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"Well! As… Admittedly immensely satisfying as that was-" Nana began.
"Oh, absolutely," Parasoleil agreed.
"Made my day," Misora concurred.
"I want to fuck Goro-Evo," Evolto-Chan said cutely.
"… I'm married," Goro said, a look of horror growing on his face.
Evolto-Chan giggled. "That can easily be remedied-Evo."
"Hey! You stay away from our dad, you homewrecker!" Mei said angrily.
Evolto-Chan giggled again. "Silly little girl! If I want to wreck your home, there's absolutely nothing you or anyone else can do to stop it-Evo."
Misora cleared her throat.
"… Okay, maybe a few people-Evo," she admitted grudgingly.
"Excuse me! As I was saying, while that was rather satisfying, didn't that just make things rather a lot worse for us?" Nana pointed out. "Zitt already cut our time in half due to Giff brutally deconstructing him-"
"I want to fuck him-Evo," Evolto-Chan said lustily.
"No thank you," Giff said politely.
"I wasn't asking-Evo."
"And Goro shooting him can't have made things any better!" Nana continued. "We were already doomed, but now he's going to make it even worse!" She wrung her hands nervously. "Perhaps we should all kill ourselves now, to deny him the satisfaction-"
"Absolutely not!" Nushi said sharply.
"Nobody's hurting my baby boy!" Asagi agreed.
"Mamataros!" Masaki cheered.
"Shut up brat who I don't actually love!" The Imagin snapped.
"Isn't a swift death better than being tortured to death by demons for the entertainment of people from the future?" Nana pointed out anxiously.
"… Yeah. Barbatos won't make it fast," Lilim said slowly, a haunted look on her face.
"Everyone! Calm yourselves!" Giff said in a commanding tone. "Things are not nearly as bad as they might seem, as our exchange just now neatly demonstrated."
"How do you mean?" The Bishop asked in confusion.
"Izu? Surely you pieced it together as well," the demon king said, glancing at the mechanical Metatron.
Izu nodded. "I did. The fact that he was able to be offended by Giff's taunts indicates that Zitt, despite being from the decent future, is still human on a basic level. And humans, no matter when they are from, are still incredibly fallible."
"He is angry now, and angry people get sloppy and make mistakes," Giff agreed. "In addition, while unexpected, Goro's actions neatly demonstrated that for all his claims of superiority… He can still be caught off guard. He can be wounded. And if something can be hurt…"
"Then it can be killed," Goro finished, eyes wide.
Evolto-Chan coughed.
"Well. Usually."
"Yes, the fact that there are quite a few immortals or beings with incredible regenerative powers – myself included – does somewhat undercut that statement, but the point still stands," Giff admitted.
"Okay, that's great and all, but we're not going up against Zitt, we're going up against demons," Asagi pointed out.
"Yes, which means it'll be even easier to fight them. We already have everything we need in this room to prevail," Giff said confidently.
"… The heaven – I mean hell – are you talking about?" Lilim asked in disbelief. "Do you know how strong Barbatos is?!"
"Is he stronger than Astaroth?" Giff asked.
"No, but-"
"Excellent. I bested Astaroth once, so Barbatos shouldn't be much of a problem, especially since there are so many of us to oppose him and his minions, who will of course be weaker than him. Even if they are stronger than us, we have much higher quality. Not to mention we already have a resource on hand which is very effective against his kind, do we not, young Cherubi?" Giff asked the angel.
Cherubi gasped. "Oh! That's… You're right! I'm an angel, which means every part of me is potentially deadly to them!"
"What? No, Cherubi, you're far too young, your holy powers aren't nearly strong enough to be able to affect demons of their caliber," Lilim protested. "Especially since all of our powers have been suppressed!"
"Yes, but even suppressed, you're still stronger than me," Cherubi pointed out.
"Yeah, but that doesn't matter, I'm still a fallen angel-" Lilim protested.
"You don't have to be, though."
Lilim froze. "Oh. That's… I've never even considered… Would… Would that even work for me? I've been bad for so very very long…"
Cherubi gently placed a hand over her sister's. "There's only one way to find out."
Lilim bit her lip. "But… I turned my back on Heaven. On God."
Cherubi smiled pityingly. "Do you truly think so little of Him that just because you turned your back on Him, He would ever do the same for you?"
Lilim was left speechless at that.
