And here's the fourth chapter. Not quite sure what to say on this chapter but hey, we meet Kazari and get some good development on Ankh's character. This is a good episode and I like how Hina and Eiji begin to form their friendship as well as Eiji's main reason for helping people.
Disclaimer, I don't own any of this, Kamen Rider OOO is owned by Shotaro Ishinomori and Toei TV while Harry Potter is owned by Bloomsbury Publishing and J. K. Rowling. I only have the sets of the movies and the series.
Chapter 4 – Doubt, Photo Email, Saving Hand
"Kazari... It's you, isn't you?" Ankh said calmly, looking as a feline-like creature with dreadlocks appeared.
"Long time no see, Ankh." It said, sounding almost smug.
"Sneaking around in the shadows…" Ankh said, glaring at the being. "That's just like you. Speaking of which, aren't Yummy parasites your specialty?"
'Okay, so there are different types of Yummy.' Harry thought. 'I'm almost scared to ask what the other types are and what they can do to harm their hosts.'
He watched with Eiji as the Yummy staggered back to its host and reentered his body, causing him to wake up and stumble around, looking for more food. Eiji and Harry tried to run to stop the boy, but Kazari just waved his arm and sent a yellowish whirlwind to them, blowing them away and landing a small distance away. Ankh groaned as he tried to shield himself.
"Be careful!" He shouted. "He's come to take it back."
'It?' Harry thought, shaking his head to get over the dizziness of the sudden wind as he wasn't surprised that Kazari had the power of wind for some reason, guessing each Greeed had the power of a certain element. 'Does he mean the Core Medals?'
"One of those Cores is his." Ankh said, pointing to his Driver.
'Way to confirm my worries and fears, Ankh.' Harry thought, sweatdropping.
"Core Medal?" Eiji asked, looking at his belt. "Then he's a member of the Greeed!"
As Harry and Eiji got up, Kazari just casually shrugged as his red feline eyes looked at the trio of males.
"No need to be so guarded." He said, casually. "I do not wish to fight."
"What?" Harry and Ankh asked, looking at him confused.
"Listen." Kazari said. "Though I'm missing Core Medals, I really don't believe you have all of them. After all, look at yourself."
"So?" Ankh said, glaring at the dreadlock haired feline based Greeed.
"Dump OOO and his partner." Kazari told Ankh. "As a fellow Greeed, why don't you join me?"
Harry and Ejij kept quiet, looking at Ankh who looked like he was considering the offer. If Kazari had a visible mouth, he would no doubt be smiling at the moment as he continued.
"I'm sure you know, but OOO was originally the one who sealed us." He said. "It's not possible for you to work with him. Ankh! In the past, you really stood out to me among the Greeed. If you join me, the Medal-gathering would be more efficient."
"I'm only using OOO because I have to." Ankh retorted to him. "After all…. Only this much of me has revived."
He showed his gauntlet arm to Kazari, and continued himself, "But… humans really are a nuisance. Maybe things would be better with you."
"It's decided then." Kazari said, as Eiji internally panicked and Harry stood his ground. Kazari prepared a attack, saying, "OOO is no longer needed, right?"
"Wait." Ankh said, stopping him before he could attack. "There are demerits to joining a Greeed, too."
'What is he doing?' Harry thought, confused as he was unsure if he really wanted to join his old ally or if he wanted to stay with him and Eiji.
"Give me some time to think about it." Ankh suggested.
Quiet for a moment, Kazari told him, scoffing, "Fine, but don't take too long. I can't be too careful around you."
Turning, Kazari sent another whirlwind that knocked Eiji down to the ground while Harry and Ankh stood their ground against it and saw that Kazari had disappeared, hearing his voice, "You're a smart guy, so I expect a good answer."
'So that's what we're dealing with, huh?' Harry thought, looking at the empty space.
"This is…. The power of a Greeed like Ankh?" Eiji struggled to say as he tried to get up, falling to the ground.
Harry went to help him as he had to mentally agreed, if that is the real power of a Greeed, even without all their respective Cores, then there was no way Eiji or Harry could hope to face them, not at their current strength since it was apparent despite Kazari's incomplete state, he was still very powerful. Harry helped level the belt and returned Eiji to his regular clothes.
Holding onto the nearby fence, Eiji tried to stand with Harry's help, catching his breath and recover from the sudden attack.
"The Greeeds are on a totally different level than the Yummys, aren't they?" He said, gasping for air. "It's not just raw strength…. It's the quality of their power."
Harry didn't say anything and nodded, turning to look at Ankh as he walked up to them.
"Of course!" Ankh told them. "There are three others besides Kazari. Uva. Gamel. Mezool. If they obtain all of their Core Medals… what do you think would happen?"
"Not anything good." Harry commented, gulping at the thought of the other Greeed and their power.
