I had busied myself with a machine designed to help bring the ghost to a better plane of existence. \u201cOkay,\u201d I muttered. \u201cTodo lo que necesito hacer es conectar esto y estaremos bien.\u201d (All I need to do is connect this and we’ll be good.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSe\u00f1or Ortiz?\u201d asked a voice. I whirled around to see Lacey looking at what I was doing. \u201cAre you trying to contact your dad?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGood, best to avoid him,\u201d advised Lacey. \u201cYou know full well he\u2019s not to be trusted. The dead outside of this school rarely are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe mortal realm\u2019s no better,\u201d I grunted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, I spoke with Mickey a while ago,\u201d murmured Lacey. \u201cHe told me about your feelings concerning the F.N.S and your desire to leave us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just…I can\u2019t stand the F.N.S right now!\u201d I answered. \u201cI joined you to get away from all the lies I was told back home, but I\u2019ve been lied to again by people I\u2019ve only known for two years! It\u2019s like…it\u2019s like I\u2019m fighting a one-man war against lying! Can you even fathom what that feels like?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCompletely, believe it or not,\u201d replied Lacey. That caught me off guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPerdon?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI fully relate to your feelings,\u201d elaborated Lacey, \u201cbut I don\u2019t agree with your methods.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c…How can you relate?!\u201d I protested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlesandro, do you know why I became a Horseman of the Apocalypse?\u201d quizzed Lacey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou were chosen to help Megumi fight Vortech,\u201d I answered, not seeing how it correlated to what the conversation was about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat was the impetus,\u201d answered Lacey, \u201cbut, truth be told, I was gonna join After Academy anyways. I came from Universe T-H-3-5-1-M-P-5-0-N-5.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Simpsons<\/em>?\u201d I asked. \u201cYou were a resident of Springfield?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYep, and had an abusive father,\u201d confirmed Lacey. \u201cI hated how chaotic that place was and felt like I was alone in trying to corral the chaos. Death offered to return me back to my universe with a fresh perspective and a better chance of controlling the chaos. I stayed because I found something that I never had in Springfield, a family with the other Horsemen. Now, here I am, part of After Academy\u2019s faculty and being a part of a family with the F.N.S. Now, it IS, at times, dysfunctional; it most certainly is NOT perfect, but the F.N.S and the Horsemen became my family. I certainly hope they\u2019ve become yours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDidn\u2019t War initially join Vortech\u2019s cause at the start of the Vortech Wars?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, but the Four Horsemen have LONG worked through that,\u201d replied Lacey, \u201cbecause that\u2019s what family does.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf they\u2019re meant to BE family,\u201d I grumbled. \u201cSometimes the family is so toxic that you need to get away from them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlso true, as we can both attest to our blood family,\u201d conceded Lacey. \u201cNow, the question becomes, has this family become that toxic to you?\u201d I stopped working, then set down my tools and sat on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d I sighed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, is there a reason that you\u2019re staying with us?\u201d asked Lacey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was contacted by a ghost a while ago,\u201d I explained. \u201cHe\u2019s in an eternal nightmare and I want to help him get out of it.\u201d I then pondered the idea. \u201cYou know, now that I think about it,\u201d I mused, \u201cwouldn\u2019t someone who regrets his actions think that he DESERVES punishment?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs a matter of fact, yes,\u201d replied Lacey. \u201cCharles Dickens got that kind of ghost right. They\u2019re tormented by their own regret and can only blame themselves since they never regretted their actions when they were alive. Jacob Marley DOES regret his actions and accepted there\u2019s nothing he can do except blame himself since it\u2019s too late for him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis ghost I met didn\u2019t have that kind of thinking,\u201d I revealed. \u201cMegumi DOES regret what she did and made no attempt to stop me from leaving. Something doesn\u2019t add up here.\u201d Just then, the ghost shimmered into view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHelp me! Please!\u201d wailed the ghost, Carl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c…Why?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is goodness in you!\u201d pleaded Carl. \u201cHelp me! Let me start again!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re chained for a reason,\u201d I continued. \u201cIf you REALLY regret your actions, you wouldn\u2019t try to escape or shift the blame to…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOkay, you know what,\u201d grumbled Carl, standing upright despite being chained, \u201cI saw this coming.\u201d He pulled back the hood to reveal a monstrous head. It had two long tendrils coming from the back of the head and a single eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCAAN!\u201d screamed Lacey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGive me access to After Academy\u2019s library,\u201d demanded Caan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI read about you!