7: Newsworthy
Kougami Foundation, Denver Office
A few days later after the whole “Piranha Swarm Incident’ as it had begun to be called Eiji found himself in his office talking to Takatora Kureshima over the phone.
“So, you got back to Japan smoothly?” Eiji asked walking into the foundation’s local laboratory where down on conveyors, RideVendors and Candroids were being constructed by both a combination of both men and machine.
“Yes, Kohtaro’s staying in Europe to investigate what remains of Shocker a little more, but I myself had to return home to Japan,” Takatora said from a phone booth outside a hospital. Seito University, it read atop a sign. “Something’s… come up.”
An ambulance pulled up, sirens blaring and paramedics rushed a thrashing man into the emergency room.
“Are… are you at a hospital?” Eiji asked. “What’s going on?”
“It’s… rather odd, and to be honest I don’t actually know how to explain it myself.” Takatora replied, rubbing his temples.
“...This from the man who uses a melon-themed padlock to transform?” Eiji deadpanned. “...How much odder can it get? Try me.” he remarked with a teasing tone in his voice.
“This is hardly something to joke about Hino,” Takatora replied. “That game put out by the Genm Corporation, Kamen Rider Chronicle?”
“Yeah?” Eiji asked from the other end of the line. “Thinking of getting it for my daughter, -huge fan of Kuuga that she is, when she heard he was in the game- but what’s going on?”
“...I’d advise against that actually. It’s been connected to these odd little occurrences over here in Tokyo. Game Disease they call it.” Takatora finished, watching as an ER surgeon named Hiiro directed everything. “Hino, are you that blind as to what’s going on in your home country?”
“...Been more worried about what’s been going on over here, actually. The Greeed are sorta my main concern right now,” Eiji replied. “That and keeping an eye on the newest Rider, OOOs as she calls herself.”
Takatora blinked, swearing he must have misheard. “Triple-King? A woman who calls herself Triple-King? ...Okay, that is odd I’ll give you that but a Kamen Rider in America? That is a new one.”
“...It’s not as odd as you might think, I did hear a few small rumors here and there on the internet about some Riders in a city called Gramercy Heights, over in California. The rumors have mostly faded but… Never mind. We’re getting off topic. How bad are things?”
There was no answer, so Hino pressed blocking out all the noise from the machinery and just listening to whatever worrying thing Takatora had to say next.
“Just how bad are things?” he asked again.
“The Japanese Ministry of Health has been keeping it mostly under wraps, but it's bad,” Takatora replied. “5 years ago the Bugster Virus had a massive outbreak, a lot of people vanished into thin air because of the virus. Genm’s CEO Dan Kuroto and the Ministry have been-”
“-Wait, Genm’s CEO is Dan Kuroto?” Eiji sputtered out, cutting Takatora off. “From what I heard, it was Dan Masamune. ...Okay, I really am out of the loop.” he muttered to himself. Wiping the sweat off his face with a handkerchief, Eiji sighed. “Shazai… Please continue Kurashima-San.”
“Please don’t call me that, I keep expecting my father to appear anytime somebody calls me that,” Takatora requested, remembering his father and how he indirectly created Kamen Rider Iðunn and the tragedy that followed. “Anyways, as I was saying. There has been a recent increase in Bugster attacks in Tokyo so Genm and the Ministry have developed their own Kamen Riders to fight them and the Game Disease as it is called. Things aren’t easy over there, and the rest of us Riders are on standby to help if needed.”
“I… I understand,” Eiji replied before sighing. “...We never get a break, do we? This planet… year after year it’s always something. Between space aliens and giant mecha battles and our own struggles, it seems like Earth is a magnet for insanity,”
“I have learned something, presumably the other Kamen Riders have learned something like this as well. Heroes are not born out of happiness, nor are they just born. Heroes are made, sure they dazzle us with their courageous and selfless acts and flash into public view like a flare but they are never born. No, they have to be made and molded. I say this not to be cruel, but to remind you. None of us asked for this, to ask to be a Kamen Rider would probably be the definition of insanity given what we are put through.” Takatora lectured, his friend listening to every word he ever said even as he continued to walk. By now, Eiji had returned up to the upper levels of the Foundation building and was now in his personal office. Taking a seat down in his chair, Eiji sighed once more.
