a rock knocked him flat.

“Go away, Hiro!” roared my daughter’s voice. “I’m busy doing much more important…”

“MEGUMI!” I shouted, hearing her. My daughter’s head then appeared. She saw us and jumped down.

“Let them go,” she threatened, “or I’ll…!”

“Begin the experiment,” ordered Hiro. A burbling sound was heard as a tiny bit of goo appeared behind her. Sludgiona then sprouted and grabbed Megumi from behind.

“LET HER GO!” demanded Fred. Hiro took out a ring and flung it at Megumi. It opened up and slapped around her neck. Sludgiona then released her as the collar started shocking her. After half a minute, her face went into a primal rage and my sweet, little girl turned into a cyborg Tiger monster! She gave off a roar before she seemed to calm down.

“YEE! YEE!” reported a Combatman.

“Excellent news!” chuckled Hiro. “The Neuro-collar works! Megumi is now under our control! I have the perfect test! Megumi, snap Haruna’s pitiful neck!” What happened next will always scare me. She moved slowly to obey!

“Megumi, please!” I begged, tears coming down. “I’m your mother! It’s me! Haruna Hishikawa! The one who saved you from his grasp once before!” She advanced on me. “Megumi! I beg you! Don’t do this!” She was right in front of me, her new form towering over me. Then, I heard a snap.


“YES! THE TEST IS SUCCESSFUL!” cheered Hiro. “I can’t believe it! I finally have my daughter under my control! We’ll conquer the multiverse in a flash! We’ll…! What do you want?!” he asked the Combatman that was tapping his shoulder. The Combatman pointed over to my location, where I was holding the crumbly remains of Okaa-san’s (mother) handcuffs.

“Hashire!” (Run!) I urged Okaa-san. When he saw Okaa-san run, Hiro goggled.

“Wha…?!” he spluttered. “What are you doing?! I said kill her!”

“Hiro-sama!” reported the Combatman. It seems us Shocker Cyborgs can understand what the Combatmen are saying when they say “YEE!” “The Neuro-collar is being rewritten!”

“Override!” ordered Hiro as he lined up his sights on my mother.

“I’m trying!” yelped the Combatman. “The transponder isn’t…!” I didn’t hear the rest of what he said as I ran towards Hiro, unsheathing my new claws.

“KON’ARO!” (shortened version of a phrase used when saying “You Bastard!”) I roared. Now, that phrase is one to avoid if you want to stay away from a fight in Japan. In this instance, I was aiming to start one. I swiped at Hiro so hard, he was sent spinning into a nearby pond. I took the liberty of destroying the collar. Okaa-san made it to safety as she turned to the enemy forces.

“It appears my daughter still has a will of her own,” she observed.

“MASAKA?!” (Are you kidding me?!) shouted Hiro as he got out, soaking wet. He turned to another Combatman. “Trace the problem to its source and fix it!”

“The problem is that you underestimated me again,” I declared. “Did you really think I wouldn’t try to use this form to my advantage?”

“You pest!” snarled Hiro. “You learned how to master it?!”

“I had help from Amazon,” I replied. Daisuke grinned. “He was getting me on the right track, but we had to deal with moments of uncontrollable rage. I blacked out during those events, but I took the time to meditate to try and understand that side. Now I know. It didn’t know what its prey was. Now, it has a clear picture of you.”

“Baka Ne!” (You dolt!) insulted Hiro as he changed into his Cyborg form. “I’ve been using this longer than you have!”

“Ikuze, Tora-otoko,” I challenged. We charged at each other and fought like animals. Meanwhile, Batman and the others fought off the enemy ranks to free the rest of the hostages. It took some time, but our families were freed!

“All right, that’s it!” swore Hiro as he loaded his i.d tag. “Henshin!” I got out my own.

“Henshin,” I whispered. We then formed our suits and clashed.

“I will enjoy ripping you in half!” declared Rogue.

“You can try,” I challenged. “You’ll fail, like always. Super Charge.”

“SUPER CHARGE!” roared Rogue. We ran at each other as we became more powerful and drew our respective blades. We kept striking until we entered a blade lock. “It doesn’t look like your belt hasn’t given you any more power!” laughed Proto-Rift.

“You rely too much on your tech,” I mused. “Besides, I can see freed hostages right now, one of my objectives is complete.” Proto-Rift whirled around to see Sheela’s parents being freed. The hostages were safe in the training field. Hongo then struck his henshin pose as Tanisha and Tonje took out their i.d tags.

“Rider…” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” announced my friends. The trio then transformed and attacked the rest.

“I’ve just about had it! Dai Super Charge!” shouted Proto-Rift. His bulky armor flew off and we ducked in time. Rift then charged our ranks, knocking me down in the process. “Your heart may be in the right place, Megumi,” he snarled before he kicked me in the chest. “But, you have much to learn before you can, ever again, hope to stand your ground against me. A moment, sadly, that will never come!” He raised his blade.

“A-MA-ZON!” roared Daisuke’s voice. Amazon then tackled Rift. “Jaguar Shock!” he announced before he clamped his jaws onto Rift’s arm.

“GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!” shouted Okaa-san before she leapt onto Rift’s head and started slamming her fists down on his head. Rift then flung the two off him and grabbed their throats. At that time, my belt started glowing. I looked down, realizing what was going on.

“Are you…certain…I’m worthy of this power?” I asked.

“You have no idea,” assured Vortoranii. My belt then started compressing into its original shape, but it kept the cream and gold. While that was going on, Rift was talking to Amazon and Okaa-san.

“I never faced you before, wild-man,” he mused. “And you, lady, oh, I remember you! You ruined what would have been the greatest experiment ever. So, if you will both kindly die, I will…” His voice trailed off as Amazon looked behind him. Hiro turned to see me with the new belt. His helmet’s eyes showed his real ones went wide. He then tossed his captives to the ground and charged at me. I held my hands up in the air, like in my final Super Charge pose, rotated them down to cross in front of me, then moved my left fist to my hip and held my right hand out with my pinky and thumb down.

“Dai Super Charge!” I announced. I then got into a fighting stance as the bulk of my armor flew off. My power increased and the previous armor struck Rift, knocking him flat. He picked himself up as everyone saw what I looked like now. I couldn’t see, but I could feel the power radiating from me. “Batman, Ichigō, Wyldstyle, Gandalf, Hunt, Swing, Amazon-sensei, to me,” I declared. All the people I named ran right to me and formed up. “Minna, catchphrase time. I will finish this time.”

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

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

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

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

“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!”

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

“Kamen Rider Amazon!” called Amazon. “I show you who is true king of jungle!”

“Kamen Rider Vortex,” I declared. “Evil will ultimately bow to me.” Rift twitched before he called up someone on his communicator.

“Drop the mountain on them!” he ordered. We looked up to see a mountain falling towards us. I readied my blade, charged it with energy, and swung it. The energy slash cleaved the mountain in two and the halves fell away from us. Rift was trembling in rage. “Kamen Rider Rift!” he roared. “Stand and deliver!” He readied his blade, but we were too quick for him. Batman threw a batarang. Gandalf charged it with magic, thus it exploded on contact with Rift’s blade. Wyldstyle built a catapult, asked Amazon to step on, and launched him while Amazon readied himself for his finisher.

“DAI SETSUDAN!” he announced as he sliced into Rift. Ichigō, Hunt, Swing, and I leapt into the air for our kicks.

“RIDER KICK!”

“RIDER HUNT KICK!”

“RIDER SWING KICK!”

“RIDER VORTEX KICK!” Our kicks hit their mark and we landed. Rift’s transformation was canceled and Hiro started sparking. I got up to see that a look of defeat was in his eyes. “Hiro-san,” I commented, “I know we’ve had our differences and tried to kill each other.”

“I’m not hearing this!” snapped Okaa-san.

“But, I’m not without mercy,” I assured. “Let us help you and I promise you WILL be safe from Vortech’s wrath.” I held out my hand. “What say you?” Hiro snarled.

“You…just want…information!” he spat. “And…even if you didn’t, I will never…accept help…from…you! You…robbed me…of my advantage! You robbed me…of any respect I’ve had within…Shocker Rift! You…disgraced me…in the eyes…of Igura! I have nothing! And…I will give you…nothing!” He stood up. “Shocker…Gundan……BANZAI!” (Long live the Shocker Army!). He exploded, leaving nothing but ash. The enemy retreated, taking Sludgiona with them.

“Stupid man!” shouted Hunt.

“Yes,” I muttered, “I was rather hoping he would accept.”

“What for?!” called Okaa-san.

“He was right,” I replied. “I needed information. I also wanted to show him that mercy isn’t weakness. It seems he didn’t accept that.”

“Vorton to Team Chima,” called X-PO’s voice. “We’re reading a massive power signature. What’s going on?”

“Megumi just became Kamen Rider Vortex,” reported Ichigō.

“And there was a hostage situation here in Chima,” I supplied. “Tell everyone that our loved ones are safe, but Ichimonji, Robin, MetalBeard, and Frodo are still in Vortech’s clutches.”

“And we’ve got the Foundation Element!” called Wyldstyle.

“I’ll open a rift!” cheered X-PO.

“Everyone!” roared a voice. Lagravis, Crominus, and Ewald came running up. Lagravis clapped eyes on me. “Who are you?” he asked.

“It’s me, Megumi, Your Majesty,” I assured as we cancelled our transformations.

“So, your training is over?” asked Ewald.

“Indeed, it is,” I confirmed. “We must be going now.” A portal opened for us.

“Will you stay with us?” Hongo asked Daisuke.

“I must go home,” replied Daisuke. “Call me if you need me.”

“We’ll get you home when we get to Vorton,” I promised.

“Before you go,” called Crominus as he drew out a bag, “my son found these. Please accept them as a gift for getting rid of Shocker Rift.” You guessed it. Studs.

“390,000 studs,” counted Vortoranii. “We’re at 2,004,000 now.” A rift opened for us.

“You have my thanks,” I said as I accepted the gift.

“And you have ours,” replied Lagravis. We bowed to each other before my team, our families, and I departed.

Categories
Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 37

It took a while to locate him, but Daisuke was located in the Amazon, his namesake. He was in my universe, thank goodness. “All set?” Megumi asked me.

“Ready when the support staff is,” I called. Our newest ally, Chell, gave the thumbs-up.

“Ganbarou, Hongo-san!” (Good luck!) wished Hiroki. I waved my thanks and headed through the portal. As I went through, my mind went through all sorts of questions, chief among them was “Would he recognize me?” He was a wild man when I met him last. I soon arrived. The coordinates could only get me as far as the Amazon in my universe. Now comes the slightly easier part, finding Daisuke in this place.

“Away we go,” I declared. I started walking. As I walked, I heard branches on the ground snapping. I stopped as I realized there were multiple sources. “Daisuke?” I asked, hoping I was among friends. Perhaps a little too much to hope for. A four-armed ant monster leapt out with men in black bodysuits with tassels running along the arms and women in red bodysuits with the same tassels, only wearing silver eye masks instead of full face masks. I had remembered the ant monster be called Togeari Jūjin (Ant Beastman) from Daisuke. “A fight, I see?” I remarked. I got into the sequence. “Rider…HEN…!”

“Stop him!” ordered Togeari Jūjin. The foot soldiers attacked before I could finish. That’s something new for me. These guys were starting to overpower me! Just as Togeari Jūjin raised his arms to strike, he was tackled by something, or someone. The monster threw the person off. It was a man of Japanese ancestry, his hair, betraying some silver, was wild, like the expression on his face. He wore a silver bracelet on his upper left arm. He was muscular and had his hands out in a clawed fashion while he crouched as if he was going to pounce.

“Not nice place to meet, Hongo,” he said in his broken Japanese.

“I had to find you,” I replied. “Shall we?” Daisuke brought me into a tree where we could continue our transformations uninterrupted. Daisuke snarled and growled as he crouched. I did my usual sequence. “Rider…HENSHIN!” While I did that, Daisuke held his hands up in a clawed fashion, crossed them in front of him, and uncrossed and raised them again.

“A-MA-ZON!” he cried. As we leapt down, we changed into our Rider forms. His motif looked more like a monitor lizard than an insect like I take. He was green with red lines appearing on the suit, had yellow torso armor to look like abs, black boots and gloves with fins and silver claws on his fingers. His helmet looked almost like a green anglerfish and piranha. He had red eyes like mine, a single antenna with a red ball on top, and a jaw guard that moved when his jaw moved. His belt was white with a red handle on each side of the buckle, a buzz-saw blade pointing forward on the buckle, and red eyes on top. The look was completed with a white scarf. “Amazon!” shouted Daisuke once we landed. This was Kamen Rider Amazon, the sixth Kamen Rider of my era. We then went on the offensive. Amazon had an animalistic berserker style, thus fighting with bites and scratches as well as punches and kicks. He also gives off a battle cry of “Gii! Gii!” whenever he fights. When he dealt with the foot soldiers near him, he then targeted Togeari Jūjin. They grappled for a while as I took care of the foot soldiers. Normally, I wouldn’t hit women, but these ladies are serving evil and are trying to kill me. I didn’t have much of a choice. “How you here?!” quizzed Amazon to his opponent as he fought.

“A man named Hiro Adachi brought me back to take care of you!” explained Togeari Jūjin. “He said you would prove to be too dangerous to his employer’s plans and so got me back from Hell!”

“Then I send you back there!” declared Amazon. He leapt onto his opponent and bit hard into his exoskeleton. He then leapt off to use his finisher. “DAI SETSUDAN!” (Great Slice) he said as he chopped into the creature. Togeari Jūjin screamed before falling over dead. The foot soldiers ran when they saw their commanding officer die. We panted to catch our breath. “You…change…a lot,” panted Amazon as he caught his breath.

“I had my cybernetics upgraded,” I replied. We cancelled our transformations.

“Why you here?” asked Daisuke.

“I’m here because of a greater threat,” I answered. “Our universe is under attack by a creature named Lord Vortech. He’s gathering these objects called Foundation Elements, artefacts that keep all universes stable, and he’s using other people to do his dirty work. I have other friends helping me fight him, and one of them needs your help.”

“My help?” asked Daisuke.

“Her name is Megumi Hishikawa,” I explained. “She’s someone who just found out that she’s a naturally occurring Shocker Cyborg with Tiger DNA. She wants to access that side so she can become someone called Kamen Rider Vortex.”

“Another Rider need my help?” quizzed Daisuke.

“Exactly,” I confirmed.

“Where she?” asked Daisuke.

“She’s in another universe,” I answered. “I have the means to get us there.”

“Then we go!” declared Daisuke. I brought out my communicator.

“X-PO, Daisuke has agreed!” I called. “Ready to rejoin Megumi’s team!”

