Alright, just so everyone knows, if you follow my DeviantART account where I post the pictures of all the Riders who will be appearing in this story, you'll know that I am planning a sort of sub-story for Fourze that will tie him into the main story-line. As such, since I haven't got the first chapter of Kuuga's arc set yet, I'll leave you guys with this. This "Interlude" of sorts deals with an OC Rider that is based in Fourze's universe. I won't spoil any further details for you, so… ON WE GO!
INTERLUDE FOURZE! EP1: Dancing Alien!
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"YOSH! IT'S THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!"
Several students of the prestigious Amanogawa High School looked around, hoping to see a green-clad brute with bushy eyebrows* standing at the gates of their school. They were sadly disappointed, however, when through the gate strode a young man with an odd-looking pompadour hairstyle. A black jacket, sporting an image of a dragon fighting a tiger on the back, sat overtop a white T-shirt, while baggy-legged black pants hung on his waist and pooled around his yellow sneakers.
Behind him strode bored- and frankly, quite annoyed-looking –boy with simple brown hair combed back neatly and a shorter young woman with waist-length black hair, both wearing the school's signature red uniform. The boy held a small object in his left hand, allowing his fingers to idly flick a small lever on the top of the device back and forth.
'Why is it that the simplicity of the clicking seems to settle me down?' the brown-haired boy thought to himself as he kept in stride with his more exuberant classmate. He watched as the other boy and the girl sat down on the lawn to talk. He stopped next to them, ignoring their inane conversation about youth and morning marathon runs to quietly scan the area with his eyes, observing everything. His eyes darted rapidly from student to student, nodding quietly to himself as he identified each and every one by sight alone…
Well, he could identify every student except for one: a young man, who stood by a picnic table in the middle of the main lawn. A quick cursory glance told the brown-haired boy that the object of his observation was tense and nervous, but further study told the brown-haired boy everything he needed to know: This guy was a new transfer student, and judging by the almost constant glances to his phone, he was waiting for someone important.
"Oi, Kengo," the black-haired boy's voice called, "What're you doing? Scouting for possible Switchers?"
"You don't waste time in ruining my morning observance, do you Kisaragi?" Kengo countered quickly, turning his attention quickly from the boy he'd been watching to his classmate, "And Yuuki, what is it you're doing with Burgermeal?"
The girl, Yuuki, who had been inserting and activating a switch inside a small hamburger-like device, quietly cheered when the device unfolded to reveal a robotic head and two small arms, and then looked at Kengo with a smile, saying, "Just setting him up for monitoring duty. If we can have him scanning the school grounds during class time, we can be warned if a Switcher is active while others are distracted!"
"And besides that, how many times have I told you to call me Gentaro?" Gentaro said, slowly rising, "We're buds after all. No need to be so formal!" Gentaro smiled broadly, causing Kengo to give him an annoyed look and turn around in a huff. Meanwhile, the boy Kengo had been spying on fidgeted with his cell phone.
"Come on, come on… it's been fifteen minutes! She was supposed to call ten minutes ago…" he said to himself, tapping his bare elbow. He felt his eye twitch behind his yellow-tinted shades, feeling the fabric of his V-neck T-shirt ripple against his skin while his tight-cut blue jeans clung to his legs like vice grips. Suddenly, his phone sprang to life, letting off a series of high-pitched beeps.
'A text?' the boy said, 'She must be around her friends…' He picked up the phone and flipped it open to read his new message.
"She's almost here?" he asked under his breath, looking up to the gate in time to see a large limousine roll up and stop. He watched as the back door opened, and stared as three young women and a muscle-bound teen boy stepped out. The girls sauntered along, with one linking her arm with one of the boy's. He saw all three girls pull out their phones and decided to test the waters. He picked up and started typing:
"Got your message… did you just step out of that limo?"
He waited for his phone to beep again and read:
"Yes. I can't see you anywhere; where are you?"
He smiled and typed back:
"I'm close by. If I remember right, you said you'd be the one with short, brown hair, cheerleader outfit, sports player on one arm?"
He waited and, at the beep, read:
"Yes… wait, where did you say you were?"
He looked up to see the one with the muscled boy start looking around frantically. He smiled.
'Gotcha!' he thought, walking over.
Meanwhile, with the girl, her frantic looks came to a grinding halt as the voice of one of her friends rang through her ears with a cry of "OH MY GOD! Who's that loser coming over here? Miu, looks like you've got another admirer!"
The girl being addressed looked over to admonish her curly-haired friend, only to catch sight of the boy walking over with a beaming smile on his face. Her eyebrows ratcheted up a few notches, one eye closing partway in a look of confusion. The boy's smile only grew larger.
"MEWMEW, I KNEW I RECOGNIZED YOU!" the boys called, breaking into a run as he shot an arm into the air to wave at Miu. Her eyes bulged and, as her arm dislodged itself from around that of the boy next to her, she broke into a run.
"MAKIMA, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" she shouted back, bearing down on him as he stopped in mid-step about three feet away from her. She hopped off one foot and lunged at him, landing right in his now open and waiting arms.
A ways away, the two screams and a torrent of thrilled laughter and giggling caught Kengo's attention. He looked over, and this time, when Gentaro and Yuuki looked over to see what he was looking at, they gasped at the scene before them, both knowing it wouldn't end well for the boy involved: Kazashiro Miu, the self-pronounced Queen of Ama High, was giggling happily in the arms of a skinny boy while he spun around in small circles… with her two friends and apparent boyfriend looking on in total shock. Gentaro took a quick look at the boy left behind by Mu and noticed a look of intense fury hidden behind a confused smile. He knew where that would lead, and decided to intervene… before an arm swung down in front of him, stopping his movement.
"Oh no you don't," another friend of his, a boy with scruffy brown hair in a tan trench coat, said in a timid voice, "I'd advise against going in there, Gentaro-san. Knowing how Daimonji-san is when he's mad, we should stay out of his business!" Gentaro smiled.
"Ryuusei, I know you haven't been here long enough, but I'm the man who'll befriend everyone in Ama High! I can't stand by and let a potential bud get pummeled!" Gentaro said before bolting through Ryuusei's arm and straight towards the inevitable fray.
'I'll give you marks for bravery and courage, Gentaro. But after that, I have to take them back for your stupidity and willingness to get yourself hurt,' Ryuusei Sakuta thought, hiding his calculating mind behind fake concern and a worried expression.
