A fill from the Tiger and Bunny Anon Meme. Prompt: A NEXT accident switches Barnaby with another Barnaby from a parallel universe… one where he and Kotetsu are girls! Barnaby, during his stay in World B, starts to fall for fem!Kotetsu…

This is my first time uploading an in-progress fic to Fanfiction. I will stop posting new chapters to the Anon Meme, and once I've caught up to the currently posted chapters, all new updates will appear here. Updates will be weekly, on Saturdays.

Let's see how this goes! :)

Barnaby awoke unable to tell which way was up. Confusion, and rising panic, rattled inside his head as he gradually remembered what had happened—light, and force, running ahead and losing sight of Kotetsu as the building collapsed around them…

And then waking up now, an indeterminate amount of time later. The camera system in his helmet remained offline, and he felt too weak to lift his head, let alone use his Hundred Power, which may or may currently be expired. He tried to twitch his legs, but an incredible weight pressed down on them and trapped him. Buried alive—most likely by the rubble.

Well, this isn't good. Until he knew his power had recharged, he shouldn't attempt to move. Thrashing about without knowing what was above him could dislodge something fatally heavy. The difference in strength between now and when his power returned (which would hopefully be soon) might be the difference between life and death.

Relax. Wait. Focus. Remember what happened. He and Kotetsu had entered a criminal hideout—Rock Bison had been there, too—only to realize that the entire place had been rigged with a chain of explosives. The entrance collapsed behind them, and they had no choice but to proceed forward, rubble and shrapnel ravaging their armor suits. By a stroke of luck, none of the lighter-costumed heroes had been there. Barnaby saw an opportunity to run ahead, get closer to the suspect before he escaped forever, and he got close, he knew he did… but then there was some sort of light…

Barnaby's helmet winked back to life, glowing and pinging and running diagnostics. The battery was low, but not drained. Pressure registered on nearly all parts of his suit, but nothing threatened its structure. The suit had saved his life once again. Preliminary scans of the materials surrounding him detected concrete, steel, copper and iron, plastic. Rubble, as Barnaby had suspected, even though the camera remained offline.

Is Kotetsu okay?

Barnaby tried to lift something—arms, legs, and less ambitiously, his hands and feet—and though he felt his strength returning, he still couldn't resist the weight piled above him. Had it been an hour since he used his power? He couldn't be sure, and so long as the weight stayed stable, he shouldn't make any sudden moves.

But Kotetsu might have made some sudden moves. What if Kotetsu was nearby, buried alive like Barnaby, but much more likely to do something stupidly life-threatening? What if he had burned through his power already, and the shifted debris was about to crush him, armor and all? But Barnaby had no idea where he was, or even if he would be in time to rescue him—

"Bunny?"

His communicator crackled to life, and a wave of relief rushed through Barnaby. Kotetsu is alive.

"Yes, I'm here!" Barnaby said. "Alive and well, but a little stuck."

A growl of frustration ripped through Barnaby's speakers, slightly obscured by radio static. "Dammit, Bunny! What the hell were you thinking running out ahead of me?! You could've gotten yourself killed!"

Barnaby smiled even as Kotetsu berated him. His voice sounded a little bit higher-pitched than usual, just by a few keys, but he chalked that up to communicator interference.

"I thought I could head off the explosions," he replied honestly.

"Well, you didn't! You scared me half to death, that's what you did, charging ahead like that! Partners are supposed to stick together!"

Barnaby winced. He understood interference in the communicator, but Kotetsu was usually not this shrill. "Please save that lecture for when I'm on the surface. Can you pinpoint my suit?"

"Yeah, I'm locked on. Hang in there, Bunny, we'll get you dug out soon."

Hang in there. All right. Barnaby closed his eyes and took as deep a breath as he could, exhaling slowly. He could 'hang in there' for as long as he needed.

And Kotetsu's alive. He's okay.

Gradually, Barnaby heard faint sounds above him. Muffled voices, the whine of a drill. Probably Rock Bison. And then another distant call, this time without a communicator: "Bunny! Bunny, we're coming!"

Barnaby's brow furrowed. Kotetsu's voice still sounded far too high. Could there have been a gas leak, something that would alter his voice? Impossible, the suits had filters to prevent them from inhaling gases. Then maybe some other kind of muffler, either blocking Kotetsu's voice or obstructing Barnaby's hearing—

"Almost… there!" he heard another voice, Rock Bison's, definitely. "We're coming for you, Emily!"

…Emily?

His mother's name. Even as a rather common name, Barnaby always thought of his mother first whenever he heard it. Why would Rock Bison be shouting for 'Emily?' Had there been civilians in the area before they charged in and the building collapsed? Everything strange in this situation had a halfway rational explanation, but these compounding excuses just made Barnaby's heart sink. Something is wrong.

Experimentally, Barnaby curled a fist and tried to activate his power—the exhilarating tingle of Hundred Power surged through him. "Wait, stop digging and back away! I think I can jump out!"

"Hop to it, Bunny!" Kotetsu said with his strange, high voice. "We're all clear!"

Barnaby curled his abs and sat up, body and arms clearing away the rubble as easily as if he were swimming. Then, using the voices as a guide, he tucked his legs underneath him, pointed toward the surface, and jumped as hard as he could. He broke free from the rubble within seconds, and landed hard on solid ground again. Glad to be in the freedom of open air, Barnaby stretched his legs and tried to return blood flow to all parts of his body.

