OathToOblivion: You know, I was feeling great about how we were fixing up JLM so it could be the very best, like no story ever was. And then Mr. "Please update" appeared on the first chapter barely two hours after I posted. Why me-? -sigh- I guess it doesn't really matter though.
Symbolic Joker: ...Well, at least this guy is a dedicated fan?
OathToOblivion: Maybe. It's still friggin' annoying though. Anyway, you guys know the drill here. Here comes Episode 2 for the third and hopefully final time now.
Symbolic Joker: Well, as they say: "Third time's the charm". I'm feeling good about this one. Course, I'll probably be changing my tune when we pick up where we left off, but meh. Let's go shoot this shit.
...I may be watching too much Smosh... nah.
Let's Ride! This is Our Stage Now!
HeartCatch Pretty Cure – Just Live More REDUX
Episode 02 – Knight of Ba~nana! Cure Marine Takes the Stage!
"Ugh," a voice groaned out as its owner awoke. It was the new male who had appeared earlier. He massaged his head, trying to think of what had happened. 'The last thing I remember was messing with my Drive merchandise and then suddenly I felt the urge to go on a murderous rampage and then … a blank. That can't be good. I can't remember what happened next-Wait, where am I anyway? Am I still in my room? Doubt it.'
As the blurriness plaguing him went away, he was able to see what was around him. He noted the elderly woman with brown hair, and the girl (with pink hair? Must have dyed it) next to her. Before he could note anything else though, he felt something soft. Wondering what it was, he turned to see it. His first thought that it was blue. Then he realized it was hair. Following the hair to its source, he found that it belonged to a sleeping girl that looked a few years younger than him who was using his shoulder as a pillow. Seeing this, there was really only one thing he could do.
Blush bright red like a tomato and spring away from her as fast as he could. While the elderly woman in front of him chuckled, he heard deeper snickering behind him. Turning around, he noticed an older male, probably about 20, standing nearby. He had black hair and was wearing brown cargo pants, a black shirt, and a red jacket. Actually, they probably could have passed as siblings now that he thought about it, if it wasn't for the fact that he didn't have any brothers.
"Oh good, you're awake. Mrs. Hanasaki, do you mind if I take him outside to talk to?" the other male in the room asked of the elderly woman.
"Of course, Tsukasa. He's probably confused about things right now," the woman said.
'Hanasaki. That sounds...familiar,' the figure thought. Anyway, she was right. He was confused. And it looked like this Tsukasa guy was his best bet of finding answers. He followed Tsukasa out of the place, which looked a little like a greenhouse now that he thought about it. Once they were outside, Tsukasa turned to him.
"Guess things are a bit confusing for you right now, huh? I'm Kadoya Tsukasa, nice to meet you," he said.
The figure gave him a deadpan. "You look nothing like Kadoya Tsukasa," he pointed out.
Tsukasa rolled his eyes. "Oh don't start. It was the first name that popped into my head when I gave it to those two, so now I'm stuck with it," he groused.
At this, the figure raised one of his eyebrows as he didn't peg the person in front of him as a fellow Kamen Rider fan. But he supposed that such a meeting wasn't impossible, just highly improbable. "But still, Decade's name of all things?" the figure inquired.
"What?! World travel was involved: it made perfect sense!" Tsukasa said defensively. Hold it. What?
"'World travel'? You...traveled between Worlds?" the figure questioned sharply.
"Not via my own will. Something's brought me, and you, here to this World. Haven't you wondered how you got here?" Tsukasa pointed out.
The figure was silent, trying to wrap his head around it. So he wasn't in his own World anymore, huh? This was starting to sound like those self-insert fanfictions he likes to read so much.
"Where are we...really?" the figure asked, keeping his tone of voice controlled. He was hoping to whoever was listening that they weren't in the same World as Highschool of the Dead, or any other fictional series that revolved around a zombie apocalypse. He did not want to deal with such an event. Not now, not ever.
"We're in the World of Pretty Cure," was Tsukasa's response. The figure sighed a sigh of relief at that. He did his research about the franchise once in a while, but never really did manage to watch one of its series till the end. Heck, most of the time he never even makes it to the 10 episode mark!
But still, from what he had read of the franchise, living in the Pretty Cure World wasn't really that bad at all. With the exception of the occasional monster attack, it'd be very similar to his own World, right?
"But, there are changes. Bad changes," Tsukasa grimly pronounced.
"What kind of changes?" the figure wondered.
"For starters, you need to know two things. First, we're in the timeframe of HeartCatch Pretty Cure," Tsukasa explained.
"HeartCatch. Well, that would explain why you called that old lady Mrs. Hanasaki," the figure deduced, thinking back to the brown-haired old woman and the pink-haired girl next to her. Pinkie must've been Hanasaki Tsubomi, Cure Blossom of the Heartcatch Pretty Cure, and the old lady next to her was her grandmother, who was a former Pretty Cure herself.
"The second is a bit more involved. I can already tell you know about Kamen Riders from the fact that you mentioned Decade, but do you know about Gaim?" Tsukasa asked of him.
"Yeah. Why?" the figure wondered, not liking where the conversation was heading.
"Then you obviously recognize this," Tsukasa concluded, bringing out his Sengoku Driver.
The figure stayed quiet for a moment as he stared at Tsukasa's Sengoku Driver. "...Okay, why do you have a random toy?" the figure asked in fake confusion, pretending not to get the point. In reality though, he was thinking to himself how the situation was similar to an average Kamen Rider crossover fanfiction. He had the feeling he knew exactly where this conversation was heading...
...And it excited him, as well as frightened him at the same time.
"It's not a toy. Or maybe it was; I don't know. But if that was the case, it isn't anymore," Tsukasa explained, putting on his waist. The strap zoomed around him in a yellow light. This shocked the younger male enough that he took a step back, taking a deep breath from his shock.
"T-That's... a real Sengoku Driver. You... Y-You're Gaim," he stuttered as he mind just went blank. He couldn't think of anything else but, 'This is real. This... is... real-!'
Tsukasa nodded. "Yeah. That brings me to the bad thing I mentioned. The Desert Apostles seem to have their own Kamen Riders, who are supplying them with Lockseeds and Inves."
"WHAT?!"
"I know, and that makes me worried. I wasn't going to help out originally because I didn't want to mess things up. But if they have Kamen Riders on their side..."
"...It's up to any good Rider to put a stop to them, right?"
"Right," Tsukasa agreed, bringing out another Sengoku Driver, this one with a blank Indicator.
"Another one? Why would you have another one? What Rider needs two copies of the same Driver?" the figure questioned.
Tsukasa shook his head. "This isn't mine. I found this on you when you appeared," he said, tossing it at him. The figure caught it in curiosity, then also caught the two Lockseeds he also threw at him. Glancing at them, the figure realized that they were Banana: L.S. - 08, and Mango: L.S. - 11. He then realized what this meant.
"I'm supposed to be Baron?" he questioned in trepidation, as he lowered his head to the point his fringes covered his eyes.
"Looks like. Listen, I realize this is a lot to ask of you, but you gotta help me out here. I can't do this by myself," Tsukasa admitted. He then quickly added, "Kurokage is also here, apparently, and helped Cure Moonlight. If we can find him, he'll be able to help out too, since he has a full year's experience."
"I..." the figure trailed off.
