SZ: And we're back to Zenkai Speed going off the huge posting and the crossover with GSE!
Z0: Yep. That's a thing, didn't know, it's okay it doesn't impact the story much. But read it. It's good.
GT: *reading the story script* Aye! *walks off* I gotta do some stuff real quick, so be right back! *leaves*
SZ: Mmm hmm…but now we are back to it, and if the preview for the last chapter is of any indication, we may be getting a certain…know what? Let's just let you all see…er read and find out. But before we begin…disclaimers as usual. We don't own anything aside from original content and characters.
*closet door opens and a tied up GT fell out, gagged*
GT: Mmmph!
SZ: What the?! GT?! But…who was…z0, we have an imposter in the base!
Z0: *pulls out flaming chainsaw* HAHAHAHA! *runs out laughing like a madman as screams of pain soon fill the air*
GT: Mmmm…*scoots over to SZ…before the 'ropes' become tentacles while his face becomes demonic in appearance. Tackles SZ before the curtains drop*
=LAST TIME!= Secchan shouted on a boxing bag =Tojitendo sent out a new World Super Soldier powered by Pranktopia, using their power to pull pranks on the poor people! It even tried to abandon Cassia…who we learned had a nasty illness that Eggman was keeping at bay with the 'promise' of a cure...only that was a lie just so he can control her and her big sister! Thankfully, Skye had the means to counter that mean egg's plans, and now both sisters-after the Zenkaiger's have dealt with Pranktopia- are living with us to help around the shop, tune! But who knows what horrible threats await the ever growing Zenkaiger team, tune!?=
"..useless…" Eggman growned, looking at the slot machine as it show three images of a fish, "Orbot, Cubot!"
"Spinning…again sir!" Orbot grunted as the two bots pulled down the lever, causing the slots to go again before they all stopped on an image of coal.
"...Again!" Ijrude snapped.
"Yes…!" the two grunted as they pulled again, the slots going and stopping once more…on an image of an egg.
"...AGAIN!" Barashitara snapped.
"Gh….can't…keep…going…!" Cubot whimpered as he and Orbot struggled to pull the lever down, the two falling off as the slots spun again…and landed on an image of fruit.
"GAH!" the two mad scientist and war general snapped in unison as they bashed on the machine…which caused the reels to end up on an image of a tongue.
"What's the matter with this stupid thing?!" Eggman snapped, "...Orbot, did Cubot have another voice chip incident?"
"He dyed himself red and called himself the Crimson….f-word…and tried to juggle a smoothie he found before spilling it on the lever," Orbot explained as he floated up.
"Hey to be fair…"
"Oh no..its back," Orbot groaned as Cubot floated up, his yellow replaced with red as he had a pair of orange-tinted sunglasses over his eyes.
"I thought I could do it with my optics closed…well that and they got my smoothie wrong, so I wasn't gonna drink that."
"You are all idiots…" Barashitara groaned.
"Now we have no World to send after those Zenkaigers," Ijrude sighed, "Now what? The Zenkaigers already know what most of our Grand Masters do, and we have no idea where the prince walked off to!"
"Hmph. Boy…it's almost like you're nerds…and you should leave military operations to someone who can pass a fitness test…" Barashitara groaned.
"Hey, it's a slow week! Normally we're on top of this stuff, but we've been distracted by our latest project we've haven't had time to think up proper plans! Plus even if we had any, those spandex punks will just ruin it!"
"Okay fair point….but counter?" Cubot began, putting his hands together as he pointed his two index fingers at the two mad doctors, "You can send in a spy and have them sneak into their base."
"But we don't have any spies you idiot!" Barashitara snapped, unaware of Eggman tensing as a grin began to grow on his face, "Besides th-"
"Now hold on…" Eggman spoke, earning his attention as his glasses glared from the light, "If it's a spy you need…I just thought of someone perfect for the job."
"...you are referring to Mimic, sire?" Starline asked as he walked over.
"Mimic?" Ijrude repeated.
"My best assassin/spy," Eggman grinned, "Months before I joined forces with Tojitendo, I had to deal with a pesky group known as the Diamond Cutters, a group of Freedom Fighters that acted more like black ops…but I cut Mimic a deal. He helps me kill them off…and I offer him amnesty for the crimes his 'friends' have done to my empire without fear of me siccing Metal Sonic on him."
"Hmph…well that might get us somewhere. I take it, we can't rely on him to take down the Zenkaigers alone?" Barashitara asked.
"Eh probably not…he's not known for being the strongest of fighters, so I doubt he could handle either the Hedgehog or that Zenkaiser…but the rest…maybe." Eggman muttered, "Sides we don't need him to fight, just sneak in, get out, and maybe slit a throat or two while they sleep~"
"But what if he gets caught?" was Barashitara's response.
"Oh I doubt it…see he's a special type of assassin," Starlien stated.
"Special how?! Stop leading around i-"
"Sire, I believe the latest test is a succ…" a second Starline began as he walked in…before stopping when he noticed the first, "...oh…you."
"...heh," 'Starline' grinned before his form changed, taking the appearance of a Mobian purple octopus in a tattered cloak, his beak looking chipped while the sclera of his eyes was pitch black, "I had a feeling he would call for me…so I snuck in as a Kudakk."
"...bullshit," Barashitara stated, "It's impossible to take on a Kudakk's…" he began before Mimic's form changed…to look exactly like him, "?!"
"I am a Mimic Octopus…I can take on the appearance of whoever I've seen and come into contact with, human, Mobian, machine…" M-Barashitara began as he changed back to normal, "And Kikainoid…"
"Just don't forget…" Eggman spoke up as he put a hand on his hand, "You serve me…or rather, you serve as a spy for Tojitendo now, so you better follow our command….and infiltrate the Zenkaigers, find their base…and destroy them from within…also don't forget our little deal. You kill that little problem of mine if you ever find them or…" he paused as he glared down at him, "I will sick Metal Sonic on you…or perhaps something worse."
"...worse how?" Mimic cautiously asked.
"Me…" Barashitara spoke as his cannons began glowing with heat, "You're lucky you make a handsome me…cause…I would hate to kill something as wonderful looking as me…but I can make an exception…if it's useless to us."
"...n-noted," Mimic muttered, giving off a slight shiver for a moment as he began to walk off, "But still…this won't take me long…"
"Just don't get caught in their nonsense!" Ijrude called out.
"I'm a professional assassin...they are idiots," Mimic countered as Starline begrudgingly opened a portal, "I can manage."
"...ten bolts says he fucks up the first night," Cubot blurted once Mimic walked through the closing portal.
"...I'll take that bet…" Barashitara spoke up.
"20 on it being Zenkaiser's fault…" Orbot spoke.
"Heh…that's easy money," Ijirude replied.
"Zenryoku Zenkai!" Zenkaiser shouted as he landed a split kick to some Kudakk's, "Where did they even come from this time!?" he spun around to pistol whip another.
"Ah! At this point, they are just being annoying to get rises out of us!" ZenkaiJuran shouted, slashing a Kudakk with his sword.
"Really? Just…really? Our day off after Yatchan needed to order more stock after that big spender?" Kurenai demanded, making a smokescreen that dissipated to reveal the Kudakks within were sliced to ribbons.
"Ah don't be so hard on yourselves, it's just we all planned to spend today at the movies!" Topaz cheered, kicking a Kudakk before spinning to cut down another, "She was really excited to see one of the first ever new movies to come out since our worlds fused with Human, Mobian, and Kikainoid actors!" she spun around and kicked another Kudakk.
"I voted for the epic action packed hero movie with multiple plotlines and unneeded violence to save the world…" Zenkai Cobalt spoke up as he tripped a Kudakk before ducking a swing from a second and stabbing it through with his blade, "But…we got outvoted and are watching her choice of the sappy romantic comedy that has a Mobian girl as the female lead…"
"Double feature with that retelling of Sun Wukong," ZenkaiVroon reminded
"Hah…right…" Cobalt groaned at the memory.
"He's just ticked off cause the lead actor is someone he knows!" Zenkaiser chuckled as he and ZenkaiGaon slammed two Kudakk's into each other headfirst.
"Now he's a movie star!?" Cobalt shouted to the sky, "What in the name of Chilidogs!?"
"Wow…you really don't like him, do you?" Topaz blinked behind her helmet.
"Methinks egos rival one another," Magine guessed as she spun a Kudakk around and tossed it to Topaz who ducked down and used a shoulder check to flip the grunt into the air, and landing perfectly in a garbage can, "Hey don't let that become another survivor that comes back to bite us!"
"AH! You're right!" Topaz panicked as they began dragging the Kudakk out and tossing him around into all the rest like a ragdoll.
"My Money…it's all about a girl." Zenkai Juran sighed, shield bashing a Kudakk that tried sneaking up on him.
"Who told you!?" Cobalt gasped as he pointed to Juran.
"Oh god/Chaos it is!" Zenkai Magine and Topaz gasped.
"What can I say…when you've been around as long as this old Dino has…you know the scent of heartbreak's past." ZenkaiJuran replied coolly.
"Juran sugoi…" ZenkaiMagine muttered.
"Juran…so cool!" Topaz cheered.
"Why do you get praise?!" ZenkaiGaon complained as he slashed a Kudakk with his claws.
"Can we stop talking about this?!" Cobalt shouted.
"...Do you want to talk about it?" Kurenai asked hopefully.
"...We are not opening those floodgates today…" Cobalt panicked at her tone.
"No fair…we want to know!" the girls all complained.
"NEVAH!" Cobalt shouted to the sky above.
"...Guys…Guys…GUYS!" Zenkaiser panicked as he and Vroon were overwhelmed and dogpiled.
"If it would not be too much to ask…we need help!" ZenkaiVroon shouted.
As if on cue, a cyan colored laser hit one of the Kudakks in the face, bouncing off it as it hit another, then another, and another, and kept going until it hit one last Kudak that tried to run in the back. A few moments passed before the Kudakks suddenly exploded, leaving only their weapons behind.
"...what just happened?" Gaon blinked.
"Where did…" Topaz began before she looked up a nearby roof top, seeing what looked like a Mobian Wolf slowly standing up, their black cloak blowing in the wind as they lowered something away from their masked face, "?"
The figure said nothing as they hefted what Topaz assumed was their weapon over their shoulder as they began to walk off.
"There!" she shouted, "Someone, cool, mystery…after them leader!" she helped Zenkaiser up and dragged him off.
"I guess I'm going this way! I'll be back in time for the second movie…!" he shouted.
"...uh…don't worry buddy! I'll come h-and I am being dragged off," Cobalt muttered, losing his transformation as Roll began to drag him, "Come on, Roll…"
"We chose for the movie…"
"But I don't like the guy!"
