//------------------------------// // Experiment #1 // Story: The Scientific Henshin // by SwimmingDalek98 //------------------------------// The Scientific Henshin Experiment #1 A single image on a screen. A dull red-and-brown orb, drifting in the stars. “Mars. The fourth planet in our solar system, and the closest one to our Earth.” A shuttle, pointed to the stars on a voyage to the unknown. “The Mars Exploration shuttle Prominence. It was to be our first manned mission to the Red Planet.” In the midst of a dull, empty desert, an unusual temple sits on the surface, run-down and abandoned. “The Prominence crew found this in the middle of a large valley where they landed, its origins are currently unknown. When a member of the crew ventured inside, they found something even more interesting…” A black cube, with multiple wire-like lines and circuit boards decorating the sides. “An unknown object labelled the ‘Pandora Box’. It was supposed to be a sign that there’s life beyond our world. But when it was brought back…” A giant red beam of light, stretching for miles and miles across the land. “Something happened. The Pandora Box summoned these… Skywalls. Skywalls that separate us from the rest of the world. For the past three years, Canterlot City has been surrounded on almost all sides by these Skywalls.” “Yes, yes. Very nice, Sparkle. Do you have anything to say about the incident that hasn’t already been covered a dozen times already by official reports?” The lights come on. The projector shuts off. A blush comes to a young girl’s face, “Well… There is one thing… All of the officials present when the Pandora Box activated have shown some unusual activities. All of the politicians who were present have recently shown a far more politically active and aggressive stance, and their personal behaviors have changed as well. I’m inclined to believe that maybe the Pandora Box might have done something to-” “Alright Sparkle, enough with the conspiracy theories. Your presentation was lovely. Who’s next?” “Really, why won’t anyone listen to me? I haven’t even gotten around to the part involving the weird monsters and the figure that’s been fighting them…” Twilight Sparkle. Student of Crystal Prep Academy. Scientific prodigy. Honors student. She missed her bus. The sun hangs low in the sky, the light tainted blood-red when cast through the Skywall, making it hard for her to see the image on her phone. A very blurred image of some sort of humanoid creature, being attacked by a bright red and blue figure. “The eyewitness reports keep saying this guy comes out of nowhere and beats them up. The ‘Smash’ monsters are almost completely ignored by the government, too… But what ARE they? Aliens come to take back the Pandora Box? Underground mutants? Nothing makes any sense! And… what is this figure fighting them? What does it all mean?” Without looking, she bumps into someone and drops her phone “Oh, I’m sorry-” The sun finally disappears, and with it, the heat from Twilight’s cheeks go as well. The street lights cast a full image of the one before her. White spikes stick out from its body at all angles. Sharp claws jut out from its fingertips. Strange angled points that look in no way natural. A black carapace that belongs on an insect rather than anything this tall. “A Smash?” She stumbles back “Stay away! Stay away!” The beast ignores her command, and the spikes on its arms grow out, as it swings for her head. “Oi.” The beast flies backwards, into the open street. Twilight’s taken aback. A form almost completely black, but red and blue stripes wrap around his body at an angle. A yellow belt ensnares his waist, but whatever is on the front she cannot see, for he faces the creature. In one hand, sits a handheld drill. In the other, a smart phone, “Chotto matte.” He swipes his left thumb a few times, “Where is it, where is it… Ah! There.” Heavy rock beats fly from the phone as the figure locks it onto his belt. “What?” Twilight’s mouth is left agape as the phone sings against his belt. “You know, it’s not really polite to hit a lady like that.” He chuckles and flips the drill around his wrist “What would your momma say?” Semaru Shocker! Jigoku no undan! The beast charges, and the figure’s red armor glows, and he flies into the air, somersaulting over it. Warera wo nerau kuroi kage Once he lands, he swings, the drill rotating and striking its torso. The beast stumbles back, before regaining its balance. Sekai no heiwa wo mamoru tame The beast swings