Pikatwig: *exhales a bit* Well… some stress recently came in and could've been harmful to a lot of things.
KKD: You sure you're ok, buddy?
Pikatwig: Yeah. I'm also fine now that I'm almost done with my current semester (as of this being written).
KKD: Right. As for me… I'm doing alright as well. Hopefully we can have some fun.
Pikatwig: Yeah. So, while we didn't get as much feedback as we would've liked, we're going on ahead with the next chapter. Also, since I saw this get mentioned, we're not accepting character suggestions. While we don't have the entire storyline mapped out, we do have some vague directions we're stepping towards.
KKD: As such, it's likely for the better we don't end up cluttering what we've got by integrating outside OCs. Maybe on another story, but not this one.
Pikatwig: What we're hoping to get from you guys in the reviews is feedback about where we should nudge the general direction of the story. For example, in retrospect, we haven't really done a whole lot with the Alliance yet. We have a vague notion that they want money and can do something with it, but what is it they want. If you guys say you want us to highlight them a little more, then that'll be helpful. As of this moment, we're sort of taking the approach of the Gurongi from Kuuga in that we'll learn more about them with time. Let us know if you want them to take a more active approach in the plot. That's the feedback we're looking for.
KKD: That is the kind of feedback we're looking for, not just a case of "Hey, I like this chapter" or "(insert other thing?)". While we don't mind you guys saying you liked it, we need a way to direct these chapters before we get to the final arc.
Pikatwig: Yeah. While we may at least accept ideas for Vaijins, that'd be a case-by-case basis.
KKD: Guest appearances are a possibility, but no full-focus main character inclusions. That's too much.
Pikatwig: Oh, and before we get asked what we think… Kamen Rider Jeanne is AWESOME!
KKD: Big duh.
Pikatwig: And it's super sweet that the son of Hongo's actor is getting to play him in Beyond Generations.
KKD: For sure. Keep the role in the family.
Pikatwig: Anyway, time for this chapter.
Disclaimers: Neither KKD nor Pikatwig own the rights to anything in this story apart from original concepts, characters, and story elements they came up with. Credit to Kai Yuuto and Kasumi "Kassie" Yuuto belongs to Sylver Blaze, formerly known as Silver Maxus. The remaining concepts used within belong to their respective creators such as Toei, BandaiNamco, SEGA, Sonic Team, etc.
Kamen Rider Playstation struggled to stand, the Rider panting as she managed to rise once again. She looked towards the damaged remains of her other disks, but the Spyro form was able to hold. She stared down the Vaijin and saw that, while it was starting to waver, it still had fight left. She charged a bit of energy in her hands, but the Vaijin before her just scoffed. The monster swatted her to the ground and tried to make a move for her Driver, but the Rider got away. The monster itself was male, having black and greenish blue markings all over his body to resemble tribal tattoos with a weirdly digital glow, a slightly spiked hairdo resembling some kind of helmet, yellow eyes and otherwise normal human legs.
The Rider, once again, managed to stand, then just inputted as much into the module as she possibly could, managing to generate fire, ice, electricity and earth energy into both of her arms. She then ran forward with no fear and just punched the Vaijin as much as she could, roaring out as she did so. As she kept it up, though, she felt pain coursing through her arms, yet she just drowned it out to focus on beating the threat in front of her. The surge, however, was growing too strong for her to handle as she kept up the punching, yet could see the Vaijin was starting to spark.
"DIE~~~~~~~!" the Rider yelled as she jumped into the air with the energy charged into her arms and punched the Vaijin with both fists as powerfully as she possibly could. She could almost hear a crack of some sort as she yelled out in a mixture of anger and pain, the attack finally giving way as the Rider got out of the way and the Vaijin finally exploded.
The resulting blast left a bit of a crater nearby, but the Rider was able to stand, struggling a little as she saw the blast zone. The Vaijin was finally gone. Playstation panted a bit as she tried to calm down, but she winced in pain when she tried to move her arms. She just had to stand there, clearly in pain as she saw a car pull up and stop with a bit of exhaust, indicating it had stopped working.
"You did it!" Kuroi beamed, rushing out to her side with Mika following her.
"Yea… th-thanks," Playstation winced, not dropping the henshin.
"Luna… are you ok?" Kuroi asked, "Why don't you change back?"
"My arms… they hurt…" the Rider whimpered.
Kuroi looked over in concern as she quickly hurried over and got the belt off of her. The Rider reverted back into Luna, and her adoptive mother gasped in horror. Both of Luna's arms were covered in blood that was leaking out from wounds, and even the slightest movement of them made Luna cry out in pain. She ended up starting to wobble a little bit, clearly from the blood loss, forcing her to start to falter in her balance as she was about to tumble back. Kuroi managed to catch her and saw some other injuries along her body, though her arms were the biggest source of pain.
"Stay here, I'm going to go get help," Mika told the two, quickly hurrying off.
Kuroi quickly got down and leaned Luna back so that her head would rest on her knees, then tried to get some of the blood to stop flowing as best she could. Luna winced and just tried to focus on breathing as her mother tried to keep her calm.
"Luna… Luna, please, stay with me…" Kuroi spoke, doing her best to keep the girl awake.
"My arms… they hurt so much…" Luna whimpered as tears flowed from her eyes, "They hurt…"
"I know. I know. Just look at me, Luna. Look at me. It's going to be okay, I promise you…" Kuroi assured her as best she could, simply trying to keep Luna calm before giving her a gentle hug.
Eventually, a siren filled the area, the two looking to see an ambulance start to hurry over, being guided by Mika. Luna's eyes started to close a bit, struggling to stay open as her injuries and exhaustion were catching up, though she could faintly hear Mika calling out "this way, hurry!" amongst some other words.
"Luna… Luna… Luna, please…" Kuroi spoke, desperately trying to keep her awake
"Mom…" Luna weakly uttered, clearly shuddering from her lack of mobility in her arms, "I'm scared…"
"You'll be okay. I'll be right by your side. I promise."
The area started to go dark as Luna was carried into the ambulance, the last thing she could see before darkness overtook her vision being her mom and Mika…
Luna let out a gasp in fear, only to see the area around her was her room. She looked around, shaking off any sense of fear and paranoia. She quickly moved her hands up and down her arms, then exhaled a little bit.
"...dumb nightmares…" was all she could mumble before getting out of bed.
Later, Luna got herself downstairs and looked around for something to snack on to try to calm her nerves a little bit more. She rubbed her eyes a bit, barely able to get back to sleep and soon got some stuff out of the fridge. As she was about to go over to have her snack…
"Luna? What are you doing up so late?" Kuroi asked as she walked to her daughter.
"...nightmare…" Luna exhaled, "Right back at the Demi-fiend Vaijin…"
Kuroi sharply exhaled, walking over to Luna before giving her a hug, "You're okay, Luna. That was in the past. Now, you're free of that. Your arms aren't in danger of being permanently damaged; you're healed and can keep going. Plus, it was years and years ago. You're much stronger and wiser now."
"...I know. I just… sometimes go back to that moment, and I don't know why…"
Kuroi just sighed, hugging her daughter closer and gently rubbing her hands on her hair to try to calm the blonde a bit. Luna struggled to keep cool, but started tearing up just a little bit.
"Lunie…" Mika spoke, making the two turn to her side, "Are you ok?"
"She had a nightmare. The Vaijin who broke her arms."
Mika gave off a small exhale, clearly not happy about that, looking saddened before walking over. She joined the hug and caressed Luna's back, "Lunie… you're strong and you know it. But even the strong have their emotions. It's ok to cry and be scared now and then. You just have to be able to let it out. We'll be right here if you need us."
Luna simply let her tears flow a little bit more as she was embraced by her moms, crying her heart out as the fears and worries from the nightmare flowed outwards. The two just stood there and held onto her, making sure she let out all her worries and fears for as long as she needed to.
Mika and Kuroi soon got Luna back to bed, the blonde wiping her eyes with a tissue before she had fallen back asleep, then headed back into their room.
"There was a silver lining to that mess…" Mika spoke as she grabbed onto a pillow, "Lunie finally started to accept me being around."
"That is true. She was petrified of you before that day," Kuroi noted, "I don't quite remember why though…"
Mika simply shrugged as she cuddled her pillow a bit, resting her head on another one, smiling as she looked to her wife and started to fall back asleep. Kuroi was about to speak a bit, but saw that her wife was already back to sleep. She giggled to herself, kissing Mika on the forehead before heading under the covers herself.