“And yet year after year one -or maybe two, or maybe three- comes to save the world right when they’re needed the most,” Eiji sighed. But then again, as Kohtaro likes to say: “We protect the dreams of children, and continue to rain hope for everyone. That’s what it means to be a Kamen Rider!” That’s correct, isn’t it?”
“Yes… Yes, it’s quite correct. Even if I never exactly followed the normal Kamen Rider creed -even if I did what I thought was just- I intend to make up for my sins. If you ever need me Eiji. If OOOs ever needs me or any other Rider… Just call. We’ll come running.”
“I’m… I’m sure she’d like to hear that. I’ll be sure to pass on the message.” Eiji asked, and sat in his office chair, looking out at the evening sunset falling over the city. His city, his precious city.
Eiji pulled out a cell medal and looked at it intently and asked this of it. Or asked the Greeed rather. “...So, where will you strike next, and how will you do so?” he whispered.
Denver National Aquarium:
Adagio meanwhile had her own issues aside from worrying about the Greeeds’ next little plot whatever it happened to be really. Oh sure, she was quite well aware she’d made a particularly nasty enemy in Mezool even if she’d managed to stop the Aquatic Greeed from gathering any large amount of cell medals but that wasn’t her current issue. No, that issue was related to something else that had happened during the last battle.
Vignette Valencia of CNN. Lovely woman, Adagio thought to herself with no small amount of sarcasm. And it seemed just to be ‘relevant’ she really didn’t care whose lives were made a sort of living hell.
“Adagio… As in Adagio Dazzle?” Vignette asked in shock, Eiji realizing too late his mistake. “Adagio Dazzle, as in one of the three sirens who tried to take over the world some years back? Are you hearing this viewers, Adagio Dazzle is our Kamen Rider OOOs?”
Ever since Adagio transformed on live television, speculation was beginning to run rampant. Sure, it boosted the visitors to the aquarium which wasn’t exactly something Adagio would actually complain about but it did have its… drawbacks.
Drawbacks meaning Adagio was discussed on live television. Not to mention that she was being actively confused with someone else. She had half a mind to sue the news station for slander.
Mind you that came with its own set of issues. After all, how did you sue someone for defamation of character that was -in a way- technically true? Plus, how did you blab about alternate worlds without sounding like some sort of nutcase?
“So, Treehugger is it? In your honest opinion, -be truthful now!- what do you think of one of your old classmates -would be world wrecker by the way- now taking up the identity of a Kamen Rider?” Vignette asked the woman, who Adagio vaguely remembered running her own yoga dojo. Adagio tried it once or twice hearing how relaxing it was, but really didn’t end up enjoying it given she ended up putting her joints in all the decidedly wrong places.
“It’s pretty far out,” Tree Hugger commented, a serene look on her face. In the background, a picture of the Equestrian Adagio was displayed. Adagio shuddered at her counterpart’s hair, seriously did that woman have a fetish for the eighties? And she looked like a friggin’ whore for crying out loud. Some high-schooler. “It’s really weird, when I last saw Adagio in school, her aura was red, but looking at the footage, she seemed to have more of a violet one.”
“Uh… A violent one?” Vignette asked… No, pressed. “Should we be worried?”
“I said violet, not violent,” Treehugger corrected. “Sorry if you misheard me, Miss Vignette. Man, you really need to loosen up, seriously ya do. I can seriously hook you up with a few classes, might do you wonders!”
“...I… I think I’ll pass,” Vignette trailed off, slightly weirded out. Watching that gave Adagio a small sense of satisfaction. “But are you really sure that we’re not dealing with an actual threat to the city, now given more power than any one person has any right to wield?”
“If you ask me, no. If OOO’s wanted to be a threat, she’d have been one by now. The footage shows her saving lives, what’s the threat there?” Treehugger continued. “Piranha hoard, no thank you! And anyways, more power than any one person has any right to wield? Man, have you not heard of the Seven Legendary Riders… Or hell, any of the Kamen Riders nowadays? They’ve been helping Japan out for years, and I for one am pleased America finally has one to call their own.”