again, and he parries it effortlessly, strutting backwards into a street light. The red side of the helmet has an eye cover that extends out in the shape of a rabbit’s head and ear, and the blue has a tank. Twilight picks up her phone “What is this?” Gō! Gō! Let’s Gō! Kagayaku Machine! “Come on, you gotta do better!” He continues to effortlessly parry it, while slicing and thrusting at it. Rider Jump! Rider Kick! It screams and rushes, and he kicks it in the face. Kamen Rider! Kamen Rider! Rider, Rider! “I think we’re just about done for tonight. I’m just gonna beat ya know, kay?” He drops the drill, impaling its tip into the earth, and grabs the crank device on his waist, spinning it rapidly. READY, GO! VOLTECH FINISH! In front of him, a massive linear equation appears, the X axis impaling the beast and holding it still. From the Y Axis in front of him, a dotted line extends from the air, and ends in front of the Smash’s face. “Rider Kick.” His red half glows again, and he leaps into the air, and his blue half begins glowing as he descends along the line, as his boot suddenly forms a tread, spinning rapidly on his shoe, as the sole slams into the Smash’s face. YAY! He sighs and aims a blank white object at the creature, and from it a large amount of energy extends into the Smash, before retracting and revealing an ordinary man, weakened and coughing. “Vielen Dank, mein Freunde.” “Wait!” “Scheiße. What do you want?” He rolls his shoulders as he turns to her. “Who… who are you?” He ponders that for a moment before pointing at her. “Kamen Rider Build. Build, as in, ‘the act of making something’, or ‘a specifically intended design’. Tschüss!” He waves at her before leaping away, leaving a rabbit’s foot-shaped imprint in the earth. As he does, the Drill Crusher glows before dissolving into twin tubes that fly into his belt, leaving Twilight pondering what exactly happened. I land in the concrete “Well, this isn’t good.” I look over the bottle “I met Twilight. I was trying to avoid her, too. She’s the smartest person around. From my previous observations, her interest in Build was academic, mild curiosity at best. Now she’ll actively search for me. Protagonist powers, activate.” I droll sarcastically. “Sylar! Welcome home!” I shake my head and smile. I remove the Full Bottles from the belt, the comforting presence of the armor fading away as I return to normal. “Yo!” I suddenly feel a petite form jump against me, squeezing me tight and wrapping her arms around my neck “What happened? Tell me everything!” “Calm down, Hibari-Chan. Nothing special. Just a little tumble with another Smash.” I hold up the Bottle “You mind getting to work on this one?” “Okay~” She takes the bottle and walks inside as I look to the sign above the door. Nascita Café Our base of operations in this world. I didn’t stutter. This world. Even after a year of work and fighting Smash, I still have difficulty wrapping my head around the concept. I’m in another world. “Sylar! Wake up!” I jolt in my seat “Huh? Whuzzat?” I’m greeted by a set of brilliant sapphire eyes, as Hibari pouts at me. “We’re at the mall. How’d you fall asleep? It’s only a five minute drive.” “I… I don’t know…” I shake my head “Mein Gott~ Let’s get this over with. I’m super tired today…” Milk. Eggs. Bread. Standard stuff. Nothing particular. This is a day so dull that nothing can possibly mark it as interesting. “Sylar, how do you think this looks?” As a loyal and kind boyfriend I’m inclined to pay attention to my lover the moment she requests anything of me. As a shameless pervert who absolutely adores the female body I’m inclined to oggle at sexy ladies every chance I get. So naturally I move my neck at supersonic velocity when I realize that my sexy woman is asking me about a new outfit. Mein Welt ist schön. A red bikini with black straps and edges, with the most perfectly made set of booty shorts humanly possible. The straps of the bikini’s matching bottom angle up just right to allow me to see them wrapping over her hips. “Babe? How’s it look?” At this moment my mind decides to enter what I’ve recently coined as ‘VN Mode’. Almost like when you drop a glass and your brain slows time to think ‘fuck’ before it shatters. Except here I make multiple thoughts, almost like a Visual Novel’s responses. >Get in the car >Incredible >Saving to the ‘FAPTACULAR’ folder >Where’s my wallet “Incredible. As you always look, Hibari.” >TFW too beta “Oh my gosh!” A mother and her son are next to me. >It was at this