Chapter 7 – The Pirates Everyone's Talking About
'…Yeah, that's pretty much how I thought you'd react.'
"Well no shit!" Rize exclaimed with a wide smile, "that's the Gokai Galleon! The Gokaiger's ship!"
'You don't need to tell me what I already know Rize,' Cipher replied, 'I'm just saying, considering how much you love Gokaiger, I'm not surprised that this would be your reaction. Plus, you're not even bothering to hide the fact that you're talking to yourself.'
Rize continued to grin, barely keeping in his giddiness. Then, with a quick clearing of his throat, Rize returned back to his usual self. 'Anyways, let's go look around and see what moment in the Gokaiger's history we're in then.'
Taking a brisk walk around the town he was in, Rize noticed a very comforting atmosphere was in the air. A feeling of content and unity. While he was more than welcoming to the pleasing mood, Rize's curiosity continued to grow before he passed by a TV on display and saw the broadcasted headline.
'Invasion Aftermath – Earth steadily improving.'
"Damn," Rize whistled, "we arrived literally just after the Gokaigers defeated the Emperor..." Rize then surveyed the area, "so how come there's no debris lying around?"
'Well, when you live in a world where you're constantly invaded on a yearly basis, there surely has to be some sort of insurance program to clean up the aftermaths of war.'
Accepting the explanation, Rize looked up at the Gokai Galleon, still visible in his sights, and smiled gratefully. Cipher, on the other hand, while also grateful of the space pirates, was preoccupied with other thoughts.
…
Inside the Gokai Galleon, the Gokaigers were minding their own business in the main cabin, enjoying a very, well-earned rest.
Marvelous, the Captain, wearing a white dress shirt, black vest with red embroidery, dark slacks and boots, was taking a nap in his seat.
Joe Gibken, the pony-tailed first mate, wearing a long-sleeved shirt, grey khakis and boots, was working on in his corner of the cabin.
Luka Millfy, the lookout, dressed with a grey striped shirt, dark blue shorts, leggings and brown furred boots, was admiring her jewellery collection.
Don Dogoier, the technician and medical officer, wearing a gingham shirt, green blazer, checkered trousers and sneakers, was performing maintenance on the Gokai Galleon's systems.
Ahim de Famille, the lynchpin, who wore a white and dark pink frilly dress, leggings and boots, was enjoying a cup of tea.
Gai Ikari, the apprentice, wearing a colourful long-sleeved shirt, black and white gingham muffler, dark pants and sneakers, was filling in more entries in his Super Sentai Encyclopaedia.
Finally, Navi, the navigator, a maroon and black robotic parrot with golden feather tips, feet and beak, was also napping like Marvelous, perched on her post.
Things had gotten incredibly quiet since the Zangyack's defeat, and the Gokaigers were more than happy to take advantage of the peace before they were going to continue their journey elsewhere.
However, while Navi was hibernating, her internal systems set her off, as the maroon robotic parrot then let out a cry and started flying around, surprising the others. Navi then slammed headfirst into the red pillar in the centre of the room.
"Navi? What's wrong?" Ahim asked as she gently picked up the parrot off the floor.
"Masked Warriors shall transform and ride into battle, protecting the innocent from the shadows of darkness."
Once Navi had finished her prophecy, her head turned to the side and let out a groan.
"Another fortune?" Don questioned, his brows furrowed, "But we've already found the Treasure!"
"Maybe there's another treasure on this planet," Luka responded. The brunette in yellow looked to Gai, "Hey Gai! Does Navi's fortune remind you of any other Sentai?"
The man in silver pondered over Navi's words before shaking his head. "No, nothing comes to mind. Besides, Navi's fortune is way too broad for me to even begin to determine which group she's talking about."
"Well, we've already found the Greatest Treasure in the Universe, so it's not like we have to investigate this," Joe said, folding his arms, "What do you think, Marvelous?"
The wild-haired captain was merely looking forward throughout the conversation. His mind was still focused on Navi's fortune. There was a minor feeling in the back of his head, a feeling that he thought he knew who Navi was talking about.
"Marvelous?" Gai gently shook his Captain's shoulder, breaking the latter out of his thoughts. "Everything okay?"
Marvelous merely grunted and nodded his head. "Well, how much longer until the Galleon is ready, Doc?" Marvelous asked.
The blonde man scratched the side of his head. "At this rate, not for another couple of months I'm afraid."
The others nodded at Don's brief report. The Gokai Galleon had suffered massive damage during the last battle against the Zangyack armada, and while the people of Earth were more than helpful in restoring the Galleon to its former glory, its internals still needed time to adjust.
"Alright then," Marvelous smirked, got out from his seat, took his red coat off the hanger, and put it on, "why not go on one last treasure hunt? I was getting bored anyways."
…
"Thank you," Rize said with a smile as he paid for his fruity iced tea. Slamming the straw into his drink, Rize took in a long sip as his sweet drink hit his tastebuds. "Not bad." 'So, what do you think Null's plan is now?' Rize asked Cipher mentally.
'It's got something to do with the Zangyack, that's definitely for certain,' Cipher answered, 'But how or why is now the main question.'
'I think the why is a given, considering that Earth had just finished fending off an alien armada,' Rize retorted, continuing to sip on his drink.
'Fair enough…'
Once Cipher had gone quiet, Rize was looking around at the plaza they were in. As he was observing the people going about their day, Rize couldn't help but notice a slight change in Cipher's attitude.
