AN: It's been a bit since I've written this story, decided it was time to revisit it. I was somewhat inspired by a new story I read recently, Loud Rangers: Legacy!, by Mr ChubbySnorlax619, which is a sentai take on TLH (and a pretty good one so far), and helped me get in the mood to write something toku. But I also just feel like I've left this thing sitting by the wayside a little too long, and thought it was time to show this story some love. Think there's another chapter or two in the tank before I wrap up this story arc, we'll see how it goes.
I'd also mentioned this in my ANs for another story, but it's more applicable here. Gigant has a TvTropes page (referring to my story, lol, not the manga of the same name), and that's pretty cool. I'm consistently humbled by the fact that people are making tvtropes pages for my stories, it's a wonderful feeling to know that people are enjoying them so much that they want to catalog the individual elements of them, hehe.
Oh wow, some of these reviews have been sitting for a while. Lets see...
Miraculous Psychic Hero 100: Yes, I am aware of that manga, though I didn't find out about it until after I'd already started this story. I just needed a name for something big, and Gigant seemed like a good one. I was annoyed to find out that something else shared the name, and very broadly the themes of my story, hehe. Though, I don't actually care for the Gigant manga all that much. I haven't looked in on it for a long time now, but the pacing was awfuland the characters were pretty dull (though the girl was cute). Dunno if things have improved since then, but I feel like I have the better Gigant :).
Mr. Haziq: I dunno how far I'm going to take it, but for the moment yeah, that was the gag I came up with. Sort of a stand-in for the wacky rubber-suit monsters you see in Toku shows, and generally easier on the eyes.
qazse: I feel like I may have given Lori disproportionately more bonding time with Lincoln than other girls by this point. But that's because she's one of my favorites, so she'll definitely have her turn again sooner than later.
Cristofer25: Ultra-styled stories are sorely underrepresented in fan content. Just happy to be doing my part in trying to fix that :)
LoudCestBest: Glad I managed to win you over. I knew this fic was going to be a hard sell because of how weird the premise is, but I'm glad people have learned to like it in spite of that.
As always, thanks to everyone for the well wishes andwhatnot. I generally can't put out chapters fast enough to respond to reviews in a very timely fashion, but you can always PM questions and comments to me, and I'll try to get back to you. Otherwise, the story is also in AO3, which makes that sort of thing much easier. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter, next one should be out much faster.
Their freshly gotten prize in hand, Lincoln and Maggie continued on with their date, blissfully ignorant of the fact that their every step was being dogged by Lucy. Purely out of concern for her older brother, of course. Naturally, Lucy herself was ignorant of the fact that she had an unwitting partner in this endeavor, a third quiet, unassuming, raven-haired girl, who had been following the couple for her own purposes.
At least, she had been. Now, however, she was repeatedly walking into an ironrod fence she had somehow managed to catch herself upon, her arms and legs wildly jerking in all directions in what seemed to be a vain attempt to circumvent the obstacle. But try as she might, no matter how she attempted to maneuver, the confused and utterly uncoordinated movements of her limbs inevitably led her right back to where she started—
CLANG
—back against the fence.
Only a short distance away, a bemused operator of Dairy Land's iconic Ferris wheel, The Wheel O' Cheese, snuck glances at the strange girl during the brief reprieves he got when one set of riders was exiting, and another was boarding the ride. Initially, he'd only been observing the girl out of curiosity. Then concern, as she continued to repeatedly bash her head against the unyielding fence, briefly considering if he should call someone to see to the curiously self-destructive girl. That had quickly faded, however, as the girl continued to bludgeon herself, seemingly no worse for wear, save for the growing frustration demeanor. After a few minutes of this, he'd decided to just let things play out. After all, he had a long shift ahead of him, and this far away from the good rides, interesting sights were few and far between.
CLANG
Just a few more minutes, he promised himself, briefly returning his attention to his duty just long enough to send the latest batch of riders on their way. The fence had the upper hand now, but he wanted to believe that the girl was determined enough to turn things around.
"Shimmy left," Fiona suggested, watching the flailing QT on the office monitor with barely disguised amusement. "No, your other left. No! Not with her left, your left! Her right!"
"Do you mind?" Darkness snapped, glowering at the teen as his hands frantically danced across the large command console currently sitting atop his desk. Switches were flipped, knobs were turned, and something oddly reminiscent of a slide whistle was yanked vigorously. None of it seemed to make much of a difference, the Shy QT simply found new ways to slam herself into the fence. Being a creature older than time itself, it felt strange to finally have his patience so thoroughly tested over something this ridiculous.
