Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.

A/N: for those who haven't already taken a look, I made some pretty serious edits to the previous chapter, so I'd recommend you reread it to see what's changed. Kudos to Spidey Viewer and PA2 for their help.

"Sir? A moment of your time, please?"

Kazuta glanced up from the paperwork he was laboring over at his desk. "I've always got time for you, Lieutenant. Please, come on in."

Goro entered Kazuta's office and took a seat on the other side of the desk. He looked unusually anxious. Kazuta's brow furrowed in concern. Whatever was troubling Goro, it must really be serious. "Something wrong, Goro?"

Goro licked his lips and hesitantly said, "Well, sir, you remember Kari, right? And her daughter, Mira?"

Kazuta nodded, wondering where this was going. "The zyuman mother and daughter we rescued from the trafficking ring. What about them? Are they in trouble?"

"Yes and no," Goro said, puzzling Kazuta. Goro took a breath, then explained. "The hospital is due to release them soon with a clean bill of health. The thing is, they… Well, they don't have anywhere to go."

Kazuta frowned. "What do you mean?"

"They lost their home a few years back in a monster attack," Goro relayed. "And since her family kicked her out a long time ago for refusing to treat Mira like the gender she was assigned at birth, and a lot of the more traditional zyuman aren't exactly tolerant of that sort of thing, they… Were forced to live hand to mouth. They've spent a lot of time in and out of numerous shelters and temporary housing, and I am worried that once they're out of the hospital, they'll find themselves right back where they started. I know it's selfish of me to be focused on just these two when so many of the other trafficking victims are probably in the same boat, but…"

"But you've grown fond of them," Kazuta intuited. "And you can't help but want to help the people right in front of you."

He'd noticed that Goro had been spending a lot of time at the hospital during his time off. He hadn't said anything. It wasn't his place.

(And besides, he was proud of him.)

"You know that there are systems in place to help people like them," Kazuta reminded Goro gently.

"To be blunt, sir, those systems are what led her to this mess in the first place," Goro said flatly. "Quite a number of those systems have been subverted to funnel the poor and the easily exploited into sweatshops, brothels and trafficking rings just like the ones we broke up. The system has failed them, Captain. We have failed them. I know you said it's not our place to change the world, but…"

Kazuta considered this. "What are you proposing, exactly?"

"I'd like to take them in," Goro clarified. "Help them get on their feet. Make sure they're well fed and cared for, and that Mira keeps getting the hormones she needs. I'm aware it would take a lot of money, but it's not like I've been doing much with my salary anyway. Might as well put it to a good use and help those in need."

"And what about all the other people we rescued who are in similar dire straits?" Kazuta pressed. "Will you take them in, as well?"

"I would if I could," Goro confessed. "But… I know it's not a lot, and in the long run it might not count for anything, but… Helping these two… It may be a small step, but it's still a start, isn't it?"

"And this has nothing to do with any feelings you might be developing for Miss Kari?" Kazuta inquired.

"No, sir," Goro promised.

(It wasn't a lie, or at least, not quite. He really had no idea he was in love with Kari. Not at that point, anyway.)

(He wouldn't learn until much later that pretty much the entire squad had been betting on when he and Kari would hook up, and was dismayed that Kazuta had taken part as well.)

(The captain had won, naturally. He always did know Goro better than he knew himself.)

"And why are you telling me this?" Kazuta asked, though deep down he was proud of his pupil for taking such responsibility. (And not just because it would cinch him closer to winning the bet.) "What you do on your own time is nobody's business but your own. If you really want to take in a homeless family and give them shelter, that's your prerogative. "

"I understand, sir, but I feel like there is something you could help with," Goro informed him. "Like I said, there are a lot of people who are in similar situations. I can't help them… But I think you can."

Kazuta raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I'm just a lieutenant… But you're Captain Kazuta, legendary leader of the legendary Katsutoshi Squad, successor of the even more legendary Godai Aori," Goro reminded him. "When you speak, people listen. You have a lot of sway in the way things are done around here. I think that if you propose a program to the upper brass and the politicians to provide people like the trafficking victims with homes, jobs, and education, to keep them off the streets and from becoming victims again, to bring their plight to the attention of the general public… I think they'd have no choice but to do something about it."