But before Rize could ask his partner what was wrong, his senses flared up.
An Aurora Curtain appeared in the sky as Gormins, greyish androids with silver boots, wrist cuffs, chest plates and bucket-shaped heads, dropped down onto the unsuspecting civilians.
"Bound to happen eventually," Rize muttered, finishing his iced tea, and throwing it into the nearest bin, "Cipher, how much longer do I have until my Channel's ready?"
'About a minute, give or take.'
Rize stretched his neck, letting out loud cracks. He then made a running start at the Gormins, tackled one of them to the ground and then quickly slammed the back of the android's head into the concrete, disabling the grunt immediately. Rize then got off the Gormin's body and picked up its axe-edged club.
The other Zangyack lackeys stopped harassing the other civilians and turned their attention to Rize, allowing their victims to quickly escape.
Rize was then surrounded by the grey and silver humanoids, all of whom were readying their own clubs and preparing to retaliate.
"You sure you're ready for this?" Cipher asked as he appeared beside Rize, "Facing multiple opponents is a lot different than one on one." The helmeted man then whispered, "Plus, I'm still not able to hold physicality for more than a minute."
"Don't worry, I know you got my back." Rize tightened his grip around the club's handle. Cipher stared at Rize for a moment then nodded, standing beside Rize as the two readied themselves to handle the Zangyack force.
The Gormins let out a battle cry as they rushed the duo. Rize sidestepped a downward swing then countered with a kick to the Gormin's stomach, while Cipher rolled past the Gormins in front of him, and led some of the grunts away from Rize.
Rize continued his strategy of baiting the enemy into attack, then countering with a hard strike. After slamming another Gormin in the head with his club, Rize saw out the corner of his eye that a trio of Gormin were aiming the bottom of their clubs at him, hooking their index fingers in the hole of the axe-blade.
The Gormin trio then fired lasers from their clubs, but not before Rize grabbed an attacking Gormin and used it as a shield. The Gormin trio were shocked by the sudden friendly fire that they did not notice Rize had already assumed firing position and quickly returned fire with the club in his hands.
Cipher, while he was still in ethereal form, kept up appearances by pretending he was in physical form, evading the attacks thrown at him with ease. Whenever a Gormin did come close enough that Cipher could not feasibly evade, he would quietly burst into physicality and counter, before returning to his ethereal form.
As the Zangyack forces began to whittle away, another Aurora Curtain silently appeared during the mayhem. While Rize was focused on the enemies in front of him, Cipher gave up the ruse, allowing a shocked Gormin to phase through him, and hurried back to the former.
"Rize! Look out!"
It was a little late however, as a bullet of light slammed into Rize's back, causing the man to let out a yelp and fall onto his front. Looking back towards the direction the shot came from, Rize watched as three Kamen Riders stepped out from the dimensional doorway, with more Gormins following them.
The first was Kamen Rider Snipe, who wore a dark blue suit with black sleeves over his arms and legs, a neon lime-yellow cape drapped over his right shoulder and a helmet with a black cap and lime-yellow fringe hanging over his right eye. On his waist was his Gamer Driver, a rather bulky neon lime-yellow belt with a pink lever in the centre. In his hand was the Gashacon Magnum in rifle mode, a black and white pistol with an extended yellow barrel that displayed an energy bullet being fired out.
Beside Snipe was Kamen Rider Raia, a black suited Rider with reddish pink armour his torso, arms, and lower legs, with his Evilvisor, a string ray shaped shield, on his left arm.
Finally, was Kamen Rider Gills, an organic Rider with rough green hides over his body. Around his waist was a gold belt with a green orb in the middle, and his helmet had large red eyes, a yellow gem over his forehead, and long green horns.
Once the Riders and the Gormins had stepped out from the Aurora Curtain, the portal closed behind them as they readied themselves to take Rize and Cipher on.
"That's a strange grouping," Rize muttered, pushing himself back onto his feet, his back still burning from Snipe's shot. "There's some sort of connection here, right?"
"I doubt Null's one to worry about theming, Rize."
The burning sensation at the centre of Rize's back began to numb and cool as he then placed his right hand over his face, readying to transform. Seeing Rize do so, Cipher returned to his partner's mind.
Before Rize transformed, the Gokaigers ran onto the scene, catching sight of Rize, the Zangyack and Null's copy Riders. The space pirates could only watch in confusion at the cacophony before them.
"HENSHIN!"
A burst of light covered Rize as he transformed into R-Cipher. The Kamen Rider used his Channel to create a bokuto and pistol, firing the gun as he charged at the enemy.
The pirates were now wide-eyed as they saw Rize transform before them.
"That man…" Ahim muttered, turning to her captain, "Marvelous, do you think that he might be the one Navi told us about?"
"Seems like it," Marvelous replied somewhat absently, his eyes focused on R-Cipher as the Rider fought against the copy Riders and the Zangyack. As R-Cipher continued to fend off the attackers, Marvelous smirked then pulled out his Mobirate, a thick black, red and gold flip phone, and flipped it open, revealing silver cutlasses, side by side, on the screen, and a black keyhole above the keypad. "Let's go everyone!"
The others nodded at their captain's command, with Joe, Luka, Don and Ahim taking out their own Mobirates, while Gai took out his Gokai Cellular, a black and gold bar phone with a clear display and the portraits of past sixth rangers on the keypad.