"Well too bad," she replied simply.
"You know the way you treat me, you may as well just introduce yourself as my ball-and-chain…" Sonic grumbled, "I don't get how you always win…"
"Because I am a kunoichi. I listen, learn, and use what I learn."
"Mmm…"
"Hah….He's not there," the Mobian wolf sighed a bit, standing in a small alleyway.
They then pulled the mask from their face, revealing that they were female with her fur a biscotti color, her hair pulled into a ponytail with her muzzle-two of her fangs sticking out of her upper mouth- and skin a brown-ish color while her eyes-which had a bit of gray mascara over them- remained closed with a bit of her hair going over one eye. Underneath her cloak was a cream-colored tube top, a pair of gray shorts with black kneepads covering her knees, black and gray gloves, and a pair of black combat boots. The mask in her hands was a cat-like ornate mask, which was cream, dark gray and light gray in color. Three holes were seen at the right side of the mask while a blue "eye" on the left side. A faint glow could be seen from inside her cloak for a moment, making her lose her train of thought.
"...do not worry," she whispered to the glows before looking down, staring at the odd looking weapon that seemed to be a mix of a gun and an umbrella. The bottom of it is hooked to allow users to grip it properly. Along the light gray neck of the weapon were two rounded white, black, and light blue studs. Very noticeably near the end of the weapon was a large rounded light blue, black, and white piece which has an open segment. The mouthpiece was quite long and gray in color, with a light blue end, "We'll find him…we owe them that much…n-"
"I FOUND YOU!"
"?!" The wolf tensed up in surprise, quickly putting her mask on the upper left side of her head before grabbing her weapon as she quickly took off.
"Hey wait!" Tangle shouted chasing.
"Huh…there was someone…" Kaito muttered, "I thought she was just being silly."
"That was so cool! I want to talk to you! What's your name!? How do you do that! That's such a cool mask! Let me see!" Tangle shouted.
The wolf further tensed as she quickly turned a corner, knocking over some trash cans as tried to lose track fo Tangle. Unfortunately, the lemur girl leapt over the trash cans with ease as she began to use some nearby lampposts to propel herself further.
"...Green, hover," the wolf whispered into her cloak as she held her weapon up.
"Wait! I just want t-!" Tangle began.
"HOVER!"
"Wha…?" Tangle began, about to grab the wolf before she suddenly took off into the air, making her miss as she suddenly crashed into a trash can, "GAh!"
"Tangle are you al…right..?" Kaito began as he ran over…and looked up, "..oh that is so cool."
"Huh?" Tangle groaned, rubbing her head as she looked up…and saw the wolf floating there as a green energy umbrella came from her weapon, "...oh that is so cool!"
The wolf flinched a bit as her umbrellas carried her up to the rooftop of a nearby building, landing on top of it as a green ball of energy came out of her weapon and went into her cloak just as she resumed running.
"Okay…now I'm interested." Kaito chuckled.
"Right?!" Tangle beamed, "After that shy awoo!"
"?!" the wolf nearly tumbled in her running, unaware of her mask falling off her head as she quickly recovered and resumed running.
"Fast ball!" Kaito shouted as Tangle was tossed up to the roof, "See told you, you are light enough for me to throw!"
"Well now we know for sure!"
"You chase from up there! I'll try and cut them off!" at that, a trail of dust was seen as Kaito took off down the street.
"Can do, buddy!" Tangle gave a thumbs up as she quickly ran after the wolf….before stopping as she quickly picked her mask up, "Can't forget this…she'll probably be glad to have it back," she muttered as she resumed running.
"We lost her." Kaito sighed to Roll at the movie theater.
"...did you run into traffic again?" Roll asked with a tilt of her head.
"...no…especially not on my EX Gear…"
"Oh Kaito…" she sighed.
"Dang….well, at least I have her mask," Tangle muttered as she held it up, "She'll probably be back for it, so I figured I'd hold onto it for her by then."
"...you want to try it on, don't you?"
"Get out of my mind." Tangle replied with a pout.
"It shouldn't hurt…" Kaito shrugged, "It's a mask. Just…you know…don't like…sneeze in it or something." he chuckled.
"Oh don't worry. I wash my hands," Tangle assured as she put the mask on, "...huh…this…feels like something Ayane would make."
"Eh?" Kaito and Roll blinked at that.
"I'm serious. This thing's like…super high tech," Tangle explained before pointing at the 'eye', "I mean this thing's got a built in scope on it."
"Maybe she knows a way to help find the owner?" Kaito offered, pulling his phone out, "Well…let's hope she picks up." he dialed her number.
"Mmm…with luck, she's not distracted by something." Roll muttered.
=Hamashi-hamashi…=
"Ay-Ay!" Kaito beamed before a click went off followed by a dial tone, "...She hung up on me. I don't get it, I kept my promise to stay out of the lab…"
"Oh…you'll learn. Hopefully soon." Roll smiled, "I'll try this time," she pulled out a phone and dialed.
=Hamashi-hamashi…=
"Nee-chan it's your Onee-chan Roll," Roll spoke.
=Hai?=
"Are you busy with a project?"
=No=
"Good. Tangle-chan found something. It's a mask with some interesting tech in it."
=...Where are you?=
"Movie theater. We're about to head in for the new Journey to the West movie since we finished the Rom-Com," Roll replied before giggling, "Sonic-san knows the main actor of the movie we're about to watch. Love rival."
=Love rival? Now this I have to know=
"Say what?! Is…huh…but…why?!" Sonic demanded.
"We're Sakurai," Roll replied, "Even with her personality, all Sakurai are practitioners of the subject of love in all its forms."
"But isn't she your half sister?"
"She's still one of my three siblings, so she's Sakurai."
"That makes no sense!"
"Pot meet Kettle," Juran deadpanned as he walked by with several popcorn buckets.
"...J…Just tell her about what Tangle found…" Sonic grumbled.
"Where is it?"
"GH?!" Sonic tensed as he turned, and saw a Ayane in a pink cat costume standing near him, "...ok when and how?"
"Classified."
"Right here!" Tangle offered the mask, "Please don't break it?"
"...hmm," Ayane muttered as she took the mask, carefully examining each part of it, "Interesting…built in scope, universal translator, communicator, recorder…this is highly well made."
"So can you learn who it belongs to?" Kaito asked.
"Possibly…but I recognize this weld pattern," Ayane noted, "This was made by the royal blacksmiths of the Acorn Kingdom or a student of theirs."
"You know I don't think we've ever talked about the naming conventions of your home world…" Magine muttered.
"Acorn Kingdom Blacksmith…well I guess that could narrow it down…if we…you know…were kicking it on Mobius…" Sonic muttered, "But at the very least that should mean they are friendly…till these two chased them down." he pointed to Kaito and Tangle with his thumb.
"..." Ayane pulled her mascot glove off and it unfolded into a fan she then used on them both, "B-Baka-tachi…" she looked back in the mask and pulled out tweezers, plucking a strand of hair from it, "Hmm…wolf Mobian."
"How…" Sonic began.
"Nee-chan has the top score in tracking in our whole clan history," Roll explained with a smile.
"To be fair I did not chase…I was going to cut them off but ended up running too far." Kaito smiled, "...And I need my EX Gear repaired for unrelated reasons…"
"...I'm going to further examine this back home," Ayane stated as she began to walk off, "LEt me know if you end up seeing the Mobian this belongs to."
"Ah wait!" Tangle called out, "I…technically need to return that to her."
"And you will…after I finish examining this."
"How fast can you do it?" Kaito asked Ayane, "Well the faster you can finish, the faster Tangle can return it. Otherwise…your alternative is inviting her into your lab~"
"Ooh! That's a great idea!" Tangle cheered.
"W-w-what?!" Ayane squeaked as her whole costume lost color.
"Well it's important to Tangle, so the best solution is for you to do it fast, bring it back and then you can go home and relax." Kaito pointed out, "Otherwise…you either take Tangle…or she breaks in."
"Hah! Kaito is using logic on you…hahaha!" Sonic laughed as he fell over.
"Well I promised to stay out of your lab…but…I can't stop others from trying." Kaito pointed out, "So to keep everyone happy, just finish fast. You can do that right?" he asked with a smile.
"Or ya can take me home with ya~" Tangle offered.
"...ugh~" Ayane groaned as she [inched the bridge of her nose, "I know I am going to regret this….fine….she can come…"
"YES!" Tangle cheered jumping into the air.
"But!" Ayane paused as she pointed at Tangle, causing her to pause mid-air, held aloft by her tail, "She's not allowed to touch anything in my lab until I'm done with the mask!"
"Aw…boo…" she complained, using her tail to 'float' back down, "Okay okay, no touchy touchy…but…I am allowed to play obnoxiously loud video games on my phone…should I get bored."
"Mmm…."
"Probably best you're gonna get," Sonic stated.
"...ugh fine…b-but she has to keep the volume down at least so it doesn't distract me."
"Good enough for me!" Tangle beamed, using her tail to grab Ayane as she rushed out, "Let's go!"
"No no w-KYA!" Ayane screamed as she was dragged off.
"Well…off they go," Juran noted as he walked back over, different flavorings in each bucket.
"Nee-chan seems to have improved a lot," Roll giggled, "I should have introduced you all to her sooner."
"...What was that 'three' thing again?" Sonic asked.
"Ah! Hurry, hurry! The movie is gonna start!" Gaon called, waving over to the group from the tickets-taker, "Come on~!"
"Hai~!" Roll beamed as she ran over…before coming back and grabbing a bucket of pink popcorn and a bucket of yellow, "Almost forgot these. Strawberry and Cheddar Cheese?"
"Yep," Juran confirmed before she ran off with them, giving the cheese one to Gaon before making her way to give her ticket to the ticket-taker.
"Come on try and enjoy the movie at least." Kaito offered to Sonic, "I hear its very faithful to the novel…so the Monkey King ends up losing a lot and having a lot of moments of crisis."
"Hmm…I guess that's fine…" Sonic muttered.
"Sides I hear it's popular because of the very handsome actor playing Tripataka." Magine added.
"Alright, alright…" Sonic grumbled as he went off to turn in his ticket.
"...Who's turn is it to keep him in his seat? This movie's three hours long," Juran asked.
"..." Kaito and Magine looked at each other and turned away from the others, "...Jankenpo…" they muttered before Kaito turned around and put a set of handcuffs onto one hand of Roll's as she had come back to see what was taking them before following after Sonic.
"What? Hey! What are you!? AH! They zapped me!" Sonic cried out.
"Kaito-nii, nani?! Why are you handcuffing us?!"
"Roll wins!" Kaito declared.
"Eh?!"
