Hello Fanfiction readers! Ashbel Longhart back and here to present you the next chapter of my Kuuga story! Glad to see people are still enjoying the story so far! It makes me happy that this story is still sailing smoothly. Now then, before I continue further, cue the disclaimer!
(Disclaimer: I do not own Kamen Rider Kuuga or Futari wa Pretty Cure. They both belong to their respective owners. I just own this story and my OC's.)
Now then people, today's chapter, Gekidrago will make his last appearance in this story for his time has finally come! I thought I should just get this one out of the way. Once Poisony and Kiriya make their appearance will I start to skip some episodes because let's be honest guys, with the rate I'm going at, I am not going to get to the other Cures and Riders unless I pick up the pace. So once Gekidrago's out of the way and the two other generals make their debut to the Dai and the girls will things speed up. Let's go! Chou Henshin!
Ride 11: Save Ryouta! Gekidrago Panic! An Illness called Homesickness…
(One Year Ago)
The sizzling of eggs meeting the pan was heard all around the kitchen as one Ichi Dai was cooking. He hummed a tune to himself as he easily flipped the egg over and already knew that Nagisa and her family were watching him.
"Are you guys just gonna stand there or sit down and eat?" Dai asked as he gestured to the food that was already on the table. It seemed to sparkle somehow under the sunlight coming from the window.
"I-Ichi-kun, what is this?" Rie asked, amazed at the display of food on the table.
"Well, I thought I do a little something for you after letting me stay here for so long now." Dai said as he placed the egg he finished cooking onto his plate.
"This looks amazing!" Takeshi said as he and everyone took a seat.
"It's not that amazing, just a simple recipe my oji-can taught me when I was young." Dai said as he sat down.
"I didn't know you could cook." Nagisa said as she dipped her spoon into the miso soup next to her plate and placed the spoon in her mouth to get a taste. "Umai(Delicious)!"
"This is better than okaa-san's cooking." Ryota said as he dug in.
"I hate to admit it, but he's right." Rie said, admitting that Dai's cooking was better than her.
"Eat up! I made enough for seconds." Dai said, smiling he sat down and ate his food. He smiled as everyone enjoyed his cooking and he couldn't help, but be reminded how he and his uncle cooked for the kids back at the orphanage.
(One Year Later)
Mepple happily ate his breakfast before finishing up. "Gochisousama(I'm done)-mepo." The bubble that showed him eating popped and he was back in his phone form before closing himself up.
Meanwhile, Nagisa was writing in her Pretty Cure Planner, once again thinking about the events that have happened so far. The events from yesterday were still fresh in her mind and if she was gonna keep thinking about it, she might as well write it down to sort her thoughts.
'The other day was just terrible. Honoka's otou-san and okaa-san came back to Japan after a whole year just to celebrate her birthday, but they were caught up in a robbery. That big muscle guy, I think his name was Gekidrago, came back to attack again, it was just awful. Not only that, but a Grongi had hurt Fujimura-senpai and Dai-kun really blamed himself. But in the end, Dai-kun took down the Grongi for the both of us and Honoka seemed really happy, I was relieved. Still, what scares me isn't Gekidrago attacking again, but those Grongi. They'll literally attack anyone who's in their way. And there's still so many left to fight according to Dai-kun. I wonder when this will ever end.'
"What're you doing?"
"Wah!" Nagisa screamed and jumped in surprise before turning to see Dai, smiling as always.
"Dai-kun! Don't scare me like that!" Nagisa said as she held the place where her heart was at. "And when did you slip into my room? I didn't hear the door opening."
"Oh I just came in just now. Been working on my 34th skill: Stealth." Dai said as he posed like a ninja.
"Still trying to achieve 2000 skills I see." Nagisa said. Her friend already knew 1000 skills, wasn't that enough?
"Onee-chan!" Suddenly, Ryota's voice called down from downstairs.
Curious as to what her brother wants, Nagisa closed her Planner and walked down to the living room with Dai to see Ryota on the couch with a bowl of strawberries.
'Ryota wants something.' Nagisa thought as she knew her brother enough to know that what he was doing now meant he wanted something from her. Even still, she walked up to him and asked, "Ryota, did you want something?"
"You can have some strawberries for dessert." Ryota said as he got up and presented the bowl of strawberries to his sister.
"Why are you doing this?" Nagisa asked, getting straight to the point. "I don't have any money and besides I already have an advance on my allowance."
"It's not that," Ryota said. "I want you to take me to the aquarium."
"The aquarium?" Both Dai and Nagisa said at the same time in confusion.
"We have to write about fish on our science homework so take me there this Sunday." Ryota asked.
"No can do." Nagisa said as she took a strawberry and ate it. "I've got plans this Sunday to go hang out with Shiho and her friends."
"Okaa-san told me to ask you to take me…" Ryota said.
"I can't, I can't, I can't." Nagisa repeated three times to get her point across.
Seeing as her sister was refusing, Ryota turned to Dai.
"Gomen(Sorry), Ryota-kun, but you know I'm busy during the weekends." Dai said as he had to help out at the orphanage as always.
Seeing as he was denied the help he wanted, he turned to his mother where she was currently doing the dishes. "Okaa-san~! Nagisa said she can't take me!"
"Nagisa, why don't you do something sisterly for a change?" Rie said.
"Eh? But…"
Rie turned off the sick and dried her hand before turning to her daughter. "This Sunday, Takeshi has work and I have things to do as well."
"I have stuff to do too, you know." Nagisa said as she puffed her cheeks in annoyance.
"You're just gonna hang out with your friends, right?" Rie said before she slapped her hands together and bowed a little. "Can you take him, please?"
"Eh~?"
"Don't complain."
"Ugh, fine." Nagisa said in defeat.
"Alright!" Ryota said before eating a strawberry form the bowl that was supposed to be for Nagisa.
"Hey, those strawberries…!"
"Hey, now now, let's now get hasty…"
"Be quiet you!" Before Ryota could run, Nagisa grabbed him and held him in her usual Cobra Twist. "Cobra Twist!"
Dai simply chuckled at the sight while Takeshi came into the room, hair wet from the showers with a towel around his neck.
"What a nice bath…" Takeshi said before coming upon the sight of Nagisa Cobra Twisting Ryota.
"Otou-san, tasukete(help me)!" Ryota pleaded.
"Nagisa," Takeshi began as he walked up to the two and grabbed her arms, but instead of prying her away from Ryota, he rearranged them. "For a Cobra Twist, you use your left arm, wrap it around Ryota's body, and stretch him. That's better." After doing his part, he walked away. "Rie, some milk please."
Ryota looked at his father in disbelief before turning to Dai for help, but all he got was a smile and a thumbs up just before Nagisa continued to torture him.
"I give, I give, I give!"
(Insert STRIKE BACK by BACK-ON)
(Instrumental) The song starts as the camera rises up to show the legs of Kuuga before we get a sudden screen shot of Cure Black and Cure White before go back to Kuuga. Just as the camera is at the Arcle, we get a sudden shot of Mepple and Mipple before the camera gets to his chest. We then get another sudden shot of The PreCure cards surrounding Gouram before we go back to Kuuga whose back was facing the camera. He then suddenly turns around and punches the screen, cracking it as the title appears.
(Kidou sura kaerarenai kurai no kakuritsu da to shite mo) We now see Nagisa playing lacrosse with her team, catching a ball as Mepple is seen sleeping from Nagisa's bag.
(IPAASENTO demo areba mochiron teikou desho?) We then see Honoka with the members of the science club, doing an experiment that ended in an explosion as Mipple just giggles at the scene.
(Shosen, "unmei" to nagetsukerareta tte, No I won't!) We go to the city where police are examining a dead body. Ryō looks at the body before he walks away and gets out his phone, calling Dai.
(Hikkuri kaeshite, Because datte kimi to mirai wo miretara saikou janai?) Dai, riding on the TryChaser 2000, gets the call from his radio and speeds up, passing both Nagisa and Honoka as he races to meet up with Ryō.
(Bring it on! 'Cuz I'm just gonna grow up in the battle HEY! buchinuku donten!) Suddenly, the sky turns dark before the Dark King and his subordinates appears as well as an army of Zakenna appeared. Appearing with him was a shadow figure of N-Daguva-Zeba along with an army of Grongi.
(Still burning my fire ten wo kirsaku raimei I gotta kakikesu Nightmare tada mirai ga mitakute!) Nagisa and Honoka step in fear before Dai suddenly appeared behind them and gave them his signature smile and a thumbs up.
(Kako, mirai, soshite ikiteru ima, I ain't scared of my past and now for takusareta asu) Seeing his smile seemed to steel the girl's resolve as they took out the Queen PreCure and Dai summoned the Arcle belt.
(Screaming out for my pride!) A light then suddenly appears and appearing from it was Kamen Rider Kuuga along with Cure Black and Cure White, ready for battle.
