I'm back, and I totally haven't been distracted by Idle Games what are you talking about? I toyed with Kamen Rider Core's finisher's for the longest time. Since he has six styles, and there are five Kamen Rider finisher types, I wanted to have punches that could resemble those finishers. But then I thought that wouldn't be easy to see, so I decided to simply have him resort to combat pragmatism, only using his boxing talent to wear down an enemy. Disclaimer: I don't own Danganronpa or Kamen Rider.
Chapter 4: Gods, Wrestling, and the Shattered Medal
Hajime listened to Juzo's story about the new Despair and the appearance of the monster calling itself Sasanibi. "It was almost like a corrupted version of OOO," Juzo explained, "Still with the animal motifs, but far more prominent. It's head had a scorpion tail sticking out of the back, it's arms had visible crab claws, and attached to its waist was what looked like a shrimp tail." Hajime closed his eyes. "Sasori. Kani. Ebi. Hence, Sasanibi. These are the animals of the Black Core Medals. They were formed when my boundless desire removed the despair from the most of the Purple Core Medals."
Kazari, who was sitting nearby in his human form, looked at Juzo. "What of the Ultimate that was used to spawn this Despair? It was referred to as Wrestler's Despair." Juzo nodded. "The man it came from is known only as the Great Gozu, a masked wrestler who was part of the 69th Class at Hope's Peak Academy. Like the Luchadores, he never removes his mask for any reason. He's known as a wrestling prodigy, able to make any fight look like a perfectly balanced match-up." Kazari raised an eyebrow, making Juzo chuckled. "Unlike boxing, modern wrestling matches are staged. The fights themselves are real, save for the outcome, but the banter in-between is all carefully rehearsed."
"And the idea behind masked wrestling is much like a superhero battle," Hajime continued, "For a while it seems like the villain will get the upper-hand, but then the hero pulls out a come-from-behind victory. Oftentimes such spectacles can be set up well in advance over a series of matches." Kazari smiled. "I see. Humans making sport of combat is as old as civilization, but this is the first time I've heard of the victor literally being decided before the fight even begins. Anyway, we still have some time to track down the Despair." He brought out a tablet.
"Modern technology is truly fascinating. The way humans have evolved over the years, in every conceivable way. Take a look at this." All over the forum Kazari showed were images of the black monster Sasanibi and Wrestler's Despair. "And they keep coming in, with no sign that the Despair is close to fading. We can use this, in conjunction with the Candroids, to track them down." Hajime got up from his chair. "Juzo, I'd like to see more of what Core can do, so I'll leave disposal of the Despair to you. I'll handle Sasanibi." Juzo smiled and slammed his hands together. "Thought you'd never ask. I'll send that monster straight to Hell."
Meanwhile, the person who was really Sasanibi was taking some time out of their transformed state. "Seems I can only maintain the change for so long," they said. Then they looked at the Despair they had crafted. "It would be so easy to just leave him here, but to do so would expose me. Besides, unless it is active, it cannot burn through the desires it has absorbed. And even with my considerable paycheck taking him far away from this area is out of the question. I have no choice but to keep the incident confined to this prefecture, which will eventually draw in OOO and this new Kamen Rider known as Core."
The figure sighed. "Perhaps I shouldn't have tried to fast track my plans, but there's something about these Medals that makes me want to use them." They looked over the eleven Medals they had, the twelfth being used to power Wrestler's Despair. "Just thinking about the delightful despair I can spread with these Medals... I get tingly just thinking about it. But I must learn more about my new form. Perhaps another romp through the city will let me understand my new powers." They put on their D Driver and swiped the D Scanner across the three Medals inside the Driver. "Sasori! Kani! Ebi! Sa-San-Ibi!" The figure laughed manically as they turned into Sasanibi again.
Meanwhile, several students of Hope's Peak Academy's Reserve Course were talking during lunch. "So I heard one of our own got hired as part of the Security Staff after that weird monster attacked." "Yeah, because he's a costumed superhero. I think he said his name was OOO." "It was like something out of Tokusatsu!" "And have you noticed how many other nice monsters have been showing up." "It's a rumor going around the Reserve Course. They have these five animal-like beings using coins or something to conjure monsters that grant students like us our greatest desires."
The talk was also going around with the 77th class. The revelation about Hajime being a superhero was really turning Nagito's world upside-down, to the point he hadn't spoken in days due to trying to understand the situation. The others, however, were really chatting each other up. 'I suppose it's no surprise they're so excited,' Nagito thought, 'Even I'm excited from seeing how Hajime operates. But it doesn't make sense to me. Hajime is supposed to be one of the talentless since he's not an Ultimate. Yet here he is with a major talent that let's him fight against monsters. I'm going to have to talk with him about this.'