"Skye made those to neutralize your super speed till they are taken off." Magine explained producing a key, "So…try to not drink too much cola."
"Oh I wasn't worried about that…till now!" Sonic complained.
"Mmm…" Roll blushed.
"Think dry thoughts, you two…" Magine replied bluntly as she slid the key into a skirt pocket, "And he made them ninja-proof, too. So no picking the lock." she looked at Roll, "Also this key stays with me unless there is an emergency."
"We do this cause the last time we watched movies at home, Sonic got all fidgety during the slow dialogue parts and tapped his foot till the friction burned a hole into the tatami mat…" Juran pointed out.
"That's because I don't do slow," Sonic argued.
"You still have yet to see the ending of Chao in Space!" Gaon argued.
"Mmm…" Sonic muttered as he was dragged off.
Unaware to the group however as they walked off, Mimic peeked on at them from behind a nearby lamppost.
"Well…this will be easier than I thought," the octopus whispered to himself, smirking a bit before his form began to change to look like Juran, "Just have to sneak in, and strike as they focus on their little movie…"
As he walked into the movie theater…he in turn was unaware of the wolf looking down at him from a rooftop, a frown on her face as his cloak blew in the wind.
Sonic yawned a bit as he and the others watched the movie, the hedgehog trying to stay awake at the dialogue going on in the movie…the slow…slow dialogue. His head rocked forward several times only for him to shake himself back awake.
"Why are they taking so long on this guy's backstory…" Sonic groaned.
"That's how it went in the book." Vroon stated.
"Do we really need like an hour of exposition to know he used to be a magic cricket?"
"It's been 10 minutes." Magine spoke.
"It's torture to me!" Sonic complained, "Agh….where's Juran with my chilidog already?"
"You rang?" he turned to see the red Kikanoid walking over, holding onto a single Chilidog, "I made sure they put extra chili on it and such for you."
"Sweet~ Thanks man," Sonic smirked as he took it.
"No prob…now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get a refill," Juran stated as he turned to walk off…his optics narrowing as a smirk grew on his face, 'That poor fool…what he doesn't know is that there's a special pill in there that will melt his innards from the inside out. By the time the movie's over, those idiots will have realized their friend will be…'
"Oh hey Juran! Mind grabbing me one?!" Kaito called out, making 'Juran' stop in his steps.
"...they were all out."
"Hah? They were out?"
"Yes. Sonic got the last one."
"Ooh! Lucky!" Sonic beamed.
"...can I get a bite then?"
"What? No way man get your own!"
"Sonnikku…" Roll groaned as Sonic and Kaito began to fight over the Chilidog now.
'This is better than I expected….if their idiot leader ends up eating it, it'll kill all moral for the Zenkaigers, making things easier for…' 'Juran' began mentally before the Chilidog ended up hitting him in the face, "..."
"...oops," the two whispered, "Sorry…"
"...it's fine," 'Juran' muttered as he walked off, "I'll go get cleaned up…"
"You sure? We have…" Vroon began.
"I said I'll go clean myself up!" 'Juran' snapped as he left.
"...that was weird," Sonic muttered, "Juran seemed more….testy than usual."
"Ah…" Juran sighed, sitting in his seat, "Oh good we're still in the long talking part! I didn't miss anything!"
"Wow you washed up fast…" Magine noted.
"Hah…well I just went to the mens room…I mean I washed my hands as long as any man should…" Juran muttered in confusion, "Yeesh…I know Vroon is a neatfreak but now you Magine?"
"But…we just saw you leave," Vroon stated, "Right after Sonic and Kaito ended up smacking a chilidog you brought into your face."
"...Vroon, the hell was in your Sprite?" Juran blinked.
"..." Vroon looked at his drink as he moved his glasses off for a moment, "Hmm…maybe his memory is finally being afflicted by age…"
"Oi oi! I'll have you brats know I'm still a very spry 40!"
"Could've fooled me," Gaon scoffed.
"..." Juran said nothing before he poured his drink all over Gaon's head.
"Now this is exciting," Sonic grinned in amusement before Roll calmly took his half-empty bucket and put it on his head.
"Sush!" Roll hushed the others under her breath, a stern look at them all.
"Sorry…" many muttered.
"Ugh…now I need to go clean up…" Gaon groaned as he started to walked out.
"Blast it...that backfired," Mimic frowned to himself, taking the form of a employee as he stood against a pillar, "...nevermind. It was a simple slip…nothing I can't bounce back from," he muttered before he noticed Gaon walking out, "..." a grin grew on his face as he took on Juran's appearance again before he walked off.
"Ahh…grouchy old man," Gaon muttered, grabbing some napkins as he tried to get some of his drink off his face, "What was his problem? He was the one acting angry."
From behind a nearby pillar, the female wolf poked out as she glared a bit at Gaon. While she didn't have her mask..she knew she saw Mimic go inside disguised as a Kikanoid…though she couldn't tell if it was really him or not due to losing her mask…but she knew how cunning Mimic was, so chances are he took on the appearance of another Kikanoid.
"…one shot…" they whispered, raising their weapon up as they aimed at a hanging light post straight above Gaon, "Just enough to detain him..and knock him out of his current disguise."
"Ugh…so sticky…" Gaon groaned as he wiped his face, missing the laser as one of the cables hanging the light post was snapped and it was sent swinging…just as Gaon ducked and 'Juran' walked out of the restroom and got smacked and sent flying back inside, "Wah! What was that?!"
"?!" the wolf tensed as she quickly went back into hiding, 'I missed…'
"Ah! Someone! This poor poor Octo was hit in the face!" Gaon panicked, "Is he bleeding or is that ink!?"
"Gh…" Mimic groaned as he laid there…ending up losing his disguise in the process, 'That…seemed too much of a coinci-' he began before Gaon suddenly picked him up.
"Someone help! This octo needs medical attention! He looks like a zombie!" he ran out, holding Mimic in the air.
'I can't believe this!?' Mimic internally screamed.
'I can't believe it…just like that…' The wolf gasped before a glow caught her attention from inside her cloak, "...I know. I….what just happened?"
"Hmm…fascinating," Ayane whispered as she carefully examined the mask
"Hmm…yes…" Tangle nodded.
"...do you m-m-mind?" Ayane deadpanned, noticing how close the lemur was to her.
"What? I'm just looking."
"You're in my p-p-personal space…"
"Is this better?" Tangle used her tail to push herself up and hang from the ceiling to look down at what Ayane was doing.
"...somewhat," Ayane muttered before looking at the mask, "Hmm…" she moved to a nearby computer screen as she began typing down on the keyboard, "Freedom Fighter group with Wolf Mobians…"
"Got something?"
"Possibly…" she muttered before three search results came up, "Hmm…so far we have the Wolf Pack-doubt it belongs to them- and the Northamer Freedom Fighters, but there's no one from the Acorn Family amongst them, so that leaves…" she paused as she clicked on the last one, "The Diamond Cutters, a Freedom Fighter mercenary group that traveled around Mobius taking down Eggman's bases.."
"Ooh~ Even the name sounds cool~" Tangle awed.
"It seems the last record was that they all died in action not too long before the worlds got fused together." she noted, "Tragic…but…curious…why is someone using their mask…unless…"
"A surviving member seeking vengeance~!" Tangle cheered.
"Or a traitor," Ayane scowled, "Chances are Eggman bribed them with something, and they turned on their team mates almost instantly…"
"So then why did she save us then?" Tangle asked, earning a look, "Earlier when we were fighting off some Kudakks, someone fired off a laser that pretty much hit and destroyed each of the ones that dogpilled Kaito and Vroon."
"...Wisp."
"Eh?"
"Wisp, a species of small Aliens from space," Ayane explained as she typed something down, causing an image of what looked like a small octopus-like creature with a single eye, "They come in different forms, but can provide a huge boost to those that bond with them."
"Oh Adorable little buddies that act as power ups! I want all of them!"
"They are not pets!" Ayane scolded, "They are quite intelligent with a massive lifespan easily reaching several millennia and more than likely…" she pointed at a part of the mask "...this universal translator is how she listens to them without bonding with one."
"You know a lot about these things, don't cha?"
"...I may have studied up on them, yes," Ayanae muttered looking back at the mask.
"...Sounds less like study and more like…"
"AHA! A camera function! More than likely used for recon and reviewing various operations for improvement," Ayane grinned, "What wonders you have within…all that rich, juicy knowledge…"
"Isn't that invading someone's personal life?" Tangle asked, "I mean she could have something very personal in there."
"And your point is?"
"Well… I think of Kaito and Roll knew you did something so rude…Kaito would drag you to his grandma so she'd give you that same look of disappointment she gives your old man." Tangle pointed out, "Boy, they would be so disappointed in you after all your progress…just imagine their responses."
"...A-Akuma…Akuma da!" Ayane pouted, "Fine…Fine! I won't look!"
"Alright, we keep her privacy private. And you get to keep your growing relationship with Kaito strong." Tangle smirked.
"Right, right…" Ayane huffed before pausing as her face went red with steam pouring from her ears while they and her tail shot straight up, "W-w-w-WHAT?!"
"...huh. I think Ayane and Tangle were just talking about me," Kaito muttered, scratching his nose, "Or Yacchan with Secchan and Uncle Skye…"
"How do you think that?" Magine asked.
"I felt a sense of terror to my wonderful zenryoku zenkai bachelor lifestyle," Kaito replied.
"If mother was here…we would be working on that…" Roll muttered.
"I heard that!" Kaito pointed at her, "I knew you plotted against me. My own adopted/extended family…I bet even not here, you nee-san is plotting as well."
"Oh you know that…she wouldn't…Mmm…Oh, look, funny moment," Roll pointed at the movie.
"Mmm…How does drinking water cause a male to become pregnant?" Vroon pondered as Sonic cracked up laughing.
"It'd be funnier if that dumb monkey drank it!" Sonic laughed.
"I…have concerned questions…" Kaito spoke up, "But it's also really funny."
"Wait…a kingdom of women…?" Magine blinked as she slowly turned to look at Roll, "...any relation?"
"Eh?" Roll pondered, tilting her head.
"...I mean it does kinda sound like your family, Roll…only you guys go and find husbands to be happy with instead of magical…water," Kaito muttered.
"It seems very morally dubious to just have that sort of…thing," Vroon muttered, paying more attention to the plot.
"Y-You think so?" Roll pondered as she looked at the movie, "Wait a second…" she pointed at a red fox in the film, "That's Aunt Akai!"
"Eh?!" Kaito exclaimed, "Ah! It is her! …Why does that fit her so much?"
"Right?!" Roll exclaimed before she was sushed, "...gomen nassai."
"...uh, context please?" Sonic asked.
