Song: Shinto Japanese Music
Somewhere on the surface of Beika, there was a large school building located around the center of the large complex. Within was a classroom, with the words "1-10" seen posted on signs outside of the classroom's doors, which indicated the official number of the class. There were over 100 chairs that were stacked in perfect order, and a main desk was situated in the front and center of the room. Silver chrome lockers were also seen just right at the back where students would place their things for storage.
"...Woo," Agent J could not help but whistle, impressed by what he was looking outside the window. Aside from the afternoon sun that was seen on the horizon, there were a few large buildings that all form a part of the school's premises. "...Man, you weren't kidding when you said that this school of yours was big, Coulson."
"It's actually not my school," Agent Coulson flashed a smile of humor, putting both of his hands together up front and standing straight in a formal, professional posture. "I just work here as a part-time teacher."
"Part-time, huh?" J was curious about that. "So what do you do with the other half? Doing some James Bond-Indiana Jones type of thing?"
"That's just one of those days," Coulson shrugged. "Other days, it's just boring office work, making up follow up reports, and looking out for any potential supers and kids. Lots and lots and lots of kids."
"...Huh, then I don't envy you," J remarked.
Based on what J understood from Coulson's explanation, he and Nozomi were at a place called Teitan High School, considered to be one of the top-notch schools in the country, founded by the late Tobei Tachibana, who was well-known to be an old mentor of the Seven Legendary Riders.
The thing about Beika Ward was that it consisted of about 24 official districts. Teitan High School was in District 7. The special ward was home to several schools and institutions of higher learning, from kindergarten to university level. Scientific research in many fields were also being conducted in these places as well. Hence why Beika was also popularly called, both locally and internationally, as Academy City (*1).
"...So, Amaterasu, huh?" J got curious as his arms crossed; leaning to a table in the front center of the large classroom. The aforementioned goddess was currently elsewhere; where exactly, he didn't know.
"I suppose you weren't expecting an actual goddess to show up when you landed in our neck of the woods," Coulson remarked with a smile.
J shook his head. "Man, if you told me before all of that time travel and alternate universe mumbo jumbo going on, that actual gods existed, I would have just either looked at you funny or assumed that it was simply an alien posing as a god."
"To be fair," Coulson's smile became humorous. "You aren't wrong about the whole 'Aliens posing as gods' because there have been cases like that. It also doesn't help that some of these aliens happen to be god-like in terms of power. On the other extreme end of the spectrum, some people do genuinely believe that the idea of gods are nothing other than just aliens. One of Earth's more famous heroes, a personal friend of mine, Thor (*2), was believed by some to be simply an extradimensional alien. While it's true from one perspective that he does come from another dimension, he is the genuine article, as in, he really is the Norse God of Thunder."
"I guess some people just don't want to believe in the supernatural, no matter what evidence you showed them," J surmised.
"Based on my experience and my past religious upbringing (*3), there are certain grey areas in life that human science and reason could not simply just explain. That's where SHIELD ultimately comes in, to deal with things most governments and societies don't want to deal with, that ranges from an umbrella of issues and conspiracies," Coulson responded.
"So SHIELD's more like MiB, only it isn't as secret and ya'll don't need any neuralyers to erase people's memories," J could not help but feel jealous about that.
"Don't you know? 'People are dumb, panicking, dangerous animals, and you know it!'" Coulson joked.
J smiled a little upon hearing that familiar one liner. Oh, he was gonna love this guy, he thought. "Did you just try to take a potshot on my partner?"
"I'm just simply stating facts," Coulson's smile turns solemn. "It's not really that different here in my world. We've had our own ups and downs, and people aren't always at their best of times."
"How so?" The adult magical girl in the room would ask, being somewhere on Coulson's side.
"Well, one major example I could cite would be the Mutant Dilemma (*4). You can check your tabs to see what I mean by that," Coulson said.
The MiB agent and magical girl would look at their respective tablets and...
...Well, they weren't really happy. Nozomi even more so, grimacing a bit.
"...That's awful," Nozomi said with a horrified and subdued outraged voice, looking at a file and photo that showcases the mutant nation of Genosha (*5) getting bombed and invaded by large purplish machines that were specifically designed to target those with the term 'mutant'.
"And I thought us black guys had it bad," J couldn't help but be disgusted at some of the atrocities that he was seeing in the photos and files. "The neuralyzers don't even sound that bad anymore if the common human response is to just pillage and burn if they see something not human, or even if they do look human, that still doesn't save people from getting persecuted just because they have superpowers."
"Those were darker times back then. Relations between humanity and mutants have been at an all-time high in recent years, due to the efforts of a lot of heroes, particularly folks like the X-Men - a local group of mutant heroes founded by Professor X - one of the world's brightest and leading advocate for mutant co-existence and rights. There's also the Justice League - especially Superman who has advocated for mutant rights several times in the past. And of course, there's the Kamen Riders - the beloved national heroes of this nation, to name a few. It's still a work in progress, but at least things are a lot better when compared to before. Just be glad you two didn't end up in the Civil War era (*6), that was way more messier than the so-called mutant problem," Coulson explained grimly, before glancing at Nozomi. "Though enough about that, I think we should start with the main topic by addressing the magical girl right beside me."
