Pikatwig: What If…? has been airing for a while now and we've recently gotten up to the sixth episode of it. I… don't have Disney+ and have honestly never watched any of the MCU, so I can't really say much about it.
KKD: I haven't seen episode 6 as of the time of us writing this, but from what I have seen, I have understood and liked a majority of the concepts, but things just went downhill for me after episode 2. Episode 5 especially was just a big mess for me. I hate to say it, but it was straight-up a horror episode… and I hated that the entire time. It was just a whole new level of uncomfy while watching with my parents.
Hinata: And then he found out that somebody at Marvel actually wants a full Marvel Zombies movie…
KKD: *weeps* U~gh… please just let that not be canon to the MCU. It's just flat out… *groans* Stupid. We don't need a movie.
Pikatwig: I can kind of relate to not liking zombie stories, bleep you Metal Virus arc from the Sonic IDW comics… but the fact a Marvel Zombies movie could be in the making? Uh... I mean… from what I skimmed… can't get any worse than the comics where they somehow managed to get the flippin' Power Cosmic.
KKD: *muffled* I saw Longbox of the Darned, Pika. I know how that goes down, so please stop…
Pikatwig: Sorry.
KKD: ANYWAY! Summing up the other episodes, Episode 4 was just downright tragic and it unnerved my parents a lot before episode 5, episode 3 was just straight-up dark with everyone dying even with the optimistic ending, but I like episodes 1 and 2 the most as ways of conveying the stories and they are far better barometers for the scope of how the series should've worked.
Pikatwig: And now we get to this story… a Kamen Rider What If. We ended up going with "Kamen Rider: Another Possibility" because I felt like just using KR What If was a bit too weak a name and then we decided upon who our Watcher equivalent is and 'Another' just seemed to slot in nicely.
KKD: Sounds about right for us given it's an anthology that alters time and space with everything we got.
Pikatwig: And before we get asked this… we have absolutely no idea where Tsukasa is. He's elsewhere. He may still be in his temporary dead stasis. We know he's back because he was in Superhero Senki-
KKD: Because of course he was.
Pikatwig: But Tsukasa's not really important to this story. Just set him aside.
KKD: Regardless, we have a lot of cool ideas we've been brainstorming up and we think we're ready to present some of them to you. The first thing we need to bring up is we're trying to limit how many alternate takes we're writing, because if we do one for every Rider, we'd never finish this series.
Pikatwig: Plus, there's the fact we haven't actually watched every season of the show. I don't know about you, but I've honestly never watched Hibiki or Kiva, in example.
KKD: I haven't watched a full season of many Riders, with the only ones I finished being Decade and Den-O.
Pikatwig: Yeah, so… not every season will be getting something. We will try to give seasons something, but we can't do one for all of them. Also, there may or may not be crossover elements. We'll see.
KKD: No spoilers on that just yet, but we'll see.
Pikatwig: The only other thing I will say right now… we're not taking suggestions as of this time.
KKD: Again, just between the two of us we've had a lot of ideas as it is. If we took suggestions, it'd get bogged down even more.
Pikatwig: Yeah. Anyway, I say we go ahead and get this one going.
KKD: Yea, agreed. Let's cue the disclaimers, and enter the library of possibilities...
Disclaimers: Neither KKD Silver nor Pikatwig own the rights to anything in this other than the original concepts and characters introduced within. Kamen Rider, and the rest belong to Toei, NamcoBandai, and their respective owners.
The scene focused on what looked to be some sort of a library that had no visible entry or exit point. There were several racks filled with a lot of books, each one with labels about various shows that were made by Toei, including the various Super Sentai seasons, Pretty Cure seasons, the various Metal Heroes, and the ones that occupied the greatest amount of space in the area were that of Kamen Riders. As the camera panned to the section on the Riders, a singular hand brushed against the covers and spines of the books before reaching out to one in particular that was a light shade of green, similar to the shade that was on Kamen Rider Ichigou's helmet, and the spine of it had the names of Hongo Takeshi and Hayato Ichimonji on it.
