The first anniversary of Kamen Rider Hero is officially upon us. ...hard to believe it's actually here. I'll admit, the position I'm currently in is something I wouldn't have expected a year ago. Working on this story was, admittedly, a little bit easier when I was in high school and lacked the amount of work that I now have in college. However… to reach my dream of being an animator and making a cartoon that people will love… yea… that's gonna take a lot of dedication. I did make a 3D animatic for an assignment and got a 100 on it.
So… any events that occured since December worth a mention? ...one major one. I had downloaded the app for Fire Emblem Heroes just to see if I could download it and then I tried to play it. ...it didn't work. It wouldn't work no matter what I tried, so I just junked it off my phone. Only two explanations I can think of for why that happened… one, is that my phone didn't wanna run it… and that the universe wants me to remain a writer of a Fire Emblem story in spite of not playing any games (bar TMS). Just… feh. ...I made that word up. It can be used as a response in exasperation or to say something like 'Oh feh you!'. ...dunno if that'll be used in this story at all.
Now then… Takeshi enters the world of the original Fire Emblem game. I've actually conducted some heavy duty research for the original game to make sure I get some of the finer details down pat. I also looked into some Support Conversations between Marth and other characters in Fire Emblem Warriors. It helped for research purposes.
Also, what's going to be published, is a First Anniversary video for Kamen Rider Hero on my YouTube account. It took quite a while to film and edit… and actually save onto my memory stick. It ran out of room, so I had to pull some tricks to get it up onto my stick.
Well… let's go ahead and begin.
Fire Emblem belongs to Nintendo, Intelligent Systems, etc. Kamen Rider belongs to Toei, Bandai, etc. All OCs belong to their owners.
Previously on Kamen Rider Hero…
Lucina: The Princess of the Divine Dragon…
Tiki-chan: Eh… not really… I just kinda look like her.
Lucina: Henshin!
Mystery Woman: Get yourself ready for the next world.
Takeshi: ...where am I going?
Mystery Woman: Use process of elimination, genius.
The room with the Outrealm gate was quiet. Tiki-chan slowly woke up as she saw Takeshi was on his phone and watching something on it. She slowly floated up to his shoulder to see it the video was of a purple dragon.
"Whatcha watchin'?" she curiously asked.
"Oh. Ohaiyo, Tiki-chan," Takeshi greeted as he moved the phone closer for her to see, "I'm just rewatching the reveal trailer for the best game ever that isn't Fire Emblem Awakening. That game… Spyro: Reignited Trilogy."
"What's that?" Tiki-chan asked.
"A remastering of three classic games that were for the Playstation 1 and this was just amazing. I loved every second of playing these remakes and… well… I actually own FIVE copies of the game!" Takeshi admitted.
"Wait… seriously?!"
"Yep. I own five copies," he admitted with a smile.
"Why?"
Takeshi gave a soft chuckle as he recalled the circumstances, "I got one Japanese copy from a friend that he found because somebody didn't want it and he was just lucky enough to find it. I had pre-ordered my own copy of the game… then my mom had bought a copy because she didn't know I pre-ordered it. ...and my dad did the same thing. Then a cousin sent me a copy that was signed by Spyro's VA."
"Wow… what luck…" Tiki-chan giggled.
"I know, right?" Takeshi smiled.
"Good to see you so relaxed before our big mission to the next world," Tiki-chan smiled.
Takeshi blinked for a moment before he gasped in a bit of worry. He stood up as he began to pace around the room with a fearful look on his face.
"And I… spoke to soon…" Tiki-chan sighed.