“Evil Riders are a thing, you do realize that right?” Vignette asked. “I delved into some old news reports, coming from this city called Fuuto and there was this Kamen Rider Eternal person. Tried to kill everyone in the entire city. So yes, I think the people have every right to be concerned. Kamen Riders are supposed to be heroes of justice yes, but as we’ve seen there is every chance that sort of power can lend itself to the wrong hands.”
“What evidence is there that it’s in the wrong hands?” Treehugger retorted, leaning back in her seat. “Your own footage shows her risking her life for others. Citing that other Riders have been evil before is like, faulty logic. And bringing up Adagio in high school sounds like poisoning the well. I mean, who was the same person they were in high school? If we started judging people on that metric, then almost everyone’s in trouble. I mean, I myself was no angel in high school. Smoked pot in the restrooms every chance I got and really got on Vice-Principal Luna’s nerves, but look at me now, running my own dojo.”
“Yes, but-” Vignette started as Tree Hugger got up off of her chair and began walking off-set.
“Man, I’ve had just about enough of this shit. Find some other poor sap to grill for information, peace out assholes!” Treehugger said flipping the peace sign and leaving. Vignette was understandably… annoyed.
“Well, it seems some people can’t stand the limelight!” she harrumphed. “Anyways, we’ll be taking callers now, see what they think of this new development in this city of ours.”
The first caller opened with, “I think this OOO’s is good for our city. I was around when those piranha things attacked. I could’ve died if not for her.”
Adagio smiled at that voice. Rarity.
The next caller was one she recognized too. “I’ve been forced to be a host for one of those creepy monsters before. OOO’s is making sure they don’t hurt people. Are you really so desperate for ratings that you gotta sling mud around like a pig?”
Adagio, after these first three, did feel a sense of relaxation, but then, of course, there was always that little thing called balance. For every piece of praise you got, there was going to be someone else who wanted to punch you -metaphorically or literally- in the stomach.
“There’s no way this OOO’s should be allowed to run around!” A caller raved, their voice crackling in the speaker. “I mean honestly, she was an absolute menace to Canterlot High and she was only there for about a week! If we let her do whatever she wants then she’ll surely try something again!”
“If OOO’s really wanted to help people she’d give that power to someone in the police or armed forces,” another caller argued. “Someone who's trained to deal with dangerous situations and protect civilians. I mean, you ever heard of the G3 suit, it was made to be used against the Gurongi, and its user trained as such. Instead, here we have a woman playing around with power like it’s a toy. She shouted Giga Drill Breaker live on television for cryin’ out loud like she was having fun!”
“I think that OOO’s could be a huge threat to our city,” one caller started and Adagio sighed to herself quite tempted to turn off her phone or at least listen to something more soothing. Of course, what she heard next was… sorta unexpected really.
“Oh, how so?” Vignette pressed eagerly, having eaten up all the previous comments on OOOs, positive or otherwise.
“It’s clear that OOO’s is a tool of the Illuminati. That armor is plastered with their symbolism. They’re likely using the suit as a test of their super soldier program. I for one think we should all be scared for the end times are nigh and OOO’s is a sign that the Anti-Christ is coming.”
Needless to say, Vignette -much to Adagio’s great amusement- dropped the call pretty quickly. Several more like this followed, and Vignette quickly said: “W-Well, I think that’s a fairly definitive idea of the city’s opinions on OOO don’t you viewers? J-Join me tomorrow night when I discuss the possibility of your babysitter running a call girl ring from your very own home!”
Adagio leaned back up against a wall as she tossed a fish towards Arthur, the leopard seal eating it up. There she was, a barely suppressed grin on her face. Seeing Vignette get flustered like that at the end was immensely satisfying. A part of her wanted to find Treehugger and thank her for her appearance. She just didn’t want to look desperate or like she couldn’t take care of things herself.
“Personally, I still think you’re crazy for even getting this close to the big guy,” Star Hunter remarked from the other side of the glass that looked into the enclosure. “...Mind you, you just became a superhero so I suppose I shouldn’t really be commenting on your sanity relating to you getting close to dangerous animals.”
“Gee… Glad you have so much faith in me Star,” Adagio deadpanned, stroking the skin atop Arthur’s head. “Besides, Arthur here’s a sweetheart if you know how to deal with him. Like most men, the road to his heart is through his stomach.”