"Time and space… they're not really a straight line… they're more… curved and changeable. The many choices we make are like gateways branching out to multiple possibilities that span out into their own worlds. Sure… the timeline has nearly died in a puddle of its own blood... more than once… and across multiple worlds…" the person who took the book spoke, "Despite those, the various worlds manage to thrive and spawn their own stories. Not just bringing new heroes each year in your world, but also many alternate takes on different heroes you know across the multiverse. All you must know is I am a monitor of these worlds in the stead of a certain destroyer you may know that's out of the building right now. So come with me as I show you a wealth of knowledge you've never seen before, introducing to you Kamen Rider… Another Possibility."
As the figure spoke, he walked to another section of the library that houses books similar to the one in his hand, then walked back towards the section he pulled the book from. He opened the book up and turned through the pages.
"In the world familiar to you all, a man named Hongo Takeshi became the world's first publicly documented Kamen Rider. He is a cyborg that was modified by Shocker, an evil secret organization that is bent on world domination that seems to continue popping up no matter what the Riders do… but, the Kamen Riders always step up to fight for humanity's freedom…"
With that, the view shot into the book, showing manga-style panels of what happened. Amongst the images shown were Hongo transforming into Ichigou, Ichimonji turning into Nigou, and the eventual destruction of Shocker's base in 1973.
"However…" the person spoke as he closed the book, then set the book back into the wall, and then moved down the rows to pick out a similar looking one, yet the spine of it lacked both Hongo's and Ichimonji's names from it. The name was concealed owing to the person's hand covering them, "There is yet another possibility from that beginning. The name 'Hongo Takeshi' isn't always the one that the multiverse gives to Kamen Rider Ichigou. In some realities, Hongo is but a supporting role to the person who does take up the mantle, or maybe he's not even in the story whatsoever. Let us now explore a different possibility of another world…"
The figure took a seat in a corner with a table lamp nearby and opened up the book...
August, 1971.
"In the story you know, Hongo took another lap to improve his time… and wound up in Shocker's clutches. This is what led him to become the cyborg hero you know as Kamen Rider Ichigou. But all it takes is the smallest of changes to change history forever, as Hongo wasn't the only person there that fateful day…"
Hongo had stopped his motorcycle next to Tachibana and looked towards the older man. Tachibana simply gave a smile and looked at a stop watch that he had in his hand.
"You're doing great," Tachibana informed with a smile, only to check the stop watch, "But you'll need to do better to win the grand prix, Hongo."
Hongo simply gave a small chuckle in response, "You never pull your punches, Tachibana-san. Alright… I think I'll do another lap."
"It's getting late, Hongo. You should probably get home soon," Tachibana advised, Hongo looking at him and then seeing the setting sun.
"...Well, I suppose you're right. I am getting more tired than I thought," Hongo admitted with a yawn as he moved his motorcycle to head away, "Let's call it a night and meet here tomorrow."
"There. Right in that moment. That's the decision… that created an entire new world. Hongo just had to agree with Tachibana to return home… which is a nexus of change..."
With that, Hongo ended up speeding off for the evening. Tachibana simply chuckled a little bit as he picked up some stuff that he had brought out with him. He smiled as he looked over some photos while packing the stuff into his bags and was about to walk away. As he did so, he soon heard a motorcycle coming closer towards him instead of further away.
"You really should be heading home. It's late a-" Tachibana spoke, not looking towards who he was talking to, before a net was suddenly thrown over him. The net seemed to be laced with something that acted as a knockout agent, causing Tachibana to start to lose consciousness. He could faintly see people nearby, but nobody seemed to be coming to his aid…
As Tachibana started to wake up, he saw that he wasn't outside anymore. He was deep within some sort of a laboratory of some degree, with various scientists looking over his body, strapped down onto some sort of table with bulky silver restraints over his hands, and his body was coated in what appeared to be a black bodysuit with silver lines running down the sides of his body, silver boots and gloves, a massive red belt with a silver buckle equipped with some sort of wind turbine in it, and a green piece of torso armor.