"That's Aunt Akai," Kaito grinned, "She's the onee-chan to Aunts Jem and Pari and cousin to Aunty. She…also has bad luck finding a date."
"Everyone in the clan and Aunt Mitsuko and Uncle Isao have a betting pot on when she finally gets a mate," Roll sighed, shaking her head, "Oh, that reminds me. Kaito-san, your bet on her expired yesterday."
"Eh?"
"You know which one…"
"Oh…" he nodded as Gaon walked back over to his seat, "Well good thing I made it when I was little and thought 100 yen was a lot of money."
"Hai," Roll nodded, "Oh! Welcome back, Gaon-san."
"Sorry, I was held up with something," Gaon replied simply.
"Well, you're just in time. Turns out, Roll's aunt is a movie star," Sonic grinned, "And guys can apparently get pregnant if they drink river water. Hey, does the monkey drink the water?"
"No, but something does happen that you'll laugh at," Roll replied.
"I'm happy then," Sonic smirked.
"Wait, what was that about water doing what to a male?" Gaon asked.
"Yeah, I'm gonna avoid going to China," Juran stated, "I ain't ready to be a pops."
"This is just a story. It's not real," Sonic snorted…before looking at Kaito, "Right?"
"Never been to China," Kaito shrugged.
'Okay…the poison capsules were a flop,' 'Gaon' thought, his palm opening a little to expose a needle, 'Seems I'll need to a little prick of a needle dipped in the worst poisons I've collected.' he reached a hand out to pat Kaito's shoulder, 'While everyone focuses on the film, this poison will induce a heart attack for a quick death. Once the film ends, they'll be left with…'
"I must know!" Vroon exclaimed, getting up and accidentally knocking 'Gaon's' hand away and hit himself in the chest.
"?!" 'Gaon' froze, '...And if it pokes an octopus, it causes…' his stomach groaned…badly, 'Oh no…'
"Oi kid, you okay?" Juran noted, hearing the stomach noises, "I told you, you should have eaten something before we came here. Popcorn can only fill ya so much…"
"I…I'll be back…" he grunted before running off.
"Huh…You guys sure do miss a lot," Sonic noted.
"Says the one who hasn't seen Tikal in Chao in Space," Roll frowned.
"What…what?" Sonic asked as he clearly didn't know what he did wrong here. But could tell she was upset with him.
"If he doesn't get it, he never will." Magine muttered.
"Best part and he's never seen it," Kaito sighed, "Gonna have to handcuff you to Roll more often."
"Now who's plotting on ending a bachelor's lifestyle?" Sonic frowned as Roll blushed with steam coming out of her ears.
"Ugh…blast it all…" Mimic muttered as he stepped out of the bathroom, currently disguised as another employee, "How is it I failed twice against these idiots? ...no matter…" he whispered before he changed forms to resemble Magine, "I just need to try a different tactic…yes…something new…" 'she' whispered as she walked off….just as the real Magine stepped into the area.
"Hmm…what should I get…" Magine whispered as she walked over to the snack bar, unaware of the wolf peeking at her from behind a pillar, "I think I saw some strawberry milk chocolate bars…maybe I can get those for Roll."
"...I won't miss again," the wolf whispered as she took aim, pulling the trigger as she took the shot…only to miss when Magine crouched down, "?!"
"Nu?" Magine blinked as she stood up, unaware of the laser shot bouncing around the area before going outside….followed by the sound of someone yelping.
"Ooh…That looks like a nasty boo-boo on your keister, Nack…" Bean's voice noted.
"Shaddap…" Nack's voice groaned, "And it's Fang! Fang Fang Fang!"
"..."
"Oh I know, Bark. He really needs to make up his mind."
"ARGH!"
'I missed….again?' the wolf 'blinked' in surprise before a glow from her cloak caught her attention, "..." 'I really wish I had my mask….'
"I'm back," Magine called out as she walked back to the others with some bowls of popcorn, "And I got more popcorn…extra large with salt and extra butter for Kaito."
"Oooh~" Kaito drooled at that, "Thanks!"
"My pleasure," she smiled as she walked over…the others unaware of the glint appearing in her eyes, 'You poor fool…I laced the popcorn with a powerful poison…once consumed, it'll knock you into a coma you'll never awake from…all while you slowly lose your memories.'
"Huh…Kinda need a refill myself," Sonic noted, looking at his empty bucket, "Mostly from someone putting it on my head."
"I offered my own," Roll pouted.
"Oh! We can share!" Kaito beamed.
'Perfect…Two for one,' 'Magine' thought as she took a step…before screaming as a banana peel 'she' had stepped on caused 'her' to toss the popcorn up into the air and land perfectly on her head, emptying the contents all over her.
"Ah! Magine, is everything okay?" Juran asked, "Ah…I knew you using those bananas so much in battle was going to come back at you one day."
"...noted…" 'Magine' muttered, her eye twitching as she slowly stood up, "Ex…Excuse me..I need to clean up."
"But...you j-" Vroon began.
"Zip! It!" 'she' hissed as she stomped out…just as the real Magine walked back in with various sweets.
"Sorry it took me a while. I was looking for what candy to get…and I managed to find some strawberry milk chocolate bars for Roll."
"What the jeebus!?" Juran gawked, looking back and forth.
"...uh…Magine? Are…you alright?" Sonic asked, "I mean..I know I'm fast, but…what happened to the popcorn that was on ya?"
"Nu-nu-nu?" Magine blinked, tilting her head.
"Must have used her Gear to clean herself," Roll guessed with a shrug, "And thank you for the treat, Magine-chan!"
"No problem, the others are acting weird…right?" she asked Roll specifically.
"I blame how long this movie is…" Sonic groaned.
"But this has been the longest you've managed to stay watching one," Kaito pointed out.
"Mostly because of the moments of karma Monkey Kahn's character is getting."
"Wait….his full name is 'Monkey Kahn?'" Juran blinked.
"Yup."
"Huh…"
"Oh, and all those scenes with the cloud? Funny enough, he can do that," Sonic noted.
"..." everyone shared looks of disbelief and/or pondering.
"Folks in Chun-nan called him 'King of the Free People,' too," Sonic went on, not paying attention to them as the screen was showing a fight scene.
"...You don't think…" Juran whispered.
"It's gotta just be a coincidence," Kaito muttered.
"Ahh…This is making my head go vroon-vroon!" Vroon admitted.
"Anyone else wonder who snuck a banana in here?" Gaon asked.
"Lousy, rotten, no-good…" Mimic muttered, once more disguised as a worker with a twitchy eye, "Three times….three times?! How?! I…" he began before taking a deep breath, "No no…It's fine…it doesn't bother me at all…all they are doing is setting themselves up for their untimely demise…I just gotta think of a different strategy…" a grin soon grew on his face before he took in Vroon's appearance next, "This one likes to get in personal for his questions…I have just the plan in mind," he whispered as he walked off…just as a muttering Vroon entered the area.
"It…should not make sense…how is it that a cloud can hold someone up without them falling through?" he pondered…unaware of the wolf taking aim at him just as he passed by, "And given what Sonic said…is it an actual movie, or is it now a documentary considering that's what this Monkey Kahn does…?" a cyan laser shot at him…and bounced off the back of his head and then all over, "Hm?" he turned around, missing the shot as it went back outside.
"..."
"...Ooh…Bark, buddy…you okay?"
"HAH! Now you know how it feels!"
*WHAM!*
"Ooh…Good distance!"
"...What the…" the wolf whispered, her eyes opening to reveal the blue irises in them in her shock, 'What the…huh?'
"Kaito, mind if I sit next to you? I need to ask you something important," Vroon asked as he sat down.
"Hmm?" Kaito blinked, his mouth currently stuffed with food before he swallowed, "What is it?"
"Just…come a little closer…This is important," Vroon stated, 'And the moment you come in close enough…I'll let the hidden blade in my wrist come out and get you from behind, disabling your ability to walk and by the time the movie ends…you'll have bled out…'
"..okay…" Kaito muttered, about to move in close before blinking, "...wait. Where are your glasses?"
"...eh?"
"Did you drop them again?"
"...yes," 'Vroon' muttered, 'I forgot the blasted glasses!'
"Huh…normally you're panicking by now," Kaito noted.
'...roll with it,' 'Vroon' thought before screaming out loud, "AHH! I think I dropped them just as I was coming back in!"
"I keep telling you to get contacts, but nobody listens to me…" Juran groaned.
"P-Please assist me!" 'Vroon' shouted as he began to search the floor, "They have to be here!" 'And when I get close enough to one of you, I'll have the chance to strike…' he thought deviously as his hands patted around the floor.
"You got a problem, buddy?"
"...huh?" 'Vroon' blinked as he slowly looked up…and saw a scowling muscular bear Mobian glaring down at him, "...Uh…"
"I'm tryin' to enjoy a movie…" the bear began as he started cracking his knuckles, "And you're interrupting it…"
"...I…"
*BAM!*
"Wow…Nice distance inside," Sonic noted, seeing 'Vroon' sail over and land in a trash can a janitor was moving out.
"AH! Vroon!" Kaito ran after him.
"Ah! Kaito, the movie!" Magine called out.
"I'll read the book!" he argued.
"The book is longer than the movie!"
"Still read it! No time to chit-chat!" Kaito called out as he ran…just as the real Vroon walked in.
"...What did I miss?" Vroon asked.
"...Um…" Sonic looked at the screen, seeing end credits, "The last scene."
"But…he was…when did…" Gaon began to sputter in disbelief.
"...Something funny is going on…" Juran muttered, "And not Sonic running into a street light funny."
"Two million views," Magine added.
"Oh come on!" Sonic complained before muttering, "Whoever let Tails and Haseo have a camera…"
"But something smells of maniacal evil schemes funny…" Juran continued.
"What makes you say that?" Vroon blinked.
"We just saw another you," Juran pointed out as Vroon's head…began spinning from shock 'till it popped off.
"...Really glad the movie ended," Magine sighed as she picked his head up.
"WHAT?!" Vroon's head shouted.
"Can we get these off now?" Sonic asked, he and Roll holding their cuffed hands up.
"...I suppose so, yes," Roll nodded.
"YES!"
"...I'm starting to see a pattern…" Mimic muttered to himself, taking het banana peel off his head as he took a worker's appearance once more, "I'm transforming into Kikainoids…I do much better when it's a robot…or a Mobian…" he whispered as he changed into Sonic, 'Just need to wait for that blue nuisance to come out…take his place while he's gone, then lead his friends into a trap…much like I did my old…'team mates',' he gave a chuckle as he quickly hid behind a pillar...just as the real Sonic ran out.
"FREEDOM~!"