(Namida mitakunai kara, sakebi tsudzukeru yo! Zutto...) Cure Black and Cure White engage a battle with some Zakenna before taking on Pisard, IIkubo, Poisony, Kiriya, and Gekidrago.
(I'm never falling down! oi kaze wo se ni fukitobasu Destiny!) Both sides trade blows for a bit before both girls held hands and fired their signature Marble Screw.
(Kono senaka ni aru, egao mamoritai kara! Zutto...) We see Kuuga kicking way a few Grongi, bashes them with the Dragon Rod while in his Dragon form, shoots a flying Grongi with his Pegasus Bowgun in his Pegasus form, slash a few more Grongi with his Titan Sword in his Titan form.
(I gotta blast off your pain for you and me! kanashimi nante Rest in peace!) Dai and the girls meet regroup as they face both the Dark King and N-Daguva-Zeba. Dai charges up a Mighty Kick before he jumps.
(Nando demo...) The girl then threw another Marble Screw as Dai kicks towards the two beings of darkness with the Marble Screw following close behind him before a light overtakes everything and we see a quick look at the blue sky before the song ends.
(One Week Later, Investigation HQ)
"Here you go." Dai said as he handed Ryō the notes he had sorted out.
"Thank you. This should help in our fight against the Unidentified Lifeforms." Ryō said as he scanned through the notes he had been given.
"I'm sorry I couldn't give you them sooner." Dai said.
"That's okay. A lot has been happening after all." Ryō said before looking down at Dai's right hand which was in a cast. "How's your hand?"
"It's fine. Thanks to my accelerated healing, Tsubaki-san said that it should be good as new in a few more days." Dai said as he looked down at his casted hand. He had broken it a few days ago in one of his fights. "So still no sign of Gadora?"
"Unfortunately, no." Ryō said as they couldn't fine No. 25 who had appeared a few days ago. As always, Dai responded to the call and went to fight it, but it got away and Ryō found Dai with a broken hand. "Are you sure you're fine?"
"Like I said, I'm fine." Dai insisted. "Why do you keep asking?"
"Well, it's just that you have this far off look on you sometimes." Ryō said as he noted that Dai had been acting weirdly since his fight.
"Well, I guess I'm just a bit home sick is all." Dai admitted.
"Home sick?" Ryō repeated in confusion. Just as he was about to ask, the door opened and Sayuru came in.
"Ah, there you two are." Sayuru said as he closed the door and took a seat at his desk before turning on the computer.
"How are the studies going?" Ryō asked as on the screen, it showed that it was connected to the camera of the research room where other scientists were currently looking at the pieces of Gouram. After the battle with Gyarido, Ryō and Dai had delivered the pieces of Gouram to HQ and left it there for Sayuru and other scientists to research it.
"This thing is beyond us." Sayuru said as he watched the other scientists work. "I can't make heads or tails of it. Couldn't you have brought us something a bit more normal? And in one piece?"
"Well it is from an ancient civilization." Dai said.
"I'm still surprised that you are No.4." Sayuru said as he looked at Dai with interest. "This world still has many surprises it seems. I can't wait to see what happens."
"…Oi," Dai addressed Ryō. "Are you sure he's not the same type as Tsubaki-san?"
"I tend not to think about it much." Ryō said.
"Still, there isn't much we can do in its current state." Sayuru said. "I'll call you two if anything happens."
"Please do." Ryō said before he and Dai took their leave.
"Take care of Gouram, okay?" Dai said before he close the door behind him. "Well, see you later, Ichijo-san."
"Off to the orphanage again?" Ryō asked and Dai just nodded. "Well, let me drive you there then since you can't drive at the moment.
"I'd appreciate it."
(Minori's Orphanage)
"Gah! I have been defeated!" Dai screamed out as he dramatically dropped to the floor. "Curse you, Legendary Hero! Do not think this is over! I will resurrect again and again no matter how many times you slay me!"
"And I will be there to slay you again and again if I have to!" One of the many kids of the orphanage, Daigo, declared.
If you're wonder what was going on, Dai is doing a play for everyone, acting as the 'Evil Devil King' and with Daigo as 'The Legendary Hero.'
"Alright, that's enough." Minori clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Go wash your hands, everyone, so we can eat lunch."
"Hai~!" All the kids said as they all rushed out the room and headed towards the bathroom.
"Good to see that they're so full of energy as always." Dai said as he got up to his feet.
"Are you sure you're okay to handle them?" Minori asked, looking at Dai's hand.
"I'm fine, don't worry." Dai said, waving off Minori's concern.
"If you say so." Minori said.
After reassuring the woman that everything was alright did Dai gain a far off look as he thought back to his previous fight with the recent Grongi.
(Days Ago, Wednesday, Ikebukuro)
It was a brand new day and Dai should be driving to school, but instead, he had gotten a call from Ryō, alerting him about a new Grongi, and so with a quick turn, he was off to Ikebukuro where police were currently engaging it. Right now, he continued to drive down the road while Ryō's voice spoke through the radio.
-…there seem to be large number of wounded people. I'll be over there as soon as possible.-
"Understood!" Dai said before he revved the engines and sped down the road faster, hoping to make in time to save some people.
Unfortunately, Dai's wish didn't not come true as he came to a stop and stared at the sight of dead policemen on the ground. Taking his helmet off and placing it on one of the handles, Dai gets off to check if anyone was still alive.
"Oi! Daijōbudesu ka(Are you alright)!?" Dai checked each man on the floor, but none of them responded. Their bodies were still warm and their blood looked fresh, meaning that they had just been recently killed.
'But that would mean…' The sound of a body dropping to the floor, drew Dai's attention and he turned to see the culprit, Me-Gadora-Da, the Tiger Grongi.
Me-Gadora-Da had coal black skin as greaves covered his lower legs just above his feet and a gauntlet covered his left arm while wrappings covered his right arm as small claws were producing from the knuckles. His face resembled close to a tiger itself and his hair was long, reaching down past his shoulders as he also had a beard.
"What do we have here? Another challenger?" Gadora said.
Dai clenched his fists in anger while glaring at the Grongi before slowly getting up. Dai went to summon the Arcle belt when Gadora jumped towards him, swinging a fist down in a haymaker punch. Quickly, Dai jumped to the side, rolling on the ground before getting up and summoning the Arcle belt.
"Henshin!" Dai shouted before doing the hand motions.
Before he could spread his arms, Gadora rushed in at him and threw a punch at him, forcing him to raise an arm to block the punch before he threw a quick jab to Gadora's face, making the Grongi stumble back in surprise as armor covered Dai's arm. Dai then rushed in on Gadora, not allowing the Grongi to recover as he kept the pressure on it and threw two quick jabs to Gadora's chest before he struck under the Grongi's chin, making his head snap back before Dai spun around and struck Gadora with an elbow strike, that sent the Grongi back and donned Dai in his Mighty form.
"Kuuga!" Gadora exclaims in surprise in anger as he gets back up.
"You've taken your last life, Me-Gadora-Da!" Dai declared.
"Ha! Please, I haven't even begun my turn." Gadora said before he surprised Dai by entering a stance that had both hands up and next to his head. It was a boxing stance.
'Boxing!?' Dai thought in surprise as the face of his uncle appeared in his head.
"Come at me, Kuuga. I've been wanting to try out this 'boxing' that I've seen so much from those 'TeeVee's."
A flash of anger appeared on Dai's face from under his helmet before he calmed down and entered a boxing stance as well. Slowly, the two began to move away from the area they were at to a more spacious one before they circled each other, sizing each other up and waiting to see who would attack first.
Gadora's patience ran out first as he rushed in towards Dai who kept his guard up. Dai moved his head out of the way from an incoming jab to his face before he quickly moved his head again from another jab until he had to keep on dodging as Gadora surprised Dai by the speed of his jabs which were blur to the normal eye.
'He's fast!' Dai thought as he barely dodged another jab from Gadora. 'I can't keep dodging like this. I've got to attack back!'
With that thought in mind, Dai dodged another jab and a other before he quickly grabbed the arm that had went passed him and threw a jab of his own at Gadora, striking him across the face before he begin to do this multiple times. Starting to get annoyed, Gadora pushed Dai back by kicking him in the chest and rushed in towards him with a haymaker. Dai ducked under the swing, but to his surprise, he was met with Gadora's other first as the clawed knuckle struck him square in the face and he was sent reeling back.
'Fuck! That hurt!' Dai thought as he shook his head and looked up in time to see Gadora jumping at him, throwing another haymaker at him to finish him off. Dai acted quickly and spun around quickly before thrusting out his left foot, the kick hitting Gadora before his punch to could reach him as Gadora was sent flying back.
With the Grongi down, Dai ran up to the Grongi who had gotten back up and the two threw punches at one another where their fists met and a resounding slam could be heard when the two fists struck one another. That had been Dai's first mistake.