"What the…? Where am I?!" Tachibana yelled as he tried to get free from the restraints he was in.
He then heard somebody chuckling, making him look around in confusion.
"Hongo Takeshi… welcome to Shocker…" an ominous voice proclaimed.
"...Shocker? What's that?" Tachibana questioned.
"You are precisely who we need for our experiments, Hongo Takeshi."
"Hongo? I'm not Hongo! You have the wrong man! My name is Tachibana! Tachibana Tobei! Release me!" Tachibana yelled as he tried to get free from the restraints.
"Struggle all you want, Hongo Takeshi. You-" the ominous voice continued to speak, only for somebody to approach wherever the source of the voice actually was. The voice stopped and seemed to give off a confused sound. "...what do you mean that's not Hongo Takeshi? I ordered you to bring me Hongo and that is the only person who should've been there. That's got to be him."
There was more discussion that Tachibana flat out couldn't hear before the ominous voice growled in anger before letting out a ferocious roar followed by the thunderous boom of a fist against some metal, "YOU INCOMPETENT IDIOTS! HOW DID YOU GET THE WRONG PERSON?! WE ENDED UP WASTING SEVEN DAYS OF TIME AND RESOURCES ON AN UNKNOWN FACTOR WHO ISN'T WHO WE WERE AFTER! DISPOSE OF HIM AT ONCE AND BRING ME HONGO TAKESHI!"
The scientists quickly nodded and started to move to get Tachibana out of the restraints. The aging man was struggling at first, but once his hands were free, he acted on instinct and punched one of the scientists in the head. He managed to get himself free from the remaining restraints and started to run away from the area.
"Kill that man at once! He cannot alert the world of our actions!"
Despite that, Tachibana managed to knock down every scientist with a few well-placed kicks and punches before reaching the door, grabbing a big bug-themed helmet as he ran towards the garage, and then found some sort of motorcycle that he quickly got on, putting on the helmet and taking off as fast as possible.
"Kumo Otoko! After him! Kill him at once!"
A spider-themed monster growled as it leaped out after Tachibana.
Tachibana continued to ride away from the enemy base as fast as he possibly could. He saw some grunts of Shocker, both male and female and in wildly differing outfits, and simply rammed right through them without even a response. Several had staves and other assorted weapons to try to impede the rider, but he drove by without even feeling a thing from their attacks. His wheels soon ended up being webbed up, making him turn to see the monster that Shocker had sent after him. The man hopped off the motorcycle and saw the monster before him.
"We may not know who you are, but you're not going to get away, you excuse of a monster. Prepare to suffer and die!"
"I have no idea what you plan on doing, but I refuse to die here!" Tachibana proclaimed. He struck a combat-ready pose as the monster charged towards him, and he punched the monster right in the gut. The monster growled and tried to shoot out webbing, but Tachibana rushed in too fast for it to react, punching the shoulders in a way to paralyze the arms and stop the webbing.
The monster let out a growl as it charged forward towards the bug hero, but Tachibana managed to dodge out of the way of the attack. He then kicked the monster in the back of the head to knock it flat on the ground, before taking a backflip into the air and followed it up with a massive punch to the monster. With that punch, the monster then began to spark a bit… only to seemingly dissolve into a kind of goo instead of exploding.
"I… was expecting an explosion…" Tachibana muttered before he got back onto the motorcycle and continued to drive away as fast as possible...
"And, with that, Tobei Tachibana became the first Kamen Rider in a different world. However, it was not without a tragedy…"
Back within Shocker's lab, a scientist was brought into a chair of some sort, pinned down with restraints slapped onto his wrists and ankles as the grunts growled at him.
"Midorikawa… we know you have been acting in secret to sabotage Shocker's ambitions. You must be responsible for us not getting Hongo Takeshi. For your insolence and betrayal, you must suffer… turn him into a monster that will get rid of that imposter and bring us Hongo Takeshi."