"Just trying to help." Fiona shrugged and settled back into her chair. "Why are you even trying to operate her manually? She seemed to be doing fine on automatic."
"Automatic isn't getting me the shots I need. I want to see Maggie enjoying her date, and according to the lab boys, manual is the only way to do that without completely rewriting the Shy QT's behavior protocols."
Fiona held up one finger. "Just...gonna put a pin in that first thing for now. But assuming for the moment that isn't a completely ridiculous reason to jeopardize your own operation—"
"I don't see why it would be."
"—Two pins, then," Fiona added, holding up a second finger. "But isn't that thing way too complicated for its own good?"
Darkness paused briefly to glare at the infernal contraption. Fiona was right, and he absolutely abhorred that circumstances had contrived that particular development. But it was true. The QT Console (marketing was really enthusiastic about that name), was a monstrosity. Which was saying something, coming from a literal monster. It was as large as a medium-sized dog and significantly more disruptive, given that every inch of its surface was covered with a terrifying number of things to push, pull, flip, and turn, and almost none of them were labeled. Those that were, tended to have names like "Doo-hicky" and "Thingamabob", which had been written haphazardly on sticky notes that had been attached to the device, but those had quickly fallen off once he'd started trying to operate the thing, so he'd been flying blind for quite some time. Calling the console a prototype was giving it far too much credit, at this stage, it was basically a concept that had somehow manifested into physical form.
"Balderdash." He replied, waving dismissively. "I created the creatures that built this thing. If anyone can operate it, it's me."
"You say that, but—"
"Oh! I see toggles." Darkness announced, cutting the girl off. "I don't think I've tried these yet..."
He should have known better. On some level, he was fairly certain he actually had, but the tantalizing taste of hope had been right there. Just out of his grasp. And then immediately dissipated as he activated the switches, causing an alarm to sound in the distance.
OOGA, OOGA
"Last time that alarm sounded, it turned out you'd accidentally ordered a pizza," Fiona said snidely.
"I'm aware of that, human." Seethed Darkness, gesturing to a pile of half-filled pizza boxes that had been haphazardly shoved into the corner of his office. "Why is that even a feature on this damnable thing?!"
"Pizza button." Announced the third member of their group, a second, far more curvaceous brunette woman, who until now had been content to sit quietly while he'd attempted to salvage the mission. "A feature that you had ordered to be added to the greed-powered car that we currently have in development."
"Right. The Steal Mobile." Darkness muttered, slapping one hand against the area currently serving as his face. "So why is it here?"
"I believe there was a mixup in the work orders." The woman answered in a pleasant voice. "Shall I arrange for disciplinary action?"
"Explode three workers, and dock the pay of seven others." Darkness answered absentmindedly, squinting down at the command console. "Make sure there isn't any overlap between the two groups."
"Of course, sir."
"And that's the other thing I have questions about," Fiona interjected, gesturing towards the woman. "Who the heck is this?"
"As I said before, I am QT Prime."
"She did say that." Darkness added, glancing up from his work. "Did I forget to fix your ears the last time you got beaten to a bloody pulp? I need to know these things, human. It's one thing if I do it on purpose, but otherwise, it reflects badly upon me as a craftsman. QTP? Make a note to bother the human about that in the future."
"Duly noted."
"My ears are fine, thank you." Fiona spat. She paused, uncertainty briefly rippling across her face. "At least...I'm pretty sure they are. I just don't get why she's like that."
Darkness pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Meaning?"
"She looks exactly like all the other..." Fiona sighed in exasperation. "'Thicc QT's', we've been pumping out—"
"That name caught on like wildfire. Shame I haven't figured out a use for them beyond harassing my enemies."
"Three pins, then." Fiona wearily held up three fingers. "She looks just like them, right down that stupid dress and sunglasses. So why is she so...chatty?"
"I think you mean 'articulate'. She's actually been pretty quiet."
"Fine!" Fiona flung up her hands in annoyance, and Darkness felt strangely at peace. All was right with the universe again. For now. Thus satisfied, he turned his attention back to the console.
"QTP, explain your purpose, preferably without getting philosophical."
"Of course, sir." The artificial lifeform clasped her hands neatly in her lap and turned to address Fiona. "You may recall that the Thicc QT series was modeled after one Quinlan Timber."
"I remember thinking that was really weird, yes," Fiona replied, nodding. "I also remember that she was suing us."
"Thankfully, that is no longer the case."
"Oh? Really?" Fiona blinked in surprise. "That's surprising. I kind of figured—"
"Because she was completely successful in her claim against our company," QTP added cheerfully.