"Look. Do you have a name I can call you by? I don't just want to keep calling you 'you'," Tsukasa interrupted his thoughts. The figure wracked his mind for a name to use; if this guy wasn't using his real name, then he wouldn't either.
"Sora," he finally said.
"Just Sora?" Tsukasa wondered.
"Yeah, just Sora," the newly-dubbed Sora said. Tsukasa shrugged: it was his choice.
"Seriously though, will you fight alongside me to ensure this World's protection and defend it against anything that would harm it?" Tsukasa offered, holding out his hand to shake.
Sora grimaced as he tried to think of what to do. ' This is...what I always dreamed of. Finally... I'm free from it all. ...But-' He stared at his Sengoku Driver, his Sengoku Driver, and the two Lockseeds in his hand. 'Am I... really worthy enough to bear the Kamen Rider name? Even if I'm like Kaito... won't I just... get in the way? I-'
"Tsukasa..." Sora began.
"Yes?" Tsukasa perked up, hoping his fellow Rider fan would agree. He really really didn't want to have to do this on his own!
"I... don't want to be a Rider."
"..."
"..."
"...WHAT?!"
The next day…
"I still can't believe it," Tsukasa sighed. After fully explaining the full circumstances of himself and Sora, Hanasaki Kaoruko had decided to give them work, as well as a place to crash, at the Botanical Gardens. As a matter of fact, Tsukasa was currently sweeping the floor clean. He still couldn't believe how lucky that was that they even got the job! But it's not as though they had many options anyway.
Sora, not really fully acclimated as to what had happened, had left early that morning to try to clear his head. He specifically left his Sengoku Driver behind, although he did take both of his Lockseeds to summon an Inves for defense. Tsukasa couldn't really blame him, as he wasn't acclimated either; just hiding it better. As it happened, it had finally hit him that he was Gaim.
'I'm trapped, in a world of anime. I'll probably never see my parents or sisters again, and I've been roped into being a Kamen Rider. Sure, being a Rider is awesome, but that also carries baggage. I'm Gaim! That means Helheim! Is Sagara going after this world or what?! Why were the Desert Apostles using Lockseeds in the first place?!' It would be obvious to say that Tsukasa was a bit distraught. What wasn't so obvious is that he really had no idea what to do. Did he dare interfere too much when there had already been interference in the form of three Riders already, of which he only knew the Rider name of one?
'I mean, judging from the fact that I ended up in the middle of Episode 2 yesterday, Moonlight was probably still depowered, since Tsubomi uses her Heart Perfume. ...No, wait, Tsubomi-san. Remember the honorific, brain; I'm in Japan, where that's Serious Business.' Being an American, Tsukasa had never needed to worry about something like that too badly. Now he was in the Land of Ultra Politeness, so he needed to be careful in how he addressed people.
Then there was the Helheim question. Sure, just because Lockseeds were around didn't necessarily mean anything. Even after Helheim left Earth alone after Gaim's series, the Armored Riders could still transform. But if it was here...
"Gaaaaah! I really don't want to think about it right now!" Tsukasa yelled at himself, clutching his head.
But going back to the initial point, Tsukasa was unsure of just how much he could alter from the original HeartCatch plot without making his foreknowledge useless. Sure, Magical Girl show, Strictly Formula, and things like that would make it obvious who the new victim would be if everything changed, but there were too many unknowns. Especially the two Riders who were working with the Desert Apostles. Personally, if it was a connected duo, he was leaning towards Zangetsu and Ryugen. After all, the first choice of duo had been rendered invalid by the simple fact that Kurokage was a good guy. Surely Gridon would be right there alongside him, wouldn't he?
Although, honestly, given how he was Gaim, what he knew about the connections of the Riders of Gaim didn't have much meaning. After all, just because Mitsuzane and Takatora were brothers didn't necessarily mean this world's Ryugen and Zangetsu were, if they even existed.
'I guess this is what happens to people placed in a Peggy Sue situation, yet had no problem with how things ended. Do you change things to make it better for the people who suffered hardships? Or do you not change things so your knowledge stays useful in the long run? On the other hand, most of those Desertrian victims only truly found closure when they had to confront their problem after being turned into one. UGH! This just hurts my head!'
It was then that his view turned to Sora's forgotten Sengoku Driver. 'If he really doesn't want to be a Rider, then I'll need to find someone else. I do have a good backup candidate in mind, but is it right to pull him into a fight he has no business being part of? At any rate, I still can't believe Sora doesn't want to be a Rider. Yeah, it'll have hardships, but fighting for what you believe in, to protect all that matters: isn't that worth it? I mean, I guess I can understand why he'd be afraid of it, considering Gaim and all that, but...' Tsukasa sighed. He was probably going to end up thinking himself into a circle again if he kept that up. And it's not like he didn't tell Sora that himself.
"Does it matter if you're worthy or not? What matters is that you fight for what you believe in."
It was abundantly clear to Tsukasa that Sora had self-esteem issues, so he didn't see himself as truly worthy to carry on the name of Kamen Rider. But is that really for him to decide? Still, though, Tsukasa couldn't help but wonder just where Sora had gone.
As it turned out, Sora was walking through the streets of Kibougahana, which was the name of the town the HeartCatch Pretty Cure inhabited. Currently, he was just walking around aimlessly, wondering if he really should become Kamen Rider Baron. As he did so, he played around with his Banana Lockseed. As mentioned before, he didn't have his Sengoku Driver on him. If he put the belt on, there would be no turning back, after all, so it'd be stupid if he put it on for self-defense and a one-time thing when he could give it to someone else to fight alongside Tsukasa.
'Changing his name though...' Sora thought with a huff of amusement as he thought back to his fellow Rider fan. 'Geez. Doesn't he think things through? He doesn't even look Japanese!' Knowing he was merely calling the kettle black, Sora sighed. There was really nothing he could do about it now. Sora could tell that Tsukasa was of the type that could be really stubborn about certain things. 'Though, does he really think it'll be that easy like in the show? We're here, we're going to have to fight for real. We mess up even once, not only will we be goners but the people we'll be protecting will end up dying too. Especially with Helheim on the loose,' the young man thought quite darkly, too busy entertaining his thoughts to pay attention to where he was going.
Unfortunately, this ultimately led to his thoughts being interrupted when he felt pain.
"Oof!" Sora cried out as he fell down. Holding his head up in pain, he saw some thugs looking down on him.
"Watch where you're going, punk!" The one in the middle, most likely the leader, told him.
"Oh. Sorry," Sora stoically said as he got up, gave a small bow of respect, and made to quickly walk away. But then one of them grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Hey! You think you could just stroll on our turf without paying the toll?!" the thug asked menacingly.
To most people, the thug's intimidation tactic would've worked. The target would've been left intimidated by the thug and his group of friends, and would try to quickly defuse the situation as quickly and in any way possible.
But not Sora. His time on the Internet had made him... distorted, really. Despite the lines of thought that constantly plague him, in the end, he knew it didn't really quite matter in the grand scheme of themes.
If he lived, then he lived. If he died, then he died. Simple as that.
'Heh, with how goodie two-shoes the Pretty Cure world is, I didn't think these types of people existed. Guess that was wishful thinking on my part...' an amused Sora thought to himself, as his heart began beating faster and faster from the adrenaline rush forming from his fear and excitement of the situation.