"...Perfect," 'Sonic' grinned before moving out, going into a jogging stance as he looked at Kaito and the others just as they walked out, "Hey guys! What's keeping ya? I'm ready to head on out!"
"We're gonna have to put a pin on the next stop," Juran noted as he and Gaon were leading Vroon's body while Magine had his head, "Gotta get Vroon over to the Doc's house…again."
"Ah…sounds good to me," 'Sonic' shrugged, 'Excellent…lead me to your head scientist…and once he and I are alone…I'll take him out without him noticing…find where their secret base is…and take out their only means of transforming.'
"That actually reminds me…" Kaito began as he looked at Roll, the HedgeFox rubbing her eyes to get used to the sunlight, "Any word from Ayane about that mask?"
"Oh! I should probably call her."
"Probably a good idea," Gaon nodded, the group unaware of the wolf peeking out from her hiding spot…and took aim at 'Sonic'.
'This time I won't miss…I can't lose him…not after what he did…to the others…' she thought, her trigger finger shaking a bit as she struggled to keep calm.
"Ayane-chan, c-" Roll began as she had her phone out…before it was suddenly shot by a laser the moment 'Sonic' ducked down to fix his socks, "?!"
"What the….what just…huh?!" Kaito gawked.
"Must've come from outside," 'Sonic' stated as he looked over his shoulder…the group unaware of him showing his real eyes to the wolf in a cruel taunting manner.
"I got it!" Kaito smiled, already dialing on his own phone, "Tangle! Tell Ayane to answer my call!"
=You got it, buddy! HEY! Ayane! Pick up your phone!=
"...Wait, wha…but you just called her while…" 'Sonic' muttered.
"Shh! Sonic, it's a system for her chronic shyness!" Kaito roughly shoved his finger to 'Sonic's' lips to silence him, "Silly, silly Sonic, you know nothing of how this works!"
"Shh…you'll ruin the plan." Magine added.
"You know the girls are shipping nonsense…" Juran sighed.
"My phone…" Roll gawked, holding the broken pieces, "Yatsude-sama is gonna kill me…"
=W-What do you w-w-w-want?= Ayane asked.
"We want to check your progress with the mask. So what's it do? Does it do something cool? Tell me, tell me, tell me~?"
=Well…I've scanned it and I'll need your Sentai Gears to incorporate this into the masks of your transformations. The last one I have here already has it incorporated into it now= Ayane noted, sighing in bliss =Such wonderful technology that I can improve upon~=
"I'm sure the owner will love getting it back a hundred times better." Kaito smiled, "Oh! I'll go drop you off the gears. Oh! Or we can go get takoyaki and all meet up for a bite to eat!"
=...Just please bring me your S-Sentai Gears…then we'll t-t-t-talk…=
"I'll take that as a yes!" Kaito beamed.
'...They kept my mask…and kept it safe?' the wolf thought as she overheard them.
"So you're saying, you'll come out to eat with us?" Kaito smiled.
=W-W-What?!=
"Yosha! Socializing zenkai!" Kaito cheered, "I'll go pick you up!"
=Hey look at that, you got a boy to pick you up to go out to eat. Dang girl, way to go~= Tangle could audibly be heard smirking.
=...= Ayane's response was to just hang up after letting out a squeak.
"I think we're making progress!" Kaito smiled to the gang.
"...Does he realize…?" Magine blinked.
"Nope," Roll shook her head.
"Does she…" Magine tilted her head.
"Potentially…" Roll shrugged.
'Perfect…' 'Sonic' smirked.
"...come on…where are they?" Sonic muttered, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited outside Colorful.
"More than likely, you ran off before you heard of any changes in their plans," Clove noted, her uniform replaced with a modest black blouse and grey slacks with a blue apron with the name of the store on the pouch on it over it all.
"I…have the right not to justify that with a snarky response." Sonic argued.
"Makes ya wish for a choice wheel with responses, huh?" Cassia giggled, wearing a red shirt and blue jeans…while sitting at the table with a sheet and pencil and calculator.
"Focus on your homework, Cassia."
"Mmm…Can't believe I'm having to do it…" Cassia grumbled before looking over at Haseo, "And that I'm two grades below you. How are you so smart, Haseo?"
"H-homeschool…from tou-san and Onee-chan-tachi."
"Oh? What grade are ya?" Sonic asked.
"Upper secondary school…or Twelfth Grade in terms of the Acorn Kingdom educational system."
"..." Sonic blinked a few times along with Clove.
"When my kids want an education, I make sure they get a dang good one!" Skye called out from his place.
"Well I'm just glad no one makes me partake in this horrible terror that Kaito called High School, the drama, the forced hours of sitting in place, the girls trying to kill you!" Sonic listed.
"...what did he do?" Cassia couldn't help but ask, given how it seemed like when Kaito went to school, it was like he spent more time fighting to survive then study, "And can I go to school there!?"
"Cassia…" Clove sighed.
"Go where?"
"?" the quartet of Mobians blinked as they turned, seeing Kaito and the others walking over.
"Sonic? You got…here…" Gaon began as he trailed off…and noticed that 'Sonic' was no longer there, "..."
"...ok. I gotta ask," Juran groaned as he looked at Clove and Cassia, "Did you two ever see anyone…suspicious working for Eggman?"
"...suspicious how?" Clove asked.
"Like…them taking the appearance of someone else."
"Not really," Cassia replied, "I only know the other Grandmasters and a few of the guys and gals in it that played online," She looked at Vroon, "Ah! You lost your head again?"
"Hai…" Vroon's head sighed.
"Shocked from finding out there may be a doppelganger among us," Magine explained.
"Ooh….Very sus," Cassia noted.
"...Now that you brought it up…There's one name that comes to mind," Clove spoke up, holding her chin in thought, "None of us Grandmasters ever saw him, but we only know a name …Mimic."
"Mimic?" Kaito blinked.
"Not much is known, but from what I had gathered…he's a highly dangerous assassin," Clove explained, "Said to take on the appearance of anyone, be it Mobian, Overlander, human, machine, or most likely given our worlds had fused…Kikainoid. Chances are…someone put a hit out on you all and hired him to assassinate you."
"Eh?!" Gaon gawked.
"...Wait…" Sonic began as he looked around, "Where's Roll?"
"I think I saw her going inside to go get Ayane," Magine replied.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Right, Clove, I need to buy some strawberry cookies," Sonic spoke.
"Hm?"
"Onee-chan loves strawberries more than anyone in the family," Haseo explained, "If he tosses one in front of her, she will drop everything to catch it."
"But how will we find out if anyone else has been replaced!?" Gaon asked.
"I have a plan," Kaito stated simply.
"...Anyone else afraid?" Cassia whispered.
"Oh big time, little lady…" Juran muttered, unaware of the wolf slipping right into the shop.
"So wait…you want us to go wait for Kaito and the others in the storage room?" Tangle blinked, her and Ayane following behind Roll…with the latter shooting her a suspicious look.
"Of course…you can't be too careful on who could be listening in after all."
"I s-see…" Ayane noted, adjusting her glasses, "Ah…Onee-chan, I had a small incident earlier and I'm having issues remembering. How many siblings do we have again?"
"Hm?"
"W-well, the storage room has a security code and one part of it is how many siblings we have."
"Seriously? Who puts a security system on a storage room?!" Tangle gawked.
"Father would…and me."
"Oh…fair."
"...hm. Well it's that simple really," Roll chuckled a bit, "There's you, me, and our little brother."
"Good…but what's his full name?"
"Simple. Haseo Sakurai."
"And who does he currently have a crush on?"
'Why so specific?!' 'Roll' mentally complained.
"Huh? You seriously forgot Nicole, Ay-Ay?" Tangle asked in disbelief.
"..." Ayane slowly turned her head as she shot the lemur a deadpan stare.
"...What? ...What?!"
"..." Ayane sighed, "Hello…mimic octopus-san."
"What?" Tangle asked as 'Roll' tensed.
"Wh-What are you talking about?" she asked.
"I was raised in a kunoichi clan and Great Uncle Morpheus was a mimic octopus," Ayane explained, "Onee-chan doesn't remember him, but I d-do…and how to spot the seams when he disguised as someone else." she pointed at her, "You also got the first answer wrong and left out Nii-chan's middle name."
"...Hah, was hoping to make this less messy and more private," 'Roll' sighed a bit, reaching behind her back…before pulling out a serrated knife as her eyes changed to that of Mimic's, "But sadly, I cannot let neither of you live!"
"OH GEEZ!" Tangle yelped, about to bring her sword out before a laser shot shot past her, "?!"
"GH?!" 'Roll' grunted as the laser knocked her knife out of her hand, "...what perfect timing…" 'she' whispered, gripping her hand as she looked past the two…and saw the wolf glaring at him, "Hello…Whisper."
"Ah, the owner of the mask," Ayane noted, "T-Took you enough t-time to get here…"
"..." the wolf/Whisper said nothing as she kept her sights aimed at the imposter.
"Come now…is that anyway to treat…" 'Roll' began…before grabbing 'her' fallen knife as she tossed it at Whisper, "An old friend!?"
"Traitor…" Whisper growled a bit, moving out of the way of the thrown knife before taking another shot at 'Roll', only for her to roll out of the way as the laser hit the wall.
Ayane reached into her cleavage and pulled out a remote with a single blue button. She pushed it and alarms began to go off.
=TUNE?! What's going on?!= Secchan squawked as he flew in…before 'Roll' ended up kicking him right towards Whisper =TUNE!?=
"?!" Whisper tensed in surprise before grunting out when Secchan crashed into her, letting the fake hedgefox run past her, "N…no…!"
=What just happuh…= Secchan muttered dizzily, Whisper putting him down gently as she gave chase to M-Roll.
"Mimic octopus assassin," Ayane replied…before slapping Tangle's shoulder with the back of her hand, "...Th-That's your cue, Test Subject Topaz. Change Zenkai."
"...not gonna question why you called me a test subject," Tangle muttered as she brought out her sword and Gear before slotting the latter into the former, "Change Zenkai!"
"Just what's that noise going on?!" Yatsude complained as she stepped out of the back room, only to blink when M-Roll ran past her, "...eh? But…Roll was just…" she trailed off as Whisper ran past her, "...just what's going on?!"
"Mimic Octopus assassin!" Topaz shouted as she ran past her, spinning her gear.
=KYU~RANGER!=
"Gotta ask her to put a spot for my tail!" Topaz complained, her tail popping out with the orange Kyuranger jumping into her, "You get back here, you fake copy of my fellow strawberry-loving buddy!"
"I think not!" M-Roll shouted, turning as she tossed a pair of knives at her and Whisper.
"Spike," Whisper silently said.