"And Izu, you are the Voice of your goddess and co-head of your religion. Surely you can grant us some blessings of our own?" Giff inquired.
Izu frowned. "I'm not certain I can. Zea's power is supposed to combat the malice of the Ark, which usually comes in digital or mechanical forms, not mystical demons. In addition, I have lost my connection to Zea, and thus all my power. There's nothing I can do."
Giff shook his head. "I'm disappointed in you, Izu. Do you have so little faith in your goddess?"
Izu frowned. "I beg your pardon?"
"First of all, recall that the barrier we are trapped in-"
"Jyamar Area," Nana helpfully corrected him.
"Yes, that. It suppresses our powers but doesn't take them away. We are weak, but not powerless. Anyone who believes their power is all that makes them who they are does not deserve to have it in the first place," Giff said.
"… Why are people looking at me-Evo?" Evolto-Chan complained.
"That is well and good, but most of my power – other than my tactical mind and HumaGear speed and strength, which have still been weakened significantly by the Jyamar Area – comes from Zea," Izu pointed out. "And if I can't reach Her, then…"
"What makes you think you can't reach her?"
Izu gave Giff a confused look. "What do you mean? The Jyamar Area's completely sealed us off from the outside world. We can't contact anyone, including our patrons."
"Really? If that's the case…" Giff suddenly dramatically pointed at Lovekov. "Then why is my great-granddaughter still alive?"
"K-Kobuuuuuuuuuuu?!" Lovekov wailed, startled.
"What are you talking about?" Mei demanded. "Why wouldn't she be alive?"
"It's quite simple. Lovekov can only exist because of my granddaughter, her mother, Sakura," Giff explained. "The last time Sakura lost her powers, her connection with Lovekov was severed, and so she ceased to exist. However! This Jyamar Area is supposed to completely isolate us from the outside… And yet Lovekov remains!"
"… Hey yeah, I am alive," Lovekov realized.
"And we are all very happy for it," Kaseihime assured her.
"But… Then… How is she here?" A confused Neycombe demanded. "If we are really cut off-"
"What makes you think we are cut off?" Giff asked.
"Zitt said we were," Slavi spoke up.
"Yes. Zitt said we were," Giff replied.
It took a moment for everyone to realize what he was getting at.
"He… Lied to us?" Jinx gasped. "I would never have guessed! He seemed like such a nice sociopath!"
"Nom-Nom!"
"You know, it should have occurred to us he might not have been entirely honest sooner," Parasoleil admitted.
"You… Really think he was lying?" Izu asked.
Evolto-Chan burst into laughter "What makes more sense? That he trapped us in a barrier preventing any of us except for Lovekov from having any sort of connection with the outside… Or he was just lying about us being totally cut off? I'd have done the same thing-Evo!"
"Well that's a resounding endorsement," Goro grunted.
"Really, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense, and the fact that Lovekov has not vanished in a puff of logic confirms it," Giff insisted. "Izu, Hazu, Zea is a new God born of science and the belief of countless artificial lifeforms. She is all-knowing and all seeing and nothing save the shadow of the Ark can escape Her gaze. Is there really any way that someone using technology, even technology from the future, could possibly shield you from Her?"
As the HumaGears contemplated this, Giff turned to Misora. "Misora, while the Martians tend to be hands-off when it comes to matters beyond their world, do you truly think your mother would ever allow something as paltry as this to separate her from you or her granddaughter?"
A frown crossed Misora's face. "No… No she wouldn't. Losing my powers is one thing, but…"
"Philia," Giff said to the whimpering princess. "The Buzzing connects your species across time and space. It is more than cybernetics or genetics, but something that bonds your people at the cellular, the spiritual level. Do you truly think that anything aside from your mother or magic, which your kind have little experience with, can sever that bond?
"And Slavi-"
"I know what you're going to say," Slavi said softly. "Ouroboros exists wherever there is love, and she loves we Pythonians most of all. Wherever we go in the universe, we always feel her coils around our hearts, squeezing them to let us know she is with us always." She smiled. "I have never lost that feeling, not for a minute."
"Very good," Giff said approvingly.
"But if what you say true, then why do I still have no signal from Zea?" Izu asked.
"And I can't hear the songs of Mars," Misora said wistfully.
"And I… I'm still alone…" Philia sobbed.
"No you're not, love! We are all here!" Lovekov said as she and several of the others hugged her.