“One rift to the Princess, coming up!” announced X-PO.

“Princess?” quizzed Daisuke.

“In her native universe, it’s just an act,” I explained. The rift opened. Daisuke stepped back a bit. “It’s alright, it’s safe,” I assured. Daisuke cautiously stepped forward, then leapt in. I followed and saw him tumbling and screaming in terror. “This is gonna be a long trip,” I thought.


Once Hongo left, Rusty got to work finding the Jurassic Park world. I turned to Emily’s team. “All set?” I asked.

“Ready and waiting, your highness,” replied Emily as she made some last-minute adjustments to her hairpiece.

“Target coordinates set!” reported Rusty.

“We’ll see you later!” called Emily as she and her team went through.

“That just leaves us,” muttered Batman.

“My lady,” queried Gandalf, “are you sure this is the right course of action?”

“The enemy has an advantage over us,” I replied. “With Hiro having that kind of power, Vortech could finish us with a simple order. If I can access my Cyborg side, we may level the playing field again. And, before you ask, no, I’m not training in my dress. That’s too many skirts for me to worry about. Trust me, the training clothes I have on will serve me in greater stead.”

“Honestly, your clothes never crossed our minds,” assured Wyldstyle.

“You guys are up!” called Elphaba.

“Good luck!” wished Xiomara as Hiroki’s team saw mine off. Tonje and Tanisha led the way with we Keystone bearers following. We fell through the vortex.

“Keep an eye out for the exit!” warned Wyldstyle. “I don’t wanna be floating around this thing all day!” That was when we encountered Hongo and another man. The new arrival was screaming in terror.

“That was quick!” I cheered. “So, that’s Kamen Rider Amazon?”

“He would introduce himself,” replied Hongo, “but I think the experience is traumatizing for him.” The exit then showed up. It was in an ornate building with a Lion theme going on.

“The Lion Temple!” called Tonje.

“We’ll be among friends!” cheered Tanisha. Daisuke lost his breath. We landed in the room, a throne room with a fountain. Anthropomorphic lions were conducting their business when they saw us. One of them, an old man with a silver mane, a sleeveless pearl gold chest plate, and a dark blue kilt and cape stood up from the throne when we landed. He was apparently in conference with an Crocodile man in a gold helmet, a gold chest plate with large shoulder pads, and a red torn up cape as well as an Eagle man in blue robes, a gold chest plate, and a gold helm. He had talons for fingers and a set of wings from his back.

“Who are you?!” roared the lion. The crocodile hissed.

“How dare you interrupt us, apes!” screeched the eagle.

“You want fight?!” snarled Daisuke.

“NO!” yelped Tanisha as she got between us and the animals. “No! No one wants to fight anyone! Please, everyone, let’s not panic!”

“Why should we listen to intruders?!” bellowed the lion.

“Okay, Your Majesty, for once, no tricks,” answered Tanisha. “We’re from another universe where all of Chima’s history was just a tie-in story for a line of building toys. I am Lady Tanisha, an expert on Chima and the various tribes and individuals on said tribes, like you, King Lagravis, ruler of the Lion Tribe.” The lion was startled. “And your fellow rulers here are King Crominus of the Crocodile Tribe and Ewald, current head of the Ruling Council for the Eagle Tribe. Lagravis, you were friends with Crominus, but politics drove you apart. Ewald, you love to find the perfect solution, which is a strength, but a weakness as well. Crominus, you’re trying to get your son, Cragger, to lead in a pragmatic way instead of his hot-headed way. Lagravis, your son is Laval, whom we met. Ewald, your daughter, Eris, prefers to be on the ground with Laval and Cragger.”

“How do you know so much about our personal lives?!” hissed Crominus.

“Like my girlfriend said, you and your lands are part of a building toy line in our universe,” explained Tonje. “We’re all from different universes. I am Tonje. This is Tanisha. This is Hongo. This is Batman. That’s a new friend of ours, Daisuke. That’s Wyldstyle. And this is our leader, Princess Megumi Hishikawa. We’re all humans.”

“Pleased to meet you, Your Majesties,” I greeted. We bowed to them. The tension seemed to go down a bit.

“That’s the who, the what, and the where taken care of,” hissed King Crominus. “Now, all we need is the why.”

“Okay, that will take some time,” I muttered. I started explaining why we were here. When I mentioned Shocker Rift, Crominus hissed.

“Something you wish to share?” asked Ewald.

“That organization you mentioned,” requested Crominus. “Is a man named Hiro Adachi among its members?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact,” I replied.

“He’s near my home, the Crocodile swamp,” declared Crominus

“And that leads me to my reason for being here” I continued. “You see, he’s a Mutant Cyborg of Shocker design and passed on his genetics and (somehow) cybernetics to me. He’s my biological father.”

“And we need to access her Mutant Cyborg side to gain an advantage over Shocker Rift,” supplied Tanisha.

“And you believe your friend, Daisuke and the terrain of Chima can help?” asked Lagravis.

“Yes,” answered Tonje. Lagravis settled and started thinking.

“If I may,” interjected Crominus, “the Beaver Tribe is experiencing a mass vacation. We could use them to build a training ground for her and Daisuke.”

“We don’t want to interrupt anyone’s vacation!” I assured.

“Actually, we do,” countered Tanisha. “The Beaver Tribe finds the idea of vacations abhorrent. It’s been used as a threat as working is considered fun to them.”

“Have any of them suffered karōshi?” asked Hongo. He was met with confused stares.

“The literal translation is ‘overwork death’,” I explained. “Did any beaver work himself to death?”

“Not at all,” replied Lagravis. “In fact, the most Beaver deaths occur during a vacation, when their muscles atrophy to the point of uselessness.”

“Eesh, other end of the spectrum,” I gulped. “All right, which way?”

“Follow us,” called Lagravis. The three rulers led us to these vehicles with one wheel with the controls and seat near the rear. “These Speedorz will get us to the Beaver Tribe,” explained Lagravis

“I’ve always wanted to ride one!” cheered Tonje.

“I’m not so sure I want to ride one,” said Tanisha, a little hesitant.

“Oh, don’t be a baby,” teased Tonje. “How hard can it beeeEEEEEEE!!!!” The Speedor took off and ran right into a wall near the training grounds for the lions. The Speedor was mangled and Tonje was thrown off in time. “Okay, it’s harder than it looks,” she moaned. She summoned her horse and pressed a button. It turned into a motorcycle!

“Our steeds can do that?!” I called. “How did I not notice that?!”

“Fighting got in the way,” mused Tanisha. She summoned her steed and changed it into a motorcycle as well. I followed suit as well as summoned the other vehicles.

“Can you get mine?” asked Daisuke. “It called Jungler.”

“I’ll see if I can get it,” I said. I searched throughout the rift to find it. I pulled something through. It was a red motorcycle with wings on the back and a mouth and green eyes.

“That Jungler!” called Daisuke. He leapt on it and we sped after the rulers to the Beaver Tribe. It was a civilization that used wood a lot, go figure. The citizens, a diminutive people, looked downcast. The buildings were in tip top shape. The people just sat around with their tools in hand, looking down.

“Tanisha,” I whispered.

“I know,” observed Tanisha. “They don’t have work to do. We need to talk to Breezor.

“Is he the leader?” I asked.

“Right,” confirmed Tonje. We headed to a large hut to see a beaver sitting on a throne.

“That’s Breezor,” explained Lagravis. He then turned to the beaver. “Breezor, my friend!” Breezor looked up.

“Welcome to my hall, Lagravis,” greeted Breezor. “I wish you visited us in better spirits.”

“We actually came to lift your spirits,” called Crominus.

“Oh?” asked Breezor. “Some sort of circus?”

“A building job for this lady,” replied Ewald as he pointed to me. Breezor and the beavers in the hut got out of their funk slightly.

“Go on,” invited Breezor.

“Megumi, you explain,” directed Crominus.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” I replied. “Mr. Breezor, as you guessed, I’m not from any tribe of Chima. And an enemy is coming that will take something called the Foundation Element. Because of that, I need to access my beast side quickly and will need Daisuke’s help. Can you guys build a training ground to help in that regard?”

“Do you even need to ask?!” cheered Breezor. He grabbed a wrench and addressed his people. “Grab your tools! We have work to do!” The people cheered, grabbed tools, made plans, and then rushed for the site.

“That was quick,” I mused.

“Follow those Beavers!” called Tanisha. We got on our vehicles and sped after them. This was gonna take some time.


“I can’t believe this,” Hiro muttered. “Vortech decides which hostages to use and which not to? Why should I bring the families of the Vortex Riders when Frodo, Robin, Ichimonji, and MetalBeard are more valuable?!”

“What’s he going on about?” asked one of the hostages, a Mrs. Linda Saunders.

“Ah, the usual,” I replied in the language we Shocker Combatmen use, that “Yee!” sound we make. It’s so refreshing to talk with someone who understands you that ISN’T your boss. “He’s sore that you guys were chosen as bargaining chips instead of those that carried Foundation Elements.”

“Hoo boy,” muttered Linda’s husband, Fred another person who understands us. “How will that impact your work?”

“His mannerisms are already doing so,” I sighed.

“I understand that we need whatever power that’s required to conquer our universe,” griped a Combatman working on the communications array with me, “but the way he’s going, I’m halfway tempted to ask him for time off!”

“Hey, does the name Mikoto mean anything to you?” asked Linda. “Nova Combatman, er, woman?”

“Yeah, I know her, why?” replied my partner.

“Yeah, I heard that my daughter, Emily got rid of her,” winced Linda.

“NO!” moaned my partner. “Not Mikoto-chan! I was gonna ask her out when she came back!” I gave him and the Saunders a cup of tea.

“Here’s to Mikoto-chan,” I toasted. We raised our cups. “Rest in peace, friend.” We then poured the contents of the cups onto the ground as libations.

“Why are you twits slacking?!” roared Hiro. “I want communications to Foundation Prime established before Vortech is…*ahem*…is…bothered by such…distracting minutiae.” My partner and I got communications set up and Hiro took over. “Inputting access code and booting up,” he reported. Vortech’s face appeared.

“Good to see that the operation didn’t fail in the communications department,” remarked Vortech.

“Good to hear you too,” muttered Hiro. “We’re about to initiate the search for the Vortex Riders.”

“See that you don’t disappoint,” ordered Vortech.

“Certainly knows how to inspire, doesn’t he?” muttered Linda.

“You, shut up!” snapped Hiro.

Categories
Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 33

We arrived back on Vorton. X-PO and the rest headed towards us. “Did you obtain the Foundation Element?” asked X-PO. Batman handed the Palantír over. “Ah, very nice!” cheered X-PO. “Magic Orb, will our heroes succeed and save all known dimensions from certain doom?” He then shook it as if it were a magic 8 ball. “‘Ask again later’, huh.”

“Alright, X-PO,” rasped Batman, eager to get down to business, “less magic-ball talking, more Foundation Element grabbing. Where to, next?”

“I worry about him sometimes,” whispered Gandalf.

“Batman, we just escaped from fighting the Balrog again,” I protested. “We’re taking a rest.” I then turned to Discornia, only to discover that she wasn’t near us. “Uh, where’s our newly-freed Tarlaxian?” I asked. I then heard giggling to my rear. I turned to see Discornia and Turretorg twirling each other with Turretorg holding Discornia above him. “Never mind,” I remarked.

“It’s so good to see you, Torgy!” giggled Discornia as she was set down. I then realized how much taller she was than Turretorg.

“It does my hearts good to see you again, sweet Corny,” cheered Turretorg.

“Hearts?” I asked, ignoring their pet names for each other.

“Tarlaxians have 4 hearts,” explained X-PO.

“Pardon us for a bit,” excused Discornia, “we have some catching up to do, maybe get a little intimate.” You and I can both guess the subtext there.

“Just…keep the noise down,” I sighed. They headed off.

“Did Tanisha head off on an adventure?” asked Sheela.

“Why, yes,” replied Emily. “To the Portal world. Why?”

“When I used the Locate Keystone,” I explained, “I heard Tanisha tell Wheatley to shut up.”

“So, YOU sucked up the giant turret,” called a familiar Swahili voice. Tanisha arrived through the Gateway with a woman in a ponytail, a white tank top, orange pants, and an orange sweatshirt tied around her waist. She was carrying some sort of white device with a light on top and a three-pronged claw at the front. Wheatley was there as well.

“Ah, there you are!” cheered the annoying ball. “I brought your friend back, all thanks to my ingenious and clever…place finding…thingies.”

“That reminds me,” grumbled Tanisha, “back you go!” She threw Wheatley into the vortex.

“NO! GRAB ME! GRAB ME! GRAB ME!” wailed Wheatley. Too late, the portal had closed.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet the protagonist of the Portal series, Chell,” introduced Tanisha. Chell smiled and bowed.

“You used a hard ‘Ch’,” noted Emily. Chell then made a series of hand movements. I assume it was sign language.

“I hate to say it, Chell,” explained Tanisha, “but as far as I know, only I know sign language.” Chell frowned. “What she said,” Tanisha told us, “was that I told her about our bet, Emily. It IS a hard ‘Ch’.” Emily sat down and pouted comically. She then turned to me.

“You’re smirking!” she observed.

“I do not smirk,” I countered. “But, if I did, this would be a perfect opportunity.”

“How was I supposed to know that Chell’s name was pronounced that way?!” protested Emily. Chell signed again.

“You might have asked,” translated Tanisha, “before mocking Tanisha and allowing her to up the stakes of a simple $10 bet.”

“I didn’t lose that much,” muttered Emily.

“$500,” I remarked, “I hope you have it.

“I have it!” assured Emily. “Well…most of it. Your Highness…”

“No,” I said, guessing her request.

“…Fine, I’ll borrow the money from Joshua,” hissed Emily. “He LIKES me.”

“There’s an interest rate,” reminded Joshua. Emily sighed.

“You can pay me when you have it,” assured Tanisha. “So, your Highness, how did the hunt go?”

“They got the Foundation Element of Middle-Earth,” called Joshua.

“It was the Palantír,” I explained.

“I see you’ve brought Tendō Sōji here,” observed Hiroki.

“And we fought Worms disguised as Orcs,” I continued.

“Worms?” yelped Hiroki. “Sōji-san, I thought you destroyed them all!”

“I thought I did too,” agreed Sōji. “I guess some survived.”

“We also learned something about your sister not even SHE knew,” remembered Hongo. He gave me the floor and I told everyone what went down in Minas Tirith.

“A cyborg of Shocker design? You?” gulped Hiroki.

“That’s troubling,” muttered Emmanuel.

“Is it, really?” quizzed Tanisha.

“What makes you say that?” I asked.

