Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.
When the heroes emerged from the portal back into Alexandria, they found themselves in a scene all-too-familiar to the Bugrangers, but rather less so to the horrified Egyptrangers.
A great deal of the city was on fire, the gigantic Alexander-powered Caesar stomping through the streets, crushing buildings and destroying monuments with swings of his great sword. Roman legionnaires were clashing with Egyptian soldiers and war Ushabti, and the air was full of the ringing of steel, collapsing buildings, and the occasional bloodcurdling scream.
"No… No, this can't be happening!" Cleopatra cried, horrified.
"Dammit, uncle, you've gone too far this time!" Mark cursed furiously.
"Our home… Our people…" A distraught Nefer whispered.
"Don't give up yet, you can still stop this," Goro insisted.
Mibojin nodded. "Take out Caesar, and the rest will follow. That's how this thing usually works, right, Ariel?"
"Basically, yeah," Ariel agreed.
Brutus raised a hand. "Uh, I don't suppose you could may be… Go a little easy on him? Pretty sure he's not entirely in his right mind and all…"
"Were our positions reversed, would you show us mercy?" Gozim asked harshly.
"No," Brutus immediately replied.
"It is fortunate, then, that we are not you," Thotep sniffed. "Even so, we make no promises. Right, Your Majesty?"
Cleopatra didn't respond.
"Your Majesty?"
"This… How did it come to this?" She whispered, trembling. "We fought many battles, but… We've always been able to stop things before they got to this point! What did we do wrong?!"
"Nothing," Nushi said sadly. "To be honest, we're a little envious you guys have managed to avoid major collateral damage to your settlements so far, even in giant battles. That's… Not really something we're good at back home."
"Really?" Nefer asked in surprise.
Goro rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, a good chunk of Tokyo tends to get wrecked in giant monster battles at least once a week, and it's rare for casualties to be in the lower double digits. We're pretty used to rebuilding the city, but…"
"You would think, given how often it happens, someone would come up with a way to stop monsters from becoming gigantic after every battle," Mibojin grunted.
"It is what it is, I guess," Ariel said with a shrug. "It can't be helped."
"As awful as this might sound, in our line of work, you have to accept that you can't save everyone," Goro said. "I don't really think there's anything anyone could have done to stop things from reaching this point. All we can do now is keep moving forward and try to do better next time."
"… I suppose you're right," Cleopatra agreed with a sigh. "All right, everyone, Isis said this would be our final battle with the Roman empire, so let's make it a good one."
She raised her arm into the air, bracer gleaming. "God Beast, descend!"
"God Beast, descend!" Her comrades cried.
Colored beams of light shot out of their bracers, crisscrossed through the air, and touched the pinnacle of the pyramid just outside the city. Caesar, who had just picked over a large obelisk, paused in his destruction as a great rumbling filled the air and the pyramid began to unfold, revealing it had a hollow interior with one animalistic robot on each triangular panel and the fifth one in the center. The mecha raised their heads and roared, eyes glowing, and launched out of the pyramid, racing across the sands, flying through the air, or swimming in the nearby Nile.
All five Egyptrangers leapt into the air in the direction of the robots. Cleopatra landed inside the cockpit of a majestic red and gold falcon with the head and eyes of Horus and a crown looking like a mixture of both his parents, with beautiful wings covered in hieroglyphics including two giant eyes, one on each wing. "God Falcon, take flight!"
Akilah landed in the cockpit of a fearsome blue and gold crocodile swimming in the Nile with a crown resembling two gold tablets supported by a pair of serpents and massive fangs, hieroglyphics running down its sides. "God Crocodile, take a bite!"
Thotep landed in a slender green and gold ibis with a very long legs and an extremely sharp curved beak and hieroglyphics covering its wings flying beside God Falcon. "God Ibis, show them who's right!"
Nefer landed in the cockpit of a beautiful yellow feline draped in gold and a black head covered in hieroglyphics charging across the desert. "God Cat, show them your might!"
Gozim landed in a black jackal draped in gold with hieroglyphics covering its sides. "God Jackal, kill all in your sight!"
"So cool!" Ariel gushed.
"Aren't you going to summon your mecha, too?" Nushi asked Mark.
Mark nodded and produced a coin with a snarling wolf head on it and inserted it into his buckle. He raised his sword into the air. "Eat, Lupa Argentum Regina!"
"Really? You want to eat something now of all times?" Asked the bewildered Mibojin.
"Well, I am kind of hungry," Goro confessed.
"No, 'eat' is Latin for 'come,' he's calling the legendary silver wolf queen," Valentinian explained.
"The who now?" Coccinella asked.