Kazuta stared at him for a long moment.

And then he cracked a smile. "You know, it's rather a remarkable coincidence," he commented, pushing the document he had been working on across the desk towards Goro.

Puzzled, the lieutenant picked it up… And his eyes went wide as he realized what it was. "Is this-"

"Because, you see, I had exactly the same idea," Kazuta said, beaming with pride. "I've already scheduled a meeting with the higher-ups to discuss it in a few hours. And you're going to be right there with me."

Goro gave his mentor a double take. "Sir?!"

"I may be Captain Kazuta, legendary leader of the legendary Katsutoshi Squad, successor of the even more legendary Godai Aori," Kazuta told him. "But you're the son of Godai, and shaping up to be a legend in your own right, one that will one day eclipse both your father and I. Katsutoshi Squad isn't his only legacy, Goro." He extended a hand. "Will you help me to make sure we are known for more than just shooting the bad guys in the face with our very expensive guns?"

Breaking into a wide grin, Goro shook his commander's hand. "Sir, I would like nothing more."

In the days and weeks that followed, the Bugrangers found themselves reflecting on the doubts and uncertainties Hino's words, meant to hurt but not necessarily wrong, called up in them.

Ariel was more than a little scared. "I thought I was immune to this sort of thing," she had confessed at one point. "I've taken lots and lots of training about how to protect my mind from external influences, how to recognize signs of mental tampering and brainwashing… I have so many spells, enchantments, and wards around my head I thought my mind was an impenetrable fortress. But now… I can't help calling that all into question."

She fidgeted uncomfortably while trying very hard not to look at Nushi. "And if I was wrong about that… what else could I be wrong about?"

"How do I know our love is real?" Went unsaid but not unheard.

Shin was resigned. "To be totally honest, I'm not surprised about this," he had said cynically. "I lost my humanity decades ago and gave up on ever getting it back. I always suspected that at some point, my mind might get altered too, and given my luck, I doubt I'll ever be able to turn it back. Oh well. At least Apista's nice. There's a lot of worse people I could have been brainwashed by."

Mibojin was pensive. "I am honestly not sure what to feel," she had admitted. "The person I was before… Empathy was not part of her skill set. I cared for a very small number of individuals. But now, I… I have friends outside the clan. People I trust. People I… Cannot bear to lose. Before, I was a borderline sociopath, but now…"

"You're still a borderline sociopath," Shin had pointed out.

Mibojin had glared at him but did not gainsay him. "But less of one. And… I know this may be the brainwashing talking, but… I… I'm not sure I want to go back." She had hesitated, then confessed, "I know I'm not a good person, but… Who I used to be… She was worse, I think."

She had closed her eyes. "That does not change the fact that sometimes I catch my daughter staring at me like I'm an imposter."

Apista was second-guessing herself, which wasn't a particularly good trait for someone in charge of a massive interstellar civilization doing her best to lead a massive intergalactic war on multiple fronts. "I've always thought that my predecessors were doing the right thing, expanding the Hive by introducing the Buzzing to other species," she had reflected quietly. "We never forced anyone to join us. We offered, and if they accepted, we would be happy to assimilate them. If not, we would be equally happy to leave them alone. But…"

She had rubbed the scar on her chest absentmindedly. "Now I wonder… If perhaps, in our own way, we weren't much better than your average conqueror. The price for admission into the Hive is joining the Buzzing, and… If my line has really been subconsciously affecting the minds of our constituents this much… Is it just another form of enslavement? Have our detractors been right about us all along?"

Philia didn't get what the big deal was. "I don't get what the big deal is," she had admitted, confused. "You weren't part of the Buzzing before, and now you are. Your lives are objectively better, right? So what if your minds and bodies have been reworked a bit? If you're happier this way, does it matter?"

"It does if it's not real," Goro had replied.

Philia had shrugged. "Why do you say it's not real? If you feel happy, isn't that real enough?"

And Goro had remembered that, despite being hundreds if not thousands of years older than him, Philia was, in many ways, still just a child.

And Nushi… Was perfectly content.

