Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.


"-And that, my acolytes, is why I am no longer allowed on Mars, and why it is unlikely they will make widespread contact with humanity for the foreseeable future," Giff finished relating to the rapt Akaishi, Azuma, and Daiji. "Which I still consider to be a massive overreaction."

"Well, you did sort of-" Daiji started.

"It was an accident!" Giff snapped defensively, dismissing the holograms of his misadventures on the red world. "And I put out the fires! And so what if a few Martians died, they're virtually omnipotent, they can decide they aren't dead if they don't want to be!"

Akaishi awkwardly raised his hand. "Lord Giff, if the Martians truly have such a massive civilization like you described, how have we not discovered it by now?"

"Maybe they moved underground since our master was last there?" Azuma suggested.

Giff shook his head. "Oh no, they're still there, it's just that they decided they don't want you to notice them, so you don't. You could walk right down the main promenade of one of their arcologies and you'd still see nothing but barren red planes in every direction."

"So… Illusion?" A confused Daiji asked.

"No, nothing so crude as that. They're far too powerful to rely on such parlor tricks," Giff said dismissively. "They merely use their absolute control over the fabric of the universe to make it so that the reality you experience isn't what's actually happening, especially not for such primitive underdeveloped minds as yours."

"Oh."

"But enough about Mars," Giff said, conjuring up an image of Jupiter. "Allow me to tell you the truth about the Red Spot, and why you must never, ever go there-"

He was rather abruptly interrupted by the ringing of a phone. "I thought I asked you all to put your phones on silent before we started this," Giff said in annoyance.

"My Lord, I think that's yours," Azuma informed him.

"What? Oh, I do believe you're right," Giff realized, pulling out his phone and discovering that it was, indeed, the source of the ringing. "My apologies. Let me take this really quick. Hello?"

"Grandpa Giff!"

Giff immediately perked up. "Sakura! How is my favorite grandchild… On this planet… Who is alive… That I'm aware of?"

"I'm right here," Daiji pointed out, hurt.

"Yes, you are," Giff agreed obliviously.

"Grandpa Giff, there's a bit of an emergency, and we need you-"

"I'll be right over," Giff promised, opening a portal.

"No, wait! We've got everything under control here. Sort of," Sakura said quickly.

"Oh," Giff said in disappointment, closing the portal. "Then why do you need me?"

"Okay, it's like this," Sakura started to explain. "We were training the new guy – you remember him, right? Ryu Mukai?"

"No," Giff said bluntly.

"My Lord, she means their top candidate for Kamen Rider Chimera," Azuma reminded him.

"Oh! Right, him. Is he any good?" Giff asked his servant.

Azuma shrugged. "I think he shows promise."

"Wonderful! So what's wrong with him?" Giff asked Sakura. "Do I need to kill him? I'm sure we could find a new candidate for Chimera easily enough."

"I believe his friend, Nozomu Otani, is being considered as a backup for the role," Azuma offered helpfully.

"No, no, nothing's wrong with him," Sakura assured him. "However, while we were distracted with the combat test, Georgina broke Chic out of containment and the two of them kidnapped mom and ran off together with a bunch of dangerous stuff from George's lab, including some Vistamps and other prototypes. We think they've gone to Area 666."

"They've got mom?!" Daiji cried in horror.

Giff gasped. "No, not Yukimi!"

"Area 666?" Akaishi cried in dismay. "That's where NOAH's old headquarters used to be, and where several clandestine experiments were carried out using your power. You were there for a time, my Lord, do you remember?"

"No," Giff said bluntly.

"Oh," Akaishi said awkwardly. "Well. Anyway, it's where the man who would one day become Genta Igarashi was transformed into Kamen Rider Vail. After he and Vail wiped out NOAH, and Masumi Karizaki blew up what was left, the area was sealed off and erased from all records. There are… Still a lot of unfinished experiments left there. Weapons. Demons. And worse things, things that must never see the light of day again."

"Why didn't you just blow it all up?" An incredulous Daiji demanded.

"Weren't you listening? Masumi tried to, and we tried again before your time, when we realized there were still things lurking there!" Akaishi admitted with a grimace. "It didn't take. If Chic thinks there might be something there worth investigating, a reason to go back to that Giffforsaken place…"

"I'm on my way," Giff announced.

"No!" Sakura snapped, starting to get exasperated. "You're not letting me finish! I told you, we've got this handled. I need you to do something else, something even more important."

"Name it," Giff said immediately.