"The Silver Wolf Queen is one of the great symbols of our republic!" Anastasius declared patriotically. "According to legend, when our great founders Romulus and Remus were abandoned in the wild, a beautiful she-wolf found and nursed them until they were discovered by a human Shepherd, who raised them into the legendary figures who would one day found our empire!"
"Didn't Romulus murder his brother because they couldn't decide which hill to build Rome on?" Ariel recalled.
"Which says a lot about the Romans, doesn't it," Mibojin remarked.
"We don't know that it was Romulus who did it!" Brutus said defensively. "It could've been one of his supporters!"
"It's still a pretty stupid thing to kill someone over," Nushi complained.
"Throughout human history, people have murdered for worse," Mibojin pointed out.
This fascinating historical discussion was interrupted when a great howl echoed through the air and a beautiful silver mechanical wolf with a crescent blade for a tail raced into view, the moon shining down on it and causing its metal hide to shine magnificently. Mark leapt into the air and landed in its cockpit, which resembled the interior of a high-tech silver war tent. "Lupa Argentum Regina, shine your light!"
"Now it's our turn!" Nushi cried. "Let's show Caesar what the buzz is really all about! Come forth, Great Divine Insects!"
Nothing happened.
"Nushi, our bigger selves are still stuck in the future," Coccinella reminded her partner.
"Much to our chagrin," Great Coccinella grumbled.
"Oh, right," Nushi muttered, embarrassed. "I forgot. Force of habit."
Brutus pointed at her and laughed. "Ha! You're useless!"
"We are not useless," Goro retorted.
"That's right, I can enlarge myself!" Ariel agreed.
"Well, yes, but I meant we can help the Egyptian military fight the legionnaires and help rescue people around the city," Goro elaborated.
"And I can still do that as a giant biomechanical kitsune," Ariel insisted.
"The Queen and everyone else are also holed up in the palace," Mibojin went out. "It's only a matter of time before Caesar tries to attack there, and while the Egyptrangers will certainly keep him occupied, that doesn't mean the rest of the Roman forces won't attack there either."
"Maybe you can do something about that?" Goro suggested to Brutus.
The massive Roman blinked. "What? What do you expect me to do?"
"You're like Caesar's second-in-command or something, right?" Ariel pointed out. "Can't you get the rest of the Romans to stand down?"
Incredulous, Brutus pointed at the gigantic Caesar. "You think they'll listen to me while their Emperor is that big and strong and can easily step on anyone who resists him?"
"And you think in his current state he'll care whether or not he steps on his own people?" Mibojin retorted.
Brutus opened his mouth, thought for a moment, then reluctantly closed it. "… Good point. Fine. I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you," Nushi said gratefully. "In the meantime, I guess the rest of us will start heading for the palace-"
"Nushi, Aranea and Antares just arrived!" Apista suddenly shouted in their minds.
Everyone immediately used their connection to the Buzzing to look out through the eyes of Apista, Philia, Galacta, and the kittens where they saw that Aranea had, indeed, entered the Royal Palace where everyone was sheltering, carried in Antares' arms.
Ariel gasped in alarm. "Oh no! Is she okay?!"
"Big sis, are you all right?" Philia asked in dismay.
"I… I'm fine," Aranea said, though she didn't look fine. She seemed tired, her eyes red with tear stains on her cheeks, and while Antares put her down and she was able to stand up, she still needed to lean against him for support. "I'm just… Going through some things right now. Have Nushi and the others returned from the underworld?"
"They have," Apista confirmed.
"Good. Nushi, Ariel, everyone… You need to hurry to the palace now," Aranea said, knowing her lovers were watching her through the Queen's eyes. "I had a vision. Caesar will destroy the Egyptrangers' mech, lay waste to the city, and finally crush the palace and everyone in it-"
Everyone gasped of this.
"And I'm going to need everyone's help to stop it."
It took them a minute to comprehend what she was saying. "Wait… Hold on…" Philia said slowly.
"Daughter, you… You are seeking to prevent a prophecy?" Apista asked, shocked.
"Today's events have shown me that perhaps I did not understand destiny as well as I thought I did," Aranea confessed. "And yes, Ariel, I am aware that one of the surest ways to guarantee a prophecy comes true is to try to prevent it, but…"
She took a deep breath, clenched her fists and pulled herself up as high as she could, regaining some of her queenly grace. "It is supposed to be my destiny to govern the fates of all living things. And while I'm no longer sure that's entirely true or something I truly want… If I can govern the fates of others, then maybe that means I can change them as well. Perhaps it is hypocritical of me, considering how often I have exposited on the inevitability of fate, but… The future I have foreseen… It is not one I can allow to come to pass. Not now, not ever. I know I don't really need to ask you for aid – you are heroes, after all, and so it is second nature – but I must ask you anyway. Please, help me. Help me to prove to myself that perhaps there is more to our shared destiny that I ever allowed myself to imagine."