"You guys have to understand, this is what I've always wanted," she had told them. "I've never been completely comfortable as a human. It's always been my dream to be an insect, like my dad, and while for most of my life I didn't think was really possible, I believed that helping Queen Apista and the Hive make the world a better place was as close as I could ever get." She had smiled radiantly. "And now look at me. I'm a full-fledged member of the Hive, a hero working with my idol to save the world alongside awesome friends and the woman I love, have all the knowledge of a billions-year-old civilization at my fingertips, and am literally becoming an insect… There's times I'm still not sure this is real, or what I could possibly have done to earn such a miracle."

"So you don't mind that your mind made being compromised?" Goro had asked.

"A little, I guess," she admitted. "You remember that I wasn't entirely keen about joining my mind to the Buzzing when we all started out. But…"

She had hugged herself happily. "This sensation… This feeling of belonging, of purpose, of love… Of finally feeling like I'm exactly where I need to be and becoming who I was always supposed to be… I think it's a small price to pay for this experience."

And Goro, thinking of his eldest daughter, who had also been cursed with the wrong body at birth, could not help but empathize.

"But I understand that not everyone feels that way," Nushi had continued. "And I'm not going to try and change your minds. I will, however, do my best to help you all find peace with your situation, and to figure out what's best for you."

"Even if it means leaving the Buzzing?" Ariel had asked. "And maybe… You?"

Nushi didn't falter for a second. She had grasped her lover's hands and kissed her on the lips. "If you feel that your path takes you away from me, I'll be sad, but I won't stop you. I'll miss you, but I will always cherish the time we had together. Because, no matter what Hino says… This, what we have? It's real. As real as we want it to be. And isn't that what matters in the end?"

Nushi's mind, Goro had marveled, was in many ways just as alien, if not more so, than the rest of the Hive. Even so, her certainty that they would find a solution, a way to find peace with themselves, her earnest belief in herself and in her team, was enough to give him hope. Somehow, they would find the answers they were looking for.

Self doubts and worries about his identity aside, Goro never let his concern for his old friends in Katsutoshi Squad stay far from his thoughts.

Unfortunately, for the time being, there wasn't really a lot he could do for them.

They were still investigating Dr. X and Hino's connection to him, and until they had more information it was decided Goro should refrain from trying to get in touch with the squad, partly because they weren't sure anything they said could be trusted since Dr. X and Hino had messed with their minds, and they didn't want to run the risk of anything they said getting back to their puppetmasters.

Goro understood the logic of it. That didn't mean it didn't hurt, the knowledge that he no longer could trust in his oldest friends.

Thankfully – or unthankfully, depending on your perspective – he didn't really have much time to focus on such unpleasant thoughts, because, as always, there were other things which needed his immediate attention more.

Spending time with his family and doing his best to patch up his relationship with Kari.

Training the Hive soldiers under his command, so that when they were needed in the field, they would finally be ready.

Stamping out Swarm outbreaks around the world.

Getting brain scans to help Nushi and Ariel calibrate whatever process they were going to use to make it so that they could temporarily dampen the Buzzing and allow them to see who they were without it.

And other, smaller adventures, like time travel tours with Shin, watching Bugball games with Mira, taking the kids to more of Kamiyama's story times, going on group dates with Ariel and Nushi and Aranea when she was in town, attending a magic performance put on by Ariel's students – due to a miscast spell from Philia, the whole team wound up swapping bodies for a few hours, leading to some entertaining shenanigans when they had to fight that week's monster, and Ariel seemed relieved that this Sentai cliché had happened sooner rather than later – and seeing a play reenacting their first battle and team up with the Arachrangers.

(Goro was mortified that the actor portraying him was not only a better actor than he had been, but was widely regarded as the best talent in the show, to the point that quite a few critics jokingly or not so jokingly said that she should be the Blue Ant instead.)

And so, life went on…

Until, quite suddenly, time ran out.

It had started like any other day. There was a Swarm incursion in Milan, and the team quickly mobilized and headed out in the ShinLiner to deal with it.

A few minutes into their battle with the Funghoul horde and their leader, the malodorous Stinkbomb, they got word that a second outbreak was happening in Nagano back home.

Thankfully, this wasn't quite as disastrous as it sounded. One of the benefits of having a time machine was that if two or more hotspots popped up at more or less the same time, once they finished clearing out one disaster they could just hop in the ShinLiner, zip back into the past, and take care of the second one, and repeat if there were a third.

