1: I'm... I'm a Kamen Rider?
Denver
The Capitol Hill neighborhoods. Rainbow Dash knew these streets like the back of her hand. It was after all, where she and Fluttershy had grown up. So suffice to say, when her grandma Firefly was worried about someone burglarizing homes in the area, she was the first to come to her aid.
Rainbow was still more than a bit ticked off about her confrontation with Adagio a few hours prior. That bitch thought she could get a new job, and completely put the past behind them, act like the whole shenanigans at Canterlot High never even existed?
Sure, there was always that possibility that Flutters was right, and this wasn’t the Adagio that they knew, but she sure was having a hard time believing that from her demeanor alone. Just as hostile, and just as spiteful as ever. Plus, she worked with sea animals! Wasn’t that alone enough to be a tip-off?
Rainbow, even as she sped through the neighborhood like the world’s fastest cheetah clutching her geode tightly growled slightly. “Son of a…” the young woman thought to herself. “Can’t believe it’s been five years since the Battle of the Bands and she turns up in our life again! My life! I’d moved on, wanted to forget she ever existed, but no, Adagio Dazzle had other things in mind!” she thought, blurs of electricity left behind in her wake.
She was distracted from her musings by the sound of glass breaking, and rounded a corner and hid behind some dumpsters to see some guy dressed in all black busting in a window with a baseball bat.
“Well, there’s our burglar…” Rainbow thought to herself. “Gotta say, not the brightest bulb in the socket really… I mean, he isn’t worried about alarms from the looks of things.”
Dash didn’t know if she wasn’t looking, or it was something else but when she looked at the spot where the burglar was, he’d vanished almost as if in the blink of an eye. “What the…?”
She then saw a black blur speeding away from the house and Rainbow’s eyes went wide.
“You gotta be kiddin’ me! I thought I was the only speedster around here!” Rainbow whispered, before gripping her geode and running after the fellow speed demon.
Running around the neighborhood in flashes of light, Rainbow tried to get a good look at her prey, but for the most part he was featureless, hidden by a mask. He was, however, almost cat-like in shape and build. Like an actual honest to god cheetah, and when Rainbow eventually managed to rip his mask off his face, turns out he was a cheetah.
“You… Well, I’ll be damned. A Zyuman?” Rainbow whispered, skidding to a halt as the cheetah thief sped off. “Brings a new meaning to the term cat burglar…”
Groaning at her own terrible pun, one that would probably do that french superhero Fluttershy liked so much proud, Rainbow ran off after the zyuman. Eventually catching up to him, running alongside a brick wall and then leaping onto the side of a truck Rainbow tackled him to the pavement. His bag rolled to the ground, spilling out cash and pearls.
“Okay, spill!” Rainbow said, holding the cheetah-man to the ground by pressing her arm against his throat keeping him from moving. It wasn’t enough to choke him or anything like that so he could still speak but he wasn’t going to be going anywhere any time soon.
“Had… Had to…” the zyuman coughed out. His clothes were raggedy like he’d been searching through a rummage store or living on the streets. “Had to find cash!”
A small little animal, mechanical in nature climbed out of his pants pockets. Little leopard-like like mecha, about the size of Rainbow’s palm at best.
“So, you could have just grabbed something from the local wishing fountain, no need to resort to stealing,” Rainbow said. “Hell, why didn’t you just get yourself a job?”
“They won’t accept us, us Zyumans. You humans, you’re always afraid of what you don’t understand!” the Zyuman said, pushing Rainbow off of him, grabbing his loot and running off down the street.
“...Hey, hey you forgot your…” Rainbow shouted to no avail, gesturing to the zyuman’s leopard companion. “Oh, never mind. Guess you’re with me buddy, least till we can get you back to your friend!” she remarked, the little Cube Leopard hopping up onto her shoulder. She sighed, this was just great, first Adagio Dazzle popping up into her life again and now she had to worry about a burglar who just so happened to be a part of the zyuman race.
Rainbow mumbled something to herself under her breath. She knew about the human and zyuman conflict. It was hard not to see really, with settlers from all points of the globe coming in to find their place in life, and like the zyuman said humans often did fear what they didn’t understand. Hell, Rainbow was honest to god surprised more humans weren’t scared of her and her magical abilities as it was. She’d seen zyumans kicked out of stores, just for being ‘different’ and it was rare at least in this city for a zyuman to get a stable job. She supposed it wasn’t entirely surprising this one had turned to theft.
“God above, I hate racial politics…” Rainbow muttered as she ran back to her car, this nice Dodge Hellcat she’d gotten as a college graduation present from her father. “And now I’m stuck in the middle of them all. Lovely, just lovely.”
Firing up the engine, she turned to head home all the whiles unaware that she was being watched, by this cat-like figure covered in enough studded leather to make Sunset drool with envy.
“So, humans have changed, if only a little from the pathetic apes we knew 800 years ago…” Kazari, the cat greeed mused to himself. “Well, doesn’t this make things that little bit more interestin’? Oh Ankh, can’t wait to see how you survive in your current state in this brave new world.”