“Hiro became Kamen Rider Rift because of his own alterations, right?” guessed Tanisha. “To do that, he had to adapt to having tiger DNA, right?”

“Right,” I confirmed.

“And you said you had help from Laval, right?” quizzed Tanisha. “I know what series he’s from. Believe it or not, I have his Lego series, Legends of Chima. I’ve also watched the cartoon that came from that. I know Chima like the back of my hand.”

“I’ve also got some of the Lego sets,” interjected Tonje. “I can help too.”

“There’s also a Foundation Element there,” reported X-PO.

“And I know of a wild Kamen Rider,” supplied Hiroki, “from the Showa Era.”

“You mean, Daisuke Yamamoto?” quizzed Hongo.

“Kamen Rider Amazon, himself,” confirmed Hiroki.

“Problem:” interjected X-PO, “we’ve got another Foundation Element in another universe near Chima’s.” I then started planning.

“What does the identifier string call that universe?” I asked.

“J-U-R-4-5-5-1-C-P-4-R-K,” replied X-PO.

“Jurassic Park?!” said Emily, excitedly. “Let me go! Please! Please! Please!” She was as giddy as a child.

“I wanna go too!” pleaded Richard.

“Permit me to go as well,” requested Mikhail.

“I’ll go with Mikhail,” rumbled Irina.

“I must undo the wrong I committed a while ago,” begged Michael. “Let me go there to fix my mistake.” Richard and Mikhail nodded in agreement.

“I’d love to see any marine dinosaurs!” cheered Livia.

“I must admit, I want to see a T-Rex myself,” mused Haitao.

“Then, here’s what we’re going to do,” I decided. “Hongo, you’re to go back to your universe to find Amazon, explain the situation, and then you two are to join me, Batman, Gandalf, Wyldstyle, Tonje, and Tanisha in Chima to find the Foundation Element and to help me unlock my mutant cyborg form, thus getting me closer to becoming Kamen Rider Vortex. Emily, you’re to lead Richard, Mikhail, Irina, Michael, Livia, and Haitao to Jurassic Park to get the Foundation Element there. Hiroki, you are to guard the place with Xiomara, Joshua, Lukas, Sheela, and Emmanuel and help Elphaba, Rusty, and the Brigadier when needed. Sōji, do you wish to stay here for a bit?”

“Unfortunately,” replied Sōji, “I need to get home. I’m still improving my cooking skills in Paris. I must go at once.”

“Then, farewell,” I bid. “I hope to see you soon.”

“Before I go, do you know anything about these?” called Sōji. He revealed a pouch of studs. “I found them in the fields outside Minas Tirith before you arrived.”

“That’s currency for Vorton,” I answered.

“Useless where I’m from, then,” remarked Sōji. “Catch!” I caught it and opened it.

“280,000 studs,” counted Vortoranii. “That makes 1,505,000 studs.”

“Don’t forget mine,” called Tanisha. “I swiped these before Chell and I beat GLaDOS again.” She tossed me a pouch. I opened that one.

“110,000 studs,” counted Vortoranii, “making it 1,615,000 studs in total. We need to spend some of them!”

“Goodbye!” called Sōji. He went through the portal X-PO opened for him.

“Chell, do you want to return home?” I asked. Chell shook her head furiously. “Okay, that’s a no. Alright then, why don’t you two tell us your story?”


“Now, the whole thing is simple,” I explained to the mercenary, “I need you to hunt down my daughter and kill her. She’s proven to be a major irritant to me and my employer. Kill her, and ten billion dollars are yours.”

“Oooh, see,” winced my potential assassin, “there’s a problem with that; I’m not really one to get into blood feuds. I’ve got enough of that back home.”

“There’s also unlimited chimichangas for you,” I offered.

“Oh, twist my arm, why don’t you?” said the man in mock pain. “Well, congrats! You’ve just hired the most awesome merc ever! Toodles!” He sped off to find his prey.

“He’s going to fail,” rumbled Lord Vortech.

“I’m counting on that,” I assured. “Megumi will undoubtedly head for Chima to find the next Foundation Element as well as train up her beast side. That is where I will be with the selected hostages.”

“And what of our new ally?” asked Vortech

“His beast mode should provide him with an edge in the Jurassic Park world,” I elaborated. “Even so, I’m sending Igura there as well. He needs her.”

“Do not come back empty handed,” warned Vortech.

“Me?” I queried. “Don’t know the meaning of the word.”

“Isn’t that TWO words?” asked the Riddler.

“You would know,” I snapped. “Or, did the Palantír in Denethor’s possession turn up?”

“I would have gone back and reclaimed it had YOU not interfered!” snarled the Riddler.

“Why you!” I exclaimed.

“Enough!” boomed Vortech. “Hiro, your interference and boasting to your daughter has caused her to try to find another way to access Kamen Rider Vortex’s power. If she does, you will be held responsible for giving the enemy an advantage.”

“Lord Vortech,” I protested, “I was simply trying to drive her to despair! Being a cyborg of Shocker’s design caused Hongo to loath himself for a while! He overcame that because it was early in his Rider career! Megumi is a child! She should have…!”

“Megumi is not Hongo!” shouted Vortech. “She is inventive, in case you forgot! She has experts of certain dimensions at her beck and call! She WILL find victory out of this! This hostage exchange had better work. If not, and she gets the Foundation Element and the hostages, you will be working under General Zod when we get the Foundation Element of Universe G-H-0-5-T-8-U-5-T-3-R-5-1-9-8-4.”

“…Understood,” I gulped not enjoying the prospect one bit.

Categories
Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 32

Dear Lord, the courtyard on the cliff was in utter ruin. Fire peppered once green grass patches. Purple question marks were scrawled on statues. A troll snoozed in front of the Tower of Ecthelion. The White Tree was bare. Orcs and Worms were playing games. Some kneeled mockingly at us. “Sōji-san,” I gulped, “did your grandmother say anything about destruction?”

“She did say this,” replied Sōji. “Destruction is evil when used incorrectly. When used correctly, something beautiful emerges.”

“I rather think this is the former option,” mused Gandalf. Wyldstyle looked at some green graffiti.

“Riddle…me…this?” she read.

“Why, I’m only too happy to, little lady!” called the Riddler’s voice. “Well, I guess you DO deserve another go. So, riddle…me…this!” He then gave his riddles again.

The first is cast, but not a stone. It flees from light, the dark, its home.

The second breathes, dances, and bakes, yet has no lungs, legs, or cakes.

Third’s deep below, veiled from sight. It dwells where dwarves find their delight.

“It’s okay,” called Wyldstyle as she whipped out her phone. “I got this. The dark, my home…”

“Fräulein Wyldstyle, no!” wailed Lukas.

“Oh, come on, no signal?!” protested Wyldstyle as her phone beeped.

“Serves you right!” hissed Sheela.

“Cast…” muttered Gandalf. “…Flees from light…could it be a shadow?”

“Yeah,” agreed Batman. “And the third one sounds like a mine.”

“Dwarves work in mines?” asked Sōji.

“Middle-Earth Dwarves and Snow White’s Dwarves do,” I replied. Lukas got an idea.

“Wait, could the second one be fire?” he asked.

“He’s right,” muttered Sheela as she adjusted her gloves nervously. “Fire ‘breathes’ air and flames kind of dance.

“Shadow,” I mused.

“A mine,” pondered Wyldstyle.

“Fire,” muttered Gandalf. A horrible thought struck the wizard, then I remembered something and got the same idea.

“Wasn’t there a creature in a mine that was wreathed in shadow and flame?” I gulped.

“Ooh!” called a voice. Gollum then popped between Sheela and me. “We knows it! We knows it! Shut up!”

“Nobody said anything,” said a confused Batman.

“Wasn’t talking to you!” hissed Gollum. I pulled Sōji, Batman, Wyldstyle, and Hongo aside to explain Gollum’s condition.

“All that loneliness just for a piece of jewelry?” asked Sōji.

“You didn’t see the power the original owner had with said jewelry on,” I muttered, remembering Sauron in Metropolis.

“The Ring really IS a device of evil,” sighed Hongo, pitying Gollum.

“Moving on from that,” muttered Sōji. Rude! “you and Gandalf found the answers and connected them, what is it?”

“If I’m right,” I gulped, “Durin’s Bane is behind those doors.” Lukas and Sheela understood what I meant.

“A fallen Maiar spirit bound to the will of the first Dark Lord, Melkor, later called Morgoth,” gulped Lukas.

“Not that thing!” wailed Sheela.

“Hongo-san, you met this creature after pursuing Batman,” I reminded him. Hongo then remembered.

“You mean…” he gulped. The doors to the Tower burst open! The Troll and Gollum were sent flying! A bunny hopped out!

“…A bunny?” asked Wyldstyle.

“No, no, no!” I snapped. “Not the Killer Rabbit!”

“Ah, Monty Python,” sighed Sheela. That’s when the bunny hopped off to reveal the REAL danger. The creature burst through the doorway, destroying it. It was wreathed in shadow and flame, and the F.N.S met it before. The Riddler was sitting in a chair on its back.

“A Balrog of Morgoth!” called Gandalf.

“That thing again?” hissed Batman. “Didn’t it fall down a big hole?” That was when a metal thing tripped us up and flew into an Orc’s hand. It turned out to be a metal Praying Mantis.

“The Kiri Zecter,” explained the Orc. “Taken from the word Kamikiri, the Japanese word for Praying Mantis. A Zecter of Vortech’s design. Now, it belongs to me, Gorshagh” He then pointed the rear of his Zecter to his left. “Henshin!” He slid the Zecter into the belt, rear first.

“Henshin!” repeated the Kiri Zecter. The armor that appeared had arm cannons under the forearm, a triangular helmet, and triangular shoulder pads.

“Kamen Rider Kiri,” introduced Gorshagh. “Cast in the name of Darkness, ye guilty. The sentence,” he then slid his finger across his neck, “off with your heads!”

“Vortech won’t win this one!” declared Hongo as he got into his pose. We got out our i.d tags and Sōji’s Zecter flew into his hand. “Rider…” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” we all announced.

“Henshin!” repeated the Kabuto Zecter.

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

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

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

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

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

“I’m Batman! The Dark Knight rises!”

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

“Obaachan ga itteita, ten no michi o iki, subete o tsukasadoru otoko. Ore no na wa…Tendō…Sōji, Kamen Rider…Kabuto.”

“And I am the Riddler!” called Mr. Nigma. “Congratulations on solving my riddle! You’ve just won-first class tickets…to the afterlife!” The Balrog roared. “Oh, I hope you like my new pet! Watch out for his fiery temper!”

“This is no joke, Riddler!” warned Batman as he dodged the Balrog’s fist. “That thing is dangerous! Shift Keystone, activate! Cyan…”

“No, you don’t!” yelled Kiri. He moved his Zecter’s arms up, making the armor come off a little. “Cast Off!” He extended the arms and put them to the left of his belt strap.

“Cast Off!” repeated the Kiri Zecter. The armor flew off and hit us. Kabuto shielded his visor as the armor bounced off his. When we picked ourselves up, the slimmer form was bright green, the eyes were red, there were orbs for mantis eyes, and the gun barrels were handles for reverse grip swords on his forearms. “Change Mantis!” announced the Kiri Zecter.

“Clock Up!” called Kiri as he slapped the side of his belt.

“Clock Up!” repeated his Zecter.

“Not today! Cast Off!” shouted Kabuto as he swung the horn towards his right.

“Cast Off: Change Beetle!” announced the Zecter.

“Clock Up!” called Kabuto as he slapped the side of his belt.

“Clock Up!” repeated his Zecter. Both Riders vanished. I could guess what Kabuto’s doing now. Batman continued without interruption.

“Shift Keystone, activate!” he announced again. “Cyan, on the leftmost roof of the tower! Magenta, on the balcony below the roof! Yellow, near the base of the tower! Shift! Gandalf! Cyan!” Gandalf landed on the roof and started using his magic to throw things at the Balrog. The Balrog caught one, then another, and Gandalf was about to throw one more when…

“Hello, sweeties!” called a high-pitched voice. It was Discornia! She was underneath Gandalf!

“Batman!” yelped Kämpfer.

“Shift! Kämpfer! Magenta!” announced Batman. Kämpfer was taken to the balcony.

“Clock Over!” announced the voices of the Zecters. Kabuto and Kiri were still locked in combat. They were on the same balcony as Kämpfer and Discornia. While the two Zecter Riders were fighting, Discornia spoke to Kämpfer.

“You wouldn’t hit little, helpless me, would you?” she spoke in a disarming tone. I beamed her name and status over to Kämpfer.

“I don’t want to,” he sighed, “but I have no choice. I WILL defend myself.”

“Your gentleman credentials are at stake,” warned Discornia.

“I pray that I am forgiven for this,” muttered Kämpfer. He then went on the offensive. He swung his sword, but Discornia blocked with her staff. She then swung the staff with the disco balls on either end flashing. She started laughing, but Kämpfer scored a punch to her shoulder. She started rubbing it.

“You WOULD hit a lady!” she snapped. “In all seriousness, how are you still fighting?! My staff should have blinded you!”

“You forget that we liberated your fiancée,” reminded Kämpfer.

“That traitor!” hissed Discornia. “He told you about my staff and you updated the helmets with automatic light adjustments!”

“I only mentioned your future husband and you put two and two together,” mused Kämpfer, “you’re more clever than you let on.” Discornia then started fighting with the fury of a wild lemur. Kämpfer stayed on the defensive until he saw the slave chip on her shoulder. He then used a palm strike on her chin, knocking her off balance and slashed at the chip with his sword. It exploded and knocked her out. When it was confirmed she was alive, Kämpfer knelt and clasped his hands in prayer. “Almighty God,” he prayed, “please understand, I had no choice but to strike. My life was on the line. These were not normal circumstances. She was not herself and I had to get her out of the spell Vortech had used. I pray for your forgiveness even if I do not receive Discornia’s.” He then turned to Discornia. “Madame, I apologize for striking you, but I had no choice. I pray you can forgive me.” He then heard the Riddler cry out in pain.

“Hey, that hurt! A lot!” he whined as he got rubble off of the Balrog and himself. The Balrog then knocked Gandalf off the roof. Kabuto and Kiri fell, but continued their fight once they were on the ground. Gandalf used his magic to land safely, dodging the Balrog’s fists on the way down. Wyldstyle then managed to see something, specifically, Chroma Discs.

“Well,” she said, grinning, “what can you offer to beat the Balrog? Chroma Keystone, activate! Chroma Lock, reveal! Chroma! Red! Royal!” I jumped into the red paint and Wyldstyle directed me to the circle. “Chroma! Yellow! Gandalf!” A paint covered Gandalf was told to stand in the right L-shape. “Chroma! Blue! Ichigō!” Ichigō stood in the left L-shape. The Chroma Lock opened a door on the right side of the tower that unleashed the troops of Minas Tirith. They swarmed the Balrog and climbed to get to the Riddler. He screamed like a little girl!