"Yeah…." Eiji said, gasping for air. "If I recall, you said they'd devour the world?"
Ankh smiled and said, "Well then…. Thanks to Kazari's great news… That means I no longer need OOO. What'll you do? How about shutting up and just gathering the Medals?"
"Do you really think you should be ordering us like that?" Harry asked, glaring at him. "Especially since it appears that you want to reconcile with a old ally."
Eiji touched his shoulder, saying, "Stop, Harry-can. You know we can't."
"Fool." Ankh grumbled. "You both saw, didn't you?! Humans are nothing more than a mass of greed. Save as many of them as you want, but there'll be no end to them."
"Sometimes we lose to greed, but…" Eiji said, gasping for air, "in the end, we properly…."
Ankh laughed, "'Lose to greed?' Think that over carefully! While you do that, I'll be studying this."
He showed the phone he had taken from the detective's complex and walked away. Eiji tried to follow him but he suddenly heard a phone ringing. He reached into his pocket and got out the detective's cell phone and saw that Hina was calling. The two kept quiet, not sure if how to explain everything to her when suddenly they heard her and saw that she was standing not far with her phone making the call.
"Why do you have that cellphone?" She said, almost on the verge of tears.
The two were shocked to see her, wondering what she was doing in the area.
She said once again, "That's Oniichan's, isn't it? Why do you have it?!"
Eiji gasped for air, trying to find the words to tell her that her brother was in a comatose state and currently being used by a creature created eight centuries ago and was based around greed and desire, but before either he or Harry could explain, Eiji succumbed to his fatigue and collapsed. Harry gasped and picked up the unconscious Eiji, Hina was confused but knew that something was wrong.
She helped Harry and led them to the Cous Coussier where the owner who Harry had met before, was cleaning up from the earlier attack. Hina helped Harry to the back room and lifted Eiji's shirt as she put him on the bed, laying on his stomach. She grabbed the first aid kit, the two told her about what happened so far and what is going with her brother. Harry sat on the couch in the room as she put compresses on Eiji's back, smoothing them on his back and pulled his shirt down.
"You should be set for now." She said, looking down. "Here are some replacement compresses."
"Thank you….. Hina." Harry said, not sure how to handle the situation.
"Thanks." Eiji said, looking at her. "We're sorry to make you to do this."
Hina looked at the two boys and shook her head, she said softly, "More importantly… Is that story about Oniichan true? An arm monster has taken Oniichan?"
"Unfortunately…." Harry said, looking away.
"Yeah….." Eiji said, nodding as he didn't look at her as well. "Sorry about the fake email. I couldn't think of anything else."
"Why Oniichan?" Hina wondered, her voice starting to crack. "How can we save him? Call the police? Take him to a hospital?"
"I don't think there is no way we can save him at the moment." Harry said, having the two look at him. He rubbed his hair, saying, "Well, based on what Ankh said, your brother is in a near-death state. The only way he can recover to have Ankh be in control of his body. I hate to say it, but if Ankh wasn't there, your brother might not have survived."
"He's right." Eiji said. "Also we don't know how many casualties there will be. Ankh has no problems with dumping your brother's body."
Hina was just speechless, gripping her dress as she didn't know what to think with the fact her brother was being controlled by a monster and there was nothing she could do to help him.
"He's different." Eiji said. "Even if the surface looks the same, the inside is completely different. Right now, he's not your brother, Hina-chan."
The room was quiet to let Hina have the information sink in and Harry thought about how his friends would react if it was him in such a situation.
"But Harry and I haven't given up." Eiji said, making Harry look at him. "Someday we'll save your brother. Till then, stay away from him. Okay?"
He stood up with Harry and they began to walk out of the room, but Hina asked them, "Just who can I trust? You two? I want to believe you…. But you're complete strangers. It's not like either of you are Oniichan's friends, right? Despite that… why are you two….? Even the nicest guy wouldn't do that."
Harry gripped a fist, admitting that she was right. Eiji looked at him and kept quiet for a moment, thinking and said, "It's not because neither Harry nor I are nice. That's why I can't tell you to trust us. It's not like we can save everyone, right? But if I don't reach my hand when I can, the regret would make wish I were dead."
Looking at him, Harry nodded at him and he nodded, telling Hina, "We both reach our hands because we don't want that. That's all."
Hina wasn't sure what to say about their confidence to help her brother, but Harry looked at her and said, "Hina, we can't promise anything. But we will do what we can to help your brother." He stepped out with Eiji, heading into the main dining room as the owner was on the phone, talking about something.
"Sorry for the bother," Eiji said.
"Ah, be careful." The owner warned, looking at them. "The glutton who was here earlier is at the restaurant down the street, it seems."