"We have to stop him!" Yuuki said, starting off in a dash. However, this time it was two figures, neither of them Kengo or Ryuusei, that restrained HER from moving farther than two feet.
"JK, Nadeshiko-san, why did you stop me? We have to go stop Gentaro-kun before he-" Yuuki found her though stopped short by Gentaro's shout of "YO!"
"-Never mind," she finished, slumping down to her knees on the soft ground. She had known Gentaro for years, and was always afraid his reckless abandon when it came to making friends, or in this case, saving possible new ones, would one day be the death of him. Kengo simply huffed and watched intently. Gentaro was about halfway to the danger zone when Daimonji crossed to the two in three, booming steps that brought Miu and her mystery friend out of their reverie.
"Miu, who's he?" Daimonji asked, clearly miffed, to say the absolute least. Miu tried to recover her composure, only for the mystery boy to remove his shades and smile.
"Oh, sorry about that, I forgot my manners! My name is Sanada; Maki Sanada," The boy said. Daimonji's face lost all of its former anger at this news.
"MAKI SANADA? AS IN THE POP SINGER AND FAMED DANCER?" He shouted at the top of his lungs, drawing the attention of almost every other girl and many of the boys to the area. As the crowd soon broke into a din of noise , many of the students requesting an autograph, Maki simply held up a hand, silencing the throng in one motion.
"Yes, I'm THAT Maki Sanada. I'm not familiar with anyone else who's as famous as me and shares my name, so…" Maki said, a drop of sarcasm in his voice. This sarcasm wasn't lost on Daimonji.
"Well, it's an honor to meet you! Daimonji Shun, captain of Ama High's American Football Team! My sister's a HUGE fan of yours!" Shun said. Maki smiled.
"Huh… really? I kinda figured I had a ton of fans around these parts… But I'm not one to let a fan down!" Maki said, pulling out a second cell phone. He quickly dialed a number and spoke with someone on the other line for a minute, then handed the phone to Shun, instructing him to give the person on the other end his name and mailing address. Shun warily did as asked, then hung up when the other end went dead and handed the phone back to Maki, asking what that was about.
"Simple; I just asked my agent to send a special "Sanada Overload" crate to your house. If your sister's as big a fan as you say, I doubt that she'll mind suddenly being the owner of every piece of merchandise I've ever put out… including a few things that never made it to shelves!" Maki said, a beaming smile spreading over his face, "Because like I said, I'm not one to let my fans down or leave their siblings hanging!" Shun gaped, but with a quick shake of his head, snapped back to normal.
"Well, as I said, it's an honor to meet you! But… what are you doing here at Ama? And how do you know Miu?" Shun asked. Maki's eyes bugged out for a moment, quickly closing moments later when he slapped his forehead.
"I KNEW I was forgetting something!" he said, "I'm taking an official break from the biz to finish my schooling. I stopped at the end of my second year after I was scouted. As it is, I need to complete my third year and graduate before I can allow myself to go back to showbiz!" He waited a moment, as if for dramatic effect, before continuing.
"And to answer your second question… Miu and I have been best friends since childhood. In fact… back when we were little kids, we were all the other had for companionship… It's a rather dark tale that would require sitting down to talk at length, which we clearly don't have time for. Why don't we catch up at lunch, Miu?" Maki asked. Miu smiled broadly and nodded vigorously. Shun's smile faded slightly, a hint of jealousness joining the anger he'd felt earlier.
'WHO DOES THIS NOBODY THINK HE IS?' Shun thought, 'NO ONE COMES UP AND TAKES WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY MINE! I'LL SHOW HIM THE MEANING OF RESPECT!'
"Hey Maki-san, Can I have a word with you alone?" Shun asked. Maki smiled and nodded, turning to leave with Shun when the boy's fist soared toward his face. Maki dodged to the side quickly and put a bit of distance between them.
"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, HOLD ON NOW! What is that about?" Maki asked. Shun didn't answer, but instead settled into his favorite stance: both legs bent at the knee with one closer to the ground, torso bent at the waist, one hand supporting his frame on the ground with only two fingers. Maki could tell as Shun charged him that even one of those would be dangerous.
However, no one on the grounds expected what came next. The other students watched as, in one fluid motion, Maki sidestepped and held a leg out, allowing Shun to run straight into it, tripping himself. Then, almost as quickly as he'd moved, Maki was behind Shun, applying just enough force in a kick to the other boy's back to plant the jock straight into the ground. Shun, who had been blinded by anger, couldn't understand how one moment, he was charging straight at the object of his fury, only to suddenly find himself face-first in the ground with a foot on the back of his head. Maki got on one leg, keeping his one foot on Shun's head, while placing his own head closer to Shun's ear.
"YOU SHOULD BE A LOT MORE CAREFUL OF WHO YOU ATTACK IN A BLIND RAGE, DAIMONJI," Maki said ominously, "Because regardless of what you think YOU'VE been through, I know for a fact that you haven't experienced what Miu and I have. Remember that." With that, Maki stood up and offered Miu his hand, which she took with a smile. The two walked toward Ama High's front doors, laughing and chatting all the way. The other students soon followed suit as the morning bells began to chime. In a matter of moments, the only one remaining was Shun, who remained on the ground for a few extra moments before an evil laugh escaped his lips.
"We'll see about that, Sanada. WE'LL DEFINITELY SEE ABOUT THAT."
~INTERLUDE FOURZE!~
Much later, after Maki had been introduced to his new class and home room teacher, Sarina Sonoda, He had proceeded to fit right in… with Gentaro and his group, to the absolute shock of most everyone in class. After class had ended, Maki and Gentaro had struck up conversation about masked heroes who fought for justice. Strangely, only Kengo found it odd that Maki had brought it up in the first place, but let it go.
Suddenly, he was forced to suppress the urge to strangle Gentaro when the pompadour-wearing youth said, "Hey Maki, wanna see our secret hideout?"
The reactions amongst those who knew of Gentaro's "secret" club were varied: Kengo was livid and visibly holding himself back from outright murdering Gentaro; Yuuki was both confused and terrified, but managed to hold herself together as she grabbed hold of Kengo's left arm to keep him from throttling the target of his rage; a shorter, black-haired Goth girl the others had introduced as Tomoko narrowed her eyes at Gentaro before aiding Yuuki in restraining Kengo; a boy with dirty-blonde wavy hair and a loud, gaudy hooded sweater under his uniform, who had been referred to as JK, simply stared at Gentaro with eyes that seemed ready to pop out of their sockets; finally, the last member of the immediate group, Sakuta Ryuusei, simply stood stock still, mouth gaping open at Gentaro. Maki blinked once, then twice, then a third time. The last member of their gang, a girl he'd been introduced to as Misaki Nadeshiko, had stepped out to use the facilities. Maki had caught a faint whiff of something… OFF with her, but had left it alone for the time being to continue his conversation.