"SPIKE!" a voice shouted as a magenta light shouted off of her cloak and into her weapon, causing it to change color as she began to fire off rapid energy spikes at the fake hedgefox, knocking the knives away in the process.
"Really now?" M-Roll noted as she began to dodge each shot, "Using their own Wisp partners? Heh…I'm honestly surprised they survived…"
"?!" Whisper's eyes shot open, showing the anger in her eyes, "Orange, Rocket!"
"Wha…" Topaz began.
"ROCKET!" another voice shouted as an orange light shot out and replaced the pink light in her weapon...before she fired off an orange energy rocket at M-Roll.
"AHH!" Topaz freaked, "Granny Yatsude, take cover!"
"AHH!" she panicked as she rushed back into the back room.
"What's g-" Roll began just as she peeked out.
*BOOM!*
"?!" Kaito and the others tensed as they turned, seeing smoke starting to come out of the candy shop's front entrance.
"Ah! My homework was on the table…!" Cassia gawked.
"Cassia."
"...What? Granny Yachan is a dangerous lady. She's probably unharmed and has her frying pan on hand already."
"My store~!" Yatsude's voice cried out.
"...right," Sonic frowned a bit as he looked at Kaito, "Kaito?"
"Someone is attacking our home…Zenryoku Zenkai Attack! Shwa!" Zenkaiser declared, running into the shop.
"Ahh! Wait up!" Magine gasped as she and the others followed after, rubbing right through the smoke…and saw the complete mess that was the main part of the shop with knives, burn marks, and destroyed products littered about the area.
"Ahh…I just got a new shipment, too…" Yatsude whispered, standing near a pile of opened boxes…before the candy inside turned into ash, "..." her eyes narrowed as she whipped out her frying pan, "Where is she?! Where is that troublemaking wolf?!"
"Yachan!" Zenkaiser shouted, zipping right before her, "Are you alright?! Where's Roll?! Where's Ayane?! Did you see that imposter?!"
"I will be when I find the wolf who shot a rocket in my store!" Yatsude declared, hefting her self-repairing frying pan.
"I'm okay!" Topaz declared as she shot up from a pile of broken wood.
"Ack! Ack…seriously…What on Mobius is happening now?" Roll coughed as she stepped out finally, moving some of the smoke out of her face.
"...uh…Roll?" Juran began.
"What?" Roll blinked before she looked to the side…and saw she was staring at herself, "?!"
"EH?!" the two gasped as they stepped back, mirroring each other's movements.
"...Oh great. We're doing this bit then," Sonic muttered.
"But…Which one's the real Roll?!" Vroon panicked.
"It's me!" the two Roll's shouted, "Eh?! No you're not! I am! No I am! I-stop it please!"
"...Please tell me you got some strawberry cookies on you guys," Topaz begged the others.
"Literally just about to get those," Sonic sighed.
"WAIT!" Gaon called out, "I know what must be done…" he began shuffling his legs, before he poked Haseo's head as a static charge made him yelp before his fur puffed up.
"...Gaon-nii why~?" Haseo cried.
"Cause only girls fall for this!" he picked Haseo up, "Look at the fluffy…look at it!"
"...Awww~" one Roll cooed as Gaon blinked and he was without a Haseo, the cooing Roll gently combing his fur down, "There, there, Haseo-chan."
"Jacused!" Gaon pointed to the other Roll who wasn't currently taking care of Haseo, "You might look like her…but you will never have her hyper sensitive triggers!"
"Wait, what?" Roll blinked.
"We still love you as you are," Sonic smirked.
"Kaito!" they all shouted as Zenkaiser tackled 'Roll' into the rubble.
"...I'm concerned he's so…okay with attacking an exact look-a-like of Roll," Magine muttered.
"If it was the real deal…he'd never land a hit…" Sonic muttered.
"GH! Gah!" Mimic grunted from each punch, his form changing each time, "Gh…enough of this…!" he grunted, reaching for something in his pocket before he let something drop, causing the entire room to fill with black smoke.
"Ahh! Did he just ink?!" Zenkaiser gawked before he suddenly found himself knocked onto his back.
"I don't know, but-ack ack! I think he's trying to escape!" Sonic coughed.
"Spread out…and find him!" Juran shouted.
"Gh….I can't believe this is happening…" Mimic muttered, staggering out of the shop during the confusion, "How did I botch up something so simple...by a bunch o-"
"CUBE!"
"?!" Mimic tensed as he quickly rolled out of the way, making Whisper miss as a large energy construct taking the form of a cube came from her weapon, "...Blue…you too? But...you hate unneeded violence."
"He knows what you did…" Whisper frowned, gripping her weapon tight, "What you did to the others….how you betrayed the team."
"...heh…" Mimic smirked in response, "You say that…and yet you have your own sins to deal with…"
"?"
"You know what I mean…" Mimic stated, "How you left them to die…and hid like a coward."
"...No…you sold us out," Whisper growled, shaking her head as she began to step towards him, "You betrayed the others for Eggman."
"Because you and I both know how dangerous he is," Mimic countered, "I was just joining the winning side…even more so now that he's working alongside Tojitendo."
"..."
Mimic chuckled, "Not much will be safe, even with that ragtag bunch. Then again…" his body shifted into the form of an ocelot Mobian in a beret, "...We weren't all that safe either on that mission, hm?"
"?!" Whisper tensed, her grip faltering, "D-Don't you dare…"
"Why not?" the ocelot asked, turning into a female green monkey in a cloak and gray dress, "They were my friends just as much as yours. And you failed in protecting them." the monkey gave way to a large light-brown lion Mobian in a large cloak with gloves meant for forge workers, towering over her, "You had one job - look after us! But where were you in the end? Certainly not with us!"
"Stop it…" Whispered panted, trying her best to remain calm.
"You could've saved us! You could've stopped that horrible event from happening?! But what did you do? Hide...like a coward," the lion stated before changing back to Mimic, "And that's all you will ever be Whisper….a coward…you will never be free of your sins….ever."
She grit her teeth, "And yet…you sold us out! All of us!" she tightened her grip, "I…I'll…"
"HIYAH!"
"What the…?" Mimic began before Topaz slammed her foot into his face, sending him flying a few feet.
"Wow. I am loving the upgrades she put into the helmet!" Topaz beamed, half her visor tinted red, "You have a very funny footprint, you creepy octo guy!"
"You…" Whisper began before Topaz's tail covered her face and moved away, revealing her mask, "?!"
"Sorry for taking your mask…wanted to make sure you got it back safely."
"..."
"You know…" Mimic grunted, forcing himself up as he whipped some blood from his beak, "I am beginning to detest you freaks…"
"SHWA!" Zenkaiser shouted, drop kicking Mimic, "And I am beginning to not like takoyaki because of you!" he pulled out a camera and took his photo, "You are banned from this shop!"
"Gh…what is wrong with you?! Can't you take anything seriously!?" Mimic snapped.
"...Why should I?" Zenkaiser tilted his head, "I mean…you're just a typical bad guy…what makes you so special? I got Eggman, the Tojitendo…I got a lot of problems to deal with…you're just another day in my life. If I let jerks like you ruin my ideals…I wouldn't be a Zenkaiger."
"...And how long until you need to abandon your own allies?" Mimic retorted as he got back up, "You need to realize that the world…is a truly cold place…only those clever enough know how to survive it. Things like friends, love…comrades? They make you weak…the only one you can truly take care of is yourself and yourself alone…"
"...is that why you betrayed your friends?" Topaz asked, frowning behind her mask.
"Friends? Heh…please…they were only a means to an end," Mimic chuckled, "Their recklessness was starting to endanger my life…so I took an opportunity to cut that part of my life completely…"
"...gh…" Whisper shook as she tightly gripped her weapon.
"You fools need to realize these so-called bonds of yours…they are fragile. One day you think it is strong…but once the opportunity comes, that bond can be easily shattered," Mimic stated to Topaz and Zenkaiser, "And it's pointless to fight Eggman and the Tojitendo…their forces far outnumber yours. They could raze this entire city without a second thought if the opportunity ever comes…so where will your so-called bonds be then?"
"...You're sad, aren't you?" Zenkaiser asked, making him stop, "...You could never make friends, and when you did…you were always fake." he shook his head, "You just can't understand people, so you hurt them instead. You have no hope for better so you give up and join the bad guys."
"...Sad? Me….sad?" Mimic repeated as he chuckled, "Oh...you are more naive than I thought…" he stated as a topaz portal opened behind him.
"Oh no you…!" Topaz began before a large group of Kudakks got between the trio and Mimic.
"Since I failed, chances are I'm being summoned for my death….but if I should survive…" Mimic began as she began to step backwards into the portal, "I eagerly await the day…when you are emotionally shattered…Zenkaigers…" he stated just as the portal began to close.
"?! NO!" Whisper shouted, using her weapon to knock a Kudakk away as she tried to give chase...only for the portal to close, "...no no no! I had him…! I…"
"HYAH!" Topaz shouted as she kicked away a Kudakk that tried to strike the wolf, "Worry about him later! These guys are more important right now!"
"He's gonna have a long wait," Zenkaiser sighed as he kicked a Kudakk away. He then spun around and shot another before jumping into the air to kick a third, "I'm never gonna be shattered; I got my friends to keep me going."
"Well said, buddy!" ZenkaiJuran's voice shouted as he came charging in, knocking away a few Kudakks with his shield.
"Man…that guy must lead a sad life if he talks like that," Cobalt added as he and Kurenai ran in, slicing down a pair of Kudakks.
"'Love makes you weak'…hmph!" Kurenai scoffed as she sliced down another Kudakk, "What does he know?"
"Right! He must not have been honest with his team." Zenkaiser spoke, "...Because if he was a real friend, he'd be like her." he looked at Whisper, "That's what a real friend looks like."
"?!" Whisper tensed in surprise.
"You miss them every day…" Zenkaiser spoke, "I know how that feels…just a little. I can't say I'm the same, but I know what it's like to wish someone was still here. And you must feel so much worse…thanks for the help before!" he turned and bowed to her, "You really saved our butts earlier…so…let us return the favor!"
"Yeah!" Topaz agreed as she used her tail to knock away some more Kudakks, "It's the least we could do! Oh…and sorry for chasing ya earlier…wanted to try and thank ya in person because you are so cool and we have many questions to ask a-"
"Woah! Easy now," Juran began as he put a hand on her shoulder, "No need to overwhelm the poor girl…" he caught Kurenai, "And she probably has issues with physical contact due to whatever went down, so no hugs yet."
"B-But she looks so sad and hugs help!" Kurenai argued.
"No means no," he scolded before tossing her at the Kudakks, "Vent on them! I heard some say star shuriken are better throwing tools than bo shuriken!"