It took seconds, but the pain surged through his arm as Dai pulled back a bleeding fist, having forgotten about Gadora's clawed knuckles as they had stabbed into him when their punches met. Seeing the Rider hurt, Gadora took out a chain and threw it at Dai, tying up his hand before pulling Dai in. Dai was met with a backhand to the face before Gadora went and grabbed his injured hand before slamming it against a nearby pole. Dai gritted his teeth as his hand felt like it was on fire before Gadora sent more pain through Dai when the Grongi punched his arm, the claws digging through the arm before Gadora pulled the fist back and punched Dai's arm again before he grabbed Dai's arm with both hands and slammed it down where it met with a knee strike from Gadora. The sound of bone breaking told anyone that Dai's arm had just been broken as the pain was enough to make Dai cry out.
A car pulled over and Ryō got out with his rifle in hand and heard Dai scream before he saw what had happened.
"Ichi-kun!" Quickly, Ryō took aim, having loaded a bullet beforehand, and fired. The bullet struck Gadora's side, getting his attention as he let go of Dai who held his arm. It was soon shown that the bullet Ryō had fired wasn't a normal bullet, but the same one used against Biran as the chemicals worked and pain shot through Gadora.
"Argh! Curse you, Linto!" Gadora cursed, going to attack Ryō, but Dai, despite being in pain, got up and kick Gadora in the gut before spinning around and kicked him back so hard that the Tiger Grongi was sent flying over a nearby bridge and disappeared into the water.
With the Grongi gone, Dai fell to his knees as his transformation was canceled, leaving an in pain Dai as Ryō shouted his name and asked if he was alright while running over to him. Dai never answered as the sight of Gadora in a boxing stance brought the one thing he thought of first whenever he saw boxing.
(Present)
"…-kun. Ichi-kun?" Minori spoke up, snapping Dai out from the memory as she asked, "Are you alright?"
"Huh?" Dai snapped his head away from his dazing and answered, "Uh, yeah, I'm fine."
"You don't seem fine." Minori said, worried.
Dai sighs before he scratches his head. "I guess I've just been feeling a bit home sick lately."
"Home sick?" Minori repeated in confusion.
"Let's just say something happened which made me think about my home." Dai said. "I'm sure it'll pass by tomorrow."
"If you say so." Minori said. As much as she wanted to hear more and help if possible, she knew not to pry and left Dai alone. "I'll still see you tomorrow, right?"
"Of course." Dai said as he smiled again and gave her a thumbs up. "I wouldn't miss Miku's birthday."
"That's good." Minori smiled. "Still, what should we do for her birthday tomorrow?"
"Why not take her and the kids out?" Dai suggested. "They don't exactly get out much, you know."
"Yes, I thought that too, but I don't know where to take the kids." Minori said. "Any ideas?"
"Hmm…" Dai thought to himself when an idea did some to his head. "I have just the place!"
"Really?"
Dai nodded. "Tell the kids that we're all going to the aquarium tomorrow!"
"The aquarium?"
(The Next Day)
"Oi, Dai-kun."
"Hai?"
"When you said you were bringing over a surprise," Nagisa began before she pointed to Minori and the whole kids of the orphanage dramatically. "You didn't say you were bringing the entire orphanage over!"
"It's Miku's birthday and I wanted to do something special for her." Dai said as the kid all looked excited.
"So many kids…" Ryota said as all the kids before him were even younger than him.
"Having all these kids with us makes this feel like some kind of school vacation." Honoka commented as she smiled. "I'm kind of excited."
"Thanks again for coming along with us, Honoka-chan." Dai said before he kneeled down to Ryota. "Now Ryota, these kids are younger than you and today is someone's birthday so be on your best behavior while you do your work."
"You can count on me!" Ryota saluted, feeling like he needed to be more 'mature' with all these younger kids with him. He then turned to the kids who all looked at him. Gathering up some bravery, he raised a fist into the air and said, "Let's go everyone!"
The seemed to spark some reactions form the kids as they responded with a, "Yeah!" and followed Ryota into the aquarium.
"Ara ara, so energetic." Minori commented before she followed after them.
"Geez, just because he's older than them doesn't mean he's the boss." Nagisa said when she felt someone pulling on her sleeve and looked down to see the birthday girl, Miku.
"Are we gonna see some turtles?" Miku asked cutely.
Nagisa couldn't help, but smile and said, "Hai! We're gonna see turtles and all kinds of fish!"
"Even those cute seahorses?" Miku asked and Nagisa nodded. "Then let's hurry up and go! I want to see the seahorses and turtles!"
"Anything for the birthday girl." Nagisa said before she guided Miku into the aquarium.
"So far, so good." Dai said as he watched everything unfold before gaining a far off looking again before looking up to the sky. "I wonder how oji-san and the kids are doing…"
"Ichi-kun?"
"Huh?" Dai was snapped out of his trance as he looked to see Honoka about a few feet away from him.
"What are you dozing off for? Nagisa and the others will leave us behind if we don't hurry." Honoka said.
"Uh, right!" Dai said as he and Honoka hurried to catch up to the others.
(Dark Zone)
The remaining four Dark Zone Generals were once again gathered around a table as they were currently discussing Gekidrago's recent failures.
"Feeling down, Gekidrago?" Kiriya asked as said General had a frustrated look on him.
"It's no wonder since you keep failing again and again. Anybody would feel depressed." Poisony said, not caring if her words hurt Gekidrago.
Gekidrago gritted his teeth in anger and frustration as he now saw why Pisard had so much trouble getting the Prism Stones. And the thought alone made him even angrier as he was supposed to be stronger than that weakling!
"You should just hurry up and return to the darkness." Kiriya said. "It'll save you from the humiliation from being beaten again by those girls who may I remind broke your nose." In response to that, Gekidrago held his now fixed nose, but the memory did not disappear.
"Silence. What is the point of fighting amongst ourselves?" Ilkubo said before turning to Gekidrago. "Gekidrago, put that anger and bitterness you are currently feeling and use it to defeat them."
Gekidrago didn't say a word as he took his leave for the Dark King wanted to have a word with him before he went out.
Once again, the Dark King stood as the Ruler over the Dark Zone as always while below him was Gekidragowith his head bowed down.
"Still no Prism Stones?" The Dark King asked as Gekidrago could only lower his head further in shame. "In order for the Dark Zone to consume everything, we need all seven stones. This is your last chance, Gekidrago!" Thunder boomed as those words registered in Gekidrago's head. "Bring out your true power. Of course, even that won't be enough against the likes of their ally, Kuuga. So for this case, I shall allow you to have the assistance of a Grongi. Do not waste this chance."
Gekidrago could only bow again as none other than Gadora walked up to him, cracking his knuckles in anticipation.
Meanwhile, hidden from view, Daguva looked at the scene and said to himself, "I wonder how you'll handle this one…Kuuga."
(Aquarium)
"Kids, don't run!" Minori said as she held back a few kids from running off as said kids were obviously excited to see all the types of aquatic life here.
"There are a lot of different types of creatures here." Honoka said as she read off a pamphlet while keeping an eye on a couple of kids for she, Nagisa, and Dai were in charge of looking after the kids here. "The quality of water and temperature are controlled by computer so that the fish's natural environment is reproduced."
"Honoka-chan," Honoka turned to Dai who pointed at the kids with confused looks. "You lost them."
"Oh, hehehehe…" Honoka laughed nervously, seeing that the kids had no idea what she had said.
"Onee-chan, what did she mean?" Miku asked Nagisa who was in charge of looking after her plus some other kids.
"Huh? Well," Nagisa thought about it for a while before coming up with something. "What Honoka means is that thanks to the aquarium, the fish will feel right at home as if they never left it."
All the kids let out an "Ooooooooooooooooh" noise of understanding.
"Onee-chan being smart? The world must be ending." Ryota commented under his breath, but Nagisa heard it.
"What was that?"
"Uh, I mean, look a plant!" Ryota said, pointing to a random anemone behind the glass.
"What is that?" One of the kids asked.
"That's a Purple Flower Anemone." Honoka said before pointing and laughing a bit at some nearby fish. "And those are upside-down catfish."
"Wah! They're really upside-down!"
"So funny! Hahaha!"
As some of the kids laugh, one points to another tank and asked, "What are those?"
"Those are Sea Jellyfish and Octopus Jellyfish." Dai answered for the kid.
"Wow! It really does look like a Jellyfish!" Ryota said as he gazed at the octopus Jellyfish.
"Careful that they don't sting you or you're in for a world of hurt." Nagisa said.
"Turtle! Turtle!" Some of the kids chanted as they pointed to a turtle that had some fish on its shell.
"That's a blue sea turtle." Honoka said.
Dai laughed as he pointed to the fish on the shell. "It looks like those Remoras are hitching a ride."