It wasn’t long before he’d made his way back to his fellow greeed, all of them hiding in some woodlands outside of the city.
“So, Ankh’s booked it already has he?” Metool, the aquatic animal greeed commented. She rolled her eyes. “Figures, he always was a cowardly type. I still haven’t forgotten him siding with that bastard King 800 years ago. Suits him well to be just an arm! Just an arm!” she grumbled.
“Well, it’s what he deserves,” Uva remarked, with his domain being insectoid creatures. “Can’t think of any better fate for him!”
“Yeah, but we’re not out of the woods yet are we?” Kazari remarked. “He’s always been a wildcard…” he trailed off.
“Yeah, and to make matters worse for us, he took Core Medals from each and every one of us. Hell, took quite a few from you! I think you’re missing the most of all of us. I don’t see your shark, whale or wolfish medals laying about anywhere, do you?” Uva remarked before laughing before Metool shot the giant bug creature a look.
“Don’t see why you should be laughing. You lost medals as well! As you said, we all did! So unless anyone has a plan on sniffin’ them all out…” Metool trailed off, and Kazari snapped his fingers. In the background, Gamel, the heavy mammal-themed greeed was chasing after a woodpecker that hid himself in a tree trunk, before he smashed part of the tree apart bark flying everywhere. Uva rubbed his temples before sighing.
“Kazari, I assume you’ve got something?” he asked the felid creature.
“Yes, yeah… quite. Been observing a human, yes feel free to gag, but I noticed something. Superspeed, this one had!” the cat creature chuckled, and everyone stared right at him.
“Superspeed?” Uva asked. “Last I checked, that wasn’t within any human’s abilities... unless they’re borrowing all of your core medals,” he commented.
“Looks like they’ve undergone evolution, or at least this one has,” Kazari remarked. “Consider this, humans always fall prey to their desires don’t they? What makes this one any different?”
“You’re saying we should make a Yummy out of this one, aren’t you?” Uva remarked, picking up on what his fellow greeed was thinking. “Use her to our advantage, find Ankh and our missing core medals and then toss her aside like garbage?”
“Exactly…” Kazari smirked. “Metool, a question?”
“Yes?” she answered.
“What of this… Shocker Greeed? What do we do with him?”
“Artificial he may be, but he’s a powerful force, and if we could make use of him, we may not even need Ankh to create bird yummies!” Metool mused. “Still, I don’t trust him. He’s not like the rest of us, I’m keeping him at arm’s length for the time being. Just until he proves his worth. Right now, he’s no better than trash to us, a tool to be discarded when the time comes unless he proves… useful.”
“Agreed.”
High above Europe, Takatora sat in one of the Yggdrasil corporations’ private jets. While it no longer sought to control the city of Zawame, the company still existed but this time to actually help the populace and ease them along after the Inves disaster, help them rebuild.
“Yes, yes, I understand,” Takatora said as he got off the phone. “Be safe little brother.”
He sighed to himself. Mitsuzune, he still continued to beat himself up over his sins, even if Takatora forgave him for his crimes. Even now, his little brother was tracking a group called the Black Bodhi Tree across Asia, the group distributing strange pomegranate lockseeds frighteningly similar to those the former Kamen Rider Savior used. What was worse, the group had managed to get ahold of lockseeds on the black market, and through Ryoma's research had somehow managed to create replica Sengoku Drivers. The black Baron that Zack had stopped in Zawame with his Neo-Baron team was only just the beginning, and Mitsuzune saw fit to stomp out this Black Bodhi Tree group wherever it hid.
“Little brother… I forgive you,” Takatora sighed. “It was my fault you turned out this way, me pushing Noblesse Oblige onto you too harshly and I didn’t see what you were becoming. Just like I didn’t see my closest friend turning on me.”
His thoughts turned to Shocker, and them making off with that strange coffin. What, exactly was so important to them that they’d take it? What, just what?
“Looks like you and I brother of mine, we’re not so different now,” Takatora thought to himself. “We’re both hunting a group, and yes their end goals may be different but we’re both looking out for the whole in our own ways. Once a Rider… Always a Rider.”
“You’ve been awfully quiet this whole flight, really…” Came a male’s voice from beside the former Kamen Rider Zangetsu. Takatora looked up, to see a male in his fifties or so wearing this odd belt around his waist, with two red stones embedded in it. “Deep thinking? Been there myself a few times…”
“Yeah, just thinking about a friend. Well, a former friend really,” Takatora sighed. “I’m not much for talking, but there are times I wonder if I could have just foreseen his betrayal coming or if his fate was already set in stone and it wasn’t possible for me to save him.”