"I think you may want to rephrase that statement, Gen-san," Maki said, grimacing a bit, "Because from where I'm sitting, you've got someone behind you who looks ready to dice you into little pieces!" Gentaro looked back to see the look of pure fury on Kengo's face. Kengo said nothing, but instead pulled himself free of Yuuki's and Tomoko's arms and left the room for parts unknown. Maki watched him go before hearing the alarm on his cell ring.
"CRAP! I've got to meet Miu!" he shouted, jumping up and dashing out of the room. Gentaro looked to the others just before Maki popped his head back into the room and said, "I'll have to take a rain-check on that tour for now, alright Gen-san?"
And with that, the boy vanished, leaving the motley crew of youngsters to their own devices.
Gentaro looked to the others and said, "I don't know what it is, but he gives off a weird vibe… like he's hiding something… Almost like you before you joined up, Ryuusei!" Ryuusei smiled and looked away.
'Is he looking to get a rise out of me? Is he TRYING to make me punch him again?' Ryuusei thought, his face grimacing slightly. He flinched as a hint of dark aura erupted behind him, and everyone turned as the lone Goth of the group narrowed her eyes at the door.
"I agree with Gentaro-san… he's not telling us something… and by the feel of the essence he left behind, it won't end well for him if he keeps it hidden…"Tomoko said cryptically. Everyone looked from her to the door. What was she talking about?
~INTERLUDE FOURZE!~
Elsewhere, a lone figure stood before a towering beast that resembled a humanoid scorpion. The creature extended a clawed hand and opened it, revealing a small, rounded object with a flat bottom and a single button on the top. As the figure reached out and picked up the object from the scorpion monster's hand, they pushed the small button on the top of the object, only to be soon engulfed in black flames while a set of brightly shining stars appeared in a seemingly random pattern. As the flames died down, the stars rearranged, setting down on the body, leaving a trail on one arm that ended with one on the back of his left hand. A crown sat atop the new being's head, sharp and jagged and seemingly scorched into its skull, while what appeared to be a long, flowing, tattered robe hung from its shoulders. The beast raised a hand to the sky and roared. When it looked away, the scorpion beast has vanished, leaving only a cryptic sentence in the air:
"MAKE A WISH ON THE STARS."
~INTERLUDE FOURZE!~
For the first time in two years, the students sitting in Ama High's cafeteria sat and ate in blissful peace. Normally, the air would be filled with cocky announcements of turf war between the delinquents and the jocks, which was almost always quashed by Shun punching the leader of the delinquent gang in the face, knocking him out, or snide comments from Miu and her two friends about every other girl in school, in voices JUST loud enough that everyone else could hear what they were saying over EVERYONE else.
But this day, things were different. Miu had left Shun and her two friends alone at the popular table to sit with Maki and catch up on what they'd been missing. It turned out Miu was plenty knowledgeable of Maki's rise to fame and stardom… what she wanted to know was what had happened during the two years between him leaving and his being scouted.
"Ah… yeah," Maki said, grimacing a bit, "That's kinda… painful for me. But I know you're my best friend and won't tell anyone, so…" Miu placed her elbows square on the table and rested her head with head chin between her hands, smiling happily to indicate she was ready. Maki sighed deeply and bowed his head.
"About a year after my parents dragged me away," Maki started, "things just kept going from bad to worse. Tou-san took to the bottle and kaa-san did whatever she could to keep him from going over the edge… but it just failed in the end. Around six months before I was scouted, we were in the car on the way to a function at his work when a tanker truck rammed into our car on kaa-san's side of the car. I remember seeing her face twisted into this bloodied mask of pain for three seconds before everything went black…" Maki stopped abruptly, eyes closed. The image had returned to him, bringing with it a fresh set of tears.
Maki smiled when Miu reached across the table and took his hands in hers as an act of comfort. He looked her in the eyes and nodded.
"Thanks, Mewmew, I needed that… it's never easy seeing her face like that…" Maki said, taking a deep breath before continuing, "It was hard for a while. My father managed to survive by some freak miracle, and apparently demanded that HE be placed in charge of the surgeries that gave way to my full recovery… I guess the only clear way to explain that one to you would be to do this…"
With that, Maki reached for his left wrist with his right index fingernail and swiped fast, making a single clean slice that strangely didn't bleed. Before Miu could inquire further, Maki grabbed hold of the inside of the open skin and pulled down, literally tearing the flesh away to reveal electrical circuits and mechanical parts.
Miu's reaction wouldn't have surprised Maki if she'd just simply screamed and backed away from him… but instead, her eyes locked on his arm, widening with each action he took, with little more than an audible gasp of surprise when he rolled the torn flesh back up to its rightful place, allowing it to stitch itself back together. Soon, no one would have been able to tell the difference.
"From what tou-san told me of the accident," Maki said, "the wreck destroyed most of my body. As it is, I shouldn't even be alive today. But thanks to tou-san's single burst of liquor-less quick thinking, my body was pieced back together in about twenty-seven-and-a-half hours of constant surgery. I was kept in the hospital for recovery purposes for several months after, and resumed school in Nagareboshi* High School. Then, toward graduation, I was scouted after a teacher overheard me singing in the boy's showers. Schooling was placed on hold from then on… and I've been doing showbiz since. About a year later, though, tou-san died."
Miu gasped again, and then asked, "What? How?"
Maki nodded again, then continued, "Seems that there was a spy for a rival company in his office who was smuggling their secrets to the other side. From what I know, when tou-san found out, he hunted the suspect down and attempted to take back his research… only to be shot point blank as soon as he got close. Two weeks later, I fronted the funeral service for both him and kaa-san, and… well, you know the rest."
~ELSEWHERE~
Gentaro was walking through the campus grounds with Yuuki when a terrified scream ruptured the air around them Gentaro looked to Yuuki, who returned his look of worry with one of her own, before both set off at a run. As they ran, Gentaro pulled out a strange-looking cell phone, dialed in a conference call and spoke in a determined tone:
"ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS OF THE KAMEN RIDER CLUB, WE ARE ENTERING A RED ALERT STATUS! YUUKI AND I ARE EN ROUTE TO THE TARGET DESTINATION; WE'LL MEET YOU THERE!"