(So far, they hadn't had too many problems like that, but Goro was well aware that the longer the cosmic fungus remained on Earth, spreading its mycelium through the soil, the higher the risk of multiple outbreaks rose. They had to find a way to root it out completely before they were overwhelmed.)

However, before they even finished taking out Stinkbomb, they got word that someone else had arrived at Nagano: the FX Squad. The military Riders had quickly routed the Swarm there, and when a Fungigas emerged, revealed that Dr. X had provided them with mecha strong enough to take it out with minimal collateral damage.

Almost immediately after, Hino had called a press conference, revealing his hand in the FX program, declaring it to be a roaring success, and announcing that the people of Japan no longer had anything to fear now that there were two teams of heroes battling the Swarm, with potentially more to come now that they'd figured out how to mass-produce the FX suits.

"So when you're out battling the Swarm abroad, Bugrangers, you can rest easy," Hino had declared with a smug grin. "Because we'll have everything back home under control."

It took everything Goro had in him to not put a bullet through the hologram projector when the bastard had the gall to wink.

It took everything the entire team had to keep Mibojin from rushing out and murdering him, and their hearts weren't really in it.

The military immediately started pre-ordering FX suits to outfit their soldiers, with manufacturing companies almost literally going to war for the contracts to build them. The brass and the politicians were all declaring that these new weapons and enhanced soldiers would keep the country safe, but Goro felt more afraid than ever.

That night, he had nightmares about the squad being tortured by a monstrous, demonic Hino and Dr. X amidst the fires of hell, begging for him to save them, while he could only look on helplessly.

His father coldly told him, "You're a disappointment to my legacy," and left him to burn.

Thankfully, the next morning they got good news in the form of a visit from a very different Hino.

"I'd like to ask your help in stopping my father," Eiji Hino, also known as Kamen Rider OOO, said without much preamble once they were all gathered in one of the palace conference rooms.

Eiji was nothing like his father. While they looked very similar, Eiji's younger face lacked the cruel eyes and smugness ingrained in every line and wrinkle in the older man's visage, and while he carried himself with the confidence and experience of a true hero, he radiated a kind of humility and charisma that made him feel like he was a person you could trust with your life.

(His father also had that charisma, but unlike him, Eiji's was all too real.)

While he cut a dashing figure in his three-piece suit with a red feather piece and a glove of the same color covering his right hand, the muted look of wanderlust in his eyes made it self-evident that on some level he would never feel truly comfortable in his current role as a member of the National Diet and a part of him would always long to resume his global travels.

(His father had been delighted when Eiji had announced he'd returned to Japan for good and was taking part in the family business, only to be outraged when Eiji loudly, publicly, and repeatedly denounced him, cost him the election for Prime Minister, and ever since had made it his duty to stymie and block his father's schemes at every turn.)

(Though he would never know for sure, Goro had always suspected that Eiji had provided some of the Intel that allowed them to stop Hino's assassination attempt against Queen Apista.)

"You have it," Apista said immediately. The Bugrangers all nodded in agreement.

If Eiji was at all surprised by their immediate acceptance, he didn't show it. Instead, he merely nodded once and proceeded. "What do you know so far?"

"We suspect that your father and Dr. X are using modified neural interfaces similar to my own not just to link the members of Katsutoshi Squad (None of Goro's friends were willing to call them the FX Squad, which he would always be grateful for) together in a small-scale version of the Buzzing, ostensibly to increase unit cohesion and effectiveness, but in actuality to subtly mind control them and turn them into their personal enforcers," Nushi stated.

"And now that they had a successful field test against the Swarm incursion in Nagano, they're using that goodwill to sell the Armed Forces on the idea of creating an entire army of FX soldiers, ostensibly to protect Japan, but in reality they'll be sleeper agents unwittingly working for Hino and X," Mibojin stated.

"And making a pretty hefty sum at that," Shin added. "That's the army for you, always loving to throw away money on the promise of bigger and better guns rather than something that'll actually keep people safe… No offense, Goro."

"Some offense taken," Goro replied, although he conceded he had a point.

"Well, at least they're not as bad about that as the Americans," Ariel pointed out optimistically.

"Actually, I've heard that the Americans are trying to negotiate a deal to get FX soldiers as well," Goro refuted.

