Chapter 12: Toku's Got Talent
It only takes one look at Toku Town to see that numerous colorful characters populate it. But what sets some apart more than others are the talents they possess. Tonight, at the annual talent show, each of them has their chance to shine. The building was packed with a variety of the town's occupants. All eyes were locked on to two areas: the judges' table and the stage. Sitting at the judges' table was Kamen Rider Kuuga, Mothra, and LupinX/PatorenX.
"Quite the lineup tonight." Kuuga said as he looked over the schedule of acts. "Looks like we're in for some fun."
"Indeed." LupinX/PatorenX said as he shifted into his silver Lupin Form. "Let's see what they've got!"
"According to the lineup, Goji and some of his friends are up first as a band." Mothra said as she skimmed the lineup. "Ah! Here they come now!"
Godzilla, Rodan, and Anguirus set up their instruments on stage. Once the audience had quite murmuring, Godzilla strummed his guitar wildly! Rodan followed suit on his bass while Anguirus hammered away at the drums! The three-kaiju band rocked on as they performed a rock version of the iconic "March of the Monsters" suite from their film series! The crows cheered in excitement as the performance ended! Mothra was clapping exceptionally hard with her wings for her friends! Bowing graciously, the three kaiju packed up their equipment and shuffled their way off the stage. On their way, they encountered Ghidorah was making his way towards the stage.
"A pity your band is lacking a vocalist." Ichi said smugly as he held his head high. "I would have considered lending you three my talents if Godzilla were to kneel before me!"
"We're an instrumental band." Rodan deadpanned.
"Y'know Ichi, our act would be a lot easier if we had them help us." Ni stated. "Our pipes are as golden as our scales, and Kevin's got the voice of an angel. But you've got to admit, having their instruments working alongside us would make for a much greater spectacle given what song we're performing."
"C'mon guys!" Kevin chirped! "I wanna sing out there!"
"Quite right Kevin." Ichi nodded excitedly. "Tonight, the king shall be performing Queen!"
The instant Ghidorah stepped onto the stage, a chorus of boos erupted from the audience! Each of the heads was quick to dodge the hail of tomatoes hurled at them merely for taking the stage! The pelting by produce was halted when LupinX/PatorenX changed into his Patoren X form and blew a whistle at the rowdy crowd!
"All right, that's enough!" Patoren X declared with one last blow of his whistle for good measure! "I know Ghidorah rubs a lot of you the wrong way, but it's not fair to pepper him with produce just for walking on stage."
"Thank you, officer." Ichi replied.
"Save it for AFTER he gives a horrible performance." Patoren X concluded.
"HEY!" Ichi snapped as a tick mark appeared on his head!
"Cool it Ichi!" Ni cautioned! "There's better ways to make the audience quiet, and we were just about to do it. Now are we good?"
"Yes." Ichi sighed as he, Ni, and Kevin cleared their throats as the minus track for the song they'd chosen to perform began to play. And in unison, the three heads began singing.
"Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?"
From backstage, it only took the opening lyrics for Godzilla and his band to figure out what Ghidorah had hinted at earlier. He was performing Bohemian Rhapsody. And when the second guitar solo arrived, all three heads were banging to it! Through the entire performance, Ichi was belting his lungs out with every note! Once the song had finished, all three Ghidorah heads were panting for air! The entire building was silent before the audience burst into cheers! Ichi was so overjoyed at this he began to cry!
"I don't think I've ever seen him this happy." Ni said with a small smile. "Well, let's get moving. Wouldn't want to disrupt the schedule."
"We should get ice cream to celebrate later!" Kevin cheered as they headed backstage.
The next act was the Ultra Brothers. For their performance, the band of brothers did a gymnastics routine! Everyone was amazed by the Ultra Brothers grace as they flipped and somersaulted through the air! It was a well-known fact that the Ultra Warrior were very acrobatic in their fights. But to see them performing such feats outside of battle was utterly amazing! When their routine concluded, the Ultra Brothers bowed to the audience before leaving the stage.
Ginga Red headed up to the stage next with Gingalion by his side. His act was simple: Having Gingalion perform various tricks. At Ginga Red's command, Gingalion leaped through hoops, rode atop a ball while balancing a book on his head, and even juggled a little before concluding the performance with a short burst of fire breath! The audience was quite taken with the adorable little lion. Taking the little beast in his arms, Ginga Red bowed before returning backstage.