"Ew~! Those fish are kissing!" Some more kids said as they made disgusted faces.
"Well, those are Kissing Gourami." Honoka said.
"Kawaii(Cute)!" Nagisa and Ryota commented.
"Ara ara, so many kinds of fishes and creatures. I can see why this aquarium is so popular." Minori said as the group continued to walk.
"Yosh(Okay)! I'm going to study so I won't lose to Honoka-san and Dai-neesan!" Ryota said as he ran ahead of the group.
"Oi! Don't run off!" Dai called out to the running boy as Ryota stopped running, remembering that Dai had told him to behave himself.
"Mipple!"
"Mepple!"
Dai and the girls jumped in surprise as the voices of Mepple and Mipple came from the girls' pocket.
"Did you girls say something?" Minori asked, having heard the voices.
"No! Nothing at all! Just our, uh, phones ringing." Nagisa quickly said before saying, "Excuse us." With Dai covering for them, Nagisa and Honoka took out their respective fairy partners who were happy to see each other as always.
"Mipple!"
"Mepple!"
"I wanted to see you-mepo!"
"I wanted to see you-mipo!"
"Would you two be quiet?" Nagisa said in a hushed voice as to not alert attention whole keeping an eye on her surroundings with Honoka doing the same.
"Where are we-mepo?" Mepple asked and the girls answered by showing them the tanks.
"There are a lot of peculiar fish-mipo!" Mipple commented, liking what she was seeing right now…until one fish with sharp looking teeth scared them and made them close themselves up, getting laughs from the girls.
"Hey, come over her!" Ryota called out to them as despite celebrating somebody's birthday, he still had a project to do.
"Coming." Dai said as he and the girls walked over to him. "What is it?"
"What kind of fish is this?" Ryota asked while pointing to the fishes in the tank.
"That's a flounder." Nagisa said. "They're tasty when fried, but grilled is good too." She then gained a look of confusion when Dai bursted out laughing. "What? What's so funny?"
"Hahahaha! Nagisa-chan, those aren't flounders, their halibuts." Dai said, laughing at his friend's mistake.
"They're called left-eye halibut and right eye flounder." Honoka explained as she gestured to the fishes in question. "Halibut has the right side on the bottom and the eye on the left side."
"Wow! You sure know a lot, onee-chan." One of the kids commented.
Honoka simply giggled and said, "I've read a lot of books."
"Well if it's halibut, sashimi!" Nagisa said.
Ryota sighed and said to himself, "If Honoka-san were my sister, I could study better."
"What was that!?" Nagisa said, having heard that as she went and pulled Ryota's ear. "Who do you think took you to the aquarium!?"
"Ah! Let me go! I'm against violence!"
Dai, Honoka, and everyone just laughed watched as the two siblings bickered between each other. After a while, they continued walking around, seeing more fish.
"The tuna are getting oxygen by swimming around at high speeds." Honoka explained as a stream of tuna flew by the tanks.
"Eh? But I thought fishes don't need air?" One of the kids said.
"Most fishes don't need air, but some do." Honoka said. "These tunas have to keep swimming at all times, otherwise they'll die."
"Eh!? That's scary!"
"Don't they get tired?" Ryota said, not as affected by the info as the little kids were before glancing towards his sister along with some kids with her went to get a closer look at the other fishes. "Is Onee-chan also the type that has to keep moving?"
"Maybe." Dai said before they continued.
Unknown to all, in the water with the many aquatic life, Gekidrago was swimming around, keeping an eye on Dai and the girls, waiting for the perfect chance to strike.
'Today will be the last day for you guys.' Gekidrago swore in his head before swimming off. Now was not the right time, but soon, he would strike.
Back with the group, they had continued walking around, enjoying the sights and helping Ryota with his project when they stumbled a upon an entertainment show involving some penguins and other animals, but the main attraction were the Sea Lions.
"Ryota and the others sure seem to be enjoying themselves." Dai commented as Ryota and the kids watched the show with excitement in their eyes.
"It makes me glad to see the kids so happy." Minori commented before turning to Dai. "Thank you, Ichi-kun, for suggesting this for dear Miku."
"It's no problem, just wanted to make a girl happy." Dai said. "I can remember my fair share of times where I had to spend my times celebrating my birthday at nothing, but the orphanage." At the mention of the orphanage that he came from did Dai gain a somber look on his face.
"Ichi-kun?" Honoka looked at Dai in worry, having never seen an expression like that on his face before. "Ichi-kun, daijōbu(are you okay)?"
"Yeah, just thinking about the orphanage I came from." Dai said, thinking about his uncle and the kids back in his world.
Minori and the girkls looked at Dai in worry since they knew him to be cheerful at all times before Nagisa suddenly spoke up.
"Okay, that's it."
"Huh?"
"Dai-kun, tell us what is going on. You've been acting like this ever since…you-know-what," Nagisa quickly said as she remembered that Minori didn't know about Dai's secret. "And you keep saying it's home sickness. You've been with my family for about a year so why feel home sick now?"
Dai looked at each of them and knew that he wasn't getting out of this without explaining. Sighing, he spoke soon after. "I was just reminded of my Oji-san(Uncle)."
"Your oji-san?" Honoka repeated in confusion.
Dai just nodded. "The 'you-know-what' used boxing against me and it made think about my oji-san who is a former professional boxer."
"Your oji-san was a boxer?" Nagisa said as this was the first time Dai has ever talked about his family. Usually whenever she brought up the subject, Dai would gain a sad look and she would quickly drop the subject as it didn't take a genius to know that his family was a personal matter.
Dai nodded. "He's the one who taught me the basics of boxing and he's the first I think about whenever I see boxing. Seeing 'you-know-what' do boxing, I couldn't help, but think about him and wonder how he's doing."
'That's right; the orphanage Dai-kun supposedly comes from wasn't where he thought it was.' Nagisa thought, remembering the reason why Dai was even with her and family today.
"I don't know what this 'you-know-what' is that you three are talking about, "Minori spoke up, getting Dai's attention. "And I won't ask. But I will say this. Ichi-kun, if your uncle is anything like you are, then he's fine. One day, I'm sure you'll see him again."
"Katsumi-san…" Dai muttered before a small smile graces his face. "Arigato(Thank you), Katsumi-san, for saying that. I feel a little better now."
"Glad I could help. I do owe you for what you've done for me and the children." Minori said as said children were still enjoying the show all the way to the end.
After a few more tricks from the sea creatures, the show came to an end and the group decided to move on, not knowing that in the water was Gekidrago who decided now was the time to act. The sky darkened over the aquarium and that darkness seeped into the building. Meanwhile, Gadora was seeing all this and decided now was the good time to act as well.
(Meanwhile, someplace else)
"Come back again!" Akane said as she had just served her latest customer for today. Soon after, she saw another figure and went to greet the person.
"Thank you for com-!" Akane then stopped when she realized who it was. "Oh, Ryō-san, back again for some more of my takoyaki?"
"Does it displease you?" Ryō asked.
"No, not really. It's rare for adults to come here daily. Usually it's just kids who back here more than once." Akane said as she began cooking. "Though I can't help, but ask why do you keep coming back for more?"
Ryō turned away, adjusting his glasses as he hid away his face that was threatening to turn a bit pink. "N-No reason. I just happen to like your cooking and I happen to be nearby."
"That's what you said last time." Akane said, smiling at Ryō's excuse as she held out her finished takoyaki. "Here you go."
"Thank you." Ryō said as he took his order and was about to put the first one into his mouth when he saw dark clouds in the distance. "That can't be good." Soon after he said did his phone started ringing. He placed down the takoyaki he was going to eat and took out his phone. "Ichijo here."
Rai's voice came from the other side. -Ryō, No. 25 has just reappeared! It said to be at the aquarium located on the other side of town!-
Ryō looked back at the dark clouds in the distance and said, "I'm on my way." After that, he ended the call, put away his phone, finished his takoyaki in record time, thanked Akane for the food, and raced off to his car.
"Come again." Akane called out to the running man despite knowing that Ryō would come back if the chance presented itself to him.
(Back with Dai and the others)
"Look at all the sharks!" Ryota and a couple of other skids had their faced pressed against the tank as they looked at the sharks in awe. "They look really powerful!"
"They're…big." Miku muttered as she hid behind Nagisa, afraid of the sharks. Some kids joined her when one shark swam by the tank a little too closely, scaring them.
Nagisa laughed at the kids and said, "Don't worry; this glass won't break just from that. And it'll hold them back so there's no need to be scared."
As if the world had heard her and wanted to prove her wrong, two sharks swam and crashed into the glass, causing a crack.
"Look out!" Dai said as he and everyone backed away from the tank. The situation worsened when another shark swam in and crashed into the tank, causing more cracks to appear and for water to start leaking out.
"Run!" Dai shouted and everyone complied as they took off running just in time to dodge broken glass as more sharks came and finally broke the tank they were in and large amounts of water spewed out. Minutes later, the speakers flared to life.