~ELSEWHERE~
Ryuusei, having received the call on his cell, had told the others he'd help from the group's secret hideout, the Moon Base Rabbit Hatch, and run tactical aide. On his way to the designated location, he'd deterred and found a secluded spot.
"Sorry, but tactical battle isn't my specialty. Fortunately for all of you," he said, a hint of his calculating personality showing through, "I'm more than capable of a raw beat-down. M-BUS, henshin confirmed."
Taking a blue-and-black buckle from his coat pocket, Ryuusei placed the object on his waist, allowing the belt to materialize around his waist as he slid a small sliding switch to the left. As soon as he did this, a voice sounded from the buckle:
"METEO… REDII?"
Up in the depths of space, a lone satellite turned on its axis, the two double-hook-like sides extending outward to give the center room to rotate downward, enlarging into a fair-sized laser cannon.
Holding his arms out at his sides, Ryuusei moved them in a clockwise rotation, ending with his left hand above his right, over the right side of the buckle.
"HENSHIN!"
Ryuusei threw his left arm down, striking a blue, spherical lever on the buckle's side, sending the sliding lever sliding back toward the buckle's center.
The satellite fired a beam of blue light from the cannon which pierced through the planet's atmosphere, enveloping Ryuusei's body as he crouched down into a kneeling position. The energy surged and swirled, forming a star-studded suit of black armor with a single, three-pronged streak of shoulder armor and the appearance of a comet ringed in metal for a head, leaving only a pair of crimson eyes to stare coldly as the energy swirled closer, forming a ball of blue that safely encased his body as it leapt skyward and soared to the location of the threat.
~ELSEWHERE~
With the team now assembled, Gentaro nodded to Misaki, who nodded back. She stepped up to stand next to him. Both pulled out a pair of rather bulky buckles from their pockets and placed them on their waists. As a pair of belts formed around their waists, Gentaro flipped down four red switches on his white buckle, while Misaki flipped the only two on her blue one. Both flung their arms out form their left sides to their right, with their right hand on a small lever on the buckle's side while their left remained balled into a fist and held aloft next to their faces.
Two mechanical voices announced:
"SURII (THREE)"
The monster ahead of the two roared.
"TWO"
The small group behind the two cheered them on silently.
"WAN (ONE)"
"HENSHIN!" both boy and girl shouted as they threw their right hands forward, throwing the lever. Seconds later, a pair of metal rings erupted around them, spinning up to rest several inches over their heads as they thrust their right hands skyward, prompting a blast of smoke and steam to coat their bodies. Soon, those same hands swung down so sweep the smoke and steam away to reveal armor-clad forms, with Gentaro's helmet resembling a rocket, with a conical crown and two booster-like attachments off the sides of his head, while Misaki's resembled an alien, with two small antennae coming from the top of her head. The two bent down at the knees, squatting close to the ground with their arms bent at the elbow so their fists were close to their chins.
"UCHUUU… KITAAAAAA!*" Both shouted loudly, taking off at a run while throwing their arms into the air. Just as they prepared to attack, a small blue fireball flew out of the sky and arced, slamming into the monster before touching down in front of the two armored teens, revealing…
"METEOR!" Gentaro said from behind his mask.
"Kamen Rider… Meteor?" Misaki asked. Meteor turned around to face the monster.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" The monster demanded, roaring again.
Meteor simply huffed and, placing his right thumb along the side of his helmet, below his nose, said, "Kamen Rider Meteor. I…" here, Meteor pulled the thumb across his helmet in a downward arc so it ended over his left shoulder, "…Will decide your fate." With that, Meteor rushed in, throwing multiple jabs with both fists … to no avail.
Without so much as a word, Gentaro and Misaki rushed in each attempted to land a solid hit.
~ELSEWHERE~
Maki and Miu were still sitting at their table, laughing at almost nothing, When a sudden splitting pain ripped through Maki's head and left side. He knew what it was, but hoped Miu hadn't noticed.
"Ma-kun, what's wrong?" She asked, dashing his hopes wide open. He looked up with a grimace and pulled out a bottle from his pocket.
"A side-effect of the surgeries that kept me alive is a massive case of internal rejection. My body sees the mechanical portions within as part of itself, but doesn't see them as being natural. So, when it rejects its presence… the results are less than pleasant. As a result of this, I have to take what can only be called, for lack of a better term, … a mammoth-sized horse pill to keep the effect down," Maki said, opening the bottle to allow a single white pill about the size of his little finger and about as wide as his big toe to fall into his hand before continuing, "and I don't do well with pills at all… This could wind up taking me a while. Is it alright if I head to the men's room to force this thing down?" Miu took one look at the pill in Maki's hand and … almost imploded. However, she remembered that she had an image to uphold.
"Absolutely, Ma-kun, go ahead. I'll be waiting right here for you when you finish!" she said, Maki smiled and got up to leave. However, as he strode past Miu, he leaned down and gently kissed her cheek.
"I'm holding you to that, Mewmew!" Maki shouted as he darted off. Miu stood slowly and stared off after him, a little dazed. A hand slowly rose to touch her cheek as a beaming smile crept over her face.
However, as he approached the bathrooms, Maki took a detour, following the faint twinges of pain in his head as they aimed him toward another destination. Sure enough, as he slid to a stop behind a pillar, he stared out and shook his head. He was both relieved and saddened by what he saw:
Three armored heroes were attacking a large, crown-headed monster in a tattered robe on the grounds, ringed by a small set of supporters.
"There are Kamen Riders and Zodiarts are here as well? What the hell is going on here," Maki asked himself, as he took the pill and tossed it into his mouth. He wasn't going to lie to his oldest friend… at least, not any further than he already had. He had already lied about several things… his body's rejection of its non-human parts was one of them. However, the nature of his non-human parts was a BIG lie on his part… and he was forcing back the pain that came with lying to his oldest and dearest friend. Gathering his courage and steeling his nerves, he poked his head around the corner and watched.
The rocket-headed hero threw an amateurish punch that barely seemed to phase the beast, while from another angle, an antenna-headed female Rider held the beast in place with a large winch coming off a tether reel on her left arm. Through all this, the one with a head like a falling comet simply stood behind the beast, pummeling it with punch after furious, swift punch, to no avail. Maki shook his head again, this time in near shame.
