Yay, the birthday shenanigans ensue at last!
More importantly, KAMEN RIDER EX-AID IN DA BUILDING! Let the awesomeness commence!
Ok, that's better. Heya everybody, good to be back! Ready to kick some Jack Matter ass, and maybe a Bugster here and there, but that's for later. Anywho, if the mini-rant at the beginning of this was any indication, our favorite ML thief is getting his special day, and the resident genius gamer is stopping by for a visit.
But enough with the intro, let's get to the good stuff. Oh, Balance~!
Balance: Chorise, finally my turn! Agepoyo way~! Little Ms. Authoress doesn't claim anybody cept her OC's. Well, at least she sure as heck don't own me, anyway. Chikuyoro!
"And that's pretty much the gist of it."
"So you're telling us that there's supposedly a world within a world filled with complete nonsense over logic and the only way to find it is by falling down a hole in the middle of nowhere?"
"Heh heh, it's a rabbit hole, Hammy."
"Dang, Kingston, your world certainly has one goisu ton of imagination when a universal dictator doesn't oppress it."
"Eh, maybe. But I mean, come on Balance, a place ruled by madness? That can't be all that uncommon."
"Fair enough. After all, look where we live."
The strange trio burst into laughs at the mechanical lifeform's words, Hammy and Kingston nearly doubling over.
Kingston had started telling the two Kyuurangers, with Karone in kyuutama form in her pocket, about some of the stories she had heard growing up on Earth.
Mostly children's stories, but the outsider had thrown in a few of her personal favorites. Such as the world of magic that focused on a particular guild of wizards, world hopping heroes wielding weapons strangely akin to her key-like swords, and the adventures of a team of heroes sounding similar to theirs that traveled the timeline to defend their legacy in something called the Hyper Stream. Eventually, she had shifted back to more childhood stories, hence where we pick up with the three.
After the whole Pega-san adventure, Hammy had been brought in to Kingston's ever-growing training group, helping the outsider control her invisibility. But the humorous ninja had also started opening up towards the others after this, joining in on conversations, laughing just a little less at some of their antics out of respect, and even keeping her tail out in the open, though she still hid it during fights.
Kingston had also found out that the extra appendage was also used for a stress reliever, as Hammy had relayed during a training incident where she had climbed onto her bedroom wall and nearly given the outsider a heart attack. According to Hammy, climbing on walls and ceilings was both an excellent stealth maneuver and a way for the ninja to get some space when needed.
Balance, on the other hand, was also making more connections to the group beyond just Naaga. While the BN duo was still incredibly close, both members had started branching out and creating more bonds with the team, if a little apart regarding when each started doing such. The pink and green Kyuurangers, in particular, interested the mechanical thief, though Hammy seemed a bit more so since they both shared a sense of humor and whimsy about the world.
In fact, Kingston had caught the two chatting animatedly in Balance's room when they had noticed her walking by and invited her to the conversation.
"Ok ok, seriously though, we're not all that bad right?" Kingston asked, calming down slightly and trying to catch her breath. "I mean, yeah we've all had our moments while on board, but we all still have our better sides."
"Oh~. And would this have anything to do with that little chat with our resident scorpion warrior I noticed you two having earlier?" Hammy teased, giggling, causing Kingston to blush slightly.
In truth, Stinger had returned earlier that day and, true to his word, visited Kingston before debriefing the commander on his mission. Said orange ranger had found her by herself, training with her two keys and wholly engrossed in her technique.
"You know, you would land more strikes if you weren't so stiff in your movement," Stinger called over the railing.
And after looking back and grinning at his entrance, she added, "Well, I suppose you are the expert with such. Okaeri, Stinger. How'd the fight go?"
"One-sided," he replied, strolling down the stairs. "They are going to be a pain in the ass."
"No argument here," she agreed, propping her keys against the wall. "So, I assume you're here to discuss a certain topic we've had?"
Stinger just sighed. "Straight to the point then. You know about my brother?"
A nod. "Do you know where Scorpio is?"
She sighed. "I know what Scorpio's done and why you're going after him, but, no. I don't know where he is right this second."
Stinger cast his eyes toward her, filled with pain and remorse. "Hang on, let me finish," she added. "I don't know where he is now, but I do know when he'll be here, on Earth."
His eyes widened. "You're serious?"
"Yep. And I promise, Stinger. When he's here, you will be the first to know. The signs of his arrival start appearing, I'll warn you. Alright?"
But his pause to think was agonizing as if waiting for a critic to give their verdict. "Fine. I guess its better than nothing."
But before she could sigh in relief, his gaze fell upon the two keyblades. "So, why the solo training? Thought that some of the others were helping you with that."
And at the outsider's look of surprise at the knowledge of such, he merely gave her a blank stare and pointed at himself. "Spy, remember?"
But while she rolled her eyes playfully, the outsider frowned and began fidgeting with her hands. "I, um, just wanted to try it by myself for a change. You know, mix things up a little," she stammered.
"Uh-huh. And it doesn't have anything to do with that?" Stinger asked skeptically, pointing to the outsider's hands. And when she looked down, her eyes widened as she saw the tips of her fingers were now shaded in deep orange and tried hiding them in her hoodie.
"Yeah, thought so. What is that?"
Sighing, she conceded, "Well, it's my refraction ability. I'm sure you've noticed I'm able to copy certain kyuutama after using them?" And after a short confirmation, she continued, "Well, that also includes all of your abilities. Including you. I thought that if I trained by myself, it would wear off and I wouldn't hurt anybody with them."
Stinger seemed to contemplate her words, before finally asking, "How long has this been going on?"
"Well, the refraction thing has been happening since around when Naaga and Balance came on board. That's why the others have been training me. The poison thing started yesterday. I've been trying to avoid the others just in case."
Nodding, Stinger seemed to resolve what he had been thinking about and came closer, but the young girl just stepped back wide-eyed, not wanting to risk accidentally poisoning him.
"Relax," he soothed, slowing his approach. "I can help fix them, alright? I need you to stay calm. Will you trust me?"
And honestly, Stinger was expecting hesitation, if not outright no. After all, he hadn't exactly done the crew very many favors up to this point.
But to his surprise, the young outsider closed her eyes, and with determination in her form, she nodded and stepped toward him, holding out her now orange tipped hands.
Taking them into his own, Stinger warned, "Just keep your eyes on me, and be ready for the shock," before raising his tail.
And in one swift move, stung her arm.
Gasping at the new sensation, her muscles tensed as she felt like her body was on fire. But she did as told and never broke her gaze from the scorpion man, feeling the burn of his poison move down her limbs.
"Take the poison and make it do as you say. Feel it flow through you up to where you want it to go."
Shakily nodding, she concentrated as the burn now went back up to her arms, making it flow to her palms, the orange now shading up to her wrist. "Now, all at once, let it out. Hit me."
And in one open hand strike to his chest, Kingston felt the sensation fly through her palm and watched Stinger's reaction as it flew straight into him. Eyes widening, she immediately shot her hand back and eyed him in concern, worried for his health. However, Stinger seemed to shrug off the pain as if it was nothing.
"Criminently, are you alright?" Kingston panted, looking him over worriedly.
"Relax, it wasn't my poison anyway. Yours is still a little weak since you haven't had time to develop it yet. But you are starting to get the hang of controlling it at least," Stinger explained, nodding towards her. And looking down, her hands were back to normal, the poison now invisible from any visual indications.
"How did you-"
"It was common at your age for my people to develop their poisons. That technique would help them control when they distributed. The sting was so you would react, and your poison would react to your emotions. You'll eventually be able to control it without that, but for now, that's your best bet. Yours was a little different since it comes through your hands instead of a tail, but it had the same effect. Still, that was just your first try. You'll need more training to control and develop it."
After processing his words, Kingston looked up to Stinger in surprise. "You mean-"
"Yeah. Besides, might as well teach you the spear techniques while I'm at it. If you're going to use poison like a Scorpious warrior, you might as well learn how to fight like one. But, just one thing. Keep the big guy away from me when you can," he finished, referring to the one Kyuuranger that still hated his guts with a passion.