-Attention please. The tank inside the building as ruptured. It is very dangerous so please follow the instructions of the employees and quickly evacuate the building.-
"Dai-niichan! I'm scared!" One kids cried as every other kid was scared as well, on the brink of tears.
"It's okay, Daigo! Everything's okay, everyone!" Dai reassured all the kids as he, Nagisa, Honoka, and Minori carried any kids that were slowing down.
"Wah!" Nagisa cried out as the group came to stop as serpentine creatures stood in their path. "What is this? Out of the way!"
"Don't get any closer!" Honoka said, stopping Nagisa from doing anything reckless. "Moray Eels are poisonous!"
"Eh!? Sonna(No way)!" Nagisa exclaims as the group of poisonous eels along with a large turtle blocked their path to the exit.
"Don't get too close children! That's a Snapping Turtle." Minori said, pushing as many kids behind her as she could.
"Girls, look at their foreheads." Dai said, pointing to the tick marks on the creatures' foreheads.
"It's them." Honoka said, now seeing why everything was going so chaotic.
"No doubt about it." Nagisa said while cursing in her mind as Ryota, Minori, and the children were still with them.
"What are you three talking about?" Ryota asked, but cried out when the snapping turtle cried at them.
"Onee-chan, kowai(I'm scared)." Miku muttered in fear as she clung to Nagisa.
"Don't worry, everything's going to be okay." Nagisa reassured the birthday girl, patting her back as she and the others slowly backed away. "Looks like we won't be getting out this way anytime soon."
"Then let's hurry and find an emergency exit!" Minori said, getting nods from everyone as they took off running.
As they all ran, glass broke and some of the kids cried when something struck Ryota. Looking down, he calmed down a little when he saw what it was.
"Oh, it's just a little remora." Ryota said as he took it off and threw it away. "Nothing to worry about everyone."
'Ryota's trying to act brave so the kids will be less scared.' Dai noted, smiling as they all continued to run, not knowing that the remora had attached itself to another sea creature.
As the group ran, they ran into more aquatic creatures like stingrays, more sharks, and etc.
"We can't keep running like this." Dai said to the girls.
The girls knew what Dai meant. If they didn't get the others to safety quick enough, then they couldn't deal with the real problem. Looking around for any solutions, Nagisa found one.
"Minna(Everyone) stop!" Everyone did as Nagisa told and came to a stop, looking at the girl. Nagisa then went and opened the door to a supply closest and pointed inside while looking at Ryota, Minori, and the kids. "Ryota, Katsumi-san, you two and the kids hide in here. Honoka, Dai-kun, and I will go and find the emergency exit."
"You three can't do that! It's too dangerous right now!" Minori protested.
"Katsumi-san, the kids that we can't carry are already getting tired of running." Honoka pointed out as the kids they couldn't carry due to hands being full were starting to feel worn out. After all, they were still kids. "It'll be much faster if we hide the kids here and allow them to rest."
"Don't worry; we'll be back once we find the exit." Dai reassured everyone.
"You promise to make it back safe?" Ryota asked and Dai smiled at him before kneeling down and placing the hand that was not in a cast on top of the younger boy's head.
"We promise."
"…Okay." Ryota said as Dai, Nagisa, and Honoka set down the kids they were carrying and ushered them into the supply closet. "You three be safe out there!"
"We will, don't worry." Nagisa said before she closed the door, but not before saying. "And no matter what happens, do not come out for anything, okay? Promise me that."
"Okay…" Ryota said.
"Look after everyone." Dai said to Minori who just nodded before the door closed and the three ran off in search of the perpetrator.
"Dammit, can't we go at least a week without things like Grongi and the Dark Zone popping out?" Nagisa complained as they ran.
"We don't get what we always want." Dai said as they ran past the area where the performance had previously been taken.
"Chottomatte(Wait a minute)." Honoka said, coming to a stop as Nagisa and Dai soon stopped too.
"What's wrong?" Nagisa asked.
"Look," Honoka pointed down to the waters and the two turned to see something swimming in the waters. They all ran down to get a closer look when the water erupted and out came Gekidrago, flipping before landing perfectly on the stage.
"Gekidrago! So all the things that's been happening…!" Nagisa began.
"…has been your doing after all!" Honoka finished
"That's right!" Gekidrago said. "Now, give me the Prism Stones!"
"And what if we say no?" Nagisa said.
"Then I'll just take them by force!" Gekidrago declared. "Grongi, come on out!"
"Nani!?" Dai exclaimed in surprise and looked around until he spotted a bearded man wearing a pair of brass knuckles coming from the shadows.
"Long time no see," The 'man' said before his appearance changed to that of Gadora. "Kuuga."
"Gadora!" Dai said, not expecting to see the Grongi that broke his hand with Gekidrago.
"He spoke our language." Honoka noted, a bit unnerved that a group that of monsters could disguise themselves as humans and could now speak the same language as humans.
"Nagisa!"
"Honoka!" Both Mepple and Mipple jumped out of the girls' pockets and landed right in their hands.
"You two have to transform now-mepo/mipo!"
"Right!" The girls said as they took out their cards and Dai summoned the Arcle belt.
"Dual Aurora Wave!"
"Henshin!"
The usual pillar of multi-color and light erupted from the girls as they and Dai transformed. In a matter of seconds, the light dispersed and Cure Black and Cure White stood next to Kamen Rider Kuuga in Mighty form.
"Hikari no shisha, Cure Black!"
"Hikari no shisha, Cure White!"
"Futari wa PreCure!"
"Yami no chikara no shimobetachi yo…"
"…Tottoto ouchi ni kaerina-!"
"Enough talk!" A shout of Grongi language was all the girls and Dai needed to jump out of the way from a chain swing from Gadora.
"Okay, that is the second time we got interrupted!" Nagisa said, remembering the first time was with Zain who had punched her at the time.
"To be fair, you girls are introducing yourselves way too much." Dai said as he moved around his right hand to make sure it was good enough to use as the cast had disappeared when he donned his armor. "Why do you two keep doing that?"
"We…actually don't know." Honoak said, not having any ideas as to why they still continued to introduce themselves to the enemy and why only the Grongi's were smart enough to attack them while they were doing it when their own enemies, the people of the Dark Zone, did not. Looking at it now, it made no sense. Were Dai's enemies that much smarter than theirs or were the people of the Dark Zone underestimating them that much?
"Are you gonna be okay with that arm?" Nagisa asked, worried for Dai's hand had still not recovered yet despite Dai's accelerated healing.
"I still got my other hand." Dai said, holding up his left hand.
"That doesn't answer my question." Nagisa said when a shadow came over them and they all looked up to see Gekidrago coming down upon them. Quickly, they all jumped away and avoided Gekidrago's stomp on them.
"Talk later, fight now!" Dai said as he ran up to Gekidrago, jumped up, and kicked the giant man right in the face, sending him flying back before landing back down on his feet and turned to Gadora.
"Round 2, Kuuga." Gadora said as he threw away the chains and entered a boxing stance. In return, Dai entered one as well.
"Will Ichi-kun be okay?" Honoka said, worried for her friend.
"We'll just have to believe in him. Right now, we've got our own problems to deal with." Nagisa said as she and Honoka turned to face Gekidrago who got back up and nursed his cheek, having not expected the kind of power form Dai. He was starting to see why the Dark King saw Kuuga as a threat.
But right now, he had his own problems to deal with. "Give me the Prism Stones!"
"Never!" Both the girls said before they and Gekidrago charged at one another.
Gekidrago attacked first by throwing a fist at the two, but the girls separated and dodged the fist before they jumped towards Gekidrago and attacked. Nagisa struck first as her fist struck Gekidrago across the face and made him lean towards Honoka who spun and kicked him in the face as well, sending him flying back. Gekidrago crashed into the bleachers, but got back up quicker than the girls had anticipated and boy did Gekidrago looked pissed. With a roar, Gekidrago charged at them like a mad berserker, swing his arms down like hammers and intended to crush the girls, but dodged again. Nagisa landed amongst the bleachers and jumped towards Gekidrago, flipping around before attacking with a flying kick, mimicking Dai's Mighty Kick, but Gekidrago was quick and blocked the kick with the palm of his hand before grabbing onto her leg and swung her around, hitting Honoka who had attempted to attack Gekidrago from behind and sent her into the water. With Honoka out of the way, Gekidraho spun Nagisa around before throwing her away where she crashed amongst the bleachers. Nagisa groaned and shook her head before looking up to see Gekidrago coming down upon her with a drop kick. Just when she was about to get up to dodge, from the waters came Honoka who flew towards Gekidrago and dropped kicked him before he could drop kick Nagisa and sent him flying to the top of the bleachers. Honoka then landed right next to Nagisa and the two looked at one another and nodded before they ran up to Gekidrago and grabbed his legs. Confused at first, Gekidrago was soon thrown across the bleachers and into the waters.