"She's right. She doesn't need to ask," Goro agreed.
"We're in," Formic agreed.
"I care nothing for destiny, only for killing whatever enemy threatens my daughter and liege," Mibojin said immediately.
"Ariel?" Nushi asked, sensing her girlfriend's uncertainty.
"Oh, of course we'll help," Ariel said immediately. "How can we not? It's just… A part of me can't help worrying that we'll make things worse, like she said we might."
"Just this afternoon, I proved destiny can be changed," Nushi pointed out. "Maybe we can do it again."
"My parents defied a prophecy claiming that if humans fought against the gods of the underworld, it would lead to the end of the world," Ariel reminded her. "And that's exactly what happened. But things turned out okay in the end. So… Maybe things will turn out okay this time, too. We have to believe that, just like we have to believe that no matter what the consequences of our own prophecy of doom states for our union, things will work out. Because, just like Aranea… Any other alternative is a future I will not, cannot accept."
"Your Majesty, tell her we are on our way," Nushi said. "And once this is all over, we'll be there for her."
"And that we love her very much," Ariel added.
Apista was more than happy to pass on that message, and Aranea nearly collapsed, a look of relief and hope on her face. "I love them very much as well," she said softly, looking like she was about to cry again.
The Roman soldiers stared awkwardly at the Bugrangers, who had been standing motionless for the last few minutes. "Hey. Go poke them," Brutus told Anastasius.
"What? Why do I have to poke them?!" The soldier protested.
"Because I said so," Brutus said, shoving him at the four heroes.
Grumbling once again about how he should've stayed home and married that milkmaid, Anastasius hesitantly extended a finger towards Mibojin-
And squealed like a pig when he suddenly found a blade to his throat. "No."
Anastasius immediately scrambled back as the rest of the Rangers all started moving again. "Okay, we've got to get to the palace right away," Nushi said. "Ariel?"
"You've got it, lovebug! I'll get us there in style!" The sorceress promised, brandishing her wand. "Maagi Magi Magika!"
The Romans gawked as Ariel transformed into a beautiful gigantic biomechanical magical five-tailed fox. "All right everyone, get on!" Ariel said, crouching low so everyone could jump onto her.
"You know, you could just teleport us there," Mibojin pointed out as the three much smaller Bugrangers climbed onto her back.
"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?"
Ariel loped across the city, leaving Foxfire in her wake.
The Romans stared after her, blank looks on their faces.
Finally, Brutus sighed. "You know what, boys, there's some days I wish I'd never left the brothel."
"Anastasius?" Valentinian asked wearily.
"Yes, Valentinian?" Anastasius replied, equally tired.
"The milkmaid you're always going on about… She got a sister?"
Anastasius stared at him for a moment. "No, but she has a brother."
Valentinian considered this for a minute. Then he shrugged. "Eh, nobody's perfect."
"All right, everyone," Cleopatra declared from her cockpit, which resembled a lavish red and gold throne surrounded by streaming hieroglyphics. "This is going to be our biggest battle yet! No holding back! Gokami Gattai!"
"Gokami Gattai!" Her companions echoed.
Suddenly, the five God Beasts were racing, flying, and swimming through the sands of the Duat, rows of obelisks rising up on either side of them. Rings of gold hieroglyphics shot towards them and the mecha passed through them, leaping into the air and transforming.
God Crocodile swiveled to hang horizontally in the air, its body splitting in half down the middle. God Falcon swooped down to occupy the space between the two halves, wings detaching from its back and claws folding upwards as its body rotated 180° while the head stayed in the same place, what had once been its back splitting open to reveal a hollow space. God Crocodile's two halves attached to either side of God Falcon's body. God Ibis detached its wings and folded its head down into its chest as its legs folded up on themselves and slipped into the space in God Falcon's body, creating a humanoid torso with a pronounced bust with the Ibis head going down the middle. God Cat and God Jackal both folded their legs into their bodies and pivoted their heads 90° straight up, their bodies stiffening and folding their tails onto their backs as the ends of God Ibis's knees slid into sockets on their rears to form feet and legs. The falcon and Ibis wings reattached themselves to the back of the combined mecha, taking on a golden hue covered with hieroglyphics. God Falcon's beak flipped down to reveal a beautiful feminine face with wadjet eyes and its crown reconfigured to form a pharaonic headdress.
The completed robot landed on the prowl of the solar bark, posing dramatically as the gods rose up in the background, illuminated by golden light. "Gokami Pharoah, ready!"
"Don't forget about me!" Mark shouted. "Form Silver Wolf Blade!"