“Get them off, get them off of me!” he shrieked. The Balrog shook the troops off.

“Well, it slowed him down,” I observed.

“I see a way to slow him down a little more!” called Ichigō. “Scale Keystone, activate! Lessen scale of Batman!” Batman shrunk and saw a vent for him to climb. He got in and went to the top. He then fired his grapple gun and undid the locks on some speakers. They started playing music.

Everything is awesome, everything is cool when you’re part of a team!

Everything is awesome when you’re living out a dream!

“WHAT IS THAT NOISE!?” shouted Kiri. He was on the ground, writhing in pain and holding his ears. His Zecter automatically ejected and he transformed back into Gorshagh.

“THIS IS TOO MUCH!” wailed Wyldstyle as she covered her ears. I was dancing along. “MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!” said Wyldstyle. The Balrog listened to her and smashed the speakers.

“My ears!” cried the Riddler. “What was that horrible, HORRIBLE noise!?”

“Hey, I like that song!” I called.

“Grandmother said this,” waxed Kabuto. “Good music must never be interrupted. It leads to discontent.”

“Well, your grandmother wouldn’t know good music if it bit her in her rear!” snapped the Riddler.

“All right, just for that,” I called, “I’ll find something to teach you to insult a friend’s family! Locate Keystone, activate! Initiate rift detection!”

“No, you don’t!” roared Gorshagh. He grabbed the Kiri Zecter again and a device that had a big red button and a small lever on top. “Henshin!”

“Henshin!” repeated the Zecter. After the armor appeared, he moved the front legs again.

“Cast Off!” shouted Kiri.

“Cast Off: Change Mantis!” announced the Zecter as the armor flew.

“Is that a…Hyper Zecter?” asked Kabuto. “Funny, I have one too.” He then drew out the same device and attached it to the left of his belt, with the lever pointing up. “Hyper Cast Off!” called Kabuto. Kiri did the same.

“Hyper Cast Off!” announced Kiri. Both Riders pushed the lever down.

“Hyper Cast Off!” repeated the Hyper Zecters. Armor appeared on both Riders, giving them a slightly bulkier appearance.

“Change Hyper Beetle!” called Kabuto’s Zecter.

“Change Hyper Mantis!” announced Kiri’s Zecter.

“Hyper Clock Up!” shouted both Riders. They slapped the red buttons on their respective new Zecters.

“Hyper Clock Up!” repeated both Zecters. They both vanished.

“With that out of the way,” I muttered as I found the rift near the courtyard edge, “Identify source of rift!” The information beamed into my head. “I’ve…never heard of you,” I mumbled. Oh well. “Locate help from L-3-G-3-N-D-5-0-F-C-H-1-M-4!” I said. A caterpillar treaded tank with arms and a lion motif came into this universe. The pilot poked his head out. It was a male anthropomorphic lion in armor and a blue cape. He had a crown on his head and had a red mane. The poor guy looked confused.

“Where am I?!” he yelped. “Who are you?!” He heard the Balrog roar. He turned to see it prepare to swipe at him. “On second thought, I’ll find out later. It’s time for the Fire Lion to fire!” A missile array launched its arsenal at the Balrog. It knelt to the ground as the “Fire Lion” ran over it.

“What’s your name?!” I asked the pilot, then mentally chided myself for being rude.

“Laval, prince of the Lion Tribe,” introduced the lion. “You?”

“Megumi Hishikawa, Princess of the Feudal Nerd Society and leader of the Vortex Riders! Known throughout the multiverse as Kamen Rider Royal!” I replied

“Then I hope we meet again!” called Laval as a portal opened for him.

“Where’d THAT come from?!” wailed the Riddler. “You’re not playing fair!” The Balrog then went to the cliff part of the courtyard. “Enough play, it’s time for a classic showdown!”

“Get back here, Riddler!” shouted Batman as we pursued the Balrog.

“We need to douse the Balrog,” I realized. “Gandalf, if you please?”

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” called Gandalf. “Element of Water, Gandalf!” Gandalf then sprayed water on the Balrog. It then turned its back on us.

“He’s hurt himself! Keep it up!” encouraged Batman.

“Guys, there’s an electric coil on the back of the chair!” Wyldstyle pointed out.

“Element of lightning, Wyldstyle!” announced Gandalf. Wyldstyle made the chair overload. Apparently, that was a mind control device for the Balrog. It thrashed in pain. “Take that, servant of Morgoth!” said Gandalf. The Balrog then bucked the Riddler off as it fell over the cliff face and onto the buildings below. Gollum saw this.

“Good!” he hissed. Durin’s Bane was picked up while the Riddler kept a black stone to his chest. We advanced on the lunatic.

“Riddle me this,” asked Batman, “what drink hurts the most?”

“Really hot coffee?” guessed the Riddler.

“Anyone else?” asked Batman.

“Punch!” snarled a voice. It was Discornia. She punched the Riddler. She was free! The blow sent him near the edge and letting go of the stone. The Riddler’s flailing made his loosen some dirt.

“My poor eyeses!” wailed Gollum’s voice. The Riddler regained his balance. Kiri and Kabuto reappeared.

“Hyper Clock Over!” called the Zecters. Both Riders were winded.

“That’s it!” snarled Kiri. He moved the lever down again. Kabuto did the same.

“Maximum Rider Power!” announced the Zecters. Kabuto pressed the buttons while Kiri pressed a button on the abdomen of his Zecter three times. “One! Two! Three!” counted the Zecters.

“Hyper Kick!” called Kabuto.

“Hyper Crusher!” roared Kiri. His blades came to his hands in a reverse grip.

“Rider Kick!” announced Kabuto’s Zecter.

“Rider Crusher!” called Kiri’s Zecter. Kiri raised his blades, leaving his stomach open for Kabuto’s kick. The attack went straight and true and Kiri lost his suit again. Gorshagh stumbled into the Riddler. They were near the edge, trying to keep us away.

“Keep back! Don’t come any closer!” wailed the Riddler. He then felt something on his leg. “What the?!” Gollum then pulled the Riddler off. The Riddler then grabbed Gorshagh and they all tumbled before a Fell Beast picked them up. They went through a portal. Batman punched the wall near Gandalf in frustration as Gandalf lowered the stone in his hand.

“You almost shattered the Palantír, Batman!” rebuked the wizard.

“Almost,” countered Batman as he took it and put it in his cowl.

“Guys, our ride home is about to depart!” called Wyldstyle.

“Drop the Palantír and turn around slowly!” hissed a voice. I sighed.

“I don’t have time to play, Hiro,” I groaned as I turned. “So, I need you to…explain that!!” Hiro had taken a different form. He looked more like an anthropomorphic tiger with machinery sticking out! He had the Shocker Buckle underneath the Rogue Driver.

“Impressive, is it not?” quizzed the Rogue Driver.

“Hiro, what did you do to yourself?!” I asked.

“I’ve obtained this form when I joined Shocker,” explained Hiro. “Tora-otoko (Tiger-man), I’m called. Unimaginative, yes, but it serves.”

“I’ve never fought anyone with a tiger motif,” said Ichigō.

“I’ve never fought you or Ichimonji,” replied Hiro.

“So, why are you here?” I asked.

“The Palantír,” hissed Hiro. “Hand it over!”

“Suppose we refuse?” I asked. He then drew out his i.d tag.

“This, I HAVE to see,” mused Ichigō.

“Henshin,” announced Hiro. He then became Kamen Rider Rogue. He then entered his Super Charge sequence. “Super Charge.” After that new suit formed, he started a new movement that extended his hands. “Dai Super Charge,” he said. His bulkier armor flew off. We got out of the way to see a new suit. It was purple with black tiger stripes. My heart sank.

“That’s not…” I uttered.

“You see the kind of power you could have had?!” called Rogue, er, Proto-Rift, er… “What you see before you is the combination of Shocker Cyborg and the true Rift Driver. You now look upon Kamen Rider Rift!”

“How does that concern me?” I asked.

“Have you ever wondered why I left you to the streets?” quizzed the newly-christened Rift.

“…Not as often as I should, judging by the tone,” I gulped.

“Well, how do you suppose you’re so strong?” asked Rift.

“Well, from my parents, obviously!” I declared.

“Right, and which parent DID you get that strength from?” asked Rift.

“…I don’t wanna ask,” I said weakly.

“Here’s the thing,” continued Rift, “cyborgs of my caliber are still very much fertile.”

“I don’t…” I began.

“The fact is,” interrupted Rift, “when Shocker makes a cyborg, they alter everything, even the genitals. Some of the cyborgs were naturally occurring between a mother and father cyborg. Granted, they were old when you fought them, Hongo, but it still served to prove our science. The cyborg parents had nanobots that would make cybernetics once the baby was out of the mother’s womb and would alter the genes to make an animal based cyborg. After that, they went through hellish training to be the strongest there was. One thing was never tested, reproduction between a cyborg and a normal human.”

“Wait, but…” I gulped, fearing the worst.

“So, when I escaped the destruction of Shocker,” continued Rift, “I went to your universe, married a woman, I wasn’t about to have a baby out of wedlock and rape was out of the question.”

“Good to know you have SOME morals!” I muttered, my fear dying off.

“In any case,” continued Rift, “after her death, I left you in the streets so you would understand your beast side. However, you made one costly mistake! You accepted help from someone beneath you! Sadly, I couldn’t just shoot you, there would have been too many questions. So, I took the legal route and contested Haruna for possession of you.”

“That went pear-shaped for you and you were tried and found guilty of murder,” recalled Lukas.

“Now, be honest,” quizzed Rift, “should you really accept the help of a lesser being?”

“…I’m going home,” I said as I cancelled my transformation. I saw what he was trying to do.

“I’m sorry, the wind up here is a bit loud. What did you just say?!” growled Rift.

“I’m going home, back to Vorton,” I elaborated.

“Okay,” muttered Rift, “I’m confused. Vorton isn’t your home universe.”

“It’s got my friends, the people that make me stronger,” I countered. “That’s home to me. I don’t wanna fight someone like you. You’re a boring, sad, and bitter old man. You try to make me question my life and humanity. I still feel like a human. The fact that I’m a naturally occurring cyborg hasn’t changed that I’m Megumi Hishikawa. These are still my friends. The fact that they’re not running in terror shows that they don’t care about my biology either. We’re leaving.”

“But, we didn’t fight!” protested Rift. “I didn’t swing a punch at you yet! This isn’t a proper show of power! This is…I don’t even know what it is!”

“It’s called robbing you of satisfaction,” explained Ichigō as he cancelled his transformation. Kämpfer, Kabuto, and Claw followed suit.

“Grandmother said this,” waxed Sōji. “One that drowns in oneself will eventually fall to darkness.”

“You ARE a sad man,” sighed Lukas.

“I must disagree with the ‘man’ bit,” argued Sheela.

“Yeah, that DOES sound like a man-child,” replied Discornia.

“We’re going home and taking the Palantír and Discornia with us,” I declared as I summoned our rides to fall into the Vortex. “I’m sure Turretorg will want to see you.”

“You little s**t!” snarled Rift. “I can NOT believe that you’re walking away from this! You need to know what power you’ve denied yourself! SO, GET OVER HERE AND FIGHT ME!”

“You’ve lost the right to order me when you left me on the streets!” I roared as I mounted my steed. “Vortex Riders, we’re leaving!” And leave with the Palantír and Discornia, we did. We drove off the cliff and fell into the vortex. I heard Rift roar in frustration when we went through.

Categories
Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 31

We had gathered in the Gateway room the next day. All of the Keystone Bearers were on the platform and X-PO started his Rider Chance. “And today’s riders are…” the arrow stopped on Sheela. “Sheela!” announced X-PO. The next arrow stopped on Lukas. “And Lukas!”

“Theek hai!” (Alright!) cheered Sheela.

“Wunderbar!” (Wonderful!) called Lukas.

“Destination set!” reported Rusty.

“CHARGE!” I called. We pounded through the vortex. Meanwhile, the enemy was already there with the Foundation Element in hand. The leader, a man in green with question marks was playing it like a basketball, but almost dropped it. An Orc caught it.

“Thank you, friend,” said the leader.

“What’s Lord Vortech want with this stone?” asked the Orc as he handed it back to his current boss.

“No idea,” replied the man. “It’s quite the riddle!” The man chuckled softly to himself.

“It’s not fair!” whined a raspy voice. “Sméagol does the riddleses!”

We soon arrived at our destination. It was a landmark I recognized! A friendly place if the Steward would get his head out of his butt! “Minas Tirith, the White City!” called Gandalf. “We are in Middle-Earth!”

“You mean Middle-Zealand?” asked Wyldstyle.

“…No,” replied Gandalf.

“So, it’s called Minas Tirith, I see,” called a voice. A Japanese man walked towards us. His hair was messy, he wore a loose shirt, and had his hands in his pockets, incredibly rude in Japan. “Most people don’t pop out of holes in space like that. I’m guessing you guys aren’t most people. Neither am I. I see that a Showa Rider’s with you.”

“You’re the second kabutomushi (rhinoceros beetle) Rider, right?” asked Hongo. “Kamen Rider Kabuto?”

“That’s me,” confirmed the man. “And you’re Takeshi Hongo, the first Kamen Rider.”

“I’m Princess Megumi Hishikawa of the Feudal Nerd Society,” I introduced. “What’s your civilian name?” The man smirked.

“Obaachan ga itteita,” (Grandmother said this) he said. He then pointed to the sky. “Ten no michi o iki, subete o tsukasadoru otoko.” (Walking the path of heaven, the man that shall rule over everything.) He then pointed toward the sun. “Ore no na wa…Tendō…Sōji.” (My name is…Tendō…Sōji.)

“…Well, I’ve seen my fair share of arrogance, but that takes the cake,” I muttered. “Your name literally means Path of Heaven, Ruler of All.”

“Comes with the greatness of the Zecter,” replied Sōji.

“The what?” I quizzed.

“The Kabuto Zecter, my transformation device,” elaborated Sōji. He turned to Gandalf. “You’re the one most familiar with this place?”

“Of course!” answered Gandalf. “This universe is my home! I have good news; we will be welcome here!”

“I’m not so certain,” countered Batman. He pointed to the current inhabitants that bellowed at us.

“ORCS?!” yelped Gandalf. “But how?!” That’s when some of the Orcs appeared to teleport. Sōji appeared to be ticked at them.

“I can see right through them,” he hissed. “Some of those Orcs are my enemies, a race of aliens that only need to look at a victim to copy their looks and memories, the Worms. They can molt their original shells and gain super speed, faster than our eyes can go. That’s where the Zecter comes in.” A red, metal rhino beetle flew towards Sōji and he caught it.