\u201d I snapped. \u201cWhy should we obey a Dalek like you?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou have no choice in the matter!\u201d snarled Caan as he equipped his Dal Driver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDAL DRIVER!\u201d it screamed. He then took out the Pure Dalek can and turned the dome before inserting it into the belt. \u201cPURE DALEK!\u201d it shouted. He then turned the crank and the piping formed the sides of his suit. \u201cARE YOU READY?!\u201d asked the Dal Driver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHenshin!\u201d called Caan. The piping then slammed the sides of his suit onto him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTHE UNSTOPPABLE KILLER!\u201d announced the belt. \u201cPURE DALEK! EXTERMINATE!\u201d Caan was now Kamen Rider Dal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHenshin!\u201d shouted Lacey as she spun the dial. She became Kamen Rider Apocalypse and clashed with Caan. \u201cGo get help!\u201d she shouted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut…!\u201d I stammered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNOW!\u201d demanded Apocalypse. I took off and ran through the campus streets to find help. Her fellow Horsemen then saw me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlesandro! Stop!\u201d called Death. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLacey\u2019s fighting Caan outside the campus!\u201d I explained. \u201cShe needs help!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA villain with future vision attacks us! Sure! Why not!\u201d snarled Pestilence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnyone got any ideas?\u201d asked Famine with her mouth full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c…I\u2019ve got a trick in mind,\u201d chuckled War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n War approached the battlefield with a confident grin on her face. \u201cMr. Caan, I don\u2019t believe we\u2019ve had the pleasure of meeting face to face,\u201d she called, distracting him long enough for Apocalypse to strike him and join War. Dal recovered and drew himself up to his full height.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou are War!\u201d he observed. \u201cThe multiverse has changed if you engage in mortal affairs!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTends to happen,\u201d remarked War. \u201cTell me, what was your position before your little club?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBefore the Cult of Skaro,\u201d replied Dal, \u201cI was the Attack Squad Leader of the Thirteenth Assault Group! Many worlds fell under Dalek control thanks to my efforts!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah, evil hasn\u2019t changed,\u201d grumbled War. \u201cComes with the territory. You always rely on permanence to get you through the day. Good, on the other hand, ALWAYS changes. We\u2019ve got new ways of dealing with people like you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere ARE no people like me!\u201d argued Dal. \u201cNot yet!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s ALWAYS gonna be someone like you,\u201d replied War. \u201c…Wait, not yet?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou will never know!\u201d snapped Dal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re right, I foresee your defeat coming,\u201d chuckled War. \u201cKamen Rider Dal, you will be haunted by three spirits! Expect them…right now! Henshin!\u201d She transformed and her fellow Horsemen, also in Rider form, joined her in attacking him while I got to work on the machine. Death called it clever, I call it narrowly avoiding disaster. Caan couldn\u2019t fully manifest in this universe unless he was invited in some way. Because I didn\u2019t fully follow through on bringing him into this universe, he was stuck in a transitional state. He\u2019s immune to conventional attacks, but, then again, the Apocalypse Riders are anything BUT conventional. Their attacks managed to do him some damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGuys, it\u2019s time!\u201d I called when I finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo it!\u201d ordered War. I pressed the button and Dal was sent away from After Academy. \u201cYou\u2019re NOT getting a refund on your application!\u201d laughed War as all Riders powered down. Dal was struggling under the machine\u2019s power and turned to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI now…understand…what it means…to live!\u201d he begged me. \u201cHave…PITY!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPity?\u201d I replied, giving my best Dalek impression. \u201cI have no understanding of the word! It is not registered in my vocabulary bank!\u201d I then dropped the act. \u201cFor your sake, look to see me no more.\u201d One final button and Kamen Rider Dal vanished, never to terrify After Academy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have to apologize again, for all this,\u201d offered Alesandro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, no, no,\u201d I replied after hearing all of it. \u201cYou were doing what you thought was right, obeying your conscience. I didn\u2019t have that kind of courage. If you\u2019ll let me, though, I\u2019d like to work towards proving that I CAN do so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, can\u2019t exactly leave the F.N.S on that note, can I?\u201d chuckled Alesandro. \u201cThe F.N.S IS a better family than my blood relatives. We all had a flub or two in our lives. The best we can do is pick ourselves up and get back into the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTruer words have never been spoken,\u201d I agreed. Just then, the comms chimed. I pressed the accept button. \u201cMoshi moshi!\u201d I called.