“I know a few things about that really…” Kohtaro sighed. “Had a stepbrother, you may not know of him. Nobuhiko Akizuki, that was his name,” the older man continued. “He, like me was abducted by Gorgom to become their new Century King. I made it out with my humanity still intact, he didn’t. He became Shadow Moon, and even after I evolved into Black RX, he returned to battle me. In our last fight, he told me of the Crisis Empire’s plans to erupt a volcano and he asked me to save the children he could not. In that last moment, he became human once more,” Kohtaro sighed. “He told me he was still Shadow Moon, and that one day he would return to fight me once more but I think, I think that was Gorgom’s programming still persisting on. I’d like to believe in those last moments, my friend, my brother had returned. So yes, I think it possible to change one’s fate. Your friend, Ryoma was it? He could have changed his fate, he was just too foolish and too caught up in his own selfish desires to do so.
“You… You think that?” Takatora asked looking his fellow Rider in the eye. “You think I could have saved him…?”
“I believe it so. It was his own fault he refused to change, you had nothing to do with his demise and descent into madness.” Kohtaro said, putting a hand on Takatora’s shoulder.
Suddenly, their little discussion was interrupted by a loud screech filling the air, and Takatora’s head whipped around to see a massive bird-like humanoid wearing a gas mask flying alongside the jet and using his wings to cut into the body.
Suddenly, a loud eagle’s screech cut through the air and Beast was knocked to the ground as this massive eagle monster wearing a gas mask landed in front of them. At some point before the unearthing of the coffin, a cell medal had been found and using science, Shocker had managed to create their own Greeed. During this, they had wondered where more of these medals could be found and so they tracked the cell medal to its origin point here in Country A.
“YEE! YEE!” the combatmen cried out and made off with the coffin as the Shocker Greeed charged towards the three Riders. Swearing under his breath, X readied himself for battle alongside Zangetsu and Beast.
Striking the Shocker Greeed multiple times across the chest with his staff, X moved out of the way for Beast to deliver a hyper magnum strike and Zangetsu a sonic arrow blast. Nothing seemed to faze this monster, and in any case, its job was done. It had slowed the Riders, and taking to the skies it cackled in glee as it flew off.
“That… That creature from before!” Takatora whispered in horror as the Shocker Greeed pried open the cabin door, wind rushing inside the jet’s interior. To their horror, both Takatora and Kohtaro found themselves being pulled out by the rushing winds, and even as the Shocker Greeed cackled in glee, Takatora’s eyes widened when he saw the pilot be pulled outside, his body flying past him.
“Henshin!” both riders cried out, knowing the time for mourning was for later. Now it was a fight for survival.
“By Heaven’s Decree!” Takatora’s driver cried out even as his boots gripped the floor of the cabin, Black RX’s as well both effectively magnetizing them to the ground. Blades rang out as RX and Zangetsu drew their blades known as the Revolcane, and the Musou Saber respectively and met the Shocker Greeed’s own. Zangetsu raised his shield to defend against the Shocker Greeed’s energy blasts, while Black RX changed into his Robo-Rider form and fired a blast of light from his energy pistol, the Vortech Shooter. The Shocker Greeed staggered backwards, before it grabbed both Riders and pulled them out the cabin door.
Black RX changed into his Bio-Rider form and quickly changed into a form of gel and grabbed Zangetsu in his clutches and together the two raged a battle atop the plane’s wing against the bird monster even as the ground came closer and closer towards meeting them. Takatora knew he had to finish this battle quickly and even as Black RX changed back to his Robo-Rider form and fired off several more blasts Takatora flicked the blade on his driver once before charging forwards at the Shocker Greeed his sword glowing with melon-shaped energy.
“Meron Musō Zan!” his driver cried out as this occurred.
The Shocker Greeed staggered, before grabbing RX by the shoulder and tossing him off the plane’s wing. Takatora’s eyes widened under his helmet before he grabbed a lockseed off his belt and threw it towards his brother Rider.
“Catch!” he shouted as RX caught the lockseed and it unfolded to become a Dandeliner hoverbike with Zangetsu hopping on one of his own. Together, they flew towards the ground dodging the Greeed’s shots and engaging in an aerial dogfight with the Kaijin. Eventually, the ground came fast and hard, and both Riders leaped off their machines and tumbled to the ground rolling down a hill as the two hoverbikes exploded.
“Well, that was… fun.” RX deadpanned before he heard that same horrific screech come from above him.
“Don’t celebrate yet, looks like he wants a bit more…” Zangetsu grumbled as he pulled out his Melon Energy Lockseed. “Still a bit pissed we helped ruin Shocker’s latest scheme it seems.”
"Soiya! Mix! Melon Arms! By Heaven’s Decree! Jimber Melon!" the Sengoku Driver shouted as the Greeed flew down in front of the two veteran riders.
The two riders and the monster circled each other, all poised to strike as they were surrounded by trees and snow-covered mountains on all sides, Russia’s heartland.
“Good old Mother Russia eh?” Takatora mused, the flaming wreckage of his company jet behind him. In one hand, he held his shield aptly named the Melon Defender and the other his Sonic Arrow. His musou saber was holstered on his hip. Nearby, Black RX had changed back to his default form and his Revolcane was at the ready.
Then, a wolf howled and all hell broke loose as the battle began anew.