“...Wow, real sweeping there ‘Dagi. I’m hurt!” Star teased the dark-skinned man faking being shot. “Oh, by and by, I should warn you the Aquarium will have a few reporters coming by later today. Interviewers, the lot. Not that I’m grateful for the place racking up a few more visitors since… well, y’know but I hate fending off the paparazzi. We have a job to do here, and we don’t need those vultures getting up all in our business.”
“Trust me, I know how you feel. I’m the one they want. I swear I see them following me sometimes like they’re waiting for me to do something incriminating.” Adagio muttered. “I know there’s this saying stating that only the paranoid survive but this is getting ludicrous. I don’t want to have to look over my shoulder every day.”
“Tell you what, I’ll help keep an eye out for you,” Star Hunter assured. “I hate the rags that half of these people work for. The last thing I want is to see a photo of you plastered on one of them while checking out at the grocery store.”
“I’m getting security cameras, and a taser,” Adagio decided. “That way if some idiot wants to break into my apartment for a scoop, I can claim self-defense.”
“Good idea,” Star Hunter replied. “Maybe talk to your landlord too to see what you’re allowed to install. An alarm might be helpful too if they try to get in while you’re not home.”
Adagio chuckled. She suspected Ankh would work better than any man-made alarm, given his hostility towards anything and everything but then again that might wind up with her in more trouble than she wanted. “You know, if it weren’t for the commute I’d severely be thinking about taking my little sister’s route and moving outside of the city towards some ranch somewhere. Less liable to be bothered.”
“Oh please, you’d hate being out on a ranch,” Star Hunter dismissed. “It isn’t just the commute that’d bug you. It’s the isolation.”
“Oh, isolation I can handle, I like the peace and quiet, keeps me from being surrounded by idiots like Vignette. If it’s the wide-open space, I suppose yeah… I prefer the city lights honestly. Not to mention the little things I’ve heard about Skinwalkers from time to time.” Adagio admitted.
“I’d say Skinwalkers aren’t real… but given what’s been going on here lately, Skinwalkers don’t sound that crazy.” Star Hunter chuckled weakly, rubbing the back of his head.
“Trust me, you wouldn’t be laughing if you heard half of the stuff Skinwalkers can do. Talked to a friend in Arizona over Facebook, had a nasty encounter where one almost ran up to her car and ripped her limb from limb. Had to get a shaman to perform blessings, the whole thing,” Adagio admitted. “Fact is, I’m nervous to even talk about them really. There’s a reason a lot of tribes don’t speak much about them. ...Yeah, that’s it, I’m getting one to perform blessings on my house tonight. Might want for you to do that as well.”
“...This whole conversation just turned very weird, you know that right?” Star Hunter asked as Adagio exited Arthur’s enclosure briefly watching the seal dive into his pool and swim about. The little things, Adagio smiled to herself.
“Weirder than talking about me using medals to transform and the pros and cons of that?” Adagio asked with a small raised eyebrow.
“Point taken,” Star Hunter asked. “Still, there's those reporters coming in the hour, just want to remind you of that ‘Dagi.”
“...Would you like to borrow my baseball bat?” Adagio deadpanned. “Relax, I can handle myself.”
“Figured, but a heads up never hurt anyone, right?” he questioned, flashing her an easy smile. His eyes then widened as he saw a figure dart from the shadows. “Hey, you see that?” Star asked, gesturing to the shadows. He swore he saw this figure, dressed in a leather jacket. Military looking, at least due to the hairstyle.
“...Sure you’re not just getting paranoid due to all the attention?” Adagio asked skeptically.
“No, I’m sure I saw something in the shadows over there,” Star replied. “Agh, maybe you’re right. Maybe I am just getting paranoid as all Hell. Still, you can’t blame a guy can’t you?”
“...Ah, no. Not really,” Adagio shrugged before she steeled herself. “Ah well, time to face the music as it were. What do you think, a nice dress or just look like normal? Wetsuit and all?”
“Nice dress, best to not let them think you don’t take them seriously,” Star agreed. “...Mind you, if you showed up in a bikini it might be a good laugh for the rest of us, it’d give them something else to focus on besides you being a Kamen Rider.”