"Not… Not in here," Philia rasped, clutching her head.
"Because Zitt convinced you that you couldn't, and you believed him," Giff said.
"There's no way it's that simple," Asagi argued.
"On the contrary, it's exactly that simple," Giff said. "Take, for example, your current form. You were not always a creature resembling a blue fairy, yes? However, your son wished you to be one, and so that's what you became."
"Not my son. And what's that got to do anything?" Asagi demanded.
"Do you understand what a prayer is? A wish? What they really are?" Giff asked.
"It's… Asking some higher power for something, isn't it?" The Bishop asked.
"Not just that. It's you asking, begging, pleading the universe to bend to your wishes, for reality itself to conform to your desires," Giff explained. "And if you will it hard enough, if you truly believe… In your God, in destiny, in yourself… Then sometimes the universe listens. And when enough people believe the same thing…" He shrugged. "Well, that's the basis of most religions and societies, isn't it? If enough people believe in something, it can become reality. Even if it's a lie. Especially if it's a lie."
"So… The reason we can't call upon Zea or any other power out there… Is because we believe we can't?" Hazu asked doubtfully. "If that were the case, then why are we still unable to do it?"
"Because you still doubt," Giff said. "Zitt's appearance, the things he said, the power he demonstrated, have shaken you, planted seeds of doubt in our minds, undermining your confidence and your faith in yourselves. You must uproot that doubt if you are ever to prevail."
"And how do you suggest we do that?" Lilim asked.
"It's very simple. You believed one lie. Now you must believe in something else," Giff told them. "Believe in your gods, if you have any, and know in your hearts that they are good and watching over you. If you have no faith in the gods, then believe in your family and friends, many of whom are at this very moment outside trying their hardest to get in here to save you. Do any of you believe, even for a moment, that they will fail?"
"Of course not," Izu said immediately.
Hazu nodded. "If there is one person that can save us, it's Father."
"There are only a few things I believe in beyond a shadow of a doubt… And one of them is that my wife can do anything," Nushi said longingly.
"Mom's the best!" Mugu agreed.
"If Sento can't science a way in, then it just can't be done," Misora said confidently.
"… Well… Shit. My idiot son is good for one thing, and one thing only: punching his way through anything in his way, even if it shouldn't be punchable-Evo," Evolto-Chan admitted with what could almost be mistaken for fondness. "If he can't punch his way through, then there's no hope for any of us-Evo."
"… I believe in my sister," Lilim said, fondly squeezing Cherubi's hand. "She's never given up on me. Ever. Despite me being a bitch to her so many times. She won't do it now either. Especially with her favorite sibling in here."
"That's right," Cherubi agreed. "You."
Lilim looked astounded by this.
"I believe in the craftsmanship behind my company's Heavy Industrial Machines," Parasoleil remarked. "And if it fails I'm going to have some very cross words once I get to Shell."
"My guys might not be the ones to breach the barrier… But I'd still have them at my back any day of the week," Goro said proudly.
"Yoshi loves pretending he's the Kool-Aid man, so he'll absolutely find a way to smash through that barrier anytime now!" Jinx said confidently.
"Nom-Nom!"
"Wait a minute… Jinx, you still seem to have your strange physics defying reality warping powers," Nushi noted. "You're like a cartoon character. Can't you use them to get us out of this?"
Jinx shook her head. "It doesn't work that way. Like you said, I'm like a cartoon character. That means my powers rely on comedy, so I can only use them when it's funny, and 90% of comedy is timing. I can't just get us out of here on command, not without the right set up and a good punchline." She sighed. "Also, using my powers to rescue all of us would be trying to use them for a serious purpose, which is a big no-no. There's not a lot funny about saving a life, especially not the life of my own daughter, that's not the sort of thing you can easily turn into a joke."
"Well that's fucking convenient," Asagi grumbled.
"I'd like to believe in my King," Bishop lamented. "But he seems to have abandoned us."
"And my students are nowhere to be seen! I thought better of them than this," Mugensai complained, startling everyone, who'd forgotten he was still there. "Was I truly that bad a teacher? Could I have done more? Are they tired of always having to clean my cage-"
"Oh hey, there they are," Mugu said as Kiva descended on Castle Doran and Revolver Tenrai Senpuujin rolled up beside the other mecha.