The Gokaigers then took out their respective Ranger Keys, small figurines that flipped up to reveal a key blade beneath the legs, with the main five doing so, while Gai just opened his screen, inserted his key into his device, and closed the screen back down.
The pirates then cried out-
"GOKAI CHANGE!"
-and the main five pirates inserted their Ranger Keys into their Mobirates, turned them, splitting the top half open, causing the cutlasses to cross and revealing a key head between the swords. Gai pressed the top middle button on his Gokai Cellular, then pressed a red button on top of his phone, causing a red bar in the display to scroll down and scan the Ranger Key.
[GOKAIGER!]
The Gokaigers had transformed into their Ranger forms. All wore a uniform outfit consisting of a black bodysuit with their insignia on their chest, white gloves, gold belt, cuffed jackets, boots, and helmets.
What had differentiated them was their colour, with Marvelous being Red, Joe Blue, Luka Yellow, Don Green, Ahim Pink, and Gai Silver. Another difference between the main five and Gai, was that the Silver Ranger had a popped collar and gold cuffs on his sleeves and boots, and helmet resembling a bandana, rather than a pirate's hat.
The pirates then charged into battle as R-Cipher blocked a punch from Gills, causing the former to skid back a couple of metres. As the Gokaigers passed the Rider, R-Cipher froze in shock as he watched the pirates fight.
The main five Gokaigers wielded red and black cutlasses and flintlock pistols, aptly named the Gokai Sabre and Gun respectively, while Gokai Silver wielded a gold and blue tipped trident, also aptly named the Gokai Spear.
Gokai Red swung his sword wildly, cutting down any Gormin that dared to attack him. In between every couple of slashes, Marvelous would fire pot shots at the enemy, either without notice to surprise the enemy, or he would knock them down then fire point blank into the androids. While Marvelous fought in a rather reckless manner, he was more than capable of pulling off such a wild fighting style.
Gokai Blue, in contrast, was a lot more disciplined and controlled in the way he fought. Each slash and blast from his sword and pistol was calculated, or at least seemed so, mainly using his blade to take down the Gormins. Joe would take down the enemy with only the necessary amount of energy needed, demonstrating his mastery as a swordsman.
Gokai Yellow seemed to play around with her opponents, incorporating fancy footwork as she sliced and blasted the Gormins down. Every now and then, Luka would get close to one of the silver foot soldiers and grapple them, then she would knee them, smack them with the hilt of her sword, or toss them into one of their allies. Luka's seemingly playful style was fitting for a trickster like her, messing around with the opponent while taking them down with ease.
Gokai Green was very different compared to his fellow pirates. While the others demonstrated considerable skill in combat, Don was, for no better word, lacking. He would try to keep the enemy away, firing his gun rapidly with reckless abandon while also maintaining a safe distance. However, while Don did assume a more distant approach, when he was forced to face the Zangyack at close range, he demonstrated unorthodox ways in which he could deal with the android grunts.
As Don was playing keep away, using a plastic table to block him and the Zangyack, the pirate flipped the table up and started pushing the Gormins back, causing the foot soldiers to forcefully back away, tripping onto their backs. Don used that momentum to roll forward, land on his back and sprayed bullets from his gun at the other unsuspecting Gormins, then got onto his feet and slashed at the Gormins still stuck under the table. By maintaining a seemingly cowardly style, Don used his wiles and wits to take down the enemy…whether he was aware of it was another question to be answered.
Gokai Pink had a very graceful, yet deadly style of her own when taking down the Zangyack, seemingly floating around as she cut down the Gormins she had passed by. As two of the footsoldiers tried to attack Ahim, the woman flipped in the air and started raining bullets onto the Gormins, before landing back onto her feet and continuing her deadly dance. Ahim's grace and lethality truly reflected the former noble's journey, as a woman of nobility who was not one to be reckoned with.
Gokai Silver was a warrior who had the qualities of his fellow pirates. He was energetic like Marvelous and Luka, skilled and graceful like Joe and Ahim, and also incorporated unorthodox methods like Don. With his Gokai Spear, Gai had the benefit of range when it came to melee, swinging his trident around and taking out many Gormins at once. A few of the Gormins readied the rifle end of their clubs aimed at Gai and started firing. The spear-wielding pirate began deflecting the lasers, twirling his weapon around as he sent most of the blasts back.
With most of the Gormins shot down, Gai ran up to one of the last riflemen and stabbed them with his spear. Gai pushed the footsoldier down and used it to boost him into the air. As Gai began to fly into the air, he removed his spear out from the Gormin and transformed it into a gun. Gokai Spear's shaft shrunk down in size, while the side prongs of the spear folded in, becoming a makeshift grip for Gai to hold onto has he fired lasers back at the Zangyack forces. Demonstrating his skills and grit, Gai has shown that not only is he a formidable foe to his enemies, but also a warrior worthy of being part of the Super Sentai legacy.
R-Cipher continued to stare at the pirate Sentai, immersed by the fact that he was again able to see his favourite heroes fight before him.
'Uh, Rize?' Cipher interrupted.
The Rider immediately broke out of his stupor and put his mind back into the fight. However, before he charged in, R-Cipher stopped and examined the fight once again.
"Hey…where're-" Something hard wrapped around R-Cipher's leg as he was lifted off the ground.