Kowashitai daijisou ni kakaeta watashi o zenbu (I'm breaking down all the walls I've built up around my lonely heart now) *Takeshi held his phone in his hand before he was seemingly absorbed into it.*
Kimi ga kono kodoku o itami o iyasu no (You're the one that takes it all away, my solitude and all my pain) *His phone was now attached onto his wrist and his Driver was in position.*
Reincarnation Realization *The Kamen Ride Hero card slipped out and into the phone insertion.*
Reincarnation kiete shimaitai (I want to disappear…) *Takeshi now stood on the ground as Kamen Rider Hero.*
Kamen Rider Hero
Nemuranai machi no zawameki aisouwarai no yuutsu (I walk alone through the city of lights, I see the same fake smiles every night) *Takeshi was now back in the real world and had his phone in his hand, playing Fire Emblem Heroes.*
Honne nante itsuka doko ka mienai furi (Cause everyone hides...they run and they hide from their real feelings.) *The game then had all of the characters seemingly vanish. Takeshi then took his phone and put it into position*
Dare datte fuan nante sonna (And everyone's got their stresses too, yeah I know) *Hero was seen punching and kicking various Risen foes, knocking them away, before he turned to see the fractured stained glassed windows of the nine worlds.*
Iwarenakutemo wakatteru (But I already get that's the status quo. I'm breaking down…) *Kamen Rider Marth, Ike, Robin, Micaiah, Roy and Lucina all stood and seemed fractured as well. Hero stood in the center of the six, glancing towards the three without representation.*
Kowashitai daijisou ni kakaeta tsuyogari nante (All the masks that I wear to hide my lonely heart now) *He took the six cards and loaded them into his card scanner, now being armed with the Fire Emblem itself. The cloaked woman walked over to him and simply smiled.*
Demo sunao ni narenai (But what if I'm just lying to myself?) *Takeshi stared at his phone for a moment before he was joined by Tiki-chan, who was initially in her distance form then in her normal form, who then smiled at him*
Mayottemo nayan demo kimi ga motomeru nara (If even now, you still want me when I am hurt,wandering lost in the rain) *Takeshi and the green orb both stood between the worlds, looking towards the six Riders and three silhouetted figures.
Semete kono kodoku o itami o kowashite (The at least help me destroy it all… My solitude, and all my pain) *Takeshi now stood as Kamen Rider Hero and reached out to them, trying to save them.*
Reincarnation Realization *Takeshi was now back in his base and held out the Kamen Rider Hero card.*
Reincarnation umarekawaritai (I want to be reborn) *He then turned towards the reader and gave a simple smile, showing off the Hero card.*
Emblem 12: King Henshin
"I can't believe it… I'm going to be meeting the Hero King! I… I… I don't know how to act around him or what to say or do or-" Takeshi rapidly spoke.
"Keep it cool," Tiki-chan said assuringly as she floated near him, "He's pretty cool. While, yes, he is a legend… he's still a person like you."
The bluenette looked to his fairy companion for a moment before he gave a soft smile at her, "You're right. Alright… let's get going!"
The mystery woman simply headed over to the control console for the gate before she pressed a button...
Takeshi and Tiki-chan now stood in a field at Altea.
"Wow… it looks… so beautiful…" Takeshi commented with a smile
"It certainly is…" Tiki-chan said with a fond smile as she sat on his shoulder.
"Well… I guess we start looking around for Marth?"
"Yea."
Thus, Takeshi began to start walking. Tiki-chan simply looked around a little as she thought a little bit…
'The Kingdom of Altea… why is it… I feel so… at home here?' Tiki-chan thought as she held her heart, 'I feel… happy… really happy…'
Takeshi continued forward as he simply marveled at the beauty of the area. He began to snap a few pictures of the environment as he kept walking, "You know… after seeing two post-apocalyptic worlds… this is honestly really nice…"
"Yea," Tiki-chan nodded. She then blinked a little as she got up off of Takeshi's shoulder, "Get down!"
"Wha-?"
"Just do it!"
Takeshi did that and managed to avoid fire breath of sorts. He looked up to see a mage on a wyvern.
"H-how did you know that was gonna happen?" Takeshi whispered.
"I… don't know… I just did…" Tiki-chan responded.
"Alright then…" Takeshi shrugged as he looked up, "One of Gharnef's men?"
"Yep," Tiki-chan nodded.
Takeshi was set to get out his phone, but the sound of wings flapping in the air made him stop. He looked up to see two pegasi flying towards the wyvern. The two who were riding the pegasi proceeded to attack the wyvern, knock the mage off, then jump down to the ground. Takeshi got a big grin on his face as he saw it was Marth and Caeda.
"Another one of them?" Caeda commented, "Marth… when do you think that Gharnef will end this?"
"I honestly don't know…" Marth sighed.
"Regardless…" Caeda said as she reached to a lance end that was within a belt buckle, "There's somebody in trouble and we need to defend him."
"Right," Marth nodded as he pulled out the Falchion.
Takeshi simply looked on in amazement at what was going on before him.
Caeda pulled out the lance end, which then transformed into a sword, and a spot on the belt opened up to reveal a picture of both a lance and a sword, "Queen Henshin!"
Marth raised the Falchion into the air, causing a glow to shine off of it and his belt, "King Henshin!"