The scientist looked around in fear, struggling to break out as other scientists approached him with unknown intent.
Tachibana, now back to his regular form, ditched the motorcycle and started to walk towards where Hongo's home was. He was a little more winded than expected as he soon made his way into the house to see that Hongo was asleep.
"...thank goodness…" Tachibana exhaled as he sat down to catch his breath, closing the door while he still could, "I hope I never have to see those monsters ever again…"
"Little did Tachibana know that life wouldn't be that kind. Shocker would continue to send wave after wave of monsters down the road to kill him and try to get to Hongo as well… and he wasn't as receptive to the idea of being a hero. He needed the right kind of… push."
In an apartment building, late one night, a monster was roaming around and simply observing people going about their evening. After not seeing anything, it flew away without anyone seeming to notice the monster was even there.
Morning arrived not too long later, and after Hongo and Tachibana celebrated their reunion, the older man put his hands on Hongo's shoulders to indicate what he was about to say was very serious and important.
"Hongo, you need to leave Japan," Tachibana told the young man.
"Why? I don't have any place to go-"
"Hongo. Listen to me. The people who took me captive were originally after you. If they capture you, then I would never be able to forgive myself. Please… just leave Japan. I'll pay for whatever expenses you need, but just… leave…" Tachibana pleaded, Hongo just looking confused as he just saw how desperate Tachibana looked at him.
"...I'll do it…" Hongo responded. Tachibana was about to say something, but Hongo gave him a motion to not talk, "But! You need to promise to do something. Keep the people of Japan safe. If this group is as evil as you say, who's to say they'll stop at me? Protect people. Ok?"
"Okay then."
Hongo was soon dressed in all black clothes and a mask to avoid being spotted as he left for a train station as quickly as he could. However, as people were going about their day, the bat monster that was sent by Shocker landed atop a lamp post and was looking around. It tried to find someone, but was unable to see what it was looking for. The bat monster let out a piercing screech that caused people to yell in pain and start running from it. The beast tried to locate its target and managed to grab someone, only for Tachibana to kick the monster. Tachibana let out a small exhale as he saw some Shocker grunts start to move towards innocent civilians, the aging man started to pant in panic as he didn't know what to focus on...
"Tachibana! You promised!"
This made Tachibana stop for a moment as he realized that Hongo was right. He let out a small sigh before turning around to block one strike. It hurt pretty bad, but not as bad as he thought. He then shoved the monster back a bit and his belt materialized on his waist. Tachibana tapped the sides of it, causing part of the front to open, revealing the turbine as he held his arms out and then moved them in a sort of circular motion, "Henshin!"
With a thrust of his arm, Tachibana got the turbine spinning before he leaped up, the suit from before materializing over his body and then the helmet formed atop his head. He now stood ready for battle as the bat monster let out another fierce shriek that echoed, only for the new warrior to dodge the strikes and then attempt to land some clean hits against the monster as rapidly as he possibly could. He managed to kick some vital points forcing the bat to try and fly, only to get hit by a kick to the back that downed the monster.
The transformed hero stood ready for anything, the monster struggling to its feet before the hero dashed forward and punched it down. He then jumped up and performed a wind charged kick right at the monster, which actually caused it to blow up.
"That… was for… Hongo," the hero panted as he looked towards the civilians that had witnessed the fight. After a moment, the transformed hero got onto a motorcycle and drove off, trying to put distance between him and the people.
"He has a mask and he rides a motorcycle…" one person remarked.
"Like… some kind of Kamen Rider?"
It wasn't long before the news of the hero spread and all kinds of people were talking about this hero...
"It was in that moment started Tachibana's path to being a hero. This world's first known Kamen Rider. However, just because he did good, didn't mean reality would pay good to him in response…"
Some weeks had passed and, owing to various Shocker attacks, Hongo had yet to be able to leave the country. The young man kept looking at any information of his mentor and simply being happy. One day, a decent attempt for him to leave had arrived.
"Okay… is this… the ninth attempt?" Hongo asked.