Extended from Gills wrists was a long, green tentacle as the organic Rider continued to swing R-Cipher in the air. The airborne Rider aimed his pistol as best he could and started firing at Gills. The bullets flew past Gills, before one luckily managed to hit the green Rider's chest, causing his tentacle to loosen around R-Cipher's leg as the latter was tossed away.
Using his Channel, R-Cipher managed to land back onto his feet without too much embarrassment. But behind him, the window began to shimmer as Raia leapt out and knocked R-Cipher onto the ground anyways.
Raia then took out an Advent Card and placed it into his Evilvisor, pushing the cover back down.
[SWING VENT!]
Raia's Evil Whip, resembling the tail of a stingray, flew into his hand as the Rider let out a quick lash against the floor beside him, a loud crack ringing throughout the plaza. Both Kamen Riders stared each other down, anticipating each other's moves. R-Cipher raised his pistol and fired a couple of shots. In response, Raia rolled to the side and lashed his whip at R-Cipher's hand, forcefully disarming the latter's firearm.
While his hand stung, R-Cipher pushed through the pain as he Channelled electricity into his bokuto and fired out a yellow lightning bolt. Raia was caught off guard and could not react in time as R-Cipher's lightning struck him in the centre of his chest.
'Rize! Duck!'
Heeding Cipher's advice, R-Cipher dropped to the floor as a shot from Snipe's Gashacon Magnum flew past his head. Snipe adjusted his rifle and prepared to fire off another round but was interrupted as sparks erupted from his body. R-Cipher looked back to see the Gokaigers strutting up to him, their respective firearms aimed at Snipe.
"You alright there?" Gokai Red asked, his eyes still looking forward as the copy Kamen Riders regrouped.
"Uh, y-yeah, thanks for the save you guys," R-Cipher replied. In Rize's head, he was not as calm, growing ecstatic at the situation he was in. The Rider then looked back and saw that all of the Zangyack's Gormins had been eliminated. "Damn, you all clean up quick."
"Comes with the job," Gokai Yellow responded, "Though, it looks like these guys will take a bit longer to deal with."
"You got that right," Cipher answered, appearing behind his partner and picking him back up onto his feet. While the other pirates were surprised by Cipher's appearance, the man in black looked to Marvelous. "You're looking well Marv." Marvelous light-heartedly snorted in response.
"You know him Marvelous/Cipher?" Gai and Rize asked their respective friends.
"Let's just say we have some history," Marvelous answered. He then slammed the bottom of his sword on top of his gold buckle, revealing another Ranger Key inside. "I'll tell you guys more about it later," Marvelous recalled his weapons and took the key from his buckle, the others followed suit, "How about we kick these guys back to wherever they came from?"
"Right!" The other pirates affirmed. The Gokaigers then inserted their Keys into their respective transformation devices and activated them.
[DEKARANGER!]
[HURRICANEGER!]
[TIMERANGER!]
Marvelous and Gai transformed into Deka Red and Deka Break, members of the Special Police.
Joe and Luka transformed into Hurricane Blue and Hurricane Yellow, practitioners of the Hayate School.
Don and Ahim transformed into Time Green and Time Pink, members of the Time Defense Bureau.
With the Gokaigers transforming into their predecessors, they split off into their respective groupings to deal with the copy Riders, leaving R-Cipher to watch them fight once again.
…
Deka Red and Deka Break focused on Kamen Rider Snipe, the cloaked Rider firing his rifle at the police pirates.
"D-Magnum!"
Marvelous pulled out Deka Red's D-Magnums, a pair of pistols resembling the side of a police car, and returned fire. Sparks flew as Marvelous and Snipe's blasts collided with each other, with the Rider having to cover his face as the beams clashed closest to him.
Gai took this opportunity to rev up Deka Break's Brace Throttle, a blue and silver wrist brace with a black throttle grip, a speedometer, and a gold 'VI' button. After revving up the throttle, Gai flipped the grip back down as his left hand began to glow yellow.
"Blitzkrieg Fist! Electro Fist!"
Gai aimed his glowing fist down at the ground and slammed his fist against the concrete. Electricity surged along the ground as it reached Snipe, letting out a powerful spark that not only shocked the Rider, but also blew him away.
…
Hurricane Blue and Hurricane Yellow had their Hayatemarus in hand, katanas with a red and gold grip with multiple buttons and a small square display. The two Hayate ninjas let out an unrelenting assault against Kamen Rider Raia, forcing the stingray themed Rider to evade and block with his Evilvisor. After Joe and Luka let out another tandem slash, Raia was knocked away. However, the Rider was knocked far enough to enter a glass pane that was behind him.
Raia then started flying out from one reflective surface to another, attempting to land a hit on Joe and Luka. The pirates grew wary as they attempted to predict which surface Raia would jump out from.
Noticing something walk past his reflection, Joe took out Hurricane Blue's Sonic Megaphone, a blue megaphone with a white decal of a dolphin's tale on the sides. Holding up to his mouth, Joe then shouted into the megaphone commandingly-
"Get out here now!"
Without resistance, Raia flew out from a window and skidded to a halt as he stopped in front of Joe. The blue Ranger then ducked as Luka cocked back Hurricane Yellow's Quake Hammer, a yellow long-handle squeak mallet with a silver end going through a yellow lion's head. Luka let out a roar as she swung the Quake Hammer into Raia, smacking and embedding the Rider into a pillar.