"How can they call themselves Riders if they can't take this guy down? Compared so some others I've seen, this guy's a PUSHOVER!" He said under his breath, forcing himself to just stand and watch the completely one-sided beat-down that was to come.
Unfortunately, his nerves couldn't take it anymore when he watched the beast snap the line and haul off with a strong left hook… to the girl of the three. Maki could handle it when guys got hit; it was a part of a man's life to be hit in the midst of a serious fight!
But to see a woman get treated that way… it just rubbed him in ways that got his blood burning. He had to intervene.
It was to everyone else's surprise when a sudden shout of "OI!" caught the ears of everyone in the area, drawing the attention of the combatants and spectators to the pillar by the back entrance to the school's gym. Standing there, in plain view, was Maki Sanada, bearing a look of primal fury raging through eyes, once brown, that now bore a burning flame of rage.
"I don't give a damn WHO you think you are, Crown-Boy," he said, addressing the crown-headed monster, "BUT NO ONE HITS A WOMAN AND GETS AWAY WITH IT ON MY WATCH!" With that, he strode towards the battle scene.
To the four people watching from the sidelines, the idea to stop Maki from getting himself killed did indeed come to mind, but seeing the burning anger in his eyes told them one equally important thing:
"YOU TRY TO STOP ME, I WON'T HOLD BACK."
With that, the bystanders stepped aside, giving Maki room to pass.
However, Maki soon found a single hand on his arm to hold him back and half-turned on one heel to find Kengo holding onto him.
"Kengo-san, I appreciate that you don't want me to hurt myself like this… But you don't know everything there is to know about me. I'm not going to get hurt here. In fact, I think I've got more than enough to take him down JUST as I am," Maki said, easily shaking Kengo's hand off his arm. With that, he strode over to the battle field and motioned for the three armored heroes to step aside. He couldn't tell what their thoughts were, but they certainly differed.
Inside his suit, Gentaro had a confused, almost scared look on his face as he thought, 'what are you THINKING, Maki? You're going to kill yourself!"
In hers, Misaki stared at Maki with stunned eyes, wondering, 'Does he really want to die that badly?'
In his suit, voice disguised by the helmet, Ryuusei looked hard into Maki's eyes and saw what he intended to do. At this point, he shrugged his shoulders and turned around.
"Alright then, If that's what you want, newcomer. I'm certainly not going to stop you…" He said, walking away. In stark contrast to his declaration, however, there was only one thought running through his mind:
'I certainly don't want to wind up being a stop on your warpath by standing against you.'
Gentaro watched as the mysterious man in the Meteor Armor simply turned and walked away, and, after turning to give Maki a single glance, realized what Meteor was doing.
Turning and walking past Maki, Gentaro stopped by his left side and said, "While I'd do anything to help out a bud, I know what that looks means. I'm not going to stand against you, Maki. Go on ahead."
Maki recognized the voice right away and nodded, placing a hand on Gentaro's armor-clad shoulder as he smiled slightly and said, "Thanks, Gen-kun. You're a good friend." With that, he continued to walk until he was right in the path of the regal-looking monster. HE stood his ground, hands held square at his sides, balled into fists.
Misaki understood what was happening and moved, narrowly escaping another furious punch from the monster. However, no one was expecting Maki to grab the beast by its massive fist and punch it square in the stomach.
Three odd things happened with that punch. The first was that the beast actually staggered back a few feet and gasped, obviously winded. Second, when Maki lowered his hand to his side again, he didn't wince once.
But the third thing was only noticed by Meteor, who stared hard at Maki's hand and thought, 'No blood? How is that possible?'
And soon, everyone noticed the complete absence of blood on Maki's knuckles. Everyone stared in shock as the beast gathered itself and lunged again, this time swinging both hands forward for a pincer strike. Instead of hitting Maki's skull, however, the beast's fists slammed into each other before snaking their way to the creature's groin after a pained squeak escaped the monster. As it collapsed to the ground, the three heroes and their friends gaped at Maki, who appeared behind it shaking his left foot vigorously.
"I figured you'd be protected down there, but SERIOUSLY, that's some TOUGH armor!" Maki said, half praising, half mocking. The beast took a few minutes to stand up and gather itself again. Maki looked over at Kengo.
"If you're here, that must mean you've got equipment that can give me a few hints, correct?" he asked calmly. Kengo nodded and opened up a small briefcase he had laying next to him on the ground.
"It's the King Zodiarts, based on the constellation of King Cepheus! He's supposed to be extremely powerful!" Kengo shouted. Maki nodded. Outwardly, he showed no sign of emotion. In his head, he was furious.
'It HAD to be HIM. IT JUST HAD TO BE HIM!' Maki shouted in his head over and over again. As the King Zodiarts rose and fell repeatedly, Maki's fury only grew hotter and hotter. For a good five minutes, Maki's system of dodging and countering served him well.
It served him well until the King Zodiarts caught on to his plan and allowed Maki to send him tumbling again in order to land a punch. Maki slid back a few feet after the King Zodiarts' fist made contact with his cheekbone. Placing a finger to the bone, Maki winced slightly, and then dragged that same finger across his lip, only to pull it away with a large streak of blood on it.
"Ah hah… going that way, are we?" Maki asked, a little miffed that he'd let his guard down like that. With that, he waited for the King Zodiarts to rush him again. When it did, Maki did another incredible thing: With what seemed like a fair bit of effort, Maki hopped off one foot into a mid-air spin, allowing his feet to slam and rotate in the King Zodiarts's face, sending it flying onto its back several feet away.
Behind him, Meteor stared, vocalizing his only thought:
"Something's not right with this picture…"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Gentaro asked. Meteor turned to face him and shook his head.
"You honestly aren't seeing ANY of what's going on over there, are you?" Meteor deadpanned, "The guy has no visible muscles, appears untrained in the ways of martial arts, and has no Rider armor. Seeing as that's the case, HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN HOW HE'S ABLE TO HOLD OFF WHAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE ONE OF THE STRONGEST ZODIARTS OUT THERE, SECOND ONLY TO A HOROSCOPES?"
"OF COURSE I'M SEEING IT!" Gentaro shouted back, clearly insulted, "I just don't understand what's going on. I have insane amounts of trouble with even a low-powered Zodiarts before it hits Last One stage, and he's out there kicking butt… it's crazy… I just can't wrap my head around it." Meteor backed up a space.