As the full moon shone down on his silver Wolf mecha, she leapt into the air, her form creating a silhouette against the moon. The sides of her body split apart, revealing a lengthy shining silver blade ran through her interior with the curved blade forming her tail making up its end, her jaws opening wide as her shed parts reformed into a thick, lengthy hilt which inserted itself in her open jaws.
As the new sword spun through the air, a pair of giant blue crocodile jaws shot up and caught the blade by its hilt, lines of silver energy coursing down the crocodile head, up its body, and into the rest of Gokami Pharaoh, causing her lower set of wings to turn silver and adding silver highlights to the rest of her body. "Lunar Gokami Pharaoh, ready!"
"Julius Caesar, for far too long you have threatened my kingdom," Cleopatra declared from her throne -like command chair in the new cockpit of the combined mecha, which resembled a high-tech Egyptian temple with great burning braziers on either side of her, columns covered in glowing hieroglyphics supporting the ceiling, and four smaller thrones in a line in front of her for the rest of the Egyptrangers, with a fifth chair for Mark. "And while I always knew it would eventually come to this, I had hoped you would at least be in your right mind. Normally I would be filled with contempt… But now, I cannot help but pity you. Mark my words, we will stop you not just to save Egypt, but also to save you."
Mark shot her a grateful look. "Thank you, Cleopatra."
For a minute, a flicker of regret passed across Caesar's own face. "I had not wanted it to be like this either, Cleo," he admitted. "I've always loved Alexandria, and I believed once that perhaps, the two of us could…"
He shook his head. "But no. I have come too far. I have done too much. Now, there is only one way this can end."
Cleopatra narrowed her eyes. "You're right. There is."
The two of them raised their swords, getting into stances, waiting for the signal to begin.
In the background, a towering obelisk crumbled and collapsed to the ground.
Before the first piece of rubble could hit the ground, the two giants rushed at each other, howling battle cries as their blades clashed with an impact that shook the city and promptly extinguished all the fires.
As they dueled, none of them were aware of three figures observing the battle from a dune outside the city. "Awww, they started all the fun without us!" One of them, big and round, complained in a childish voice.
"Don't worry, old friend, it looks like the real battle has just gotten started, there's still time for us to join in," another, very short, suggested jovially. "Is the potion ready, O Druid?"
The third figure, tall and ancient with a very long beard, examined the contents of a large cauldron he had been stirring, then nodded, dipped a canteen into it, corked it, and handed it to the small man. "Here you are, my boy. And no, you cannot have any, how many times have we been over this!" He snapped at the immense man, who'd been trying to drink some of the cauldron's contents when he thought he wasn't looking.
"I just wanted a sip," he whined, an adorable tiny dog at his heels barking sympathetically.
"Come on, you know you don't need any potion, not since you fell into the cauldron when you were a baby," the short man reminded his massive friend. He narrowed his eyes at the two colossi battling in Alexandria. "Now… I think it's time we taught Caesar, once and for all, why he should never threaten the Gauls or their friends, or by Toutatis my name isn't Asterix the Gaul!"
"And it is," his big friend said helpfully.
A time portal tore open in a dingy yellow sky.
Shin and Caelifer, screaming, fell through it, tumbling through the air towards the ground far below.
Shin managed to get his legs under him and landed on his feet, the impact cratering the ground and throwing up a huge cloud of dust, the shock absorbers in his legs preventing him from taking any damage. He glanced up, preparing to leap back to the portal, only to see that the vortex had snapped closed behind them.
They were stranded.
"FUCK!"
"I don't suppose we'll conveniently find another Time Machine around here that you'll remember to leave just before we arrived?" Caelifer asked doubtfully.
"Maybe," Shin said. "First we have to figure out where and when we are."
They glanced around. They were standing in the middle of a very empty wasteland.
"Are we back in the sands of time?" Caelifer asked in concern.
Shin bent down and scooped up some of the soil, watching as it ran through his fingers, the sensors in his helmet analyzing it. "No, soil's the wrong consistency. Also, I don't see any railroads, I'm not picking up any signals from other time trains, and also, we aren't dissolving into sand ourselves, so no, we're definitely not back in the sands of time. I am picking up a crazy amount of temporal energy, though…"
"We're still connected to the Buzzing," Caelifer assessed in relief, quickly reassuring their companions they were okay, just stuck. "So we aren't completely cut off, which means if we can't figure a way out, someone will. Our temporal homing beacon and paradox inhibitor is also still fully functional."
Shin nodded in agreement. "Good. So things look bad – even worse than when we crashed in Egypt, especially since that asshole stole my train and is running wild across the time stream – but they aren't hopeless. If there's anything I've learned after being at this gig for years, there is always a way. Now, let's see if we can figure out where and when we are…"
Much to his alarm, his HUD promptly filled up with error messages and question marks. "Okay… According to this, we are… Nowhere and nowhen. Which should be impossible."