White and gold glows began to flash off of the two of them as they transformed into their Rider forms.
Caeda's suit was red and white armor with black legs, accented in gold with a dark red scarf and light blue eyes surrounded in gold, her blue hair flowing from the top. Her belt was a sky blue with the same red symbol. Marth's form had the same golden belt that resembled the belt of Kamen Rider Kuuga with the center red gem surrounded and held by a navy blue dragon, and wielded the same Falchion of the silver blade on a golden hilt with a green gem and red grip with one part having a gun barrel sticking out of it. He basically resembled an armored Marth, right down to the armored hair, tiara, blue bug-like eyes, and a silver mouthpiece covering his nose and mouth, golden wristbands and kneepads, and a blue cape with a red underside.
"Sugee…" Takeshi gawked.
"Yea…" Tiki-chan nodded.
"Kamen Rider… Caeda!"
"Kamen Rider… Marth!"
The two Riders readied their blades as they charged forward to attack the mage. The mage attempted to cast some defensive spells, but the two Riders were easily able to slash their way past them.
"You might wanna help them…" Tiki-chan told Takeshi.
"Oh! Right!" Takeshi nodded as he got out his phone and card, "Henshin!"
=KAMEN RIDE: ...HERO!=
Takeshi turned into Hero. He quickly dashed forward, punched the mage, knocked the hood off of it… seeing that it was some sort of skeleton with a dragon's skull. The mage then turned to dust before the shadow of the wyvern caused it to reforge.
"What the…?" Hero blinked
"Gharnef's minions are just skeletons with some strange magic. With a degree of sunlight they'll vanish, but the shadows can revive them," Kamen Rider Marth explained.
"We have to finish them off with a magic attack," Kamen Rider Caeda added.
"Gotcha," Hero nodded, "Oh. Uh… Kamen Rider Hero. Nice to meetcha."
"Likewise," Kamen Rider Caeda nodded.
"I'm Prince Marth," Kamen Rider Marth added.
"...yet you announce 'King Henshin'?"
"When I first transformed… I just felt like I had to say that…"
Hero simply gave a nod as Kamen Riders Caeda and Marth both slashed at the mage. Hero jumped down and did a kick to the head of the mage. Kamen Rider Marth proceeded to rapidly slashed the mage.
The mage yelled in pain as the trio of Riders proceeded to kick it back.
"Nice," Kamen Rider Caeda smiled at Hero.
"Thanks," Hero smiled.
Kamen Rider Marth simply backed away and motioned for Hero to finish the mage off.
"I'm honored," Hero smiled as he readied his Final Attack Ride card.
Tiki-chan watched this from a slight distance. She gave a smiled before she blinked a little, "Wait… oh… oh boy…"
"MATTE!" a young girl's voice yelled.
"Tiki-chan?" Hero questioned as he looked over to his partner.
"...no…" Tiki-chan sighed as she floated onto Hero's shoulder and simply motioned to the right.
The group all turned to see the Tiki native to Marth's world standing on a nearby hill.
"Tiki?" Kamen Rider Marth blinked.
"Leave this to me," she smiled.
"...is she a-?" Hero began to ask.
"No," Tiki-chan quickly responded.
Tiki gave a smile as she raised a purple, pink, green, and gold version of the Star Power Stick from Sailor Moon into the air. She giggled a bit as she waved it around, twirled, and then posed, "Spots… On!"
She began to glow a pink and purple as a sort of armor attached onto her. She gained a purple armor, with green arms, gold gauntlets, white gloves and heeled boots, a similarly colored cape on top of her purple armor, a silver belt with a green gemstone in the buckle, and a helmet magically formed over her head. She quickly grabbed it and placed it on, making her hair flow out of two holes into pigtails of sorts, lime-green bug-like eye lenses, yet her mouth and nose were exposed. She landed on the ground with, looked up, and smiled, "Kamen Rider… Tiki!"
Hero simply gave a confused look at the Rider before him.
"Tiki… what are you doing?" Kamen Rider Marth inquired.
"I'm a Kamen Rider," she giggled as she put her wand onto her belt strap. She got into a combat pose as the mage ran over to her. She proceeded to kick the mage away, but it didn't get knocked back very far, "Uh… let's try that again…"
She tried to kick the mage again, but the kick only managed to knock it onto its back. The mage simply growled in anger before it casted a powerful fire spell on the girl before him. She tried to block it, but was unsuccessful and got knocked back.