“Battle, it is!” I remarked. We got ready.

“Rider…” began Hongo.

“Henshin!” we all announced. Sōji slid the beetle into his belt buckle with the horn facing his left.

“Henshin!” repeated the beetle. Sōji’s armor appeared in hexagons and looked bulky. It had ZECT on the left shoulder and a blue visor. He then tapped the horn forward. The armor opened a little with a hiss.

“Cast Off!” called Sōji, Kamen Rider Kabuto. He then moved the horn to his right side.

“Cast Off!” repeated the beetle.

“Hit the deck!” warned Batman. We all fell to the ground while Kabuto’s armor flew off, damaging the Orcs. The new suit had red armor and allowed a beetle horn to go up across his visor.

“Change Beetle!” announced the beetle. An intercom then switched on.

“Welcome!” called the speaker. Batman tensed up.

“The Riddler!” he hissed.

“Please,” invited the Riddler’s voice, “come on in if you can! I hope you remembered to pack your brain, fail my riddles and you’ll feel pain!” The Orcs and disguised Worms came at us.

“You can barricade yourself in all you like, Riddler,” threatened Batman as he punched an Orc. “I’m coming for you!” Some of the Orcs went faster. Their attacks came out of nowhere!”

“Clock Up,” announced Kabuto as he slapped the side of his belt.

“Clock Up!” repeated the beetle before he disappeared.

“Can Sméagol do his riddleses now?” asked a voice over the intercom.

“Gollum?!” yelped Kämpfer, Claw, Gandalf, and I.

“Um, NO!” replied the Riddler. There were some explosions in the air after we dispatched the normal Orcs.

“Clock Over!” announced the Kabuto Zecter. Kabuto then reappeared with an Orc looking Worm that was shedding its disguise. Its real form looked like an armored humanoid with three large claws on the right arm, a hood like carapace, and the face looking like the eyes were being covered by hands. Kabuto then pressed the three buttons on top of the Zecter. “One! Two! Three!” counted the Zecter. He moved the horn back to his left before turning his back on the Worm as it charged at him.

“Rider Kick,” announced Kabuto. He moved the horn back over to the right.

“Rider Kick!” repeated the Zecter. He then did a 180º roundhouse kick, making the Worm blow up. Once the enemies were dispatched, Batman got his grapple gun ready to open an Orc Siege Tower. I got out the Batman i.d tag and swapped my usual one out.

“Batman Steel!” announced Vortoranii. My armor changed and I got my grapple gun. We opened up the siege tower and we got some parts.

“I have literally no idea what to do with this,” called Wyldstyle.

“Maybe I can get some help from another universe,” I mused. “Locate Keystone, activate! Initiate rift detection!” I found the rift near a pile of hastily made Orc barricade. “Identify source of rift!” The information beamed into my head. “…Well, I’m sure GLaDOS won’t mind. Locate help from P-0-R-T-4-L!” A giant turret in leopard print and wearing a crown came out. I heard a voice from the rift before it closed.

“Wheatley, shut up!” snapped the voice. It had a Swahili accent I was familiar with!

“Tanisha?!” I yelped. The rift closed.

“Tanisha?” repeated Batman. “What’s she doing in GLaDOS’ world?”

“Maybe some mission with Wheatley,” I muttered.

“Hopefully, this contraption will aid us,” observed Gandalf, remembering his previous encounter with turrets. The giant turret was pointed at the gate, but not firing.

“I’ll try it out,” offered Kabuto. He jumped up and found controls for the turret inside the crown. He started firing on the barricade that replaced the main gate.

“Heads up!” warned Batman.

“Look! From over the walls!” called Gandalf.

“Look out!” yelped Wyldstyle. The enemy had started using their catapults! Kabuto got clear as an Octan ship from Wyldstyle’s universe destroyed the turret.

“Well, we’ll have to find another way in,” muttered Kabuto.

“No need,” answered Wyldstyle. “I can rebuild it, better than it was before, and more awesome.”

“That’s all well and good,” argued Kämpfer, “but it’s on fire. We need to douse it. Gandalf, würdest du bitte?” (If you please?)

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” announced Gandalf. “Element of water, Kämpfer!” Kämpfer doused the flames while Wyldstyle built a bigger cannon out of the turret and the Octan ship. Kabuto took the controls again and destroyed the barricade. The enemy came out and we fought our way through. Some of the Orcs were Worms, though. In fact, many. I touched Kabuto and got his i.d tag. I swapped out the Batman one for the new one. It had multiple forms, so I chose his slimmer form.

“Kabuto Rider Steel!” called Vortoranii.

“Cast Off: Change Beetle!” announced the Zecter’s voice. My new armor was similar to Kabuto, complete with horn. Kabuto looked at me, confused, I’ll wager.

“Clock Up!” I yelled.

“Clock Up!” repeated the Zecter’s voice. Kabuto did the same action as we dispatched the Worms. Man, super speed is awesome, but everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, slows down. “Clock Over!” said the Zecter as we both slowed down. We all made our way in.

“Where would the fun be in just letting you up here?” asked the Riddler. “I thought I might toy with you a little first!” There was a green energy field around a door leading up into the main courtyard.

“This magic barrier is being channeled,” mused Gandalf. “We should follow it and turn it off.”

“I’d argue the magic bit, but you’re right,” replied Batman. Ichigō then leapt into the air.

“RIDER PUNCH!” he shouted as he punched a door which had cables for the energy field sticking out.

“Was that necessary?” I asked.

“I haven’t practiced that technique!” protested Ichigō. We went through the door.

“So, I guess my welcome party wasn’t to your liking?” quizzed the Riddler. “Oh well. So, heroes, riddle me this: This is cast, but not a stone. It flees from light. The dark, its home.

“Oh, a riddle?” asked Gandalf. “Bilbo would have been useful here, most definitely.”

“Bow before your Golden master!” roared a voice. A black and gold four-legged spider mech came with its pilot in the same colored armor. I didn’t know which dimension he came from, nor do I care. All I knew was that he made a web from golden strands and had turned part of a building gold so he could levitate it and block our path. Batman and Kabuto took care of that. Kabuto had grabbed a rope and lashed it to the rubble. Batman and Kabuto pulled it down, but the man had levitated statues to block our way to the web.

“Allow me,” called Gandalf. He levitated the statues out of the way and saw something inside the web. There was a cable running from the web to the door. “That box seems to be the source,” observed Gandalf.

“And the legs of the mech seem to be the source of the web,” guessed Batman. “Shift Keystone, activate! Cyan, near the right leg of the mech! Yellow, near the left leg of the mech! Magenta, near the bottom of the web! Shift! Royal! Cyan! Shift! Batman! Yellow!” Batman and I warped to our respective locations. I changed into Batman Steel and we fired our grapple guns at the mech’s legs.

“What are you doing?!” roared the pilot. The legs were loosened, so Batman and I threw a batarang at the joints, making the mech fall off the web. The pilot escaped before the mech exploded, leaving fire behind.

“Let me try the Elemental Keystone,” called Kabuto. “It seems interesting.”

“Elemental Keystone, activate!” announced Gandalf. “Element of water, Kabuto!”

“Just put your hand towards the fire,” I instructed. Kabuto did so and a stream of water came out, dousing the flames. We then opened the box to reveal an on/off switch. I set it to off and power stopped going to the energy field.

“Off we go!” called Claw. We left that courtyard and headed to the main one. Another door was available to us, so we went through there, via Kabuto’s Rider Kick. When we entered that courtyard, the Riddler came through.

“Time for the second part of my riddle!” he challenged. “What breathes, dances, and bakes, yet has no lungs, legs, or cakes?” We went through with no interruption, for a while, until I heard an unearthly humming.

“Anyone else hear that?” I asked. A saucer then buzzed us. It had some sort of face on the front and a four-barreled cannon. The pilot was green skinned and bald.

“Brainiac?!” yelped Batman.

“You know him?” I asked.

“He’s one of Superman’s enemies,” explained Batman. “Has a habit of shrinking cities to bottle sized ones.”

“Just that?” I muttered.

“Do not be so quick to underestimate me, fleshy!” warned Brainiac.

“Did I neglect to mention he’s a robot?” quipped Batman.

“A robot with the knowledge and strength of ten thousand worlds!” boasted Brainiac. He then used some sort of ray to make a box grow and block our path.

“This is worse than I could have possibly imagined,” muttered Gandalf.

“Surrender now!” demanded Brainiac as he shrunk one of the city’s buildings. “You are only delaying the inevitable!” He then tossed the tiny building at us. Gandalf pushed it back into Brainiac, making his saucer spark. “NO!” wailed Brainiac. “You dare attack Brainiac! My intelligence is brighter than anything you can dredge up!”

“Grandmother said this,” called Kabuto. “It doesn’t matter how bright a candle thinks it is, it will never outshine the sun.” Wyldstyle then built a ladder to get us over the barrier. More Orcs greeted us, some going faster. Claw, Kämpfer, and I changed i.d tags to the Kabuto one and selected his Rider Form.

“Kabuto Rider Steel!” announced our belts.

“Cast Off: Change Beetle!” called the Zecter’s voice.

“Shall we?” I asked Kabuto. He nodded and then slapped the side of his belt.

“Clock Up,” we announced.

“Clock Up!” repeated the Zecter’s voice. We sped up and attacked, breaking through the forces and destroying Worms and Orcs alike. Eventually, “Clock Over!” was the announcement of the Zecter.

“You still persist?” taunted Brainiac. “I think you are confusing bravery with outright foolishness!” He shrunk some large statues. “It is useless to resist Brainiac!” Brainiac threw one at us, but Claw had changed armor again.

“Wizard Flame Dragon Steel!” called her belt.

“Flame! Dragon!” announced the WizarDriver’s voice. “Bou. Bou! Bou, bou, BOU!” (Burn) Claw’s armor had a red trench coat and a pair of horns on the helmet. She then mimed flipping levers on a WizarDriver and brought out a ring. “Lupachi magic! Touch to go! Levitate, please!” She managed to push the statue towards Brainiac. Once it crashed into his ship. Brainiac ranted.

“How is this possible?!” he wailed. He tried to regain his dignity. “Such pitiful creatures! You are not worthy of facing Brainiac!” He did the same tactic again and got the same result. “What is this foolishness?!” he snapped. “It is useless to resist Brainiac!” Didn’t he say that already? Anyway, he threw a statue a third time.

“Insane,” I mused.

“Ja, that is a classic case of insanity,” agreed Kämpfer. “He’s going to fail and he doesn’t even realize it.”

“I am Brainiac!” shouted Brainiac. “I am not programmed to fail!” He tossed the statue. Claw yawned as she pushed the statue away one more time, destroying the ship. “This was unforeseen,” he mumbled.

“He’s down!” called Wyldstyle. “That was one big, ugly, green alien.”

“No, again, robot,” argued Batman as we got to the box Brainiac was guarding. We opened it and shut down the generator. We made our way to the main courtyard and approached one more door. We tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Found the problem,” reported Claw. “There’s a piece of wood across the top.”

“I’ll just break it down,” offered Ichigō.

“How, exactly, do you intend to do that?” I asked. He then moved back. “Wait, let me guess.” He ran forward. “Don’t tell me!” I said. He leapt into the air. “You’re going to use a…”

“RIDER CHOP!” called Ichigō. He chopped the wood in half, opening the way to another courtyard. A bunch of stuff from GLaDOS’ universe, like platforms, and switches, and neurotoxin generators! A portal opened, letting GLaDOS poke her head out.

“Surprised to see me?” she asked.

“What are you doing here?!” I snapped.

“After you left,” explained GLaDOS, “I decided that if you are going to run from my tests, then I’m just going to have to bring my tests to you. Enjoy.” She left as the portal closed.

“You’re doing very well!” praised the Riddler. “Time for part 3 of our Riddle Special. Deep below, veiled from sight, it dwells where Dwarves find their delight!

“We better get on those switches,” I suggested. I jumped toward a switch on a platform while Batman grabbed a switch near the door. They triggered a platform to drop some vent sections.

“My turn,” called Ichigō. “Scale Keystone activate! Enlarge scale of Gandalf!” Gandalf brought the vent sections over to a vent that needed them. “Lessen scale of Gandalf!” Gandalf shrunk down and climbed the vent. When he came to a statue, he tried to push it over. “Enlarge scale of Gandalf,” directed Ichigō. Gandalf grew again and pushed a statue onto a neurotoxin generator. It was destroyed and revealed part of a box. Gandalf hopped down, making us shake, and headed to the other vent. “Lessen scale of Gandalf,” said Ichigō. Gandalf shrunk again and climbed the vent. When he appeared near the statue, “Enlarge scale of Gandalf!” he grew again. He pushed that statue and destroyed the last neurotoxin generator. “Normalize scale of Gandalf!” announced Ichigō. Gandalf went back to his normal size but looked queasy.

“I don’t think shrinking and growing the same person is good for their stomach,” he groaned. Batman took care of shutting down the energy shield generator. Once we got that done, we headed to the large courtyard. The energy shield was down. “The way forward has now opened,” observed Gandalf. “Who knows what lies beyond?” Claw automatically canceled her transformation and returned to being Sheela as she fell to the floor, panting.

“We’re not going anywhere until we’ve had a breather!” panted Sheela.

“Go ahead and relax,” called the Riddler. “I’ll wait.”

“Your mistake, Nigma,” hissed Batman.

“Nigma?” I asked.

“Edward Nigma,” answered Batman. I saw the pun in his name. “He’s obsessed with riddles and mind games. He was so intelligent that he figured out my alter-ego.”

“He knows you?” I quizzed.

“I pointed out that if he told the world,” continued Batman, “he would solve the riddle and there would be no point.

“How insane is he?” I asked.

“He’s one of Arkham’s inmates,” elaborated Batman.

“Arkham?” asked Gandalf.

“The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane,” explained Batman. “A psychiatric hospital for people who commit crimes because they’re not right in the head.”

“A place to put the crazies until they’re ready to be normal citizens again,” I simplified for Gandalf.

“I see,” said Gandalf, nodding in understanding.

“So, how often have people escaped from Arkham?” I asked Batman.

“Security’s so bad,” he replied, “I’m surprised the staff don’t remind the inmates to use the sign in sheet when they return.”

“Are they functioning on ancient security methods?” I queried.

“No,” answered Batman, “they use the most advanced security measures that they can, given their…limited resources.”

“Not everyone has your tech,” I reminded him.

“…I know,” conceded Batman.

“What about you, Sōji-san?” I asked. “You seem Hell-bent on destroying the Worms.”