"Oh! There they are," Mugensai said in relief. "I guess they must've gotten stuck in traffic. It's not like we could realistically rig every building in the city to lower to provide access for Revolver Mammoth."
Parasoleil's eyes lit up. "That's… Actually an interesting business idea. Make it so every building in the city can lower during giant battles? Create a dedicated superhighway for giant mecha and other oversized vehicles? Just think of how much the city would save in repair bills!"
"You could make a fortune from it, mom," Rayco said in approval. "Uncle Abrella would go all in for sure!"
The other Rainian nodded. "Yes, I'll be sure to bring it up the next time I see him."
"For shame, father! You really expected our King to abandon us in our time of need?" Neycombe chided her father.
"Forgive me, daughter. Sometimes I forget that our ruler is not like his predecessor, for which I'm eternally grateful," Bishop said humbly.
"That's great," Asagi said bluntly. "What about the rest of us, who don't have gods or geniuses or superheroes who give a crap about us?"
"Then you believe in yourselves," Giff said. "Because each and every one of you is an exceptional individual and have the potential to be heroes in your own right."
"I really don't," Jun said.
"Neither do I," Veila said.
"That's fine. If you cannot believe in yourselves, then believe in me," Giff said. "Because I believe in each and every one of you."
"Wait, are you telling us to believe in the you who believes in us?" Mei asked suspiciously.
"That is an odd way of putting it, but yes, why?" Giff asked.
Mugu snickered. "Are you going to start raving about drills now?"
"No, why?" Giff asked, bewildered. He was even more confused when several of the students couldn't resist laughing.
"You… You really think that we have a chance?" Nana asked quietly. "That we can win this game?"
"I do," he told her.
She shook her head. "Nobody has ever beaten one of Zitt's games. He cheats. He stacks the deck. He rigs everything to prevent any player from succeeding, crushing their hopes, destroying everything they love, and creating the most sadistic and twisted Bad Ends."
"There's a first time for everything," Giff told her. "I have asked the others what they believe in. But what do you believe in, Miss Takayama?"
Nana was silent for a moment, and then she turned to look at her students. "I believe… I believe in my students. In the potential they have. In the future they will create. And as a teacher… It is my duty to protect them and ensure they become the best they can be." She bowed an apology. "Forgive me, everyone. I let my fears get the best of me. I will not surrender. I will not let Zitt win. I shall fight alongside you all!"
The students cheered at this. "Can you fight, though?" Asagi asked skeptically. "I mean, you're just a teacher."
"And you're just a housewife-Evo," Evolto-Chan teased.
"Shut it!"
"Well, I was made to be a monster," Nana reminded them, opening her desk drawer and rummaging in it. "But the Gardener did give me a little something he's been working on that might give me an edge… Ah, here it is," she said, pleased as she took out a black and gray device with a circular slot in the center occupied by a cracked core and a black diagonal strip going across it along with an oddly shaped trinket covered in vines that looked like it could be plugged into the device.
"Whoa, Miss Takayama is a Kamen Rider?!" Mei gasped.
"You're the coolest, love!" Lovekov gushed.
"Not a Kamen Rider, but yes, I can be a kind of rider, thanks to the Gardener," she said, fondling the device. "He hoped I would never need it, but… I think he knew on some level something like this would happen and wanted me to be ready."
"Who exactly is this Gardener you keep talking about?" Lilim asked.
"My father. My creator. My God, I suppose, though he tries to discourage us from calling him that," Nana said with reverence. "He is the one who grows my kind for the DGP, though he has always had higher hopes for us than to be nothing more than disposable, replaceable cannon fodder. He has always been proud of me for my aspirations. Today… Let us see if I can live up to his expectations."
"I'm sure you will… Isn't that right, Kaseihime?" Giff asked.
And just like that, everything and everyone in the room froze.
Everything except for Giff and the Martian girl.
"I was wondering when you would come to me," she said idly. "What gave me away?"
"You are a Martian, and far more of one than your mother. There is nothing that can hinder you, harm you, or even kill you unless you allow it, and even then, only so long as you wish it to, after which you can easily rewrite reality so that it never did in the first place. I never for a minute believed that the Jyamar Area could suppress your power," he told her.
"Oh, it is," she said. "But infinity is an indefinable quantity, so a fraction of it is still basically infinity."
"You could end this in an instant if you wished," he speculated.