Meanwhile in the nearby city, Sasanibi and Wrestler's Despair resumed their attack. "Before long, my beautiful Despair will have fully dissolved, leaving its original host vulnerable to my plans." It used its claws to smash through a nearby building, sending people scattering. As the black monster laughed, it heard a very familiar engine sound. Sure enough, in came Hajime and Juzo on a pair of Ridevendors. Before Sasanibi could move to attack them, it found itself swarmed by numerous Tako Candroids, basically Candroids modeled after octopods.
Hajime smiled as he got off his Ridevendor. "Just as there are multiple Medals," he explained, "There are multiple types of Candroids. Juzo, are you sure you can pull this off? It's a little unconventional for a boxer." "Maybe," Juzo said with a grin, "But this isn't really a boxing match. A little pragmatism won't hurt my reputation." He and Hajime got out their Drivers. Beneath its helmet, Sasanibi's eyes widened. "Then you're..." Juzo smirked as he put on the Core Driver and spun it. "Henshin!" "Style: Avian!" Hajime followed suit with his OOO Driver. "Henshin!" "Taka! Tora! Batta! Ta-To-Ba! Tatoba, Ta-To-Ba!"
OOO immediately activated his Tora Claws and started slashing at Sasanibi. Wrestler's Despair moved to help, but was blocked by Core. "Didn't I tell you? I'll be the one to send you to Hell." He immediately started striking at the monster with several vicious blows, including the same Vacuum Wave he used earlier. The Despair managed to maneuver out of the way. Meanwhile, the black monster started blocking OOO's attacks, prompting him to try switching out Medals. "Taka! Kamakiri! Batta!" Now armed with the Kamakiri Swords, OOO had an easier time breaking through Sasanibi's defenses.
A few more blows caught Sasanibi off-guard, until it started using the stinger on its head. OOO was able to get out of the way, but could no longer get close enough to attack. "How do you like that, OOO?," Sasanibi asked with a laugh, "If you are the God of Desire, I shall be God of Despair!" Meanwhile, Core was having a similarly tough time catching Wrestler's Despair. "Tricky little dodger. Better try a faster fighting style." Core spun his Driver so that it landed on the yellow Medal. "Style: Feline!" The cloak changed to yellow, as did Core's armor, and took on a tiger motif. Core's helmet now had eyes like a cat's, and his gloves had short claws on the knuckles.
He also seemed to move faster in this mode, making it easier to land blows against his opponent. Seeing this, OOO got a burst of inspiration. "A bit more speed should shake things up." He got out his second yellow Medals, this one having a cheetah symbol on it. Swapping out his Medals, he swiped the O Scanner. "Taka! Tora! Cheetah!" OOO's legs now had a cheetah motif to them, and he demonstrated their power by rushing at Sasanibi faster than it could aim with its stinger. A few quick slashes with OOO's Tora Claws sent that black monster sailing.
Meanwhile, Core now had Wrestler's Despair on the ropes. "Now for the final bell." "Style: Avian!" Back in his red cloak, Core held one of his gloves up to the Driver. The energy created caused Core to be lifted up into the air. "Funny thing about kickboxing, there's still boxing in it. Eagle Dive!" Core launched a flying kick, the image of a screeching eagle superimposed on him, as if diving at its prey. Core quickly landed the blow on Wrestler's Despair, causing it to shatter into Cell Medals, plus the black Core Medal in it's center completely broke. OOO looked at the new bounty. "From the looks of things, we still had some time." He then looked around and noticed Sasanibi was nowhere to be found.
Meanwhile, inside a local hospital, the man known only as the Great Gozu finally opened his eyes. He noted he was not wearing his mask, but a quick check in a nearby mirror showed the staff respected his identity by bandaging his head. He sat up, noticing how light he felt, as if all his troubles in life had suddenly disappeared. He turned his head as the nearby door opened, revealing his fiance Fujiko. "Gozu... You're finally awake!" Mami embraced her fiance, and Gozu returned the hug. "Yes... It seems I have worried you with my mysterious malady. I promise never to do something like that again."
Gozu's newfound hope left him immune to the brainwashing scheme during the Final Killing Game that occurred during The Tragedy. His attempts to mediate tensions revealed a loophole in Daisaku's NG Code. Daisaku's code would be triggered if he witnessed violence between participants, but if one participant was trying to restrain another, that wouldn't count and Daisaku's code would remain inactive. Additionally, Gozu's own code, which stated he couldn't be pinned by a 3-count, proved impossible since no one was willing to try anyway.
Gozu was fortunate in that his fiance survived throughout the entire ordeal, even though it took years. After so long apart, they were reunited, and finally married. Years later, it was said only Mami knew what was beneath the Great Gozu's mask. Gozu eventually retired from wrestling when it was clear he was past his prime, and he and Mami settled down on the outskirts of the city. 'I eventually learned the secret behind my malady. These Kamen Riders, the ones who quite literally destroyed my despair. It's as if the very darkness of the past is being cleared away.'
To be continued...
For the record, I don't anything about the personal lives of these characters, but I thought that last part would be fun to include to remind people that even Ultimates don't live in a vacuum. Read and review.