Apista frowned in concern. "And once the Americans have some, everyone will want some. Not simply to protect themselves from the Swarm, but also to make sure nobody else can use them against them." She shook her head in frustration. "This is why we have always been against giving out weapons to less advanced species. Once they've been used to destroy a perceived enemy, what's to stop them from using them against each other?"

"So, what is this, some kind of crazy world domination scheme of your dad's?" Ariel asked Eiji.

Eiji pursed his lips. "I don't think so. However, if he does indeed succeed in getting FX soldiers installed all over the globe, he'll have a great deal of leverage in international politics."

"Something we cannot allow," Apista said gravely.

"I concur. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it's a lot worse than that," Eiji said, placing a Taka Candroid on the table, which lit up to project a series of holographic images into the air. With a gesture, he sent some of them Nushi's way. "Ms. Cheng, does this look familiar to you?"

Nushi studied them for a moment, brow furrowed. Then her eyes widened, shock and disbelief surging for the Buzzing. "These… These are my plans for the neural interface! The original model, to allow humans to communicate with insects using Hive technology! How did you get these?!"

"Since you didn't know already, I'm going to assume your own investigations haven't found this out?" Eiji intuited.

Apista made a face. "They haven't… Borne quite as much fruit as we would've liked."

"Neither did my official inquiries," Eiji replied. "Which is why I had my friends at the Narumi Detective Agency do some digging. Their rather more… Unorthodox methods have rarely failed me in the past. They found these plans in a computer belonging to Dr. X."

Nushi froze. "But that's impossible. The only ones who would've had access to the original plans are myself, my father, and-"

She cut herself off, horror and disbelief intermingling. "No. No, that's… That's not possible. He… He died. I know he died. He… Shang is dead! I attended his funeral! I saw his body!"

Shin sighed. "Yeah, well, you know that people in our line of work rarely really stay dead."

"But Shang wasn't in our line of work," Nushi protested. "He was a university student and a horrible boyfriend! Not a supervillains!"

"I'm afraid he is now," Eiji said solemnly, tapping another hologram and causing it to expand. "We also found this in his computer. I trust I don't need to elaborate on what this means?"

It was a single X on a white background.

Shin shot to his feet and slammed his fist on the table hard enough to crack it. "That's bastard! He's working with Foundation X!"

"You know, it kind of makes sense when you think about it," Ariel reflected. "I mean, Dr. X, the FX Riders have Xs on their belts, Xs on their neural interfaces… Heck, FX probably stands for Foundation X! They were hiding in plain sight!"

"Then that would mean Dr. X – or rather, Shang – is a Necro-Over," Mibojin theorized. "Someone Foundation X believed valuable enough to bring back from the dead."

"With the use of an unstable, inefficient bio-stimulant that requires periodic application or else the reanimate dies for good, creating a pretty effective way to keep them on the leash," Goro added, livid at the realization that not only was one of the most nefarious syndicates in the world involved, but they'd revived someone who'd caused Nushi such pain and suffering.

Ariel immediately hugged Nushi, flooding her with love and affection and sympathy. Her lover smiled briefly at her, before a scowl returned to her face.

"If they thought his knowledge of my work was great enough to warrant digging up and reanimating his corpse, then…" Snarling, Nushi glared at Eiji. "Please tell me you have schematics for the FX neural interfaces."

"Right here," Eiji replied, flicking some more images across the table.

Nushi quickly compared the two sets of diagrams, her fury and horror growing by the minute. "That bastard… He's even more twisted than I remember, and I don't know if I can blame the side effects of his resurrection for this!" She shouted, the nausea emanating from her indicating she was on the verge of throwing up. "Take a look at this!"

She moved the diagrams to the middle of the table and expanded them so everyone could get a good look. Not entirely necessary, since they could all see through her eyes, but it was still very considerate of her. "This is my original design for the neural interface, the one that allows a human to communicate with insects, a seamless blend of human and Hive technology."

The image she indicated was an insanely complex technical diagram beyond Goro's comprehension, but thankfully, his connection to Nushi's brilliant mind allowed him to glean a rough enough understanding of how it worked. A plain, metal circlet worn around the head, with antenna and a Hive microprocessor.