"I think so…" Tachibana exhaled.
"I'm sorry to hear that this has been a headache for you, Tachibana-san," Hongo apologized.
Suddenly, a horde of Shocker Combatmen appeared nearby them. Tachibana let out an exasperated sigh before he transformed into Ichigou and started to fight them off. However, when he did finish off some, more just took their place. It started to feel like the Rider was getting drained, his age catching up. The combatmen just kept coming and swarming at him, and the Rider did his best to hold them off.
Ichigou fought off the hordes and hordes of Combatmen as best as he possibly could, but the sheer number of them was starting to overwhelm him. As he struggled to fend some of them off, a wolf like monster approached Hongo and knocked the young man out cold. The monster chuckled as he slung the unconscious Hongo over his shoulder like a sack of some sort and then disappeared into mists. The grunts soon did the same, leaving Ichigou alone. He struggled to get back up and then noticed who was missing…
"HONGO~!"
Hongo was completely out of it by the time that the wolf monster had brought him back to the Shocker HQ, strapped to a table, and flanked by various scientists.
"As expected from Colonel Zol. I knew I should've gotten you back then…" the ominous voice proclaimed.
"Travel between Germany and Japan takes longer than you may think, Great Leader."
"We have wasted enough time and resources. Turn this man into a monster already."
Ichigou was speeding on his motorcycle as he saw various Combatmen trying to impede his path, only to effortlessly ram them down without any remorse. Some of the grunts then started to run for their lives, easily in a panic as the Rider approached them as they fled.
"GET BACK HERE, SHOCKER~!" Ichigou yelled at the top of his lungs as some of the Combatmen got aboard a car that drove off at a fast rate. They started to get far ahead, with the Rider just staring them down, "SHO~CKE~R~~~!"
Ichigou then revved up his motorcycle and chased after the car, the combatmen starting to struggle to speed up as the wind gave the Rider a speed boost, "YOU CAN'T ESCAPE FROM ME~! I'LL CHASE YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH!"
The grunts were soon cornered, crashing into a wall as Ichigou came to a stop. Most of the grunts had fallen unconscious, but one was still alive that Ichigou could see. He quickly grabbed the grunt by its neck and pulled him to his face, making the grunt fearfully give off 'ee' noises.
"Where is he?!"
The grunt fearfully pulled out a map, pointing to an X mark on the map over to where Shocker's base was. Ichigou grabbed the map, then flung the grunt to the ground. He quickly jumped back onto his motorcycle and sped off.
Ichigou punched down the wall of the Shocker base and stormed into it. He was in a rampage as his armor now looked less like the Ichigou that left the base. The armor still had the same black undersuit, but the muscles were now a dark shade of green, the lines along the suit were now red, the boots were now silver, and the helmet had dark blue on the top with eyes a red so dark they were almost purple. The few grunts and monsters that were in his way dropped like flies and, before long, Ichigou had nothing in his way.
Ichigou arrived at the center of the base… only to gasp in horror. In place of where Hongo would be was a kind of praying mantis like monster, blades for arms and mandibles that protruded out. Ichigou looked on in silent horror at the monster that was once Hongo Takeshi, the Rider almost appearing to look more blue than red after he saw this. The mantis then slashed at Ichigou with a power so great that it sent him flying out of a wall and into a quarry.
"The Kamen Rider will now fall. Dispose of him at once…" Shocker's Great Leader commanded.
The mantis simply nodded and jumped out of the building as Ichigou managed to get back up, his scarf tattered from the slash and some parts of the suit having been somewhat damaged.
"Hongo… I failed you…" Ichigou muttered, "...all I can do now… is end your suffering…"
All the mantis did was charge at the Rider, only for Ichigou to roll out of the way. Ichigou seemed to surge with a dark red power as the wind picked up and he rapidly punched and kicked the mantis monster.