“Armored Rider huh?” RX asked. “Bit pretentious if you ask me.”
“Could say the same, Child of the Sun,” Zangetsu remarked as he ducked under the Shocker Greeed’s blade allowing RX to hit the kaijin in the shoulder sparks flying as the blow connected.
“Your point has been well taken, Slaying Moon.” RX -In Robo-Rider form once more- stated punching the Greeed in the face with a powerful right cross. The irony of him fighting alongside a moon-themed Rider was far from being lost on Kohtaro even as cell medals hit the ground. “I wonder… Was this what fighting alongside you would have been like… Nobuhiko?”
Zangetsu tossed his shield at the kaijin clocking him in the head, with the shield impaling itself on a tree trunk, freeing up the usage of the Sonic Arrow. Zangetsu fired it upwards creating an energy melon in the sky above him which exploded and rained down multiple arrows of energy, some hitting and some not. Takatora then followed up with a powerful energy slash from the blades on the bow driving the Greeed backwards.
RX resumed his Bio-Rider form and changed back into gel forming a drill slamming into the Greeed’s stomach before changing back into humanoid form kicking it.
“RIDER KICK!” Black RX bellowed out as the Shocker Greeed rolled along the ground, before picking himself up, bleeding out cell medals by the truckload before his wounds closed and he took to the skies.
All the while, from atop a hill a Foundation X member watched this entire fight through a pair of binoculars and gestured to two dustard ninjas as Takatora and Kohtaro left to try and find some civilization.
“Salvage those medals, I want to know just what secrets they hide…”
Back in Denver, Adagio had contacted Fluttershy -much to the younger woman’s surprise- and had asked her to meet up with her for lunch, place of her choice saying she just wanted to talk.
To say Fluttershy was extremely nervous was a bit of an understatement. Sure, this was Adagio’s human counterpart and chances were that she was nowhere near as mean spirited as her equestrian doppelganger but there was still that slight problem of Adagio being a bit of a hothead. Fluttershy was worried she might just set her off accidentally.
She then heard the low rumble of an engine and saw this actually fairly refined german saloon -Fluttershy didn’t keep up with car makes and models, that was more Sunset and Rainbow’s thing- pulling up outside of the coffee shop.
A door opened, and then slammed shut softly and Fluttershy looked up from her drink to see Adagio walking in wearing a nice sweater and long pants, the curly hair Fluttershy normally would have associated with the woman actually being nice and straight.
“Sorry for being so late, got caught up in traffic. Just be glad you caught me at a good time, and the Aquarium doesn’t need me today,” Adagio apologized after taking her order. “But even if it did, I would have been happy to meet you there. Might let you behind the scenes as it were to show you some of the more interesting attractions. Our Mediterranean monk seals? Trust me on this, you’d love them! ...Oh dear god, I’m babbling aren’t I?”
“Yeah, you are,” Fluttershy replied, and Adagio flushed red. “Is something bothering you?”
“You might say that, yeah…” Adagio trailed off, brushing a strand of her orange-toned -actually bordering on downright golden if you looked at it right- hair out of her face. “Guess that’s what happens when you learn your horse-land counterpart was a complete and utter bitch really.”
“Ah, so you know then?” Fluttershy sighed fighting back a wince.
“Wasn’t hard to figure out really. People gossip on Facebook, really should keep their mouths shut at times, unless they desire the government coming after them,” Adagio deadpanned. “Got to admit, it really threw me for a loop though, magical horses being real and me having an evil twin.”
“No weirder than vines from another dimension being fought by fruit samurai or giant mecha battles over Tokyo?” Fluttershy pointed out. “And besides, if the government took any interest in Equestria, I think we’d know right?”
“Fair. If the feds were in town, I’d think I’d notice them in their big black trucks and nice suits. Very standout, really,” Adagio remarked and Fluttershy giggled. Adagio raised an eyebrow.
“What? What’s so funny?” she asked.
“Nothing… it’s just, well…” Fluttershy mused as she took a sip of her coffee. “Never in my life I actually thought I’d be having a friendly conversation with you. Well, not you you, but you know what I mean. ...Right?” she asked nervously.
“Yeah, I gotcha, and I admit it probably would be more than a little weird from your perspective,” Adagio admitted. “So, mind if we start over? Adagio Diana Dazzle, pleased to make your acquaintance,” she said, holding out a hand which Fluttershy graciously took.
“Fluttershy Breeze, pleased to meet you,” Fluttershy replied before noting some men in suits setting up what looked to be a vending machine outside the coffee shop. Adagio noticed this as well.
“Bit odd, setting up a vending machine outside a coffee shop really. Sorta defeats the point!” Adagio remarked.
“Yeah, some new corporation came in a few days prior, calling themselves the Kougami Foundation and started setting up those things all over Denver. Didn’t say what for really, all I know is the founder’s adopted son… Forgot his name, starts with an E asked for it to be done,” Fluttershy mused, rubbing her chin in thought. “Very, very weird.”