"And yet here we are," Caelifer pointed out.
"Here we are," Shin agreed. "Okay, kind of spooky, but, again, our homing beacon is working so anyone with a working Time Machine should be able to rescue us."
They waited for a minute. No Time Machine appeared.
"In the meantime," Shin said, trying to fight down his increasing unease. "Let's see if we can find anything out here, it can't all be empty wasteland, right?"
"Well, there's the statue."
"Yeah, there's the-"
Shin froze. Suddenly, there was a huge statue in front of them of a young man in a pose with a large clock behind him, surrounded by 19 very familiar Kamen Riders.
"Was… Was that always there?" Shin asked slowly.
"Yes," Caelifer confirmed.
"Was it always there a few minutes ago?"
"… Unclear."
Getting the willies, Shin looked up at the statue. There was a plaque at its base.
He made no attempt to read it. He already knew what it said.
"This… This isn't possible," he said after a moment. "This statue shouldn't exist. The timeline holding it was erased! We can't… We can't be here!"
"And yet here you are."
Startled, Shin whirled around to see that he and Caelifer were no longer alone. Standing beside them, also looking up at the statue, was a sinister figure in black and gold armor with what looked like a golden watch strap running across his chest, several watch -like devices adhered to his armor, a pair of giant clock hands hanging down his back, and a mask with golden clock hands over the katakana for Rider in red making up his eyes. A very ornate golden device was wrapped around his belt with a digital clock face with 2018 on the buckle.
Shin's blood ran cold, and absolute panic reverberated throughout the Buzzing. "No."
Ohma Zi-O turned his head to look at Shin. "Hello, Kazamatsuri. It's been a while."
"This isn't… This isn't possible," Shin gasped, paralyzed with absolute terror. "You can't exist! All the events that could lead to your Genesis were averted! Unless-" he narrowed his eyes. "Gaimdammit, Kadoya, is that you again?! Or the other Sougo? Or Kakogawa?! Or… No, no, wait, I know what's going on here, I'm either in another dimension or alternate timeline or you're actually some sort of indescribable being beyond mortal comprehension and you've taken this form to make me uncomfortable."
Ohma Zi-O shook his head in amusement. "No, Shin, it's really me. Sougo Tokiwa."
The air shimmered, golden clocks flashing around him, and his armor dissipated to reveal a young man identical to the statute.
"… Bullshit."
Sougo shook his head, transforming into an older man who was still recognizably himself. "Not really. My ascension is inevitable. It is etched into the fabric of the universe, an indelible, unalterable, unchangeable law of physics. No matter what, Sougo Tokiwa will always become king of time. However, the form he takes…"
More golden clocks flashed through the air, and he changed into his base form, then GrandZi-O, then Ohma Form, then back to Ohma Zi-O. "That, on the other hand, is up for debate."
"The hell?!" Caelifer whispered.
"… I think I get it now," Shin realized, struck with insparkleration. "You're… What, the ultimate endpoint? The culmination of all possible timelines, all possible versions of Sougo Tokiwa across time and space. A Singular Point. A Sougolarity, as Aruto Hidden would put it."
"That is one way of looking at it," Ohma Zi-O confirmed.
"Then… This place isn't 2068," Shin said, gesturing around them.
"It's not," Ohma Zi-O confirmed. "It's… Well, I suppose you could call it the end of time? That's not even remotely what it is, but it's the closest term I think you might be able to understand. When you fell out of the time stream, I guided you here to keep you and your partner from being completely erased from existence."
"Thank you for that," Caelifer said nervously.
"Yeah, really," Shin agreed, still on edge. "I don't suppose you can send us back?"
"Oh, of course I can," Ohma Zi-O replied, to their relief.
"Great! And I don't suppose you could stop Aso while you're at it?" Shin asked hopefully.
"Of course I can, that's why I'm sending you back," Ohma Zi-O replied.
"… Well, yes, but I meant, like, couldn't you maybe do it… Yourself?" Shin asked awkwardly.
"It is well within my power to do so, but I will not," Ohma Zi-O told him. "If I were to directly intervene whenever I felt like it and rewrite history to my whim, well, that would make me the greatest monster in existence, wouldn't it?"
"Even for a good cause?" Shin replied in disappointment.
"You mean like how Masaru Aso believes that undoing the tragedy that is not just his life, but yours, and many others throughout history is for a good cause?" Ohma Zi-O countered. "Such actions may have benefits for many in the short term, but the long-term consequences would be… dire. His actions would reverberate upwards and downwards through the time stream and could lead to timelines far, far worse than those ruled over by some of my echoes. A being as limited as himself, blinded by the power of Alexander and possessing a stolen Time Machine, is incapable of fully thinking through the potential repercussions of his well-meaning blundering and would bring about disasters far greater than those he's seeking to prevent. I established the time police for a reason, Shin."