“It was the Worms that killed my parents,” explained Sōji. Batman seemed to understand him to a degree.

“I’m not sure I can fully support the death of an entire race because a group from said race killed your parents,” he mused.

“Wasn’t it a mugger that killed yours?” I asked. Batman flinched but stayed on his course.

“That mugger had appropriate justice dealt to him,” answered Batman. “I saw to it myself. He’s in prison for life.”

“And you’re content with that?” observed Sōji. “Don’t you fight other criminals?”

“I fight so no one has to go through what I did,” replied Batman.

“As do I,” answered Sōji.

“I suppose if things went differently,” mused Batman, “I could have been exactly like you.”

“Moving on,” I interjected. “Batman, is there a reason the Riddler wants to place riddles around here?”

“The answers to the riddles usually result in the answer to his master plan,” explained Batman.

“A riddle within a riddle,” I guessed.

“Exactly,” confirmed Batman.

“I best use that power against him,” chuckled Lukas.

“You can solve it?” I asked.

“I’m an engineer,” boasted Lukas. “No riddle can be locked forever, aside from paradoxes.”

“Everyone all rested up?” I asked. They nodded. “Let’s go!” I declared. My mind also poured over the riddles as well as Lukas’

This is cast, but not a stone. It flees from light. The dark, its home.

What breathes, dances, and bakes, yet has no lungs, legs, or cakes?

Deep below, veiled from sight, it dwells where Dwarves find their delight!

What are the answers and how do they connect?!

Categories
Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 28

“Thankfully,” the Doctor said as Michael finished, “we put Irina in the Zero Room, where one floats in air to fix themselves or stabilizes one’s condition. That Dalek Gaia Memory wasn’t anywhere near as powerful as a Dalek’s gun.” I ran my hands over my face.

“Okay, I have good news and bad news,” reported Emily as she finished. “Good news, Irina’s alive and is demonstrating brainwave activity. Bad news, brainwave activity isn’t evidence of consciousness. Rather, it’s an endless dream from which she may never wake.”

“What can we do?” I asked.

“The only thing we can do is keep calling to her,” replied the Doctor.

“The only logical choice for starting the process, given Irina’s relationship with him,” I mused, “is Mikhail. Mikhail, could you…Mikhail? Mikhail, where are you?!”

“Hey, where’d Michael go?!” asked Ankh.

“Don’t forget Richard, he’s gone too,” observed Batman. A thought struck me.

“You don’t think…?” I quizzed.

“It’s possible,” theorized Batman

“Hey, guys,” called X-PO, “I’m hearing some chatter from Michael, Mikhail, Richard, Rusty, Elphaba, Wyldstyle, and Eiji in the gateway room. The phrase ‘Make Davros hurt’ was thrown around. Any reason leap to mind?”

“Those idiots!” I hissed.


I stood at the gateway. My sister, Irina, was in a coma. Anger was directing my actions, anger that I feel is justified. “You seek revenge!” said a harsh, grating, metallic tone.

“Da,” (yes) I replied. Rusty glided to my side.

“On just Davros?” asked the Dalek. I turned to face him.

“You’re not stopping me?” I asked.

“I wish to help you!” replied Rusty.

“Ah, anything to make the Daleks hurt,” I guessed.

“Why just the Daleks?” asked an American voice. I turned to see Michael and Richard coming.

“Not this time, you two,” I directed.

“Your sister was hurt under my recent command,” argued Michael. “Honor must be satisfied.”

“And you helped me when Emily was beaten black and blue by one of her bullies that wanted her to commit suicide,” continued Richard. “I would be ashamed if I didn’t help.”

“What’s this I hear about getting revenge?” asked a woman. Elphaba came in. She had regained her ability to fly on a broomstick. “Trying to make this Davros character pay? Wasn’t he acting under orders?”

“It’s within Vortech’s sick mind to make us hurt,” hissed another voice. Wyldstyle came up with Eiji.

“You all wish to assist?” I asked.

“You need an attacker from the sky,” replied Elphaba.

“My Master Build abilities are handy,” offered Wyldstyle.

“And I’ve got a Combo that can take care of any cheaters,” replied Eiji.

“Then what are we waiting for?” I asked. “Set dimensional coordinates for Skaro!”

“No!” barked Rusty.

“No?!” I roared.

“Blindly rushing into Dalek territory,” explained Rusty, “is self-extermination! We must draw Davros out!”

“And to do so,” supplied Elphaba, “we need to make Vortech hurt. To do that, we need to hit where it hurts most, his wallet!

“Go on,” I invited.

“Vortech has set up Nonexistium mines in Rusty’s native universe,” answered Elphaba. “We strike at a big one and tell Vortech to send Davros our way at the next one.” I mulled it over. On the one hand, I wanted to make Davros pay quickly, but, on the other hand, blindly rushing at the Daleks will ensure my death. The cons of rushing at the Daleks outweighed the pros.

“Like I said, set dimensional coordinates for a big mining operation in Davros’ universe,” I said.

“I obey!” replied Rusty.


“How is this POSSIBLE!!!” roared Vortech. “Four missions, all in D-0-C-T-0-R-W-H-0, and only Igura succeeded in hers when she got the Foundation Element! You, Rani, nearly affected my plans with that dimensional manipulator nonsense! The universes you would have made would have faded in 2 hours anyway. Believe me, I tried that before getting the Foundation Elements. You, Yeti, perhaps it was a mistake to sever you from the Great Intelligence if the Gaia Memory is too complex for your processors!” Vortech turned to me. “So? I didn’t hear your excuse, Davros!”

“Because I have none,” I replied. “We failed to destroy the Doctor, nothing more.”

“Then why do you smile?!” snarled Vortech.

“I have news that may…interest you,” I answered.

“Speak quickly,” hissed Vortech.

“I took the liberty of testing the Maximum Drive of the Dalek Gaia Memory the Rani had so graciously created,” I explained.

“You don’t have a Maximum Drive slot,” observed Vortech.

“You don’t need a belt to initiate a Maximum Drive,” I answered. “I fashioned a weapon from a Dalek gun to allow it to use a Gaia Memory and decided my escape was a perfect test.”

“You…used the Dalek Maximum Drive?” guessed Vortech. I turned to one of the prisoners, a Mr. Sergei Kuznetsov.

“Do you know the true name of Kamen Rider Climb?” I asked him.

“My daughter, Irina,” answered the man. A thought struck him. “No. You didn’t!”

“I call the Dalek Gaia Memory’s Maximum Drive Dalek Extermination!” I laughed.

“You are bluffing!!” protested Sergei.

“I never bluff when one has died at my hand,” I answered.

“Then perhaps this day is not totally lost,” mused Vortech.

“If we can be so sure,” growled Sauron as he stomped into view. “It HAS been a while since any of us have killed one of the Vortex Riders.”

“Because it has been a while since a DALEK was provided the opportunity to do so,” I reminded.

“Really now?” snarled Sauron. “Because the mutants under my command during my time in the DC Comics world were utterly useless!”

“You dare call the Daleks mutants!” barked one of my children.

“My creations have enslaved entire worlds, Sauron,” I recalled, “while you sent your pathetic Orc forces after a simple ring!”

“You must be lying!” denied Sergei. “There’s no proof Irina is dead!”

“If it’s proof you want,” I chucked, “I am all too happy to provide.” I let a holographic projector do its work. Horror had spread across his features. “Word of advice, a scientist is always willing to give proof!”

“THAT’S MY DAUGHTER!” roared Sergei. “DAVROS, I WILL KILL YOU!”

“You are welcome to try!” I countered as I charged my hand with electricity.

“Enough!” shouted Vortech as he threw up a barrier between us. “Davros, are you certain that Kamen Rider Climb was exterminated?

“With this very Gaia Memory, Lord Vortech,” I replied as I pressed the button.

“DALEK!” it announced.


“Is everyone ready?” I asked.

“For Irina!” cheered Michael.

“For the Multiverse!” called Wyldstyle.

“For making Davros pay!” shrieked Rusty.

“For paying off old debts,” declared Richard.

“For a new chance at life!” called Elphaba.

“For my friends!” cheered Eiji.

“For honor!” I called. “POYEKHALI!” (Go!). We charged into the portal and fell through the vortex.

“You Riders might want to change before we arrive at the mine,” suggested Wyldstyle

“Good thinking,” I replied. Eiji put in his Medals and the rest of us drew our i.d tags. Eiji told us how his transformation abilities work, so I knew what was going on when he scanned his Medals.

“HENSHIN!” we announced.

“TAKA! TORA! BATTA! Tatoba! Tatoba, TATOBA!” sang Eiji’s OOO Driver. The rift opened to let us into a mine. The coordinates were set to the Cybermen’s home world of Mondas. What we saw was a sight I never thought was possible, but, given that Vortech has a hand in this, he may need the cooperation between the Daleks and Cybermen. Both species were working together to mine for Nonexistium. The mines were large enough but had special machinery that regenerated the metal once it was exhausted.

“Quite a bit of Daleks and Cybermen,” muttered Battle.

“How do we deal with them?” I asked.

“Set off minor explosions in random areas,” suggested Battle. “Get all enemy forces to investigate. Clear out any enemies near a communications console. Contact Foundation Prime to draw out Davros. After stating our demands, blow the place sky high and move on to the mines on Skaro.”

“Khorosho,” (Good) I declared. “Find explosives and spread out.”


“It’s a pity she was wearing her mask,” I said to my children as we went down the hall in Vortech’s fortress. “But, I can only imagine the terror she felt as she fell to the technology you, my children, have made. Lord Vortech now understands that the difficult tasks are best assigned to the Daleks.” We passed by a couple of Tarlaxians, Discornia and a creature made of purplish putty with red eyes and a vaguely humanoid form called Sludgiona.

“Hell spawn,” muttered Ms. Sludgiona in a burbling voice.

“Impure mutants!” snarled Discornia. Now, Hell spawn, I can let slide, but calling my Daleks impure mutants…! We turned to face them.

“What did you say?!” I growled.


I must say, the Rani is the worst lab partner ever. We were fixing up the Yeti Vortech had acquired and she was griping all the time. “Fixing things up was so much easier when Urak was around!” she moaned

“Spare me!” I hissed as I adjusted the jaw. It was then I heard Dalek gunfire. The Rani and Yeti heard it too.

“What is going on out there?!” demanded the Yeti. It got up and stepped out of the room. “How are these ladies supposed to…!” It didn’t get far as a Dalek blast shot his jaw. It goggled at the broken implement. “I JUST HAD THAT FIXED!” it roared, pulling out its Gaia Memory.

“YETI!” announced the Memory.


We had set up the explosives in the mine and acquired hiding places so the enemy wouldn’t see us. Battle told us to wait until the Daleks and Cybermen had concentrated their forces at the explosive sites. Thank goodness Wyldstyle can Master Build explosives. “Not yet,” motioned Battle. “Wait. …NOW!” We pressed the detonator that Wyldstyle built and the explosives went off.

“ALERT! ALERT! EXPLOSIVES DETECTED IN MINE!” screamed a Dalek.

“Moving to delete hostile elements!” reported a Cyber-Leader.

“Seek! Locate! Exterminate! Annihilate! Destroy!” ordered a Black Dalek. The enemy started investigating while a single Dalek and Cyberman guarded the communications terminal. These two were…different from the rest of their species. The Cyberman looked like he was in a silver bodysuit that simulated piping woven into it, had a chest piece with exposed wiring, a helmet with larger handle supports around the ears, a see-through mouth plate, and totally circular eye holes instead of the tear-drop design. The Dalek was gunmetal grey with black sensor globes, possessed tiny dome lights instead of the large ones I was used to, and a white light in the eyestalk with a black dot in the center, making the eye look like it had a pupil.

“Those are a Dalek and Cyberman from the 80’s!” whispered Battle. “What are they doing still in operation?”

“Sshh!” I hissed. “They’re about to speak. I want to hear them.”

“Cyber-unit L-4-R-R-Y,” droned the Dalek.

“Yes, Dalek T-1-N-4?” asked the Cyberman.

“Cyber-unit Larry?” asked Guard.

“Dalek Tina?!” snickered Battle.

“SSSHHH!!” I hissed.

“Do you wonder why we’re here?” asked Dalek Tina.

“I suppose that is one of the universe’s greatest mysteries,” mused Cyber-unit Larry. “Why are any of us here? Are we some cosmic coincidence or is there really a god with a plan for us? That kind of thinking keeps me from fully recharging.” There was a brief silence.

“No,” elaborated Tina. “I meant, why are we here guarding a communications terminal instead of investigating the explosions?”

“Oh,” replied Larry.

“What was that stuff about God?” asked Tina.

“Nothing,” answered Larry. I motioned for us to move.

“If you wish to find out about God’s existence,” I announced as I drew my blade, “I am all too happy to help in that regard. If you wish to live, move aside. I’ve come for Davros. Stand down and be spared.”

“ALERT!! ALERT!! INTRUDERS IN THE COMMUNICATIONS CAVERN!!” screamed Tina. She didn’t get very far as I ran her through with my sword. Larry then grabbed a silver tube with a red cylinder on it and trained it on us. Battle then opened a small bag and threw the contents onto Larry’s chest. It was gold dust and the instant it landed on him, Larry started sparking and giving off a death rattle. He fell, dead. I ran my fingers over the dust and examined it.

“A Cyberman killed by glitter? That’s ridiculous!” I declared.

“Not when it’s an early model Cyberman,” elaborated Battle. “The glitter’s made of actual gold.”

“You mean to tell me you turned gold into glitter in case you meet this kind of Cyberman?” I asked.

“Exactly,” replied Battle. “Coat the chest unit of these early model Cybermen in gold and you suffocate them.”

“I see,” I muttered. I then returned my focus to the mission. “Wyldstyle, take Guard with you and build a bomb big enough to level this place. OOO, Rusty, keep watch for the enemy. Elphaba, clear an escape route for us. Battle, help me open a line to Foundation Prime.”


“Just look what they’ve done!” snarled Igura as she stormed up to me in her Kamen Rider Talon persona.

“Spare me the dramatics,” I dismissed. “The Yeti’s jaw can be fixed.”

“This isn’t about the Yeti or me, Lord Vortech!” protested Talon. “The Daleks are creating dissension among the ranks! These savages are a threat to our plans! They should be confined! RESTRAINED EVEN!”

“I said that about you when your group came here,” muttered Ambassador Hell.

“Besides, you could not produce restraints strong enough to hold a Dalek!” boasted Davros.

“Loooord Vortech,” droned a Cyberman. This one was in a zip-up bodysuit, had a large front unit with wires and piping everywhere on the body, a cloth mask with eyeholes and a lantern on top of the head where the handles connect. As it spoke in a stilted monotone with some words drawn out and the others run through rapidly, the mouth opened but made no movements to form the syllables, “weee have recieeeved an eeemergency transmission frooom theeee Nonexistium mines ooooon Mooondas.”