"I could, but I will not," she confirmed. "You know how my people are. We prefer to be subtle when amongst mortals, so as not to crush them with existential terror when they realize just how infinitesimal they are in comparison to us."
"I thought as much. Tell me, was anything I just said back there – the weakness in the Jyamar Area, that everyone had allowed themselves to be deceived by Zitt, the reason for Lovekov's continued existence, the power of belief – true, or was it something you did?" Giff queried.
"Oh, it's absolutely true, and always has been," she replied.
"But was it always true before I put it out there?" He asked.
She smiled but said nothing.
He chuckled. "I thought as much. I assume I can count on your support then?"
"Of course. Every person in this room is dear to me, and I will not allow any harm to come to them," she announced. "I will, of course, not do anything that can't be explained as something else, save a few tricks. I am Martian after all, so that sort of thing is expected of me. You are correct that you already have everything you need to prevail. The deck is stacked in your favor – I have seen to it – so you don't need too much pushing to make the right choices. I trust you can figure it out for yourselves."
"And if we cannot?" Giff asked, already knowing the answer.
"Well, nothing a few time resets can't fix," Kaseihime said breezily.
"And have you already had to do so?" He asked.
Again, she smiled but said nothing. He didn't press the matter.
"When we finish this conversation, you will be right back to when you were before you called me out," Kaseihime told him. "You also don't need to worry about time. I can make the five minutes we've been allotted last as long as you want… Until someone notices it feels like it's been a lot longer than five minutes, after which your time is unquestionably up."
"Don't worry," he assured her. "I will make every second count."
"-He has always been proud of me for my aspirations. Today… Let us see if I can live up to his expectations," Nana said as time resumed.
"I'm sure you will," Giff assured her, not missing a beat.
"Okay, so… We all believe in ourselves. And everyone outside. Great. Got anything else that'll maybe keep us from dying?" Asagi asked.
"And it better not involve putting our kids in danger," Misora warned him.
"Of course not! Well, not all of them," Giff admitted. "We're going to need someone to rescue Courtney, after all."
"Wait, what-"
"Thankfully, I do indeed have a way to even things out, and your children are a part of it!" Giff said, turning to the class and producing several Giff Junior stamps as well as his personal stamp. "So, kids, how many of you like stamps?"
Only a handful raised their hands.
He frowned in disappointment. "Well, we'll work something out."
There was a tremendous explosion, and the Igarashi family and associates barged their way into Chic's inner sanctum. "CHIC!" Genta bellowed. "GIVE BACK MY WIFE!"
Yukimi, still strapped to the operating table, gasped in delight. "Honey! Kids! George!"
"Why did she put me last?" George complained.
Chic cackled maniacally. "Igarashi family and friends! How unexpected… And by unexpected I mean COMPLETELY expected!"
"Ook!" Said Georgina.
"Georgina, how could you do this? I thought you were our friend!" Tamaki cried.
"Ook."
"For love? Seriously, we all know you can do better than him," said an indignant Hana.
"Ook."
"The hell is that supposed to mean?!" She cried, furious.
"Whatever sick, twisted games you're up to, Chic, my wife plays no part in them! Release her at once!" Vail declared.
"Wait, your wife? She's dad's wife!" Ikki protested.
"Yes, but Genta and I share everything, which means she's my wife as well," Vail said confidently.
"Wait, I don't remember agreeing to that," Genta protested.
"It went unsaid," he said breezily.
"On the contrary, Genta Igarashi! Your wife has everything to do with my plans!" Chic proclaimed.
"Let me guess, she was just bait to lure all of us here so you could create an army of invincible demon Riders?" Sakura guessed.
"No!… That's actually a pretty good idea, though, I should remember that," Chic admitted. "Georgina, write that down."
"Ook."
"No, I have something much different in mind…" Chic continued. "You see, Georgina and I looked at you and your massive family, and we felt envious! Why couldn't we have a family like that? So we decided to make one of our own!"
He sighed, melodramatically throwing an arm over his forehead. "But alas, due to a cruel twist of fate, we are unable to conceive!"
"Because you're a hideous gay clown and she's a genetically and cybernetically enhanced gorilla?" Vice guessed.
"For the last time, I'm bisexual!" Chic hissed. "But yes, that's essentially correct, though I would've used less hurtful words."
"Awww, that's actually kind of sad," Ampaz said sympathetically.