"Me?" Nozomi pointed at herself.
Coulson continued. "At present, SHIELD and other allied organizations have been monitoring interdimensional activity that is determined to be fully concentrated on Japan, the fictional kind to be more precise. SHIELD has at least three appropriate categories that can be used to classify other world inhabitants at present. KG, KH, and UNK."
"And what do those mean?" J asks.
"KG means Known-Gardner, referring to worlds where, while fictional in our world, are actually just as real as ours. The only reasons why you seem 'fiction' to us is because your lives are practically shown on fictional medium, even though not everything is verified, nor all explicit details are known, nor are all details entirely accurate. Yours and Ms. Yumehara's worlds would qualify as KG Worlds," Coulson immediately corrected himself upon realization; looking at Nozomi with a smile. "Actually, pardon me, Mrs. Kokoda, to be more precise."
"Kokoda?" J sported a curious look.
"Ah, oh, you... you know about that, huh?" Nozomi blushed a bit, smiling and looking embarrassed as she put her left hand to brush her hair, while she showcased her wedding ring on her right hand.
J would check his tablet and find a bit more info.
...Well, I'll be. The girl's married (*7), and... married to a furry (*8)... He looks like a squirrel? I mean, I'm not judging, there's plenty of weirdness on married relations with aliens already for MiB to deal with. Hell, I've delivered a squid baby on my first day on the job! A magical girl getting together with her fairy isn't really that out there for me.
...And, wait, hold up, what's with this tablet and showing me some random superhero called Squirrel Girl (*9)?
"Guess I should say congratulations," J spoke genuinely, looking at Nozomi. "Your husband's a lucky man, from what I figure."
"Oh, well, thank you, but," Nozomi smiled a bit brighter. "Actually, I think it's me that's probably lucky. It had been my dream at least to marry him after all."
"Like I said, congratulations," J smiled a bit.
...Huh, I thought I'd gotten over that part of my life, but it's still pushing back for me. I haven't actually seen Laura in years, but I heard that she was doing better with ruling her people. Maybe... Maybe I could ask O for a favor after this... Check to see how she's been... Nah, J, maybe she probably moved on with a Zarthan local or something. You know, the whole... royalty thing... Damn...
"Well, in any case," J looks at Coulson, who gave him a brief look of empathy, before continuing the exposition. "KG Worlds are something that the main SHIELD branches normally don't keep an eye on. That job is usually ARMOR's (*10) jurisdiction, but in light of the current situation, all SHIELD divisions are on high alert and are willing to cooperate and work together to minimize possible damages and prevent risky confusing interactions that could threaten civilian lives."
Coulson moves on to describe the next set of worlds. "Our next set of worlds is called KH, Known-Houdini, and these are the more generic imaginary kind of worlds. Pretty much just fiction. Made by comic book authors, manga artists, you name it."
"So all fiction is fiction, but can be made real?" Nozomi asks.
"In a way, that's the simplistic gist of it," Coulson nodded. "Most of those at the GeoFront would more than classify as such."
"And what's UNK?" J asks.
"Unidentified Key World," Coulson explained. "A category of worlds that don't really belong to any relatable category of fiction that we could record in any form. Could be alternate dimensions, alternate timelines, and even universes that are just so radically different than ours."
"So, basically real as ours, only not really that well known," J surmised.
"Possibilities are endless after all," Coulson remarked.
"And possibilities seem to show itself by this little gathering."
Everyone looks to find Amaterasu... who has now changed appearance. She look quite normal, without any of the 'flashy sunshine aura thingy' as J would aptly put it. She now looked more like somebody that you can find in a regular office. That mature and professional female boss type of woman. Kinda like O, now he thought about it. She seems a bit different and one you wouldn't immediately recognize as the goddess from earlier public display.
Her hair was tied in a ponytail. A black blazer, with a white collar blouse. Simple jewelry on the neck. Black rim glasses that cover her amber-brown eyes. A silver wristwatch was found on her right wrist. black tight socks and formal high heels. The name 'Miyanichi Hiroko' was seen on the left side of her chest.
"Miyanichi... Hiroko?" Nozomi reads.
"A name that I chose when it comes to my job here in this wonderful establishment, and thus something you two would need to refer to me by when I'm in this form, for the sake of confidentiality," Amaterasu, as Hiroko Miyanichi, stated while putting her right hand to the bridge of her glasses.
"No problem," J replied. "Secrecy's kind of my thing. Though I gotta ask, how does a goddess like you, being the main boss of your pantheon and all, end up being a regular homeroom teacher in a random high school?"
"I love teaching children," Hiroko smiled softly. "Is what my simple answer would convey, but of course, I have other reasons why I'm here, and some of those reasons could potentially relate to our current crisis. But oh, where are my manners?" She glances behind her back, towards the door she came from. "Oh girls, you all can come in now."
J and the others would begin to see at least four young women, most of whom looked to be about middle school age, with hesitant expressions, walking inside. But J also noticed that these women weren't the only ones here.
"Oh, new people, rabi~" A talking, floating rabbit (*11) would say with a curious expression.
"Huh?" One of the young women with long, straight, dull pink hair and green eyes would walk towards Nozomi and make a curious face. "Hold on, why does she... look familiar?"