"Right. Damn butterfly effect," Shin muttered. "No offense, Ariel and Lepidoptera."
"None taken!"
"It also doesn't help that time in your era is still quite fragile thanks to the events of Ultra Super-Duper Quiz Hero Taisen X," Ohma Zi-O continued. "And my younger self has still yet to fully mature into his power, and is only just managing to hold reality together. If Aso were to succeed, it could destroy time itself. Now, of course, I could step in and fix it, but… Ideally, we don't want things to get to that point."
He shrugged. "Also, if I stepped in every time the fabric of space and time was in jeopardy, how would my younger self ever learn to do it himself? Plus, I don't remember ever doing it when I was him, so…"
"Can't a being as powerful as yourself change time however he pleases without causing a paradox?" Caelifer asked.
"Yes, but again, that's not the sort of thing I want to get into the habit of doing," Ohma Zi-O admitted. "We both know the slippery slope that kind of thing can lead to."
Shin nodded in understanding. "Yeah, that checks out. Okay, I'll handle this myself then. Just send me back and I'll take him out, get my train back, and set everything to rights."
Ohma Zi-O regarded him for a moment, then shook his head. "Mmm, no. Not just yet. You aren't ready."
Shin blinked. "Huh? What's that supposed to mean?!"
"Would you believe me if I told you that this current adventure was supposed to be your 'focus episode,' as Ariel would put it?" Ohma Zi-O asked.
"Wait, seriously?" Shin asked in surprise.
The king of time nodded. "Yes, this was supposed to be an opportunity for you to take center stage, show your stuff, use your expertise as a veteran time traveler to take the lead and keep everyone safe, be the big hero…
"But then things got more complicated with the Egyptrangers and the drama with Aranea and Nushi and, unfortunately, your development got pushed to the wayside. Unfortunate, but it happens."
Shin considered this for a moment. "Yeah, you know what, I can buy that. Story of my life. Oh well, at least I'm still more developed than Mibojin. In that regard, I mean, she's pretty stacked."
He sensed a rather large surge of irritation as well as grudging acceptance from his teammate, to his amusement.
"As such, I'm afraid you haven't experienced the personal growth or emotional climax which would have triggered your super form, which you will need to defeat Aso in his current state," Ohma Zi-O continued.
Shin frowned. "Huh. That is a problem."
"Fortunately, I should be able to jumpstart it," Ohma Zi-oh said, removing one of the blank Ridewatches from his armor. "Shin, tell me, why are you opposed to Aso's actions?"
Shin and Caelifer exchanged confused looks, bewilderment resonating through the Buzzing. "Didn't we just go over this?" Shin pointed out in confusion. "It's bad for the space time continuum and all-"
"No, that's the big picture answer," Ohma Zi-O interjected. "Forget that. Forget about the illegality of it all and the paradoxes and the potential damage to reality. If none of that were a factor, why would you be opposed to his actions, seeing as how, if he is successful, he will be able to prevent the great tragedy that is your life from happening? You would never have lost Ai. You would've been able to raise your son. You would never have lost your humanity and spent the last few decades ostracized and destitute. If there were no negative repercussions from such a change, would you still be opposed to it?"
Shin started to answer, then hesitated. He thought about it. He thought about it for quite some time. His friends and the rest of the Hive waited in trepidation, wondering what his answer would be.
"If none of that ever happened," he said finally. "My life would've been different, yeah. I would never have suffered. I would've gotten to spend my life with my family. But…
"I also wouldn't have become a hero, either."
He glanced at the statue commemorating the moment when a schoolboy named Sougo Tokiwa took his first steps towards becoming king. "I'm not gonna say my decades of torment made me a better person. Suffering doesn't build character, that's just something abusers say to justify their actions. But… If that had never happened… If I hadn't lost Ai…"
The memory of cradling his dying girlfriend flashed through his mind.
"If I hadn't given up Shiin…"
The memory of leaving his baby son on a doorstep and vanishing into the night flashed through his mind.
"If I hadn't… If I hadn't gone through everything that happened after that…"
The memory of wandering the streets, fleeing from angry and terrified civilians, scavenging through dumpsters for food and nearly freezing to death in the cold winters flashed through his mind.
"Then… All the good that came out of it wouldn't have happened either."
He thought of the moment where he had turned his life around and become a hero again by defeating the insane Another Ohma Zi-O.
He thought of when he was given the ShinLiner and a new lease in life, a home, and a constant companion in Cart.
He thought of the Mole Beastman and Inago and all the people who looked up to him.