'Maybe I've misjudged Gentaro… he always acts totally ignorant, but this… he's actually observing someone else's battle with an analytical eye…' Meteor thought to himself.
"I mean, look at how strong he is! I have to get him to train me!" Gentaro said. Meteor raised a single hand and slapped his armored face.
'…Or maybe I spoke too soon. He's just an idiot,' Meteor thought. He turned around to watch the fight again, only to see something that sent him falling on his rear.
Maki had locked his left leg around the King Zodiarts' right and pulled up in a kick, sending the King Zodiarts flying, before jumping up to deliver a two-legged axe kick that sent the King Zodiarts back to the ground. Then, with a crash, Maki descended back to earth to deliver a two-legged stomp to the King Zodiarts' skull, then hopped off in a reverse swan dive, staying almost entirely lateral as he landed on the ground between the King Zodiarts and the others, allowing his right foot to slide out a bit behind him, which took him down into a half-assed crouch.
~ELWHERE~
Miu sat at the table in the cafeteria.
With a quick gaze at the clock, she muttered, "Is he REALLY THAT bad with pills?" she checked her watch and noticed that there were only fifteen minutes left to lunch break.
"Maybe… I should go look for him… make sure he's alright…" she reasoned with herself, forcing herself to stand up and run off to the bathrooms.
~BACK AT THE FIGHT~
"That all you've got, King-boy? If so, that's really a shame. I thought you supposed to be a big, tough King Zodiarts. But you're no more than a wimp, compared to some of the other thugs like you that I've thrashed," Maki said, standing up. He watched as the King Zodiarts struggled to stand. Maki smirked, and then lightly tapped each of his palms. Raising both arms so they rested atop the opposite shoulder, Maki curled his middle and ring fingers in like claws while holding his thumb, index and pinky fingers straight out on each hand.
Kengo nearly lost consciousness when he saw what Maki was doing. In the boy's hands were Astro Switches, the technology that made Gentaro's Fourze armor possible… but Maki's were… ingrained in his hands?
Maki took a deep breath and pulled back the curled fingers on each hand, flipping the switches in his hands. At this, Maki took another deep breath as a robotic voice spoke from absolutely nowhere:
"UCHUU ENERUGI NO BAKUHATSU HENO KAUNTODAUN GA KAISHI: SURII (COUNTDOWN TO COSMIC ENERGY DETONATION START: THREE)…"
Maki stared at the King Zodiarts, which seemed to stare back at him, while lowering his arms to rest on their respective sides.
"…TWO…"
Gentaro, Misaki and Meteor stared from behind their helmets, shocked. Maki took another deep breath as he raised his arms back to their original positions along his shoulders.
"…WAN…"
"HENSHIN!" Maki shouted, flicking his curled fingers outward, flipping the switches again as he swung his arms back to his sides.
"UCHUU ENERUGI NO BAKUHATSU KAUNTODAUN GA CHUUSHI SAREMASHITA! HENSHIN JUUJI! (COSMIC ENERGY DETONATION COUNTDOWN ABORTED! HENSHIN ENGAGED!" the voice shouted. As Maki raised his arms once more, copious amounts of steam and smoke began pouring from his back while two mechanical rings erupted from his stomach. While one went down to his feet, the other shot upward past his head, allowing the smoke to wrap around his body.
Suddenly, as the rings vanished, the smoke and steam dispersed, revealing a being clad in a brown body suit and strange-looking silver armor on his chest and ankles. The Chest was adorned with a set of five skull decorations, arranged like a necklace, with one more above his groin and one under each knee. Each boot had a set of four claws on it, and coming off the belt were two identical flaps of metal-coated material. To the right side of its body were held its arms, the left one lateral so its hand could be used to support the right side under the elbow. The being held his right hand like a pretend gun, level to his face.
However, that was just what the others behind him could see. What only King Zodiarts could see was the helmet's face: a large green orb-like protrusion on the chin and two small ovular extensions on the sides of the head that resembled a gas-mask. On his head were three objects that resembled Mohawk-like obelisks, while the green eye plates were capped off at the top with six short antennae, three on each side of his face.
King Zodiarts gathered its faculties for a moment before a deep, booming voice bellowed, "KI-SAMA! NANI MONO DA? (YOU BASTARD! WHO ARE YOU?)"
~PLAY THEME: "DOUBT & TRUTH" – AXS~
The being ahead simply scoffed and pointed its right hand at the King Zodiarts, saying, "KAMEN RIDER… ALIEN. WATASHI NO KATTA NO SASHI KIZU DE SHINU TAMENO JUNBI! (PREPARE TO DIE BY MY CUTTER'S STING!" the being called Alien shouted, adopting a standing posture with no intent to attack or defend. The King Zodiarts simply scoffed.
"You expect to beat me like THAT? TRY AGAIN!" It shouted, rushing in to attempt a punch. It soon found itself flying into the air, where it was met with a series of rapid punches that sent it back into the ground. As King Zodiarts stood again, Alien landed on both feet and readopted his original posture.
"WHAT THE HELL?" King Zodiarts shouted, rushing in again to kick Alien in the head. Alien's response was to simply duck and perform something that might have been part of an ice dance: using the claws on his left boot as an anchor, Alien crouched low to the ground, and, using his heel for balance, spun around in a tight circle, holding his right foot out to repeatedly kick the King Zodiarts. After thirty seconds, Alien began to slowly rise up on his leg, his kicks rising higher and higher until he was kicking the Zodiarts' head.
With one final lateral kick, Maki extended both legs into a near-splits situation, launching the Zodiarts high into the air. Once again, as he'd done before, he leapt high; flipping in midair he delivered a powerful two-legged heel-drop kick, then followed the Zodiarts' descent and delivered a double heel-stomp to the sternum upon landing. Then, with another graceful leap, he removed himself from the struggling Zodiarts' frame and nodded to himself.
~BACK WITH MIU~
Miu had stopped at the bathrooms and asked a few of the boys from the football team, one with brown hair, one with black, and the other with brown, green-tipped hair, to see if Maki were there.
"Sanada-san? As in the new guy that came in today and embarrassed Daimonji?" the green-tipped one said, thinking a for moment.
"Yes, that's him! Have you seen him? He said he had to take some medicine and hasn't been back for roughly twenty minutes!" Miu said, sounding worried. The boys looked at each other.
"Well," the blonde said, "I actually just saw him shoot past the gym. He was tossing a pretty big pill into his mouth, muttering something about the taps not working in the bathroom. He dashed out back to see if the wash-up sink is working."