J would check on his tablet and see multiple automatic results, all of which confirmed...
"Pretty Cure," J spoke, drawing the attention of the four girls and Nozomi.
"Huh?" The aforementioned women, and floating rabbit, looked at him.
"These four are Pretty Cure?" J said, pointing at the four of them and reading the info from the tablet. "So, the kid with the bunny rabbit floating beside her is Nodoka Hanadera - calls herself Cure Grace, and the flying little bunny over there is her fairy partner - Rabirin; the girl with the white ribbon tie on her head is Mashiro Nijigaoka - calls herself Cure Prism; the girl with the twin tails is Ayumi Sakagami - calls herself Cure Echo; and the tall glasses girl over there is Yuri Tsukikage - calls herself Cure Moonlight."
The girls blinked in surprise.
"Pardon me, but how did you know about us?" Yuri, the young woman with a tall height, pale skin, and dark turquoise eyes with glasses, sported a look of suspicion.
J responded only by showing them a video about the Healin' Good Pretty Cure opening theme song and animation, much to the surprise of the girls.
"Huh, that's me!" Nodoka pointed at the screen in exclamation.
"And me, rabi~!" Rabirin's eyes were widened.
"But why..." Ayumi looked confused.
A few exposition moments later...
"EEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Most of the Cures would react in understandable shock.
"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Mashiro exclaims while feeling like she is going to die of pure embarrassment. "You mean to tell me everyone in this world literally knows about me, and I mean me, me!"
"Well, I wouldn't say everyone, but..." Coulson would try to reassure the hyperventilating girl.
"Wait, so they... they saw everything?! Even my more embarrassing moments?! Even what I do in my room?! Even... Even... Ohhhh nooooo!" Mashiro brings her hands to her hair as comedic horror is sported on her face, while feeling her knees getting weaker as she sits on the floor, feeling like her soul just left her body.
"Mashiro-san, please calm down!" Ayumi spoke as she tried to reassure her fellow Cure, putting her hands on the latter's shoulder.
J, much to his empathy, was currently watching the hyperventilating mess that came from one of the Cures, while another of the Cures tried to calm the former down.
Honestly, he feels for the poor girl. Fiction is one thing, but this is kind of like somebody was literally stalking you without knowing it and showed all of your private details on the worldwide internet for people to discuss in forums or something.
I mean, J could just imagine all of those sci-fi forums back in his world probably getting up to interesting, amusing, and even heated debates; mind-blown by the implications of the fact that they and the universe are all fiction in their world.
Looking to his left, he notices one of the Cures, Nodoka, being oddly silent and thoughtful, while making use of his tablet that the latter asked for him to borrow for a bit, and was currently watching a bit of the first episode of her own show; the oen where the fighting and action happens.
Kinda surreal for someone to be watching your own life, in a cartoon. J thought, which was ironic considering that his fictional status also had something of an animated series (*12)
The more proper terminology would be animation, my dear Edwards. J shivered as a familiar voice, tinged with humor, echoed in his mind. He looks at Hiroko, who gives him a knowing look.
With respect, Your Highness, can you please stop doing that? J complained while still remaining respectful, since he was still dealing with an actual goddess, and the chief god of a religious faction of an entire nation no less. He'd rather not add 'Be demonized by the entire Japanese nation' on his resume of first encounters with alternate universes, that would also make MiB look bad, as he's kind of the first unofficial representive of the organization in these encounters.
My apologies if you find it inconvenient. Hiroko spoke softly. Though really, you could have been more considerate of the children. Some just won't take well to the part where their entire lives are literally shown for everyone to see.
Hey, they were gonna find out about it eventually. May as well get the cat out of the bag and move on with more important stuff, talking about like, oh I don't know, the part where your pal Coulson here had been discussing about the different worlds and how could this relate to our own problems. J pointed out.
I was merely making a suggestion. I didn't say that I never approved. Hiroko pointed out with a smile, making J knit his eyebrows in confusion.
"Hmm, so you really don't know who I am?" Yuri asks Nozomi, the former looking at the latter with a concerned tone.
"No," Nozomi shakes her head. "I mean, the only PreCure teams that I know only happen to be three. The Futari wa PreCure, the Splash Star PreCure, and my team, the Yes! PreCure 5."
"...Huh, that is weird, aren't y'all supposed to be from the same universe or something?" J could not help but bring it up.
"Think again," Coulson draws out his own tablet; the screen of which has a file heading of "Kibou no Chikara ~Otona Pretty Cure '23~" and the poster of that series. "Here's my guess. I'd say that Mrs. Kokoda's from a different timeline compared to these four."
"That's a well-founded assessment actually," Hiroko nodded. "I've personallly checked it out for myself. Yumehara-san is not from the main timeline, but from a cross-timeline."
"Cross-timeline?" Ayumi asks, confused.
"So... Coulson, is this cross-timeline stuff some kind of parallel world or something?" J asks the first name agent.