(Cue Intro Theme: Dimension Tripper; Neptune the Animation Theme)
*As the opening melody played, images of Takeshi, Yoko, Luna, Daisuke, and Hana all flew by*
Imi fumei moji noraretsu (An incomprehensible code sequence) *Takeshi was seen running by as he tried to get into his school, with Yoko and Luna soon following after him*
Oshiete KONPAIRA (Tell me what what it means, Compiler!) *Luna smiled as she managed to help give them a ride before they got into class and took a moment to catch their breaths*
matomaranai BAINARI- TSURI- (I can't make sense of this binary tree) *Yoko gave the two a calm smile as she followed them out of the room after the bell rang.*
0 to 1 dake ja nanimo tsutaerannai yo ne… (Just 0s and 1s won't help you communicate) *Daisuke was working on something, with Hinatan monitoring his progress, only for Hana to somehow leap in and tackle Daisuke into a hug, with Hinatan's icon simply giving an annoyed sigh*
Pingurinku! tsunagaru KIMI to ATASHI-tashi ga (How nice it'd be if our hearts could connect.) *Payactions could be seen swarming outside the school. Yoko gave a look to her friends, and they quickly snuck outside.*
Hitto chekku! KIMERU nara ima (And we were on the same page.) *As they snuck out, people in the school could be seen mindlessly spending money on Impact of the Wild as if they were drones. Takeshi and Luna managed to get outside and both got their Drivers on*
Hapi furu pyua You're a dimenshon torippa-! (Eveything's pure. You're a Dimension tripper) *Takeshi and Luna stood side by side before they both transformed into their Rider forms.*
Jigen no tobira, kettobashi oide yo (Kick open the dimensional gates and get over here!) *The two Riders kicked the various Payactions and watched as they exploded into pixels*
KIRA KIRA no kocchi no sekai he (In this sparkling world) *SEGA and Playstation gave each-other a high five and then reverted back, with Yoko running over and hugging the two, making them both smile.*
Kizuna hyakubai no saikyou PA-TI- "KIMI MO NAKAMA DA" (We can just form the strongest party. And you'll be one of us!) *Takeshi, Luna, and Yoko stood together and then walked forward. The trio smiled at each-other as they continued forward. Daisuke and Hana watched from nearby, smiling as the trio walked off.*
Shin Kamen Rider SEGA
Shin Level 7: Ladies Night (Don't Get Any Ideas)
It was a calm day in the town. Takeshi was busy helping out in the bakery, while Yoko was watching stuff on her phone to keep herself occupied. Takeshi set out some finished bread and soon walked over to her and they began to speak a little bit.
Luna walked into the bakery and wasn't exactly paying much attention as she sat down. She took a breath and tried to have a snack before noticing what Yoko was watching. It was something talking about the history of magical girl anime, and the shorter haired blonde was mashing the fast forward button through a particular segment.
"I still don't really get why you don't like Pretty Cure…" Takeshi spoke, neither him nor Yoko noticing Luna was there.
"I tried to watch it, but it wasn't my cup of tea," Yoko responded, "I can't explain what it is about it that I don't really like all that much. I like Sailor Moon, but I guess the idea of… uh… I don't know."
"I only saw the movies… and all of the first season and a bit of the second, let's played one game in the series, and maybe listened to the audio drama with the Dekarangers… and they were… ok for what they were, nothing too exciting for my tastes, I did enjoy it, but I'm willing to try later seasons at a later date. Just not right now. But to write it off like that is kind of a disservice to one of Toei's 'big three', even more when it out-sold Saber," Takeshi responded.
"That's not saying very much when it did so poorly," Yoko reminded.
"I mean… that may be, but those big three were starting to decline on the whole in recent years, but I'm going to say they likely learned from their mistakes…"
"Any other defense?" Yoko asked.
"And you gotta admit that the first incarnation having a character voiced by Usagi's VA was sweet as a kind of 'passing the torch' as it were from one of the big magical girl names to the next," Takeshi spoke.
Yoko thought of it a moment before shrugging and exhaling, "That was cool, I guess. But not my cup of tea."
"I mean… we have our different tastes. I keep saying you should watch Pretty Cure a little, and you keep saying I should watch Yo-Kai Watch," Takeshi responded.
"Because Yo-Kai Watch is so fun and silly and enjoyable! Heck, you'll love Y-Academy especially. They're basically Kamen Riders!" Yoko proclaimed.
"Uh huh… sure…" Takeshi boredly responded, looking a little unconvinced while he focused on trying to think about something else.
"Plus, Y-Academy's video game got released outside of Japan legally and even got a Spirit Event in Smash! It's good!"
"Whatever. Lots of games got Spirit Events…"
The two kept going back and forth a little bit, arguing over what was better and that the other should give the show a chance. Luna had to let out a sigh at the display of the two, trying to keep her mind off the dispute as she tried to eat a snack.
-Luna… make them stop… please. I'm so tired of them debating things…- Hinatan chimed in, her voice starting to sound exasperated, -Please… say something.-
Luna sighed as she stood up and then cleared her throat to get their attention. Both turned to her, out of surprise and then eased up a little bit.
"Oh, hi Luna," Takeshi greeted.
"When did you get here?" Yoko asked.
"Just a little bit ago…" Luna informed the two, "And I heard a good chunk of the debate. Why were you debating stuff?
The two both went silent, not sure what to say, just embarrassed by their actions.
"Here's a bright idea. Why don't you two just watch some of this stuff together when you got the spare time, and just be open minded?" Luna suggested, "That way, you both can see what the other is talking about and actually have valid opinions."
Takeshi and Yoko looked to Luna a little sheepishly and struggled to figure out what to say.
-Besides, Takeshi bought a Yo-Kai Watch toy once, and Yoko said the current Pretty Cure season at least looks visually interesting. Your arguments are silly and you should just drop it!- Hinatan soon chimed in.
"...oh…" Takeshi and Yoko muttered in unison, before realization settled in on what Hinatan mentioned.
"You really said that?" Takeshi soon asked.
"Yeah. And I do mean it. I may not know any of the character's names apart from the blue and pink-purple one being 'La Mer', but I do think the season looks visually interesting…" Yoko admitted.
"And yeah, I did buy some Yo-Kai Watch toys. While most of the purchases are gifts for either you or Kota, I did at least keep some for myself. It was kinda fun checking it out now and then the fact the protagonist is voiced by a Sentai actress and a PR actor is kinda funny," Takeshi added on.
Luna simply sat down next to them and simply smiled before hearing her stomach rumble.
"Takeshi? Can you please get me a bread bowl? I'm hungry…" Luna requested, "I really didn't eat much today."
"Right away. What soup would you like in it today? The usual clam chowder, or would you like to try our grilled cheese tomato soup?" Takeshi asked.
"Clam chowder…" Luna responded as she got out the money, then rested her head against a table, clearly tired as Yoko noticed her, "Hi…"
"Hey."
Takeshi soon got the meal out, serving it to Luna as she finally had a moment to relax and eat. She happily dug in, enjoying the taste of the soup before dipping the bread pieces served on the side in for a nice meal. She beamed a bit at the taste of it, starting to eat up more and more as Takeshi soon served something to Yoko, then joined the two girls to eat.
Yoko's meal was a simple grilled cheese sandwich that had some nice gooey cheese, while Takeshi had a similar sandwich with some added bacon and a bowl of tomato soup. The trio happily ate for a little bit before they ended up trying to think of something to talk about.
"So… when do you think Super Hero Senki is getting a DVD?" Yoko asked, "Because I'm really curious to see it and I'm really hoping the rumors that Saber turning Akakaiser into a literal power up aren't true…"
"That is just downright stupid to consider. The dude NEEDS to fight alongside him, not be fused. I mean, it's not the same! They're celebrating BOTH anniversaries, so don't hoist the Riders up on a pedestal just because they're a little older. I mean, come on. Without Sentai making it overseas, not nearly as many people would've gotten aware of the whole genre…" Luna added on, "I mean, that's just disrespect if I ever saw it."