The monster let out a growl as it managed to dodge out of the way of some of the attacks and slash at Ichigou's leg, and the mantis bit down on the Rider's head. The mantis slashed the Rider back a bit, leaving the Rider to need a moment to catch his breath. The mantis monster let out a chuckle before it jumped up and did a powerful kick right at Ichigou. However… Ichigou just grabbed the monster by the leg, slamming his elbow into the leg until the monster was flung a bit away from him.
"Gomen nasai… Hongo…" Ichigou stated sadly before punching the mantis monster back a bit. He then jumped up, did a mid-air flip, and then came sailing back down, "RIDER KICK!"
His kick connected with the monster without fail, causing the monster to explode and fire to result from the blast. Ichigou landed shortly away from the blast, but just stood still for a moment. Ichigou then looked at the flames from the resulting explosion and let out a heavy sigh. He went over to his motorcycle and sped away as fast as he could before the grunts could try anything, managing to destroy some of the grunts as he sped off...
"Not every hero is able to save every person they think they should be able to save. Even if that someone is one we care deeply about. In the case of Ichigou, one individual must perish in order for the Rider to carry on. And sadly, the world lost somebody that Tachibana looked after like his son…"
Tachibana arrived at his home and looked to the memorial that he had for Hongo's parents. He fell to his knees and began to sob a bit, clearly devastated as a name was added to it. He soon added a framed photo of Hongo winning a grand prix that had taken place the year before, the man starting to cry as he thought of his failure.
"I'm so sorry… I failed you all…" Tachibana weeped, tears falling onto the stone from his eyes. He sniffled before looking up to see a photo of himself with Hongo's biological parents, "I failed you both as well… I couldn't protect him."
The tears continued to flow as he looked towards a picture of Hongo that was of both the young motorcycle rider and of a younger Tachibana, "And Hongo… I should have gotten you out sooner. Because of me… you're gone…"
The room fell to silence as Tachibana's tears just kept flowing, the man wiping his eyes before looking to the most recent photo he had of Hongo.
"I promise… I promise that I'll keep fighting… I'll keep fighting until I'm old and grey if I have to… to make sure Shocker never ruins anyone else's lives ever again…" Tachibana proclaimed, trying his best to stop crying.
From there, Ichigou was shown fighting off various Shocker monsters to the best of his ability. He refused to surrender in each attack, the winds seeming to blow with him as he kept fighting on. The years went by and, everytime Shocker did try something or try to harm somebody, Ichigou was there to stop them.
Time continued to pass and, in spite of Tachibana's continuing aging, he was still ready to act if the need came to it. Other Kamen Riders had spawned, and during the years he was able to, Tachibana stepped in to mentor the Riders personally and made sure that they knew how to act and how to fight. He slowly stepped back as time went on, but the younger Riders had referred to him as either their senpai or their sensei, the aging Rider taking this with respect as he felt like it was earned, before he seemingly took a more long term hiatus to allow the next generation to fight in his place.
"The year is now 2014. A certain… incident in a certain city that led to a scuffle between the Riders of the Showa Era and the Heisei Era had started. Badan, fought by Kamen Rider ZX, had sought the means to revive the dead…"
Tachibana was shown within the city of Zawame and witnessed various purple ghosts appearing. He was about to take action, when he saw a vision of the ghost of Hongo. The visage took him by surprise as the greying man watched as the ghost simply looked around
"...Hongo?" he questioned.
"I guess…" Hongo's ghost responded as Tachibana walked over to him, "I've been watching over you… and I've seen how close you've come to passing."
"I know…" Tachibana chuckled, "I was old when you were alive. I'm a fossil compared to these new kids and their fangled trinkets that they use. ...and they don't even call themselves Kamen Riders."
"Don't be too mad at them. They just have a different way of thinking and of approaching a situation…" Hongo told the old man, "You knew that from me when I was still alive, but you shouldn't forget that times change and people change."
"...I don't know why I'm so upset at some of these guys…" Tachibana admitted as he watched some of the Heisei Era Riders fighting the good fight, "I don't know what made me angry at them. I just… made a pointless war and may have ended up hurting more people."