Immediately understanding, and not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, Kingston nodded, grinning from ear to ear, while also restraining herself from hugging the scorpion man in thanks and making him uncomfortable.
And, while she couldn't be sure, she could swear she saw a small smirk on Stinger's lips.
"So, what was the deal?" Hammy inquired, shaking the younger girl from her thoughts. "What were you talking about?"
"Oh, um, nothing much. Just came to visit me and all," Kingston replied, brushing off the skepticism.
"Alright, alright. Let's let Ms. Meteor have some fun to herself, Chan-Hammy," Balance conceded, though still planning to himself how to dig up dirt on the two.
Standing up with a stretch, Kingston then remembered what she had been doing before the interruption. "Oh right, Balance. I had a little something to tell you."
Tilting their heads, both seemed to silently inquire what Kingston meant before she grinned and spread her arms, shouting, "Happy Birthday!"
Gasping, Hammy smiled her broad smile as Balance shot up and grabbed his tablet. And sure enough, the calendar had a red flower on the day's date, indicating the special day.
"Ahh~, the day has finally come!" Balance exclaimed, literally jumping for joy. "Agepoyo way~!"
"Happy Birthday, Balance!" Hammy laughed, throwing an arm around her golden friend. "We should tell the others!"
"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Karone added from her kyuutama. "Let's get a move on!"
And practically half skipping, the three made the birthday run for the rest of the crew.
All the while, Kingston smirked as she felt two things in her other pocket; Balance's birthday present, and the newly finished Alicorn Kyuutama.
"These are the assassins sent by Jack Matter," Stinger explained, gesturing to the two squid aliens on the monitor. After reconvening with Orion-Gou and paying his little visit to Kingston, Shou and Stinger had begun to debrief the crew on the encounter with the deadly cephalopods.
"So, they've finally returned," Shou acknowledged, leaning back.
"You know them, Shirei?" Lucky asked.
"Unfortunately, I do. At Shogun Don Armage's orders, that wicked duo has destroyed over 1000 planets. If any of you encounter them, retreat for the time being.
'Anywho, let's get started on today's mission," he finished, gesturing for Raptor to bring up the objective.
What came up was security footage of the area's Daikaan, To-Me, who looked like a robotic walking birthday cake regarding appearances. Said Daikaan was flying over the city with a plaque in his arms that read 'Koichi-kun,' while the house he was flying away from had four kids seen through the window, with one boy crying at the monster's actions.
"Daikaan To-Me is a hoarder of birthdays. He can sense and steal them for himself so that no one else can celebrate them, and only ever comes outside when he's stealing a birthday," Raptor explained.
"Grrr, a cruel and cowardly jackass. How do we beat him?" Garu growled.
"Well, I believe I've come up with a shocking idea," Shou replied. "What if we lure him out with someone having a birthday?"
"Alright, that's a start I guess. But where are we going to find someone-" Champ started, but was interrupted by the three humanoid girls striding in.
"Minna, do we have something special to tell you," Karone started, before the three slid to the side for Balance, who was skipping and dancing in anticipation.
"Happy Birthday, me! Yes, yes, as the illustrious young ladies have hinted, today is your favorite thief's birthday! Hoping for a lot of presents, Minna!"
And while Shou and Lucky were celebrating finding the missing piece to their plan, Naaga pulled aside Kingston as the Kyulette was spinning.
"Kingston, what is a birthday?"
Episode 7: Of Birthdays and Kamen Riders!
"Oh, come on! I don't want to do this~!" Balance whined, half-dragged by Lucky and Hammy. They, along with Stinger, Naaga and the two customs, were on the surface to lure out their next target. However, Balance was, naturally, heavily against the plan, not wanting to lose his birthday as well.
However, Naaga and Kingston were holding back slightly, the outsider attempting to explain the concept of birthdays. "Well, I think the best I can describe it is a birthday is an event that happens once a year that celebrates the day someone was born. It makes people happy."
"I see. Balance," Naaga called, catching the group's attention and interrupting the Trick Star's complaining. "Is it common to celebrate a birthday where you're from?"
"Do you not know how to?" Lucky asked, tilting his head.
"Lucky, don't be so insensitive," Karone admonished, smacking his arm. "Not all systems celebrates birthdays, you know."
"Ahh, don't sweat it, Kitty," Balance interjected. "It's alright if Naaga doesn't know off the bat. After all, not sure he wouldn't just act angry around me instead of happy."
However, their musings were interrupted by a nearby mother and son, the young boy crying his eyes out. And when Lucky and Karone went to see what the problem was, the boy relayed that his birthday had been stolen by To-Me as well. As Karone tried to calm the boy down, the mother ushered Lucky over to give her a hand, before they both came out with presents.
Unfortunately, as the two were about to gift them, the silver presents vanished into thin air, causing the boy to cry even louder as the mother sadly embraced him. All the while, the rest of the group looked on.
"*Sigh* Alright, alright, fine. I'll do it," Balance conceded, causing Kingston to hatch an idea.
"Well, come on then," she smiled, leading the group to a plaza. "If we're gonna do this, then we better do it right."
After the others had found an alleyway for surveillance, Balance and Kingston tried to make a scene to lure out the Daikaan.
"So, what did you mean before, Ms. Meteor?"
"Well, I know you were a little apprehensive to go through with all this. So, I thought, how about I sweeten the deal a little and give you one of your presents early?" Kingston smiled, before pulling out her light purple kyuutama.
"Oooh~, a new kyuutama? What's this one do?"
"Well, stand back and find out."
Alicorn Kyuutama! SAY! THE ATTACK!
And as the kyuutama activated, the outsider's hands started glowing a violet light, before she smirked and made the spark of light spread all around her. Flashes of the glow began to zip all around Balance, turning gold to match, before the glow shot from Kingston into the air, and in an explosion of light, a beautiful golden firework of the Libra scales was seen high in the sky. And before long, the purple light blew another, smaller firework next to the first one in silver that read 'Happy Birthday Balance!'
Everyone watched in awe, especially Balance, who ran up to the young girl with glee. "Goisu, goisu, Kingston! I didn't know your kyuutama could do that!"
"Eh, that was just the tip of the iceberg. I wanted to use this to do magic tricks for your party, but if this doesn't lure out that birthday jerk, I don't know what will."
"Still, its one goisu of a present! Thank you desu~!" Balance cheered, side hugging Kingston.
However, the exchange was quickly interrupted by, sure enough, their birthday stealing target, along with his entourage of Indavers, with their classic Stormtrooper aim. Thankfully, both managed to dodge out of the path of fire while the others came out of hiding and prepped for battle.
SAY! THE CHANGE! "Star Change!"
The Indavers wasted no time in advance, but their fight was merely a distraction, as the Daikaan was attempting to surprise attack Balance for his prize. Luckily Naaga noticed this and immediately came to his golden friend's aid, shielding Balance and paralyzing their enemy for the others.
But as Naaga became focused on the Daikaan, the battle was quickly interrupted by gunfire from new opponents. And while Stinger and Prism acknowledged them right off the bat, it was clear to all who had appeared. Ikaagen and Madakko.
"Just the people I wanted to see, Kyuurangers!" Ikaagen mocked, his laid-back attitude present in his tone. Madakko, however, was not nearly as patient, almost immediately leaping down onto the pavement to pick a fight.
"Be careful. These two are not like the others," Stinger warned, while silently casting a glance to Prism.
"Put simply, Shirei wasn't exaggerating with them. Do not let your guard down," Prism added, swinging her keys in a ready stance. "Well then. Ikaagen, Madakko. I assume you're here for a reason?"
"Indeed," Ikaagen drawled. "Have you said your prayers?!"
"You must not fight them! Run!" Shou called over the comms. But the warning came too late as the battle commenced, the two cephalopod assassins working in deadly tandem.
Ikaagen lived up to his relaxed style, as he was able to dodge and counter every single move Stinger and Hammy threw at him, with no effort whatsoever. Even when Lucky tried to hit Ikaagen from the back, the squid dodged within a millisecond before moving his sword to Lucky's neck.