moment little Johnny knew, he didn’t want to play with Power Rangers anymore >Count your lucky stars and you’ll get one of these when you’re big and strong bucko >TFW no qt3.14 GF >This is how NTR doujins are made I pull the curtain closed “Change, please, honey.” As this happens, her phone rings “Oh, could you just get that real quick Sy?” She hands the phone over and I roll my eyes “Yes, dear.” I notice the number. Her boss? “It’s your boss. You mind if I take it?” “Yeah, it’s fine.” I shrug “Yello?” “Who the fuck is this? Where’s Hibari?” I wince at that “Uh, this is Sylar. Her boyfriend? She’s not available right now.” “Oh come on, man. Y’all fuckin’ right now or some shit?” His screaming can almost be heard by passerby. “Look, man, calm down. We’re shopping. Whaddya want?” “What I want is her ass over here, pronto! The shoot’s in ten minutes!” >You’re jealous just because you can’t tap it >Fuck off beta cuck >Let’s all calm down >Schedule? “Hey, isn’t the shoot tomorrow?” “You were told it was tomorrow? Oh FFFFUCK!” I almost drop the phone as Hibari walks out “What’s wrong?” “Your boss. Apparently your schedule was off. We’ve got ten minutes to be in there.” Hibari Sakai. High school photo shoot model. >Think you could put that bikini back on? >We can miss one shoot >Double time, need that paycheck “No need to get yelled at. Let’s hurry up.” Wow I’m such a beta. Literally the most beautiful woman and here I am deliberately allowing others to look at her body. Well, enough of that line of thinking. I’d best get her to work. Hey wait, what’s that thing right there? I reach to the ground and pick it up. A small red bottle, with a cap bearing two letters on it: R/T. Wait, isn’t this a Full Bottle from Kamen Rider Build? Oh that’s so cool! I look around the parking lot. Nobody else is here? They must’ve dropped it. But why? I look down again and notice a blue Bottle next to it. Nice! The sound of something stretching interrupts my thoughts and I feel a sudden weight on my waist. “What the-” I still don’t remember what happened after, neither can Hibari. All we do know is that we wound up here, with this ‘Nascita Café’ owned in our name. Initially I was confused by the strange skin tones everyone has, and the hair threw me off more. But after a while I put it together, remembering what Hibari’s brother went on about for a while. This is that one My Little Pony movie from a few years ago. The one where they all went to the human world or some shit. After the odd realization I tried to remember what I could from his rants, and quickly managed to make a rough sketch of it. Evil pony hides in this world, then steals the important friendship cannon control rod or some shit, and tries to hide back in the human world… for some reason. Initially I considered ignoring that plot and focusing on getting home. Then I realized the many changes. It didn’t take me long to put together that something was wrong with this world beyond the ‘baby horse girl toy movie’ part. For some reason, the Pandora Box is here. It made the Skywalls, like in Build. But instead of ten years, it’s only been three. Despite that, there’s still Smash running around. But didn’t it take almost seven years to research the Box? How is this possible? In the show, it took two years at least in order for Faust to learn to make Smash monsters on a regular basis, and develop as an organization. Here, it looks like Smash appeared right out the gate once the walls went up. And it gets better. For some reason, both of us changed, too. Sometimes, my mind races and I feel… weird. Information. Numbers. Facts. I feel like a physics textbook was awkwardly shoved in my brain. I have the intellectual prowess of Sento Kiryu. But it gets worse. I sometimes talk in Japanese. But it’s only a few stray comments. It’s like some anime sub group decided my comments needed flair and style by keeping the words there. Luckily it hasn’t affected my German. Much. But what’s worse is Hibari. I don’t know what exactly happened to her. And neither does she. All we do know is that she’s become like Misora: She has the power to purify Full Bottles. I don’t know how or why we’re like this. I don’t know what else it might’ve done to her. And that scares me more than anything. And if Faust finds out about her ability to purify, then we’re in trouble. I’ve determined that this might have something to do with me becoming Build. If I can get my hands on the Pandora Box, I might be able to undo the changes to