“Probably not our business really…” Adagio commented before clearing her throat. “Anyways, as you were saying. My counterpart?”
“Yes, she and her sisters -I assume they exist here as well?- were all so very scary. Wanted to control the world through song!” Fluttershy whispered. “I… I honestly don’t know how we would have defeated them had Sunset not gained the courage to step up at the last moment…”
“Well, no accounting for taste I suppose…” Adagio sighed. “Taking over the world? So last season!” she remarked with a dismissive wave of her hand. “But to answer your question, yeah I do have sisters here. Aria and Sonata. Bit annoying at times, but I do love them. Sonata wants to be a cook, and if she ever gets off the family farm, I’m sure she’d succeed. Makes the best beef stew you’ve ever tasted, let me tell you!” Adagio continued, smacking her lips.
“I’m sure I’d like to meet them, might be nice…” Fluttershy trailed off.
“Well, maybe not Aria. Bit of a grump, and you can usually find her in some dive bar trying to make some money trying to become this superstar punk rocker. Not sure she’ll succeed, as southern gothic is where the money’s at nowadays, but I’m rooting for her all the same,” Adagio continued, Fluttershy continuing to listen gobbling up every bit of information she could on this Adagio and her family. “So, CHS right?”
“Yeah, born Canterlot Wondercolt,” Fluttershy confirmed. “What about you?”
“George Washington High School for me. It was nice enough. Patriots forever!” Adagio briefly cheered with a small fist pump. “Trust me, we really should see about organizing a game between them and your Wondercolts.”
“Well, if Coach Spitfire is still there, and has her way, you probably will see that before the year’s out. I’m not much of a sports fan, but Rainbow…? Well, that’s another story entirely let me tell you!”
Adagio grimaced at the mention of the woman, before sighing. “So, how long you two been friends? ...Or is it something more with you two?”
“No, just friends. Dash is more interested in dating another gal pal of ours, Twilight Sparkle. Complete and utter opposite, but you know what they say about that!” Fluttershy laughed, and Adagio nodded fighting back a vampire-related joke upon hearing a certain name. “Anyways, been friends since childhood. Around kindergarten with Mrs. Cheerilee was when I first met her. Pushed me into the sandbox.” Fluttershy giggled.
“...Well, that’s one way of meeting.” Adagio commented.
“She apologized, right after Cheerilee put her in timeout and denied her access to the snacks table. And threatened to call her mom,” Fluttershy admitted, laughing slightly at the memory. “Oh, those were the days…”
Fluttershy then realized something as she wiped away a tear. “Wait, did you say something about Mediterranean monk seals? As in the Mediterranean monk seals? One of the rarest species in the world? Oh, I’ve got to see them, they’re so cute!” she began to babble.
“Animal lover huh?” Adagio commented as the waitress arrived with her latte. She chuckled, it was always nice to see someone so passionate about the seals. God knows they needed all the help they can get at times.
“Yeah, I love animals! I want to open a sanctuary for them one day!” Fluttershy nearly squealed.
“...Well, if we ever have any job openings at the National Aquarium, I know who I’ll be recommending…” Adagio murmured with a small chuckle.
It was about then Rainbow Dash walked in, hands behind her head wearing jeans and a black t-shirt with a blazing phoenix on it commenting: “Always into the rare animals aren’t you Flutters, especially the cute ones?”
It was then she saw Adagio, and her eyes narrowed. “You!” she exclaimed, pointing a finger directly at the marine biologist who simply rolled her eyes.
“Yes me. Here to shout at me again?” Adagio drawled taking a sip of her own coffee. “Because if so, please take your complaints outside. There are people in here who don’t want to hear your bellowing, and actually want to work on things,” she commented, gesturing to the patrons around her hard at work on their laptops or doing their crosswords. And just about all of them were giving annoyed looks at Rainbow.
Rainbow bit back a snarl, and sighed as she pulled up a chair noticing Fluttershy giving her a distinct look as well. “Alright, alright, I’ll try and be civil…” she muttered.
“Keyword, try.” Adagio snarked, taking another sip.
“Why you…” Rainbow hissed out before Fluttershy shot a sharp glance at them both.
“Girls!” she snapped, surprising even herself. But then again, everything was going so well until Rainbow showed up, and both she and Adagio started up again. “Please, can you at least try and act like you don’t want to punch each other?” she asked calmly, taking a few deep breaths. Rainbow, Adagio’s done nothing wrong, we’ve just been talking, and she’s nothing like her Equestrian counterpart. Adagio, Rainbow’s done nothing to you, so why don’t you please try and be nice to her?” she stated, with another warning glare that made both Adagio and Rainbow share a glance and swallow nervously.
“Scary…” they both thought in unison eying the slipper Fluttershy was holding over both their heads. Rainbow then ordered quite a few sandwiches, and a few muffins to boot.
“Wow, she sure can pack it in, wonder what her secret is…?” Adagio murmured to herself before whispering to Fluttershy: “I thought you said she was one of those athletic sporty types!”