Madakko, on the other hand, was slippery and merciless all at once. Despite four to one odds, none of them could land a hit from any range.
"You should know its hopeless to attack us. I know your fate like the back of my hand!" Ikaagen mocked.
"Bullshit!" Prism yelled from her fight with the octo assassin. "The only kind of fate is the kind you make yourself!"
"Shut up, Kono tako!" Madakko yelled, slashing the meteor Kyuuranger back and firing double bullets. And while Prism was able to dodge, both she and Balance realized that the round was on a collision course with the currently occupied Hebitsukai Silver.
Thinking quickly, Prism knocked Madakko from their dual lock and sped towards the bullet, intent on blocking it in Naaga's path. What she wasn't expecting was for her hands to once again glow the violet light from before. And when she looked up, the bullet was wrapped in the same violet hue but was also frozen in midair.
"Telekinesis. Well, that's a new one," Prism mused through gritted teeth in concentration. "Balance, I don't know how long I can hold this. Anytime now!"
But as Balance was readying his crossbow to counter, Madakko took advantage once again and fired a second bullet, this time with Prism still occupied. And with almost no time to react, Tenbin Gold charged straight towards the two and shoved them both to the ground, unfreezing both the bullet and the Daikaan. Now, with all defenses for his prize taken care of, To-Me fired his Birthday Ray, succeeding in stealing Balance's birthday plaque and zooming off, much to Balance's dismay.
However, the others didn't get a chance to pursue with the assassins controlling almost the entirety of the fight. "Kyuurangers! Retreat at once!" Shou yelled over comms.
"But Shirei-"
"That's an order!"
Prism reeled back, fear and shock contorting behind her helmet as Lucky reluctantly called down Shishi Voyager and scooped everyone into the cargo bay, leaving the two assassins, for the most part, empty-handed.
As everyone demorphed and checked each other for injuries, Balance was as stoic as a statue, not even registering the other Kyuurangers around him. Both Naaga and Karone noticed their two partners seemed off, though Kingston seemed a bit more responsive. So, as Naaga went to apologize to Balance as well as the others for hindering the mission, Karone went to check on her creator.
Said outsider was sitting on a crate, legs dangling as she held her head in her hands with her eyes squeezed tight. And while Karone was worried she might have taken an unnoticed hit during battle, Kingston's mind was racing. For the outsider was trying to calm down from the commander's harsh tone.
"Kingston, are you alright?"
Jerking from her thoughts, the outsider looked up to see both Karone and now Hammy looking at her in concern, both of their tails flicking nervously. "Huh? Oh, um yeah, I'm fine. Madakko didn't hit all that hard, thankfully. Besides, Balance kept Naaga and me from the worst of it."
"No no, not that," Hammy interjected. "You look stressed. Is it because the Daikaan got away?"
"Umm, Nah, not really. We'll catch up to To-Me sooner or later. Guess I wasn't expecting Shirei to snap like that," she explained, chuckling humorlessly. "Well, I guess he did warn us. Ah well, there'll be other fights. For now, though, how are you two? Those nasty squid freaks didn't land too many good hits, I hope."
Still believing that there was something unspoken, but deciding not to press unwanted thoughts, the two girls let the matter drop as they shook their heads and Lucky docked his Voyager, and everyone piled out, heading for the bridge. However, Stinger, unbeknownst to the others, was also watching the mysterious young girl with, if one looked hard enough, slight concern.
As the small team made it to the bridge, Hammy and Karone rushing Balance through the auto doors, the main deck sparkled with decorations for the occasion. Streamers lined the walls and rails in colorful patterns, the pool table filled with plates of Spada's treats, and a banner hung above the door that looked similar to Kingston's fireworks from earlier.
As Balance spun around to absorb every detail, the others were gearing up to cheer, Stinger and Naaga off to the side, just as Kingston walked in, realizing what was happening. "Wait, guys, don't-"
"Balance, Happy-"
But nothing else came out, Balance stumbling slightly after wanting to absorb the praise. But it wasn't as if anyone stopped willingly. None of the Kyuurangers could physically say the phrase, no matter how hard any of them tried.
Not to mention that when Spada showed Balance the birthday dinner he had made from scratch and Champ tried gifting his present, all of it disappeared, much like the presents to the young boy. Even the banner was affected, the words tumbling off and vanishing.
"*Sigh* Balance, I'm so sorry about this," Kingston heaved, leaning on the rail with her head in her hands. "I was trying to tell you guys, but To-Me doesn't just physically steal birthdays. It's also a curse that makes it impossible to celebrate the person's birthday. I'm so sorry I couldn't stop this."
"Do not blame yourself, Kingston," Naaga interjected. "This is my fault."
However, Balance just tried to laugh it off. "Appreciate the sentiment anyway. It's Okyuu!" he chuckled, saluting playfully. "I don't care about my birthday all that much. Oh well!"
But it was clear to most that Balance was trying to put on a brave face, as he was stumbling through the halls and his movement practically telegraphed his mood. And indeed, when Karone went to check on the golden thief, the auto door was locked and Balance himself curled into a ball under his desk, his calendar having lost his birthday marker.
When the kitsune came back to bear the bad news, Naaga at first said nothing, grabbing the rail and feeling a streamer in his fingers. "It was wasted..."
"Not if we can help it," Lucky declared. "We're going to take back the birthdays."
"Balance said he did not care," Naaga stated, possibly in confusion, though it was hard to tell.
"Naaga, he was just faking," Hammy explained. "He's upset about all this."
"Is that true? Why are emotions are so difficult?!" Naaga spoke just a little shy of angrily, Kingston coming up to comfort him.
"Do you remember the child's mother also looking sad?" Lucky asked, the silver Kyuuranger vaguely remembering learning about that emotion, but still needed some clarity of its relevance in the situation.
"Birthdays aren't just for the star," Lucky explained, gesturing to the others. "The people celebrating also feel the joy. It's a time that we can say thank you to the star. 'Thank you for being born.'"
"And 'Thank you for being a part of our lives,'" Kingston added with a smile.
Naaga seemed to process this for a second before answering. "I too... wish to celebrate Balance's birthday."
"Then let's take the birthday back!" Lucky proclaimed, "For the kids, and for Balance!"
And as the others began to plan their next move, Kingston couldn't help but smile with pride for Naaga, as the Alicorn Kyuutama glowed its lilac hue.
A vast industrial building near the local Moraimaaz was the Kyuuranger's target, heavily guarded and no doubt looking for intruders. A method that almost proved fruitful when Lucky nearly blew their plan by walking out into the open from their hiding place behind a truck.
Thankfully, Stinger and Kingston managed to pull the lucky red back before anyone noticed, the meteor themed Kyuuranger throwing the desert dweller a smirk.
"I presume there will be many traps and obstacles on the way to the treasure room," Raptor informed on the comms, acting as the plan's chief strategist and looking over a holomap of the building. "I believe our best bet at infiltration is through the primary air vent on the roof. However, we will need to stop the giant propeller. And that can only be done via flipping the switch on the inside."
"Lucky, Kingston and I will draw away the enemy out here," Stinger relayed. "Hammy will sneak inside to stop the propeller. Then Naaga will break in. Champ, you'll provide support for Naaga."
Said silver and black Kyuurangers, already morphed, were planning to attempt access to the roof via a dropoff from their Voyagers. And while Naaga was on board with the plan, Champ still had some animosities.
"I'm not fond of taking orders from you..."
"Champ," Kingston started with a warning tone.
"Let me finish. I don't like it, but I'll do it for Balance!"
"Thank you, big guy."
Stinger just scoffed quietly before continuing. "Spada, Garu, and Karone will prepare for the birthday party."
Back on the ship, said Kyuurangers were already well into their part of the mission, Spada, and Garu making the treats for Balance and the kids, while Karone was cleaning up and fixing any last minute party details.
"Alright, let's get this party started!" Lucky cheered, pulling out his kyuutama.
And just before the three followed suit, the orange and green rangers both shot Kingston a glance that vaguely said Be careful, but good luck.