"NANI?!" Kurenai snapped, sword out as she cleaved one in two, "You all get back here! Which of you mocked actual shinobi and kunoichi with that media blasphemy?!"
"Welp, she's triggered," Cobalt noted.
"She should be. That explosion that octopus made ruined the cookies she baked," ZenkaiGaon noted, slashing down a Kudakk with his claw weapon.
"NANI?!" Kurenai snapped as she opened her buckle and pulled out a gear she quickly used.
=ABA~RANGER!=
"FOR THE STRAWBERRIES~!" Kurenai roared, TyrannoRod in hand as she began to bash and smack at the now fleeing Kudakks.
"And now she's absolutely livid," ZenkaiMagine muttered.
"Hey. I ain't complaining," Cobalt shrugged before sidestepping and held his leg out, causing a Kudakk that tried to sneak attack him to miss and trip over his leg.
"Huh…I think I saw some of those tricks she's pulling from that movie," Topaz noted, her tail shooting out to trip several Kudakks before she walloped them with her sword in its makeshift tonfa mode.
"Oh! I think she is!" Zenkaiser realized.
"?!" Whisper couldn't help but flinch…realizing she had attempted to attack them in her pursuit of Mimic.
"Man, that octopus guy sucked…I wouldn't be all that ticked off if someone mistook us for him while he was copying us," Cobalt sighed, shaking his head as he did a roundhouse kick and then sliced another Kudakk mid-charge, "...Huh…I think he was the guy who kept getting stuff on him and slipped on that banana peel." he laughed, "Some assassin! He couldn't get anyone in a movie theater!"
"...Maybe it wasn't a coincidence…" Whisper…well…whispered to herself.
"Doesn't matter, we'll be ready for him next time, and the time after that, and so on 'till we take down the Tojitendo and Eggman!" Zenkaiser shouted as he shot down multipla Kudakks, "That's what we do, we're the Zenkaigers!"
"...Zenkaigers…" Whisper repeated before a cyan glow came from her cloak, "...Cyan?"
"LASER!"
"?!" she tensed as the light shot out of her cloak and into Zenkaiser.
"Woah…I feel..I feel…" Zenkaiser began before he became a ball of cyan energy shaped like his helmet…before he began zipping around and bouncing off the walls, hitting a few Kudakks each time, "CHO HYPER ZENKAI~!"
"Whoa!" the others shouted in shock at that.
"Kaito became light!?" ZenkaiVroon shouted, "This defies physics! Ah…but then again, it's Kaito…"
"...why does that seem familiar?" Cobalt muttered, tilting his head to the side a bit.
"Could be part of the process of remembering what you 'forgot,'" Juran noted.
"Maybe…"
"WHOOOHOOHOO! It's like playing Pinball…only I'm the pinball!" Zenkaiser laughed, now bouncing off Kudakks as some began to explode when he shot right through them. He reverted to normal as he skid to a halt along the ground, "Nailed it, zenkai~" he cheered as he looked at the ball of cyan energy as it danced around him, "So you're the reason for that sudden trick," he bowed his head, "Thanks for your help little one. Bet I'm the first human ever to do that!"
"Ah! What is that cyan energy?" Vroon pondered, "Where did it come from?"
"I think it likes me!" Zenkaiser cheered, "Right?"
Topaz tilted her head as the cyan object seemed to let out some strange noise like it was talking, except to her…
"You do seem to be an energetic guy like that blue boy that helped us over there, but like ya? Eh…gonna need time for that," it noted.
"It talks?!" Topaz gawked.
=You're the only one that has the upgrade for your helmets= Ayane replied.
"Upgrade?" Gaon pondered.
=D-Did you all seriously forget that?! B-Baka! Baka-tachi!=
"A lot has happened all at once; we'll let you upgrade like crazy after we finish the fight!" Zenkaiser spoke up, "So we'll finish this in a flash, and you can have your time to upgrade."
=Mmm…H-Hurry it up, then!=
"Who are they talking to?" Whisper quietly pondered.
"Oh! We have comms in our helmets to our awesome super-secret HQ!" Topaz beamed, "We have the best techies helping us!"
"They're also part of our family!" Zenkaiser cheered.
"Family…?" Whisper quietly repeated before a pink light zipped out of her jacket, "Pink?!"
"SPIKES!"
Vroon hefted his Geartlinger up before the pink energy went into it as he started to crank and pull the trigger. Instead of the normal gunfire, a barrage of pink energy spikes went out, tearing through Kuddaks with ease, "Ah! What was that?! Did Ayane-chan or Skye-Hakase upgrade the Geartlinger? Who shouted 'Spikes' just now?"
=Neither of them did, tune!= Secchan replied.
=Well now…Seems this little lady has Wisps on her= Skye noted.
"Lisps?" Cobalt asked, dropkicking a Kuddak into several others.
=Wisps with a 'W'= Skye corrected =Little sentient beings from an alien world. They all have an incredible power within called 'Hyper Go-On'...And, no, it's not like Go-On Red with the Hyper Disc on his Mantan Gun in Rod Mode!=
"I don't get it…but they are helping us. So that means they are friends! So let's go, Wisps! Zenryoku Zenkai!" Zenkaiser cheered.
=Hello?=
"?!" Whisper jumped, looking around.
=Ah. Good. Remembered the frequency correctly= Ayane noted =Listen, we're using the comms in your mask to talk with you. You have any others on you that want to join in?=
"..."
=Listen…Whisper, was it?= Skye spoke, his tone gentle =It looks like your friends…probably more like your family…are lending their power to the Zenkaigers. It's surprising to you, isn't it? How they seem to just…look like they're moving away? But that isn't the least bit true. Your family of Wisps are just doing what they feel is right, what they feel would help you the most at the moment=
"..."
=It hurts, losing your family…it's something all of us can understand. In a way…it's why we know the pain of losing family that lets us connect= Skye went on =It's how we also move on. We remember those we've lost, but…we keep moving forward. Building new memories with people who have just added on to what was our family before. You and your family of Wisps don't have to be a lone wolf so to speak. Will you give us a chance? For this at least?=
"...Blue, to the pink one," Whisper quietly ordered, "She seems to stay away from hand-to-hand. Green, help the yellow one. Orange, normal routine."
=Use the roof three houses down= Skye advised =It's the tallest place in the area and perfect for sniper shots and rocket rounds=
=You're good at this, tune=
=I've raised some cute daughters, an adorable baby sister, have several female cousin-in-laws, currently helping with Magy and AmAm, and a Yaya. How do you think I'm not good with girls, Seccy?= Skye deadpanned.
=The repeated visits to the doctor for a dented skull….=
=Oi, oi, oi…I told ya that in confidence, Cloclo…= Skye grumbled as Whisper quickly got onto the roof he spoke of as a blue energy and green energy came out of her cloak and shot over to Magine and Gaon respectively.
"What just happened?" Magine blinked.
"I….don't know."
"CUBE!"
"Nununu?" Magine pondered as the blue energy went into her staff as several Kudakk charged, "Ah! Uh…a-ano…Nununu! Cube Rain~!"
She swung her staff out towards the oncoming Kudakk before a cloud appeared above them. They looked up in confusion before a rain of Kikainoid-sized blue cubes with carvings resembling a dragon and witch's hats fell and crushed them. Nearby, Gaon growled and hissed as he kept trying to be grabbed until the green energy went into his weapon before it widened and he began to hover up above them all.
"HOVER!"
"Whoa-Whoa-Whoa!" he yelped, "What is this? Oh, this is kind of relaxing…"
"Hey, look at that! A hundred flying lions!" Cobalt joked.
"Oh, you are doing that on purpose now!" Kurenai complained.
"Death from above!" Gaon declared as he began to shoot down at the Kudakks.
=Wow! These Wisps are like a Game Genie or Action Replay!= Cassia awed before an orange rocket hit a group of Kudakk, sending their parts scattering in the explosion =So cool~!=
"Gotta love making new friends!" Zenkaiser cheered.
"She's like a secret agent!" Topaz beamed, "...Oh! Ay-Ay! Is there a spy team?"
=Y-You mean Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters?=
"Yeah that!"
=N-no! I'm not doing it again!=
"We'll talk about that later," Zenkaiser offered as he spun around and shot several Kudakks.
Topaz tapped her buckle and unlocked it. She dug around before pulling out a Sentai Gear with a cheetah-themed ranger on it. She quickly swapped her Gear and spun it.
=GO~BUSTERS!=
"Yay! I picked the right one!" Topaz cheered before Red Buster shook his head and hopped into her, "!?" she slumped for a moment before standing up fully, "Mission start." green data came off her before she vanished as a blur, her tonfa shooting out and tearing through Kudakks with precision.
=Gyah! ZenkaiTopaz is overshadowed by Red Buster, tune!= Secchan yelped.
=Could be worse…=
=How?=
=It could've been Gai again=
"What's huh?" Zenkaiser asked, slotting in a Gear.
=JET~MAN!=
The Jetman team formed again only for BlackCondor to kick Red away and into Juran.
=YOU! YOU TEMPTED HIM, TUNE!=
"Hmph…" Zenkaiser crossed his arms as the hologram went into him again, "Zenryoku~ Zenkai." He walked forward as he began punching and backhanding the Kudakks out of his way. Soon the grunts were tossed around like crazy as he tore his way through their formations. Zenkaiser then sighed as he sat on a pile of Kudakks and just leaned back.
"Hey Kaito…you…done?" Cobalt asked…only to be punched, "AH!" he cried, stumbling back, "What was that for?!"
"I don't like men getting too close to me," Zenkaiser huffed.
"Roll! Kaito hit me! He's possessed by something again!" Cobalt complained childishly.
"I did no such thing," Zenkaiser scoffed.
"Ah…I really don't know what to do about this persona…" Kurenai muttered sheepishly.
"Why does he keep picking fights?!" Cobalt complained as Zenkaiser smacked him upside the head, "Gah! Again!?"
"Hmph," he turned his head away.
"At least we're taking them out faster," Kurenai noted.
"I took down the most," Zenkaiser scoffed.
"Okay, that's it…get out of my buddy!" Cobalt shouted leaping at Zenkaiser who ducked down and let him slam into several Kudakks and send them all stumbling over and rolling along the ground.
"Mmm…I don't know…" Kurenai noted.
"Hm?" Zenkaiser pondered.
"She seems to be taking out more than you," Kurenai pointed her thumb to the blur that was Topaz, "Guess you'll be the first human to be outmatched in Kuddaks destroyed while using another Sentai's powers."
=It's true. She's five Kudakk…oh, sorry, ten Kudakk ahead= Skye added before a clang went off.