Hongo walked towards Tachibana's side, "You know very well you all shared similar ideals and passions. But it doesn't matter the exact methods. Be it science or magic, a hero will emerge. As long as you fight to protect those who cannot, you are all Riders. Don't forget about your promise, Tachibana-san."
"I won't forget what I promised you… not now, not ever…" Tachibana reassured the ghost. He then gave a small smile to Hongo's ghost, "...goodbye, Hongo-kun. I'll never forget you."
With that, he ran off towards some kind of an explosion to aid another Kamen Rider…
Hours had passed and Zawame had returned to relative peace for what the city's standards usually were. Tachibana was off on his own and watching the setting sun.
"Were you thinking of letting that machine try to bring back the person you failed to save?"
Tachibana turned to see a still transformed Kamen Rider Shin, who was technically the first Rider to belong to the Heisei Era, and the monstrous looking Rider walked over to his side.
"I… really don't know. At the very least… I wanted a chance to say goodbye…" Tachibana admitted before he sighed.
"And we claimed Kuuga-tachi were the fools for not letting their loved ones go…" Shin retorted as he took a spot next to Tachibana, "We should be ones they look up to… not ones they fear."
"...I wasn't clearly thinking. I need to apologize to them all…" Tachibana stated.
"...you know. I lost people too. My wife… and my son…" Shin remarked, "But… I found strength in fighting to make sure nobody else dies like they did. And I think you have that same strength, Tachibana-senpai. You've proven without a doubt that you have the fortitude mentally and emotionally to keep going. Don't forget why you fight."
Tachibana briefly chuckled before he saw some of the Heisei Era Riders walking over. He exhaled a bit and approached them to apologize…
"The year is now 2021. Fifty years have passed since Tachibana became a Kamen Rider. Tech experts have done their best to make sure the world's first Rider wouldn't be passing on anytime soon. While physically it was possible, the Rider was starting to mentally get drained more with each passing day, simply wanting to just stop fighting..."
Tachibana was laying and watching the setting sun with a smile. His grey to white balding hair blowing in the breeze as he stood before he looked to a motorcycle.
"...I know I promised… but even the old dogs need to step down and let things go. Perhaps I should just open a school or something for Riders to learn from instead of just getting myself in over my head time and again," he thought aloud to himself, running his hand over the bike as he saw some children look over in amazement at him. Tachibana just chuckled a little as one child walked over with a photograph of Ichigou that was greyscale, "Autograph?"
The kid simply nodded, the man just smiling as he signed the photo and then gave it back to the child. Tachibana simply gave a warm smile to the younger generation as they walked off...
The narrator simply closed the book, revealing the cover of it entirely showing the altered image of Ichigou with black and green highlights with the same red eyes and having the name Tachibana Tobei on the spine. The narrator simply looked towards nobody before he spoke.
"It's amazing what a small change such as that can do. A simple act of listening to someone can lead to a world with events similar yet very different to what you know. And there are many other stories that I see…" the narrator remarked as he set the book back into the shelf, stepping back to show the many books detailing many events surrounding heroes and villains, "I observe all that transpires here, watching, reading, and commenting on what happens. But I do not, cannot, will not… interfere. For it is my duty to observe these tales and preserve them for others to learn from."
The narrator then went silent as he walked away for a bit. He then stopped and turned around as he realized something.
"...oh. Right. I've not yet introduced myself. My apologies. Some of you may recognize my visage from the story of a certain maoh…" the figure remarked before he stepped forward and struck a dynamic pose, "Iwae! For I shall regale you with these many different possibilities. I am the scribe of realities unique and varied, the recounter of different worlds and tales that you all do not know about. Sono namae wa… Woz. Aoi Woz. And I am your guide to the vast multiverse of possibilities."
Pikatwig: Yup. Our narrator is Woz. Or, rather, Blue Woz. Yes, there's now another Woz running around in the multiverse.
KKD: I know some of us may get tired of this guy in certain cases, but he made the most sense for a story that has alterations in time.