Giving a toothy smile in response, the four charged straight into battle.
Amagawa Kyuutama! SAY! THE CHANGE! "Star Change!"
"Whoohoo!" Prism cheered, zipping all over the place and laying waste to the nearby Indavers. "Leave them to us!"
"Hammy, go!" Stinger shouted, signaling the invisible ninja to make her move into the building. The trio left behind was making quick work of the handfuls of troops thrown their way, and everything was falling into place. Naaga and Champ were prepping for infiltration on the roof, Hammy was already halfway to the switch, and even the party was close to ready, Balance also coming out of his room and watching the battle in anticipation.
However, there was a slight snag that came up. As Hammy was able to sneak past the guards quickly enough, using the Aries Kyuutama as a knockout gas of sorts, the problem came when she found the correct switch.
For Naaga, in his zeal to steal back Balance's birthday, jumped almost immediately after being harnessed, not giving the Shinobi Star enough time to flip the switch for his safe drop. And before she could take the chance, reinforcement charged in and began overwhelming her.
Champ was just barely able to stop Naaga's descent, leaving the Silent Star dangling a few feet from the spinning turbines, and the bull himself had to hold the rope steady and take out incoming Indavers all at once. With everyone fighting for control of the plan, only the ground team was left to salvage the mission.
"There's trouble up ahead; you two take care of this."
"Stinger, matte!" Prism shouted. But her warning fell on deaf ears as Stinger ran towards the entrance, but was quickly knocked back to the ground by a new opponent, his teammates finishing off their enemies and coming to aid the orange ranger.
The new combatant was at first mistaken for Ikaagen with his alien squid features. However, this monster seemed much more retro, and instead of bearing the Jack Matter symbol, it wore a blood-red cape and a silver belt engraved with another emblem of some kind.
"I am Space Shocker Ika-Devil!" the squid exclaimed, throwing off his cape and cracking his tentacle-like whip. And while Lucky and Stinger didn't recognize him at all, Prism groaned and facepalmed her helmet, catching the two boys' attention.
"Shocker is the first ever evil organization to fight the Kamen Riders. And Lucky, before you ask, I'll explain what a Kamen Rider is later. The problem with Shocker is, they're recycled against so many other riders and defeated by literally all of them that they've effectively become a joke," Kingston explained, before turning to the offending intruder. "You're a little off base for a fight, Ika-Devil. What happened, got tired of Ichigo and Nigo constantly whooping your sorry ass?"
"You dare speak of the great Shocker as such?! For that, you will die!" he roared charging straight into their path and keeping the three at bay, despite the disadvantage in numbers.
Prism managed to lock the whip with her blade before calling over comms, "Shirei, if you happen to be holding a pink Kyuutama with a KR sticker and a picture of a cartoon face, now would be an excellent time to drop it in, please!"
"Accurate as always, Kingston!" Shou replied, and before long, Lucky did indeed pull out a Kyuutama matching Kingston's description, but still not quite understanding the purpose.
"Oi, Kingston! Are you sure this will work?" he called, waving the kyuutama in his hand.
"Oh ho ho, trust me, Lucky! That kyuutama is going to be awesome!"
"Alright, let's give it a shot!"
Ex-Aid Kyuutama! SAY! THE ATTACK!
And as the kyuutama fired, to almost everyone's surprise, it was almost as if a game field was forming around them, with giant boxes and strange colored medals scattered all over the place, and a sort of pink pixeled wave washed over the area. And finally, as the triggered blast centered into one spot and started forming shape, another callout was heard.
LET'S GAME! MECCHA GAME! MUCHA GAME! WHATCHA NAME?
And the answer quickly came as yet another new challenger formed in a running pose.
I'M A KAMEN RIDER!
"What game stage is this?"
The new arrival was wearing a full suit of armor that was blocky and chibi like in form, the chest armor looking like a stat and health gauge of sorts, while the head had a visor showing bright white and orange eyes and sporting spiky pink hair.
"What the-?! Who the heck are you?!" Lucky gawked, trying to absorb every detail he could.
"The name's Kamen Rider Ex-Aid! Come at me!" Ex-Aid declared, raising his fists.
However, his attention followed a whistle coming from Prism. "Oi! Ex-Aid! First off, big fan. Second off, the bad guy's over here!" she yelled while pointing towards Ika-Devil, who was still recovering from all the confusion.
"Ohh, so he's my enemy, huh? Yosh. I'll help you out then. Stand back!"
Ex-Aid was nothing short of incredible. Despite his blocky armor, the Kamen Rider was bouncing all over the place, using the walls and strange boxes that had appeared as leverage to lay waste to the Shocker monster, who was utterly ineffective against Ex-Aid's speed. Ex-Aid himself was able to fight back and bounce right back up after falling without so much as breaking a sweat.
Prism was hopping in place and trying hard to conceal her fangirl-isms, with little success. Lucky was equally amazed, but quickly realized the opportunity given and told Stinger to go on ahead and assist Hammy, before the remaining duo jumped in to help.
By this point, Ex-Aid had pulled out his signature weapon, the Gashacon Breaker, and was pulling off surprising acrobatics despite his bulkiness, and the two Kyuurangers were also able to land multiple hits alongside him, knocking Ika-Devil back.
"Not bad," Ika-Devil slurred, stumbling to stand. "But what do you think of this?!"
Before their eyes, Ika-Devil started crackling electricity before sending it flying straight towards the red and pink heroes. Luckily, Prism was able to zip in front of them to catch the currents with her sword, although it was still a bit of a surprise that she was able to do so at all.
"Emu, if you could level up right about now, it would be much appreciated!" Prism called over her shoulder through gritted teeth.
"Wait, what?! How do you-" Ex-Aid started, but the currents came in a second wave as all three had to dodge this time. However, Lucky, rolling out of the blast path, didn't notice that he had pushed the lever on the Kamen Rider's belt, and another callout sound rang as a screen popped up and swept into Ex-Aid.
Gacchan! Level UP! Mighty Jump! Mighty Kick! Mighty Mighty Action X!
What stood now was a much more humanoid Ex-Aid still holding his Breaker in hammer mode, with his neon pink and green suit, much lighter armor while still keeping the stat and health gauge, and a fitted helmet that better showed his even spikier pink 'hair.'
"Whoa, that's so cool!" Lucky awed, jumping up and tapping the spikes on Ex-Aid's helmet as Prism ran up in renewed excitement at seeing one of her favorite Kamen Riders.
"Like my Level 2?" Ex-Aid asked, posing with a peace sign.
"Hell yes! I've always wanted to see it in person!" Prism awed while Lucky cheered his 'Yosha Lucky!' and the newly leveled Ex-Aid turned his breaker into sword mode and pulled out his gashat.
"Alright. Let's clear this with no continues!"
GASHATTO! GALAXY!
MIGHTY CRITICAL FINISH!
"Hey, batta batta sa-WING!" Prism called as the three swung their final attacks in a star-like energy blast, Ika-Devil unable to endure three critical hits at once and finally exploding while shouting the Shocker kamikaze.
Gacchan-Gashuun
As the battle ended and the three heroes powered down, Lucky and Kingston both had a better look at Ex-Aid's human form. What they saw was a young man with messy, short black hair, wearing colorful gamer clothes and high tops under a pristine white doctor's coat and wearing a strange stethoscope around his neck.
"Thank for the help," Lucky started with a smile, while Kingston had suddenly become very shy, hiding behind Lucky for some reason.
"Anytime. I'm Houjou Emu. Who are you guys?"
"The name's Lucky! The luckiest man in the universe!" said red declared, before noticing his prismatic teammate and ushering her towards the young man like a parent leading a child. "Come on, no need to be shy!" he teased.
"Daijobu. I'm just like anybody else," Emu soothed, flashing his kind smile.
"Um, uh well, I'm Kingston. And sorry about the name thing earlier, guess I got a little carried away. Its such an honor to meet you," Kingston stammered, grinning from ear to ear.
"Yeah, it's not every day I meet someone who knows about the Kamen Riders, much less who I am under the suit. How did you know?"