"Today is Family Day at Lovekov's school," Sakura explained. "All of her classmates are going to bring in a parent or some other member of their family to show off to everyone else, tell them about their job, that sort of thing. We promised that one of us would be there, but this looks like an all-hands situation, and I don't think we'll be done in time to make it to her school. Can you please go and be there for her, and let her know we'll make it up to her? I'm sorry to ask this of you, but there's nobody else I can count on."

"But of course! I would be more than happy to spend time with my favorite great-granddaughter… On this planet… Who is alive… That I'm aware of," Giff said eagerly.

Sakura sighed in relief. "Thank you so much Grandpa Giff, you're a real lifesaver here, I'd rather die than let Lovekov down! Be good, don't kill or traumatize anyone, and try not to burn down the school, okay?"

"I will do my very best," Giff promised.

"Wait, why didn't you call me?" Daiji complained. "I'm family too! And very available!"

"Oh, uh… What's that, George? We have to get moving? Sure thing! Sorry Daiji, gotta go bye!"

"But-"

There was a click.

"I do believe she hung up," Giff observed. "What a pity, I was rather curious to find out what her very logical reason for not asking you to stand in for her was."

Daiji's eye twitched.

"Lord Giff, surely you aren't actually going to go through with this, are you?" Akaishi asked in concern.

"Of course I am! I couldn't possibly let down my favorite grandchild or great grandchild! On this planet… Who are alive… That I'm aware of," Giff scoffed.

"I'm right here," Daiji repeated.

"Yes, I'm aware, I'm looking right at you, why do you keep reminding me of this?" Giff asked, genuinely confused.

Azuma cleared his throat. "My Lord, it's just that you… Well… You and children don't always get along."

"What are you talking about?" Giff demanded. "Children love me! They scream in joy whenever I run into one!"

"That is… One interpretation, and not necessarily the correct one," Azuma said carefully.

"I'm certain you're worrying about nothing," Giff said dismissively. "In any event, despite Sakura's words, I'm not entirely confident my family does, indeed, have this under control. After all, Sakura can't fight at full strength without Lovekov, and if she's refusing to pull her out of school for this mission – which I very much agree with, education is important, after all – that means they will be down one of their best fighters. Azuma, Daiji, I wish for you to go to Area 666 as well and assist my family in rescuing my daughter-in-law."

Azuma bowed. "As you wish, my Lord."

"Even if they don't want me there for some reason, nothing will stop me from saving mom," Daiji vowed.

"My Lord, should I go as well?" Akaishi asked. "I am very familiar with Area 666 and the… Horrors within. I helped create many of them, after all."

"Akaishi, while I respect your desire to atone for the sins you committed there, I need you to run ARARAT in my absence," Giff said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You can direct Daiji and Azuma from here."

"Very well," Akaishi said resolutely. "I will not let you down, my Lord."

"I know you won't," Giff said confidently. "And Azuma, I am not completely discarding your advice," he conceded. "Perhaps you're right, and my awesome presence is too much for such young, underdeveloped minds to comprehend. Which is why, once again, I shall use my mastery of the art of disguise to pass among them unnoticed!"

For some reason, all three of his acolytes turned pale and stared at him in horror. "No… Grandfather, you can't possibly mean-" Daiji pleaded.

"Yes!" Giff said, opening a portal and walking inside. "After all this time, I do believe it is long past time for the long-awaited return…"

He emerged back in Akaishi's office, wearing an all-too-familiar gaudy outfit which even the most fashionably challenged might think was ridiculous. "Of Cousin Giffrey!"

The trio stared at him. Akaishi facepalmed for some reason. "This is going to be a disaster…"

"At least he isn't going to try to pretend to be an actual child," Azuma said morbidly.

Gift perked up at this. "Hey, that's a great idea! Maybe I should-"

"NO!"


"You sure that was the right call?" Hana asked Sakura in concern as she put away her phone.

"Yeah. Lovekov loves Giff, and he adores her right back. This will… This will be fine," Sakura tried to convince herself. "Totally fine."

"This is going to be a disaster," Hani said in amusement. "Kind of a shame we're going to miss out…"

"I wish I could be there for her," Astarte lamented. "But they won't let me back on school grounds for some reason. I don't understand why. Just because I kissed my betrothed when I came to deliver her lunch, they think I'm some kind of pedophile?"

"You also seduced several teachers," Hana pointed out.

"Yes, and?" Astarte asked, genuinely not understanding.