Hibari, make her normal again, protect her from any wandering eyes. But what’s also concerning is our café. It’s almost an exact replica of the Nascita from the show, barring the location being on a different street. It even has all of the tech in the basement. Including a panel of the Pandora Box. One of the two side panels to Pandora’s Box. In the show, they came off when Souichi touched the cube. Here, I haven’t seen any records indicating anyone touched this version of the Pandora Box. So somehow, a panel of the Pandora Box came off. And it’s in my basement. But the real question is… does this version of Faust have a panel? There’s supposed to be two panels on the sides of the Pandora Box. We’ve got one. The other must be still on the box. Maybe. Possibly. Hopefully. >Fuck, they’ve got it. >They possibly have no idea what it can do. They don’t have any way to purify bottles. So as it stands all I can do is lie low and bide my time. However, despite that, I still do have some rather good news. Unlike Sento, I have a good amount of Fullbottles before any real action starts up. Adding the new bottle, and hoping it’s the same one from the show, this will bring up my Best Match count to 5. Faust is still playing around, pretending they understand what they’re up against. This version of Faust is almost nothing compared to the originals. Of course, the originals had their hands in the government’s pockets, and they had killer robot armies. So maybe I’m being a bit unfair. Despite that, I still haven’t found out who is a Best Match- er, a good fit for the identities of this version of Night Rogue or Blood Stalk. But I’ve made educated guesses. Still, even if they aren’t government-based, they still gained rapid strength. And if they get their hands on any magic weapons, then they could become even more dangerous. So for now, I’m going to lay low and try to gain more information on the ‘local’ plot. As in, the magical horse Barbie plot. Gott in Himmel. “Class, say hello to your new transfer student, Sylar… uh, Bammer!” I ignore the urge to growl at her overly cheerful tone. “It’s Baumer,  meine Lehrerin.” “Oh, sorry… Why don’t you tell the class about yourself?” Im Namen Gottes what is wrong with these people? This isn’t preschool! >Fuck her right in the pussy >obscure video game quote >I am the night I walk up to the front, jotting down my name, “Ich komme aus Amerika. Ich bin der Maskierte Reiter, und Ich bin nicht Ihre Freund. Meine Freundin Hibari ist die schönste Sache am Leben und wenn jemand an dieser Schule sie berührt, werde ich sie töten.” I stop writing and look to the class, “I think that just about covers everything.” Dead silence. “Scheiße, I figured you wouldn’t catch any of that.” “Well that was… pleasant. You can take your seat now, Sylar.” “Danke, meine Lehrerin.” The class zooms by. Nothing but boring material that was already forced into my skull back on my Earth. Easier, actually. I don’t even need Sento’s brain power for this. >Fuck it, text Hibari Using my skill in deception, honed through years of boredom, I pull out my phone and type away, the teacher none the wiser >Yo *What’s up? >Nothing. Bored? *Yep :/ >Me 2 *I can finish the bottle by tonight >kool >Ice cream after? *yay :) *Can’t wait >Class will be over before you know it God how wrong I was. >I would literally rather be ANYWHERE but here An explosion rocks the building and faint screams are heard in the distance “Fucking FINALLY- er, I mean, WHAT WAS THAT?” “Attention, all students and faculty are to evacuate immediately! A Smash has been sighted on campus!” I waste no time grabbing my bag and running out. “Hurry up, hurry up!” I slam face-first into someone “PISS!” I rub my forehead “What the hell?” “Ow! What’s your deal?” I glare at the voice, before cringing. The girl with the rainbow hair, the one everyone made memes of back in 2010. Rainbow Dash? >Don’t have time for this Fuck it. “Move out of my way!” I dash past her, into the gym. “Hey, where are you going?” The Smash is standing there, roaring. I look over the icicle designs on it. “Ice Smash? Ooh, that means you’ll Best Match with the Bottle I’ve already got~” I reach for the Driver when suddenly Jock-girl runs in and kicks the thing in the head. >Unexpected The Smash doesn’t react at all, instead smacking her aside. >Expected I scoff “You’ve got guts kid, but guts won’t stop a Smash, unless you wanna spill them all over it. Fighting a Smash can only be done under… specific circumstances.” I hold