"Don't feel pity for him!" Hiromi insisted.
"So we figured hey, Yukimi Igarashi's produced plenty of kids, why don't we just use her to make one for us?" Chic laid out his plan.
"Ook."
Everyone stared. "… I'm sorry, what?" Ikki asked.
"He wants to use me as a surrogate to produce some sort of hybrid demon/gorilla child for them to raise," Yukimi said wearily. "And apparently since I'm already pregnant, all they need to do is overwrite its DNA with their own."
"… Wait… We're… Pregnant?!" Vail exclaimed joyfully.
"No, Yukimi and I are pregnant, not you!" Genta insisted, only to hesitate. "… Wait. Yukimi, is he-"
"Neither of you are pregnant, I am!" Yukimi snapped. "I don't see either of you possessing the parts to give birth!"
"Splendid!" Astarte cried, clapping her hands together. "I was worried there was something wrong with my blessings of fertility, but it's good to see I haven't lost my touch!"
"Wait, your blessings of what now-"
Ikki squealed in delight. "Sakura! Sakura, I'm going to be a big brother! Again!"
"And I'm not going to be the baby of the family anymore! Fucking finally!" Sakura cheered, hugging Hana.
"Babe, you haven't been the baby since you had Lovekov," Hana pointed out, deliriously happy that Sakura was holding her.
"Shh, let me have this."
"Ikki! I'm going to be a big brother!" Vice cried, horrified. "This is terrible! I have no idea how to be a big brother!"
"What about Kagerou?" Ikki pointed out.
"He hates me! And is also dead. Maybe," Vice said doubtfully.
Vail chuckled at this for some reason.
"Wait, isn't she kind of old to have a fourth kid?" Ryu started.
"Excuse me?" Yukimi shouted.
"Never mind, forget I said anything," Ryu said quickly.
"Good idea, rookie," Hiromi said in approval, patting him on the shoulder.
"I'm going to be a big brother?" George stammered, unsure how to take this. "Mother, why didn't did you consult me about this?"
"Ook!"
"I do too respect you as a grown ape who can make her own decisions and doesn't take you for granted!"
"Ook!"
"Of course I want you to be happy! But you can do way better than this sleaze bag, and there are better ways to have a baby then forcing Yukimi to be your surrogate! You could've asked her first."
"I would've said no!" Yukimi said loudly.
"You see? How else would we have been able to make use of her womb?" Chic asked reasonably. "She already has so many, surely she can afford to spare one for a couple as needy as ourselves."
"You stay out of this, you homewrecker!" George snapped.
"Trust me, Georgie, your home was wrecked way before I got there!" Chic shot back. "And it's not all your daddy's fault either!"
"Don't you bring him into this!"
"You could've asked me, you know, I'd have been happy to help," an annoyed Astarte spoke up.
"Ook?"
"Wait, you would have?" Chic asked in surprise.
"Yes, you'd hardly be the first incompatible couple I've given children to in the past," the archdemon said.
"Oh," Chic said after a moment. He and Georgina exchanged glances. "That's, uh, actually something it would've been really nice to know a while ago, but, um, seeing as how we've already got everything set up, it'd be kind of a shame not to use it, so… Yeah, we're still going to go with our original plan."
"Ook."
Everyone groaned.
"Is… Is it always like this?" A very confused Ryu asked.
"Pretty much, yeah," Tamaki said. "You get used to it."
"In any event, I must commend you on making it this far, Igarashi family and Associates, but you see, it is already far too late!" Chic shouted dramatically.
They gasped.
"… Is what I would like to say, but in reality, we haven't even gotten started yet," Chic admitted. "You got here a lot faster than I expected. Hikaru and the mercenaries I hired should've kept you occupied a lot longer than this."
"Who's Hikaru?" A confused Ikki asked.
"Ikki! Don't be ridiculous, you know good well who… Wait, I can't remember him either," Vice confessed.
"Hikaru! You know, Sakura's friend from the dojo? His family were regulars at your spa? They weren't actually his family and they were secretly spying on you for years for Weekend? George always got his name wrong on purpose? He was the first Over Demons? Akaishi killed his father?" Chic pressed.
They all stared at him blankly. "I know not of whom you speak," Vail said.
"Wait, did we do this bit already?" Vice asked suspiciously.