"Look. I'm having a bit of a bad day today." Sora 'explained', though the tone of his voice and smile on his face contradicted his statement. The look in his eyes showed that he was not someone to be messed with. Unfortunately, this was something the thugs failed to pick up on due to his eyes looking like they were closed (when in fact, they were not). "So I'd appreciate it if you didn't make it worse," Sora warned them. Last night, he had found that he was a lot more agile than he used to be, not that he knew why. Maybe it was because he was in an Anime world? Oh well, at least it made it easier to deal with punks such as this.
Regardless, even if he had never gotten these perks, he would still face the thugs in front of him with the same amount of bravado he was showing them now.
It was because he was distorted, after all.
"Oh, look here, boys! We got a tough punk who thinks he's better than us!" one of them taunted.
"Remember, you idiots asked for it," Sora growled out in an almost pleased tone with an almost maniacal grin to go with it, cracking his knuckles as he did so.
Guess who won that little brawl?
Meanwhile, at Tsubomi and Erika's school, the two of them were sitting on the roof, about to have lunch. From their rooftop viewpoint, they could see all over Kibougahana, something that wowed Tsubomi.
Of course, as they were hungry, they sat down on one of the benches up there. However, as Erika was about to eat some of her food, she stopped and got a pensive look on her face.
"Hey, Tsubomi," she said.
"Yes?" Tsubomi asked in mild surprise, looking up where she was about to open her lunch bag.
Erika sighed, closing her eyes. "Recently, I've been having some kinda weird dreams," she said, opening her eyes, and bringing her fork up near her cheek. "Something about Precure-something-or-other getting defeated," she continued, much to Tsubomi's shock.
"You mean 'Cure Moonlight'?!" she hurriedly asked.
"Yeah, that, that!" Erika nodded, waving her fork around in acknowledgement.
"EHHHHH?!" Tsubomi let out in surprise. "Then, Erika's been having the same dreams as me?!" she asked in shock. And it was true: Tsubomi had had that same exact dream the day before she became Cure Blossom.
"The same dreams?" Erika wondered. It was then that something unexpected happened.
"That means she can become a Precure!" Chypre and Coffret said, leaping out of Tsubomi's bag. Tsubomi panicked as she noticed them leap out, while Erika was just dumbfounded at what appeared to be talking plushies.
"Th-The plushies are talking!" she said with wide eyes.
Tsubomi quickly picked the bag up, and looked around to see if anyone else was around. Since there was none, she put the bag back down. "Why on Earth were you in there?! And where's my LUNCH?!" she asked.
"There's more important things to worry about than that!" the two Fairies said in unison...also neatly dodging what had happened to Tsubomi's lunch.
While Tsubomi was tearing up at the loss of her lunch, the two flew next to Erika's head. "This girl has the right to become a Precure!" Chypre, the pink one, said. Coffret, the blue one, nodded his head in agreement.
As for Erika, she had a deadpan look on her face. "What's with these guys, Tsubomi?" As she said her friend's name, Erika looked at Tsubomi with a glare that demanded answers.
With a scared look on her face, Tsubomi stuttered out an answer. "T-They're the Fairies that protect the Great Heart Tree."
"I'm Coffret!" the blue one with ears out to the side said.
"And I'm Chypre!" the pink one, Tsubomi's partner Fairy with ears pointing straight up, greeted.
"Oh, so they're Fairies," Erika realized. She was still pretty flabbergasted though.
Tsubomi nodded. "So you understand now?" she asked.
Erika changed the subject as she realized something else. "You said the Great Heart Tree just now, right? Now that you mention it, that was in my dream yesterday too," she remembered.
"Erika!" Tsubomi said, bringing Erika's attention back to her. "That dream you had while you were unconscious was actually real!" Tsubomi told her, referencing what had happened yesterday. While Sora and Tsukasa had been talking, Erika had woken up, and vaguely remembered the battle her Desertrian had gotten into with Tsubomi/Blossom. However, she had simply thought it nothing more than a dream.
"And that 'Cure Blossom' that defeated the monster... is actually me!" she said in pride.
"EH?! Seriously?!" Erika asked in shock.
"Seriously!" Tsubomi said seriously.
"I can't believe that another potential Precure was so close by! Erika, become my partner Precure!" Coffret asked eagerly.
"Me, become a Precure?" Erika asked, nonplussed. Then she started remembering back to her 'dream'. "That outfit was really cool..." she reminisced.
"Wasn't it, wasn't it?! You'll become the second Precure!" Coffret said with sparkles in his eyes. It was then, however, that the door opened. Quickly, the two hid the Fairies from out of sight.
As it turned out, it was the Student Council, along with its President, Myoudouin Itsuki. Apparently, Erika had yet to turn in the member list for the Fashion Club. If she didn't turn it in soon, there would be no way for the Student Council to make their budget. As they left, Tsubomi felt slightly enamored at the presence of Itsuki, and thought that 'he' was amazing. Erika just got a sly look on her face as she told Tsubomi that 'he' was the grandson of the school's chairman, deciding to let Tsubomi figure it out herself.
Anyway, while Chypre and Coffret wanted her to be a Precure, and Erika was willing, she also said that it wasn't a good time right now, dragging Tsubomi to help her with something.
In another dimension covered in endless desert, the headquarters of the Desert Apostles sat there ominously. It looked like a ruined and twisted city, with a startling resemblance to the Curly Hill from Nightmare Before Christmas. Let's have a look inside the place, shall we?
"What was that? You say a new Precure has appeared?" In what appeared to be the throne room, a figure stood. This was Professor Sabaku, the Leader of the Desert Apostles. He had white hair, and his entire face was covered with a mask. Standing next to him was his second-in-command, Dark Precure, who had a single solitary wing on her left as well as a closed right eye. She was dressed in black and was silent and stoic.
Sasorina was at the platform below the one where his throne was, bowing down before him. "I slipped up merely because her sudden appearance caught me off-guard," she said, making her excuse.
Professor Sabaku was not very impressed, and he seemed to show little-to-no emotion at all. "If she manages to collect all the Heart Seeds, she could be quite a nuisance…" he reminded her.
Sasorina had a confident look on her face. "Worry not. Cure Blossom is but one obstacle. I should be able to defeat her easily by myself." She then proceeded to get an irritated look. "However, the fact remains is that someone has gotten their hands on a Lockseed and Sengoku Driver. He'll continue to be a pest unless he's reined in like the others."
It was then that the figure on Sabaku's right spoke up. He was slightly covered in shadows, but even then it was easy to tell that he had a Sengoku Driver as well, and the theme of his armor was based off a Durian. This was Kamen Rider Bravo! "Hmph. He'll fall in line just like he did once I have Gridon take care of him. What can one fool do against us anyway?" Bravo said rhetorically. A figure covered in shadows then walked forward, flipping a Donguri (Acorn) Lockseed, L.S. - 03 in his hands.
"On it, boss. I won't let you down!" the figure declared, before heading to the back of the room and the giant zipper there. He walked through the zipper into what appeared to be an eerie forest.
Sasorina grunted, then teleported out to resume the hunt for Heart Flowers to wilt. "I shall be off then."
Meanwhile, back with Tsubomi and Erika, the thing Erika had roped Tsubomi into was recruiting for the Fashion Club, as it turns out Erika hadn't really done that herself. However, wherever they went, the answer was no. Now, it was the end of the day, and the two were lying on a hill next to a soccer field.