“Har har,” Adagio laughed. “You’re a real comedian, you know that right?” she asked, fighting back a smile.
“Maybe I’ll take my routine on the road? I can wow audiences with aquarium jokes. I can make a few fish-puns. Terrible ones, I admit, but still… Gotta start somewhere.”
“Try Lannie’s. You know, Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret? Been there a few times, Josh Blue’s a riot.” Adagio remarked.
“...Didn’t even know you had a sense of humor,” Star replied. “With you, it’s always work before pleasure. And you do take your work seriously, never known anyone to have the outright nerve to get that close to a leopard seal and pet it like it’s a common house cat all the while raising it back to health.”
“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think…” Adagio trailed off, a hint of a smile gracing her face before she checked her watch. “...Crap, only thirty minutes till the vultures arrive. Been standing around here talking, time went by. Best I get dressed.” she said, popping a breath mint in her mouth.
So, with that, the woman quickly dressed herself as nicely as she could given the short time frame and walked out towards the foyer where more than a few reporters were waiting. As soon as she arrived, camera shutters went off and she was at once bombarded with questions. Adagio kept her cool, finding a spot to focus on just away from the flashing to avoid shielding her eyes. This also made it look like she was addressing the audience without having her focus on the reporters specifically. Wasn’t the first time she did this, given how popular the Aquarium generally was, it was just the first time she did this relating to her status as a Kamen Rider.
“Hello, I am open to your questions now. I’ll try to answer them as clearly as possible.”
“Yes. Can I just ask,” the first reporter asked, someone from Fau-Sorry, Fox News network if his badge was right. “How do you exactly feel about everything being asked of and about you?”
Great, an open-ended and vague question, just what she wanted right off the bat. And it had to be from this news network of all things. “People are curious, that’s to be expected. What’s going on in the city is not exactly an everyday occurrence. I just happen to be the center of their curiosity.”
“And… how do you feel about this?” The same reporter asked. Snappy Scoop, his name tag read. A bit on the nose, Adagio thought to herself in amusement.
And suddenly this news network learned how to press for a concrete answer. “I’m not one for the limelight so this isn’t something I’m used to. But I’m managing. Any other questions?”
“Yes, I’ve got one,” a female reporter, Press Release from Denver7 asked. Again, Adagio wondered, what was with these on the ludicrously on the nose names? “Are you quite sure you are not that person Vignette claims you are?”
A sarcastic reply was oh so tempting in that moment. If it wouldn’t make things infinitely worse, then she’d give into that impulse. Instead, she bit her tongue and said, “I am as positive as I can be that I am not that person. I have photographic and witnesses that can prove I was nowhere near Canterlot High when the incident Miss Vignette described occurred. In fact, I’ve worked at this aquarium for years now, just ask around. If you still don’t believe me, ask my co-workers. They will testify I am not that person.”
“Well, you know what they say…” Press Release well… pressed. “Sometimes the only way to find the real story is to dig deep, so…”
If one looked closely enough, one could see Adagio’s eyebrow give a slight twitch. “I’ve given my comment on the matter. If you want, I can give you my evidence.”
This went on for a good fifteen minutes or so, feeling like an eternity, but eventually, the reporters relented. Adagio sighed to herself as she wiped the sweat off her face using a bathroom sink. And to think, this was probably only just the beginning…
Meanwhile, at a certain apartment in Capitol Hill, Mezool had managed to retrieve a few of her children that had escaped a certain Kamen Rider’s finisher.
“SCANNING CHARGE!” the driver shouted as Adagio ran the scanner across it once more before changing into a liquid form propelling herself upwards. She then grabbed the massive yummy school with her whips and pulled herself inwards the legs turning into one massive drill spinning like a corkscrew.
“Always wanted to say this and I know this sounds so unprofessional of me but… GIGA DRILL BREAKER!” Adagio shouted in a one-off moment of completely dropping her stoic composure as she burrowed into the yummy school.
The yummies exploded and it began to rain down cell medals, Ankh, Mezool and everyone else trying to catch whatever they could.
What nobody had seen in all the chaos was Mezool, leaping down towards the ground and to her surprise and shock finding several of her yummy children still crawling about.
“Oh, my babies…” Mezool whispered as she gathered up the piranha-themed yummies in her arms and began scampering off towards a nearby dump truck, driven by Gamel.