…
Time Green and Time Pink were facing off against Kamen Rider Gills, with both Rangers wielding their respective counterparts Double Vectors, dual swords shaped like clock hands, with one of the blades having a coloured tip. As Don and Ahim were slashing at Gills with their blades, the Rider had his own blades extended from his wrists and heels.
Gills fought similarly to a feral beast, rolling and dashing around while swiping at the pirates with his claws. The green Rider let out another pounce as he spun around and slashed at Don and Ahim with his heel claws.
Luckily, both pirates managed to roll out of the way. Ahim reached out to her Chrono Changer, a futuristic, silver brace on her wrist, and pressed a button.
"Accel Stop!"
Ahim then became a blur as she zoomed around Gills in all directions, slashing at the Rider with blinding speed. Seconds passed when Ahim exited Accel Stop, leaving Gills still frazzled from the assault.
"VolPulser!"
Don wielded in his hands a large pistol-shaped, white, black and green blaster cannon with the number '3' decaled by the muzzle. The green Ranger aimed the blaster at fired Gills, causing massive sparks to fly off the Rider's body.
…
Snipe, Raia and Gills laid in near defeat as the Gokaigers remained alert, preparing themselves for whatever may come to them. The Copy Riders could not move an inch, about to accept their defeat and take the loss. However, before they could, they heard a voice calling to them.
'Fight!' Null called out to their mind, 'You may be copies, but that does not make you any lesser than the original. Take my energy and fight!'
For a moment, the Riders' eyes turned black, then let out a powerful force as the Gokaigers were now in high alert.
Snipe got back onto his feet and took out an orange Gashat, a thin, rectangular game cartridge.
[JET COMBAT!]
Behind Snipe was a projection of the game menu for 'Jet Combat'. He closed the pink lever of his Driver and inserted the Jet Combat Gashat into the second slot.
[GASHAT!]
The Rider then flipped open the pink lever once again.
[GACHAN! LEVEL UP! BA-BANG-BANG! BANG-BA-BANG! BANG BANG SHOOTING! GOTCHA! JET! JET! IN THE SKY! JET! JET! JET COMBAT~!]
A cartoonish blood orange, bullet-shaped jet with a black aviator cap and goggles and gatling guns for arms flew out from the menu screen and slammed past Marvelous and Gai, knocking the pirates over. The Combat Gamer then flew over Snipe and lowered itself onto the Rider, transforming into a set of armour for the latter.
Kamen Rider Snipe now wore a black and white torso armour with the nose of a fighter jet protruding out from the chest, a blood orange winged jetpack and gatling guns holstered by his legs. Snipe then took off into the sky, grabbed a hold of his gatling guns and started raining bullets down onto Marvelous and Gai. The red and silver pirates were unable to react in time and were forced to feel a heavy hail of bullets slam into their bodies.
…
With Raia, the Rider took out another Advent Card from his deck and inserted it into his Evilvisor.
[COPY VENT!]
Joe and Luka stepped back reflexively, before feeling a sudden weight pull from their bodies as an outline of the two merged onto Raia. The outlines disappeared as Kamen Rider Raia took out his own Hayatemaru.
Raia extended his left index and middle finger and thrust his hand out, and leaping out from behind the Rider were two more copies of himself. Joe and Luka defended themselves as best they could from Raia's clones but were overpowered by his numbers. One of the Raia clones wielded the Quake Hammer and slammed it into the ground, knocking the blue and yellow pirates into the air, while another followed up by thrusting his palm out and shooting a water geyser into the airborne pirates.
…
Kamen Rider Gills' body shook, letting out a low growl as his body tightened up. The Rider then let out a beastly roar as a golden glow enveloped him. During this, Gills body began to evolve, his torso developing another layer of green armour with red tentacles around the edges, and a yellow gem in the centre. More pointed edges protruded out from Gills' back, forearms and head, and all the gold on his body turned red, with the green gem in his belt turning yellow.
Now in his Exceed form, Gills let out another roar as the claws on his back shot out and started swiping at Don and Ahim. As the green and pink pirates swatted away at Gills clawed tentacles, he tensed up once again, and forced out more tentacles from his back to disarm and trap Don and Ahim. With the pirates unable to escape, Gills pulled the two towards him and slashed at them with his armblades, releasing his grip around them once landing his attacks.
…
"RIZE!"
Cipher's voice brought Rize back to reality, mesmerised by the Gokaigers and the Riders fighting. The slapped himself a couple of times to focus on the battle. However, before Rize charged in, his mind forced him into another unnecessary dilemma.
'I could transform into Decade, considering that he and the Gokaigers share similar powers…but I might want to hold off on that for now…'
Rize forced himself into making a decision, sensing the growing aggravation within himself and his partner. Dispersing his weapons, R-Cipher placed his left hand over his waist and felt a belt wrap around him. On his waist was a black, cyan blue and silver rectangular Driver with three empty slots, the OOO Driver, and in the Kamen Rider's other hand were three gold edged Core Medals, coloured red, yellow and green.
R-Cipher the red and green medals into the outer slots, while sliding the yellow medal into the middle slot. Pushing the left side down, shifting the horizontal belt diagonally, R-Cipher then took out a black disc with gold edges and scanned it over his new Driver.
"RIDER! HENSHIN!"