"In the end, we couldn't even get a single person to join," Tsubomi said sadly.
"We'll just have to try something different tomorrow!" Erika proclaimed.
"Eh?" Tsubomi wondered.
"We'll just bring in some of our shop's cool clothes and use those to..." Erika said, talking about her family's store, Fairy Drop. However, she was interrupted by an argument that sprang up on the soccer field behind them.
"How many times do I have to tell you?! No means no!" a male voice rang out. Tsubomi and Erika poked their heads up over the hill to see what was going on. The people were arguing were a girl they recognized from one of the classes they asked to join the Fashion Club, Sayaka, as well as a boy from the Soccer Club.
"I told you that girls aren't allowed in the Soccer Club!" the boy indignantly said.
"I'm begging you, please!" Sayaka pleaded.
"You're in the way of our practice," the boy rudely said, leaving. This upset Sayaka a lot, and it was not helped by Erika suddenly teleporting behind her to get her to forget about the Soccer Club and to join the Fashion Club. Seriously, she needs to work on her timing. At any rate, tears started building up in Sayaka's eyes, and she ran away crying.
A bit later, under a bridge that was also near a few soccer fields where elementary school kids were playing, Sayaka was standing there, kicking around her soccer ball. She was still distraught over everything, and was not in a good mood. While she was doing so, Sasorina poked her head down into there. Using her special vision powers given to her as a Desert Apostle, she could see that Sayaka's Heart Flower, a red Poinsettia, was starting to wilt.
As Sayaka kicked the ball again, Sasorina appeared in front of her, catching it. "I'll be taking your Heart Flower," she sinisterly declared. With a burst of her dark power, Sayaka was enveloped in it and screamed as her Heart Flower was forcibly removed. This caused the Heart Flower to be encased in a large crystal, while Sayaka's body was trapped inside a small pearl on the bottom. Almost casually, Sasorina knocked the pearl off, fusing the Heart Flower with Sayaka's soccer ball to form the Soccer Ball Desertrian!
Meanwhile, Chypre and Coffret were passing by on their way to the Botanical Gardens when they noticed this. As the Desertrian lumbered away, the quickly picked up the pearl containing Sayaka's body and flew off to tell Tsubomi.
"So, what do you think, Coupe? Is that a good idea?" Tsukasa asked of the giant Fairy that lived in the Botanical Garden. Coupe was Hanasaki Kaoruko's Fairy Partner back when she was a Precure in her youth, Cure Flower. As he was bored and had nothing of importance to do, Tsukasa was just throwing random questions at Coupe in hopes that maybe he'd answer. No such luck. Unlike his more youthful counterparts, Coupe was large, green, and silent. In fact, he barely ever moved at all, so most people who visited the Botanical Gardens thought he was a giant plush toy.
Coupe continued to remain silent. The only way Tsukasa knew that he was actually listening was that his eyes were pointed in his direction.
"Nothing, huh? I'm going to get you to crack some time, big guy," Tsukasa teased. He was about to say something else, when a splitting pain impacted his forehead. "Gkh! Gah!" he groaned out, clutching his head in pain. Coupe narrowed his eyes at this, wondering what was going on
At the same time, in an eerie and familiar forest with strange, padlock-like fruits, a girl was seen lying down, a cherry blossom in her hair. Her eyes sprung open, revealing that while her left eye was a rather normal brown, her right eye was a glowing red. She was blond, and dressed in white. She quickly got up off the ground. With a determined look, she vanished.
Back at the Botanical Gardens, Tsukasa's headache finally passed. As the pain abated, he fell on his knees. "What was that about?" he whispered. No matter the fact that he had a nasty habit of forgetting important things, he knew he had never experienced anything like that. An unsettling feeling grew in his stomach. Could this be a sign of sorts? Glancing out the window, he realized the time and also realized that the fight of HeartCatch Episode 3 was likely going to happen soon. "I need to get over there, now," he decided. Grabbing his Driver and Lockseeds, he quickly ran out the door.
As it turned out, Tsubomi and Erika weren't too far from the bridge. Tsubomi was pleading with Erika to become a Precure, when they noticed the elementary school kids running away from the rolling Desertrian, which was trying to crush them with its soccer-ball-like hands.
"What the heck is that giant soccer ball?!" Erika asked in shock.
"It's Sasorina's doing!" Chypre cried as she flew up. At the human duo's shock, Coffret flew up, showing them the pearl holding Sayaka's body.
"For her to steal Sayaka-san's Heart Flower..." Tsubomi whispered, growing serious.
"Tsubomi, transform!" Chypre urged.
"Right! I'll save her!" she declared, pulling her Heart Perfume from where it was hidden on her bag. Erika made a funny face at that, not expecting that.
In a pink space filled with flowers, Tsubomi spun around in a pink energy dress, her Heart Perfume opening to reveal the slot in it. An energy burst sprang from her to the heart-shaped pendant on Chypre.
"Precure Seed, Go!" the Fairy declared, releasing the Pink Precure Seed.
Tsubomi took it and placed it in the slot, declaring, "Precure, Open My Heart!"
With it loaded, she sprayed the Heart Perfume over her, creating her Pretty Cure garbs. Her dress, her boots, and she clapped to create her gloves. Her hair then moved from its normal orientation, wrapping around itself and turning bright pink. A pink bow with a cherry blossom on it formed on her head, as well as earrings. She slapped her Heart Perfume away onto her waist.
"The Flower that Spreads Throughout the Land: Cure Blossom!" she declared, her transformation finished.
"Wow! Super cute! It's so adorable! SO COOL!" Erika fawned all over Blossom, with hearts in her eyes. With no time to waste, Blossom leaped down into the fray.
The Desertrian was advancing on the kids, their backs to the river that flowed through. Sasorina was egging it on to take its anger out on them. As it complained about why it wasn't fair that only boys could get to play soccer, it lunged its hands down on the kids, only for Blossom to deflect it, and tell them to get out of there.
"Desertrian, get her!" Sasorina declared.
The Desertrian transformed into a giant soccer ball, rolling at Blossom. With a cry of panic, Blossom tripped out of the way, the Desertrian skipping into the river. As it rose up, the river drained from it like tears coming from someone crying.
"I've loved soccer since I was a child! I thought now that I was in Junior High I'd get to keep playing as much as I like!" it wailed.
"You can play soccer on your own, can't you? You really do worry about such petty things," Sasorina said dismissively.
"It's not petty!" Blossom interjected. "You're just playing with Sayaka's pure heart and her love of soccer. And I'm not going to put up with it!" she declared.
"Eh? What's with you? Just disappear already! Desertrian!" Sasorina commanded. The Desertrian then spun around, kicking up a whirlwind. Blossom tried to hold her ground, but then the Desertrian's fist came in, sending her flying into the hill where Erika was standing.
"Tsubomi!" Erika called out in worry.
"You should have a taste of my suffering!" the Desertrian threatened at Blossom as she got back up. Chypre and Coffret then used this moment to open a heart-shaped energy window to see what was going on with the Heart Flower inside. It was soon going to wilt, leaving the transformation into a Desertrian permanent, and leaving Sayaka's body trapped in that pearl forever. It was then that Erika made her decision.