"I at least think I get why they made the Saber/Akakaiser hybrid suit considering Kikaiger has had the best toy sale records and ratings for Sentai in a long time…" Takeshi remarked, getting Yoko to nod, "Heck, I think they actually are starting to get close to Kyoryuger's grand money total. I may have to check my numbers on that again, but the fact they managed to reach that high is still a big plus. I also love that, while Akakaiser's form change is Dragon Caesar, Gokaiser ended up getting something based on Pteragordon. That helped tie some of the stronger dino motifs together and it's always neat to see a Kyoryuger homage."
"...why was it they made Akakaiser's form be Zyuranger themed? Zyuran is literally right there and is green!" Luna pointed out, almost a little baffled, "A light green, sure, but still!"
"They said it was an homage to the Green Ranger. Zyuran was more of a reference to Daizyujin and the color choice was because they wanted to keep the lead a red as per usual while still doing something different with the amount of white on the suit," Takeshi explained, "I can at least respect the call."
Luna just gave a nod of her head and went back to her meal, simply enjoying the food and relaxing a little as she dunked some bread into the soup.
"Kaito and Flint are so cute together," Yoko remarked with a bit of a smile, "The goofy, innocent minded, fun loving guy and the daring, dashing, cunning, lady. That's one pair I wouldn't mind seeing get their happy ending together."
Luna couldn't help but smile at that and giggle a little bit. She looked to her meal and then began to finish as Takeshi glanced over at her for a moment. He couldn't help but notice how relaxed she actually seemed as she was enjoying the meal, making him feel relieved as Luna soon ate the last bit of it.
"Thanks…" Luna smiled, "I really needed a nice meal. The clam chowder tasted really great today."
"Only the freshest ingredients we can get our hands on. Glad to hear that you enjoyed it," Takeshi told her.
Luna smiled and handed over the dish to Takeshi so he could wash it off. Yoko simply blinked a little, but continued eating the grilled cheese that she had.
"So… uh… got any plans for the rest of the weekend?" Luna soon asked, "I finally got some time off from modeling. …after nearly ruining my sleep schedule."
"Well that's what happens when you take so much time off that you end up pretty much going into overtime, Rider or otherwise," Takeshi responded.
"Don't remind me…" Luna groaned as she rubbed her forehead, "Nightmare didn't help matters."
This made Takeshi and Yoko both turn to her in a bit of surprise, almost flabbergasted as Takeshi was about to ask something.
"...I've been a Rider for six years. Did you guys seriously think I wouldn't have experiences that haunt me in my sleep?" Luna questioned
"You always seemed to act so calm and collected," Yoko pointed out.
"And just have yourself so… glued together…"
The two friends looked at each other and clearly didn't know what to say to that bit. Takeshi soon came over and gave Luna a hug, comforting his friend and fellow Rider before she just smiled.
Some hours had passed in relative silence. Yoko soon handed her clean plate over to Takeshi and went back to her phone, trying to skim over and watch a handful of things. Luna just sat next to her before giving off a bored sigh and heading behind the counter.
"This really feels boring. Hey, Take-kun? You wanna talk?" Luna asked as she walked over into the back room.
"I guess so. What did you want to talk about?"
"I dunno…" Luna admitted. There was a bit more silence between them, before she walked over to where he would be, seeing he was washing the dishes. She then noticed he had some wireless earbuds in.
"...I've got something they want, but it's mine to give. Free my struggles, detach me from this island. Bleed my knuckles, attack me for my finance. I'm dealing with this pain, I just can't let you come throw it away-ay-ay-ay-ay…" Takeshi softly sang, clearly focused on the dishes, "So I run… keep me up, creep on me, they speak on me. They slow down when they bring me up like... speed me up…"
"And~ you're distracted…" Luna sighed before she tapped his shoulder, making him pause the song he had on, "...did you forget I wanted to talk?"
"You said you didn't know what to talk about, so~..."
"Sheesh. You really do space out…"
"Sorry, sorry…" Takeshi quickly apologized, removing his earbuds and turning to her, "What's up?"
"Do you… I dunno… regret taking the Rider powers at all?" Luna ended up asking, "I'm just used to being a Rider at this point and have accepted it as my lot in life. It ended up being really easy to just sort of live with. But… do you have any regrets about it?"
"...Honestly… I don't think so," Takeshi told her, simply shrugging as he finished the last dish he needed to clean, "The only worry I sort of have about it apart from needing to Spider-Man my way out of things would be any sort of things that'll haunt me. I haven't really encountered many moments like that, but it's my worry so far. But… I get to support you. And considering the struggles you have, that's something I'm honored to be able to help you out with."
This made Luna blush a little, surprised her friend was willing to go as far as he did. She simply gave him a warm smile, happy that he would support her.
"I'm glad that you're in on stuff…" Luna admitted, brushing her hair back a little bit, "You're just like…"
"A whole new speed of hero?" Takeshi joked, making Luna laugh a little, "When the world needs a hero... think fast."
"Every hero has a genesis," Luna added, making Takeshi chuckle.
"The Sonic movie is great, by the way," Takeshi added.
"Excited for the sequel?"
"You know it," he beamed.
The two smiled as Takeshi set the dishes to dry for a bit, before he thought of something.
"You ever fight a Vaijin based on something from Sonic's world?" Takeshi asked out of curiosity.
"...honestly? The only thing from a Sonic game I've ever fought was Silver. Nothing else. And while it was frustrating, I'll admit that I did beat it after two days. …after fighting it, I seriously considered using the teleporter to go around the world and destroy every single copy of Sonic 06 I could get my hands on so I never have to hear that da*n line of Silver's ever again!"
"Wow. That bad, huh?"
Luna took a moment to take a deep breath, calming down soon after and then turning back to Takeshi, "I am saying this right now, I will scream if there's ever a Rider based on Silver. I… am going to lose it. Any other Sonic character, cool with."
"Duly noted…" Takeshi nodded as he made a quick note before guiding her back to the front, with them seeing Yoko still on her phone.
"Sorry to leave you hanging," Luna apologized, "I really didn't know what to say."
Yoko just gave off a shrug, not sure how to respond as she just got her attention back to a video.
Elsewhere, within the digital realm of the Alliance, some people were watching some footage of the two Riders in action against the various Vaijin, many of them seemed frustrated and were attempting to think of a plan.
-Two Riders… even if they're separated, they're a problem. We need to come up with a plan…- a figure remarked.
-Didn't a Demi-fiend Vaijin nearly off the girl? Why don't we just make another super-boss one?- one figure questioned.
The mustachioed Vaijin simply turned around, -It took… nearly ALL of our resources at the time to make that Vaijin. After it died, we couldn't make ANY for several months! Why do you think we've not done that?!-
The figures around the table soon went silent and tried to think of something else, but had nothing as they ultimately just started to churn through lists of ideas.
-I… apologize…- the board member responded quickly.
-Oh. Nevermind that. You just be super…- the Vaijin commander spoke, before taking a step away, -fluous.-
It was now later the next day, with Yoko happily walking alongside her mom at the local grocery store. The two had a bit of small talk before they started to walk the groceries out of the area after paying for them, when Yoko came across a little prize roulette spinner.
"Ooh~," she beamed.
"Yoko… just… don't spend too much," Ms. Mirai requested as she handed Yoko some money.
"Ok," Yoko nodded as she handed the money over to the manager, then rolled the roulette for a bit.
Yoko made sure to watch carefully, not sure what it would end up landing on. Eventually, it landed on a yellow spot.
"Third prize!" the manager proclaimed, proceeding to hand Yoko two tickets, "Two tickets to the carnival this Saturday!"
"Yay!" she cheered happily, taking the tickets and jumping up.
Yoko soon arrived at the bakery and showed off the tickets to both Takeshi and Luna, the two looking impressed as she presented them, "Sold out tickets!"
"Nicely done," Takeshi smiled.
"So… do you wanna be my plus one?" Yoko asked.
"I promised I'd hang out with Kota for a bit. He's been busy and I wanted to spend time with him now that he's got some time off," Takeshi informed.
Yoko blinked a bit, then innocently turned towards Luna.
"...Yoko…" Luna exhaled a bit.
"Come on, please?" Yoko pleaded, giving Luna a bit of a puppy-dog eyed expression.
Luna turned away, but Yoko got right back in her line of sight, her lip quivering like she was about to cry. The curvier blonde struggled to resist as she closed her eyes, but then heard Yoko sound like she was about to start crying at the rejection.
"...okay, I'll go with you…" Luna relented.