Ryu coughed and awkwardly raised his hand. "Um, Ms. Igarashi, I don't understand. Why don't you just pull Lovekov out of school for the day instead? Wouldn't you be a lot stronger with her here?"

"I couldn't possibly do that!" Sakura exclaimed incredulously. "Lovekov loves school, and she's been looking forward to this day for weeks!"

"Also, we take education very seriously in this family, we don't want her to turn out like either of her uncles," Hana said firmly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ikki demanded as he walked past. "I mean, Vice or Daiji I could get-"

"Hey!" Vice protested.

"But what did I do?"

"You never went to college!" Sakura pointed out.

"I had to stay and help out at the bathhouse!" Ikki insisted.

"We never asked you to do that, son," a concerned Genta told him as he approached. "We'd have been perfectly happy with you going away to college."

"Don't use your family as an excuse for not pursuing higher education, Ikki, when we all know you're deliberately sabotaging yourself out of fear of failure, just like how you gave up on becoming a pro soccer player," Vail chided him.

"What? That's not true at all!" Ikki protested.

"It kinda is," Vice pointed out.

"Nobody asked you!" Ikki snapped.

"Oi! Will you lot get on board already? We're wasting gas just idling here!" George shouted from the back of the old military plane they had pulled out of storage to drop them into Area 666.

Already seated inside and heavily buckled up, Tamaki put on eye shades and downed several sleeping and airsickness pills, intending to spend the flight completely zonked out so as not to get horribly ill, despite everyone telling him it wasn't going to be a particularly long flight. Ampaz was partially coiled around him, intending to make sure he didn't die horribly.

Also seated inside, Hiromi examined the Demons Driver in his hands grimly.

He wasn't back to 100% yet. Not even close. There was even a chance that doing this would make his condition worse.

He didn't care. This was where he needed to be.

"I'll devote my heart and soul, if it means protecting the world," he promised himself.

As everyone boarded the plane, George prepared to close the cargo ramp when suddenly a familiar voice shouted, "WAIT!"

When George saw his father racing towards the plane in a Jeep, he very nearly pushed the close button anyway. "Dad," he growled exasperation. "You can't come, you'd just get in our way, and I don't need you to tell me I was an idiot for letting Chic and Georgina spend so much time together-"

"It's not… It's not that," Masumi wheezed as he stumbled out of the jeep, holding up a case. "I'm here to bring you this. You should take it with you."

George stiffened, recognizing a triangular rune on the case. "Is this supposed to be a joke? It's not finished yet," he snapped.

"It is now," Masumi told him.

"You… How dare you?!" George shouted, livid. "Juuga is MY baby! I was going to do it all by myself, no help from you or demons or anyone else-"

"George," Masumi interrupted him. "I don't have much time left. You know that. Are you going to waste what little time I have left hating me and refusing the chance to make your dream come true out of spite, or accept something made by both our hands, as an olive branch and a hope of reconciliation between father and son?"

A part of George very much wanted to throw the case away.

Instead, he swiped it from his father's hands grumbling, "Don't think this makes us even."

"George. I will always be here for you," Masumi said. "You don't have to come talk to me. You can avoid me until my end if you wish. But never forget that I love you."

Shaking, filled with a cocktail of complex and conflicting emotions, George just turned away, wiping tears as he hit the close button to raise the ramp and marched to the cockpit.

Everyone stared after him.

"So… At what point should we tell them that I've been secretly healing Masumi in his sleep for the last several weeks?" Astarte wondered.

"Let's give it another couple weeks, if they still haven't talked to each other by then we'll lock them in a room together and let them hash it out," Ikki suggested.

"But Ikki, the drama!" Vice whined.

"We'll watch them on the cameras to make sure they don't kill each other," Ikki promised.

"Yay!"

As the plane began heading down the tarmac, Tamaki's snoring filling the hold, Genta looked tense, staring at nothing. "Dad? You okay?" Sakura asked in concern.

He started. "What? Oh… It's just…"

"We have a lot of… Very bad memories as far as Area 666 is concerned," Vail admitted. "More Genta than me, but… I didn't exactly have an easy time of it either. There's a reason we went a little crazy and killed everyone there."

"It didn't take much prompting from you to get me on board," Genta said quickly. "They deserved it."

He sighed and rubbed his brow. "Forgetting about that place was one of the best things about losing my memories… And now not only do we have to go back there, Yukimi's there again. She has plenty of bad memories of that place too, and unlike me, she didn't have the luxury of forgetting. My poor wife… What could those monsters be planning for her…?