“Gamel, get me and my children out of here, before that brat or that bastard Ankh realizes that they missed a few,” Mezool stated, gently tossing her children into the back of the truck. She then tossed a look back behind her and sighed in relief as she saw Adagio clutching her chest in pain and being helped to a nearby bench by Eiji. She chuckled. “So, it seems that petulant child can’t handle the power of my cores after all…” Mezool murmured to herself, allowing a slight smirk of satisfaction to cross her features.
“Anything for you Mezool!” Gamel answered with a rapid nod of his head, and a lovesick smile on his face. The latter of course, Mezool couldn’t possibly have noticed. And how could she, she didn’t exactly know what love was. The trouble was, when Mezool’s tenth core was removed from that set all those years ago, she like all the rest of the other Greeed lost the ability to feel as we do. Sadly, and this was the real tragedy of the Greeed it was almost impossible for them to see the world as we do. Every sense that they once possessed, it had been diluted. They could only hear drowned out sounds, and see the world in various shades of gray. As such, Mezool like all Greeed became Hell-bent on filling the void left in them by consuming the world. All just to feel what we humans do.
Mezool’s desire, of course, was to feel human love, which was why she took on the form of a teenage schoolgirl and doted over Gamel so much, alongside referring to her yummies as her children. The sad thing was, it may very well have been impossible for her to actually achieve her desire. But then again, time would only tell…
“I suppose it can’t be helped,” Mezool sighed as the last of her children dissolved into cell medals which were divided up amongst the other Greeed. “OOO will get a few of my children, and she’ll get a few of our cores.”
“...Suffering a crisis of conscience are you Mezool?” Kazari asked with a small yawn. “That’s not like you, you’re normally fairly determined.”
“Hardly. We just need to play the long game, outlast OOOs and collect Cells little by little until we… complete ourselves. It’ll be impossible for her to withstand our power by then. This assumes OOOs even makes it this far. Every human has a desire, it’s impossible for them to function without it. Why, if you showed me a human without desires I’d probably die of shock!”
“...Well, here’s one in this novel, completely selfless and only showing concerns for others…” Gamel murmured reading a frankly rather trashy book -in every sense of the word- showing a shirtless male on the cover. Written by a Satin Nights, apparently. Mezool blinked, she didn’t even know Gamel could read.
“...That’s human fiction,” Mezool said with a sigh. “Emphasis on fiction. I’m talking realistically. The OOOs Girl wouldn’t even be able to handle the power of any of our combos forever. Eventually… She’d lose control to her own desires and I for one cannot wait to see that happen. That would be our chance to strike.”
“...Or, you know we could let the humans do in OOOs for us,” Kazari suggested leaning back on the couch arms crossed behind his head. “They’re a fickle bunch, and watching this ‘CNN’ tells me they’re only a few steps away from turning on her. They’d just need the right… incentive.” he chuckled.
“...What are you plotting?” Mezool asked narrowing her eyes suspiciously. That cat always had an agenda, and trusting him was tantamount to suicide.
“It’s not just me this time,” Kazari admitted. “Me and Uva, we decided to put aside our differences for once. Just this once.”
Mezool blinked, swearing she must have misheard. Uva and Kazari, working together? Had the world truly gone mad?
“No, I assure you, Mezool, you’re still quite sane. It’s just we have to know when to fold them. And working to ensure our survival against OOOs…” Kazari answered lazily. “I can think of no better common cause than that. As you said, she cannot withstand the power of a Full-Medal combo for long, so I figure we draw her out with another Yummy -Uva’s choice of course- and when she goes berserk let the humans take over for us and kill her. All the while, we don’t have to lift a finger and we get more Cell Medals in the bargain. A two for one deal!” he said, clapping his hands together in excitement before propping his feet up on a table.
“If that’s the case… Then why do I still have a bad feeling about this…?” Mezool thought to herself.
Meanwhile, Uva was putting his part of the plan into action. Namely, the first part involved finding a suitable parent for the next Yummy, the one that would hopefully play a part in doing OOOs in.
It would need to be a very powerful parent, with their desire overriding everything else, such as Rainbow Dash had taught him. Her sense of justice was simply too strong for her to be used as a viable host, as she was liable to turn on the very Yummy she created.