He thought of the Bugrangers and the Divine Insects and the Queen and Philia.
He thought of his son, and the great hero he had become.
"To get my old life back would mean sacrificing my new one," Shin said finally. "And the price… Is much too high."
Warmth filled him as he felt the entirety of the Hive embrace him, reminding him that his years of suffering were truly at an end and he would never be alone again.
"And what if I could give you both?" Ohma Zi-O asked. "Return the life you lost, but guarantee that you would still keep the friends and family you have now? Ensure you are still a hero? Such a trifle is easily within my power."
For brief, fleeting moment Shin considered it.
Only for a moment.
"The man I was before… I don't recognize him," Shin said finally. "I gave up on becoming human again decades ago. I can't even remember what I looked like. When I see a picture of the old me, he's a total stranger. This is who I am now, and I'm okay with it.
"And… If I were to say yes… Would Shiin be as great a man as he is now?"
Ohma Zi-O regarded him for a moment, then shook his head. "No. He wouldn't be."
"Then my answer remains the same," Shin said firmly. "For better or worse, this is who I am. Kamen Rider Shin. Green Hopper. A hero."
Ohma Zi-O chuckled. "And that… Is exactly the answer I was hoping to hear."
The blank watch in his hand glowed and, in a flash of light, transformed into a green device bearing Shin's face.
SHIN!
Ohma Zi-O thrust his arm forwards, pressing the watch into Shin's chest. He gasped, green energy crackling around him as the device sunk into his body.
The demon king gestured, and a time portal opened behind Shin. With a flick of his hand, the Bugranger was flung through, the vortex closing behind him.
"Now," Ohma Zi-O said, waving his hand to open another portal. "Let's see what you make of my gift, hero."
In the ShinLiner cockpit, Masaru eagerly focused on the chronometer as the dates slid past. He was almost there. Just a few more years and he would hit 1991, the day everything changed.
The day everything would change again.
"Just a little more…" He whispered to himself. "Just a little more-"
Suddenly, alarms started blaring all over the time train. "WARNING! COLLISION IMMINENT! WARNING! COLLISION IMMINENT!"
Masaru started. "What the-"
The entire train shook as an emerald comet smashed into it, knocking it off course and sending the ShinLiner flying into the wall of the time vortex, forcibly ejecting it from the time stream and causing it to come crashing down to the ground for the second time that day in an impact which undid practically all the repairs that poor Cart had spent hours working on, the train skidding across the ground for several meters, leaving pieces of scrap and even an entire car in its wake.
Rather belatedly, an airbag exploded from the front of the Neo-Shinbird, nearly smothering him.
Shouting in frustration, he smashed the bag to pieces. "Cart! What the hell happened?!"
"We have been forcibly ejected from the time stream," Cart replied, stating the obvious.
"I can see that!" He snapped. "Are we still on target?"
"We're in Japan… In the year 1971," she reported.
"1971 – that's decades off!" He protested.
"And that's not all. The thing that made us crash… It's outside," Cart informed him.
Masaru growled, his frustration mingling with the rage of the spirit of Alexander within him and boiling to a violent fury. "I'll deal with it myself!" He roared, wrestling free from the motorcycle, kicking open the emergency exit, and emerging to discover…
They had crashed in an oddly familiar abandoned quarry. An oddly familiar figure was standing on the edge, silhouetted by the sun.
For a moment, Masaru was filled with terror. No… It couldn't possibly be… Yes, all right, this was the right time period, but surely he couldn't have been unlucky enough to run into him! "Hongo…?" He whispered.
The figure moved, and Masaru was relieved to see it was only Shin.
Then his panic rose again. Wait, Shin?! "You… You're alive?!" He shrieked. "HOW?!"
"Mr. Kazamatsuri?" Cart whispered hopefully, poking her head out to the broken window on the side of the train.
Shin stared down at Masaru, saying nothing.
"W-well… I don't care how you got back, but you're going to pay for what you've done!" Masaru shouted. "Nothing will stop me from succeeding in my mission, even you!"
Shin stared down at Masaru, saying nothing.
"You should be helping me, dammit! My plan will benefit you too!" Masaru yelled.
Shin stared down at Masaru, saying nothing.
"Well?! Say something, dammit!" Masaru screamed, starting to freak out.
And then Shin spoke a single word as he performed a very, very familiar pose, his scarf billowing behind him as a sudden wind picked up.
"HENSHIN!"
Caelifer flashed a blinding green, his body clicking and splitting apart to reveal more of his crystalline circuits, the microprocessor on his head popping out of his head. Shin slammed his palm onto it before leaping into the air.
"BUG OVER!"