"Oh, Kingston knows about all kinds of stuff like that!" Lucky interrupted, catching the girl in a hug. "And she's been a big help in our mission. We're going to save the universe from Jack Matter!"
Emu smiled at this, processing the two for a second. "Save the universe, huh? That's awesome. I want to become a doctor who saves many patients."
"With you, Emu, I have no doubt you'll make it someday," Kingston replied, seeming to have calmed down a little. "And hey, if you're ever looking for a way to lend a hand, there are a lot of nearby areas under Jack Matter's rule that could use the medical care. If CR and the Ministry of Health are up for it, you guys could be making a huge difference for a lot of people."
"Really?" Emu asked, pondering the offer. "I'll run it by my team. Thanks for telling me, Kingston."
"Yosha Lucky!" Lucky cheered. "I'll bet we can pull off both our dreams. It's a promise," he declared, both he and Kingston holding out their hands.
"Wakatta," Emu agreed, clasping hands with both of them. "Let's meet again."
"It was fun while it lasted, Emu. Matana!" Kingston called as the constellations began to swirl around the gaming doctor and Emu pixelled out of existence, vanishing to whence he came.
But when Lucky caught something in the corner of his eye, they both saw that the Ex-Aid Kyuutama was glowing. "Aww, I wanted to use it next," Kingston pouted.
What neither of them expected, however, was to see the kyuutama rise from Lucky's blaster and begin transforming into something else. And in a flash of light, what landed in Kingston's palm in place of the kyuutama, was a very familiar piece of technology.
The very same gashat that Emu used in battle.
"Ehh?! How did that happen?!" Lucky gaped, grabbing Kingston's hand and trying to study the pink gashat.
"More importantly, what the fuck is it doing here?!" Kingston retorted in shock. "Emu still needs this; he's only halfway through his season at this point!"
"Ok ok, let's see. Ah! How about after we finish here, the two of us can go find him!"
"Lucky, there's no telling where he teleported to, or how we could-" Kingston started until an idea struck. If this gashat was with them, that meant that they would need to return it to Ex-Aid. It just might be an indicator of what was to come, mainly the second half of the crossover episodes with Lucky coming to aid Emu in a fight.
Not to mention getting the chance to meet a particular pop idol avatar/nurse along the way.
"You know what, its worth a shot," the outsider finished, changing her gears and causing Lucky to smile. "But, let's finish our mission first, sound good to you?"
"Yosha Lucky!"
Thankfully, the rest of the mission was finally going back on track, with Stinger being able to provide Hammy with an opening to shut down the giant propeller and allow Champ to safely lower Naaga. And the bull robot did just that, Naaga landing precisely on top of the grate holding the stolen birthdays and directly in front of the greedy Daikaan.
"The best searcher stars in the galaxy. We come and go mysteriously, doing our dirty work. We are the BN Thieves...one half of the duo, Naaga Rei."
And while To-Me was still reacting to the thief, Naaga was able to latch onto the grate as Champ yanked the rope to send the silver ranger flying into the air. The Daikaan attempted to grab onto his prize, but Naaga was able to fling him off and, using his Kyu Sickle, destroy the grate and send all of the birthdays zooming back to their owners, declaring to all:
"Happy Birthday."
After clearing out the rest of the troops in the perimeter, with Champ called back to the Orion-Gou, the others had demorphed and met up with Karone and Balance nearby, the latter of which was skipping and skidding in joy. "Minna, big thank you desu~!"
"Balance, has your birthday returned as well?" Naaga asked, looking almost hopeful in his expression.
"You betcha! Let's have a big party once he Daikaan's defeated!"
And as if it was speaking of the devil, To-Me was stumbling towards them, still dizzy from his unexpected flight and fuming at the loss of his stolen prize. "You've made a mess of my birthday! You're nothing but cruel people!"
"Right back at cha', ugly!" Balance teased.
"I will defeat you, and I will celebrate alongside Balance!" Naaga roared as the team re-prepped for battle.
Hebitsukai/Tenbin Kyuutama! SAY! THE CHANGE! "Star Change!"
"The ultimate saviors! Uchuu Sentai!"
"Kyuuranger!"
"Let's test your luck!"
Swinging his twin blades madly, the Daikaan charged headfirst into battle, intent on cutting the Rangers down. Any close combat was quickly met by the team, with Naaga managing to lock his blades while Balance activated his finisher, shooting into the sky and raining down a horde of energy arrows from above, Hammy quickly acting as a counter-attacker.
And when To-Me tried long-range energy strikes, Lucky and Stinger fought in tandem to dodge and double team the Daikaan, overwhelming him before the two customs rained fire-charged slashes down and reconvened with the rest of their group.
"Alright! For stealing the happiness of others, here's a little birthday present from us!" Balance proclaimed.
GALAXY! "All-Star Crash!"
And with the birthday Daikaan defeated, Balance taking over the 'Good Luck' catchphrase, phase one of the battles was complete.
"Good luck with the Moraimaaz, guys. I'll be at a vantage point if you need me!" Prism called, running off toward a nearby building while the others summoned/formed their Voyagers, forming Kyuurenn-Oh in the process.
As most Daikaan tended to do in this situation, To-Me's badge started glowing, and he turned giant, declaring that the Kyuurangers celebrated his birthday while defending his base. At first, the odds seemed to be in the saviors' favor, with Karone managing to corner the Daikaan while Kyuurenn-Oh lept over his head and onto the other side.
However, to their confusion, the Daikaan seemed to be...foaming at the mouth?
Made even stranger was when the 'foam' started spreading and his limbs retracted, turning him into a massive spinning projectile zooming their way, flinging its white substance everywhere.
While the attack didn't cause damage, both the kitsune mech and the Megazord both stumbled back and found themselves covered in a foam substance, comprising the view in the cockpits, or in Karone's case, eyes and making it difficult to counter. To-Me, being the cheap shot that he was, used the blindside to his advantage, managing to knock both opponents back to the ground.
Prism, watching from a rooftop nearby, realized that yet another scene had changed, as Kyuurenn-Oh hadn't landed near the water tower that would clean off the foam from the show. Starting to panic slightly, not helped by seeing her kitsune friend injured and anxious at not being able to see, the white Kyuuranger then noticed a new development.
Namely, the lilac flashing of the Alicorn Kyuutama.
"*Gasp* Yes! It's ready!" Prism cheered, before calling up comms and appearing on the dashboard of the cockpits. "Balance! You ready for another present?"
"Huh? Kingston is now really the best time?!" Hammy yelled back, a little confused and agitated already.
"Trust me, Hammy, I think you'll all be glad to see this. Reinforcements are on the way!"
Alicorn Kyuutama! SAY! THE GO!
Catching this over the comms, the Kyuurangers gasped in shock, even Stinger seeming a little surprised, as the light purple kyuutama cockpit materialized in front of the outsider, before shooting up into the sky, also catching the Daikaan's attention. Much like Karone before, a light began to morph and shape around the giant kyuutama, taking shape.
And with a neigh ringing through the air, Prism's custom blaster called: Alicorn Voyager!
The new Voyager was indeed a lilac alicorn, the cockpit lodged into the back much like Kitsune, with a dark purple mane and tail, beautiful wings spread from its barrel, and a horn was protruding from its head.
A detail which was quickly put into effect as the alicorn galloped with its head down, stabbing the Daikaan and sending it flying back from its allies, before bucking and whinnying at its success. But after hearing a sharp whistle, the horse-like Voayger turned to see Prism waving again to catch its attention.
"Oi! Alicorn! Incredible entrance, but would you mind lending them a hand?!" she called, pointing to her downed teammates, who were still struggling to stand with their vision skewed.
Eager to please, the horse bobbed its head and trotted back towards the Kyuurangers, before once again lowering its head as its horn began glowing a similar purple light from before. And as the glow culminated and reached the tip of the horn, the amethyst-colored alicorn reared its head back before blasting water at the mechs like a super soaker.