"That's right," Coulson nodded. "Only, it's a type of parallel world connected in some way to the prime reality, despite their separate, parallel histories. Thus, the prime reality, which is the world that these four young girls came from and fairy came from, acts as the trunk of the tree. And all other branches sprout from that very tree. Cross-Timeline, or Cross-Time tends to vary. Some timelines could be caused by time travel, some can be a naturally occurring divergence without outside interference, some can be entirely separate histories that share common elements and nothing more, and the exhaustive list goes on. People usually call those types of worlds the Wyatt Effect Theory."
"So what about these girls?" J, now speaking to Hiroko, nodded his head towards the four young magical girls. one of whom was lending back the borrowed tablet. "Where did you find them exactly?"
"Oh, it's not that hard to find them," Hiroko explained. "The PreCure tend to have a common fundamental source of energy, of varying colors and types, but nevertheless of the same cosmic principle. Any chief god of my caliber can sense something of a recognizable divine touch and predilection whose source can only be found in Mistress Love (*12) herself."
"Mistress Love?" Nozomi asks.
"A cosmic goddess who is the embodiment of the concept of love throughout the multiverse," Coulson explained. "At least that's what Thor told me when he sometimes tells stories about powerful cosmic beings in the universe."
"Okay, so we now got that out of the way, what about the part where you all decided to bring us here in this classroom, and we aren't really talking about it back in the underground base of yours?"
"Many reasons," Coulson would explain, from his side of things. "You two are specifically from KG Worlds compared to most of the others back at the base. As a field agent in command of this entire operation, certain protocols that had been established by SHIELD's Scientific Advisor (*13) would need to be followed, one of them including you, Agent J."
"Me?" J asks.
"Since you come from a recognized local organization within your universe that deals with a different variety of extraterrestrials, one of SHIELD's primary concerns would be to establish diplomatic relations between the two groups, and in an event like this, we could work together in light of this crisis."
"So you want me to vouch for ya'll for MiB," J thought that part was reasonable at least. "Alright, I'll put a word to O if I somehow manage to get back to my world."
"And we're working on that, don't worry," Coulson reassured. "Another reason relates more to Ms. Kokoda and the four Cures because well..."
Coulson looked at Hiroko, who nodded. He continued his explanation. "I believe this crisis relates to a particular individual that the four of you, with the exception of Ms. Kokoda, are familiar with. First things first." He showcases a tablet, that has the yellow words "HYPOTHETICAL PENDING MATCH?" relating to two pictures of two people, one real and the other animated.
"...Ah!" Nodoka, Mashiro, and Ayumi looked with widened eyes.
"Judging by the look on your face," Coulson analyzes. "I'd say you recognize him."
"George..." Nodoka muttered softly, with a worried tone.
"George Kurai," Hiroko spoke with a serious expression. "That's the real name of my student here in this school."
"Student?" Mashiro asks.
J looks at his tablet to find George Kurai. What he found was rather interesting, if only because it relates to time travel again and also had an odd spin.
"Wait, hold up," J looks at Hiroko incredulously. "So you both mean to tell me that you've got a Patient Zero equivalent among 'fictional characters' before all of this wacky stuff with the Worms and what-not happened."
"In a way," Coulson nodded grimly. "That's one of the main reasons why I was assigned by my superior to teach in Teitan. Years ago, in the year 2018, there was a time-related incident relating to 33 children. The only confirmed supers that remember that temporal event was Kamen Rider Black RX - Kohtaro Minami. Our mystical consultant, Dr. Stephen Strange, had identified at least 33 children, counting George Kurai, who had been taken from their respective, if a bit unverified, universes."
"What? Why?" Nodoka looked worried.
"Unknown," Coulson grimly. "At least until now in some imperfect degree. For whatever reason, the organization HYDRA, via one of their cells, had confirmed that George Kurai is to become a chosen candidate for the Century King."
"Century King?" Mashiro, having stood up from the ground, made the same worried look.
"Essentially a God-King walking the Earth, the Ultimate Evolutionary Lifeform of the current century," Hiroko explained grimly. "Half a century ago, in the year 1987, a HYDRA cult called Gorgom had once tried to turn two chosen individuals into Century Kings in order to enact a cosmic battle that would determine the fate of our universe. They are the Century King Black Sun and the Century King Shadow Moon."
"Black Sun would be Kohtaro, who at the time was calling himself Kamen Rider Black," Coulson explained. "He fought against this HYDRA cult in his first year of tenure, from 1987 to 1988. By 1988, the battle had come to a head as Gorgom decided to invade the entire nation of Japan, forcing millions of people to flee from the country. I was a young field agent back then when I got off the ground and commanded the SHIELD Japanese Branch to assist Black and the Japanese government. All in all, this had been one of the worst events that the nation of Japan had suffered. This and other events are usually referred to in history as the War on Gorgom, where SHIELD was one of the primary participants in this conflict."
Coulson, as he explains it, would press a button that showcases holographic recorded archives of deadly battles between Black and Gorgom in the early-to-mid year of 1988. All the Cures and J would see was destruction on a wide scale. Civilians dying on the streets. SHIELD soldiers trying their best to hold ground. Mutants of varying sorts, from various animal and plant grotesque types, were causing terror to spread.
"...Oh my," Ayumi looked a bit horrified at the destruction that was happening, while worried of what this meant for an old childhood friend. "But wait, what about George? How does he fit into all of this?"