"YAY! You won't be disappointed!" Yoko cheered, instantly recovering, before she gave Luna the ticket and headed out of the bakery.
Luna and Takeshi just stared a little at Yoko's sudden whiplash of moods, easily confused as the events settled in.
"Uh… was she just pleading for you to join her like a kid pleading for a toy at the store?" Takeshi asked.
"Yes. I swear, she's not matured past seven or eight…" Luna exhaled, "I like Yoko and all, but…"
"Well… can you blame her?" Takeshi responded, giving Luna a knowing expression.
The expression simply was a non-verbal reminder of what had happened many years ago, both clearly recalling stuff they didn't exactly want to talk about. Luna ended up exhaling, grabbing some water, quickly paying for it, and then guzzling it down.
"I'm gonna need a whole lot of patience tomorrow, I can tell…" Luna spoke, "Best of luck with Kota."
"Thanks. Good luck with Yoko."
The next day arrived and Luna ended up pulling up in a car by the apartment that Yoko and her mom lived in.
"Ok…" Luna exhaled as she parked and waited a little bit.
Not too long later, Yoko happily walked out and hugged Luna before they got into the car. Yoko took the backrow and had a relaxed smile on her face.
"So… where's this place at?"
Yoko soon took out a piece of paper that had directions on it. Luna quickly looked it over and saw it was clearly written by Yoko's mother, making her gently exhale a little, then notice there was a number written near the bottom that said 'in case of emergency', which Luna instantly recognized as Ms. Mirai's cellphone number.
'Even though she's got work, she'd still be willing to hurry to Yoko's side if she needs it. That is some dedicated motherhood, I guess…' Luna thought before she set the directions aside and got the car started up.
The duo eventually arrived at the carnival and Yoko couldn't help but look at it in a bit of awe and majesty. Luna couldn't help but smile at her friend's joy and followed after her.
"It's so hu~ge~~!" Yoko cheered, "I can't believe that I finally get to be here!"
With a skip in her step, Yoko let her ticket be stamped to signify she was allowed in and hurried off. Luna sighed and followed through before giving her ticket to be stamped.
"Keep an eye on your little sister there, she seems excitable," the ticket stand employee told Luna.
"She's not my sister," Luna said instantly, almost like a reflex.
"Oh. I-I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"It's okay. We get that a lot," Luna responded as she took her ticket back and followed Yoko on in, "So… where to first?"
"I don't know…" Yoko spoke as they started to walk around a bit.
"Also, please stay where I can see you. You may stand out sometimes, but the fair is usually fairly packed and I would prefer to not lose track of you easily," Luna gently requested.
"Right, sorry. I'll stay where you can see me," Yoko quickly told her in response.
Luna then smiled at her friend and they kept walking a bit. Luna soon glanced up at a rollercoaster and simply looked at how it curved and bent around, only to turn to see Yoko was practically shivering at the sight of how big it was.
"Let's… find a ride more your speed," Luna suggested.
"Yea. Uh… how about… we look more?"
Yoko let out a gleeful laugh as she and Luna spun around in what appeared to be a sort of spinning tea cup ride. They were moving around at a fairly gentle speed, though Luna looked a little surprised at how happy Yoko was.
"This is so cool~!" Yoko cheered, spinning them more, though keeping it at a fairly tame speed.
"Have you never been on one of these before?" Luna asked.
"Nope!"
"Well these can go pretty fast pretty quick if you aren't careful," Luna informed quickly, "Hopefully you won't spin it too fast and make us sick."
"That can happen?"
"Yeah. Takeshi's dad can't go on them anymore. Hana once spun it so fast it actually made him sick…"
"Oh wow…" Yoko blinked before she made sure to spin it at a gentle and slow rate, the ride actually coming to a stop soon and making Yoko slowly speed it up a bit to keep it going, "This is fun."
"I always wonder what makes these so much fun… centrifugal force, maybe?" Luna questioned.
Yoko blinked a bit, then giggled as she realized it was a reference, "Alright, Kobayashi-san."
"Ha…" Luna sarcastically responded.
"Let's go check out something else," Yoko said as the ride came to a stop and they proceeded to exit.
Yoko let out some 'oohs' and 'aahs' at a mirror maze and how the mirrors were distorting her reflection. Luna just smiled, letting off a couple chuckles at how some of them made her look.
"Hey, Luna! Look, look!" Yoko called out, making Luna glance over to a reflection that made Yoko appear to be curvier.
Luna couldn't help but stifle a small snicker at this and quickly snapped a photo of the reflection. Yoko looked and then started to snicker a bit herself, making Luna turn to see a reflection that made her look flat. Yoko quickly got the phone and snapped a photo of it, giggling so much at the switch the reflections made them.
"That was a lot of fun," Yoko giggled.
"Yeah, this is silly," Luna admitted.
Another set made Yoko appear as round as a cartoon character, while Luna was thin as a stick. Luna couldn't help but laugh as she tried posing for once and they snapped a few photos.
The two soon exited and roamed a little bit. Yoko couldn't help but get distracted by a few sights, only for Luna to try to keep her away from some of the more skeevy looking ones. Yoko looked confused as she was moved away.
"Those are clearly scams," Luna stated simply, "Don't bother with any of those."
"Oh, ok…" Yoko nodded.
They kept going for a bit, with Luna eventually needing to drag Yoko a little bit.
"Come on. Keep moving."
"Must be hard needing to wrangle your little sister there," one park attendant remarked.
"She's not my sister," Luna stated quickly, giving a roll of her eyes.
"Why do people always confuse us…?" Yoko said with a sigh, even though she knew the answer.
They eventually arrived by something that looked alright enough, an old school knock the targets down game. Luna looked intrigued as Yoko noticed a plushie of Sailor Moon as a top prize near the top.
"Lookie~~~!" Yoko squealed, "That's so cute! I gotta try to get it!"
Luna glanced over at the price tag and saw it was about seven dollars. She gave off a small sigh, knowing full well that she wouldn't convince Yoko to not go for it, and so Yoko tried her best to knock down the hardest to reach target, yet kept missing. Time ended up expiring after about a minute and forty seconds, and Yoko hadn't knocked the target down.
"Boohoo, too bad," the stand owner rudely called out.
Luna then simply handed Yoko money for another attempt. She sighed, clearly not wanting this to eat up a lot of time as Yoko failed a second attempt.
"Last one. I'll get it this time!"
"You better…"
Thus, the game started up again and Yoko managed to fire a bit more clearly and precisely. She focused as much as she could and actually managed to hit the target. In spite of the target being knocked back a bit, the lights gave off a failure noise and a time expiration noise. Yoko gave a confused look at the game, as did Luna once the noise settled down.
"Wait, wait, wait! What the heck was that?! She knocked it over! I saw it with my own eyes!" Luna proclaimed.
"Let me explain it to you two ditzy blondies…" the stand owner said in a fairly sleazy and disgusting way as he put his arm around Luna's shoulder, "You see how that little target isn't knocked over? That means, she didn't win."
Luna quickly moved out of the owner's grasp, yet was glaring daggers at him.
"And because she didn't win, that means the game counts it as a loss. Which means, your little sister here, doesn't get, the plushie!" the stand owner called out.
"She's not my sister…"
"Whatever. Point is, she didn't knock it down. No knocking it down, no prize!" he shouted out.
Yoko looked disheartened at this failure, tears starting to drip down.
"You gonna cry, little girl?" the stand owner mockingly asked Yoko, the smaller blonde clearly looking on the verge of tears.
Luna growled a little at the sight before her, clenching her fist and trying her best to not get super angry, "...okay… my turn."
She quickly forked over the cash to start the game and took some steps back. Yoko ended up stepping aside so that Luna could do her thing. Luna hid her hands in her jacket and quickly inputted Left-Right-Up-Left-A-B-Start into a Command Module that was hidden in her jacket.
"Ha!" Luna shouted, quickly whipping out a now summoned Arcana Blaster.
Now with the Arcana Blaster in hand, Luna let it charge up with electrical energy. She then made sure it was locked onto the primary target, with the stand owner quickly and wisely ducking out of the way from the charging blast. Luna gave off an almost evil grin and then fired off a shot right at the main target, which caused it to disintegrate. The people who witnessed it looked shocked by this display, yet nobody seemed to notice Luna with the weapon in her hand.
"Kno~cked o~~~ver~~~!" Luna cheered.