"Ok… good play, but… I'll get you now!" she yelled as she charged forward and punched the mage under the wyvern. The mage seemed to stop moving, "Yosha! I did it! I won!"
Tiki-chan simply looked for a moment before she gasped, "Takeshi, move, now!"
"Huh?" he blinked.
The mage reformed its skeleton body.
"Oh… you don't know when to quit, huh? Alright…" the girl smirked as she took something off of the side of her belt, "Eat this!"
She then held out… a yo-yo. Hero simply stared at her with a look of disbelief, Kamen Rider Caeda just innocently giggled, and Kamen Rider Marth just facepalmed.
"Tiki… dear… can you please go play somewhere else?" Kamen Rider Caeda requested.
"Yea… we're kind of in the middle of something…" Kamen Rider Marth added.
"I'm helping," she assured as she quickly spun her yo-yo around and proceeded to whack the mage with it a bit, "See? I'm helping beat this guy!"
The mage angrily swatted the yo-yo back to her before he charged up lightning magic. Hero proceeded to run over, but the lightning magic managed to hit the girl. Hero ran in front of the blast to block it from her and ended up detransforming after how long he had to block it.
"Takeshi!" Tiki-chan yelled in worry.
Kamen Rider Marth, now fuming with anger, charged in and slashed the mage into the sunlight. He then pulled back on the gun trigger on the Falchion to charge it up a little bit. He then growled as he slashed, "RIDER SLASH!"
The skeleton mage blew up after the slash had ended. Kamen Rider Marth turned back into normal Marth as he headed over to Takeshi.
"You ok?" Marth asked.
"...chest kinda hurts…" Takeshi winced.
Caeda walked over to apply a bit of healing magic onto Takeshi. Tiki-chan gave a slightly fond look to Caeda as she healed Takeshi, but the small fairy was soon noticed and gave an innocent wave to the woman.
"...hi?" Caeda blinked a bit.
"...she's a companion of mine," Takeshi informed.
Caeda gave a comforting look to Takeshi, "Don't worry. You're going to be ok."
Marth proceeded to pick up the injured Tiki to put her on top of the pegasus. Caeda got onto hers and they both flew off to the castle.
"...uh… guys!" Takeshi yelled.
"...whoops…" Tiki-chan sighed.
"I'm at least well enough to walk… so... to the castle…" Takeshi figured as he looked around the field, "...which way is the castle?"
"That way," Tiki-chan pointed.
"Alright," Takeshi nodded as they headed forward.
They eventually arrived at the castle and got within the walls of it. The inside was a beautiful white color with blue highlights and numerous doors.
"So… which way is to the throne room?" Takeshi wondered, "Nothing really says which one is which…"
"This way," Tiki-chan said as she pointed to the north door.
Takeshi walked over to the door, opened it up, and then saw a much larger door that would go to the throne room, "How do you know to go this way?"
"I just… do. I… can't explain how…" Tiki-chan responded with a nervous look.
Takeshi opened the door up slightly…
"I was trying to help!" Tiki yelled out, "I was trying to be a Kamen Rider and help you guys fight!"
"Tiki… you're just a child… you could get really badly hurt…" Marth told her as he put his hands on her shoulders, "It's okay if you want to play pretend, but you can't do it in the middle of a fight."
"I was trying to be a Kamen Rider!" she told him.
"Dear…" Caeda began, "It's dangerous to be a Rider… so… please… don't put yourself in harms way. That electric magic could've seriously hurt you because you're a Manakete…"
"I know… but… I'm a Kamen Rider! I really am!"
"...Tiki… can you please go to your room?" Marth asked, "Caeda and I have things to discuss, so we can finish talking later."
Tiki teared up as she just ran out of the throne room, unknowingly smacking the door in Takeshi's face, and just kept running.
"...ow…" Takeshi winced.
Marth sighed a little as he walked over to the door, but then noticed Takeshi was there, "Oh. Uh… sorry about forgetting you. Getting Tiki back here and healed was kind of our priority…"
"It's fine…" Takeshi responded as he got out from behind the door, "I… kinda overheard part of that conversation. Everything ok?"
"Yea. It's… kinda complicated," Marth admitted before he looked at Takeshi, "I'm Prince Marth. Who are you?"
"I'm Takeshi," he smiled.
"Oh. You related to Hongo-san?"
"No…" Takeshi informed before his eyes widened, "Wait… you met Hongo?"