"Tsubomi became a Precure to help everyone, right?" Erika asked, even as Blossom ran at the Desertrian again. At Chypre and Coffret's affirmation, she clenched her fist. "Then I'll become a Precure!" Erika declared.
"You will?" Chypre asked.
"I'm totally serious! I want to protect everyone's hearts too!" Erika proclaimed. At this, the heart-thing on Coffret started glowing, the Heart Perfume inside resonating with Erika's heart and ejecting.
With Blossom, she had been knocked into one of the soccer goals. "Desertrian, crush her!" Sasorina declared.
"I won't let you!" Erika interjected off to the side. This immediately grabbed Sasorina and the Desertrian's attention.
"Who the hell are you?!" Sasorina demanded.
"I'm Kurumi Erika, the second Precure!" Erika announced, holding her new Heart Perfume aloft.
In a transformation similar to Blossom's, a blue flowery place enveloped the space around Erika, who was wearing a blue energy dress. Like with Blossom, energy sprung from her to Coffret.
"Precure Seed, Go!" he announced, sending her the Seed.
"Precure, Open My Heart!" Erika announced, placing it into the open slot on her Heart Perfume. Like Blossom, she sprayed the Heart Perfume on her, forming her own garbs, which had blue where there was pink on Blossom's. In addition, the flower emblems on her were cyclamens. However, unlike Blossom, she simply sprayed her hands rather than clap to get her gloves. Her hair didn't change shape at all, other than lengthening and becoming wavy at the very ends and lightening in color. A blue bow appeared on top of her head, and her earrings appeared. She slapped her Heart Perfume onto her side, and struck a pose.
"The Flower that sways in the Sea Breeze: Cure Marine!" she declared.
"A second?!" Sasorina exclaimed in shock.
"Cure Marine!" Chypre proclaimed in glee.
"But how did you transform without being told how?" Coffret wondered.
"I saw it in my dream yesterday!" Marine revealed. "As for the name, when I was asked to become one this morning, I spent time thinking about it," she said. At this, she leaped down in front of Blossom. "Leave this to me! Just rest!" Marine told her.
Suddenly, trumpets were heard, distracting everyone in the battle. Everybody, including the Desertrian, looked around to see where that was coming from. Then, they noticed that a fair distance away was Gaim and a brown Rider. Sora was there as well, and above his head was a...
"Ba-Ba-Ba-Na-BANANA?!" Marine said, agape in shock. Blossom wasn't quite as shocked, as she had seen Tsukasa transform the previous day.
"It's Baron!" Sora's voice echoed from where they were. And then, there was another sound.
COME ON! BANANA ARMS: KNIGHT OF SPEAR!
With that announcement made, they could faintly see the giant Banana plop down on his head, transforming him into a red Rider. But they didn't really have time to notice what was going on.
Sasorina shook herself out of it. "Why are you spacing out, Desertrian?!" she yelled hypocritically. "Get her, quickly!" she ordered. The Desertrian responded by spinning into a tornado and launching itself at Marine.
As it did, Marine decided to run at it full tilt. "That same trick won't work on me!" she declared, leaping up into the sky. "The top of your head is one big weak point!" she yelled, flying into a drop kick. The Desertrian held up its arms to guard, causing Marine to bounce off of them, but also forcing it to stop spinning.
She then leaped at it, and, after a few blocked punches, managed to kick it in the head, knocking it backwards. Marine then drew a circle in the air and punched both fists forward. "Marine Shoot!" she declared, sending a flurry of bubbles at the Desertrian that knocked it over.
Suddenly, there was another announcement from where the Riders were, but this time they didn't pay it much attention.
SOIYA! PINE ARMS: FUNSAI DESTROY!
Blossom, being the only one who could pay attention, noticed a pineapple drop down on Gaim's head, unfolding into new armor. In the meantime, Coffret reminded Marine to take back the Heart Flower. "I know that already!" she said.
Slapping the heart emblem on the bow on her front, she summoned the Marine Tact. "Gather, Floral Power: Marine Tact!" she declared, spinning around to charge the Tact up. Spinning the dial in the middle, she sent orbs of colored light up to the very top of the Marine Tact. She waved it around her, creating blue energy waves.
"Shine, flowers! Precure Blue Forte Wave!" she yelled, shooting off a blue flower from the end of the Marine Tact at the Desertrian, trapping it in a giant cyclamen. Marine then rapidly spun the dial on the Tact to make the cyclamen spin and purify the Desertrian!
With it purified, the soccer ball returned to normal, and the Heart Flower was released in its crystal form, the Heart Flower itself unwilting. Sasorina just stood there, mouth agape at losing again. Blossom, having recovered, noticed that Gaim and Baron seemed to be having trouble.
"Come on! We have to help them!" Blossom urged, leaping next to Marine and pointing them out.
"Right!" Marine acknowledged. She touched the Heart Flower to the pearl containing Sayaka's body, returning it to her and bringing her body back into the real world. The two then leaped past the still frozen Sasorina over to where the Riders were fighting. But exactly what had happened over there before they did?
A bit earlier...
Tsukasa rushed forward, running towards where he knew the fight was happening. 'Gotta get there fast before-!' he thought, before skidding to a halt as a giant zipper appeared out of nowhere in front of him. He knew exactly what this was supposed to be, but why did it appear in front of him? "Okay, Cracks don't normally materialize out in the open like this. Does that mean that this was being controlled?" he questioned, bringing out his Driver in caution.
"Well, you certainly know more than he did when he appeared," a voice rang out from within. Suddenly, a figure stepped out. He was lightly tanned with brown hair and sea-green eyes. His clothes seemed to be vaguely reminiscent of hiking gear, but with a casual flair to it.
"So, you're the pest that's been popping up, huh?" he asked in a rather nasally voice.
Tsukasa was on guard regardless. "Maybe. Who are you supposed to be?" he questioned, putting his Driver on his waist.
The figure then took out a Sengoku Driver, much to Tsukasa's shock. "The guy who's going to take you out before you become enough of a threat," he threatened, putting the Driver on. Much to Tsukasa's shock, rather than the normal yellow belt strap, this other guy's Driver churned out a silver belt strap around his waist. It was then he noticed the Rider Indicator on the side.
"Gridon!" he gasped in shock. It seemed his opponent was indeed the acorn-themed Rider. The silver belt made some slight sense in that case.
The figure nodded sinisterly before withdrawing his Donguri Lockseed, holding it up with his left hand. "Henshin," he declared, opening the latch on the Lockseed.
DONGURI!
(ACORN!)
In a triangular motion, he placed the Lockseed into his Driver's Drive Bay, slamming it shut over the Lock On Arm.
LOCK ON!
The identified-Gridon's Driver then let off a Standby Tune. But this one was different than Gaim's Japanese one. No, Gridon's Standby Tune had a European flair, using trumpets and having a beat made by what sounded like running hooves. After letting it play for a bit, he then pushed up on the Cutting Blade from below with his right hand, activating it. As the Lockseed sprung open, it showed in the top image a cut-open acorn, while it showed a kind of nutcracker-like hammer in the bottom image.
COME ON!
Another zipper opened in the air, releasing a giant acorn. It plopped down onto Gridon's head, forming a brown bodysuit with silver arm and leg guards. It also had silver chain mail on the chest area and a leathery appearance, not like Gaim's. The acorn then folded down, with a little part in the front and back of the acorn folding over the chest and back while the top of the acorn folded over his shoulders. This revealed his helmet, which looked very medieval in appearance. His visor was just plain yellow. As this happened, his Driver let off the transformation confirmation.