Fluttershy sighed to herself, her head hitting the table. “Rainbow, please tell me you haven’t been out being a vigilante again…?”
“Oooh, do tell!” Adagio exclaimed. “What’s this about being a vigilante? Wait, you one of those real-life superheroes I’ve heard so much about?”
She was, of course, referring to those people who got up and dressed up as superheroes to perform various acts of community service, like a neighborhood watch or inspecting for building code violations or performing acts of charity. Denver even had its own branch, the Colorado Initiative.
“No, it’s this stupid metabolism thing kicking in again… I swear, this geode gives me some fun powers but there are a few drawbacks…” Rainbow muttered as she packed it in seemingly forgetting Adagio was even there for the moment.
“Dare I ask?” Adagio remarked, and Rainbow facepalmed.
“Damnit…” she muttered upon realization. Adagio looked towards Fluttershy for an explanation, but Rainbow surprisingly was the one to answer.
“A while back, me and the girls got these cool geodes that give us awesome superpowers. Flutters over there can talk to animals, while I get to be a real-life Flash!” Rainbow exclaimed. “...Wow, can’t believe I just admitted that to Adagio Dazzle of all people.”
“Well, I personally think it's nice your doing something for the city,” Adagio said being genuinely sincere and not snide towards Rainbow for the first time since they'd met. “Gives the people hope.”
“...Wow, complemented by Adagio Dazzle of all people. What the Hell am I supposed to say to that?” Rainbow wondered aloud. As much as she appreciated the sentiment, it was still so… odd getting it from this person.
“A thank you would do,” Fluttershy added. Nobody during all of this noticed the small little coin slot that appeared on the back of Rainbow's head and a little medal being inserted into it by this blond-haired man.
“Yeah, I suppose. Never thought I'd say this but… thanks, Adagio.” Rainbow said finally swallowing her pride. Adagio blinked out in shock but accepted the thanks all the same.
“I'm sorry Rainbow, never should have been so snide. It's just… well, never been much of a people person to be honest. Always been better with animals I guess…” Adagio sighed and Fluttershy gave her a smile of sympathy.
“Trust me, I know how you feel.” She said kindly. She then noticed an odd coin-like object hanging from around Adagio’s neck via a string, with a shark engraved on it.
“Coin collector?” Rainbow inquired, noticing this as well with a bit of food hanging from her mouth. Fluttershy smacked her for her poor table manners.
“No… No, it’s just something I found. Had a shark, so I thought it was cool.” Adagio shrugged.
“Ah, I see,” Rainbow nodded before she began to look nervous. “Hey, uh, listen, there’s something I got to talk to Flutters about. Like, in private. So is it okay if you uh…?” she trailed off.
“Yeah, I gotcha. Well, see you around I guess…” Adagio said giving a shy little wave and taking a deep breath. Who knew making new friends was such hard work? Certainly nothing like it was with animals. As she left the cafe she overheard a brief snippet of something about zyumans from Rainbow but that was about it. It was about then she bumped headlong into her sister, Aria, whom she noticed had messier hair than usual today. Almost like some of it was parted to one side. And was that eyeliner? Aria almost never wore that stuff! And was that an ice pop in hand? Sonata, sure, but Aria…?
“Hey sis, taking a break from your-Urk!”
Aria had thrust a hand around her neck, squeezing it.
“That medal, give it to me!” Aria practically growled out, the hand clutching the terrified Adagio having turned feathered.
“Aria, what the hell’s gotten into you? Wait, please tell me you’re not my sister’s counterpart?” Adagio squeaked out before kicking Aria away and apparently knocking the feathered arm off of her. Said arm then dived for the medal around Adagio’s neck but Adagio smacked the arm aside, before it quickly reattached itself to Aria.
“I want that medal! Give that back, it’s my body!”
“Wait, what?” Adagio blinked out. “How can a medal I just found on the street be a part of your body?”
“Okay, well, it’s not part my body technically, but it can help get mine back! Bargaining posture and all that!” ‘Aria’ spoke.
Then loud laughter cut through the air as Kazari leaped down from a rooftop, with his claws bared.
“Oh Ankhy, Anhky… Still focused on that one exact thing aren’t you?” the cat greeed laughed as people screamed and scattered, others taking pictures and wondering if this whole thing was for a movie. “Suppose it serves you right to suffer really… And do you honestly think Mezool -or any of us for that matter- will let you bargain for your body back after what you pulled?”
“Worth a shot in the dark, yeah,” Aria/Ankh remarked, looking towards Adagio rather intrigued by her. She wasn’t running, unlike most of those other spineless apes. “I wonder…”
“What’s your name human?” Kazari asked. “Toss that medal to me, and I’ll think on sparing you.”
“Oh, so you say this Ankh character won’t have a chance in getting spared, and yet I will. That’s hypocrisy in action for you. Yeah, I think I’ll pass.” Adagio said, pulling out a baton and readying it.