Nagisa and Honoka both looked at one another and smiled before they turned to see how Dai was doing and they didn't like what they were seeing.
Being forced to rely on his left hand, Dai was limited to what he could normally do as he dodged Gadora's rapid jabs at him before seeing and opening and struck Gadora across the face, sending the Grongi reeling back before recovering quickly and struck Dai across the helmet when the Rider and attempted to follow up his earlier attack. This time, Dai was the one reeling back as he regain his footing and saw Gadora throwing an uppercut at him. Quickly, he stepped back, barely avoiding the deadly fist before quickly raising his arm to block a right hook that Gadora had thrown when he was throwing his uppercut. Pulling his head back, Dai struck Gadora's forehead, sending the Tiger Grongi back dazed a little before Dai followed up kicking Gadora away. Gadora landed amongst the bleachers and shook his head to get rid of his dizziness in time to see Dai jumping towards him with a punch. He quickly moved out of the way as Dai's punch struck the spot where he was originally at before the Rider was grabbed by the Grongi and was struck across the helmet by a deadly haymaker punch so strong that his ears started to ring and Dai tasted iron in his mouth. A bit dazed, Dai threw his left hand out for a jab, but Gadora caught it. Then, without thinking, Dai threw his right hand out, punching Gadora across the face so hard that he released his left hand and was sent stumbling back, but this didn't come without a price as pain shot through Dai's right hand, feeling that he had broken something…again.
"Hehe…what's wrong, Kuuga? Can't use your right hand?" Gadora said despite wobbling a bit.
"I'm…just getting started." Dai said, gritting through the pain in his hand before the girls ran over to him.
"Dai-kun, daijōbu(are you alright)!?" Honoka asked, having seen the pain Dai was in when he used his right hand.
"Baka(Idiot!) You know you shouldn't be using your right hand!" Nagisa said, scolding.
"Sorry, did it without thinking." Dai said when the water erupted and Gekidrago reappeared.
"That's it! Gekidrago will not lose!" Gekidrago declared before he let out a cry that could only mean bad news.
"What's he doing?" Nagisa asked as she and the others remains cautious.
"Look! In the water!" Honoka pointed out as the Moray eels from before appeared along with a stingray. That was not the only thing as a shark appeared and swooped down, grabbing Gadora by using it's jaw, biting down on it.
"Hey! What the fuck are you doing!?" Gadora demanded as he struck the shark as hard as he could, even so much as drawing blood.
"I will get the Prism Stones for Dark King-sama by any means necessary!" Gekidrago declared as the shark dived into the water with the Grongi in mouth before it, the other sea creatures, and Gekidrago himself disappeared into the water. Soon after, the water level started to decrease as if something was draining it away.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." Dai said and the girls agreed by gulping and nodding.
The water was soon drained away and in the center down below was the most hideous thing the girls have ever seen. For Dai, he had seen worse on anime, but what was before him was a close second.
Down below, a chimeric-like creature stood before them. Its tail was that of a stingray, its body and legs a mix between Gekidrago's and Gadora's with shark fins on the back, its arms were the Moray Eels themselves, and for the head was an actual shark head. But that wasn't what was horrifying. It was what was inside the shark as its mouth opened up and inside was Gekidrago's head, or at least half of it as the left side was Gekidrago's head while the right side was Gadora's head.
Just one look at the creature made the girls comment as one, "Kimoi(Eww)…"
For Dai, he was more surprised. "He fused with Gadora!?"
"This is my final form!" Gekidrago, whose voice was a mix between his and Gadora's, said. "Don't think I'm as weak as befo-!"
"You bastard! What did you do to me!?" Gekidragi was interrupted when Gadora's voice seemed more dominate than Gekidrago's and spoke in Grongui language.
"Urusai(Shut up)! I will get the Prism Stones and you will help me!"
"Why should I care about some stupid stones!? How am I supposed to compete in the Gegeru like this!?"
"I said shut up!"
"They're not getting along very well." Honoka noted as the two continued to bicker.
"Quick you two, this is our chance to finish them." Dai said and the girls nodded as they went to grasp hands when something happened.
"GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Suddenly, the two fused beings started screaming and roaring as if in pain, surprising the three as they couldn't help, but watch the scene unfold before them. Not long after that, the fused being slumped down.
"Wha-What happened!?" Nagisa asked, confused.
"I have no clue." Dai said. The Grongi clan, he knew all about, but something being fused with a Grongi was a first for him.
Then, slowly, the fused being of Gekidrago, Gadora, and the other creatures looked up and stared at the three before a look of extreme rage appeared and it attacked them. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"Move!" Dai shouted and three quickly jumped away from the attack.
The fused Gekidrago and Gadora, which will now be dubbed Gekidora, roared and started to shoot high pressurized water from its eel arms, the water destroying anything it touched from the bleachers to the nearby field lightings. Its tail thrashed around, destroying anything it hit, and using its shark head, it bit off anything as if they were nothing more than wet paper.
"It's gone berserk!" Dai deduced.
"What do we do?" Nagisa asked.
"It'll destroy this place if left alone. We gotta take it down!" Dai said as he charged ahead of the girls.
"Ichi-kun, matte(wait)!" Honoka said as she and Nagisa followed after the Rider.
(Meanwhile)
In the supply closest where Ryota and everyone was hidden, the sound of explosions were heard clearly in the distance as all the kids shook in fear.
"There, there, everything's going to be okay." Minori assured the kids as she was currently patting the back of one crying kid.
"Onee-chan…Honoka-san…Dai-niisan…" Ryota muttered before he got up.
"Where do you think you're going?" Minori said, already knowing what Ryota was planning to do.
"Don't you hear all those noises? Onee-chan and the others might be in danger!" Ryota said as he went to reach for the doorknob.
"No!" Quickly, Minori put down the kid and ran up to Ryota, placing a hand on the hand that was about to turn the doorknob and stopped the boy. "The others said to wait here for them. They also said under no circumstances were you to go out."
"But I can't just sit here all day!" Ryota said when all of a sudden, the door opened, surprising everyone as at the door was none other than Ryō, armed with his rifle, and with Rai and a some men, all armed.
"I thought I heard voices." Ryō said.
"Are you the police?" Minori asked, holding Ryota back just in case.
"Yes, we are." Ryō said in a reassuring before he recognized the woman. "Wait, Katsumi-san?"
Minori blinked until she recognized the man. "Ichijo-kun?"
"Yes, it's me." Ryō said until he saw all the kids behind Minori and gestured for all of them to come out. "What are you all doing here?"
"We were hiding in here when Ichi-kun and the girls went to find an emergency exit." Minori said until the sound of another explosion was heard followed by the building shaking.
"The heck was that?" Rai said, being careful not to curse in front of the kids.
"It must be the Unidentified Lifeform." Ryō guessed.
"Unidentified Lifeform!?" Ryota said in surprise, having heard all about them from his father's newspaper and on the TV News. A monster was in the building and Dai and the others were still somewhere out there!
Breaking free from Minori, Ryota ran off to find the others.
"Ryota-kun, matte(wait)!" Minori cried out, but the kid had just passed a corner.
"I'll go after him." Ryō said. "For now, follow these men and get out. Everyone else, follow me."
"Don't worry, lady, we'll get him back." Rai assured the woman.
"Wait," Minori stopped Rai from running off. "Ichi-kun and the girls might still be somewhere, please find them."
"We will, now go!" Rai said as some of his men took Minori and the kids and guided them out the building while Rai and the rest of his men followed Ryō.
(Back with Dai and the girls)
Nagisa screamed as she was struck by Gekidora's tail and crashed into the wall. Honoka went to attack from above, but got struck by water from one of the eel arms and crashed amongst the bleachers. Dai wasn't any different as he dodged one of the eel arms that attempted to kill him only to be kicked by Gekidora and crashed into a wall.
"Shit," Dai gritted as he fell to his knees and looked up at Gekidora who continue to roar like the mad beast is was now. "No choice. Chou Hen-!"
"Onee-chan! Honoka-san! Dai-niisan!" Everyone's eyes widen as they turned and, to their horror, saw Ryota.
"Ryota!" Dai exclaimed in surprise.
"Wh-What is that thing?" Ryota said, shaking in fear as he stared up at Gadora who saw the little boy and roared. Fearing for his life, Ryota cried and ran.
"Ryota!" Nagisa quickly ran to help her brother, but was stopped by Gekidora who, despite being berserk, had not forgotten about them. "Get out of my way!" She went to jump over the big monster, but a swing from one of its eel arms struck her down to the ground.
"Shit!" Dai cursed as he attacked Gekidora to get its attention. A kick to its head did the trick and once Dai landed back down, he started running as high pressurized water followed him and threatened to hurt him.