"It's a VERY long story…" Marth sighed.
Tiki, still in her 'Rider' suit but without the helmet, was sitting outside at a forest. Tears were streaming down from her eyes as she held her helmet, "Why…? Why do they think that I'm just playing pretend? I am a Kamen Rider like they are…"
She closed her eyes and let the tears flow from her eyes.
Evening had soon rolled around. Marth and Caeda were off on some scouting missions and Takeshi was within the castle. He was just sitting down, eating a bowl of ramen, rice, and teriyaki chicken that had been prepared before the royals left, with a look of joy on his face.
"Wow! This stuff is really good. Little carb heavy, but still… really good!" Takeshi smiled as he took another bite.
"Caeda's cooking is great…" Tiki-chan muttered.
"Wait… what?" Takeshi blinked.
"I mean… it looks great…" Tiki-chan nervously responded.
"No, no, no, no, no… I heard what you said…"
"No you didn't!"
"Please don't lie to me…"
"I'm not!"
Takeshi gave her an annoyed look before she flew away. He just sighed as he continued to eat the food.
Tiki-chan floated around the castle with a confused look, '...why do I know this layout? I know I got information about this world memorized, but I don't know the layouts of the castle this well. ...do I… have the original Tiki's memories? But… why would I?'
She floated around a little as she looked outside and saw the blue moon, 'But… if I do have her memories… why are they all so fragmented? Was I not supposed to have them? I… don't get it…'
She let out a sigh as she started to fly back to the dining room… only to see Takeshi was standing there.
"Hey," he said, "You ok?"
"...I don't know…" she sighed as she sat on his shoulder, "I… I'm just… remembering things that didn't happen to me… but they happened to Tiki."
"You have her memories?"
"Just… bits and pieces of them. I only had one faint memory of her and Marth before now… but… now that we're here... some of her memories are just… flashing into my mind…" Tiki-chan admitted, starting to float off of Takeshi's shoulder, now holding her head, "What does it mean? Why is this happening. W-"
Takeshi simply gave her a 'shh' motion, "I may not know the answers, but it's been rather helpful. We kept her safe from that lightning spell from that… I guess… prototype Risen…"
"...guess that would be the best way to describe it…" Tiki-chan figured.
"And… I have a hunch we'll get some answers. Maybe not immediately, but we'll get answers. So for now… it's something you should kind of just go with. They may not be your memories, but if they can help us… let them help…" Takeshi told her.
"...alright," she nodded.
"Now, come on. I still got some food left and I don't think I can finish it by myself."
Tiki-chan nodded as she headed back with Takeshi.
Meanwhile, Tiki was trying to find her way back to the castle, but got herself lost in the forest. She let out an annoyed sigh as she rested up against a tree with a nervous look, "...when did this forest become so thick?"
She simply looked up to the sky and simply sighed. She then heard somebody walking towards her. Tiki quickly got up and got her yo-yo ready… only to see it was just an old person in a cloak.
"Oh… sorry… just got scared there…" she said as she sat back down.
"You lost?"
"Pretty much. I'm gonna have to find the way back to my friends…"
The man took out a crystal ball, set it down, and motioned for Tiki to look at it. She then just looked at it as the man moved his hands around it.
"Are you… trying to show me something?"
"Why it would be a bad idea to return to those so called friends…"
Tiki just gave a confused look as she looked at the crystal ball. She looked in to see what looked to be Marth and Caeda. She simply looked on to see herself appear… only for the two to ignore her.
"Huh? But… they always have some time for me…"
"Would you go away?!" the vision of Marth yelled.
"...they… don't yell at me…"
"But-"
"Go to your room and stay there!" the vision of Caeda yelled.
Tiki just looked on as the crystal ball showed her getting zapped, but neither Marth or Caeda were going to try and help her.
"...they wouldn't…"
"You have to be strong enough to fight by yourself, otherwise you can't call yourself anything but useless…"
Tiki began to tear up as dark rings of energy began to float around her body. She gave a horrified gasp upon seeing the next vision… which was of Marth and Caeda leaving her in the ice palace they found her in. They locked up the door, walked away, and were then seen with a bluenette who looked just like her.
"They… promised… they wouldn't leave me there…" Tiki whimpered, "And… I'd be their daughter…"
"They lied… how does it make you feel?"
"...sad… and angry…" she responded as the dark rings started to fly around her a bit faster.
"Good…" the man smirked as his eyes turned white.