"George Kurai as he is now, is known as Jouji Minami, the adopted son of Black RX and his wife, Reiko Minami, and has been called that for the last seven years of living in our world. He's also Miyanichi-sama's student and mine who currently goes to this school, as a new freshman student. What I and Miyanichi-sama are telling you about this is classified information within my own organization, known only to a few SHIELD agents with Level 100 access, and I'm one of them," Coulson explained.
"And that is also one of my reasons for attending Teitan as a teacher," Hiroko explained. "Even I could not ignore the potential power that I could sense within this boy. It's hidden, but it's nevertheless there."
"Jouji-kun doesn't currently have any memory of his past," Coulson explained. "The only thing that he could actually remember is his name, George Kurai, hence at some point, some within SHIELD proposed that he could potentially be the same person as the fictional villain character from the HUGtto! PreCure season that aired from 2018 to 2019."
"Equating fictional characters with real people?" Yuri looked amazed and bewildered. "That's a unique perspective that's being considered for such an organization."
"Our Director tends to assume all possibilities are on the table for discussion, even impossible ones, so even if the theory turns out to be bogus, you can never be too careful," Coulson explained.
"So this HYDRA wants something from George?" Nodoka asks, while looking at the HYDRA files that were present in J's tablet. She did not like what she was seeing, and made her even more worried for George... or Jouji as he calls himself now.
"That's one side of the problem, and that's a whole of cans of worms that we, and other supers, are still trying to figure out," Coulson said. "Another problem is that at present, we've identified that your Earth and universe, currently classified as MV Earth-2004, is... well, how to put it, about to crash into ours."
"WHAT?!" All of the Cures, including Nozomi, would exclaim.
"Wa-Wa-Wait?! What do you mean our Earth and universe will crash into your world, rabi?!" Rabirin says in worry.
"We've identified at least ten worlds that are drawing in a collision course to our world," Coulson says, demonstrating it from his tablet at least ten Earth-like planets that are all, in various distances, drawing close to the Earth-like planet at the center. "The World of the PreCure is basically the closest that's about to almost complete its convergence."
"Wait, but what would this mean for both of our worlds?" Yuri spoke, recognizing the implications. A merge between universes is not something to be taken lightly.
"Due to a certain event that happened recently, I would not worry about the transition of our worlds merging by much, Tsukikage-san," Hiroko explained empathically.
"A certain event?" Yuri asks.
"The one where you, and many others, saw Jouji transformed into a Kamen Rider," Hiroko explained.
"...!"
The Cures all definitely know what Hiroko was talking about. Before they all came here, they took note of a young man, seen from a randomly appearing window, calling the names of some of the Cures, before he eventually transforms into a beloved hero of this world, a Kamen Rider.
"...Kamen Rider Black Zi-O," Hiroko closed her eyes solemnly for a bit. "One person has now become the first to transform into a Century King Zi-O, a newly christened king of his kind, which helped to stabilize the convergence, hence a natural relocation where both of our worlds can co-exist without prejudice. Another one is sure to follow in that path, the one who would become Kamen Rider Shadow Zi-O."
"Another one?" Nodoka asks.
"Souta Mizushino," Hiroko opened her eyes. "Jouji-kun's best friend, and one of my students. Like Jouji, he too has a spark and potential that I could very well detect."
"While Souta-kun may not have been involved in the temporal anomaly that happened in 2018," Coulson explained. "SHIELD had also been keeping a close eye on him as well as Jouji-kun."
"Just what's the big deal about these two?" J asks curiously.
Like Nozomi, J, as well as several other people back at the GeoFront, also bore witness to the event that Hiroko was describing. About how Jouji had transformed into Kamen Rider Black Zi-O. It lasted about a few thirty minutes, from what J could remember of the timing. During that time, J had been using his tablet to research about "What is a Kamen Rider?" and he got about a million results.
But there's no mention of a Kamen Rider Black Zi-O, so J thought that the kid was the new guy on the block just starting out on the path of heroism.
"I mean, from the way both of you seem to be hyping the two up, it almost sounds like these two are at the literal center of everything that's going wrong right now," J said.
"Before all of this, there had been a few disturbing rumors," Hiroko grimly explained. "I asked my son, Oshihomimi (*14), to help with my personal investigations on the matter. Through several findings and accounts, we can at least conclude that there is Something that has been moving things in the background; a temporal war that had been silent, yet no less deadly in its machinations. Long before Jouji-kun and Souta-kun came into the picture, the main converging point had happened back in the year 1987, when both Kohtaro Minami and one other, Nobuhiko Akizuki, had been chosen to become Century Kings. That was the spark as it were that lit the fire for this temporal conflict to come about."
"So you're saying that a war throughout all of time and space was happening and that these two kids are right in the middle of it," J said, explaining what he got from that.
"Yes," Hiroko nodded. "But they are but two out of the majority of important players in this game of cosmic chess. Another reliable source that I managed to gather more recent information from was from a revered cosmic being whom I and other leaders of the various supernatural factions pay particular adherence. His name is the Phantom Stranger, and in fact..."
She looks at the Cures that were all gathered here. "He is the one who told me to find all of you five specifically."