"Seriously? You ran into him on the way in… Oh, whatever, it doesn't matter," Chic said in irritation. "Look, do you think you could just go for about half an hour or so, that's really all the time we'll need to finish here and then we'll give Yukimi back and you'll never see us again, promise?"
"NO!" They all shouted at him.
Chic threw up his hands in exasperation. "Fine! Be that way! Ugh, you people are so unreasonable. Thankfully, I have already anticipated such an outcome. BEHOLD!"
He gestured at a large object covered beneath a sheet.
Nothing happened.
Chic frowned and glanced at Georgina. She blinked and then pointed herself. He nodded in frustration, and she went over and tore off the sheet, revealing a monstrous, almost Giger-esque contraption covered in cables and hissing steam vents with a multi-jointed mechanical claw jutting from the top of it with what looked like an eye in the center.
A rather familiar eye at that.
"Hang on, is that a Giff eye?!" George exclaimed. "How did you get your hands on one? Both of the ones he gave to me are accounted for!"
"Through a brilliant stratagem!" Chic bragged.
Giff's cell phone rang. He answered it. "Hello?"
"Ook."
"Oh! Georgina! How are you doing?"
"Ook."
"I see, I see. What can I do for you?"
"Ook."
"Oh, George needs a new eyeball and you can't tell me why? Sure, I'll send one over right away, I trust you."
"Ook!"
"You're very welcome." Giff hung up and ripped out one of his eyes, which immediately grew back. "I can't see any way this could possibly go wrong!" He said cheerfully.
"And with this eyeball in my possession, I was able to complete this diabolical device, the-" Chic began to explain, only for an explosion to rock the room as Azuma, Akaishi, Daiji, and Masumi blasted their way in. "Oh come on, I was just starting a monologue!"
"Daiji?!" Ikki and Sakura cried in surprise.
"Son?" Genta and Yukimi stammered.
"Daddy?!" George exclaimed.
"I'm here too," Akaishi mumbled, a little miffed nobody seemed to care.
Ryu looked down at his suit, then at Azuma's. "I feel kind of inadequate for some reason."
"Well, well, well, if it isn't my less attractive brother! The gang's all here now!" Chic sneered, then frowned and tapped his chin. "Or… Are you my daddy too, since you implanted me in Georgie? Or does that actually make you my grandfather? Gosh, we have such a confusing family tree."
"Tell me about it," Hani muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Daiji, what are you… What are all of you doing here?" Ikki demanded.
"Grandfather sent us to lend you a hand. Did you really think I would just sit back and do nothing when mom was in danger?" Daiji scoffed.
Yuki started tearing up. "Oh… My baby boy has come home…"
"Hasn't he already come home like a bunch of times? He was over for dinner the other day," Vice pointed out.
She shushed him.
"But Professor Karizaki, what are you doing here? It's far too dangerous!" Hiromi protested. "In your condition-"
"Really? You're one to talk," Vail drawled. "Have your innards hit the same age as your outers yet?"
Hiromi glared at him. "You never did apologize for that."
"No, I didn't," he agreed.
Hiromi waited. After a moment, he asked, "So, are you going to, or…?"
"No."
"My body will last long enough to see this through," Masumi said firmly. "After that… We will see. I could not possibly stay behind, not while my son and the others walked into the lion's den, the embodiment of all my failures."
"Daddy… You're… A Kamen Rider?" George whispered.
"Kamen Rider Demons Trooper Delta, to be precise," Masumi replied.
"Delta? But… There's no Demons Trooper Gamma, so that name makes no sense, unless…" George trailed off. "No… It can't be… A reference?! But… That would mean…!"
"That every time you gushed for hours on end about Kamen Rider, I was listening?" Masumi finished his sentence. "Of course I was, George. I love you. I always have."
"Oh… Oh, DADDY!" George sobbed, rushing over and embracing his father. "Goddamn!"
"Awww!" Everyone gushed.
"That's beautiful!" Chic cried. "Wait, was I forgetting something?"
"Ook."
"Oh, of course! I was about to unveil-"
Masumi gasped. "The Demon Extractor! You finished it?!"
Chic scowled. "Oh sure, ruin all my fun why don't you?"
"A Demon Extractor? What's it do?" Ryu asked.
Everyone stared at him. "It extracts demons from people," Masumi said very slowly.
"Idiot," Vail said unnecessarily, though he was not the only one to share that thought.
"Oh. Right," Ryu muttered, embarrassed.