up my Driver and slap it on my waist. The sound of the belt stretching over my hips echoes all around, and a devil’s smile comes to my face. I raise my Bottles and stare at the Smash. “Sā, jikken o hajimeyou ka?” I shake the Bottles, and watch as the equations dance around the gym. “What’s going on?” Chroma Crash looks all around at the symbols. >Can I trust her with the secret? >Of course I can trust her. She’s a main character, she can’t rat me out. RABBIT! TANK! BEST MATCH! The techno beat thumps in the background, and I raise my hand, gripping the crank. >Turn the Voltech Crank, giving power to the Voltech Charge. >Voltech Charge energizes the Nitro Dynamo, forming the Snap Ride Builder. The model kit forms into the shape of my signature Best Match, liquid flowing from the belt into the armor, giving it color and substance. ARE YOU READY? “Henshin!” HAGANE NO MOONSAULT! RABBITTANK! YEAH! I pose, swinging my right hand into Fleming’s Right Hand Rule, as steam and gas burst from between the armor. “Shōri no hōsoku wa kimatta!” The Rabbit Foot Shoe glows with energy as I spring towards the Smash, and slam into his face with my right shin. He tries to regain momentum but I follow up with a roundhouse kick to his gut, and then I swing a hard left punch to his armpit. He’s too slow. As he stumbles back, I reach out, calling the Drill Crusher. “Ikuze~” I swing it, tearing some of the tendrils off the beast, and the pain causes him to recoil. Follow up! I jump up and kick him through the window of the gym, sending him outside onto the courtyard, leaping after. The students and teachers outside are panicking as I land, making sure to put myself between them and the Smash. “It’s been a nice little job, but now I’m just gonna wrap things up, okay?” I remove my Tank bottle and load it up READY, GO! Blue energy forms around the barrel of the gun, building into a single orb, aimed right at the beast’s face. “Rider Shooting.” VOLTECH BREAK! The explosion shatters the remaining windows of the entire wing. The Smash lies there, wounded and unable to move. I take out an empty bottle and aim it at the thing. After a few seconds, I’m left looking at a man in a patient’s outfit. I walk over, “Oi. Get up. You’re free now. Do you remember anything?” He looks around “Huh? What’s… going on?” “Do you remember anything? Guys in gas masks? Bubbling containers? Come on, give me something to work with!” He’s tired and barely able to stand up “I don’t know what you mean, man!” I rub my forehead “Mein Gott…” Police cars pull up and the officers quickly get out, surrounding me “Hands in the air, now!” “Oi, oi! There’s no problem here officers! He’s safe now, see?” I hold up the bottle for them “No more monster.” They raise their guns “Hands up NOW!” >The police are compromised >They’re just scared and don’t know what to do “This is terrible…” I look at my phone >I think the police are with Faust >Gonna get away >Tell teachers I passed out *What u doing *Sylar *STOP I hold up the Lion bottle and plug it in, tossing the whole thing in the air BUILD CHANGE! The officers don’t really know how to react when they see a phone turn into a bike. I hop on and quickly drive over one of their hoods “Verzeihung!” “Stop him now!” I hear them piling in, and accelerate. I reach a Skywall, and start driving alongside it. “Nein, I don’t wanna do this…” A police blockade is already set up in front of me. “Wow they work fast… Got no choice. Auf wiedersehen, Mittagessen…” I brace myself and make a sharp turn straight to the wall, tilting into a wheelie. The wheels glow yellow from the Lion bottle’s power, and I slam into the stone, accelerating straight up. I turn gradually, until I’m almost completely sideways, riding away from the officers. I leap off, slamming into the earth, as the Build Phone slips onto my waist. “Phew, that was close.” As sirens approach, I quickly remove my belt, sighing and walking casually. “Guten tag, officers. What’s the rush?” They ignore me. Classy. >School cancelled? *Yep >K >I’m gonna head to the store >We need more coffee beans for the afternoon rush *K *Got something cool for when you’re back >Kool *Love you >Love you too Aw, now I’m blushing. “Hey you! New guy!”And there goes the good mood. “How can I help you, Regenbogen?” “It’s Rainbow Dash!” “I don’t care. I’ve got supplies I need for my business.” Should I experiment with some new beans? Or stay with the reliable brands? Our budget for this quarter is pretty tight and I don’t wanna wing