"Huh," J looks surprised when he tries to find out about Phantom Stranger from his tablet. "There's nothing about the guy that I can find."
"You're not really supposed to know about him," Coulson explained. "Most people don't even know he even exists. He's usually known to a few Avengers and other heroes, but that's all. He rarely appears, and if he does, something has gone wrong, or something will go wrong. Book of Revelation stuff and all that."
"So the guy only shows up when the Apocalypse is right around the corner, got it," J nodded, getting the gist of it.
"But why us? Why us Cures specifically?" Nozomi asks, now generally understanding of her situation.
"Because you, and another Cure by the name of Cure Yell, are to form something of a PreCure team of your own, one that specifically deals with this current crisis. The Another Dimension PreCure."
"Another Dimension PreCure?" J repeated, giving a bewildered look. "Kinda generic."
"I would agree, but it does admittedly fits with the central issue," Hiroko said while looking at the Cures again. "Now, there are reasons why all of you have been chosen. You three, Nodoka Hanadera, Mashiro Nijigaoka, and Ayumi Sakagami, as well as Hana Nono, all have a particular connection with Jouji Minami. Yuri Tsukikage provides her role as an outside observer and unbiased perspective. Nozomi Yumehara, who had come from a cross-time world, would provide the role of a teacher and mentor for them, as well as for any other Cure that you may encounter."
"Me?" Nozomi was surprised by the role. "A mentor?"
"Someone would need to take charge of the Cures, most of whom are quite young, and what better way than an adult Cure with experience already on her belt," Hiroko pointed out. "All of you, the Another Dimension PreCure, who have been chosen by the Phantom Stranger, are called to assist Jouji-kun and Souta-kun in their journey through the worlds, as well as other issues that relate to this crisis."
"Hold on," J sported a look of concern. "So you mean to tell me that we're sending actual kids, and most of these kids are just middle schoolers or high schoolers, and ship them into a multiverse war? I mean, I know that the Cures can generally handle a few threats and all, but we're talking about an actual war here, not some monster of the week formula stuff that I see in Power Rangers (*15) back when I was a kid."
"Unfortunately," Hiroko sighed while looking at J. "I do share your concerns and misgivings, believe me, but even if they - and Jouji-kun and Souta-kun - try to not get involved in any of this, they are going to be forced to get involved regardless."
"And there have been a lot of young heroes in this world who have started out in middle school and high school, that's something I can confirm at least, so this isn't an unprecedented new issue," Coulson explained. "Heck, just look at me, I got recruited into SHIELD when I was in high school and saw through the entirety of the Cold War, even fought on some skirmishes here and there. These kids won't be alone in that regard, since I'm here just in case they need my input for anything."
"And I will also provide my own support," Hiroko said. "Granted, I cannot just measly flutter my own authority without consequence. There are other pantheons and mythological factions in the universe besides mine, hence there are a set of common agreements that I and the other leaders would have to follow, unless someone wants to have a problem with that and it ends up with something akin to the Chaos War, which happened a decade before."
"All I can really find about this Chaos War is a classified file that doesn't explain much. Just black markings, something about a battle of the gods, and some bad guy named Amatsu-Mikaboshi," J said, looking at his tablet.
"Oh, he's not just some bad guy, that I can assure you. Fortunately, you and everyone else don't have to worry about him at present, as he has been destroyed, with prejudice," Hiroko sported a brief yet thunderous look, that while not directed at J, was nevertheless intimidated, being reminded that yeah, this is definitely a goddess and one that he wouldn't like to anger. Thankfully, the look was brief and it went back to normal. "In any case, we have a bit of a problem regarding Souta-kun lately, though not that serious."
"...Umm ...How so?" Nozomi asks, having recovered from the goddess' brief yet terrifying look.
"He, along with his girlfriend and one of my students, Yuna Shimazaki, have ended up in a different world. Now, that isn't a problem for me specifically as I can go to that world and fetch them, but I figured that a more subtle intervention is needed. I have recently called for and sent for another Kamen Rider to take care of them, as by my foresight, this was now the start of their own journey."
Song: Kamen Rider Kabuto-Next Level-Yu-Ki-By MYU.
Before J could ask, he and everyone else could hear a communication beep from Coulson's tablet. Coulson would press a button and... sounds of gunfire would echo from the background, alerting everybody.
"Quake (*16)?" Coulson was looking at a woman in her thirties, with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and a beautiful face, wearing a SHIELD blue jumpsuit uniform. There was another armored SHIELD trooper providing her with some cover fire.
"Uhh, Coulson, we've got a minor problem and a new thing I gotta tell you about," Quake said while firing her handgun, dispatching rounds of pure bluish energy that exploded a nearby green pupa Worm with ease.
"I'd assume that the Worms are the minor problem," Coulson wasn't surprised, but was a bit concerned about the people back at the GeoFront. "Also, how the heck did the Worms got inside the base?"
"Randomly, with no explanation, just that they appeared and started attacking everybody," Quake explained. "While reports say that the interdimensional doohickey that's been happening for the last few hours had stopped, the Worms still keep coming from random locations. GeoFront's no exception."
"So the Worms appearing is far more than what it seems, and it doesn't necessarily relate with just the convergence. What about our accommodated KHs? Are they doing fine?" Coulson asks.