"And this," Nushi continued, moving the blueprint upward and calling up another diagram. "Is the current model, designed to allow people to temporarily connect to the Buzzing."

This diagram was even more complicated, with the amount of Hive technology involved taking up significantly more of the device than its previous iteration, but it was clearly recognizable as being the same sort of machine, albeit much more advanced.

"And this," Nushi spat hatefully, enlarging the final hologram. "Is what Shang has created."

The device looked wrong.

Goro wasn't sure how he knew it – well, probably because of the vibes he was picking up from the seething Nushi – but it felt wrong. While Shang's interface bore a superficial resemblance to the ones Nushi had created, the similarities were surface deep. The circuitry and wiring were completely different, looking almost organic, in a way that made his skin crawl, and…

"Are those…" He whispered, horrified. "Are those spikes?"

Nushi nodded, magnifying the image to zoom in on what were clearly a set of spikes ringing the inner wall of the interface. "Yes, they are. While my interfaces use a harmless set of contacts lining the interior to interface with the brain of the wearer… These directly penetrate the skull and spread feelers into brain matter, which spread and multiply the longer the interface is worn."

Absolute revulsion rocked the Buzzing. "That's… That's insane," a shocked Apista gasped. "That means the longer they wear those things, the more brain damage they're sustaining!"

"Is… Is it a design flaw, or…?" A horrified Goro pleaded, stomach churning.

Nushi shot him an apologetic look and shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Goro. It's deliberate."

She zoomed out the diagram and indicated another set of interfaces, one of which Goro quickly recognized as the one Minister Hino had been wearing in the aftermath of the battle with Tick-Tock. "As you can see here, these interfaces lack the spikes and use contacts similar to my own. These are undoubtedly the ones being used by Hino and Shang. The ones with the spikes are flagged for mass production, meaning they're the ones your old squad is wearing…"

"And soon enough, soldiers from all over Japan, if not the world!" An outraged Shin exclaimed.

Mibojin shook her head in distaste. "And the more they use them, the more they will be destroying their own minds, until they are nothing more than hollow husks being puppeted by Hino and Dr. X." She glared at Nushi. "You should've let me kill him when I had the chance."

Nobody disagreed.

"Nushi… Please… Please tell me we aren't too late," Goro begged, breaking out in a cold sweat, his hands growing clammy, his breath shortening. "Please tell me that there's a chance to save them! That… That by waiting so long, by doing nothing, I haven't condemned them-!"

Nushi quickly shook her head. "No, I don't… I don't think they're too far gone yet. Granted, I don't know how long they've been using these… Atrocities, but… If we can get them off them and treat them to some miracle honey, that should begin the healing process. Right, your Majesty?"

Apista nodded. "That should help mend the brain damage, yes. Deprogramming them, though… Will destroying the interfaces work?"

Nushi carefully examined the tools of evil and frowned. "I'm not entirely sure. Something about these devices feels… Off. I don't recognize the material they're made with, and the circuit patterns… It almost looks like… Cells… And the wires inside the spikes like… Mycelium?"

Eiji grimaced. "That's because they are. These interfaces are made from a mix of Cell Medals… And cosmic fungus spores."

"… I'm sorry, WHAT?!" Goro roared in disbelief.

"That… That's not possible! Surely not even Hino would be so reckless…!" Apista stammered.

"There will always be humans that reckless," Mibojin sneered in disgust.

"Cosmic fungus spores. As in, spores from the fungus used by the Swarm? As in, the guys the FX soldiers are supposed to be fighting?!" Ariel shrieked.

"To be fair, Kamen Riders do have a long history of using the same powers as the monsters they fight," Shin pointed out, though clearly he was just as unsettled as the others.

Nushi went pale, but already her brilliant mind was cogitating away at this new information. "… Of course. Cosmic fungus is all bound together in a psychic network similar to the Buzzing. By substituting spores for the Hive microprocessors used in my original design, it would theoretically be possible to use them to generate a whole new network, independent of the Buzzing or Swarm. And, since the Swarm is all subservient to a single mind, Queen Parasitica, rather than the Buzzing, which is a melding of billions of minds merely administrated by Queen Apista, using cosmic fungus would make it easier for a single, powerful mind to control all others connected to it."