Soon after, Ryō and the others arrived and saw Gekidora.
"What the hell is that!?" Rai said as he looked down and saw Kuuga and the girls. "Who are those girls down there?"
"Their friends of No. 4. Quick, back them up!" Ryō said as he loaded his rifle, aimed at Gekidora, and fired, the bullet hitting the head, but did little to affect the monster. But it did get its attention as it turned towards them.
"Ichijo-san!" Dai said, surprised to see the man here.
"The police!?" Nagisa and Honoka exclaimed in surprise as they were still transformed.
"Ute(Fire)!" Rai shouted and he as well as the other men fired all their rounds upon Gekidora who was more annoyed that in pain when pelted with bullets.
"Hurry! Over here!" Ryō called out to Ryota who had taken cover behind some rails that really didn't hide him from view.
Simply nodding, Ryota quickly ran to get to Ryō while Rai and his men, Dai, and the girls kept Gekidora distracted. To get help from the police was a new feeling for the girls, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that Gekidora was getting annoyed more and more between the kicks and punches between Dai and the girls, and the police shooting at him. Finally, he decided that the police were the most annoying and attacked them just as Ryota was nearing them. Ryota saw the eel arm coming and lucky for him, it missed him as the arm flew right over his head and struck the place above him, but the force of the arm was enough to send debris and Ryota flying and screaming as some of the debris struck his head and knocked him unconscious.
"Shit!" Ryō cursed.
"RYOTA!" Both Dai and Nagisa cried out the loudest as they both jumped towards the flying Ryota. With their jumping abilities, they reached Ryota and caught him, landing on the bleachers as Gekidora struck the ceiling above them, sending rubble to fall down upon them, but Honoka quickly came in and kicked and stopped any debris that would have landed on the two.
"Ryota…" Nagisa and Dai laid Ryota down to see him unconscious. Nagisa brushed some of his hair aside and tears of frustration and anger threatened to fall. "I'm sorry, Ryota. I got you involved."
"To involve such a small child…" Ryō muttered as one could tell he was mad as he quickly reloaded with the others doing the same, feeling the same way he did.
"I'll never forgive you…" Nagisa began as she left Ryota in Dai's hand before getting up on her feet. "Ryota has nothing to do with this. If something were to happen to him, I won't let you go unpunished!"
"Black…" Honoka muttered as her friend turned and tears had filled her eyes.
"I'll never ever forgive you!" Nagisa screamed at the top of her lungs as Ryō and the others in the back aimed their guns at Gekidora.
"Ute(Fire)!" Ryō shouted and the seconds the guns were fired did Nagisa jump in.
A rain of bullets pelted Gekidora, annoying it only for a foot to crash into its face, sending it back as Nagisa was on the attack. Punch after punch and kick after kick struck Gekidora across as Nagisa struck with so much power that she was breaking the fused being's teeth. Nagisa then jumped back and landed on one of the eel arms of Gekidora and ran along it, running up to Gekidora as she was not the least bit done with pulverizing it. But the monster wouldn't allow her as it moved its arm up in a whipping movement, sending Nagisa up into the air. It then threw its other eel arm to bite her, but a loud bang was heard and a bullet hit the eye of Gekidora's left side, getting a cry of pain from the being as Ryō was mentally smirking as he held his rifle. Nagisa finally landed back on the ground and wasted no time charging towards Gekidora, jumping up and struck with a flying kick to its chest which soon turned into a barrage of kicks that was forcing the fused being back.
"Amazing…" Rai commented as he and the men couldn't help, but watch what they were seeing. "How does that girl have so much power?"
"I've been asking myself the same thing when I first saw it." Ryō said as he looked down towards Dai and noticed something off. "Hm?"
"Ichi-kun, we have to help." Honoka said as she turned to Dai who was still kneeling over Ryota who had a small trickle of blood flowing from his head, making something within Dai to snap.
"…ill…"
"Huh?" Honoka said when slowly, Dai stood up and his fists were shaking.
"…kill…" Dai muttered as he slowly turned to Gekidora who had crashed into the wall and Nagisa jumped back. "I'll…I'll…" Then, suddenly, the eye lenses of his helmet changed from red to black. "I'll KILL YOU!"
Suddenly, Dai roared at the top of his lungs and an aura of darkness erupted from him, sending Honoka flying back as a shockwave occurred, throwing everyone, but Ryota next to him back.
"Dai-kun!?" Nagisa looked back at Dai in surprise as whatever force surrounding Dai was threatening to send her flying.
"What's happening!?" Rai shouted over Dai's roar of anger.
"I don't know!" Ryō said, just as confused as everyone here.
Finally, the aura of darkness disappeared and Dai stopped roaring, but Dai's 'eyes' were still black. Suddenly, Dai leaped and in the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Gekidora, surprising everyone at the distance he had covered in the spam of a second before Dai draw his right fist back and punched Gekidora straight in the face as the sound of Dai's hand breaking was heard.
"Ichi-kun, stop! You can't use your-!"
*CRACK!*
Honoka's words were soon caught in her mouth, unable to escape as multiple cracking sounds were head from Dai before they stopped and just when Gekidora got back up to sink whatever teeth it had left on Dai, it was met right another right punch to the face, sending back as the sound of something breaking was not heard time.
"Uso(No way)." Honoka said in surprise. "Did his hand just heal? Just like that?"
Dai was not finished with Gekidora as he went and grabbed the beard from the left, Gadora side that made up Gekidora's left face and pulled back, making the head of the fused being to raise its head. Dai then drew his right hand back again and punched Gekidora in the face…
*POW!*
And again…
*POW-POW!*
And again…
*POW-POW-POW!*
And again…
*POW-POW-POW-POW!*
And again…
*POW-POW-POW-POW-POW!*
Until Dai's arm was swinging down upon Gekidora's face like a jackhammer only faster as Dai's arm movement was a complete blur to everyone.
*POW-POW-POW-POW- POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW-POW!*
Then finally, with one last punch, Dai almost knocked Gekidora unconscious as he let go of the beard and jumped back, landing next to Nagisa who stared at him worryingly.
"Dai-kun…are you-?"
"Nagisa." Her name spoke with no honorfics made Nagisa stop as Dai turned to her and said, "He has to pay."
Nagisa's worries were soon replaced with her earlier anger as she nodded and called out to Honoka. "White!"
While still worried, Honoka jumped and landed right next to Nagisa and looked at Dai. "Ichi-kun, are-?"
"No time to talk." Dai interrupted Honoka as he bent down a bit, preparing for his Mighty Kick. "It's time we finish this."
"You even attacked Ryota…" Nagisa muttered as she looked at Gekidora with hate in her eyes. "White!"
"Right!" Honoka nodded as they both grasped hands and raised their hands to the skies.
"Black Thunder!"
"White Thunder!"
*BOOM!*
"Purikyua no utsukushiki tamashī ga…"
"... Jaaku na kokoro wo uchikudaku!"
"What the fuck is going on now!?" Rai said as he and every men with him, even Ryō since this is the first time he's seen this, watched in amazement.
Honoka flinched when she noticed that Nagisa was gripping her hand way too tightly, but she didn't mind. She understood why Nagisa was so mad and just bared with it. At the same time, Dai's kicking foot was set ablaze as he soon ran ahead of the girls who threw their palms forward.
"Pretty Cure Marble!"
"Mighty!"
"Screw!"
"Kick!"
With a mighty shout Dai jumped into the Marble Screw at the last second, forming the combined attacked they had used against Pisard as Dai was pushed forward and struck Gekidora across the chest. To everyone's surprise, the beast did not go down as it still held its ground.
"The Prism Stones…! I will get…the Prism Stones…!"
"I will not be defeated here! I will…enjoy more blood!"
"Enough is enough!" Both Nagisa and Dai shouted as one as the power of the Marble Screw increased and it pushed Dai even further as the Marble Screw sent both Dai and Gekidora up into the skies where Dai was screaming his lungs out while Gekidora screamed in pain before finally, an explosion of light filled the sky. In the light, the figures of all the sea creatures that had fused with Gekidrago were released and Gadora's figure was seen amongst them before he screamed and another explosion occurred in the sky before it cleared in an instant and landing right on the ground was Dai, safe and sound with the color of his lenses back to being red.
"Amazing…" Ryō couldn't help, but comment as he and the others looked down to Dai and the girls as the said Rider was walking over to them.
"Is it over?" Honoka asked, exhausted as she fell to her knees.
No one answered her as Nagisa left her side and walked over to Ryota. Dai helped Honoka up and they both went over to Ryota to find him unconscious still.
"He's bleeding…" Nagisa said as she kneeled down with a pained expression.
Dai kneeled down to Ryota and checked his head to see that the blood had stopped a long time ago. "He's fine, just a little blow to the head."
Suddenly, something fell down next to them and Honoka turned to see a cyan colored diamond. Kneeling down, she touched it and it turned into a cyan colored heart-shaped gem. It was a Prism Stone.