"Oh, they're doing just fine," Quake reassured. "Some of them have been a really big help in clearing off many of the Worms. And..."
"Let me guess, among those who are helping you out, there's something new," Coulson said.
"Not just that, you're gonna wanna hear this, we've got a new KG, and he's..."
As Quake was talking to Coulson, Hiroko could not help but smile, both knowingly yet also caringly.
...Ah, my grandson, it is high time that you had finally come to my native universe.
HENSHIN!
...A young man walks undeterred.
CAST OFF!
CHANGE BEETLE!
He transformed into...
Kamen Rider Kabuto.
Various parts from his armor flew automatically and destroyed several Worms in sight. Now, his armor was more sleeker in design. Red armor with silver details. His helmet was reminiscent of a Japanese rhinoceros beetle, with a blue visor, in the shape of his blue large eyes, divided by the horn in two points. Silver gloves and silver boots. Silver forearms and arms covered with armor. Red shoulder straps with silver and black edges, with the words "ZECT" etched into the circular designs. Silver knee pads. On the center of his belt was a sentient Japanese rhinoceros beetle.
He charges right into the fray and makes use of his Kabuto Kunaigun (*17). The weapon would transform into an ax as he swipes through them like bread and butter.
"Everyone, watch your fire," One of the blue armored SHIELD troopers spoke. "We've got a Kamen Rider. All units, provide cover fire, maintain appropriate distance in 20 meters."
Kabuto was focused on defeating the current threat. The one that he would definitely recognize. A familiar foe that he had been combatting for many years.
Obaa-chan once said... Know thyself, know thy enemy... (*18).
And he did. He once recalled the feeling of being alone. Abandoned. Unwanted. Not wanted. What did he do wrong? That was the constant question that forever haunted his mind, heart, and even soul. The fact that he had longed for one thing. For his father to look at him, but that he had abandoned him shortly, somewhere in a deserted train station.
He was ordered to stay. And so he stayed.
But then...
He met a beautiful, graceful woman. A goddess of the sun and the chief of his nation's almost forgotten religion. She did not come in her full divinity, but merely in ordinary appearances. She did not seem to appear special, but her eyes managed to make his tears stop and allow him to foresee a wondrous new beginning.
"...Come with me, my little one," She says with a gentle smile, offering her hand.
And so he did.
At that moment, he never looked back.
I am the man who would try to walk the path of heaven. The man who follows the trail of whoever rules all.
Using his weapon, he swipes through his various enemies like crops ready for the harvest. As he glances around, he sees strange people with strange attires. From one corner, he would see a young woman carrying a modified scythe, which was also a gun that could fire projectiles that could eradicate the Worms. Another was a mysterious figure. He could tell that it was a young woman, hiding underneath her unique dark blue bunny-eared costume and skull mask, raising what appeared to be a large whip that she gracefully launched and tied several Worms together and sent them flying, only for the girl with the scythe to kill them off, showcasing tremendous acrobatic agility to jump the distance and make for the kill.
"Hm?"
His visors were detecting unnatural activity.
"Clock up," He muttered softly.
CLOCK UP!
Everything had suddenly stopped. The gunfire was silent. Nobody was moving.
"Grrrr..."
Underneath his visor, his eyes narrowed towards the grotesque creature that he was looking for.
It had a humanoid figure, but it looked like a praying mantis, with a sharp claw that formed its left arm. Its' mouth was clicking like a cricket as its dark bluish eyes directed its gaze towards him with hostile intent.
It blitzed. Raising its claw, it tried to tag him. But Kabuto dodged it by rolling over. Raising his weapon in gun mode, he shot energy projectiles that formed sparks around the creature's chest, cricketing in pain. Then, after the three shots that had been fired from its chest, it would duplicate itself into more of its kind. Two of them would begin to charge towards Kabuto, who stands up and parries one strike from the right, another from the left, and then followed by other strikes.
He waited for the right opportunity, looking for a proper opening as he moved both of his arms to block several slashes from the duplicated Worms. Then, his patience paid off as he finds an opening, somewhere around the upper chest.
He takes a slice there, causing the duplicate Worm to dissipate. He noticed that the real Worm was now about to strike at him from behind. He turns around to block it, and kicks the Worm aside while slashing the other duplicate Worm on the neck, dissipating.
As the Worm tries to get back to its feet, it sprays something from its open mouth; what appeared to be green gooish acid. The young man, knowing that charging through would be futile, would raise his gun and transform it into a shield with knives attached to its sides. The sides were rotating, like a propeller, spraying the acid back at the Worm, blinding it with its own acid.
Now was his opportunity to strike.
1. 2. 3.
RIDER KICK!
Blue lightning energy would course through from the belt, which reached the top of his helmet. Then as it reached the top, it lowered itself down to his right foot, providing the young man with the proper kicking efficiency. As he charged head-on, he would raise himself up and perform a kicking maneuver, straightening his posture a bit.
His body dived as his foot reached the creature's chest, causing the latter to draw backwards and explode with an orange-greenish explosion.
CLOCK OVER!
Everything was now beginning to come back to life once more. Gunfire was heard as the Worms were being eradicated by the SHIELD troopers and personnel, and whoever was assisting them.