it... “You’re that superhero guy!” I turn and put my hand on her mouth, pulling her to the back. “I don’t need you shouting it at everyone in earshot, Dummkopf!” I remove my grip and wipe my hand off “I shouldn’t have transformed in front of you if you were just gonna be like that.” “But you’re a real-” I flick her forehead “Look, Build is already wanted. I don’t need you to broadcast who I am under the mask to everyone else.” “Build? What kind of lame superhero name is that?” I ignore her and grab some beans. “Kamen Rider Build. It’s my name.” I take another bag “Should’ve transformed in private…” “So what else can ya do? What was that belt saying? Why’d it say ‘rabbit’? Rabbits aren’t cool at all. ‘Tank’ sounds pretty cool, though.” I flick her head “Shut. Up.” “Alright, alright! Yeesh.” “What part of ‘I’m a wanted man’ don’t you understand?” “I get it! But… why were they chasing you?” “Doesn’t matter. Have a few theories. Nothing concrete. Doesn’t change the fact that I’m still wanted.” I grab a few more tools before heading to the register “Yes, if you could just bag this all together like so… Thank you.” “So what super secret special thing are you gonna do now?” I ignore her, and take the bags as quickly as possible back to Nascita. “Is this your secret lair? Seems boring. Does it have a-” I kick her “Look if you keep talking I’m going to throw you off a cliff. What part of ‘secret identity’ don’t you get?” She frowns at that “What’s the deal, man? You’re supposed to be a-” I growl at her and slam the door in her face. “Hibari-chan, I’m home. I’ve got more beans.” I turn around and see a small crowd of customers. “Oh. Guten tag. Apologies for any delays, ladies and gentlemen.” I carry the bags behind the counter. “Didn’t know the new guy had a part-time.” I stop and look up, as my heart drops to my gut. Condiment hair. Villain. Magic weapon thief. >Kill her now and be done with it >Can’t get attention. Can’t make Build be a villain. I sigh and put the bags down. “How can I help you today?” “Nice little place you’ve got here…” She reaches up to touch one of the paintings on the wall. “Interesting decorations…” “Ma’am, please don’t touch that.” She pulls her hand away. “Now, can I get you anything?” She smirks before walking out “I just wanted to check the place out. Maybe we’ll come by later…” Her goon squad giggles behind her as they leave, and I groan. “Das ist fürchterlich…” Rainbow walks in, “Sunset comes here?” “Nein. First time she’s been here. But she said she’ll come around again. I don’t need that kind of irritation…” “Tell me about it. She’s got half the school wrapped around her finger, and the other half scared stiff. She’s blackmailed, manipulated, and fooled everyone at least once.” I raise my eyebrow at her “Then why do any of you let her do what she does?” “Because then Snips and Snails will make something up or find something you don’t want getting out.” “Oof.” “Yeah... “ Then she gets a look on her face, “Hey, think you can use that belt of yours-” “NEIN.” “Why not?” “Because the Rider System isn’t designed to be used for petty high school drama. Secondly, because if you’re really right about her getting vengeance on anyone who crosses her, then she could set up a smear campaign against Build that could ruin my efforts forever. If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” I open up the fridge and walk inside “Hibari! I’ve got a new bottle. I know you don’t want to work again so soon after the first, but- Hibari? Where are you?” The Nascita basement is almost empty. The purification machine’s oven dings and opens up as the door slides open. “Oh baby you don’t have to be sorry~” I stop as I notice her tone of voice, and my mind goes blank when I double take at her. She’s sitting in the purification machine, and struts out, smirking at me. “Humina humina humina-” She’s in what can be most accurately described as the glorious lovechild of a Playboy bunny costume and a Panzerfaust driver’s outfit. On her waist is a belt with a large R/T on the buckle. “Like it dear~? I noticed your cute little belt’s Best Matches and I wanted to see if I could give you a present for all your hard, back-breaking work as Build…” She wraps her arms around my shoulders and pulls me closer “Let’s have ourselves a Voltech Finish~” “Woah, this is a secret base! Is that a laser gun? Wait, what’re you- AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!” “WHAT’S SHE DOING IN HERE?” “WHAT’RE YOU DOING?” “Da geht mein Knochen hin.”