"But if they're using the fungus, how come they haven't been brain-jacked by Parasitica?" Ariel demanded.

"And where would they get the spores in the first place? We've been very diligent in destroying them whenever they appear on the surface!" Apista added.

Shin snorted scornfully. "Guys like Foundation X always find a way. There's a huge black market that traffics in extremely hazardous materials in high demand for discerning supervillains with more ambition than common sense, who are dumb enough to think that they can control stuff like this and need to learn the hard way that evil is not a toy."

"As to why Parasitica hasn't infected them using the spores… From what I can gather, these cells seem to be dead. Well, deader than normal, or at the very least dormant, probably obtained from a dead Funghoul or scrap of a destroyed Fungal Beast or Fungigas," Nushi hypothesized. "That, along with grafting them with machinery, has hopefully altered their makeup enough to prevent them from reconnecting with the rest of the Swarm."

"I notice you said 'hopefully' rather than 'definitely,'" a worried Goro noted.

Nushi bit her lip. "There's still a lot we don't know about cosmic fungus. I don't think there's any chance the spores can be reactivated and reconnect to the Swarm network… But that doesn't mean we can't rule it out as a possibility."

"Which gives us all the more reason to find a way to disable them as quickly as possible," Mibojin said gravely. "Before those ticking time bombs on their heads go off."

Goro trembled, mouth going dry. "Nushi, please tell me you can save them."

"I think so," Nushi murmured, opening more hologram windows and starting to rapidly type on a holographic keyboard. "If I encode my latest antifungal formula onto a data chip… And maybe empower it with magic… Ariel-"

"I'll help you, lovebug," Ariel said with uncharacteristic seriousness, putting a hand over her girlfriend's. "We're not going to let Shang win. You surpassed him ages ago. It's time to rub that in his face."

Nushi's typing faltered for a moment, and she shot Ariel a look brimming with gratitude and adoration. "… Thank you, Ariel," she said softly.

Ariel smiled, her expression unfathomably soft. "I'm here for you, my ladybug. No matter what."

Eiji coughed, awkwardly reminding them he was still there. "In any event, you're probably wondering where the Cell Medals are coming from."

Mibojin frowned. "Those are made from crystallized human desire, correct?"

"Guy like Hino's probably secreting them," Shin said disparagingly.

Apista perked up. "Actually… This, I think, we might already know. Our efforts have discovered that Dr. X's primary lab is located at King's Tower."

A holographic projection of an immensely tall skyscraper appeared on the table, with a chunk of rock topped by a medieval European castle perched at the apex.

Ariel's face lit up in recognition. "Hey, I know that place! I did a show there once. A few years back, Kousei Kagami transported a castle purported to belong to his ancestor, the original Kamen Rider OOO, all the way from Europe to Japan, where he put it on top of the tallest skyscraper he could afford."

"Oh yeah, I think I heard about that," Shin recalled. "He was… Trying to break a curse on some gargoyles or something?"

Mibojin shook her head. "No, that was an American businessman."

"I think Mr. Kougami actually got the idea from him," Eiji admitted.

"Why did he go to the no doubt incredible expense of transporting and ancient European castle all the way to Japan, then?" A puzzled Goro wondered.

"He thought it would be a great venue for birthday parties," Eiji said flatly.

"And he was right!" Ariel exclaimed happily.

Everyone else stared at Eiji incredulously. "… Seriously?" Nushi wondered, dumbstruck.

Eiji sighed, looking weary. "Mr. Kougami takes birthdays very seriously."

"The castle of the first OOO is where the evil king gathered the alchemists who created the Greeed," Mibojin recalled. "If their labs and research remained intact, it's feasible that Dr. X was able to use them to figure out how to mass-produce Cell Medals for use in his work."

Nushi growled under her breath as she resumed her work. "Still plagiarizing, Shang? Typical."

"But why would Kougami let someone as bad as Mr. Hino and Dr. X use his castle for evil?" Demanded an incredulous Goro.

"Didn't Kougami also let Dr. Maki, a guy who couldn't go five minutes without talking about how he was someday going to destroy the world, work for him?" Shin pointed out. "And I think he had a car bomber on staff too. And wasn't there something about a former Shocker goon-"

Eiji grimaced. "Mr. Kougami… Has never been one to stop anyone from fulfilling their desires, no matter how twisted, so long as they don't interfere with his own. So, when my father and Dr. X asked if they could rent his building for their work, he named his price, baked them a birthday cake, and happily sent them on their way."