"...That," Fiona concluded, shaking her head slowly. "I kind of figured that was going to happen. We stole the woman's likeness, how do you even begin to defend that?"
"By capitulating." Darkness added, looking pointedly at the QT. "And she didn't win, strictly speaking. We settled."
"Apologies, sir. I have adjusted my logic centers accordingly."
"You settled? And we're still making these things?" Fiona asked incredulously, jerking one thumb towards QT Prime. "I don't know which of those is more surprising. Kinda thought you'd just send one of us to go rough her up a bit so she'd back off."
"I have standards, human. But yes, as part of our settlement Ms. Timber was promised certain...concessions."
"Okay." Fiona nodded uncertainly. "And she's one of them?"
"Ms. Timber took offense that the Thicc QTs only seem to display subhuman intelligence and unbridled rage." QT Prime explained. "As the basis for their design, she felt that those behaviors reflected poorly upon her."
"But she was okay with the name 'Thicc QT?"
"Actually, she was flattered by that." Darkness interjected. "So if nothing else, she has excellent taste in names."
"Stuff like that makes me wonder if I'm the horrible space creature from beyond the stars." Fiona groaned, clutching her head in frustration.
"If that turns out to be true, remember that you signed a non-compete clause. No starting up your own evil company under my nose."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Fiona muttered, rolling her eyes. "So the concession was...what, better representation among the Thicc QTs?"
"There were others, but that was essentially one of them, yes. I theoretically represent a new and improved Thicc QT, one capable of intelligent, independent thought and able to serve in roles other than brawling with oversized women in the streets."
"Theoretically?" Fiona looked to Darkness in askance.
Darkness smirked, marveling at how satisfying such a simple act could be. Human lips could be marvelous things sometimes. "The agreement only explicitly provided for the production of the one model. The rest of the planned line will be held up for a variety of reasons just specific enough to seem plausible. We will, however, continue to produce the original Thicc QT as a stopgap measure."
"Until you get sued again," Fiona added smugly.
"We'll deal with that problem when it comes up." Darkness replied, shrugged. "In the meantime, QTP takes direction well, and morale has been at an all-time high since she's started hanging around the office."
"Sixty-three percent, according to the Chartomographer." QT Prime chimed in, indicating a large numerical display on the far wall. "Though as far as I'm aware, those numbers don't correlate to any factual data at this time."
"People like seeing numbers go up, they don't particularly care why. Anyway, since we've already taken the time to make her, I decided to give her a management position."
"Despite her being...what, a week old at most?" Fiona deadpanned.
"And yet, she's still far more competent than—hello?" Darkness cut his own tirade short as he noticed a large seam running down the center of the console. Following it with his fingers, he found a single clasp on either end of the device, each discretely hidden under a layer of assorted controls. He triggered one, then the other, then took both ends of the console in hand and pushed against the seam. To his surprise the device folded in half, revealing a large, ominous-looking red button.
"This looks promising." He mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
"When has a red button ever looked promising?" Fiona shouted in exasperation. To his surprise, even QT Prime's normally serene face was now marred with concern.
"I have to agree, sir. Given the...technical difficulties you've been dealing with, it seems like it would be unwise to—"
"Well then it's a shame, I already pushed the button." Darkness smugly cut in.
Both females looked to Darkness, then to the clearly unpushed button, and exchanged confused glances.
"Uh, sir?" QT Prime ventured, hesitantly. "I don't believe you've actually—"
"Boop."He'd started pushing it the second they'd looked away from him. Sometimes matters demanded decisive action.
Back at the park, the young girl who'd so doggedly been slamming herself against the fence—
CLANG
—Continued to do so. This time, however, instead of simply rebounding off, she took the iron bars of the fence in her hands, gripping them so tightly that the metal began to buckle under her delicate-looking fingers. Throwing back her head, she let out an unearthly shriek, the sound gradually rising in pitch until it lost all semblance of human speech, transitioning into a continuous, high-pitched, eardrum-piercing whine. Then, it stopped. The girl drooped to the floor, like a puppet whose strings had suddenly been cut. Her body began to disintegrate, facsimile skin and bone crumbling into a fine black powder, but not before discharging a jolt of ebony electricity into the fence, which quickly jumped to the machinery it had been guarding from the public. A short distance away, the Wheel O' Cheese began to spin faster and faster, quickly eclipsing the leisurely speeds that the ride was intended to operate at...
Fiona, QT Prime, and Darkness stared at the monitor, now only displaying static.
"That seemed...preventable." Fiona offered.
Darkness considered this for a moment. "I don't see how you could have possibly come to that conclusion."