“Foolish human!” Aria/Ankh shouted. “You think that’ll save you? Mind you, you’ve impressed me so I think I can offer you something that might just save us both. Here, catch!” she shouted, tossing this odd stone slab with three holes cut into it towards Adagio and it wrapped itself around her waist forming a belt with a golden scanning device on the left side.
“No, it can’t be…” Adagio thought, remembering this item from her dream even as Kazari charged at her.
“That’s… That’s the seal! Ankh, you bastard!” Kazari roared out as he launched a blast of pure hot air towards Adagio even as she remembered.
The beings, Greeed as Adagio would know them as screamed out in pain as their very cores were taken from them, and added to the King’s own power as a strange belt buckle with three slots on it appeared across his waist.
“Taka, Tora, Batta: Ta-To-Ba! Tatoba, Ta-To-Ba!” the belt practically growled out as the King ran a scanning device across it.
Knowing at once what to do, if not really rather hesitant about it as Adagio flipped backwards, she caught the two tossed medals thrown towards her by Ankh and slotted them into her belt. Next, she ripped the shark medal off her necklace and slammed it into the belt before scanning all three.
“Henshin!” she shouted as if on instinct.
“Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo: Sa-Ra-Mi-Uo! Sa! Ra! Mi-Uo!”
Energy manifestations of the medals spun around her before combining into one large medal depicting all three animals. This new medal slammed itself onto Adagio’s chest and formed an armored suit around her. The suit itself, it was a mixes of blues and a crimson red, the helmet having yellow lamp-like eyes.
“I’m… I’m a Kamen Rider?” Adagio whispered in shock looking at her hands, before letting out a yelp of shock as Kazari lunged at her with his claws and she leaped backwards. A crimson spear soon formed from the water in the air and Adagio grabbed it using it to block Kazari’s next strikes.
She then struck several times with the spear dealing out damage with it, making Kazari bleed out cell medals. Seeing his chance, Ankh detached himself from Aria’s arm for a brief moment and began gobbling up the medals before reattaching himself.
“Can't these jingles be in freaking English? Come on, surely it's not that hard to alter them!” Adagio grumbled to herself, not really knowing as much Japanese as she would have liked. She’d only learned bits and pieces for when she had to deal with Japanese colleagues at the Aquarium.
“Yeah… uh sorry. The King, your predecessor? Found them… catchy.” Ankh admitted, with a small sheepish blush.
“Wonderful,” Adagio grumbled, noting her shoulder armor which resembled a beached whale far more than she would have liked. She was then sent flying backwards by a powerful kick from Kazari and then a blast of hot air followed it knocking her to the ground and making her roll along the pavement. Staggering to her feet, Adagio recalled more of her dream where she’d seen this specific weapon used and twirled it above her head sending a slicing, spinning whirlpool towards Kazari.
Kazari leaped to the side, the whirlpool only hitting him in the arm and drawing out more cell medals.
“The scanner, run it across your belt you stupid bint!” Ankh shouted.
Adagio ignored the insult, and reminded herself to punch whoever this being masquerading as her sister was later and followed Ankh’s instructions.
“SCANNING CHARGE!” the belt sang out.
Adagio slid along the ground, a miniature tsunami being conjured up from behind her and let out a shout of: “RIDER KICK!” before knocking Kazari skywards before he even had a chance to dodge. He landed in a nearby dumpster, a yellow medal of some sort flying out from his body which Ankh swiftly caught.
“Damn you Ankh, damn you OOOs!” Kazari hissed out, now sporting some broken armor before he leaped off. Adagio in the meantime canceled her transformation and let out a sigh of relief.
“That… That was something.” Adagio whispered before she approached Ankh. “Now, you’re going to tell me what you’ve done with my sister.”
Ankh, choosing the wisest course of action for him at that moment grabbed the belt and detached himself from Aria before flying off with it.
“Why that… That little coward!” Adagio snapped with a stamp of her foot. “Oh, when I find him and get my hands on him…” she grumbled before sighing as she looked at Aria. “Oh, well at least you’re safe little sis…” she smiled as she picked up the unconscious Aria Dazzle bridal style looking at her with what could only be described as relief. She then heard gasps of shock and looked up from her sister only to see Fluttershy and Rainbow gaping at her in shock.
“Oh boy…” Adagio muttered.
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So will the Equestrian Dazzlings have any part in this story? Like having the villains mistaking one group for the other and causing all sorts of issues or will they always be off camera?
9432258
For the most part, off-camera really. Especially considering that ending stinger for Destiny's Play.
This fucking thing... Still, think it is one of the strangest monsters ever.
Oh... So it was really a zyuthing and not a Yummy...
Huh, an interesting diversion from canon...
I thought that they went bankrupt?
As he should!
Ah, the master of awesome posses.
In Russia, monster rides you... wait what?
Or that infection that is currently running rampant through Tokyo.
Ohh...
Oh... Oh now this is interesting
Oh, you are begging for it.
That is one way of giving her her transformation device.
What do you... OH! Oh, oh no!