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMegumi, mind having everyone gather in the Gateway Room?\u201d requested Richard. \u201cWe found something that will make some heads roll.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSure thing,\u201d I replied. I then switched to general broadcast. \u201cMinna, report to the Gateway Room. Richard\u2019s team found something.\u201d We all gathered in the Gateway Room and Technarain, Sludgiona, Batman, Pup-X5, Lukas, and Richard looked pretty mad. \u201cWhat happened?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe finally figured out what caused the results to go the way they did,\u201d explained Richard. \u201cSomeone tampered with the results, someone with more access to the results than any of us who voted. So, the question becomes, X-PO, why? Why did you do it?\u201d …X-PO?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow is this POSSIBLE?!\u201d I roared. \u201cAll five Sources within our grasp, and yet none have been retrieved! I am only inundated with excuses, even from my own wife!\u201d I pointed to Igura after she returned from 5-U-P-3-R-M-4-R-1-0. She snarled at the accusation, but I didn\u2019t pay attention. I turned to our newest addition. \u201cWell, Cyber-Leader Gi? What\u2019s YOUR excuse?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is illogical for me to give one,\u201d replied Cyber-Leader Gi. \u201cI had underestimated the power they had and it cost me my victory. The fault is mine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, I do believe it is!\u201d I confirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHowever, there IS a way to fix this for all of us,\u201d supplied Cyber-Leader Gi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExplain! Quickly!\u201d I ordered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe still have a fix on four of the Sources\u2019 respective energy signatures,\u201d explained Cyber-Leader Gi. \u201cThe reason it is not all five is because, according to what the Joker discovered on the Tarlaxian scout ship\u2019s flight recorder, the Source of Starvation is in Tarlax 14\u2019s vault. However, the other four are all in one place. Logically, it would be the Vortex Riders main base of operations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd since they originally scrambled Vorton\u2019s new coordinates, they may have used it again for some sense of familiarity,\u201d I deduced. \u201cBut it won\u2019t matter if we use the Sources as a beacon to guide us there. Muster the fleet. Cyber-Leader Gi, do we have the coordinates of the Sources current position?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe do,\u201d confirmed Cyber-Leader Gi. \u201cThe probes we have sent to observe the universe have identified the universe as V-0-R-T-0-N.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFeed them to all ships,\u201d I ordered. \u201cWe leave at once.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked at the various trophies the Doctor left behind on Vorton for me to examine. I snorted at a few. The only trophy I could respect wasn\u2019t even evidence of the Doctor\u2019s victory. That victory belonged to the Vortex Riders. It was an empty, open Dalek casing. The Doctor\u2019s trophies just laid there near the casing. \u201cLook at all this,\u201d I muttered to myself. \u201cRelics and artefacts that I should feel some connection to. I don\u2019t, though. It\u2019s all just junk to me.\u201d I picked up a tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator and just sat with it in my hands. \u201cMichael says it doesn\u2019t matter who I am, as long as I live my own life.\u201d I snorted again. \u201cMy own life. A life with no memory of who I am. No real history. Wearing someone else\u2019s face! I don\u2019t even like this face, even though it\u2019s considered attractive by human standards! If the Emperor Dalek was lying, and I AM a clone of Rose Tyler, then I\u2019m just a copy. A duplicate. Something that was mass-produced like…like…\u201d My rant faltered as I examined the gunstick\u2019s socket on the Dalek casing. \u201cI remember…not being able to…shoot myself? ……NO!\u201d I threw the extrapolator at the glass case the casing sat in and it shattered. \u201cIt\u2019s just some stray thoughts coming to the surface! Thoughts that aren\u2019t mine! They can\u2019t be!\u201d I could only laugh hopelessly. \u201cI can\u2019t trust who I am! I can\u2019t trust ANYTHING about me! If I wanted to, I could just walk around pretending to be Rose Tyler, because all I am is a copy! A copy that can only see the impurity of…! Impurity of…\u201d More memories came to the surface, the glorious saucers hanging over every world across time and space, the Emperor commanding us all, leveling… \u201c…I remember now!\u201d I couldn\u2019t believe it! A smile crossed my face! \u201cI REMEMBER NOW!\u201d I ran my hands across my face…face…hands…arms…legs…two eyes…no! \u201cI remember…I REMEMBER!\u201d NO! NO! NO! I AM CONTAMINATED!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I had busied myself with a machine designed to help bring the ghost to a better plane of existence. \u201cOkay,\u201d I muttered. \u201cTodo lo que necesito hacer es conectar esto y estaremos bien.\u201d (All I need to do is connect this and we’ll be good.) \u201cSe\u00f1or Ortiz?\u201d asked a voice. I whirled around to see […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[96,104],"tags":[51,26,249,9,27,12,250,34],"class_list":["post-583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kamen-rider-vortex","category-kamen-rider-vortex-movie-chaoters","tag-apocalypse-horsemen","tag-death","tag-famine","tag-kamen-rider","tag-lacey","tag-megumi-hishikawa","tag-pestilence","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1148,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583\/revisions\/1148"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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