“What seems to be the trouble?” I asked as I gave a glance to a broken Sergei.

“Uuunnknown, Lord Vortech,” reported the Cyberman. “Theee caller will speeeak only tooo you.” I accepted the call.

“T-1-N-4, L-4-R-R-Y, what is it?” I asked, assuming that it was the Dalek or Cyberman at their post. The voice with the Russian accent surprised me.

“Nice operation you have here,” snarled the caller. “Sadly, it is under new management.”

“Mikhail?” asked Sergei, sadly, knowing that Irina’s death affected his son as well.

“Kamen Rider Gallop,” I guessed. “The Rider that fancies himself a Cossack.”

“I have a bit of Cossack training,” answered Gallop. “My horseback skills are unmatched. However, like Irina, I fancy myself a swashbuckling pirate. Speaking of pirates, with the help of my team, of course, I just robbed you of one of your big, juicy mining operations.”

“The loss of ONE asset is hardly a blow to my cause,” I dismissed.

“Perhaps,” threatened Gallop. “But, I shall keep attacking them one by one until you give me what I want!”

“And WHAT, pray, is that?” I asked.

“The demon that put my twin sister in a coma!” declared Gallop. Wait, what?

“Coma?” I repeated.

“Mikhail, are you saying Irina lives?!” asked Sergei excitedly.

“Da, Papa,” replied Gallop.

“You are a liar!” hissed Davros.

“Davros,” called another voice. “Not so nice to hear you again.”

“Kamen Rider Battle, you saw Climb fall!” snapped Davros, correctly identifying the voice.

“We got her into the TARDIS and discovered that the Maximum Drive of your Dalek Gaia Memory gave off a low yield blast,” explained Battle. “Thanks to the Doctor’s efforts and to the efforts of our medic, Irina’s alive.”

“KHOROSHO!” shouted Sergei, his pain of having to bury his daughter now gone.

“So,” continued Gallop, “here is the deal. We’re going to hit the Nonexistium mine on Skaro. If you would care to meet us there, Davros, perhaps you can save Vortech from another loss. Oh, and Vortech, just in case you ever wondered what an exploding mine of Nonexistium sounds like…” He left the channel open as he pressed the button on a detonator.


“Escape ship primed and ready!” reported Rusty as he flew it to us. I snatched up some studs, 245,000 in total, and put them in a bag. Might as well make some profit. We jumped aboard as the bomb started shaking. We sped through the caverns before the bomb blew up. The explosion started catching up to us. We escaped…what’s the expression…by the skin of our teeth. The entrance collapsed as Rusty flew us to Skaro.


To say that Vortech was livid would be an understatement. As the transmission ended in static. Vortech strode angrily towards Davros. I smirked under my helmet. “Keep away!” yelped Davros.

“You’re hardly in a position to order anyone around,” hissed Vortech. He swatted Davros’ hand aside and pressed a button. The chair started beeping and lights turned off. Davros was trembling violently until he pressed the button again. He started getting his breath back. “You allowed Kamen Rider Climb TO LIVE!!” roared Vortech.

“Daleks,” chuckled Sergei with a fat grin on his fat face. “Not, er, up to snuff, I believe is the expression. Isn’t that right, Talon?”

“You, shut up,” I ordered.

“Lord Vortech,” begged Davros, “I swear upon the Daleks, Irina could not have survived her wounds!”

“Well, the evidence says otherwise!!” roared Vortech. “It appears I am owed a Vortex Rider’s life. And if it’s not Irina’s, it had better be Mikhail’s!”


“Approaching Skaro!” reported Rusty. Battle was not exaggerating when he said Skaro was one of the worst planets to look at. It was blood red, had three moons, sickeningly green clouds, and two major continents divided by a mountain range.

“We’re being hailed,” called Battle.

“Tell the Daleks that we’ve come for Davros,” I rumbled.

“Funny,” continued Battle, “it IS Davros on the other end. He said that he’s ordered an escort to bring us to the mine near the Petrified Jungle.”

“A hasty trap that we shall spring,” I declared. “Tell him we’ll follow the escort on the path they chose.” Michael did as he was told and we followed the Dalek Escort to a stone-like jungle. Nearby was a tall city. The mines were about a mile to the city’s south. We landed near the entrance to see Davros and a horde of Daleks surrounding us. Michael described him perfectly on Vorton. “I see you were busy after Michael came here last,” I observed.

“Whereas YOU have been stupid enough to seek revenge!” ranted Davros.

“Prerogative of a brother when his sibling is harmed,” I replied.

“Speaking of visits,” recalled Battle, “I would have figured, after your sewers attacked, you would have drowned in the corpses of your children.”

“Not when there is an escape pod to be had,” answered Davros.

“And a nearby Dalek ship to collect you, I surmise,” guessed Battle.

“Ah!” exclaimed Davros. “There, I was fortunate.”

“Oh, for a moment, I guess,” I mused. “I’m thinking that Vortech didn’t like hearing about my sister’s survival.”

“For the time being,” countered Davros. “Comas can go both ways.”

“True,” I conceded. “But, I can’t help but feel there’s an unanswered question. Why are you working for a thief like Vortech?”

“You cannot steal what is simply a random object to most people,” answered Davros. “No one, aside from Vortech, is interested in the Foundation Elements!”

“Not what I have heard,” I declared.

“As Vortech’s people, the Vortonians, have been exterminated,” ranted Davros, “and your friends are now fractured, you will not hear that claim again!”

“Do you never do anything but smash and kill?!” protested Wyldstyle.

“There, you are mistaken, Madam Wyldstyle,” argued Davros. “The Daleks have taken to calling me by my title on Necros.”

“The Great Healer?” asked Battle.

“A somewhat flippant title, I confess, but not without substance!” boasted Davros. “I have turned these Daleks into a raw war machine, healed them from the disease of defeat!”

“While working for Lord Vortech, I notice,” I observed. “Did the Daleks expect you to join him?”

“The Daleks understood that power over reality itself was ripe for the taking!” declared Davros.

“With you as their leader?” I asked. “You’re more man than Dalek.”

“So, what of the Dalek sewers?” asked Battle. “Or will they still rot down there?”

“You should know me better than that, Battle,” hissed Davros. “I never waste valuable resources.”

“How can the dead be valuable?” I asked.

“Because the dead make excellent concentrated protein!” replied a Dalek.

“My children are developing their galaxy quickly,” continued Davros. “Nutrient loss WAS one of the empire’s major problems.”

“You’ve turned the inhabitants of your sewers into food?” I said, repulsed at the idea.

“And it has placed me above even the Emperor Dalek!” raved Davros.

“And you lot are okay with resorting to cannibalism?!” I called to the Daleks.

“The dead are only useful in prolonging the living!” replied a Dalek.

“I’ve heard enough!” I declared as I drew my blade. The others got ready to fight.

“If you would permit me,” interjected Davros, “I’d like to show you a new ability I have.” He pulled out the Dalek Gaia Memory Battle had described on Vorton. “Are you familiar with Dopants?”

“Sorry?” I asked.

“When an organic creature is implanted with a connection for a Gaia Memory,” explained Davros, “It gives them power and a form based on the Gaia Memory. The resulting creature is called a Dopant. The only thing that can cause a Dopant to revert to its host’s original state would be a Maximum Drive, where all the power is focused in one attack.” He then pressed the Memory button.

“DALEK!” it announced. Davros then put it into his chair. Light flowed around him as data symbols came over him. His shape soon changed. His chair turned into legs with the lower legs looking like a Dalek’s skirt. He gained a new left arm where the forearm looked like the gunstick, with a gun barrel hidden in the palm, and the right arm had a plunger hidden in the palm. The head looked more like the Dalek dome with the eye embedded in it.

“You now bear witness to the Dalek Dopant!” cheered Davros’ new form. We got ready to fight. OOO extended his claws and rushed at Davros. Davros sidestepped and punched OOO on the spine. Wyldstyle built a cannon out of some Daleks and fired, but Davros shrugged it off. I changed into Wyldstyle Steel and built off the cannon, making it bigger. The two of us fired, but Davros leapt over it and attacked. Wyldstyle broke the cannon and rebuilt it into a combat suit for Rusty. Rusty plugged in and went on the offensive. Davros used the plunger in his hand and lifted him up into the air.

“ALERT!! ALERT!!” he squawked. “SUIT MALFUNCTION!!”

“Get out of there!” I yelled. Rusty shot his way out as Davros tore the battle suit in half. Battle and Guard did a double team attack and swiped at Davros repeatedly. Davros started laughing!

“That tickles!” he jeered. Davros then threw them into me, knocking the wind out of us. He then started laughing. “I see that your green skinned friend is gone!” he called. I looked up and grinned under my helmet.

“A spell to halt the progress ahead!” chanted Elphaba’s voice. Davros started looking around. “To freeze, to bind my foe in red!” Red chains from the air wrapped around Davros. He was yanked into the air and was taken for a ride by Elphaba! She had regained her cackle as she flew, writing “Surrender, Daleks,” in the sky. Davros then managed to plant his feet on the ground. Elphaba stopped and tugged on the chains. Blue light then appeared beneath Davros’ feet as he took off, taking Elphaba off her broomstick! This time, he took her for a ride and made a diving maneuver towards the ground. Davros pulled up in time, but Elphaba did not. When she hit the ground, she lost her concentration on the chains, releasing Davros. We were at Davros’ mercy.

“Look at you inferior creatures,” he boasted. “Lying at my feet with merely seconds of your transformations left.” Why was Davros right? Our transformations cancelled out. “With my Daleks,” continued Davros, “I shall be utterly unstoppable! The Dalek machines being manufactured automatically…”

“I know the Doctor said this to you already,” interrupted Michael, “but it’s not the machines, but the minds. The Daleks are totally evil!”

“And I still do not accept that!” shouted Davros. “The Daleks are merely programmed to survive! To do that, they must become the dominant species! When all other life forms are suppressed, when the Daleks rule everything, then there is peace. Wars will end. Daleks are not a tool of evil, but of good!”

“And to prove your megalomania,” continued Michael, “you created a virus that would destroy all life on contact.”

“You must mean the Reality Bomb,” recalled Davros.

“What?” asked Eiji.

“Electrical energy binds our atoms and their individual parts together,” elaborated Michael. “The Reality Bomb cancels it out. Soon, all manner of matter falls apart, becoming dust, the dust becoming atoms, and the atoms…nothing.”

“Nothing?” I repeated.

“This was in response to a question the Fourth Doctor posed to this lunatic,” finished Michael. He turned to Davros. “If you were to create a virus in your laboratory, something contagious and infectious that killed on contact, a virus that would destroy all other forms of life…”

“You wouldn’t use it, would you?” I asked Davros.

“…To hold in my hand, a capsule that contains such power,” began Davros, “to know that life and death on such a scale was my choice… To know that the tiny pressure of my thumb, enough to break the glass, would end everything…Michael was right! The Reality Bomb was my virus! If the Doctor had not interfered, that power would have set me up above the gods! But I shall try again to make a new virus! AND THROUGH THE DALEKS, I SHALL HAVE THAT POWER!”

“How is that helpful to the universe?!” wailed Wyldstyle. “There’s no democracy! You would deny freedom! You would be unfair to everyone that isn’t a Dalek!”

“Democracy?” spat Davros, as if the idea were vile. “Freedom? Fairness? Those are the creeds of cowards. The ones who will listen to a thousand viewpoints and try to satisfy them all. Achievement comes through absolute power, and power through strength! You have lost!”

“Alert! Time capsule detected!” screamed a Dalek. It was then that a familiar noise rang through the air. Soon, Davros, Skaro, the Daleks, and all other things aside from me and my team faded to make way for the TARDIS’ interior. I made a mad dash for the door, but someone held me back.

“This does not concern you!” I bellowed.

“Wrong!” snarled a voice. The accent was Russian and the tone was feminine. It couldn’t be! I tried again, but the person started gripping my fingers. I turned to see a fully conscious Irina! She released her grip on my fingers. “You idiots better hope Davros can’t follow us to Vorton,” hissed Irina. “If he can, I’m holding you responsible, Mikhail.” There was venom in her voice. I didn’t understand why. I couldn’t dwell on it for long as the TARDIS lurched!

“That monster just latched on!” reported the Doctor, not knowing Davros’ new Dopant form.


I paced the Gateway room, waiting for that familiar Vworp the TARDIS makes. Emily and a new arrival that Hiroki recommended sat on the platform. They were eating some cake, celebrating a successful procedure that brought Irina out of the coma. He was a young Japanese surgeon that also functioned as a Kamen Rider. From what Hiroki told me, this man, Kagami Hiiro, was a genius surgeon at only 24. He was a bit cold, but it was clear he was trying to get over that. His Rider alias is Kamen Rider Brave. Equipped with the Gamer Driver, he uses a game cartridge, or Gashat, after the Japanese onomatopoeia for inserting a game cartridge into a console, based on a fantasy RPG called Taddle Quest to transform and gain power. Hiroki also said that if there was someone beneath Hiiro’s notice, he would dismiss them by saying their existence was a “No Thank You”. Given that Emily knew the medical terminology and tools to get Irina out of that coma, such a phrase wasn’t flung her way. “Careful, Meg,” warned Emily, making me twitch, “you’ll make a trench in the floor.” That was when I heard a Vworp.

“Ah, the Doctor’s returned,” observed Shōtarō.

“It sounds like she’s about to…” began Philip. He didn’t complete his sentence as the TARDIS practically bounced in with a monster hanging on the side. It then started beating on the doors.

“What in the…?” yelped Hiiro as everyone gawked at the monster. The monster then looked around.

“So, this is Vorton, the base of operations for the Vortex Riders. Quaint, compared to my children,” snarled the monster. It then turned to Shōtarō and Philip. “WHAT? W hasn’t left?! I’d best take care of you two first.”

“Philip,” directed Shōtarō, “access the Gaia Library on this monster.”

“Beginning the lookup,” reported Philip. A bright light then appeared beneath him as he shut his eyes. “Keywords?” he asked.

“Dalek Dopant,” answered the monster.

“Stay out of this!” I hissed. Philip then gasped.

“It’s Davros!” he yelped. Shōtarō goggled at the Dopant.

“That thing became a Dopant?!” he cried.

“Correct,” confirmed the Dopant, Davros. The occupants of the TARDIS then exited said time machine.

“You, idiots that decided on getting revenge,” I snarled, “go to my quarters. I’ll talk to you once I’ve dealt with Davros.” I drew out my i.d tag. “Henshin!” I then drew out a new i.d tag, the W i.d tag. I had to touch both Shōtarō and Philip at the same time to get it. I selected CycloneJoker for the specific form.