The images shown to her became more and more terrifying to her and they all kept ending with her being sealed up in the palace.
"Let the anger flow into you and make you stronger… and make them pay for leaving you… they abandoned you… they betrayed you… they wouldn't let you get stronger because they were afraid of your true potential…"
Tiki's eyes lost the details and were now just green. She gained an angered expression as the dark rings continued to fly around her body before they wrapped around her and began to transform her form into something more Rider-like.
The man simply smirked as he pulled back his hood… revealing himself to be Gharnef. He gave an evil smile and an evil laugh at his handiwork…
The following morning arrived not long after. Takeshi was walking over to a room, having a paper guide with him, and looking on with a smile.
"So… where are Marth and Caeda?" Tiki-chan asked as she flew over.
"Uh… there was an opportunity to get to Gharnef before he could get the Shadow Dragon to attack, so they're not here," Takeshi informed, "As for me… well… they wanted somebody to go check on Tiki…"
"...why you?"
"Marth said it was because had didn't want to risk getting me hurt… even though I am a Rider and all that jazz…" Takeshi commented as he arrived at Tiki's room, "Here we are…"
He knocked on the door and waited for a response. There was nothing. He knocked again, "Hey… Tiki? I'm Takeshi and Marth told me to check on you. You alright?"
There was no response.
"Are you still upset?"
Nothing.
Takeshi gave a sigh as he got out a key from a plant. He opened up the door… only to gasp upon seeing nobody there, "Wha… where is she?!"
"I-" Tiki-chan began to spoke before she gave a gasp of horror, "...d-did Marth and Caeda tell you where they were going?"
"Yea?"
"We need to get there. Now!" Tiki-chan said in fear before she tensed up, "Oh… we need to go… we… we… we…"
"Hey… calm down. What's wrong?"
Tiki-chan began to stammer, unable to give a clear answer, before she just floated into Takeshi's hood. He gave a sigh as he looked outside.
"Wait… there's a long way and… oh~, crud! And I thought I was done with my days of running marathons…" Takeshi commented before he sighed, "Crud. Here I go…"
He then proceeded to start running towards the battlefield as fast as he could go…
Marth, Caeda, and the Altean army marched upon what looked to be a dark castle.
"How long was this journey, anyway?" Caeda couldn't help but ask.
"Few hours…" Marth responded.
"...I hope the kid is keeping Tiki entertained…"
Marth nodded before he began to give some forces instructions. The military nodded as they flew into position and Marth got himself ready.
"Ready?" Caeda asked.
"Hai. Ikuzo! King Henshin!" Marth declared as a bright light flashed and he transformed.
"Queen Henshin!"
The two Riders got off their steeds and stood ready.
"Marth-sama! Something is approaching from behind!" a soldier yelled.
Kamen Rider Marth blinked a little as he turned to see Takeshi running over. The Rider simply stared a bit as Takeshi slowed down, looking out of breath, and stopped before him.
"Uh…?"
Takeshi panted before he spoke a bit, "Man… I need to work out more often…"
He then fell onto his back, "Need… water…"
"Ow…" Tiki-chan winced as she flew out from his hood, "I was there you know…"
"Sorry…" he apologized.
"Uh… what exactly are you doing here?" Kamen Rider Marth questioned.
Takeshi stood up, managed to recompose himself a little, before facing the two, "Tiki's not in the castle. I have no idea where the heck she is!"
"Wait, what?!" they both yelled.
"Yea…" Takeshi responded as he panted a bit more, "Oh… why didn't I think to transform and use that speed up card…?"
Tiki-chan was about to respond, but a look of pure fear covered her face as she flew behind Kamen Rider Marth. Takeshi then turned to see somebody approaching from the front…
"Tiki?" Takeshi blinked.
"Tiki, dear… we're kind of in the middle of something… please go back to the castle, ok?" Kamen Rider Caeda asked with a nervous tone.
Tiki didn't respond.
"Tiki?" she asked.
"Tiki… please… we need you to go back to the castle…" Kamen Rider Marth requested.
"Uh… where'd she get that belt?" Takeshi questioned.
Kamen Rider Marth and Kamen Rider Caeda looked to see that Tiki had a belt that was similar to Ichigou's.
"Tiki… where did you get that?" Kamen Rider Marth nervously asked.
"...henshin…" she whispered.