The stand owner, wisely, handed over the plushie to Yoko and just ducked away out of pure fear from the attack on the stand. Yoko cheerfully followed after Luna, with the busty blonde letting her weapon disappear in a stream of data.
"It's so cuddly~~!" Yoko smiled, Luna smiling widely as Yoko walked forward with a skip in her step, "That was so cool!"
Luna just kept the smile, shrugging off people who were looking at her.
Once the two were a bit away from prying eyes, the two took a moment to stop walking and just look at each-other.
"Would that blow your cover?" Yoko asked.
"Nope. Unless I'm in my Rider form, regular people won't be able to perceive the Rider stuff," Luna explained, Yoko just nodded and kept a quiet look, "So, at best, maybe they'd see like… uh… a blowtorch or something? I don't know."
"Wow… that's still pretty cool."
"I know. That disguise thing did make it easier to hide stuff from you two before you got in on the know."
Yoko blinked a bit, then searched her memory a little for an instance where they could've possibly stumbled onto something Rider related in the past before she and Takeshi found out.
"Let me give you an example. One day, I left my disk in my bag and asked you and Takeshi to go get it for me since I forgot my lunch in it. Then you two asked me why I brought a copy of Spyro 1 with me to school," Luna reminded.
"Really? THAT'S what happened!"
"And there was a time you two came over and tried to use my Driver to play a PS2 game…"
Yoko then nervously laughed a little bit at that, rubbing the back of her head. Luna just gave off a small giggle at that before they walked along.
The stand owner looked at the new big and gaping hole in the back of his attraction, looking flabbergasted at how much damage there was to the stand.
"B-but how…?" he questioned, trying to think back to what he saw of Luna just a bit ago, only for it to be blurry and distorted, he was clearly drawing a blank as he leaned back and grabbed his phone, "Maybe… maybe I need to lay off the drinks for a while. I'm seeing things."
As he took the phone, he saw a ping from Impact of the Wild that said stamina was restored. He looked to the torched remains of the stand, then shrugged it off and opened up the game. The stand owner mindlessly played it for a little bit, his frustrations about what just happened with his stand stewing for a while… and then some sort of notification appeared on his phone.
-Your chance has arrived…-
He stared at the icon for a moment, then seemingly started to hear someone else speaking. Looking around to try and find the source, the stand owner looked away from the game and just looked around, yet didn't see anyone trying to speak to him.
"Greetings, good sir…"
The man looked down to his phone to see the screen was completely replaced by a black, yellow, silver, and blue distortion.
"What do you say we make a deal to get revenge against that girl for ruining your precious stand. You seem like the guy who is down on his luck and in need of revenge…"
"That sounds good… let's go beat her up…" he grinned.
"Nay."
"...what?!"
"The cunning warrior attacks neither the body nor mind."
"Then what do I do?!"
"The heart, you fool! First, we attack her heart!"
Luna was soon cuddling a little plushie of the Scarlet Spider, having managed to win it without using her weapon. She was happy as Yoko walked over and saw it, then curiously stared at it.
"I have a soft spot for some superheroes from the west," Luna admitted, Yoko looking impressed by this.
"Really now? Who was your favorite?"
"Spider-Man. I mean… I'll say what I will about superheroes, but the Raimi movies are a classic," Luna remarked, "Just some silly comic book movies that I enjoy watching, not totally sure why though."
"So… why did those movies use Peter Palmer?"
"Parker."
"Right, sorry. Cause… wasn't some guy named Ben the guy who was Spider-Man in the comics in the 2000s?"
"Ah, Ben Riley. Clone of Peter Parker and the second Spider-Man. Yes, he was, but the creator of those movies grew up when Peter was around and brought back cultural awareness of him, which led to Peter coming back to the comics after that. Not to mention, he wanted to go more towards comic book goofiness, hence Peter getting extra powers including organic webs in both film and comic. …still don't get why they did that when the Ultimate universe had him stick around because of how long he was around and it took years before Peter was even a blip in that reality."
Yoko gave a small nod, a tiny bit lost, but managing to understand it close enough, "I remember Takeshi having me edit some video he made about how the Raimi movies could be connected to the MCU before… Homebound…?"
"Homecoming."
"Right. Homecoming was released," Yoko spoke. Luna just stared at her a little, causing Yoko to exhale, "You know the only Marvel movie I could accurately describe to you is the first Doctor Strange one and Big Hero 6, right?"
Luna just gave a nod, almost sighing before a thought occurred to her.
"You got sick and Takeshi couldn't refund the second ticket for Doctor Strange, so I got stuck needing to go with him," Yoko reminded.
"Oh yeah…" Luna nodded.
"...assuming you weren't doing some Rider stuff or something…"
"No, I was sick. I legit couldn't leave the house at the time," Luna said, "I can fake many things, being sick is not one of them. Trust me, I even have a picture from that date."
"Alright," Yoko nodded, "...sorry if that came off rude."
"You're good."
A bit of silence fell between the two, leaving them a little awkward before Luna ended up speaking a bit.
"You gonna try to watch Multiverse of Madness when that comes out?" Luna asked.
"I don't know how much I'd need to watch, so probably not…" Yoko exhaled, "And I think Takeshi said he was planning on boycotting it since it delayed the next Spider-Man movie. Uh… what's it called?"
"We don't know yet. No title has been announced," Luna informed, trying to make notes of some stuff Yoko had said, "Still, the delay means it falls on an anniversary year for Spider-Man and the previous films. And Takeshi was joking about boycotting it. Though he said he was willing to skip some of the movies if it meant him getting to the Spider-Man movie, including that… Immortals film, I think?"
"...superhero movies are complicated…" Yoko eventually spoke.
"If you can't keep up with them or their sources, yea…"
Thus, silence ended up regaining a grip over the two. They just took a moment to admire some of the people going around the two of them and saw a lot of people were just having a lot of fun and relaxing. This gave Luna an idea as they kept on going, and soon spotted something.
"What's up?" Yoko asked.
"I was just thinking we could maybe find somewhere fun to go. Someplace like uh… a merry go round?"
Yoko gave a small nod at that idea, the two walking over to the horse ride and going along it. Yoko ended up giggling a bit from the speed of the ride, Luna smiling as they spun around in merriment and joy.
A bit of time had passed and the two continued to hang around the park, with Yoko picking a handful of things for them to go on. Luna smiled at how happy Yoko was before she soon glanced over at a haunted house area and just gave it a small curious glance. Yoko walked over and got a bit of a scared expression at it.
"Why are we here…?" Yoko meekly asked.
"Hey, we've done what you've wanted to do all day. I want to pick something," Luna explained, "Besides, it's just an amusement park ride. How bad could it be?"
"O-okay…"
The two were soon in the attraction, which had a moving floor, and just looking around the spooky setting. Yoko held onto one of Luna's hands, nervously shaking, while Luna just let her cling on. Luna ended up putting the plushies into her purse as they moved around, making sure they were secure before they went forward. As the ride moved forward, showcasing some 'spectral' animatronics and some spooky movements. Suddenly, a few skeleton props sprung out suddenly.
Yoko let out a small scream out of shock, Luna simply holding her to try to keep her calm as the props retreated back.
"...I'm okay… I'm okay… I'm okay…" Yoko nervously spoke, "I just… ooh, I really want to leave already…"
Luna simply exhaled a bit when she took notice of how much Yoko was trembling. She was about to say something when she noticed something. Suddenly, out popped what looked to be some sort of specter. Yoko let out a fearful yell and clung to Luna's arm, but Luna just had a dry and almost bored expression on her face. The "specter" soon pulled away, and they kept moving forward. Luna glanced over to Yoko, seeing that she was shaking. The curvier blonde then took a moment to comfort Yoko as the ride kept on going.
"I'm sorry about this. I didn't expect you to get this scared…" Luna apologized when there was a loud blast of lightning that actually ended up startling her a little bit. Just as another fake blast of lightning played, Yoko jumped back out of fear, soon burying her face behind Luna's back, but clinging onto Luna's arm as much as she could.
Once they stepped out, Yoko was shivering a little from how scared she was and kept clinging onto Luna's arm. Luna couldn't help but let out a small sigh as she slowly walked over towards a snack area that was nearby and tried to get Yoko to let go of her arm.
"It's ok. We're safe now. You can let go… please?" Luna told her gently.