Thankfully, Uva considered himself knowledgeable enough on all the types of Desire. And he knew the oldest and always most reliable was plain and simple greed. It never failed, as shown with the power the King possessed. His greed was so strong that as mentioned before, all of the Greeed had been able to create Yummies as powerful as their own complete forms from it. If Ankh hadn’t chosen to backstab them, they might just have defeated the man and reclaimed their cores.
“Ankh....” Uva growled out, even as he ripped off a jail cell door, tossing a cell into the head of a wanted bank robber. Even now, he flashbacked to the moment of Ankh’s betrayal...
Suddenly, a blast of fire hit the silver one in the chest before the former King of the Birds stepped out of the shadows.
“A-Ankh?” Uva whispered in horror. “W-Why?”
“I know when to pick my winners.” Ankh smirked. However, even he didn’t see what would happen next when the King, for some reason attempted to scan every Core Medal at once, his desires getting the best of him. He even quite literally backstabbed Ankh and ripped out his own Core Medals.
“Now… Now I shall be one of the Gods!” King screamed out before descending into mad laughter. But that was not what fate desired, for even King’s body had its limits. The monstrous creature running a scanner across every core medal, after he tossed them up in the air, multiple voices began calling out.
“Taka, Tora, Batta, Kuwagata, Kamakiri, Lion, Cheetah, Sai, Gorilla, Zou! Shachi, Unagi, Tako, Cobra, Kame, Wani, Kujaku, Condor, Same, Kujira, Ookamiuo! Ebi, Kani, Sasori, Shika, Gazelle, UshI, Mukade, Hachi, Ari, Seiuchi, Shirokuma, Penguin!” the belt shouted one after the other as each core was scanned. This of course, was a foolish maneuver. Like I said, even his body had its limits. With this overwhelming surge of power, the entire castle buckled and then exploded, and all that was left were a set of ruins and one large coffin with the belt buckle forming the seal.
Spending a few hundred years trapped away with his fellow Greeed left Uva with quite the headache, not to mention one Hell of a charley horse and aches in places he didn’t even know he had. Chuckling as he watched a weevil-like entity crawl out of the head of the convict, Uva stepped aside and laughed as he watched the new yummy head towards the nearest bank.
People screaming and scattering as the yummy began gnawing on the bank vault door, it soon devoured anything and everything valuable inside. As it did this, it grew in size and headed up the side of the bank devouring the building walls as it did so.
Uva watched this and then saw Adagio in her human horseless carriage 'round a corner, tires squealing out in protest seemingly right on cue. Knowing when to take his leave, he leaped off into the distance.
From his office, Eiji watched through the vision of a Batta Candroid. He groaned when he saw the Weevil Yummy, now massive in size heading towards his building. Taking out the proto-birth driver, he slapped it on, tossed a cell medal into it and transformed armor forming around his body.
“I can’t even begin to imagine how much the insurance premiums will go up after this…” he muttered, knowing his boss was going to hate this. On the ground meanwhile, Adagio had already henshined using the Shauta combo medals but something was wrong. Very wrong in fact, as Ankh was just now finding out.
Adagio screamed out in pain as she felt energy run rampant through her body as her desires took control. Not just the desire to protect everyone, but the desire to keep her own reputation intact from Vignette and her machinations. Which was proving to be much harder than it looked, as Adagio was now growling ferally, and advancing on Ankh with the Unagi Whips crackling with electricity.
“Damn it, I knew this would happen sooner or later, I just knew it,” Ankh muttered. “But does she listen? No, just no!” he grumbled, dodging to the left as Adagio lashed out, her helmet eyes glowing a sharp lamp-like shade of yellow. One lash of her whips managed to cleave the entire front end off a nearby car.
Ankh looked up to the yummy crawling up the side of the Kougami Foundation, and then back at Adagio who was advancing on him. “...Can’t believe I’m even staying for this, why am I not just cutting and running like I should?” Ankh asked himself as he brought out another Batta Candroid and slipped a cell medal into it allowing it to transform. He then ran over to a nearby vending machine with the Kougami Foundation logo on the side of it and selected two more candroids.
“Kujaku Can! Unagi Can!” the vending machine stated.