Rejoice, the birth of a new king... I mean queen! Happy Birthday!
...This makes way too much sense, even if I have a hard time believing that he would have known anything about Japan... ah who cares, OOO certainly didn't.
9432425
Well, like I said, can't ignore that ending.
Well, Poseidon's medals are aquatic animal based so they had to go somewhere... In the same vein, the Bikaso combo (The Black Core Medals) go to Uva and so do the Mukachiri medals.
I ought to bring in Mitsuzune at some point, just to annoy you. That, and have a Kurashima brother back to back badasses moment.
Well, one can presume Takatora's family still had some cash stored away somewhere so he could start up the company again.
"I am the child of the sun! Kamen Rider! Black! RX!"
Got away from you there, huh?
Kamen Rider incidents, hard to ignore nowadays. (By and By, saw the Beast Squadron special. Ouja is... well, no other way to say it, but he's fucking terrifying.)
Rejoice, for today we herald the birth of a new king, the heir to all of OOO's powers, Kamen Rider OOO SHIN!
9432489
I know, but when I hear cheeta in connection to OOO's I just have to think about this monstrosity. vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/kamenrider/images/8/8f/SiamNeko_Yummy.jpeg/revision/latest?cb=20121111152541
That thing weirds me out till this day.
Fair enough.
...Dammit.
Oh, sure and it has as far as I know an actual name, the Zawame City Restoration Bureau with Takatora as its head.
Defiantly, even if ZI-O is keeping himself rather unknown right now... well besides the Dai Mazin thing... that got some heads spinning I'm sure.
Oh, and being Emu is suffering.
Ah, I love Kuro Woz, scratch that, I love ZI-O's entire cast, really refreshing to see such a balanced cast after Build.
Sooooo.....I'm liking the story but I must ask.....you going for some kind of record in regards to tokusatsu allusions? Also.....
Who is Chat Noir? ....and will there be more references to French series?
9432536
Not trying to, no.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrien_Agreste
And probably not, no.
9432527
Welcome to the club. ...What the hell were they smoking that day?
Must have been some good shit.
Crap, forgot about that. TBF, been a while since I watched Drive/Gaim's crossover or any of the Gaidens.
WAKE UP, A HERRRRRRROOOOO!
I have noticed.
9432560
Yeah, or they were haunted by the Nightmare Dopant... The worst part is, however, the lingering and the head and... oh fuck it, the whole thing... just yuk!
^^ Well helps that my knowledge of Rider is limited to a year, so most things are rather fresh.
9432556
And darn, I was sort of hoping for more with Ladybug.....or Lyoko.
Just saying.....Zyumans.....Kamen Riders.....side characters from Kamen Rider.... And I do know the man's identity, was just going for a Jeopardy joke.
9432301
Destiny's Play? What are you talking about?
9432654
- MLP: FiM
- Kamen Rider
- Adventure
- Drama
Ponyville, haunted by a masked killer that returns whenever the moon turns scarlet. Good ponies falling to his blade. Kiva's blade. Just one catch. The ponies? Fangires out for blood. Everyone has a devil inside. Question is, does Kiva?So, Adagio is basically Kamen Rider Poseidon now?
Neeeeat.
9432671
Well, this universe's Kamen Rider OOO basically. See, what happened and I should probably have explained this earlier, is that OOO didn't happen in this timeline, at least in the year it was supposed to. Now, it's happening in the timeline of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid's events. Certain characters will play a few different roles, such as this chapter implies with Eiji Hino.
9432567
Here's a fun fact for you then. The King's OOO form? Based on this.
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/kamenrider/images/5/59/KRZiO-Another_OOO.png/revision/latest?cb=20181028003701
AKA Dan Kur-Ou.
(And Adagio's Rider Kick? Based off Kamen Rider Aqua's, because I figured... Why not? It fit really.)
9432685
Ah, and I thought it might be the S.I.C. version... but to be honest, the Another Riders aren't that far from that anyway...
By the way, god I love this suit, and pretty much all the Another Riders, definitely the best suits in Kamen Rider and probably Sentai as well.
9432675
No, I gathered she's the OOO of this timeline. Just remarking because she's got the same combo as Poseidon.
And those poor Zyumans...
9432701
OOO SaRaMiUo Combo, not Poseidon, that requires a different Driver.
9432709
Oh, right. That makes sense.
9432710
She could still call herself Poseidon, but it wouldn't make sense cause OOO's powers cover more than just aquatic creatures.
9432714
Yeah
9432700
Yeah, they're a bit disturbing especially Another Double or Another Ex-Aid but they're really great suits. On S.I.C Hero Saga, actually, here's their version of Zangetsu Melon Jimber Arms.
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/kamenrider/images/7/72/Zangetsu_Jimber_Melon_SIC.png/revision/latest?cb=20170224154101
To be fair to Rainbow, most Adagios are either evil (Equestria Adagio), or at least morally questionable criminals trying to help their families (Justice-verse Adagio)... its not an unfair assumption that she'd be evil.
9451144