The image of a dragon made of shadows flew out from her belt buckle and swirled around her body. Her legs then gained a sort of armor, a lower cloak, an armor over her body, a dragon-like helmet, and then the dragon flew across her. Wings attached onto the back before folding over her shoulders and chest while a dragon head clapped down on top of the helmet. The suit was the top half of Cross-Z's suit and the bottom half was Wizard's while having the colors matching her earlier 'Kamen Rider' suit.
"Kamen Rider… Tiki…"
Takeshi, Kamen Rider Marth, and Kamen Rider Caeda all looked on with a shocked expression. Tiki-chan began to tear up and held her hands over her heart as she just stared.
*As the instrumentals slowly began, Takeshi stared at the dark room with the inactive portal.*
Embrace the dark you call a home, *Takeshi held out the Hero card and was joined by Tiki-chan.*
Gaze upon an empty, white throne *They looked to the portal, which was inactive and then slowly showed Kamen Rider Marth's image*
A legacy of lies, *The two were being watched by something in the shadows*
A familiar disguise *Takeshi turned and then saw the mysterious woman before he was again shoved into the portal.*
Sing with me a song of conquest and fate *Takeshi, now Kamen Rider Hero, was standing in between various worlds and seeing the fractures to all nine of them.*
The black pillar cracks beneath its weight *He could see the nine Riders all facing away from him before they faded as if they weren't even there.*
Night breaks through the day, hard as a stone *Hero and Tiki-chan stood in a dark room in confusion before they slowly walked out of it*
Lost in thoughts all alone *The two simply continued forward.*
Tiki-chan was simply floating in the air, still in the same position as she was before the credit song.
"Uh… Tiki-chan?" a stage hand asked, "Hello?"
"Crud… uh… one moment…"
-We are experiencing technical difficulties, please wait…-
"No!" Takeshi yelled as he got shoved on screen.
"You are the only option we have right now. Do the dang segment!"
"Why?!"
"Tiki-chan is kinda… unresponsive…"
Takeshi gave a sigh before looking at the camera, "...hi. So… uh… I guess… I gotta talk about stuff?"
"We have cue cards."
"Alright… uh… first, we have Kamen Rider Marth's first form… wait… he has another form?"
"Yes! Read the cue cards and stop asking questions!"
Takeshi just sighed, "Ok… the 'King Henshin' form is one that looks just like Marth… only as a Rider. I used it WAY back in the first chapter when fighting off the forces that mystery woman summoned to test me. And he can, apparently, use a finisher by pulling the trigger to charge up energy and then slash. Pretty cool…"
An image then flew over and the picture of Kamen Rider Caeda popped up, "And now, Marth's wife-to-be… except he hasn't proposed yet. Uh… moving on… she's a user of both lances and swords. Certainly an interesting armor she has…"
Then, Kamen Rider Tiki's first form appeared, "This form is actually based on a scrapped Rider from Kuuga. Seems to be a then modern version of Tackle from Stronger. Tiki did look cute in it. Though… less of a Kamen Rider and more like a magical girl. Heh… magical girl Tiki. Now I'm picturing Tiki in a sailor fuku..."
"Move on!"
Takeshi just sighed as the image next to him rotated to show the form Tiki turned into at the end of the chapter, "And now… Kamen Rider Tiki, now corrupted into a combo of Cross-Z and Wizard. It's… pretty cool looking. Shame she's using it for evil… for whatever reason…"
An image of her weapon popped up, "In the more magical girl form, she uses a yo-yo. And in the more Rider like form, while we didn't see it today, she uses… a whip. Another weapon not in a Fire Emblem game."
Somebody then whispered to him.
"Oh. There was a whip in Marth's game, but it's a hidden weapon. Ah… k."
He shrugged a little, "Well… join us next time for when Tiki-chan will hopefully do this segment."
Takeshi walked over to comfort Tiki-chan a little.
Jikai, Kamen Rider Hero…
Kamen Rider Marth: Tiki, please stop!
Kamen Rider Tiki: Take this!
Kamen Rider Marth: …*looking at the prototype Risen* Kuraieh, lucus naturae!
Gharnef: Today you will rise, Shadow Dragon!
Marth: How can I call myself a Kamen Rider if I can't protect the people I love?
Takeshi: We will save her. Don't lose hope.
Marth: Rider… Henshin! Toh!