"Yes! Nice one!" Barnaby heard Kotetsu cheer behind him as he stood up again. "Seriously, I don't know why you have to scare me… like… When did you get tall?"

Barnaby didn't feel any taller. With his camera still not working, Barnaby flipped open his faceplate and glanced at his feet. No difference. "I don't know what you mean."

He turned to look back at his fellow heroes. Rock Bison stood a little off to the side, presumably staring at him, but Barnaby's attention immediately fell to Kotetsu—well, Wild Tiger—well, the hero who stood to the side and wore a suit of green, white, and black armor with a tiger-themed faceplate.

It wasn't just Kotetsu's voice that was wrong. Something was wrong with his body, too. Frankly, it was a female body. Barnaby could see delicate shaping in the suit designed to accommodate a female form—broader hips, narrower waist, altered chest plate. The armor on his—her?—shoulders was slimmer, the gauntlets a hair thinner, and the 'Softbank' logo stretched across her—do NOT think of those, Barnaby, I forbid it.

The hero flipped up her faceplate, revealing a smaller domino mask beneath it: dark blue with a white border, framing bright amber eyes on a tanned face. She lacked Kotetsu's distinctive beard, and without it, looked almost ten years younger than the veteran hero.

"…Bunny?" she asked quietly.

There was only one person in the entire world who called Barnaby that. No matter what Kotetsu looked like—a woman, how was that possible? Had he been transformed?—this had to be Barnaby's partner. Half at a loss of what to do, Barnaby removed his busted helmet and shook his hair free.

The female-Kotetsu let out a small shriek. "Ohmigod Bunny, your hair!"

"What happened to it?" Barnaby tried to look, but failed.

"It's gone! Like, half of it is gone! It's so short now!" Before Barnaby could question any part of that statement, the female-Kotetsu plowed on, "Bunny, you're a boy! You've turned into a boy!"

Turned into a… "I've always been a boy."

Female-Kotetsu gaped at him. "Huh?"

"I've always been a boy. You're the one who's turned into a woman, Kotetsu."

"No, I haven't! I'm the same as ever! And you've never jumbled up my name like that before!"

"I didn't jumble it. Your name is Kotetsu T. Kaburagi," Barnaby insisted. "And Kotetsu, you are the one who's been turned into a woman!"

"It's Tetsuko!" the woman stamped her foot. "Tetsuko T. Kaburagi! And since you're obviously not Bunny, I want to know what you've done with her!"

"But I am Bun—well, I'm not, you just call me Bunny because you think it's funny when it's actually juvenile and petty—"

Tetsuko advanced, stomping across the rubble, with a cold, furious glint in those very familiar and usually so-warm eyes. "I know my partner when I see her! And you, asshole, are not Emily Brooks Jr at all!"

"My name is Barnaby!" Barnaby pointed at himself. "Barnaby Brooks Jr! There's never been an Emily!"

"LIAR!" Tetsuko slapped Barnaby across the face—if not for his lingering Hundred Power, she might have cut his face with her gauntlets. Even uninjured, Barnaby dropped his helmet out of shock anyway. "I don't care who you say you are—tell me what you've done with Bunny!"

"I—I haven't—" At a loss, Barnaby turned to Rock Bison, still standing by. "You can tell her, right? My partner is Wild Tiger. Tiger and Barnaby, for Apollon Media."

"That's… not right," Bison said slowly. "It's Tigress and Emily for Apollon Media. And I met Tigress in high school. You're definitely the thing that's different here." Bison folded his arms and shook his head a little bit. "But how did we get a tracking lock on that suit when we were looking for Emily's?"

"Dr. Saito built suits for my partner and me," Barnaby explained, gesturing to the suit. "Of course they'd be synced."

"That's a lie!" Tetsuko jumped in. "Saito built suits for Bunny and me! Are you saying he built a third suit and slapped them with Bunny's logos—"

"There are only two suits!" Barnaby snapped at Tetsuko, against his better judgment. "One was for me, one was for Kotetsu. These are all my logos."

"If you're talking about me, my name is Tetsuko! Te-tsu-ko! Say it right!"

"But if you're my partner, then your name is Kotetsu! Wild Tiger!"

"It's Tigeress, dammit!"

"Both of you!" Bison bellowed, and the two fell silent. "Something definitely happened down there, and now the world is different. Shouting won't decide who's right."

Tetsuko folded her arms and huffed, derailing Barnaby's own annoyance. I've seen Kotetsu make that face so many times, exactly like this woman…

"Let's go back to the transports. We'll talk with Agnes and some other heroes, and then we can resume search-and-rescue for Emily. But… Barnaby, right?"

"Ah—yes," Barnaby frowned. Bison really sounded like he had never heard Barnaby's name before.

"We'll get to the bottom of this. If you're Emily turned into a boy, or whatever. We'll figure it out."

Barnaby wanted to insist once again that he and this strange 'Emily' had no relation whatsoever, but judging from previous progress, it wouldn't do him any good. He just nodded and picked up his helmet.

This place is wrong. I don't belong here. Barnaby thought. But how did I even get here? And how am I supposed to get home?

Tigress sauntered off ahead of him, apparently too disgusted by this man who had replaced her partner to spend another second looking at him. Barnaby followed, and even with a mind full of worry and stress, he found the way Tetsuko walked to be incredibly distracting.