Pikatwig: Yeah, I think it works. Somebody I had passingly mentioned the story concept to thought that Swartz would work better, but… nah. Woz just fits a bit more. And, before we get asked, I don't know what number Woz this is in the multiverse. There's the original, alternate Woz that came with the Kamen Rider powers, an alternate of the second one, a third version of the second Woz, a red Woz that revered Tsuki, an alternate Woz that came from elsewhere after the timeline reset, and then a Woz that wanted to try to bring back Ohma Zi-O. And those are the Wozes I remember from the top of my head. ...I don't know what they paid Woz's actor, but he deserved every yen he got.
KKD: Yea, no joke. That was just bonkers to show so many.
Pikatwig: ...oh yeah, there was a Zi-O novel that made the timeline a bigger headache, but besides the point.
KKD: Yeah. Anyway, onto the story itself, you said this was the concept that inspired this series.
Pikatwig: It was one of the first ones I thought of that won't be an idea that I scrapped because of canon superseding what I write, but I thought of this as a kind of nod to Tachibana's late actor. We know the character is, sadly, deceased within the universe of Kamen Rider, but I thought it would be a nice little idea to have the guy who mentored and, based on some skimming, was the substitute father for Hongo, and the mentor for Hongo and several other Showa Era Riders be a Rider himself.
KKD: That is a nice way of showing respect to the guy.
Pikatwig: Although, the idea of Hongo becoming a monster was something I thought would be a twist to remove the question of "why is Hongo not Nigou or another Rider in this reality?". Just get that out of the way.
KKD: Fair point. It does provide the question as to who became what Rider and how Tachibana being Ichigou changes some events in the story, but still.
Pikatwig: What were your overall thoughts on this chapter? I honestly liked the concept and the execution and had fun writing it out.
KKD: It was interesting to be sure given our lack of full Showa understanding, but it does give us clever takes to be sure.
Pikatwig: I think my favorite part was the exchange Tachibana had with the ghost of Hongo. Just a sweet little moment where the old Rider reaffirms that he'll keep the promise made to his deceased friend even after all those years.
KKD: Yea, that is a nice one. And in a way, it does seem like a friendly, more optimistic version of what happened in the latest episode of What If…? And yes, since the opening, I have seen episode 6 of that show.
Pikatwig: Boseman's passing really makes that scene in the ancestral plane harder to watch, doesn't it?
KKD: Just a bit, not too much, but I do see where that came from.
Pikatwig: Also, gotta be honest, don't know why I thought of having Kamen Rider Shin here. I guess, since we're more than likely not doing anything for him, I just thought to plop him into a scene for a nice moment.
KKD: I get the feeling we'll be doing similar things with other Riders we can't come up with ideas for, but we'll see.
Pikatwig: I'm curious to know what fans thought of this first different world and story, and what they think of our choice of narrator. It was KKD's idea for an alternate Woz, in case you're wondering.
KKD: True. Again, just made sense given what we're doing.
Pikatwig: Small side note, now I'm imagining that if Tachibana was Ichigou, then your main OC would be "Tachibana Narumi" instead of "Takeshi Narumi".
KKD: You do know the names we're referring to the Showa Riders are their family names, right? We would've ended up calling him Tobei Naruimi instead. That wouldn't work nearly as well, and even then, Hongo wasn't the Takeshi I got the name from originally, but that's not relevant now.
Pikatwig: Right. I just said I was imagining it is all.
KKD: Fair point, I guess.
Pikatwig: And if you've ever wondered why we call Ichigou by his last name, it's to avoid mixing him up with Takeshi Narumi. Plus, characters in show called him Hongo more frequently than Takeshi, so it works out.
KKD: Yea, that's an issue I hadn't fully thought of until other stuff came up, but since they're rarely in the same work, it's something we can dance around.
Pikatwig: And, with that, we'll see you guys next time for a different possibility.
KKD: Keep it Cool, minna-san. *salutes* Jaa ne.
Pikatwig: Just Live More.