DONGURI ARMS: NEVER GIVE UP!
With that said, Gridon's armor completely folded into position. In a flash of light, the nutcracker-hammer, the Donkachi, appeared in his hand! Kamen Rider Gridon is all his nutty glory had arrived.
"Kamen Rider Gridon," Tsukasa muttered. "So you're one of the two Riders allied with the Desert Apostles, huh? Any particular reason why?" he wondered.
Gridon simply sneered. "I don't need to explain myself to the likes of you! I'll just beat you here so you'll fall in line!" he declared.
"You can try! Henshin!" Tsukasa declared, bringing out his Orange Lockseed and opening it.
ORANGE!
A twirl, an input, and a latch was closed.
LOCK ON!
Down went the Cutting Blade, summoning the orange from Helheim and plopping it onto Tsukasa's head.
SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS: HANAMICHI ON STAGE!
(ORANGE ARMS: FLOWERED PATH ON STAGE!)
The orange created the Ride Wear, then folded down, summoning the weapons. In a splash, Gaim had arrived!
"Gaim?!" Gridon asked in outrage. "I should have guessed you'd spring up eventually! Man, this'll be a pain!" he cursed.
"Well, nice to know you rate me so highly," Gaim said sarcastically, holding the Daidaimaru ready.
"Oh no, it's not that. It's your damn Main Character Status, that's all. After all, I have a year's worth of experience, whereas you just started yesterday!" Gridon pointed out.
"Well then, I guess I'll just show you how skilled I am!" Gaim shot back, leaping into action.
Drawing both the Musou Saber and Daidaimaru, he swiped at Gridon with both swords. Gridon blocked his blows with the Donkachi and proceeded to slam it directly into Gaim's chest.
"GAH!" Gaim yelled, skidding backwards and tumbling over. "What the-?!" Gaim wondered in pain.
"Don't take me for some fool, Gaim. Unlike Hideyasu Jonouchi, I'm no dandy," Gridon declared, rushing forward again. Gaim attempted to get back to his feet and deflect the blows, but was knocked down again.
"Teh!" he spat as he tumbled again. 'Damn it! I'm getting tossed like a salad here! I need help, fast!'
Sora was running.
Not running away, mind you. He didn't know why, but he felt like something was calling to him. So, he ran towards the direction he felt the call was at. When he finally arrived, he was extremely shocked. Because he was at a riverside where Cure Blossom and Cure Marine were battling a Soccer Ball Desertrian whereas Tsukasa, no, Gaim, was battling...
...Gridon?!
'I was expecting Bravo or Zangetsu to be helping out the Desert Apostles actually,' he admitted to himself. He can't be blamed for having the thought either, as Zangetsu and Bravo were originally introduced as apparent villainous Riders.
He was surprised that there were no Inves here as well, but then again with Gridon here, there wasn't really a need to have Inves on the bad guy's end, was there? He then took out his Banana Lockseed and looked at it. 'I could summon an Inves to help out Gaim, but they would probably only hinder for Gridon for a few minutes judging how easily he's fighting against Gaim,' Sora concluded as he tried to think up a way to help out Gaim.
'No, Gaim needs... He needs another Rider. He needs...Baron.'
This conclusion caused Sora to become unexpectedly (to him) annoyed. 'Tch. Why am I feeling this way? This is what I want, right? To live a life full of adventure and romance. A life where you live to the fullest or die trying. A life where you need to fight with your body, mind and soul to survive,' he thought in an internal dilemma. 'And... that's why I'm hesitating, isn't it? I don't want to be that kind of fighter. I don't want people to rely on me for protection. Because I don't want people to lose their lives because of my failures.'
'But then, the answer should be obvious, right? Fight, and win. Losing is not an option.'
'But that isn't our choice to make!'
'No! Life is decided by our choices! We lose, we get stronger, and win the rematch! And keep getting stronger until the war is won!'
'...Right. Keep getting stronger. Keep winning, so the next generation will have a beautiful planet to live on. That's what I have to do!' he decided, as he began to think back to the quotes he tried to live by. Quotes that inspire him to be the best he can be.
"Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you look back, you'll die if you hesitate."
"I am the bone of my sword. Steel is my body, and fire is blood. I have created over a thousand blades; unaware of loss, nor aware of pain. Withstood pain, to create many weapons; waiting for one's arrival. I have no regrets. This is the only path. My whole life was... Unlimited Blade Works."
"This isn't about justice. This is about protecting the people!"
They were but a few of the quotes that constantly inspired him. But they were more than enough.
"Gaim!" Sora called out to him. "Give me my Sengoku Driver!" Gaim heard him at that very moment, but his shock gave Gridon an opening. The nut-themed Rider pulled down on his Cutting Blade once.
COME ON! DONGURI SQUASH!
With energy coursing through the Donkachi, Gridon rushed up to Gaim while the latter was distracted and slammed the Donkachi into his chest, sending him flying backwards. That caused Sora to wince a bit, since that was definitely his fault. Nevertheless, Gaim quickly rolled back to his feet and checked himself for the Driver, producing it out of thin air. At that sight, Sora didn't really want to know where he had been hiding it, even though he knew deep down that it was not where his dumbass brain thought it was.
"Sora, catch!" Gaim said, before tossing him the Driver. Sora caught it and instantly placed it over his waist, the strap zooming around it and securing the Driver. A small trumpet noise played as his Driver's blank Rider Indicator had been filled in with Baron's.
"Alright! ...Yeah...here I go!" Sora declared, holding the Banana Lockseed up next to his head. He flicked the switch for it to open.
BANANA!
The sound of a zipper opening was heard above his head. Looking up, he saw the Banana Arms fruit above him in its Fruit Mode. The banana's long side was parallel to the ground. Seeing that, he spun the Lockseed's latch around his finger and smoothly put it into the Drive Bay, closing it shut over the Lock On Arm.
LOCK ON!
The European-themed trumpets kicked in again, this time from Sora's Driver. This, of course, distracted everyone in range. In fact, when Sora listened closely, he could hear Marine gaping loudly at the sight of the Banana. "Ba-Ba-Ba-Na-BANANA?!" Well, wasn't that familiar? Even if it was a bit longer than the original... .
"It's Baron!" Sora corrected, before slicing the Lockseed with the Cutting Blade and declaring, "Henshin!"
COME ON! BANANA ARMS: KNIGHT OF SPEAR!
At this announcement, the Banana Arms plopped down onto his head, creating a Ride Wear rather similar to that of Gridon's, but with red where there was brown on the nut Rider's bodysuit. The two ends of the banana separated from the rest, forming oversized shoulder pads, while what was left folded down over the front and back of his torso. This revealed his helmet, which was red with a steel-colored grille over the visor area, which was yellow like a banana. He also had two yellow horns that curved through his helmet like a banana. As the armor finished folding down, there was a splash as it locked into place. A yellow light appeared in his hand, coalescing into an upside-down banana-themed spear, the Banaspear!
This was Kamen Rider Baron in his signature Arms: Banana Arms!
Gaim sighed in relief at seeing him appear, before getting whacked by Gridon again, sending him flying in the direction of Baron, knocking him over.
"Hey, get off me! I was going to do something cool!" Baron yelled, pushing Gaim off him.