Yoko sighed as she did so, with a few tears dripping down from her eyes. Yoko took a moment to wipe away her tears and motioned as if her glasses were still on her forehead… only to then notice something.
"Wait, where are my glasses?!" Yoko shouted.
"What?" Luna blinked, quickly looking over to Yoko, "Oh! Where are they?!"
"I had them all day!" Yoko responded, "I never took them off!"
"But then how…?" Luna wondered as she replayed the events in her head really quickly.
"I don't know!"
"...they must've fallen off when you panicked in the haunted house…" Luna realized, making her quickly turn towards it. She then handed the plushies over to Yoko, "I'll be back in a minute. Don't go anywhere."
Luna was now back in the haunted house, trying to keep an eye out for the glasses. She mentally retraced the amount of times Yoko clung to her, using a flashlight to try and locate the specs before she just harmlessly passed by the events of the ride. She kept looking, keeping her focus on the search as best she possibly could.
"Aha!" Luna shouted, seeing the glasses just laying on the ground in a part that wasn't moving. She quickly stepped ahead of the moving floor and grabbed them, then hurried on out.
Yoko kept sitting at the table, nervously clinging onto the two plushies. Some people glanced towards her, making her duck her head down in shame. She let out a shaky exhale, trying to feel her way back to being calm. She didn't notice that someone made a glance towards her, but they disappeared into the crowd almost as soon as they got the glance. Not too long later…
"Hello."
Yoko nervously turned around, then eased up upon seeing Luna there. She sighed with relief before Luna just gave her a smile.
"Ta-da~," Luna beamed, presenting the glasses, Yoko smiling as she took the lenses and put them back on, "There you go. Hopefully we can relax a bit now."
"Thank you…"
Luna smiled and then picked up a menu to try to find a snack, managing to find something she liked. She started to pull out her wallet, when…
"...Luna?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm… sorry…"
Luna just blinked a bit, a bit surprised she said that before she moved the menu aside.
"For… acting like such a giant baby…" Yoko continued, looking away guiltily, "I know I was acting immature. I realize that I was acting… less than my age. I just… can't help it. I get scared easily when it comes to… some things."
"I know. It's perfectly ok, though," Luna told her in a calm tone, simply hugging Yoko to try to get her to calm down a little bit.
"...thank you."
"I do have to ask this, though. How did you get so scared with that silly ride, yet can remain calm when you see the monsters from the Alliance?" Luna ended up asking.
"...I just keep it buried…" Yoko admitted, "I'm scared of them, I really am. I just… keep it below the surface so you two won't need to worry about me. It really does feel like I have to do that so you two won't worry."
Luna just stared a little at Yoko, the curvy blonde noticing Yoko trying to not look at her, "...is there something else you want to tell me?"
"...a little. About our trip."
"Alright."
"There was… a bit of a reason I thought of asking you."
"And?"
"And… part of the reason I thought to ask you was because… I saw you looked a bit stressed, so… I wanted to do something to try to help you relax. …so… before I got to the bakery the other day… I called Takeshi to tell him to make sure he couldn't go so that you would," Yoko eventually admitted.
Luna looked surprised by this as she just looked at Yoko for a little bit.
"...is Takeshi actually hanging out with Kota?" Luna soon asked.
"Yeah. I just asked him to make plans for the day, and he got to do that. Hopefully they're still having fun."
Takeshi gave off a small exhale as he took a seat in his car, having just finished hanging out for a while.
-You alright?- Hinatan chimed in.
"Yeah. Just need a minute to lay down…" Takeshi responded as he leaned into the seat a little, "It was fun, just a bit out of practice is all."
"...I'm sorry about not being truthful to you…" Yoko apologized.
"Yoko. It's fine, I just didn't know. I appreciate the sentiment, I really do," Luna told her in a calm tone, "I just… tend to be a little bit… I guess annoyed. Sure, there may be times where I end up needing to exhale a little bit at things, but that's just more about my life being complicated in general rather than any ire or the like directed at you. I promise. You guys actually help me calm down and stay grounded… and I'm grateful to have you both."
Yoko just kept looking at Luna for a bit, then the two just hugged again, the girls looking happy as they soon let go from the hug.
"I'm really having fun. I promise. I really appreciate what you do and I'm enjoying today. Now, what do you say we get something to eat? I'm hungry," Luna told her.
"Sure thing."
As the two were set to leave after having some snacks, they both heard people screaming and running.
"...really?" Luna exhaled heavily, "But of course. I should've seen this coming. Be right back…"
Luna looked around for somewhere to transform, but Yoko tailed after her. Luna was about to speak, yet was able to tell Yoko was doing her best to hide that she was a little scared.
"Just stay close for now," Luna told her, earning a quick nod.
"This is the part where this park falls and bleeds to death!" a monsterous voice yelled out as something exploded.
Luna looked towards the Vaijin and could see what it looked like. Off the bat, if Luna didn't hear the voice, she wouldn't have been able to tell the Vaijin was male because of the way he looked. Aside from its bulky frame, it appeared to be predominantly black in color with white and blue accents, what looked like a sword carved into their right hand, and a long blue mane of hair.
"Well… hope this doesn't damper my opinion on Shin Megami Tensei V when that comes out and I gotta review it…" Luna mumbled as she fished out her Driver.
"Do you want me to call Takeshi?" Yoko asked.
=PLAYSTATION DRIVER!=
"Just let him know where to go," Luna responded as she quickly got out her disk, "Then find somewhere safe to hide."
=DISK READY! NOW LOADING… SPYRO THE DRAGON!=
"Henshin!"
=INTO THE DRAGON!=
Luna quickly transformed before rushing in and punching the Vaijin back. Yoko ended up quickly ducked away from the action in order to get out her phone.
Takeshi was lazing around his car, now back by the bakery, and taking a moment to check on the baked goods. Before he could go back to help, his phone rang a bit.
"Hello?"
-Hi Takeshi. Uh… thanks for your help in letting Luna have some time off. But… um… there's a Vaijin at the fair.-
"Of course there is…" he exhaled, "I'm on my way…"
"You think you're the hero here?" the Vaijin questioned, "You pale to the might of a Nahobino!"
"Yeah… I haven't played the game yet, so I don't know how I'm paling in your power when I have nothing to base it off of…" Playstation retorted as she punched the Nahobino Vaijin again, but the Vaijin seemed to dodge most of the strikes before grabbing her fist.
"Still, impressive nonetheless," he seemed to smirk before making her go spinning and swinging at her with his sword arm.
"ACK~!" Playstation yelled as she tumbled back a bit. The Rider struggled to get back up as the Vaijin turned away from her.
"But the one thing people love more than anything else is to see the hero fail. Fall. Die trying," the Vaijin spoke, "In spite of everything you've ever done for them, eventually, they will hate you. Why bother?"
"Because it's right!"
Just outside, Kamen Rider SEGA in his Sonic Adventure form arrived on the scene and helped some people get away from the fair as the battle kept going. He tried to find an opening to go help, yet the massive amount of people left him too distracted by the civilians to go help.
Playstation charged up some electricity and fire into her hands, then punched forward, but the Nahobino Vaijin managed to catch the energy and then smack her back a bit.
"I could squash you like a bug right now…"
"Oh, quit the Willem Dafoe Green Goblin quotes!" Playstation shouted as she swapped out disks.
=DISK READY! NOW LOADING… PERSONA 5!=
=INTO THE MASQUERADE!=
The Vaijin scoffed as he generated energy into his sword hand, and attempted to slash, but the Rider, ducked out of the way of the energy assault, quickly inputting Left-Right-Up-Left-A-B-Start into the Command Module.
=DOWNLOAD NOW COMPLETE! ARCANA BLASTER, READY!=
Now with the Arcana Blaster in hand, Playstaton unleashed a volley of shots, forcing the Vaijin to dodge around wildly before Playstation was forced to come to a stop and stand back up. The Vaijin chuckled a little at her, managing to simply crack his neck before turning towards the Rider.
"What's so funny?"
"You know… I had a feeling you were that little cheater. You were responsible for wrecking my business and making me turn into this. Now, for my revenge… your sister and me? We're gonna have a he** of a time!"
"She's not my sister, but you are still going to suffer!" the Rider shouted, quickly shooting at the Vaijin to get it closer to the metal roller coaster tracks.
The Vaijin dodged with ridiculous speeds, even using his mane to block the shots… only for the mane to get stuck by the tracks.