"When NOAH was still in the early stages of weaponizing demons, I built the Extractor as an attempt to safely remove demons from their hosts without turning them into horrific abominations against nature," Masumi explained. "I could never get it to work, though, so I started developing Vistamps instead, which eventually led to the creation of Vail and Genta becoming a Kamen Rider." He hesitated, then glanced at Genta. "I, uh, never properly apologized for that, did I?"
"… It was a long time ago. I haven't forgiven you, but I have moved on," Genta told him, to his relief.
"Hang on, does that mean you're also my father?" Vail wondered.
"We really do have a complicated family tree," Ikki observed.
"What you lacked was the proper power source, and with one of Giff's eyeballs, the extractor is now fully operational!" Chic declared. "With it, I will extract all of your demons to create an army who will hold you off long enough for me to finish conceiving my child inside Yukimi and make my escape with Georgina! Georgina, throw the switch!"
"Ook!" Georgie replied, pulling a very large conspicuous knife switch.
The room trembled, electricity crackling all over the place as energy flowed up the cables plugged into the Extractor, causing steam to burst from the vents and the whole machine to shake and seem to roar menacingly. The claw jerked to life, spreading its digits, the eyeball glowing ominously before firing a wide-angle beam which engulfed most of the room, the intruders crying out in terror and surprise as they were hit…
And absolutely nothing happened.
Chic, who'd been laughing maniacally, slowly trailed off as no demons materialized. "Wait, what?"
"Was… Something supposed to happen?" Asked a confused Hana.
"I don't feel any different," said a perplexed Tamaki.
Yukimi frowned, feeling a strange tingling sensation. But the beam hadn't hit her… Had it?
Rather abruptly, Masumi started laughing. "Of course! The Extractor didn't work because almost all of us either lack demons or have already manifested them!"
George snapped his fingers. "Right! Chic is both our demon, and he's right up there! Vail, Vice, and Hani are already out, Lovekov is at school, Astarte is a demon, Tamaki already sacrificed his demon to fight Olteca back at Hiden Land and it must not have regenerated yet, Hiromi is such a beautiful pure boy that of course his demon would never have recovered from when Ikki and Vice killed it in the first episode… Of their adventure-"
"Wait, I'm what now?" Startled Hiromi asked.
"And Akaishi and I have merged completely with our demons thanks to our contracts with Giff, so cannot be separated from them by any means," Azuma realized.
"Wait, what about me-" Ryu started, only to cry out in pain and double over, clutching his chest.
"Oh no! Everyone, get back! There's no telling what's going to come out!" Ikki cried, everyone immediately backing away in panic from the junior Rider, who moaned, cried out…
And a single Giff Junior emerged from his back.
Everyone stared at it.
"Well, guess they can't all be winners," Hani said dryly.
"Oh! Tamaki, look!" Ampaz squealed in delight, holding up a tiny baby serpent demon with a vaguely skull-shaped head that she had just hiccupped into existence that looked like it could be arrival to Lovekov for cuteness, the demon hissing adorably and blinking big, innocent eyes that stared out at the world in wonder. "This must be my demon! Isn't she adorable?"
"She's perfect," Tamaki gushed, instantly falling in love with her. "Just like you!"
"Awww," everyone gushed.
Chic put his face in his hands. "Why. Why did I think this would work?"
"Ook," Georgina and her newborn Kong Deadman said at the same time, patting his shoulders.
Rather abruptly, Daiji suddenly gasped, clutched his side, and collapsed to the ground, convulsing.
"SON!" Genta exclaimed, rushing over with the rest of the family.
"What's wrong with him?!" Sakura demanded.
"I-I don't know, it looks like he's having some kind of a seizure!" Ikki said anxiously.
"No… It's far worse than that," Masumi realized. "There is one Igarashi demon left unaccounted for."
"What? Wait… No… You can't mean…!" Vice cried.
Daiji screamed, and everyone backed away in alarm as his shadow stretched out, darkening significantly until it seemed like a portal into the infinite abyss. Bats shot out of the void, shrieking and chittering as they swarmed about, their wing beats filling the air before they all converged on a single spot, coalescing into a humanoid figure.
A horrifyingly familiar one.
"It's… You…" Daiji whispered as everyone stared in horror at the demon reborn.
Kagerou grinned. "Hey, fam. Long time no see."