"Oh, like it's my fault!" Gaim yelled back. He shook it off though, as this was not remotely the time for that. "I am so tired of being knocked all over the place!" he declared, unclipping one of his other Lockseeds from his Lockseed Holder. He clicked it open.
PINE!
That declaration indicated to the other two Riders there that he was switching out Lockseeds. Specifically, he was switching for the Pine Lockseed. It was actually a good thing that he had been knocked over to where he was, because now Gaim could switch without worrying. He removed the Orange Lockseed and replaced it with Pine.
LOCK OFF!
LOCK ON!
He took the Cutting Blade, then sliced it down. The Orange Arms armor, along with the Daidaimaru, disappeared. A Crack opened in the air, releasing a giant pineapple. It fell down on Gaim's head, unfolding into armor as an announcement was heard.
SOIYA! PINE ARMS: FUNSAI DESTROY!
(PINEAPPLE ARMS: PULVERIZE AND DESTROY!)
The sides simply moved down into shoulder guards while the front and back folded normally. His helmet now looked like someone had taken a pineapple, and stuck half of it on the back of his helmet. His visor was yellow and looked like a pineapple slice. In a splash, a pineapple-themed flail, the Pine Iron, appeared in his hand. This was Gaim Pine Arms!
"Wow, that was fast," Baron commented after whistling in appreciation. He hadn't expected him to switch to a different Arms so soon after first transforming.
"I really don't like getting hit by that dumb nutcracker!" Gaim declared.
"Fair enough. Anyway, it looks like the climax scene has arrived!" an amused Baron declared, spinning the Banaspear around in his right hand and holding it upright this time. The short spear in the shape of a peeled banana glowed for a moment before extending, the proof being the black part on the blade that was hidden before. The two then charged towards Gridon, Gaim attaching the end of the Pine Iron's grip to the Musou Saber for added stability.
"Shine, flowers!" Baron heard Marine declare from their own battle as she prepared to finish off the Soccer Desertrian. "Precure Blue Forte Wave!" However, he didn't pay much attention at what was happening next over there. How could he when he was too busy making sure his head wasn't slammed clean off his body?! Whoever Gridon was, he was definitely a much more competent fighter than the original, Hideyasu Jonouchi!
Gridon was definitely skilled, as he was able to deflect Baron's stabs with the Banaspear easily using the Donkachi. He had more difficulty dealing with Gaim's flailing of the Pine Iron, but Gaim was also hampered by the fact that he didn't want to accidentally hit Baron with it. Also, that headache was returning, just not as severe. It got to the point where Gridon managed to catch the Pine Iron, and toss it right back at Gaim, stunning him. Baron charged straight at him, but Gridon defended by pulling his Cutting Blade three times.
COME ON! DONGURI SPARKING!
His acorn armor folded back up into an acorn, protecting his head, which he aimed at Baron's attack. This caused Baron to ricochet off of it, and get whacked by the Donkachi, sending him flying.
"Baron!" Gaim yelled, catching his brand-new partner. Baron nodded his thanks, and gripped his spear tightly. Just as they questioned what they should do next, the choice was taken out of their hands.
"Gaim! We'll help too!" Blossom declared as she and Marine ran towards their side. Both Gaim and Baron were relieved at this, although Baron was wondering something. 'Wait, aren't Pretty Cure Kaijins usually transformed humans?' Taking the chance, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the girl who had involuntary become a Soccer Desertrian had been turned back to normal. 'Good. Now we can focus on Gridon with no worries.'
"Hmph. Precure, huh? I'll take you all on!" Gridon declared, holding his Donkachi ready.
"Oh? Well, aren't you getting cocky, Gridon?" Baron declared, pointing his Banaspear at the brown Rider as he slowly approached his comrades. "It's fine by me though, this is a good thing. After all, it only means you're more likely to slip up," Baron taunted in a quite vicious tone. Gaim, Blossom and Marine took note of it, and though quite discomforted by his tone, they forced themselves to shrug it off temporarily after they all looked at each other. A moment passed before the group charged at the acorn Rider, though Baron stopped his charge when he heard a voice.
"Be warned."
Turning his head around, Baron saw... 'the Woman of Beginnings?! What's she doing here and why does she look like-?!'
"Your choice will now change the course of fate. Know that if you continue down this path, there will be no turning back. You will have to fight until the bitter end. Until the world is dyed into your image," she said in the same strange tone as had been seen in her appearances in the show. Her right eye glimmered red, while her left was brown. She looked eerily like a blond version of Takatsukasa Mai from the actual series. But...that should be impossible, right? This wasn't a World of Kamen Rider, so she couldn't be-!
The two stared at each other, with Baron's perception of time being messed up due to the aura of the Woman of Beginnings. Eventually, he realized that she was looking for a response, and answered;
"...I knew that I couldn't turn back once I put on this belt. Maybe... that's one of the reasons why I hesitated in becoming Baron, despite the fact that it's always been my wish to become something like a Kamen Rider," Baron admitted to her. At the same time, he realized that the others didn't notice that he was most likely talking to thin air. Most likely too busy with Gridon. He wouldn't be surprised if there was a trope to explain his current situation either.
"But I put it on, and I know the consequences. And I will live with them, just like how I live with the consequences of all of my other actions. So like you said, I'll fight... until the bitter end!" he declared to the Woman of Beginnings. "The world being dyed into my image is just a bonus if you ask me. After all, it's a good thing my image for the world isn't that fucked up, eh?" Despite his face being hidden by a helmet, he smiled at her. And she returned it with a sad, longing smile. But Baron didn't have any time to waste, turning his attention back to Gridon.
He let out a roar as he charged into the fray. So it's completely understandable that he missed what she muttered to herself as she faded away. "I'm sorry, Joker. I shouldn't have brought you into this," she whispered.
Baron, not hearing this, went ahead and charged straight at Gridon. With the Ornac being distracted by Blossom and Marine's attacks, as well as the incessant throws of the Pine Iron, by the time he pushed them off of him he was wide open and took the Banaspear head on.
...
Heh.
That must've sounded real misleading, huh?
Go ahead, laugh. Cause right now I'm (well, Joker is anyway) laughing too. So was Baron. Okay, not really. It was more of an amused "Hmph." It was then that he turned to Gaim. "Let's finish together, partner," Baron told him.
Gaim nodded in response. "Got it. Here we go!" he declared as the two pressed down the Cutting Blades of their respective Sengoku Drivers. Blossom and Marine attempted to hold down Gridon so the two Riders could perform their finishers.
SOIYA! PINE SQUASH!
COME ON! BANANA SQUASH!
With those announcements done, it was time to attack. As Baron charged energy into the Banaspear, Gaim attacked first.
"Iron Breaker!" he declared, kicking the Pine Iron at Gridon, just as he managed to push the HeartCatch duo off of him. But it was a good thing for them that he did, as the pineapple-shaped flail expanded in the air, turning into energy. It turned into a giant energy prison that Gridon was trapped in, that was also shaped like a pineapple. Gridon, panicking, frantically pulled down his Cutting Blade three times.
COME ON! DONGURI SPARKING!
Shunting all the power to the Donkachi, he immediately tried to break the prison open. But it was too late.
"Spear Victory!" Baron declared, finally ready. Why did it took him so long?