"Go, Izanagi!" Playstation yelled as the mask vanished off from her helmet. Suddenly, an electrical projection of the main Persona used by the Persona 4 protagonist leaped forward and zapped the Vaijin, paralyzing him and magnetizing its feet to the tracks as Playstation gave off a chuckle, "Go, Jack Frost!"
A smaller, icey, projection then flew forward and froze part of the Vaijin to make sure it wouldn't move.
"It's you who's out, Vaijin! OUT OF YOUR MIND!" the Rider shouted out, quickly inputting Start-Down-Down-Left-Right-Down into her Command Module.
=HISSATSU! PLAYSTATION STRIKE!=
Dark, electric, fire, wind, and ice energy condensed at Playstation's legs. The Rider then made the charge alongside the projections of both Jack Frost and Izanagi before kicking the Vaijin and causing it to explode. She then gave off a pose as the Vaijin ended up reverting back.
The stand owner, Yanagi Kou based on what Luna was able to hear, was dragged off into a police carrier and then driven away from the area.
"Our park…" the manager of the amusement park proclaimed, "It's… it's so damaged…"
Luna simply stared a bit, not sure how to express the thoughts in her head at first before a thought occurred to her.
"You know, considering the fact that it was one of your employees that went after my friend and harassed not just her, but me as well, I could very easily sue you…" Luna threatened.
"No, no no no no no! No need to sue!" the manager quickly responded, clearly in a panic before he decided to pull out something, "Free passes for the next several years! You get discounts on everything at the park! I'll even give you anything you want!"
"I want a plushie," Yoko remarked.
"You can have whatever you want! Just don't sue!"
"...Deal," Luna smiled, as she accepted the passes.
Yoko looked at the rows of plushies being presented to her, yet nothing really seemed to catch her eye for a bit. Then, she noticed a plushie that looked sort of like a pink seal that had light blue eyes, pink hearts by the ears and tail, and just a cute little smile.
"That one," Yoko pointed, quickly being handed it, "It's so soft and fluffy."
Luna was about to speak up, yet saw Yoko's content smile and decided to keep quiet as they walked off. Takeshi waved to them, and they both waved back.
The trio eventually returned to the bakery and Takeshi smiled at how happy the girls looked even if Luna seemed a little tired.
"So much for your day off, huh?" Takeshi observed as he handed Luna some coffee and a glazed doughnut.
"I didn't really consider it a day off. It was more or less just a short break," Luna responded with a shrug, "But… I had fun. It was nice to have a girl's day out. It didn't go the way I was thinking it would, but it was fun."
"Glad to hear that," Takeshi told her, "You girls look great together, and it's nice to see you happy."
"Also, thank you for your role in helping me relax. I certainly needed it," Luna smiled.
"You're welcome, but thank the one who actually thought you needed the break."
The two soon looked over to Yoko cuddling her new seal plushie, blissfully unaware of the still attached tags on it.
"By the way… is Yoko aware that's a Pretty Cure mascot plushie?" Takeshi whispered to Luna.
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her…" Luna whispered back.
Shortly after, Luna sat down by Yoko and the two watched the starry night sky outside with relaxed smiles. They took a much needed breath of relief as Luna set her arm around Yoko, gently cuddling together.
"Thanks for today. I really needed it," Luna said with a smile.
"You're welcome," Yoko smiled back.
(Cue Ending Song: Burn 'Em Down Spyro Rap by JT Music (Feat. Jeremy Dooley))
He's just a little dragon now, one day he'll take off from the ground~ *Playstation landed against the ground and then reverted back to normal. Luna brushed her hair out of her face and smiled.*
You'll find no flyer guy around. *Luna walked off, but then pulled out her Spyro 1 disc and gently brushed it.*
He's got an awesome tale, even if he's small in scale. Packin' punches pound for pound~ *Takeshi and Yoko were then nearby her, making her gently smile at them both*
So light's up, and burn 'em down~! (Uh-oh!) *The scene went over to Luna's home and she was shown booting up Spyro 1*
I got a story to be told in an anthem, Gnasty blastin' off attacks when he was throwin' a tantrum *Yoko tried to reach over to the controller, only for Luna to quickly snatch it away.*
Then with one fast sweep all the dragons you see, got locked up and stocked up for him to keep! And so- *Takeshi and Yoko made some small talk as Luna was playing the game with a content smile on her face.*
Spyro took the fate in his hands of every denizen that's fallen in the dragon lands *The scene then went into a flashback of Luna, about a pre-teen or a teen, holding a version of the Playstation Driver that was based directly on the PS1.*
Fighting everything in sight like a bull in Town Square, Haunted Towers, Tree Tops, superchargin' through the air again *The scene shifted to Luna fighting Payactions, only for it to be shown to be a simulator. The teen simply smiled.*
Destroy the towers that are powering up Metalhead, Turn Toasty intop tantalizing sheep again *The scene went back to the present as Luna looked to see Takeshi and Yoko were leaving. She smiled at them and waved*
Spittin' flames all up in Shemp's crack, and droppin' Jacques' boxes that he'll never forget! And so- *Luna was then down in the base that her moms had made and was simply looking at various items that had been discarded from use, some of which she smiled at, others she winced at*
Spyro went to Gnasty's town, where the big green guy's plan was comin' unwound. *Luna closed her eyes as she thought back to being younger and just playing Spyro 1 for the fun of it. Takeshi was shown cheering her on and then she hugged him*
He chased him all around, hit with flames one and two, and then really rubbed it in and made off with his loot *The flashback changed to show her as Kamen Rider Playstation, albeit a fair bit shorter, chasing after a Vaijin that was based on Moneybags.*
The Gnasty Army really couldn't compare with a tiny purple dragon rockin' superstar flare! *Luna found herself chuckling at that memory before she headed back upstairs.*
And who knew that even metal that the gnorcs adorned, shattered, scattered out, and flattened with a charge of the horns *Luna spoke with Daisuke, who nodded as he began programming a new weapon for her. She smiled at him, and then they high-fived.*
From Peace Keepers to Dream Weavers they heard the word, a dragon fightin' attack frogs and puffer birds! *Luna, now as Kamen Rider Playstation in the present, fought off some Payactions as quickly as she could. She was then joined by SEGA, who struck at foes with something akin to the Homing Attack*
He saved the land and the dragons livin' in it, so what's next for Spyro? The sky's the limit, y'all! *The Riders fought a bit as Playstation took to the air before flying down with a Rider Kick that made the grunts blow up.*
He's just a little dragon now, one day he'll take off from the ground~ *Luna looked at her shadow and then made motions as if she were some kind of a dragon. Takeshi and Yoko walked over and saw her doing this*
You'll find no flyer guy around. *The trio just smiled at each-other before they walked off. Daisuke soon joined them, all smiling as they walked along. Hana soon followed after them, making Daisuke sigh.*
He's got an awesome tale, even if he's small in scale. Packin' punches pound for pound~ *Luna simply had a content look on her face as she stretched, and then was shown laying against a grassy hill.*
So light's up, and burn 'em down~! *Luna was then joined by Takeshi, Yoko, Hana, and Daisuke. The five watched the setting sun and the floating clouds.*
Kamen Rider: Game Corner!
"I think we have a bit of a unique event here… cause… Shin Megami Tensei V isn't out in our world yet…" Takeshi remarked.
"Yeah~..." Luna exhaled, "It is in the audience's universe, so I know a little about the opening bit of it."
"Well… welcome to the Game Corner and happy holidays for the audience. In our universe, we're a ways off from the holidays…" Takeshi informed, "But, enough about that. Let's get into the basis for this chapter's Vaijin."
"It is based off of the transformed state of the protagonist of Shin Megami Tensei V, known as a Nahobino, a fusion between a human and a divine being. …and that's all I know about them other than they have a sword arm and share an English VA with Scorbunny and the lead of Evangelion."
"Honestly, I'm getting some weird Tron vibes from the design alone," Takeshi admitted.
"Going into the background of the series, Shin Megami Tensei originally began life as a series of games based on a series of books known as 'Megami Tensei'. Atlus made so much money off of them at the time, but there weren't enough books to adapt, so they made their own series that became 'Shin Megami Tensei', or 'True Goddess Rebirth'. …not that it happens a lot in the series, but whatever," Luna proceeded to explain, "And while the most recent one is V, it's not the fifth entry in the series. There are a lot of spin-offs, not counting all of the sub-series spawned from the franchise."