Emblem 13: Rider Henshin
*Footage then showed various Kamen Riders and Sentai Senshi doing battle*
Emu: Chou Taisen Remake. This seems… familiar…
*He stood before a character selection screen and was then joined by MegaBlue, GokaiYellow, Ryugen, and Den-O Sword form.*
Emu: It's a tournament with teams. And the winner… well… I don't know what they'll get, but they'll get something cool. *smiles* Yosh… Dai-Henshin!
*Ex-Aid Level 2 stood ready for action*
Ex-Aid: No continue de… *his team stood next to him*
Team Ex-Aid: Clear shiaru ze! *all five pose*
A World Where Riders Weren't Meant to Exist…
*Decade took aim with his Ride Booker in gun mode and fired a shot. Mist then flew into the air, spliting into eight, and flying off in various different directions*
Yet They Do…
This Is Their Story…
Marth: I'll fight to keep everybody I love and care for safe. No matter what… I will continue to fight and protect them! King Henshin!
A Story of an Origin…
Marth: Prince Marth of Altea. What's your name?
?: Hongo… Takeshi. But most people just call me Hongo.
Marth: Nice to meet you. *bows*
And the Meaning… of a Rider's Name...
Marth: Ore wa honto no Rider ni naru! Rider… Henshin!
Kamen Rider Hero: Heroic Tales
Kamen Rider Marth
Coming Soon…
Heroic Tales: Kamen Rider Marth has been being worked on for quite a while. Been slow going, but as an origin story… makes sense.
The part of Takeshi talking about Spyro Reignited Trilogy was something I decided to put into this chapter to honor its announcement. I posted a sneak peek of that to my DA account prior to the chapter being finished.
So… Marth's and Caeda's concern for Tiki… well… I kinda picture them as acting like parents to her. While there were people attending to her in the temple she was living in during this era, they're just not around… we might get an explanation for that next time. We'll see.
Tiki's first Rider form, as mentioned by Takeshi, was actually a scrapped Rider from Kamen Rider Kuuga. Some bits did end up getting recycled into Kamen Rider Femme, such as her weapon, but that's about it. The design did seem like a then modern take of Tackle, who was originally going to be a Kamen Rider but due to health issues with the actress it had to be altered, and I decided to run with it. Though… I did make it more magical girl-like. Heck, her transformation item was inspired by Sailor Moon… but that's not the only magical girl that was referenced.
Her transformation call out and weapon of choice in her first 'Rider' form was actually inspired by another magical girl. Which one? Well… I'm not gonna tell you. I want to see if you can figure it out. I will give you one more hint. Upon learning this little coincidence, I got a laughed quite a bit. Ok, so, I was looking up the English VA of Rachel Alucard, who's reprising the role in Cross Tag Battle, and saw the VA in question is Tiki's English VA… and voices a character in the magical girl show that's being reference. I didn't even know that when I decided to include the references! That was just dumb luck. *laughs a bit* Ok. That's it for hints. I wanna see if you guys can figure it out.
The scene where Tiki got placed under mind control and had her form corrupted was actually inspired by the scene where Chibi Usa was corrupted into the Black Lady. ...Sailor Moon is one of my favorite things, can you blame me? Though, Tiki getting hypnotize is actually something that happened in the games. Her being forced to fight Marth while that happened was actually how they met in the games. Here, it's more tragic since they've known each-other for a much longer time. Her combining the two most recent dragon-themed Riders works since… well… she is part dragon. ...wonder if she's a possible ancestor to Kamui. *thinks* ...nah.
The weakness to lightning/thunder magic is actually lifted from Path of Radiance's version of her species. Thank you to KKD for giving me the info on what the Manaketes are weak to. Just something that was kind of important for the plot. As for, what Takeshi calls, the prototype-Risen, they're just so the enemy has a force that can be killed without running any risks of claims of Marth having no hesitation in killing. Just kinda meant as a precaution. The trailer for next time has Marth call them 'lusus naturae'. That's Latin for 'freak of nature'. Got the idea from the RWBY: Grimm Eclipse song of the same name. It works in context. Also… 'kuraieh' is an approximation of 'take this/that' in Japanese.
If I had to say a favorite part… it's gotta be the opening part with Takeshi's and Tiki-chan's interactions, and then when he's comforting her about her worries later on. Just sweet moments.
Well… Kamen Rider Hero is officially a year old and we're not near the half-way point. I hope that I can work more on this over the summer, but we'll see. Rest assured, this will be finished. I promise you that.
Happy first birthday Kamen Rider Hero… and happy early birthday to KKD.
Just Live More.