"Are you comfortable, Mrs. Igarashi?" Chic asked Yukimi gently. "Your restraints aren't too tight? Your pillow fluffy enough? Do you need water? It wouldn't do for you to dehydrate, after all."

"This is surprisingly comfy," Yukimi admitted. "You know, for an operating table I've been forcibly strapped to after being abducted against my will."

"Wonderful!" Chic said in delight. "You know, your family has a history with this operating table! This is the same one they put your husband on when they brought him back from the dead and turned him into a Kamen Rider!"

"And is that what you plan to do to me?" Yukimi asked warily. "Turn me into a Kamen Rider?"

"It would be a nice bit of synchronicity, yes, if every member of your family were a Rider," Chic admitted. "But no, I have rather different plans for you."

The door to the lab swung open, and Georgina entered, pushing a cart laden with complex and rather sinister-looking scientific equipment.

Yukimi shot the gorilla a disappointed look. "You're really going along with this, Georgina? I thought you had better judgment. And taste."

"Ook," Georgina grunted.

"You give my darling too little credit," Chic snorted, kissing Georgina and causing her to blush. "Would you believe almost all of this was her idea? I would have been perfectly happy running off into the sunset with her, but she wanted more. To create a little family of our own!"

He sighed. "Unfortunately, we can't reproduce for obvious reasons. You know, what with me being a demon and her being a genetically augmented cybernetically enhanced gorilla, who is also sterile."

"Ook," Georgina grunted sadly.

"Which, Yukimi, is where you come in!" Chic exclaimed, clapping his hands together and giving her a disturbing grin.

"Are you… Going to turn me into your daughter?" Yukimi asked, both baffled and horrified. "Aren't I a bit old for that?"

"Oh, you are!" Chic agreed, and she wasn't sure whether to be offended. "You will, however, play an important role in providing Georgina and I with an adorable cyborg gorilla demon child of our own… As our surrogate!"

"What," Yukimi said blankly.

"Four times now, your womb has been able to produce a child that is a hybrid of human and demon, and so are perfectly suited-" Chic started.

"Four? What are you talking about? I only have three children," a confused Yukimi pointed out.

"Oh, you didn't realize?" Chic asked in surprise. "You're pregnant. Surprise!"

"WHAT?!" Yukimi shrieked.

"Yeah, you already have a fourth Igarashi growing in there," Chic said, patting her stomach. "I was surprised too! Wasn't sure you were still able to make a new kid unaided."

"Hey!"

"Which, thankfully, makes things a lot easier for us," Chic continued. "Instead of having to start from scratch by implanting our DNA in your body, we can just infuse our cells into your infant to turn it into our perfect cyborg gorilla demon child, and using all the delightful mad science we swiped from Georgie and the toys left behind by NOAH, we will mature it so will be ready to birth in hours rather than months, and… Possibly the most incredible, miraculous, unbelievable thing of all… We'll make sure you feel no pain from childbirth whatsoever! Isn't that great?"

"You're insane!" Yukimi cried, horrified.

"Oh, absolutely," Chic agreed, kissing Georgina on the lips. "That's what love does to a demon!"

"Ook," Georgina purred, batting her eyelashes and pawing at his coat.

"My family is coming for me," Yukimi said, trying to fight down the bile rising in her throat. "You're not going to get away with this."

"Oh, I fully expect them to come," Chic admitted. "But they'll find rescuing you a bit more difficult than expected! We've shorn up this place's defenses, have a small army of mercenaries-"

"Wait, really? How? You just kidnapped me," Yukimi said in surprise.

"Oh, Georgina hired them over the Internet, we've been planning this for weeks," Chic explained.

"Ook."

"Oh."

"And if that weren't bad enough… You remember those horrible imperfect demons NOAH created which your husband was forced to kill? Well, we still have plenty left over," Chic crooned. "As well as a few… Other things which not even your husband ever met. If he had, he might never have lived long enough to marry you."

He chuckled. "But of course, I'm not foolish enough to underestimate the power of your family. I fully expect them to survive and make it here. But we still have a few other surprises in store for them, and even if they get through those, I doubt they'll be in time to stop us from producing our perfect cyborg gorilla demon child! And once we have it, you will of course be free to go home while we go off on our merry way! If it's a girl, we'll name it after you. That's only fair, right?"

Yukimi stared at Chic in horror as he laughed maniacally, while Georgina hooted happily. She squeezed her eyes and started praying. "Gaim… Zea… Giff… If anyone out there is listening… Please, protect my family. Protect my baby!"

And deep within her, something stirred.