The Rider then placed the round scanner over his chest, catching the attention of everyone on the field.
[TAKA (HAWK)! TORA (TIGER)! BATTA (GRASSHOPPER)!]
[TA-TO-BA! TATOBA! TA-TO-BA!]
Floating around R-Cipher were three lines of holographic medals of different colours, one vertical, two horizontal around his upper and lower body. Once the medals matched the colours in his OOO Driver, they combined, creating a circular tri-sectioned shield, with a hawk top, tiger middle, and grasshopper end.
The shield slammed onto R-Cipher's torso as his outfit also changed as well. Now wearing a black suit with a red hawk faceplate, yellow tiger claws, and grasshopper-like shin guards and shoes, Kamen Rider R-OOO extended his Tora claws and charged into battle.
As Marvelous and Gai were dealing with a flying Snipe, firing his gatling guns without a care, R-OOO focused his energy into his legs and bounced right up to the flying Rider. Snipe was surprised by R-OOO shooting towards him, allowing the latter to use his claws to slash at the jetpack on the former's back, causing Snipe to crash back down to the ground. R-OOO landed somewhat gracefully onto his feet as Marvelous and Gai caught up to the Rider, the silver pirate enthusiastically observing the Rider's new form.
"Nice of you to finally join us," Marvelous deadpanned.
"Sorry…brain…stopped working," R-OOO tried to explain, circling a finger next to his head.
Deka Red raised and fired his D-Magnums, countering the blasts fired from Snipe's Gashacon Magnum, which had reverted back to its pistol form.
Snipe looked back down at the flight unit on his back, noticing that it was busted beyond repair. The jet-themed Rider holstered his Gashacon Magnum and grabbed his gatling guns. With a firm pull, Snipe had disconnected the guns from the flight pack, dropping his wings to the ground in the process. Dual-wielding his gatling guns, Snipe reversed the heavy firearms, wielding them like tonfas, and started charging towards his enemy.
"Never saw Taiga do anything like that on the show," Rize muttered to himself before jumping away from Snipe's heavy swing.
Marvelous, Gai and R-OOO started throwing punches and kicks and claws at Snipe, who was managing to block most of the attacks with his guns, countering with the occasional swing then and there.
Deka Break throttled his brace once again and cried out-
"Herculean Fist! Power Fist!"
With a glowing green hand, Gai let out powerful punch that caused Snipe to skid back a couple of metres, while Marvelous rapid fired his guns at the Rider.
As the lasers narrowly missed their mark, Snipe aimed the barrels of his gatling guns at the duo and opened fire, spraying more bullets at the enemy.
Marvelous and Gai rolled out of the way while R-OOO leapt into the air once again. While in the air, the Rider straightened the OOO Driver before pushing it down again and scanned it once again with the O Scanner.
[TAKA! TORA! ZOU (ELEPHANT)!]
Replacing the grasshopper armour over R-OOO's legs were silver metal boots resembling elephant trunks. The increase in weight caused the Rider to drop back down to the ground, creating a small quake once he landed. This forced Snipe to stop firing as he tried to stabilise himself, before Gai slammed his fist into the grounded Rider's chest, and Marvelous followed up with another barrage from his pistols.
Once Snipe was down, Marvelous and Gai gave R-OOO a nod and thumbs up respectively, signalling that they would be able to take the Rider on their own. R-OOO nodded back and started stamping his way over to the others.
…
Joe and Luka were finding difficulty against Raia and his ability to not only enter the Mirror World, but also the Hurricanger's own powers. As Raia leapt out from a reflective table, Hurricane Blue and Yellow dodged the Rider's sneak attack. Sheathing their swords, Joe and Luka transformed their Hayatemaru into blaster rifles and fired at Raia.
Though their shots landed, it was all for naught as Raia merely disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a straw doll.
"Oh, come on!" Luka cried out.
Dropping from the sky, Raia had his Hayatemaru in hand and was about to slash the blue and yellow pirates' backs.
[TAKA! UNAGI (EEL)! ZOU!]
Luckily for the pirates, an electrified whip smacked Raia's side, shocking and knocking the Rider away. Joe and Luka looked towards the whip's direction and saw R-OOO, having replaced the yellow tiger-themed claws with blue eel themed whips, catching up to them.
"You two alright?" the Rider asked, somewhat breathily.
"We'll be better once this pain in the butt goes away!" Luka answered annoyedly.
"You know how to beat this guy?" Joe asked, hiding his annoyed tone.
"I may have an idea."
Once he recovered, Raia got back up started charging at R-OOO. As the Riders dodged and attacked one another, R-OOO flicked one of the whips in his hands at Raia, sending a quick yet painful shock into the latter's hand, causing him to drop his sword.
Weaponless, Raia decided to retreat to one of the nearest windows. However, before he could jump into the window, the sting ray Rider was kicked hard in the stomach as the window revealed to be a tarp Hurricane Yellow was holding in front of herself. Luka then wrapped the tarp over Raia and pushed him back.
Hurricane Blue held his left hand near his face, readying one of the Ranger's techniques.
"Super Ninja Art! Eroding Stream!"
Throwing his hand out, Joe shot a blast of water into Raia, causing the Rider to trip onto the floor, soaked from the pirate's technique.