"Oh, um, thank you for the warning." Harry said, surprised that they were able to find out where the Yummy and its host was so quickly. "We'll be sure to be careful."
Eiji nervously nodded, running out with him as Hina stepped out, watching them run out the door. She followed them to front of the restaurant and said, "Wait! Are you going to fight that monster? You're still hurt."
"I'm fine." Eiji said, rubbing his hair. "I'm fine. You treated me, after all."
"Eh, well, I'll keep a eye on him for you, Hina." Harry said, looking at her and pushing his glasses up.
Eiji nodded at him and said, "Plus I have spare compresses."
When he tried to pull out the compresses, he pulled out his underwear instead. Eiji quickly pocketed it, embarrassed, "This is my underwear. Although underwear is important too."
He pulled out the compresses after putting his underwear away, Harry shook his head and smiled as Eiji told her, "I'll be fine. And like Harry said, he'll keep a eye on me."
Hina just watched as the two boys ran off, they went for the vending machines that they knew would change into bikes by inserting the Cell Medals. Putting the Cell Medals in the vending machines, they pressed the main button and watched as the vending machines changed into the bikes. Looking around as he was curious, Harry used the summoning charm to bring his sword from the quiet young man.
Eiji was surprised to see the sword suddenly, but Harry waved it off, guessing that the young man who gifted it to him knew about the limit distance and had it nearby for him. He pulled out a cloth and wrapped it around the sword, tying it around his waist. Eiji and Harry mounted their bikes, driving off to the location and found the restaurant. As they stepped off their bikes, Ankh appeared.
"Ankh…." Harry said with Eiji as they looked at the approaching blond haired Greeed.
"Do you have your answer, you two?" He asked, crossing his arms as he stopped a few feet from them before showing the phone. "I've completely mastered using this."
"Well, sorry to upset you, Ankh." Harry said.
"But the answer is the same." Eiji told him. "We will not be your tool."
"Damn it!" Ankh scoffed, looking away.
Then they heard a recent familiar voice, "Then… Ankh's answer is decided."
Kazari appeared and walked to Ankh, "You will abandon OOO and the boy. And join me."
"Looks like it." Ankh said, looking at the two of them.
Kazari almost seemed to smile and said, "You will die here."
Eiji pulled out his sword from his bike while Harry grabbed the handle of his sword, ready to fight as Kazari made a clicking noise. He calmly walked to the two and was about to attack when Ankh summoned his gauntlet arm then hit Kazari in the stomach. Even Kazari was shocked, holding his stomach as coins fell out of his body.
"Ankh!" He growled. "You!"
"In the past you were always distrustful." Ankh said, glaring at him. "Looks like you're the same even after reviving. You were following Harry, Eiji, and me around sniffing things out, weren't you?"
Kazari scoffed, Ankh showed the phone and explained, "This is the current human tool. You can gather information even without saying anything. All of your actions were seen… by humans."
Standing up, Kazari said, "It can't be! Humans can do that?!"
'Ankh was able to sense him if though he was probably well-hidden and knew what he was doing?' Harry thought. 'That's… amazing. He would give a lot of students, especially Slytherins, a run for their Kunts.'
"They've changed… while we were sealed." Ankh told him, sounding smug. "A distrustful Greeed will betray you someday because of that distrust. And he'll take your Medals. Humans may be stupid and a nuisance…. But they're still preferable.'
He looked at Eiji and Harry, Eiji still being shocked but also in awe while Harry had a look of 'thanks for that stupid and nuisance comment'.
Kazari growled and attacked Ankh, but Ankh hit him back and tossed the three Core Medals to Eiji for him to transform into his default form. Eiji pulled out his Driver and put it at his waist, having the belt form and caught the Cores.
"Henshin!" He shouted.
"Taka! Tora! Batta! TaToBa! TaToBa! TaToBa!"
With that, Eiji and Kazari began to fight, Kazari using the claws on his gauntlets to attack and striking at Eiji. Harry gasped, watching Eiji trying to fight back. Seeing Eiji struggling, Ankh shouted, "Try this!"
He tossed him the Kamakiri Medal, Eiji caught it and took out the Tora Medal, dodging Kazari's attack to put in the Kamakiri Medal then scanned with the newly inserted Medal. Once the new combo was scanned, Eiji summoned the mantis-like swords on his arms and managed to attack back, being able to make Kazari stagger back slightly. Harry watched, seeing that Eiji was still undermatched to Kazari.
Kazari sent a whirlwind attack and said, "You will return my Core Medal."
Eiji tried to stand, gasping for air as Ankh yelled that he shouldn't let Kazari take any Cores even if it killed him. Harry watched as Eiji declared he wasn't going to die, running to fight Kazari but lost the Kamakiri Medal as Kazari slashed at his chest. Ankh removed his gauntlet to try and remove it, causing Harry to catch his unwilling host's body. But Kazari caught the medal and was intrigued that he had one of Uva's Medals.