"A Prism Stone…" Honoka said as she held the small gem up.
"All this trouble and destruction for something so small." Dai commented as he looked all around at the damage.
"Ryota's just a little kid…This shouldn't have happened to him…" Nagisa said as she hung her head down with tears of frustration with a feeling of failure in them fell down.
"Nagisa-chan…" Dai muttered as he went and placed a hand on her shoulder, making her look up to look at the Rider. "I know how you feel."
"…That's right." Nagisa said as she remembered that Dai had been blaming himself for what happened to Shougo. Now it seemed their situations were reversed. How ironic.
"Is everyone okay?" Ryō shouted down to them as he ran down to the trio.
Seeing the familiar man Nagisa and Honoka had come to know, Nagisa looked at the man with pleading eyes. "It's my little brother! He's hurt!"
"We'll take care of him." Ryō assured her as he gently picked up Ryota into his arms.
"It's going to be okay, Nagisa-chan." Dai assured the girl who still had a look of doubt.
(Later, Hospital)
"…mmm…" Mumbling, Ryota slowly opened his eyes and was met with a white ceiling. "Where…?"
"Ryota!" Ryota looked to his right and saw his sister with Honoka and Dai along with Mizore who stood to the side and had a lollipop on her mouth as always.
"Onee-chan…?" Ryota blinked in confusion before he remembered what had happened. "The monster-Gh!" Ryota quickly held his head in pain and felt bandage wrappings around his head.
"Take it easy kid." Mizore said as she held up a clipboard. "You were hit pretty hard across the head, but it's nothing too serious. As long as he doesn't do anything too strenuous, he should be fine and out of this place in less than a week."
"Arigato, Tsubaki-san." Dai said.
"I'm a doctor, it's what I do." Mizore said before taking her leave.
Once she was gone, Ryota went and asked, "What happened to me? What happened to that monster?"
"Ryota!" Instead of answering, Nagisa shouted her brother who flinched. "Why did you go and come out!? You promised me that you wouldn't come out!"
"But…But…I was just worried about you guys…" Ryota said as the events of the day finally finished processing through his head and he started. "I'm sorry…"
Seeing her brother cry, Nagisa went and gave him a hug as she cried too. "I'm sorry too. I'm so sorry…"
Dai and Honoka smiled at the two having a sibling moment before they quietly went and left the room to give the two some privacy.
"Dai-kun!" Hearing his name, Dai turned and saw Takeshi and Rie with worried looks on their faces.
"We got a call saying that an Unidentified Lifeform attacked the aquarium! Are Ryota and Nagisa alright!?" Rie asked hurriedly.
"They're fine, both of them." Dai reassured the two adults before pointing a thumb to the room. "They're both in there."
"Thank you." Takeshi quickly thanked the boy before he and his wife rushed into the room and soon, the room was filled with the sound of more crying.
"Let's hurry up and leave them alone." Honoka said and Dai nodded as they took their leave.
(The Next Day)
School had ended for today as Dai and Nagisa were both at Honoka's place once again as the trio were discussing about summing the Stone Guardian.
"If I remember, we just slash this card." Nagisa said as she held up the card that depicted the Stone Guardian. She slashed the card and in a puff of smoke, the Prism Hopeish appeared on Honoka's bed where the Prism Stone they got from Pisard was still there. In two puffs of smoke, Mepple and Mipple both assumed their true forms as appearing from the Prism Hopeish was the Stone Guardian.
"Is there something you three want?" The Stone Guardian asked.
"Good looking as always-mipo…" Mipple commented, blushing while Mepple was not the least bit amused.
"I can't understand why you'd say that-mepo." Mepple said as he thought the Stone Guardian wasn't that handsome.
"Hurry up and get to the point." The Stone Guardian insisted.
"We'll leave this Prism Stone to you." Honoka said as she slotted their newly acquired Prism Stone into the Prism Hopeish.
"Oh! You got back another Prism Stone. Good job, I appreciate it." The Stone Guardian said with a grateful smile.
"Two of the stolen Prism Stones have been returned." Mepple said.
"It is truly a miracle." The Stone Guardian commented.
"Honoka, Nagisa, Dai, thank you very much-mipo." Mipple said, bowing to the three in thanks.
"There's no need to thanks us, right girls?" Dai said and the girls nodded in agreement, happy to help.
"Keep doing your best." The Stone Guardian said. "Now then, sarabada(farewell)."
"Eh? No gift this time?" Nagisa asked before the Stone Guardian could leave.
"Um…sarabada." The Stone Guardian said quickly before disappeared along with the Prism Hopeish.
"I think that's a no." Dai said before laughing.
"It's not that funny!" Nagisa exclaimed in anger.
Honoka simple held back her laugh before she calmed down, a serious expression on her face as she looked at Dai. "Ichi-kun."
"Hm? What is it?" Dai asked.
"How's your hand?" Honoka asked.
Dai held up his now healed right hand and rubbed it. "It's as good as new, like it was never broken to begin with."
"That's good to hear." Nagisa said, smiling before leaning towards Honoka and whispered, "We'll talk about it later."
Honoka wanted to protest, but she reluctantly went with Nagisa and didn't say more. But that didn't mean the image of darkness surrounding Dai didn't leave her or Nagisa's mind.
'Just what was all that?' They both thought as they looked Dai in worry.
Noticing their looks, Dai asked, "Is something wrong?"
"No! Nothing's wrong!" Nagisa said quickly before changing the subject. "So, do you still feel homesick?"
"No, not anymore." Dai said as he shook his head. "I think taking out Gadora helped a little. While it doing boxing reminded me of my uncle, that's all there is to it. But no matter what, I'll still miss him and the others from the orphanage."
"Do you…ever think of returning home?" Nagisa asked nervously.
"All the time." Dai said before giving her a smile. "But don't worry; I'll still be around for a bit longer."
"That's good." Nagisa said in relief although she didn't know why she felt relieved.
"Why don't we all get well gifts for Ryota?" Honoka suggested.
"That's a great idea! Let's go!" Dai said, getting up.
"Eh? Now?" Nagisa said.
"Yes now!" Dai said as he grabbed the hands of both girls and dragged them out of the room as they cried in protest for Dai to stop dragging them.
And done! Whew, good thing I worked a little on this beforehand while I was doing my react fic. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed today's chapter. Hit a few bumps here and there, but I made it work somehow. And with this, Gekidrago is defeated and that's two of the Dark Zone Generals out of the way. And speaking of Gekidrago, I bet you all didn't expect to see him fuse with a Grongi. If you want to learn more, just scroll right down. Until then, this has been Ashbel Longhart here, signing. And now, it's time for…
Pretty Cure: Rider Fun Facts
"Hello minna-san! Welcome back for another session of Pretty Cure: Rider Fun Facts-mepo!" Mepple greeted the audience as he and the others appeared on stage for another fun fact for everyone.
"Geez, today's chapter was tiring." Nagisa said as she stretched.
"At least we finally defeated Gekidrago once and for all." Honoka said before asking the fairies, "So what are we going to be looking at today?"
"Today, we're going to be looking at the creation the author thought up of, the fused being of Gekidrago and Gadora, the Gekidora-mipo!" Mipple said as said fused monster appeared on screen.
Immediately the girls said, "Kimoi(Gross)!"
"Don't forget monstrous-mepo!" Mepple said. "Behold, everyone, to the monster that should have been just Gekidrago plus some fish, but instead, it was him, some fish, and Gadora who is a Grongi-mepo."
"The Gekidora is a very powerful monster that, if left alone, could have destroyed the aquarium and more-mipo." Mipple said. "It's arms and tails could smash boulders, it could fire high pressurized water from its eel arms, bite into things with his shark head, and withstand attacks from thinsg like bullets thanks to the main body being that of a Grongi-mipo."
"Unlike in the TV show where there is no Grongi and it was Gekidrago's body fused with most of the shark, the Gekidora's body has Gadora's body added to that with half of the Grongi's face replacing the left side of Gekidrago's face-mepo."
"Again, gross." Nagisa commented.
"I'm glad we had Ichi-kun with us. I don't think we could have taken on that monster alone." Honoka said before asking, "Why did it go berserk?"
"That's because the minds of Gekidrago and Gadora could not come to an agreement and the two consciousness' clashed until the body moved on its own due to the chaos it its mind-mipo." Mipple explained.
"Will we see more of these things?" Nagisa asked.
"Hard to say since the author barely tells us anything, but we'll see-mepo." Mepple said before turning to the audience. "Well everyone, that's all for today! Tune in next time for when Poisony makes her debut and for a shocking surprise the author has in store for you! Until then, see you next time-mepo!"
The four all waved at the audience before taking their leave.
Next Time: The Evil Flower, Poisony Appears! The End of Kamen Rider Already!?