"Woah! Hitakore! She's cleaning it off!" Hammy awed. And indeed, the Megazord and Kitsune were quickly cleaned up from the foam, Lucky cheering his catchphrase and Karone yipping and wagging her tails in thanks, much to the Daikaan's shock at his failed strategy.
"Remember that birthdays only happen once a year!" Lucky teased, with the now trio of mechs laying waste to the Daikaan.
"Balance, let's finish this together," Naaga proposed, with Balance happily agreeing as the two uncoupled from the Megazords and formed their mini Voayger configurations, before double kicking To-Me straight into his Moraimaaz.
"Let's end this little shindig!" Balance cheered as the upper halves of both of their Voyagers lowered, their cockpits charging with energy aimed right for their target.
"Happy Splash!"
And as the two re-docked with Kyurenn-Oh, the birthday thief was finally destroyed, Naaga taking over the universe catchphrase while Balance cheered. But soon enough, all eyes were on the Alicorn Voyager as she once again neighed in victory, while its lilac kyuutama flashed alongside it.
Grinning excitedly, Prism aimed straight for the new mech before triggering the transformation.
SAY! THE CHANGE!
The Kyuurangers, now understanding the process, watched in anticipation as a light purple henshin star zoomed toward the now glowing Alicorn Voyager, the light shrinking and morphing to look more humanoid. When the glow finally touched solid ground near Prism, the kyuutama unplugged itself from the custom blaster and flew to the bright hue.
And in a white flash, there stood yet another new Kyuranger.
Light purple, the star sphere showing an alicorn, a skirt, the visor of an alicorn with its head turned to the side, the visor's horn sculpted into the helmet. And much like Raptor, beautiful wings the same shade as her suit coming from her back, though slightly larger while still avian-like in form.
The new Kyuuranger then started in a sequence like that of Kamen Rider Wizard before announcing herself as: "Magic Star! Alicorn Amethyst!"
Squealing in delight, Prism immediately ran up to the amethyst ranger and took her hands into her own while demorphing to look her in the eye. "Oh my gosh, you look beautiful! You definitely share that with Karone."
"Thank you very much, Kingston," the new ranger spoke, sounding polite and almost regal in her voice. "I'm so thrilled to be a part of this team alongside you."
"Welcome to the team, Amethyst!" Lucky called on their blasters. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but Kingston, we still have one more mission left!"
"Ehh~? Are you guys skipping out on me?" Balance voiced.
"Not in this or any lifetime, buddy," Kingston assured. "Lucky and I have one last errand to finish before we leave. But we'll be back in time to celebrate, I promise!"
"Promise?" Naaga asked next, sounding slightly confused.
"Oh, right, um, I'll explain that when we get back, Naaga, don't worry. Amethyst, I'm so sorry to do this, but I still have some things planetside to finish. I promise to try to be quick, could you go back to the ship with the others please?"
"Of course, Kingston. I can use the time to rest and become acquainted with my new teammates after all," Amethyst replied, giggling. "I know I will see you soon. Safe journey, and best of luck to both of you!"
And with another white flash of light, the amethyst Kyuuranger flew back into her kyuutama ad zoomed toward Kitsune, who grabbed the small globe in her mouth before wagging her tails and zooming off through the atmospheres with the remaining Rangers. Meanwhile, Shishi Voyager hovered down, and ejected the cockpit, landing the now demorphed Lucky down next to Kingston.
"Well then, shall we?"
As the two Kyuurangers searched for their new Kamen Rider friend, Kingston using her memory of the show as a compass of sorts to figure out where their target would live in their world, the two managed to find, by some miracle, the hospital that Emu and his team worked. Seito University and Hospital, better known as the home base of the Kamen Riders, the branch of CR.
During the whole trip, Kingston kept the pink gashat near her at all times, not wanting to risk losing it. But despite the circumstances, both teammates were excited to see their new friend so soon, while maybe having their mini adventure as well.
"Whoa, this place is nice. You can barely see the Moraimaaz on the horizon here!" Lucky observed. And indeed, even the tips of the towering Jack Matter mobile bases were barely visible over the city skyline, as Emu's city thankfully didn't have any operating troops from the Space Shogunate.
"Yeah, very true. Most of the Kamen Riders seem to have dodged the worst of the damage Jack Matter caused, but a lot of them have their own lives and issues to handle. Not to mention there's still the Bugster virus to deal with in Emu's case. Most of the time, Kamen Riders tend to work behind the scenes, instead of making themselves known to the world or universe in our case-like us. Of course, there are exceptions on both sides, but the point still stands. I just hope they were all able to steer clear of Jack Matter's radar."
"Speaking of Ex-Aid, how are we going to find him?" Lucky interjected curiously.
"Well, normally I would say it would take a lot of luck, but knowing you, it won't be all that hard."
"Hmm...Ah!" Lucky exclaimed, pointing to a stairway that led to a rooftop. "Why don't we go up there so we can have a better view?"
And so the duo of Kyuurangers made there trek to the top. A climb that was well rewarded, as the pair were met with an exciting sight nearby.
For who they saw was the very target of their mission, Houjou Emu himself, who seemed to be holding another one of his gashats, but which one was hard to tell from so far away. Alongside him was a young woman with short auburn hair, dressed ina nurse uniform and wrapped in a yellow coat, who Kingston recognized as the Riders' upbeat and bubbly companion, Poppy, in her human disguise as Asuna.
Facing off against the two were three humanoid monsters, having a sort of fantasy like feel around them but not Jack Matter based. Kingston immediately recognized them as well, identifying them as Bugsters, one of the CR Riders' main opponents throughout most of their run. The three in question were the Backsou Bike villain Motorz, the AI opponent of Gekitoutsu Robots, and the final villain of Giri Giri Chambara, Kaiden.
And doing the math, the two Kyuurangers then realized that Emu had a three on one fight on his hands. Giving them a perfect excuse to jump in.
"Yosha Lucky! I see someone could use a hand!" Lucky cheered, saluting and gaining all parties' attention.
"Kingston, deciding to play along, waved happily toward the hero as well. "Hi again!"
Emu almost instantly recognized the two, while Asuna still needed some catching up on the new contenders.
"The name's Lucky! The luckiest guy in the universe!"
"You can call me Kingston! A pleasure to meet you! Mind if we lend you a hand?"
The Bugsters, also hearing this, didn't seem too fond of more enemies in their battle. The trio retaliated by forming a mismatched three-way cannon out of their weapons, blasting fireballs toward the roof and throwing the two off balance. Until finally, one of the blast radii managed to throw Lucky off the roof, sending him plummeting to the concrete, much to Emu and Asuna's horror. Thankfully, Kingston managed to dive after him and, using her flight skills from Raptor, managed to hook under his arms and safely stop his descent, just barely keeping him from landing on a random power up.
"Yosha Lucky! Thanks for the save, Kingston!"
"Yeah, well, it would be a little easier if you weren't so frickin heavy!" the outsider strained, gently lowering her red to the ground. "But still, anytime."
Running up to the now relieved CR duo, Emu looked intrigued by the bonus players, happily accepting their help as Asuna ran for cover, and the three prepped for battle.
Shishi/Amagawa Kyuutama! SAY! THE CHANGE!/MIGHTY BROTHERS! DOUBLE X!
"Star Change!" "Henshin!"
DOUBLE GASHATTO! GACCHAN! LEVEL UP! MIGHTY BROTHERS! X!
While the Kyuurangers were still in their usual hero attire, Ex-Aid's chibi form was now dual colored with alternating patterns of red and blue, and the helmet's 'hair' was somehow even spikier. While the three Bugsters were still recovering from the slight shock and trying to look tough, Ex-Aid was treated with a little surprise as the two began their Sentai rollcall.
Lucky, spreading his arms before giving a thumbs up: "Super Star! Shishi Red!"
Kingston, flourishing her cape before hopping in place and ending in a boxing pose: "Shooting Star! Amagawa Prism!"
"Wow..." Emu awed, leaning back in wonder, "Now that's cool! Let me try!"
"Kamen Rider Ex-Aid! Level X!"