“Come on, come on… Please tell me this will work…” Ankh muttered as the two cans appeared in front of him, and he tossed two more cell medals into them activating their functions. Amazingly, he actually combined all three candroids into a hand-held device that displayed a screen. And on that screen, was another one of the Dazzling sisters. Namely, Aria.
“Alright, Adagio…” Ankh muttered as the berserking Rider turned her attention to him. Swallowing nervously, he put his and Eiji’s plan into action. “If you care any about what happens to your sister, you’re going to listen to me….”
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Huh, interesting.
What a brave doctor.
I see what you did there.
Good speech.
Treehugger, nice one!
cdn2-www.playstationlifestyle.net/assets/uploads/2018/09/marvels-Spider-man-ps4-j-jonah-jameson-alex-jones-555x328.png
Someone has issues.
Yeah, be glad you don't live in Tokyo.
Oh fuck.
How would that even have worked? Like really?
9507828
"Riders should help other Riders out."
There is nothing he cannot cut!
In theory, it's largely possible really. I mean, there's nothing saying Dragon Knight and Ryuki can't exist in the same world am I correct?
And she's the hippie! Imagine if it were someone like Rainbow Dash... (Side note, I did think about having Shining Armor get interviewed and actually give Adagio the benefit of the doubt but it got cut.)
"Get me pictures of that Adagio chick, you hear me Parker?"
You always get one or two of the crazies... Blame Thunder, it was his idea to put someone like that on Vignette's calls.
No comment.
Let's face it, living in Tokyo in the KR/SS world... It'd be the equivalent to hell.
...You know, for once maybe Adagio should have listened to Ankh. Anger management and breathing exercises Adagio, I heard they work wonders.
Honest to god, good question. Presumbably, they would have had the same parents or something and Rainbow just got adopted by an American family. Needless to say, due to this idea's various issues along with me hating Kusaka with a passion I dropped the idea.
9508077
Well, someone watched a certain movie.
To Bugsters he says: "No thank you!"
Yeah, especially with the doppelganger stuff and so on.
Huh, interesting.
Thanks, Thunder.
No comment could have made that reference justice.
Well, at least it won't be boring.
Count to four! Inhale! Count to four! Exhale!
In all honesty, thank god you scraped that idea, it would have never worked, neither with Kusaka nor Rainbow.
9508101
Whistles innocently
Add that to the fact that Ryuki technically never happened, unless of course you got really bad luck and broke enough mirrors.
Ah, Jameson, you may be a prick beyond measure but we love you for it.
That is such a poor pun. wipes tear I've never been so proud.
I'd prefer boring in that world. Having a chance of becoming a Phantom, getting stepped on by a giant mecha, getting abducted and becoming a cyborg, hunted down by ailens for some sick game? I think I'll pass on all of that.
That sounds more like Ankh-cise!
Like I said, fuck that bastard!
9508113
Yeah, and even then, the chance that you sture something up is very low.
Yes, yes we do.
Thank you! Thank you! I won't leave and neither will my puns.
Yeah...
I'm responsible for the terrible puns here!
Yeah, such a loveable prick.
9508129
Mhmm, the only real chance you'd stumble across a Ryuki Rider with powers is if you went into an AR world.
...Joy. I-I hate your puns b-baka!
Mind you, the whole Phantom thing has one benefit if you do manage to break through your despair.
~Shabadoobie touch to Henshin~!
We're equally responsible. But seriously, I wanted to put fear into you with Adagio going Beserk. Did I succeed...?
...I'm inclined to disagree. I can't even get into love to hate mode with that bastard. He's just so... Gah! I think I need brain bleach now.
9508141
Yeah, at least there is that.
Yep,
Agree to disagree.
9508143
Idliy tosses Quiz and Kikai Rings up in the air
And just think, any Full-Medal combo could become this. Each and any Full-Medal combo is subject to this now, even our beloved TaJaDor. Terrified yet?
Agreed.
9509079
Do you have something against Shinobie?
More excited actually.
9509156
How do you know I haven't already summoned him to stalk you?
You are a very weird man. X or O?
O!
9509168
Because he is a shinobi that doesn't hide.
God dammit.
9509273
I see what you did there.
Smirks