Raia then managed to remove the tarp off and tried to make his escape once again, stepping into a puddle from Joe's Ninja Art. However, as the Rider stepped into the puddle, a massive electric shock surged through the copy Rider's body as R-OOO's whips were touching the water.
After a couple of seconds, the electricity stopped surging as Raia was now no longer shocked by R-OOO's whips. In addition, Raia's Copy Vent had also managed to finally run out as well as the Hayatemaru lying on the floor disappeared.
"Will that do?" R-OOO asked.
A nod from Joe and a slight chuckle from Luka answered the Rider's question.
…
Gills slashed at Don, who was scurrying about, desperately trying to avoid the Rider's claws. Wielding Time Green's Double Vector, Don was forced to block Gill's arm blades after Gills pounced at him. The green Ranger was then kneed in the stomach, loosening his guard, before taking a clawed uppercut to the chest.
Gills' assault was interrupted as the Rider was shot in the back by a pink laser. Turning back, he saw Ahim wielding Time Pink's Vol Sniper as she continued to fire at him. After tanking a blast or two, the green Rider let out another roar as he shot out his back claws and slammed them into Ahim, tossing the woman towards Don.
Just before Gills' back tentacles could wrap themselves around Don and Ahim, another announcement from the OOO Driver caused a momentary pause.
[TAKA! KAMAKIRI (PRAYING MANTIS)! CHEETAH!]
Zooming past Gills' tentacles, R-OOO skidded to a stop, revealing his new changes, now donning green praying mantis blades in reverse grip, and yellow cheetah like legs.
"Don! Ahim! I'll distract him! Attack when you're ready!" Without giving the green and pink pirates a chance to say anything, R-OOO took off once again, zipping around as Gills' tentacles tried to immobilise him. As Gills tried to sweep the tri-coloured Rider off his feet, R-OOO short hopped over the tentacles and scanned another quick change of medals.
[SAI (RHINO)! KAMAKIRI! CHEETAH!]
Replacing his red hawk helmet with a white rhino-horned one, R-OOO's legs surged with power as he charged at Gills with his horned head pointing at the latter. The horn slammed into Gills, blowing the Rider away, while R-OOO fell onto his behind from the impact.
As Gills continued to fly, Don and Ahim wielded their counterparts respective Vol weapons, aiming the blaster cannons at the Rider as they both cried out-
"Double Shoot!"
Green and pink lasers shot out and simultaneously blasted into Gills, batting the Rider back the other way.
…
Gills crash landed next to Snipe and Raia, both of whom were barely keeping themselves on their own feet.
The Gokaigers reverted to their base form and readied their weapons. Ranger Keys were inserted into keyholes on their weapons, as the main five pushed them back down, while Gai turned the key in his spear.
[FINAL WAVE!]
The pirates' weapons started to glow with their respective colours. The copy Riders tried to make their escape, wanting to survive for just a little longer, but stopped when they heard the clinking of medals.
[TRIPLE SCANNING CHARGE!]
Looking to their side, R-OOO, back in his Tatoba form, holding the Medajaribur, a black and cyan-blue sword with a navy blue edge. In the centre of the sword was a clear display that had three grey, Cell Medals inside.
"GOKAI BLAST AND SLASH!"
The Gokaigers fired an energised bullet from their gun and let out a swing with their sword and Gai's spear. The energy bullets merged, while the energy wave combined from behind, creating a tipped energy wave that pierced through Null's copy Riders.
"SEIYA!"
To top it off, and not one to be left behind, R-OOO let out the Rider's signature cry as he slashed his sword diagonally, cutting through the trio of Riders. But not just that, the environment behind the Riders also was cut in half, splitting in two, before merging back together as the Riders then exploded from the overkill.
Once the fight was over, both the pirates and Rider undid their transformation. The Gokaigers revealed to be fine as usual, minus the tension within their muscles from the beating the copy Kamen Riders gave them. Rize, on the other hand, was completely drenched in sweat, and sat on a nearby plastic chair, trying to recover his breath.
"Damn, that's quite the workout," Rize breathed out. Appearing beside his partner once again, Cipher gave Rize a bottle of water. The latter immediately drained the liquid, letting out a relieved sigh.
"Are we sure this is who we're supposed to be looking for?" Luka asked, a questioning looking on her face "Because, I'd be fine if he's not."
"He is," Marvelous answered, walking up to the duo. "Oi, you two, mind coming with us?"
"Sure, just give us a second." Cipher handed Rize a towel to dry off.
Rize raised a brow, patting his hair down. "That's rather quick," he panted, "how do you even know Marvelous?"
"I used to run with the Red Pirates for brief period."
Cipher then disappeared before Rize could ask any more questions. Looking over to the Gokaigers, the Rider got out from his seat and followed them.
…
"What a shame," Null sighed, watching Rize and the Gokaigers leave the plaza. The man in white shrugged however, "Well, at least my copies seem to be getting stronger." He turned around to leave.
But before Null did so, he stopped. His body tensed when he saw someone standing before him.
A man with a dull-grey helmet, wearing a tattered brown cloak.
"Enigma?" gasped Null, "What are you doing here?"
"Just checking up on my brothers," Enigma answered, "wanted to see whether you both had finally stopped this nonsense, or finally killed each other…seems that I'm wrong on both accounts."
"Well, nice of you to finally come back after your long disappearance, but I've got some business to attend to." Null had just started walking past his brother, before stopping when Enigma placed a firm, yet gentle, hand on the former's shoulder. The man in white was about to activate his Channel out of instinct, when Enigma squeezed his hand, cancelling out Null's power.