"… Are you sure he's not evil?" A disturbed Apista asked.

Eiji made a face. "Mostly sure? He's… Eccentric, but he's a good guy. Sort of."

"Who rented a building with intact alchemical labs to your evil father and Nushi's evil ex," Shin pointed out.

Eiji grunted. "Hence the 'sort of.'"

He gestured at the hologram. "In any event, King's Tower has indeed been largely converted into the central base of operations for the FX program. They've already started producing more FX suits there, and while they don't yet have the large-scale manufacturing facilities the companies trying to curry favor with them have available, they've already created several dozen suits with plenty of bodies to fill them, with more to follow as soon as the appropriate contracts are signed."

Goro tensed. "We can't let that happen."

"I concur," Eiji agreed. "Thanks to my friends at Narumi, I've been building up enough evidence to create a case to get my father removed from office and thrown into prison for life… But unfortunately, we've run out of time. My father needs to be stopped now, and by the time the proper authorities are on the case, it'll be too late and he'll have a small army of mind controlled heavily armed Kamen Riders willing to die at his command."

"Possibly literally," Nushi commented in alarm. "Given the level of mind control we're talking about here, he could order his soldiers to put bullets in their heads. He could have his men hold themselves hostage to force any opposition to stand down!"

Goro found that by this point, he wasn't even surprised. Horrified and outraged, but not surprised.

"Wait, would that even work?" Ariel wondered briefly. "Isn't there something about how hypnotized people can't be made to do something they would never do in their right mind?"

Shin shrugged. "A lot more behavior fits in that category than you might think. And let's be honest, who among us hasn't harbored borderline suicidal thoughts at least once in their lives?"

Apista was the only person in the room who raised her hand. She stared everyone else in disbelief. "… What is wrong with humanity?" She whispered, shocked.

"A great deal," Mibojin said plainly.

"Regardless," Eiji spoke up, getting them back on track. "I'm afraid that since we can't deal with my father the legal way, we'll have to take matters into our own hands. I fully intend to storm King's Tower and not leave until I have my father and X in custody. Can I count on you for your support?"

"Absolutely," Nushi said immediately. "Do you actually need the help, though? After all, you're well-known as one of the Heisei era's strongest and most versatile Kamen Riders!"

"While I am a bit of a one man army," Eiji acknowledged, looking a little embarrassed. "I'm never one to turn down help, especially from a team whom I suspect is not only qualified enough to handle this, but has a bit of a personal investment in stopping my father's scheme."

"You're absolutely right," Shin said firmly. "We're not going to let him get away with this."

"We're going to make him pay for what he did to Goro's friends," Ariel said, flashing the grateful Goro a smile.

"And for using my work for evil," Nushi agreed angrily.

"And for defiling the sanctity of a hive mind for his own ends," Apista snarled scornfully.

"And for attempting to weaponize cosmic fungus, which I think we can all agree is a terrible idea," Mibojin added.

"It's going to take me a little while to synthesize what we need to shut down his master interface and free all of his soldiers, so do you think you can hold off on making your attack until then?" Nushi asked.

Eiji nodded. "Certainly. I don't want to hurt them if I can help it. My father and X are the only ones who need to face justice, not their victims, and that'll be a lot easier if I don't have to pull my punches fighting innocent brainwashed people. However, it'll only be a matter of days until a contract is negotiated with a major manufacturing company to start mass-producing FX suits, and at that point we may be too late to stop my father without massive casualties, not to mention a PR nightmare."

Nushi grinned, a cunning gleam in her eye. "A few days is all I'll need."

Ariel swooned, more than a little turned on.

Goro clenched his fists. "And then… We'll save everyone."

Captain, everyone… I'm sorry I've left you to suffer. I promise, we'll save all of you!

"And when the time comes to launch our attack… We may have an ace in the hole that neither you nor, I suspect, your father know of," Apista spoke up enigmatically.

Eiji frowned, perplexed. "What do you mean?"

Apista smiled coyly, eyes focused on the holographic castle. "Let's just say we may already have a bug on the inside…"