Next was the four Taro imajins taking the stage. The four ally kaijins of Den-O were performing the theme song for their season: Climax Jump-DenLiner Form. From start to finish, the audience was at a climax! However, the signature bickering between the Taros spilled forth once their performance ended over who the audience was cheering for the most. The stage crew would have been sent out to remove them from the stage, but their squabble took care of that itself.
"It looks like the next act is Decade." Kuuga noted. "Looks like he'll be doing some impressions."
Sure enough, the Passing Through Kamen Rider appeared on stage. Clearing his throat, Decade pulled out a card and inserted it into his DecaDriver.
"Kamen Ride: Ichigo!"
Instantly, Decade was transformed into Ichigo! He looked exactly like the original rider except for the Deca Driver being around his waist. However, it wasn't merely the look that Decade had nailed.
"TOH!" Decade exclaimed as he leaped into the air! He sounded exactly like Ichigo as he struck the first Kamen Rider's iconic pose! "HENSHIN!"
Decade continued to cycle through each of the Kamen Riders from both the Showa and Heisei eras! Mimicking their catchphrases and poses with spot-on impressions of their voices! Sometimes it really helped being able to turn into all the Kamen Riders.
'I wonder if I should start a card game club with the other card-user riders.' Decade thought to himself as he ventured off the stage.
The next act on stage was Kamen Rider Wizard and the Magi Rangers in a magic-off. Everyone was on the edge of their seats to see what acts the magic-using heroes would pull out of their hats. Figuratively and literally. In the first round, Wizard made some flowers bloom out of seemingly nowhere while Magi Green made a tree sprout up from the stage! Wizard responded by sliding on his Big Wizard Ring and using the giant hand that uprooted the tree! Magi Yellow rolled his shoulders as he raised his wand and summoned a series of lightning bolts! However, the lightning bolts fell through a hole in the floor that Wizard had made with his Fall Ring! Magi Blue and Pink were next using their wind and water magic to make an ice sculpture. Wizard nodded in approval before using his Connect Ring to pull out an ice sculpture of a dragon! Unfortunately, it wasn't around for long when Magi Red used his fire magic to fly around like a phoenix! All the while, the audience was applauding the melee of magicians.
"Looks like it's time for the finale." Wizard said as he slipped on his Dragorise Ring. "Come forth dragon!"
Out of a magic portal, Wizard's dragon phantom appeared with a mighty roar! However, the hole that Wizard had made earlier was right underneath Dragon as he came out of the magic portal! The mystical beast blinking before falling through the hole.
"Guess you missed that, huh?" Magi Red asked as he looked down the hole.
"Wait for it." Wizard replied. An instant later, Dragon shot up from the hole and Wizard jumped onto his back! The pair flying around the room and landing back on the stage! Everyone in the room gave a round of thunderous applause! Wizard made sure to seal up the hole he'd made before he and the Magi Rangers left the stage.
"Looks like we're down to the last act." LupinX/PatorenX said as he viewed the lineup. "A dance-off between Kamen Riders Gaim and Baron. This ought to be fun!"
Sure enough, the two riders took to the stage with members of their respective dance crews joining them. The song that the groups danced to was "Just Live More". With the way the dancers were moving, it was more like the audience was witnessing a battle between the two groups! Once teams Gaim and Baron concluded their dance-off the crowd erupted into cheers!
"Now to get to the judging." Kuuga said as he conversed with his fellow judges. It was fifteen minutes before the acts for the night were called out to the stage for the winner to be announced. "Thank you all for performing tonight. This wasn't an easy decision because all of you gave great performances."
"Please keep in mind that regardless of who gets the win, you all showed excellent style!" Lupin X/Patoren X cheered in his Lupin mode.
"Now without further ado, in third place we have Kamen Rider Wizard and the Magi Rangers." Mothra announced as a spotlight shined over the mentioned group. "Second place: King Ghidorah's performance of Bohemian Rhapsody." Another spotlight illuminated King Ghidorah. Ichi was a bit disappointed he didn't place first but shrugged. Kevin was simply happy to be in the top three. "And for our winner. . . Team Gaim and Team Baron for their exhilarating dance-off!"
Team Gaim and Team Baron cheered at winning first place! Both dance crews were hoisting their respective leaders up in celebration of their win! Meanwhile, back at the reception, Kamen Rider Zero-One and Kyoryu Blue were having a difficult time.
"But I don't understand!" Kamen Rider Zero-One complained. "Me and Kyoryu Blue were supposed to perform here!"
"Hmm. Let me see." The receptionist said as he viewed the schedule. "It seems you got the date wrong. Says here that comedy night isn't until next week."
"Well, it looks like the two of us. . . can't get a date!" Kyoryu Blue joked.