"It's not too late to stop this you know…and even if you continue down this path…remember that Cipher and I will always be your brothers…no matter what…"
Null's hands tightened, and roughly brushed Enigma's hand off his shoulder. He opened an Aurora Curtain, walking through and disappearing from the world.
Enigma suppressed a sigh as he kept a close watch on Rize and Cipher. The cloaked man hummed in thought. 'Seems like Null's not the only ignoring his issues.'
…
In the Gokai Galleon's main cabin, Rize and Cipher sat on one of the sofas, while the Gokaigers sat and stood opposite them. The air was tense, and for Rize, incredibly awkward and suffocating.
The Rider went to take a sip of tea that Ahim had poured for him and Cipher. He gave it a quick cooling blow, but once he put it up to his mouth, the tip of his tongue burned from the still, somewhat scalding tea. Rize quickly placed the tea back down onto the table and gave Ahim a curt and polite nod, swallowing what little of his beverage made it into his mouth.
"Was the tea not to your liking?" Ahim asked, a little disheartened.
"Oh no no no, tea's fine. It's just a little too hot still, I'll wait for it to cool down," Rize answered guiltily.
"Huh, you really are a sucker for a pretty face, aren't you?" Cipher was met with a strong backhanded fist, the helmeted man clutched his stomach.
"Marvelous, are you sure this is the same guy you used to fight with?" Joe asked his captain.
"No doubt about it," Marvelous answered, continuing to eye Cipher. The helmeted man still looked and acted the same as before, but the red captain's instincts could also sense some sort of familiarity within Cipher, a mutual feeling of loss.
"So, there are other heroes like the Super Sentai that exist in other universes?" Gai asked rather excitedly.
"Uh yeah, I mean, I've only visited the Kamen Rider one, but there are others, right Cipher?"
"Oh yeah." Cipher picked up his tea and took a sip. "I'm sure there'll be a lot for you to look forward to."
"Well, you guys have the Ultimate power of the Kamen Riders, right?" Luka asked, smirking.
"Is this what led you all to finding us? Navi's prediction?"
The parrot flapped her way over to Cipher. "Of course! My predictions have never been wrong! Ever!"
Cipher chuckled and patted the robotic parrot. "True. I had a suspected that you all had ulterior motives for this meeting."
"Um, if you don't mind me interrupting here," Rize spoke up, "When you all were looking for the powers of the past Sentai, there was usually some sort of lesson or moral you were taught…I don't think we have anything to offer you."
"What?" Luka furrowed her brows.
"Plus…we're technically your juniors. I've only had this power for about a month or so."
"A month!?" Don shouted.
"Look, I may have only been a Rider for a month, but Cipher's been kicking my ass into shape the second he took me on as his student." Rize took in a breath and started drinking his tea, now a lot cooler than before. "And don't get me wrong, I'd be more than happy to lend you whatever you want…but anything we could've taught you…you've pretty much learnt already."
The Gokaigers took a moment to process Rize's words. The revelation had begun to sink in, and soon came the varying responses from the pirates.
First came the verbally disappointed.
"Well, this was a waste of time!" said Luka, getting up from her seat and walking away.
"I better get back to fixing the Galleon's systems," Don sighed, making his way to the control podium.
Then the reasonable.
"I guess that would make sense when you look at it that way," Ahim reasoned, taking a sip of her tea.
"Still, this is pretty awesome, I want to hear more about these Kamen Riders!" Gai grinned, more interested in learning about the Super Sentai's counterpart.
And finally, the indifferent.
"At least we had something to break the monotony," Joe stated as he went over to his workout corner.
Marvelous grunted and nodded, raising a brow at Cipher, who seemed to be in deep thought.
Rize turned to his partner. "Everything alright Cipher?"
The man's helmet shot up, "Wait!" Everyone stopped what they were doing. "What if we're looking at this the wrong way."
"What do you mean?" Rize questioned. The others moved back to where they were.
"What if…it's not the Gokaigers inheriting the powers of the Kamen Rider, but instead, you inherit theirs?"
Rize furrowed his brow, downed his drink and raised a brow. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
Cipher patted Rize's shoulder and got up from his seat, phased through Don and Luka, freaking both out, and stood before Marvelous.
"Captain Marvelous," Cipher began, regaining physicality, and held his hand out, "before you and your crew leave Earth and continue your voyage elsewhere…would you allow us to stay with you all, so that you may teach my student here?"
Everyone in the room stared at Cipher in shock, Rize especially, considering that he could tell what was about to happen.
Marvelous stared into Cipher's visor. A moment passed when the captain of the Gokaigers smiled and shook Cipher's hand. "Why not. I owe you one anyways. Welcome aboard you two."
The other Gokaigers continue to watch in shock as their captain agreed to Cipher's request. Meanwhile, Rize let out a sigh and leaned back in his seat.
"Alright, I guess we're doing this then."
Hi, yes, it has been a while since I updated this. I've been busy with things, but now I'm not so busy anymore, I can hopefully update this a lot more frequently.
And to chaseisone, thank you for the kind words, hopefully more people do read it, but hey, I'm just doing this as a hobby honestly.
Anyways, I have the next chapter almost ready, just need to finish up and edit it, and hopefully it won't be terrible