Although the final pose of his arms spread to look like an X seemed a little less fresh and a little more awkward, causing Prism to giggle before catching the Bugsters in her peripheral.
"I think we can handle three on three," Lucky bet confidently, the Bugsters growling in anticipation.
However, Emu stopped the red ranger, a smirk in his tone. "Actually, its four on three now."
Prism, catching on, gasped in excitement and pulled Lucky back, allowing Ex-Aid the space he needed for the next stage. And closing the lever, spinning his arms and shouting "Daaaii~ Henshin!" he pushed the gear back out, and a new callout rang through another pop-up screen.
GACCHAN! DOUBLE UP! ORE GA OMAE DE! OMAE GA ORE DE! WE ARE! MIGHTY! BROTHERS! DOUBLE X~!
After the screen swept through and added Ex-Aid's power-up, what stood before Lucky and Prism was not one, but two new Riders. Both blue and orange, the complete and alternate mirror of the other. The orange, or right side, had a brasher and confident air to him, while the blue, or left side, seemed calmer and focused if a tad quieter.
"Whoa! Two of you?! Not bad!" Lucky awed, taking in every detail. Prism meanwhile was still internally fangirling, but still trying to stay focused on the fight with debatable success.
Both riders then pulled out their weapons, the blue one pulling out the Breaker from earlier, while the orange one pulled out a sword closer to their design, called the Gashacon Key Slasher. "We'll clear this..." "With super co-op!"
"Now that sounds like fun!" Prism declared, pulling out her Kyu Keys while Lucky assembled the Kyu Sword.
"Time to test your luck!"
The fight itself was pretty straightforward, one hero per Bugster, with Prism joining the Gamer brother in his battle against Kaiden. All of the Bugsters were having no small difficulties handling them, finding the heroes displaying superior fighting skills despite the supposed level gap.
They were even entertaining each other during the fight, Gamer smacking Kaiden's foot with his sword and causing Prism to giggle.
She, in turn, reciprocated the offer by stopping Kaiden's fist from colliding with Gamer's torso, using her newfound telekinesis, and used the momentum to punch his face, Gamer laughing as Kaiden stumbled back.
Prism's red lion ally was also winning in his fight with Motorz, the bike villain a joke to handle in melee combat, while the doctor brother was using his agility and landing some hits on the Gekitoutsu Bugster. Eventually, however, the two higher level Bugsters were tired of the tedious battle and made a hasty retreat, much to Prism's disappointment at the fun being over so soon.
"Hey! They got away!" Lucky and Motorz shouted, both voicing their shock while Prism just shook her head in exasperation.
"*Sigh* Lucky," she prompted. And catching the hint, Lucky refocused on his target and managed to smack Motorz forward, leaving him vulnerable for the Mighty Brothers to land a double strike. "Thank you."
"Let's beat Motorz first," Gamer proposed, and following his lead, the three raised their swords, Prism using her two keys, and began the final charge.
"Let's Dino Charge his ass!" Prism yelled, and with that, the four unleashed a five-way energy strike, landing dead on and causing significant damage.
But taking after his team's example, the heavily damage Motorz retreated into his host to recharge, revealing a young woman in a hospital gown and a red bandana headband, clutching her stomach in pain. Thankfully, Asuna managed to handle taking care of her while the now demorphed heroes reconvened.
"Thanks, Lucky, Kingston. You really saved me back there."
"Anytime," Lucky replied. "Wait, don't you have any friends that can help you out?"
But while Kingston winced slightly, recalling Ex-Aid's allies and questioning the accuracy of such, Emu smiled and answered without a second thought. "I do. I have three friends I can rely on."
Those words caused Kingston to grin with pride. One of the qualities she admired about Emu was his unrelenting acceptance, his willingness to accept anyone for who they are, no matter what their backgrounds and personalities were like, while still managing to make a difference in the world by merely being himself. It was a quality that he shared with Lucky, now that she thought about it.
"Still, they must be pretty big slackers if they left you hanging like that. Shame on them," Kingston teased, giggling at Emu's look of shock towards her reply. "But they must be pretty special if you see them as friends, so I guess they can't be too bad."
"She's right. It's good to see you have faith in them," Lucky added. "Oh! Right! Speaking of which, we had something to give back to you. Kingston, do you still have it?"
And while Emu's face twisted in confusion, it quickly turned into surprise when Kingston fished into her pockets and pulled out his pink Mighty Action X gashat, holding it out with a smile.
"You found it?!" Emu gaped, snatching it in a hurry. "But how did you-"
"Let's just say it was a mix of a happy accident and luck," Kingston interrupted. "But we knew we had to bring back home. And hey, it also gave us an excuse to see you again, right?"
Emu grinned his goofy smile again, yet another quality he and Lucky shared. As this happened, Asuna came back towards the three, having managed to safely return the patient to her room, wanting to glean more information on just how Emu even knew these strangers. However, that hope was dashed by Kingston's shy side kicking in as she had another fangirl gasm.
"Um, *ahem*, h-hi. I'm Kingston, and its such an honor to meet you. Um, but would it be alright if I used your um, you know, 'other' name?"
And with two looks of surprise and one of slight confusion, Kingston decided to take that as a no for now. "Um, anyway, Lucky and I came by to give back Emu's gashat, and I guess we sorta just got caught up in all this. I'm sorry if we rubbed you the wrong way, we meant no harm."
"Daijobu, Asuna-san," Emu reassured, coming up behind the two Kyuurangers. "These are the two that summoned me earlier, and she's the one wo came up with that Jack Matter plan I was telling you and Hiiro-san about earlier."
"Eh? That was you?!" Asuna gaped, causing Kingston to blush deeper and chuckle embarrassing.
"That's Kingston for ya! She's always coming up with some idea or another in that head of hers!" Lucky interjected, high fiving the young customizer before a thought crossed both their minds. "Ahh! Kingston, we have to get back! The party's gonna start soon!"
"Emu, Asuna, we're sorry to leave like this, but we have a few friends of ours waiting for us. It was great seeing you again though! Oh! And good luck against the Bugsters! Matana!" Kingston called as the two ran off, and the CR pair watched as the massive Shishi Voyager swooped down and scooped them up, before fading into the distance.
"Emu, just who were those two?" Asuna inquired.
"To be honest, I have no clue. But I get the feeling things are going to be a lot more interesting with them around."
"Happy Birthday, Balance!" The crew cheered, popping their streamers and accidentally spooking Naaga.
"Domo Domo thank you desu~!" Balance cheered, bowing and loving every second of the praise. But he quickly realized that two guests were unaccounted. "Hey, Kingston, where's Karone and the new girl? Wouldn't want them to miss out on the fun."
Lighting up in excitement, Kingston bolted towards the main door and poked her head out, calling for her two custom rangers to join the fun. And with Karone ushering the new addition, in walked the civilian form of Alicorn Amethyst.
A young woman with a kind smile and lilac purple eyes walked in, with indigo hair with magenta and purple stripes. Her hair was also incredibly long, so much so that she held it in a ponytail, the ends of which were long enough to act as a makeshift tail. Her hair also partially hid a small horn towards her widow's peak, light purple and twisted with elegant patterns.
Her outfit depicted a long-sleeved purple dress decorated with white and gold sparks reaching her knees, a light purple Rebellion jacket, a silver necklace with a charm of a magic wand, a purple and gold Seiza Blaster, an amethyst bead bracelet with a charm of an alicorn, purple fishnet stockings and gloves, and purple boots with a white fur trim.
Her jacket also had slits in the back to allow her wings to stretch, looking almost like Washi Pink except slightly more extensive and the same color as her horn.
"Goisu, aren't you a pretty pony," Balance praised as the others stared in awe, Kingston and Karone practically beaming. "Have you decided on a name yet?"
"Not quite yet. But seeing as it is your birthday, Balance, did you have any suggestions?"
"Oooh~, little ol me huh? Hmm, let's see now. Ahh! I know! Kingston, what was the name of the story you were telling Chan-Hammy and me earlier?"
"Oh, um, Alice in Wonderland?"
"Yeah, that's it! Alice! What do you think?"