Because it was his first time and he didn't want to miss. Plus, it was so that he would focus all of his finisher's power at the very tip of the energy banana that emanated from the Banaspear.
...
Again, that sounded a bit misleading, huh?
The end of the energy banana impacted Gridon straight in the chest, interacting with the pineapple prison to cause a large explosion that emanated images of sliced bananas and pineapples. The explosion sent Gridon flying backwards into Sasorina, who was trying to get over the fact that she had lost again. Of course, this caused her to fall over, as his armor was heavy. Still, she managed to get back up and haul Gridon up as well.
"Come on! Get up, you dolt!" Sasorina said as she roughly shook Gridon.
"Tch. Damn it," was the only response she got. It was said in a seething tone as well. Gridon apparently didn't take defeat very well.
"Tch!" she replied back. "Damn you, Pretty Cure! Armored Warriors!" Sasorina cursed the four warriors in front of her.
"We're not Armored Warriors," Baron told her. Although, technically speaking, that is what Gaim's name translates to...
"We're Kamen Riders!" Gaim declared to her with a sense of pride.
That got a shock flowing through her system. "What?! Don't bullshit me! Kamen Riders are Warriors of Evil!" she spat.
Gaim and Baron paused at that declaration, with Baron yelling out a loud "What!?" in a personally offended tone. Where the hell had she gotten that idea?
"No. They are Kamen Riders." To their surprise, Gridon was the one who told her that. Sure, he was still pissed, but he was considering what had happened a lucky fluke and had mostly calmed down. "However, that's just a title," he told her as he painfully got back up. "Titles are shared by multiple people. They are Kamen Riders, just like me. They are... Gaim and Baron. You'd best remember that," he told her as he got close to her. "Now, let's go. We need to report this to Bravo."
And with that, the two of them teleported out of there. However, what shocked Baron and Gaim the most was the name 'Bravo'. Kamen Rider Bravo...a durian-themed Kamen Rider introduced early on in Gaim as well as one of the more dangerous Armored Riders in the series in terms of stats. If he's on the Desert Apostles' side... the two shuddered to think.
The two powered down from their Rider forms and looked at each other pensively. They both knew how devastatingly powerful Bravo could be, and if he's on the Desert Apostles' side, along with an incredibly competent Gridon, they're in for the fight of our lives. And then there was still the enroaching question of Helheim. They needed to find Kurokage, and fast.
However, Marine was looking at the pair suspiciously after all that had been said from the others. It didn't help that she remembered Baron's tone of voice when he tried to taunt Gridon. "So you're Kamen Riders and so is that other guy..." she said distrustfully. Tsukasa facepalmed as he realized what had happen. 'Oh no. Please tell me she's not going where I think she's going?'
It was then that Sora interrupted both her and Tsukasa's thoughts. "It's true that he and we are Kamen Riders, but we, like all true Kamen Riders, fight for those who can't protect themselves. Don't lump us in with those fakers!" he yelled.
Tsukasa then decided to break up the argument. Now was absolutely not the time for this. "We'll explain later, Ms. Erika. Now don't you have someone to check on?" he asked, pointing to their classmate Sayaka, the former Soccer Ball Desertrian, who was still lying down where they had left her.
Blossom jerked. "Ah! That's right: come on, Erika!" She and Marine powered down and went over to Sayaka. Tsukasa pretty much ignored their conversation, instead talking with Sora.
"So, it seems you decided to become a Rider after all, huh?" Tsukasa asked, a relieved smile on his face. He wasn't going to be alone in this anymore. There was a chance!
"Yeah. In the end, whatever choice we make, we'll always have some kind of consequences to live with from making our choice. So that's why..." Sora said with his own relaxed smile, to the point of closing his eyes as he seemed to make peace with himself. But then he frowned as he remembered something extremely important. "Oh yeah. By the way, I saw the Woman of Beginnings. And she looked like Takatsukasa Mai, or her actor, Yuumi Shida."
Tsukasa was taken aback at this. 'The Woman of Beginnings? But that...and she appeared the same way Mai did? But that's impossible?! And assuming she's trying to stop the key figures like Mai did...'
"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her at all. Which is strange, considering I've become Gaim twice now and you'd think that I'd be in the thick of things if you are. I wonder why she hasn't shown up?" he wondered pensively, before realizing something very important. "Wait a minute! Why is she even here?! This isn't the World of Gaim, so she shouldn't even be showing up, Helheim or no Helheim!"
Sora blinked at that, the windows of his soul making it clear that he hadn't thought of that himself. "Hm... Wait, could it be? Is it us Gaim Riders' fault? Are we going to have to go through Gaim's plot? As in all of it?" Sora asked to no one in particular, frowning as he did so. Tsukasa himself was starting to get a bit scared. Gaim was an Urobutcher story through and through. So much darkness, with barely any light at the end of the tunnel. To think that such a thing would descend upon the World of Pretty Cure...
Calming himself down, Tsukasa turned to Sora. "Hey, let's not worry about that right now." He then turned to look at the girls, who had just said goodbye to Sayaka. "Right now, we need to focus on keeping them safe."
Sora looked at them as well, and let out a small smile. "...Yeah. Our presence messed up the Story of this World. So, we'll make sure, that Story goes on as it should, no matter what changes occur."
Tsukasa smiled in relief (again). "Well said, partner."
A zipper closes diagonally up to the right of the screen. Behind the zipper is Baron's symbol. His Banana and Mango Lockseeds lie scattered over top the emblem.
Episode 02 - Fin
OathToOblivion: Well, you certainly expanded a lot this time, Joker. This incarnation of Sora is a lot different than the last one.
Symbolic Joker: Well, it's nearly been two years now since we first wrote JLM, right? I've matured a bit. I got a better grasp now on how to write down my personality for SIs.
OathToOblivion: Fair enough. I don't think I've changed that much though. ...I take it back. I have changed a little. Enough that Episode 3 as it was originally written probably won't...
Symbolic Joker: Aw, look at you Oath! Look at how grown-up you've become! You're not getting jealous over trivial things anymore! *Remembers family vacation in Japan, and Oath's reaction* ...Then again...
OathToOblivion: Wha-? ...I was faking that! Yeah, I was slightly jealous, but I also have Combiner Wars Leader Class Thundercracker, and you don't, so there!
Symbolic Joker: ...One day I'm going to get a DX Drive Driver, a DX Trailer-Hou, a DX Shingou-Ax and a DX Surprise Future Set AT LEAST. So ha! *Blows a raspberry*
...
*Googles Combiner Wars Leader Class Thundercracker* ...Oh. It's a Transformer.
...
Yeah, I had an Optimus Prime toy once. The one from the animated series... Um...the cartoon whose character design was drawn by the same guy who did the Ben 10: Omniverse designs. Pretty good figure. Decided to give it to my younger cousins because they love Transformers so much.
OathToOblivion: Yeah, that show was literally called Transformers Animated. Anyway, at the time of writing this, it's getting real late for you, so let's wrap this up, shall we?
Symbolic Joker: YES! THANK YOU! GOODNIGHT, SWEET PRINCE!
...
Bweh, I'm tired. Goodnight, people.
OathToOblivion: On that note...
Next time on HeartCatch Pretty Cure - Just Live More Redux: Kunais and Irons! Pears and Papayas! Unorthodox Arms Changes Galore!
And we will see you guys in the next episode! Seeya!