"Yea, it got crazy, but that's where we got the likes of Persona from. That, coupled with inspiration from a certain bizarre adventure manga, but neither here nor there."
"And arguably the most popular one in the mothership series is the third one… which I really don't like…" Luna admitted.
"Why?"
"It's depressing as all get out. I hate basically every character in that game, and that was BEFORE I fought a Vaijin that was based on that game's protagonist when they use it as a flippin' SUPER BOSS!" Luna spoke, nearly yelling at the last part. She took a moment to cool off, then continued, "I'm convinced the only reason that III sold well is because, for some baffling reason, they included Dante."
"Goodness. I feel even worse…" Takeshi responded.
"I really hope that they don't do anything with the Demi-fiend in V… they released a remake of III and a lot of people are thinking they'll do something with it like save data bonuses or DLC, but I'm hoping to anything that's not the case…" Luna spoke.
There was a cough from off-screen, urging them to try to focus.
"Oh, right. Uh… so, Jack Frost is considered Atlus' mascot and even got a slight touch up to his design in SMTV. It's slight, but it's noticeable," Luna informed, "And the long road to V coming out has been long. It was announced in one of the earliest videos about the Switch back in 2017, then Atlus went radio silent about the game because they had to use an unfamiliar engine to build it."
"Really? Wow…"
"But, now, it's out in the audience's world and it's approaching release in ours, so I think the wait will be worth it. …though, I'm wondering if we'll get a bonus if there's the Joker amiibo or save data of P5S…" Luna admitted.
"Can you tell what she's the bigger fan of?" Yoko chimed in.
Takeshi and Luna both laughed a little at this quick remark, all three smiling as they settled down a bit.
"Touché, Yoko. Touché…"
Jikai, Shin Kamen Rider SEGA
Takeshi: A duo, huh? That's not out of our area.
Luna: Wait… who the heck are these two?
Yoko: Oh…
Takeshi: I've never seen these two before.
Luna: The pink one looks familiar. Wait!
Yoko: I'm under an NDA… I can't give you any hints.
Shin Level 8: Tales of Products Not (Yet) Released
Takeshi, Luna, and Yoko: Get your game on!
Pikatwig: Well… it's almost Christmas here… as well as the last Saturday of 2021. …we may be doing a year end reflection or something, but suffice to say… 2021 can get the heck out.
KKD: Yeah…
Pikatwig: But, enough about that. This chapter. Lots of little things to talk about. So, going into it, I wanted to have a bit of focus on Yoko and Luna. Takeshi, in a way, is the rock between their extremes of imaginative and grounded in reality, so removing that proverbial rock was something I wanted to do so we could see how they bounce off of each-other.
KKD: Really? That sure is an interesting way to look at it.
Pikatwig: And I thought them hanging out at a carnival would be a fun occasion.
KKD: Yea. That is a nice touch.
Pikatwig: The carnival idea ended up spawning the human host for the Vaijin. I did want to have it be Shin Megami Tensei V related because of the fact the Demi-fiend Vaijin played a role in Luna's background, so having one to pop up in the same chapter sort of made sense to me.
KKD: Interesting to say the least.
Pikatwig: Then, the host's scene. It was based on a scene from Despicable Me. It just randomly came to mind as I was making concepts for this chapter and made the final cut, which KKD ended up getting.
KKD: Felt like Cap in the original Avengers. I understood that reference.
Pikatwig: Oh, and to explain that flashback, since the previous chapter mentioned Luna's injury, I figured we'd explain how she got it in flashback form. We are debating doing a story that shows Luna starting off as a Rider, so we may get more tales from her time prior to Takeshi joining her.
KKD: Ok. Not really much for me to say there, but… yea.
Pikatwig: Though, you can say this chapter was kind of "movie references and we'll see if anyone gets them" considering the amount of movies that got referenced.
Hinata: Minimum we'll tell you is the Sonic movie and Spider-Man 1 got referenced, as well as the aforementioned Despicable Me.
KKD: Hopefully you'll get them all, but some are obvious, especially with No Way Home's recent release.
Pikatwig: The reason for the Spider-Man 1 references was because you happened to see No Way Home, and I ended up looking up clips of Dafoe's Green Goblin and thought it would be fun.
KKD: Which was appropriate seeing as of when we wrote and finished this, I had seen No Way Home… twice.
Hinata: I saw it as well, and recently rewatched a little of Spider-Man 1.
Pikatwig: That's one of the only Marvel movies I've ever seen. …and the only bit I saw was the bit with the wrestling arena.
KKD: Well hopefully we'll get the chance to play catch up on all the movies… at least Spider-Man, no rush for you to see the MCU stuff seeing how deep that rabbithole goes.
Pikatwig: Yeah…
Hinata: Although, I should ask the big question… why did Pretty Cure references make the final cut? I ask this because someone here *motions to Pikatwig* doesn't like that series much… if at all.
KKD: I guess we should explain that. So… prior to the split of worlds, TB and I did a review of a lot of Pretty Cure movies in December of 2018. …and it ate up a lot of time.
Pikatwig: And I got kind of annoyed and grew a bit spiteful towards the last of what many consider to be Toei's "big three".
KKD: Yeah… that's now other me's bad.
Pikatwig: So, I recently ended up seeing screenshots and clips from the currently airing incarnation, I think it's Tropical Rogue? And, to me, it looked visually interesting. I intend to try to watch a bit of it and see if I actually like it.
Hinata: Well… that's a first.
Pikatwig: Though, I will say, the little mascot thing in that season is adorable.
Hinata: That would explain the seal thing you brought up in the story.
Pikatwig: Yeah. Anyway, thoughts on the chapter?
KKD: Overall cute and funny, nothing really big to describe on my part.
Pikatwig: I had fun writing it. It was fun to show more nods to how this world diverges from our own in many ways, plus the interplay between Yoko and Luna is just fun to write. They're so contrasting in some ways that seeing them interact was just fun to make.
KKD: Yea, that's another cool thing, just bringing up a chance to worldbuild. Yea, it's similar, but still different in ways you wouldn't expect such as how some movies are different, not just the games.
Pikatwig: And my favorite part has to be the ending. Just seeing Yoko and Luna hanging out was cute.
KKD: Yea. REal wholesome.
Pikatwig: Also, before we get asked this, there's no intentional shade being thrown towards Shin Megami Tensei. I just thought having SMT vs. the spin-off would be fitting.
KKD: It makes sense. Though we both still prefer Persona just for how we have more knowledge of it.
Pikatwig: And another thing I want to mention, the bit with those teacup rides and making Mr. Narumi motion sick was based on something that happened with KKD's family.
KKD: Yea… that's a very true story for my dad. It was because of my uncles and how fast they spun those things. *nervously chuckles* Oof.
Pikatwig: Then, before we get asked, we've seen the Donbrothers images and… I'm already going to miss the Zenkaigers.
KKD: I'm still trying to wrap my head around the designs. Haven't seen stuff this crazy since Kyuuranger.
Pikatwig: And for the Kangaroo Genome… Vice being the joey is pretty funny. However, I sincerely wish it was based on literally any other of the remaining Rider options other then flippin' Build!
KKD: Why that moronic 'genius'? Why did HE have to get popular? Why not have it be OOO since he was the first Rider with a kangaroo motif in a Hyper Battle DVD, OOO is turning 10, and is just cooler!
Hinata: DUDES! Cool your jets. We get it, you hate Build, let's pack that up and move on. Save that rant for another day.
KKD: Right… sorry.
Pikatwig: Anyway… this is likely going up on Christmas Eve. Have a Merry Christmas, readers and viewers. We hope that you all have an amazing time and get some great gifts.
KKD: Merry Christmas to all, and… well, you know the rest.
Pikatwig: We'll probably see you back here sometime next year, so look forward to it.
KKD: Yea. For sure.
Pikatwig: Also… *holds up a wrapped present that said 'To Pikatwig, From Hinata. Winter wishes.'* Thanks for the gift.
Hinata: You're welcome. I may have done a little something with someone else you know in order to bring the gift in, but I know you'll like it. *gives Pika a kiss to the cheek*
Pikatwig: *blushes a tiny bit* Just Live More.
KKD: Jaa ne.
Pikatwig, KKD, and Hinata: Merry Christmas!