Miu nodded and thanked them, then ran off. The brown-haired boy looked at his friends and shook his head.
"Cho-kun, you sure we should have lied to her like that? If she finds out, she'll make our lives a living hell!" the brown haired boy said, looking at the boy with green-tipped hair.
Cho-kun looked to the other and said, "Knock it off, Kaza-kun. It's not as if Daimonji-san can't sway her away from that, right, Dai-san?"
Dai, the black-haired boy looked at his friends with a dark expression and said, "True… but if he finds out we were covering for his now sworn enemy, do you honestly think HE'LL let us off that easily?" All three looked at each other and shuddered, the thought of what their team captain would do scaring them to death. With that, they backed up several steps and darted off to find good hiding places.
~BACK AT THE FIGHT~
When the King Zodiarts slowly rose to its feet again, Alien chuckled, "HA HA! Looks like you're worth my time after all! Let's ramp up the stakes here, shall we?" With that, he reached for his hands. On his right, he pulled the switch's tab backwards, and then rotated it one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, then flipped it back on. The robotic voice from earlier returned.
"KATTA: ARUTA (CUTTER: ALTER)!"
With that, a wickedly curved blade erupted from Alien's right hand, which he then tossed skyward. Reaching for his left hand, he did the same thing.
"SUTINGA: ARUTA (STINGER: ALTER)!"
Moments later, a long whip shot from Alien's left hand, which he cracked several times as he caught the sword.
"Remember what I said about "My Cutter's Sting?" Alien asked, tossing both weapons toward each other. A ball of white light erupted around the two. When Alien placed his hand to the light and pulled, only the sword emerged. However…aside from the presence of a trigger and guard on the handle, it seemed different to the Zodiarts somehow…
It was only when Alien swung the blade, allowing it to split into close to one hundred sections that the Zodiarts realized what had happened… and then the end of the newly formed whip-bade struck his arm. Reeling back from the hit, the Zodiarts looked at Alien, who was now spinning the blade over his head in a spiral.
"Are you ready to die, Zodiarts?" Alien said calmly, swinging the blade in wide arcs. The blade's last fifty sections all managed to land continuous hits on the Zodiarts' hide, with the last swing of fifteen finally knocking it onto its back. With that, Maki pushed the trigger backwards, summoning the sections back to each other and into the handle, where they recombined into one. Tossing the blade high, Alien turned the two switches in his hands off and removed them, then, as he caught the sword, inserted the switches into the sides of the guard and flipped them back on. With no more than a pull of the trigger, the robotic voice from before came back.
"RIMITO BUREIKU! (LIMIT BREAK!)" the voice shouted as the weapon began flashing with light. Alien stared his foe down.
"EIRIEN DAI HOIIPU KURASHU! (ALIEN GREAT WHIP CLASH!)" Alien shouted, swinging the blade in a series of arcs. With the first swing, the blade extended out into twice the sections it had before, and with each swing Alien took another step closer to the monster, until finally the last slash used every section of the blade. With that final slash, Alien turned on his heel, allowing the blade to fly out to his right side. In the same motion, Alien shouldered the blade, causing the sections of the blade to shoot through the Zodiarts' body one last time before reconnecting to the hilt. When the last section resumed its place at the tip of the blade, Alien snapped his fingers.
The Zodiarts had known it was in for pain when the attack started. But he had no idea why he was feeling so much EXCESS PAIN. The slashes, as repetitious as they had been, ACTUALLY hadn't hurt that much. It was only when he looked down to his feet that he saw glowing white lines that spanned his body and arms that resembled a certain flag.
"The Union Jack of England is what will be your demise this day. Night, Night, Zodiarts; hope you have a horrible sleep in hell," Maki said, taking a step forward. The Zodiarts bellowed in rage and pain, then collapsed to one knee, soon enveloped in a massive explosion. Maki smiled behind his helmet.
However, as he turned around, he was struck on the right side of his face by a large fist, which simultaneously struck the gas-mask extension on that side.
The Zodiarts chuckled in victory, but soon reeled in terror at what it saw as it looked at it's opponent's mask: the right side of the mask had peeled away, revealing Maki's face, which had turned almost crimson from pure anger. His eyes, still burning with a raging fire, were now bent back in a furious scowl, and his entire face seemed to be SHAKING.
Without warning, Maki reached his right hand under the Zodiarts' guard and delivered a bone-shattering punch to its jaw line, sending it hurtling skyward.
With no more than a turn to face the others, Maki pressed on the other mask extension. With three bursts of compressed air releasing, the top of the mask split off and rolled up over the top of his head, while the bottom dropped to rest on his chest. He slid the left side over and moved the right side so his face was visible.
In stark contrast to his broiling rage, Maki has a serene smile on his face as he looked to Gentaro and said, "Gen-kun… If you're alright with it, I'd like to name my newest finishing attack in honor of our newly-born friendship." Gentaro reached for his buckle and flipped a set of four red switches up, reversing his armor in a flurry of lights, sound and smoke.
"You want to name an ATTACK… in honor of our… friendship?" Gentaro asked, confused.
With a chuckle, Maki said, "Actually… it would be in honor of YOU." Gentaro staggered back a step.
"YOSH! I APPROVE! LET ME SEE WHAT YOUR YOUTH CAN DO, MAKI!" Gentaro shouted enthusiastically, a tear coming to his eye.
'Tears of manly joy, I'd assume he'd call them?' Maki thought. As he turned, he pressed the extensions again. As the two sides of the mask shifted back to the center, the bottom moved up to seal into place. As the top of the mask dropped back again, sealing into place, Alien's eyes flashed green. With that, he crouched down and pressed his thumbs against the panels on the armor flaps on his legs. As his thumbs rose up the panels, they began to fill with a bright blue light. Once he hit the tops, he reached for the two odd shaped on his belt, which seemed to be split in half with on half smaller than the other. Pressing his thumbs and index fingers to the tops and bottoms of each shape, he pushed in, closing them before pushing down with his thumbs to set them spinning.
After ten seconds, Alien placed his fingers alongside the two shapes and stopped them, splitting them open to reveal a bright blue gleam to the stripes within. With this, the light began to flow through his body, resting in his hands and feet.
About this time, Miu arrived and was about to call Maki's name when she saw four figures in high-tech armor, three of them looking at one with what appeared to be a necklace of large skulls on his chest.
'Maybe I'd be better off not saying anything,' Miu thought, resigning herself to hiding behind a pillar nearby to watch.