“W CycloneJoker Steel!” announced Vortoranii.

“CYCLONE! JOKER!” called the W Driver’s voice. The music for the respective Gaia Memories played. Shōtarō and Philip then pulled out their Gaia Memories, Heat and Metal. They pressed the buttons.

“HEAT!” called one.

“METAL!” called the other.

“Henshin!” announced the two men. Philip then put his Memory in the belt and passed out. Hiiro caught him and brought him to safety. Shōtarō then put his Memory into the belt after Heat appeared. He then opened the belt.

“HEAT! METAL!” called the belt. HeatMetal’s Memory music played as W twirled the Metal Shaft.

“And now, my turn,” declared Hiroki as he drew his i.d tag. “Henshin!” After the transformation sequence, he drew out his W i.d tag and selected the form.

“W LunaTrigger Steel!” called his belt.

“LUNA! TRIGGER!” announced the W Driver’s voice. An ominous glowing sound played followed by some rock guitar riffs. His steel looked like W, but it was yellow on the right side and blue on the left. We went on the offensive, Sengoku using his fancy katana in rifle mode, or tanegashima mode, as he calls it, and firing multiple shots, forcing Davros to try and seek cover. W made multiple hits with his staff and scorched him on impact. My punches and kicks had a windy effect to them. Soon, Davros could barely stand.

“This clinches it!” called W as he put the Metal Memory into his shaft.

“METAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE!” announced the Memory.

“METAL BRANDING!” shouted W. Sengoku then put his i.d tag into the rifle and leveled it on Davros.

“Final attack!” called the weapon.

“RIDER LUNATRIGGER BLAST: TRIGGER FULL BURST!” shouted Sengoku. I jumped into the air for a Rider Kick.

“RIDER CYCLONEJOKER KICK: JOKER EXTREME!” I announced. Sengoku then fired multiple homing shots on Davros. W’s staff lit up on both ends as he delivered a powerful blow to Davros. I split down the middle and both halves charged at Davros. First my right half, then my left. Both sides reconnected when I landed. I felt weird but shrugged it off. We then came together.

“Saa, omae no tsumi o kazoero!” we all finished. Davros’ Dopant body exploded, revealing his old self, and an ugly man he was, and the shattered remains of the Dalek Gaia Memory fell.

“NO! MY POWER!” wailed Davros.

“Doctor, take him to the brig,” I directed as we cancelled our transformations. The Doctor then grabbed Davros’ chair and pushed him to the brig.

“Release me, Doctor!” ordered Davros. “You will return me to Skaro!”

“Shut up, or I’ll switch you off!” threatened the Doctor. She soon brought him into the brig as I headed for my quarters. When I arrived, I leveled my gaze at the ones that tried to seek revenge. Those idiots looked pitiful, like children that were sent to their rooms to wait for the other parent to tear them a new one.

“Well?” I asked icily. “I’m waiting for your explanation.”

“You are…well within your rights to…” began Mikhail. Wrong way to begin.

“We’re not talking about my rights,” I snarled, “we’re talking about the fact that you let your anger towards Davros blind you.”

“Davros brought harm to my sister!” argued Mikhail.

“And she was hurt under my command,” supplied Michael.

“On top of that, he helped my sister,” answered Richard. “I owed him.”

“Besides, we need to make the enemy hurt,” mused Elphaba. Rusty nodded his eyestalk in agreement.

“YOU THINK THAT’S JUSTIFICATION FOR PETTY REVENGE?!” I roared. I turned to Eiji and Wyldstyle. “I didn’t hear your reasons!”

“They’re friends,” replied Wyldstyle.

“They needed backup,” gulped Eiji. I shook my head.

“I don’t believe this!” I shouted. “Tell me, does revenge ever complete anyone? Here’s a hint, NO! It doesn’t! It might fly with the Klingons, but we’re not Klingons and those are not Klingon uniforms! Irina almost lost her brother! If she didn’t convince the Doctor to find you, you would have been dead on Skaro, not even in your native universe! There is a limit to the amount of stupidity I can put up with and you’ve just crossed it! Now, I don’t want to hear another word about revenge or making someone hurt! In fact, I don’t want to hear about Davros being hurt while he’s our prisoner! Is that clear?!”

“Your Highness, Davros is too dangerous to be left alive,” retorted Michael. “He may try to…”

“Crystal clear, Your Highness,” interrupted Mikhail. “This will not happen again and Davros will not be touched unless you say so.”

“And I won’t be saying so anytime soon!” I snapped. “Now, all of you idiots, GET OUT!” They shuffled out of my room. “Oh, and Mikhail, I recommend you do everything in your power to make amends with your sister because she almost lost a family member and considered how to approach telling your dad about your death.” Mikhail said nothing, just nodded and shuffled out after the rest of his team. My room was empty, so I took a breath and sat down. Never, in all my life, had I gotten so angry. Then again, never, in my life, had I nearly lost my friends.

Categories
Kamen Rider Vortex Kamen Rider Vortex Chapters

Chapter 25

We arrived back on Vorton safely. Eiji, Kōsei, and Ankh were amazed at their new surroundings. “Oh, good!” cheered X-PO. “You guys got the cake!”

“Yeah, and we were almost toast, too!” hissed Batman.

“You cut that pretty close, X-PO,” snapped Wyldstyle.

“Couldn’t you have opened the rift sooner?” asked Touché as we cancelled our transformations.

“Is that the cake from Portal?” asked Richard. “You guys were in Portal? Man, I wish I had been there!”

“You really don’t, my dear brother,” argued Emily. “With Hiro gaining his own Super Charge sequence and with the main enemies of Eiji-san here, we had our work cut out for us.”

“Speaking of cutting,” muttered Gandalf as he eyed the cake. “Perhaps a slice of…” Tanisha took the cake out of Batman’s hands and held it above her head out of Gandalf’s reach.

“It’s not for eating!” growled Batman. I then looked around.

“Hey, where’s Hiroki?” I asked as X-PO took the cake. “I have another Rider for him to geek over.” Mikhail and Lukas came up.

“He, Tonje, Emmanuel, Michael, Sheela, Xiomara, and Irina went on an adventure with a new Doctor,” replied Mikhail. “They’ll be back soon. Something about a Dalek fleet over their native universe’s Earth.”

“Can we get something to eat?” asked Eiji. “That adventure wore me out.”

“The adventure, or Putotyra?” asked Ankh.

“Follow me,” I directed as I led the way to the cafeteria. When we showed off the cafeteria and demonstrated the replicators, Eiji, Ankh, and Kōsei got their food. Ankh seemed to be eating a lot of popsicles.

“Isn’t that a bit…unhealthy?” asked Emily.

“I don’t eat food in the sense that you humans do,” explained Ankh. “Heck, my senses are dulled. I can’t taste food, Colors are washed out, and sounds are distorted and muffled. The only time I experienced the full range of the five senses was when I possessed a detective.”

“The Greeed are voids that can’t be filled,” elaborated Eiji. “Thus, they want to turn the world into Cell Medals.”

“And…you’re working with him?” I asked.

“Let’s just say, he’s learned a thing or two,” chuckled Eiji.

“That reminds me,” mused Ankh as he drew a bag out of his body. “Kōsei, do you know anything about these?” The bag was full of studs!

“Not a clue,” admitted Kōsei.

“Those are studs, the local currency,” I explained

“There are 150,000 studs in that bag,” counted Vortoranii.

“You can have them,” muttered Ankh as he tossed the bag to me.

“That’s 980,000 studs!” Vortoranii said, then laughed like Count Von Count.

“Guys,” called X-PO, “I hate to sound needy, but, unless you want to miss this, Irina and the others came back and she needs medical attention!”

“What?!” yelped Emily. We made a mad dash for the med bay. Irina was hooked up to an IV and had an NG tube in her nose. Her pulse was low, but steady. Tonje, Hiroki, Emmanuel, Michael, Sheela, and Xiomara were there along with a woman with blonde hair reaching her neck and a coat with the hood down at the bed, running the medical equipment. The TARDIS was there as well.

“Emily! Good!” called the woman. “She was hit by a handheld, low yield, Dalek blaster. Davros seemed to have it on his person.”

“Where’s the Doctor?” asked Emily, going into full Medic mode. “I want the full story of what happened while I work.”

“Well, Doctor?” asked Michael to the woman. I goggled.

“The Doctor passed the torch to her?” I guessed.

“In a manner of speaking,” replied the woman.

“That IS the Doctor,” explained Michael. “I’ll explain later. Doctor, if you please.”

“Oh, come on,” argued the woman, the new Doctor, “surely you want to tell the story.”

“Oh, very well,” muttered Michael.


“CHARGE!” ordered my princess. As her team entered the rift, the rest of us started wondering what we should do.

“I don’t know about you, meine Freunde,” called Lukas, “but I’m going to go tune up the replicators.”

“I’m going to rest my back,” sighed Livia.

“Same here,” agreed Richard. That was when a familiar sound started playing.

“Anyone hear that?” asked Joshua.

“That’s the TARDIS!” called Mikhail.

“What’s he doing coming back here?!” I asked as the TARDIS materialized in the gateway room. The door opened and a woman poked her head out. She caught sight of me.

“AHA!” she cheered. “I need your help, Michael! Something’s going down around my universe’s Earth. Mind coming with?”

“Hold on, how do you know my name, Ma’am?” I asked.

“Never mind that,” dismissed the woman, “I’ll explain later. Just pick six others to come with us!” I was surprised but did so.

“Er, Tonje, Hiroki, Emmanuel, Irina, Sheela, and Xiomara, you want to see the TARDIS again?” I asked.

“Eh, why not?” mused Emmanuel. As the people I picked entered the TARDIS, I glanced around.

“Doctor?!” I called. No response. The woman then headed to the console. “Doctor?!” I called again. Still no reply. I tried a different approach. “Professor?!”

“Oh, come on,” replied the woman. “You’re making me nostalgic.”

“Ma’am, I don’t believe I know what you’re talking about!” I snapped.

“Oh, just put your hands on the telepathic circuits,” instructed the woman.

“Michael, who is this woman?!” asked Tonje.

“I don’t bloody know!” I yelled. It’s rare that I ever use bloody in that context. We all put a hand on the TARDIS’ telepathic circuits and reviewed the most memorable moments of the pilot.

“One day, I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back,” faded to “They will persuade other Daleks to question. You will have a rebellion on your planet!” fading to “You exist only because your will insists that you exist. Your will is all that is left of you,” fading yet again to “You’ve no home planet, no influence, nothing! You’re just a pathetic bunch of tin soldiers skulking about the galaxy in an ancient spaceship!” fading again to “Well, a place where one embarks and disembarks from compartments on wheels drawn along these tracks by a steam engine; rarely on time,” fading to “But did you bother to tell anyone that they might be eating their own relatives?” with another man saying “Certainly not! That would have created what I believe is termed… ‘consumer resistance’,” fading to “I have pity for you!” and a Dalek counting fifteen and the man saying “Goodbye Davros. It hasn’t been pleasant,” fading to “You want dominion over the living, yet all you do is kill!” fading again to “Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame. Whatever the cost,” fading once again to a woman saying, “If you are an alien, how come you sound like you’re from the north?” and a man replying, “Lots of planets have a north!” fading to “Don’t challenge me, Harriet Jones! ‘Cos I’m a completely new man! I could bring down your government with a single word!” fading again to “Wrong with me? It’s not my fault. Why can’t you give me any decent food? You’re Scottish. Fry something!” fading one last time to “You know you’ve got a lot in common with the Tivolians? You’ll both do anything to survive. They’ll surrender to anyone. You will hijack other peoples’ souls and turn them into electro-magnetic projections. That will to endure… That refusal to ever cease. It’s extraordinary. And it makes a fella think! Because, you know what? If all I have to do to survive is to tweak the future a bit, what’s stopping me? Oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah: the ripple effect. Maybe it will mean that the universe will be ruled by cats or something in the future. But the way I see it, even a ghastly future is better than no future at all! You robbed those people of their deaths; made them nothing more than a message in a bottle. You violated something more important than time: You bent the rules of life and death. So I am putting things straight! Here, now, this is where your story ends!” All of those quotes and an image forming in our minds slowly became clearer and clearer to show the woman, the Time Lord, that was piloting a type 40 TARDIS with a chameleon circuit stuck as a 1960’s London Police Box. We were dazed at the story that unfolded.

“So…the Doctor we’re familiar with…” muttered Emmanuel.

“Had many different faces…” finished Irina. I turned to the woman.

“Seriously?” I asked.

“Yep!” confirmed the woman.

“You’re him?!” I continued.

“That’s right!” grinned the woman.

“Even the blonde hair?” I asked.

“Yes!” said the woman, a little annoyed.

“You’re the…Thirteenth Doctor?” I asked.

“Yes!” repeated the woman, the Doctor. “You humans have a rather enormous capacity for repeating the facts!” The TARDIS then shook.

“Doctor, what’s going on?!” asked Sheela.

“Bit of temporal ripples!” explained the Doctor. “Someone, or something, is creating a rather large distortion in time about the size of Paris! It seems to be centered around Earth, my universe’s Earth.”

“So, who caused the distortion?” I asked. I did NOT like the response.

“Typical Daleks!” hissed the Doctor as her fingers danced around the console. “What IS their fascination with Earth? That’s MY fascination!”

“GOD…FLIPPING…WHHHYYYY?!” I shouted. “Couldn’t it be early model Mondasian Cybermen?! THEY knew how to be creepy!” The TARDIS rocked again. “Are they firing on us?!” I asked.

“I may need some help maneuvering the TARDIS,” called the Doctor. “Hiroki! Michael! Emmanuel! Sheela! Xiomara! Give me a hand!”

“We’re not Time Lords!” protested Hiroki.

“Put your hands on the telepathic circuits again,” directed the Doctor. “The TARDIS will fill you in on its operation.” Information about all the panels on the console filled our minds. It soon integrated with human limits and it became easy as pie!

“Oh, many a fan of your adventures would sell their souls just to have this kind of knowledge!” I cheered.

“Seems simple enough,” mused Sheela.

“So, what are we supposed to do?” asked Irina as we took our places, “stand here and look glamorous?”

“Well,” chuckled the Doctor, “you could always get us some tea. Maybe a bit of paperwork.” Tonje punched the Doctor in the shoulder. She and Irina then stormed up the stairs and headed into a hallway. “TONJE! IRINA! JOKE!” said the Doctor as she massaged her shoulder.

“They’ll be back when we’ve landed,” I assured. We then set to work on weaving the TARDIS through Dalek laser blasts and the saucers that said lasers came from.