The amethyst ranger smiled brightly, clasping her hands in joy. "I think it sounds lovely! Thank you very much, Balance!"
"Ahh, domoi desu~! Now, with everybody here, anyone got any presents?"
The others immediately perked up, gathering together sans Stinger and Shou, around Naaga while the golden thief turned around, giddy with anticipation. But while they prepped, Kingston took the time to come up and whisper, "Hold out your arm, please."
And to Balance's delight, Kingston placed another bracelet around his wrist, with sparkly gold beads and a silver charm of the Libra scales. "Happy Birthday, buddy," the outsider grinned, the two sharing a hug before she smirked. "Now turn around for your big present."
Gleefully complying, Balance then tilted his head in confusion as Hammy and Raptor held Naaga up, whose head was covered by a giant box for some reason.
"Se, no: Ta-da!"
And pulling the streamers down, Naaga, with a ribbon tied into his hair, proclaimed, "Balance, Happy Birthday. I am happy for you," before smiling, albeit a bit stiffly, from ear to ear.
"We all helped him practice!" Lucky cheered, Kingston coming up behind the birthday boy with a smile.
"I was wondering what it would be...a smile for a present, huh?" Balance inquired, Naaga's smile still faltering slightly. However, the golden thief turned back to his partner before leaping into his arms in a hug. "I would've preferred treasure, but this is a pretty big treasure to me! Thank you desu~! Naaga, thank you!" he cheered, Naaga hugging back while trying to balance the 'costume' he was still wearing.
"So, how old are you, Balance?" Hammy asked, Kingston smirking at the answer.
"Oh, me? I'm 300 years old now!"
To say the others jaw-dropped was an understatement, Spada frantically turning to Stinger with a bowl of candles for assistance. "Well, you don't look a day over 200," Kingston complimented.
"Aww, thanks. But still, I'm the youngest member of my people," Balance added with a bow, Naaga nodding with a sly look.
"Che cavolo, I don't have enough candles for that!" Spada moaned.
But before Lucky was about to volunteer to find more, Alice suddenly spoke up.
"Please, allow me," she replied, before closing her eyes and holding up a hand. And as horn and fingers started glowing a violet hue, the light shot from her outstretched hand and smacked into the candles, causing them all to float and spin in the air. And with a snap, the candles collided into each other and transformed into number candles, shaped as three and two zeros, painted gold with purple trim and covered in silver and purple sparkles.
"Ahh~, this is perfect! Grazie, Alice!" Spada thanked, Alice, beaming with pleasure while her fellow customs side hugged her.
And as the candles lit on the three-tier strawberry cake, Kingston grinned towards her team, catching their looks of excitement and pleasure, some more so than others.
As she shed a single tear.
Later that night, with the three kyuutamas placed on her desk, the outsider combed through her journal, waiting for a particular visitor to arrive. And right on cue, in walked Naaga, having discarded his present costume and looking slightly curious as to why the young girl had wanted to see him.
"Kingston, you wished to speak with me?"
"Oh! Hey buddy, um, yeah I did," she replied, wiping her eyes and setting aside her journal before gesturing for him to take a seat next to her. Doing so, she smiled and began addressing the Hebitsukian's curiosity.
"Alright, now, I called you here to congratulate you. And for that, I had a little gift for you."
"A gift for me? But it is not my birthday."
"Hehe, it's not because of that. I made this for you for reaching a significant milestone today. Hold out your arm."
Still, a little conflicted but doing as asked, Kingston's smile softened as she slid on, of course, another bracelet, decorated with sparkling silver beads and a curing snake with a smile and sticking its tongue out.
"I still do not understand," Naaga continued, "why are you giving me this?"
"Because, Naaga, though you may not realize it, you learned an incredible emotion today."
"I did?" Naaga perked up, looking almost surprised if a tad angry by mistake. "What emotion did I discover?"
"Its an emotion that is hard for some people to show, no matter who they are, but you have gone above and beyond with it. You learned what's called empathy."
"Empathy? What is that?"
"The ability to share and understand the feelings of another. In your case, you showed empathy when you wanted to celebrate Balance's birthday with him, and in turn, share his joy. Empathy is a huge milestone for learning your emotions, Naaga. And you learned that all by yourself. So, I made the bracelet as a congratulatory present."
Naaga's eyes widened as he placed a hand on his heart. Had he really gained such an essential emotion as this?
"Omedeto, Naaga. I am so proud of you," Kingston congratulated, smiling brightly.
But Naaga still seemed a little reserved, as if pondering something. "Is something wrong?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Kingston, do you care about us?"
Slightly taken aback, the outsider immediately answered, "Of course, Naaga. With every atom of my being."
"The same way you care about those people in the photos?"
This time the shock was written all over her face as she jaw-dropped, before catching a glimpse of her open journal and started piecing things together. "Did you go through my journal?"
"Yes. I asked Karone for permission beforehand. Was I overstepping my boundaries?"
"Oh no no, it's ok. I guess I never said it was off limits. Thank you for asking permission, but um. To answer your first question, yes. I care about all of you the same way I do those people."
"Who are they?"
"...Friends. Extraordinary friends. More like siblings to me, really. They mean the world to me, and I would do anything for them."
"Even go back home to them?"
That was the final piece she needed, aided by Naaga looking almost reserved like he was afraid of her answer if he could show it. "Ohhk, I think I see what this is. Naaga, are you asking me if I would leave you to go home?"
"You seem to show pain whenever you think of them, and you're always telling us stories from your universe. It seems like a logical result to want to return to the ones who care about you. Did I misinterpret?"
"N-no, Naaga, no. Not at all," Kingston reassured, taking a deep breath. She tried to let the words and meaning piece together in her mind, trying to come up with an answer to best fix the situation. And after what seemed like an eternity to Naaga, even though he knew it was only a few seconds, the outsider raised her head and flashed her trademark grin.
"Well, I suppose it depends on the question."
The look of confusion came back in a hurry. So Kingston elaborated.
"If you were asking me would I want to go home for a day, then yes, I would. But only if I had a way to come back here. I would spend that day saying goodbye to everyone, tell them I'm alive, I'm ok, I'm not suffering or in pain. Maybe take some things with me that I left behind. But most of all, let those I left behind know that I haven't forgotten any of them, I'm always thinking about them, and I hold every one of them in my heart.
'But if you're asking me if I want to go home permanently and never come back, then my answer would be absolutely not. You're right in thinking I care about those people with me in the photos. They, my blood family, my other friends, they will always be a part of me and my life. But that does not mean that all of you haven't become a part of my life now. In fact, I've become closer to you guys than I ever thought possible.
'The people I left back home, they'll always be a part of me. But so will all of you. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon Naaga. I promise."
"Promise?"
"Oh right, um, I almost forgot I was gonna talk to you about that. Um, a promise is between people as a way of assuring someone will do something, or something will happen. In our case, I promise you that I am not going to leave you or anyone else on this ship behind. You're my friends. My ohana."
"Ohana?"
"It's a word that's from an island state where I live. Put simply; Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten."
And, while not quite close to the one he gave during the party, Naaga smiled as well, before hugging the young girl. "Thank you, Kingston."
But while she hugged him back, Naaga noticed the journal in the corner of his eye and caught a glimpse of another picture.
It was a past entry, but it also shared the day's date, with a photo of Kingston and one of the girls from before, a younger girl with long brown and golden hair, the two of them smiling and holding up peace signs with a pink banner in the background.
But the most prominent detail was what read underneath the picture, in big letters.
Happy Birthday, Pixie
Oh my god, I think I hit myself in the feels just now. Anyway, sorry this one took so long, part of this got deleted mid editing, and I had to rewrite for hours. But it was worth it, and while I know this episode had some more negative qualms toward fans, I still adore this one, and I love how it came out.
Next few chapters though, well, those are gonna be a doozy. Why? Well, you'll understand soon enough.
But anyway, that's for next time. Alice! If you please?
Alice: Certainly! Please read and review, and thank you so much for taking the time to enjoy our adventures!
See you soon everybody!
JAA NA!