Meanwhile, Meteor watched Maki's actions and shifted in place.
'He's attempting a Limit Break using his own body's energy in place of… no, I can feel Cosmic Energy in him as well! What is he DOING?' Meteor thought to himself. Suddenly, Maki straightened up and reared back, making a big fist out of both hands.
"RIMITO BUREIKU!"
Alien thrust his arms outward, the energy on his hands solidifying over them into a large projection of a spiked hammer. At that moment, the King Zodiarts began its descent. As it neared the ground some ten feet from Alien, time seemed to slow down.
"EIRIENU (ALIEN)…" Maki shouted as the energy projection launched off his fists and slammed into the Zodiarts, pushing it even further away. The Zodiarts roared in pain.
"ETANARU (ETERNAL)…" Maki continued, breaking into a slow stride toward the soaring Zodiarts. The spikes in the projection now seemed very concrete to the King Zodiarts, who was howling in pain. To him, the spikes were real, and were actually drills boring into its body.
"SEISHUN (YOUTH)…" Maki shouted, taking a single flying leap off one leg and arriving in front of the hurtling Zodiarts in less than a second, holding one leg up so his foot was level with his head while the other stayed in a standing position. The monster roared in pain. It knew what was going to happen next, and somehow instinctively knew it wouldn't survive.
"FIIVA (FEVER)!" Maki shouted, swinging his legs to scissor kick the Zodiarts once, then again, using the energy on his feet to break through the beast's armored hide. As the first kick collided, the beast grunted, but when the second one hit, it screamed as a massive explosion rocked its body. Maki landed several feet away from the contact area, crouched on one knee.
It was only then that Maki realized what he'd done. The energy had overloaded the Zodiarts' body, and had caused the explosion to go out of control. Due to this, the flames were soaring toward Gentaro and his friends.
"DAMN!" Maki shouted, rushing over while activating a switch embedded in the center of his ribcage.
"AAMA: ARUTA (ARMOR: ALTER)!" called the voice from earlier as Maki used a quick burst of speed to get right in front of Gentaro and the rest. With no more than a simple groan, he thrust both arms up and out to the side, erecting a large wall of what appeared to be elastic, liquid metal. However, as the wall stretched out to completely cover off the group, he heard a sound he knew all too well: the sound of Miu SCREAMING.
"DAMN IT!" He shouted, activating another switch just beneath the last one.
"SUPURITO (SPLIT)!"
In an instant, another body shot past the group and out into the waiting storm, leaving Kengo to think, 'Was that… a clone of his body?'
Indeed it was. Very soon, Kengo realized what Maki had done.
Miu stood behind her pillar, grabbing at loose stone for dear life, when the skull-necklace armored man approached faster than she could follow.
"MISS! GRAB MY HAND! TRUST ME!" The man said, and without a second thought, Miu nodded furiously and grabbed his hand. In an instant, a liquid metal substance shot from his hand all the way up her arm and across her clothes and skin. The man then embraced her tightly, sending more of the substance flowing all over her.
Maki could hear Miu screaming the entire time, but he didn't care. As soon as the liquid armor had closed around her, he closed his eyes and held her tight. At that exact moment, the flames of the explosion washed over the two and the group in the barrier; however, the flames had absolutely no effect on anything but the school grounds.
Inside his helmet, Maki was monitoring the heat levels outside of the liquid armor. As soon as it receded about two minutes later, he let Miu go, allowing the liquid armor to flow off of her and back into him. At that, he flipped off the two switches, causing the clone holding the barrier together to vanish and summoning the armor used to form that barrier back into himself. With that, Maki looked to Miu and nodded.
"Are you alright, Miss? Nothing damaged?" he asked. Miu looked at him warily.
"Why would you help me?" she asked.
"Because that's part of being what I am: A KAMEN RIDER. A hero of justice and protector of the innocent who strikes down monsters that stand for destruction and carnage," Maki said. In his head, he thought, 'That and you know me better than you think. I just hope that Gentaro doesn't do anything to-'
"OI, MAKI! NICE SAVE THERE!" Gentaro shouted enthusiastically. Maki slowly turned his head towards his friend, the look of utter shock and confusion on his face capable of only one descriptive word: PRICELESS.
"Ma-kun? Is that really you in there?" Miu asked tentatively. Maki turned his head back to look her in the eyes and hung his head.
"Thanks Gen-kun," he said aloud, sliding his fingers through the now dull grooves in the shapes on his belt, causing the energy in his body to recede, reverting to his normal human body. He raised his head to give her a sheepish look.
"You're mad, right?" he asked. With no more than an irritated look, Miu reared her arm back. Maki braced for the impact.
His eyes bugged out, however, not because she slapped him, but because INSTEAD of slapping him, she hugged him tight.
"Did you, or did you not just save my life?" Miu asked. Maki smiled and hugged back.
"I'm sorry I lied to you, Miu. I promise I won't ever do it again," he said sincerely. Miu pulled away and simply smiled before doing something that shocked everyone else present for the seemingly umpteenth time that day: leaning in quickly, Miu placed her lips to Maki's. Maki's eyes bugged out again, and then seemed to glaze over when she pulled away.
"You don't have to say it, Ma-kun," Miu said, smiling ominously, "Because in just a few minutes, we're finding a nice, secluded place to ourselves and we're having a nice, long talk about everything you've been hiding since you got here."
"I hope you don't mind us gate crashing, because I'd like an explanation about everything he just did also," Kengo said, his face retaining its nigh-eternal stoic straight stare.
Maki grimaced, and then said, "Gen-kun… Would I be too late in taking you up on your offer from before? About touring your hideout?"
~INTERLUDE FOURZE 1-COMPLETE~
Hope you guys enjoyed that. Chapter two to come after the Kiva Arc. ^_^ R&R, REVIEWS CONTAINING CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ARE WELCOME! And please, PLEASE leave a review! I REALLY need to know how I'm doing!
*Yes, I made a Might Gai reference. NO ONE ELSE HAS YET!
*For those unfamiliar with the Naruto: Shippuden series, "Nagareboshi" is the first ending theme, sung by the band "Home Made Kazoku", and translates to "Shooting Star".
*For those unfamiliar with this series (in which case, why would you be reading this?), the phrase "UCHU KITAA" is roughly translated as "Space is Here", "Space is Awesome", or "Space, HELL YEAH!", as well as a number of other things. The second option is usually used in the episode subs.