Shin stood on top of a green circle in the center of a void of green hexagons. As he again struck a familiar pose, a green wind billowed past him, blowing the hexagons behind him away and revealing he was in the middle of the time vortex. Green mechanical grasshoppers swarmed around his waist, combining to form a belt resembling the classic Typhoon but with a hexagonal turbine that had clock hands and shaped so it looked like the head of Kamen Rider 1 made up the left side of the buckle and Midorenger the right.
WHO'S THAT GUY? SUPER SENTAI? KAMEN RIDER? DOES IT MATTER? A HERO IS A HERO, NO MATTER THE LABEL!
Several green time portals opened behind him, displaying Kamen Riders 1, 2, V3, Skyrider, Black, Black RX, ZO, J, Zero-One, Zero-Two, KickHopper, PunchHopper, OOO Gatakiriba Combo, Gaim 1 Arms, Ghost 1 Damashii, Revi/Vice Neo-Hopper Genome, Barlckxs, Zonjis, Black Sun, Century, 3, 4, Ark-Zero, Ark-One, Ark-Zero-One, Abbadon, Type-1, Shadow Moon, Aka-Rider, Ao-Rider, Ki-Rider, Mido-Rider, Momo-Rider, Midorenger, Clover King, DenziGreen, Green2, Green Flash, Green Sai, DragonRanger, ShishiRanger, OhGreen, Green Racer, GingaGreen, GoGreen, TimeGreen, Shurikenger, DekaGreen, MagiGreen, Go-On Green, Shinken Green, Gosei Green, Gokai Green, Kyoryu Green, ToQ #4, MidoNinger, Zyuoh Elephant, Chameleon Green, Patren #2, Ryusoul Green, Kiramai Green, MidoHero, Green Hippopotamus, Battle Kenya, Confrontation Beast Chameleon-Fist Mele, Green Water Lotus, Victory Green, and Egypt Green.
EVERYBODY J-J-J-J-J-J-JUMP! IT'S SUPER HERO TIME! THE TIME IS NOW! HEROES NEVER DIE!
Shin jumped into the air at the same time as all of the other heroes leapt out of their time portals, their figures breaking apart into mechanical grasshoppers which swarmed towards him, his turbine spinning as the clock hands went around and around and around, generating a green wind which sucked all of them into his belt. Cracks began to form on his body, brilliant green light shining from them.
WHEN YOU HIT ROCK BOTTOM, THERE'S NOWHERE ELSE TO GO BUT UP! JUMP UP! RISE UP! WAKE UP! CLOCK UP! TIME'S UP!
Shin's body shattered, revealing a new figure just beneath the surface of his skin. He wore green armor over a black bodysuit, all of it comprised of hexagons, with Hive power cells on his shoulders. Spines grew from the sides of his arms and legs, and he wore black boots and gloves, the former having room for claws and the latter having spring coils ribbed on the backs. His chest was covered by sculpted semitransparent yellow muscles through which the faces of all the heroes he had assimilated could be seen. A cowl arose around his neck, leading into a split cape resembling the wings of a grasshopper which hung to his thighs. His scarf was now a crackling crimson ribbon of energy snapping through the air behind him. His helmet resembled Kamen Rider 1's but in green, with red compound eyes, bigger fangs, a Hive power cell in his forehead, and the antenna looked like the hands of a clock.
THE ETERNAL HERO, INHERITOR OF GENERATIONS OF GRASSHOPPERS AND EMERALD CHAMPIONS! WHEN HE JUMPS INTO BATTLE, HE BRINGS HOPE TO ALL WHO SEE HIM!
Once more, Shin struck a familiar pose as the ShinLiner, Cyclone, Hurricane, Skyturbo, Battle Hopper, Acrobatter, Rise Hopper, Ridevendor, Sakura Hurricane, Machine Ghostriker, Neo-Cyclone, Vice Ptera Genome, Road Sector, TriCyclone, Sky Cyclone, Jet Delta, Sai Fire, Jet Eagle, Dragon Caesar, Star-Shishi, GranTaurus, Green Blocker, Green Vehicle, V-Dump, Gingalcon, Green Hover, GoLiner 3, Green Mars 3, Time Jet 3, Tenkuujin, Pat Trailer, PatWing 4, Magi Taurus, RinChameleon, Birca, Kuma Origami, Kabuto Origami, GokaiRacer, FS-00, Zakutor, Green Ressha, Tank Ressha, Alligator Ressha, Paonmaru, Cube Elephant, Cube Octopus, Cube Fukorou, Chameleon Voyager, TigerLance, Dinomigo, Mach, Stanper, God Ibis, and every other vehicle and mecha used by grasshopper-themed heroes and green Rangers throughout history manifested behind him. "The true hero…Shin Green Hopper!"
A JUMP TO THE SKY TURNS TO A NEW DAWN!