"Maybe choosing the human was a mistake." Ankh scoffed.
"Return my Medal too." Kazari said, looking at Eiji.
But suddenly his shoulder pads disappeared into Medals and Harry gasped, Eiji sat up to reveal that he had gotten three of Kazari's Cores. Harry was shocked to see that Eiji managed to take some of Kazari's Cores while Kazari was shocked, holding his chest and gasping for air.
"Guess it was a coincidence." Eiji said, taking a breath.
"That's one crazy coincidence." Harry told him.
It was good enough for Ankh who took the Cores and told Eiji, "Good job."
"Ankh…. You will regret this someday…." Kazari said, trying to stand and staggering as he walked away.
Eiji gasped for air as Ankh rejoined with the detective and Harry breathed, hearing a crash and saw the boy who was struggling more than before.
Ankh said, "Looks like he's at the limit of the infection. Time to harvest the Medals."
"I think you're overlooking one little issue." Harry said, looking at Ankh. "That Yummy's indestructible skin. Not to mention, what to do with the host."
The trio of males watched as the boy was covered in Cell Medals and changed into the Yummy, sinking into the Yummy's body.
Eiji was shocked, saying, "That boy's the monster."
The three males followed and watched him stagger, Ankh told the two, "You can say the greed consumed him. That ugliness is the true nature of man. Is that really worth saving?"
"Eiji, you go and try to help the boy." Harry said, not looking at Eiji.
Eiji nodded and changed into his default form as he was given his three main Cores, Ankh scoffed, "And what do you do to try and convince me?"
Harry scoffed and said, "I won't try to convince you of anything. I know what's it like to fall to greed and desire. However, it's not up to anyone to decide the worth of one person. For seven years of my life, my worth was always decided by someone, and I never had a choice or so it felt it. I'll be honest, with the way Eiji acts and behave, I have given some time to leaving him. But he needs someone like me as much as you do."
"Well, then, I will decide it." Ankh said, scoffing. "The moment either of you are worthless to me, I will abandon you."
"You may be surprised that you will probably change that tune at the end of this whole venture." Harry told him, watching Eiji trying to fight the Yummy. "Sides, if the fact that Eiji could get some of Kazari's Cores without him knowing, he can find the opening once you drop your guard and save Hina's brother that you're holding hostage, even if he has to fight and defeat you."
"I'd be impressed if he can do that." Ankh said, laughing.
Watching as Eiji's attack just bounced off the Yummy's skin, Harry looked worried and wondered how to hit it while avoiding the host within the body. Seeing as with enough slashes, Eiji could make a hole in the Yummy's stomach, Harry got a idea.
"Ankh, check the Cores that Eiji got from Kazari." He suggested. "Maybe one is a animal that can make a big enough hole to free the boy."
"True enough." Ankh said, pulling out one of the Yellow Cores. "Eiji, try using the Medal you just got!"
Eiji caught the Yellow Core tossed to him and pulled the Batta Core, inserting the new Yellow Core with the new Core giving him yellow legs that allowed him to run fast like a cheetah. Harry was surprised, guessing that Kazari was based on big cats cause of the ears on his head but didn't think that one of these cats was a cheetah. He watched as Eiji tapped into the speed of the legs and rapidly kicked at the Yummy stomach, creating a hole for the boy.
Upon seeing that, Harry ran and reached his hand into the hole, shouting, "Give me your hand!"
Struggling as he reached for his hand, Harry managed to grab it and pulled the boy out, rolling on the ground and allowing Eiji to slash and destroy the Yummy, creating a pile of Cell Medals. After the battle, the three as the boy was taken by paramedics and promised to practice self-control but still wanted to have good food despite his promise.
Harry laughed, patting Eiji's back as it appeared his advice seemed to backfire a little bit as they walked from the sight. Not long after they began to walk, they ran into a fancy car and saw a stoic faced woman appeared and pulled out a screen that revealed a man baking something.
"Yo, Eiji Hino. Harry Potter. And the Greeed, Ankh, right?" He said, shocking the three boys. He continued, "First let us celebrate our meeting."
He shot a party popper and said, "The meeting of people is a portent to an upcoming birth."
I could never make out what Kousei is thinking. Cause really, what CEO has that much time to cake all the time? Or develop what he has to help OOO. Either way he is a unique character and it will be interesting to see his relationship with Harry.
Next time, Kousei neotigates a offer to further help the trio, the trio encounter the water themed Greeed, Ankh drags Harry to find Kousei, Harry tries to learn more about OOO from Ankh, the trio obtains the first full Combo. Hope you enjoyed, please R & R and see you in the next chapter