=YOU'RE COUNTING AGAIN?!= Yatsude snapped.
"I used the dingus as a tool," Zenkaiser argued, making Kurenai pause and think, "His points count as my points." he walked off.
"I do not like this personality!" Cobalt barked as he tumbled to a stop by Kurenai's legs.
"It is so strange…" Kurenai agreed, offering her hand to Cobalt, "...I strangely feel he should be in shades of black and gray with that personality…and running a cafe."
"Why a cafe?" Cobalt asked, accepting the hand up.
"I…don't know," Kurenai admitted, "It was just the first thing to come to my head."
"You know Kaito don't like coffee." Juran spoke, slashing down a few Kudakk's.
"Boulder!" ZenkaiVroon shouted, swinging a giant chunk of concrete around to smack the Kudakks away.
"I blame your dad for tempting this one…"
=Already regretting it!= Skye called out.
"Kudakk!" a Kudakk screamed as another orange energy rocket sent a group of them flying.
"She's good with that weapon of hers, ain't she?" Juran asked, the cyan Wisp going into his blade as he swung it, letting out a cyan slash of energy that tore through several Kudakk at once, "Oh! Nice job!"
"He's saying 'Of course Whisper's good with Orange. They've been partners for a long time!'" Topaz translated, the borrowed power gone, "Ugh…Remind me to not use that one again, okay? I feel funny…and not funny 'haha' but funny 'weird' when using it."
"Dakk? Kudakk!?" the last grunt gawked, he raised his lance to look tough only to yelp in pain as Zenkaiser kicked him between the legs from behind.
"And another…" he kicked again.
"Why is he so violent when he uses that Jetman Gear?" Cobalt cringed.
=It's 'cause, for some reason, BlackCondor likes going into him! Despite the fact it should be RedFalcon! It's like his spirit is doing this on purpose to insult us for labeling Red as the hero over him=
=Th-that's illogical…there's no such thing as that…is there?= Ayane muttered.
"Don't worry about it, sweetheart, no need for you to lose sleep over it." Zenkaiser replied, stomping on the Kudakk's head, grinding his heel into its helmet.
=S-s-s-s-sweetheart?!=Ayane squeaked.
=I can't believe I'm saying this, but I prefer when he's under the Carranger influence over BlackCondor, tune!=
"I feel weird…" Zenkaiser muttered, reverting to normal, "Meh, probably nothing important."
"At least that was the last grunt," Juran noted as the others walked over.
"Oh, you guys are just so cool!" Kurenai giggled as she pulled out some small milk candies and the four energies zipped over to her, revealing them to be strange different-colored squid-like creatures no bigger than chihuahuas with a varying amount of eyes between one to three, "Oh? You like sweets, ne?"
"Hu222ezfq3!" the creatures squeaked a bit in response.
"Hai, hai. One for each," Kurenai replied before the cyan one spoke up, "Alright, alright. Three each."
"...You got the upgrade?" Topaz asked.
"Hm? Upgrade?" Kurenai tilted her head, giving a shy blue cube Wisp three pieces of candy.
"...Wait, you can legit understand what they're saying?" Cobalt asked.
"Wah…I knew Roll was good with folks but this is a whole new level…" Zenkaiser awed.
"...That's so cool," Topaz awed just as Whisper walked over….hesitantly walked over.
"Hi, my name is-gah!" Gaon began before Magine literally batted him away with her staff.
"You have too much energy for her!" she scolded with a tick mark on her helmet's witch hat.
"...so…." Topaz began as she decided to change up the subject a bit, "Your name's Whisper, huh?"
"...That's right." Whisper replied in a more…soft yet quiet tone.
"Hmm?" Vrron blinked, "...why are we whispering now?"
"I think that's how she talks normally…" Cobalt guessed.
"That's adorable," Kurenai giggled, scratching the underside of a pink Wisp littered in spikes and a single eye while it purred.
"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Zenkaiser bowed his head, his armor vanishing, "I'm Kaito and this is…my team!" he smiled, gesturing to the others as they dismissed their armors.
The cyan Wisp tilted its head before holding a tentacle up to Roll's head before floating over Sonic, Tangle, then Whisper. He looked over at the pink Wisp, the blue wisp, a bulky green Wisp, and a rocket-shaped orange Wisp before tilting his head. The pink one shrugged as the others looked at Roll with the orange one making a few inquisitive noises.
"I have several aquatic Mobians and two different species of elephant Mobian in my family tree," Roll explained, "They're quite taller compared to other species of Mobian."
"?" Whisper raised a slight brow at that.
"Yeah, she's got a big family," Topaz chuckled as she undid her transformation.
"People marry into her family," Kaito added, "So they have a lot of big branches in the family tree. I've seen it." he then tapped Roll's head, "But they mostly are Foxy by nature."
"...I see," Whisper muttered.
"Watashi wa Sakurai Roll," Roll greeted with a bow.
"Yo~! Name's Sonic!" Sonic greeted with a mock salute and wink.
"Juran!" he saluted.
"Vroon!" he bowed.
"Magine!" she smiled.
"G-Gaon~!" he stumbled over, still dazed from Magine's smack to the head, "Oh~! The…There are three fluffy new friends!"
"Forgive him. He's a very affectionate guy to non-Kikainoids," Juran apologized.
"...noted," Whisper lightly nodded.
"...you're not planning on leaving, are ya?" Tangle asked.
"..."
"...Hey, if it involves that octo-jerk…Why not stay with us?" Tangle offered, earning a look from the wolf despite her eyes closed shut, "I mean…chances are we'll end up running into him again."
"Oh yeah. That guy seems like someone who'd keep comin' for us after how much we humiliated him at the movies," Kaito agreed, "Well…That and I don't think you have the money for the bill."
"...bill?" Whisper repeated.
"One moment," Roll spoke before zipping into the store and coming out with a rolled up paper, "This one."
"?" Whisper raised a brow as she accepted the rolled up paper before it unrolled…and unrolled…and kept unrolling, "?!"
"Wow. Yachan is vindictive when it comes to repair bills," Kaito blinked a few times.
"She has a longer one for the imposter," Roll spoke.
"...ah….n…noted…" Whisper…well whispered, her eyes open and wide as she looked at the list with the Wisps, the blue one actually fainting from shock.
"...huh….so that's your eye color," Tangle noted, "...kinda cute."
"?!" Whisper tensed as she quickly put her mask on, hiding the blush on her face…yet it formed outside her mask as well.
"..." Roll's tail slowly rose.
"No," Kaito quickly spoke, shoving the tail down, "No bachelorette lifestyles going away either. I will post your shipping fics online if you try!"
"Her what?" Sonic asked in amusement.
"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!" Roll quickly denied, blushing.
"You join a lot of fandoms…just to ship your OTPs…" Kaito sighed.
"Lies! Slander and lies!" Roll defended.
"So what's your favorite ship?" Sonic teased.
"Oh, there's several," Kaito grinned.
"Ah…ano…eto…" Roll stammered, steam coming out of her ears.
"Well it beats her shipping people in town like she used to do!" Tangle cheered.
"No…she still does that too." Kaito sighed.
"Ah…"
"Mmmm~!-!-!" Roll whined before falling over from fainting with a bright red face.
"It looks like I was right, these Zenkaigers aren't some crack special force team. They are a collection of very powerful idiots." Stacy sighed as he watched from a roof top, "Such cold tactics meant to take down an organized army would never work on people this stupid." he looked back to Starline who was standing over a floored Mimic, "Is he going to be okay?"
"Hmm…you hit him rather hard."
"Well I can figure more use for him, then letting him die for reporting failure." Stacy replied, "I need someone good at sneaking around to get info I want. And we can't risk you getting caught, Hakase."
"Yes…that is true," Starline admitted as he stood up, "Still…this little outing gave you the idea on how they fight…what to expect from them, my liege. And admittedly…" he paused as he held his chin in thought, "It's given me ideas of my own…"
"Oh?"
"Yes…I just need the right data and samples…specifically…" Starline began as he looked down the roof, focusing on Sonic mostly, "A sample from Eggman's nemesis…and his little twin-tailed fox ally."
"...and let…me guess," Mimic grunted as he forced himself up, "You want me to try and get those samples…"
"Considering you owe the prince and I for your escape? Yes," Starline replied.
"Well…" Mimic held up a tuff of yellow hair and quills, "Had to pretend to be her in the bathroom, so ended up getting this mixed in my tentacles when I pretended to brush my 'hair.' You wanna have this for an emergency?"
"Ahh…excellent then," Starline smiled, taking out a glass vial as he took the hair and quills and placed it gently inside, "Ever since I've heard about them from the Raiju members of the Dark Legion, I've been curious if these Sakurai really are a living Mobian DNA 'library.'"
"I guess this wasn't a total waste," Stacy sighed, "Let's go back before they wonder where I went. We'll report that the spy was blown up by Zenkaiser in an over the top blast he didn't think would destroy him."
"Very well then, my liege," Starline nodded, holding his gloved hand up as the Warp Topaz glowed, causing a portal to appear before them, "Oh and Mimic…do try not to get caught again…"
Mimic nodded, "Yeah, yeah…" '...You stupid fur-coated duck.'
"I'll meet you soon, Zenkaigers," Stacy looked at them one last time, "And defeating you will be the first step towards my revenge."
GT: Ooh…Ominous.
Z0: And so ends another chapter.
SZ: Mm hmm. And we finally brought in the shy awoo into the story…really she and Tangle became so popular in so short of a time since their debut in the IDW comics.
GT: Indeed. They're also the first Sonic the Hedgehog comic book characters to ever become playable video game characters thanks to the Sonic Forces Speed Battle app.
SZ: And Sonic runners.
GT: Eeyup. So…preview?
SZ: Preview!
Jikai, Zenkai Speed!
Tangle: I vote we make her a Zenkaiger!
Ayane: My inventions are not up for vote!
Kaito: Why is everyone acting so scared? Is there some horror movie coming out?
Whisper: No...st-stop it…!
Hood: It's no use…your greatest fears shall be your own undoing, fools!
Skye: If you want to save the others…you know what you'll have to do…
Gear 13: The Fears Give Way to A Secret Agent!
Ayane: Why did it have to be that…?
Z0: Next time will be…interesting~
SZ: Very much so…so please read and review folks…if you'll excuse me and Z0….*raises Great Sword*We got monster hunting to do
Z0: HAHAHAHA! *rides giant vampire dragon into a volcano*
SZ: ...eh he'll be f-*gets zapped rapidly by a Astalos flying by*...ow…
GT: …What the heck? *Rathalos growls behind me* …Good-bye, folks. Please read and review! *ducks and the Rathalos breaks the camera with its fangs*