"...Ikari Shinji, right?"
The young man would turn around and see three of the same troopers, accompanied by a black-haired woman with blue eyes, wearing a blue jumpsuit, who was reading from a holographic projection screen seen on her right arm.
The young man was a bit suspicious. Last he recalled, he simply allowed himself to be led by these strange blue armored troopers, noting the name "SHIELD" and its long variant name pasted on their armor.
SHIELD?
He's never heard of them. Based on appearance, they reminded him somewhat of the organization ZECT due to similar armor aesthetics, with a few minor differences such as the helmets.
"And so what if I am?" The young man asks, with a level of caution, maintaining courtesy.
"...Huh, that's kind of weird," The woman's voice was bewildered. "Cause we've currently got an Ikari Shinji in this crowd of fictional characters. Guess you're from another world then, is my guess."
Another world?
The concept of another world was not the strange part for the young man. Other worlds are a given, due to the Worms being hostile extraterrestrials that wanted to conquer Earth. But she mentioned two of them...
"I guess that you may want a proper explanation for what's happening right now," The woman said. But the young man was silent. "Name's Agent Johnson, though you could call me Quake. There's a lot that you need to be brought up to speed on."
Trivia For Chapter:
(*1) - In the World of Kamen Rider/Universe-616, Beika Ward had been called Academy City since the late 1940s and early 1950s.
(*2) - In the World of Kamen Rider/Universe-616, Thor was the God of Thunder and the current All-Father of Asgard. Years prior, he was and still is a member of the Avengers, one of the first founding members of the heroic group.
(*3) - Not many people seem to know this from what I know, but in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at least, Coulson's family was Catholic, though they weren't practicing Catholics. Thought to apply this trivia as a backstory for Coulson in the World of Kamen Rider/Universe-616.
(*4) - Coulson was referring to a series of events that happened in the mid-to-late 20th and early-to-mid 21st Centuries regarding Human-Mutant relations.
(*5) - In the World of Kamen Rider/Universe-616, Genosha, officially the Republic of Genosha, is a small crescent-shaped island ruled by Magneto, located to the northeast of Madagascar, on the eastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. The island has two major cities, Carrion Cove and Hammer Bay, the capital city. Its landmass covers 1,286 square miles.
(*6) - In the World of Kamen Rider/Universe-616, the Superhero Civil War, or Civil War, was an important event in history where a series of conspiratorial events started with the mutant supervillain Nitro had been enhanced to blow up half of the city of Stamford, Connecticut, causing thousands of deaths, which seemingly prompted the U.S. Government, the superhero Iron Man, and SHIELD to enact the Superhuman Registration Act which generally requires all supers, hero or civilian, to register, and thus, with America implementing it, other nations were sure to follow. In reality, this was a major conspiracy that had been enacted and launched by Norman Osborn - the supervillain Green Goblin and that Iron Man and countless members of SHIELD were brainwashed by mind control serums derived from the supervillain Purple Man. Heroes that weren't affected or compromised all rallied behind Captain America and Superman, who leads the charge against Anti-Registration.
While Osborn had his plans, the infamous World War II war criminal Red Skull, who had long been in disguise as the highly regarded Senator Dell Rusk, had his own plans, clashing with Osborn's. By the mid-end point of the conflict, the malevolent artificial intelligence Ultron had attacked in full force from an alternate future timeline when the heroes were at their weakest. It was considered one of the closest times when Ultron had almost won and would have succeeded in eradicating humanity.
As for Agent Coulson, he was one of the only few SHIELD agents that haven't been affected by the Purple Man-based chemicals, and is the one who gave Captain America the heads up that SHIELD was ultimately compromised.
(*7) - Reference to the final episode of Kibou no Chikara ~Otona Pretty Cure '23~.
(*8) - From Pretty Cure Wiki - Coco (ココ?) is one of the mascots in Yes! Pretty Cure 5 and Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo!. He has the unique ability to transform into a human at will. When in human form, he is the teacher of L'École des Cinq Lumières in order to be close to the Pretty Cure. Coco is also searching for the Pinkies to store in the Dream Collet in order to get a friend of his back, and to save his kingdom. When in his fairy form, he ends his sentences with "~coco".
(*9) - In the World of Kamen Rider/Universe-616, there was a superhero called Squirrel Girl, real name: Doreen Green, known for her squirrel-like abilities and rather unorthodox tactics.
(*10) - In the World of Kamen Rider/Universe-616, the Alternate Reality Monitoring and Operational Response Agency (A.R.M.O.R.) was a SHIELD independent subdivision that dealt with extradimensional affairs and guard against contamination and conflict from other alternate realities.
(*11) - From the Pretty Cure Wiki - Rabirin (ラビリン?) is one of the main fairies and Nodoka's fairy partner in Healin' Good Pretty Cure. She is a rabbit-like fairy who ends her sentences with "~rabi" (「～ラビ」?).
(*12) - Agent J was referencing the in-universe fiction: Men in Black: The Series, an American animated television series that originally aired on Kids' WB from October 11, 1997, to June 30, 2001. Noteworthy is that various elements from the Men in Black: The Series happened in the universe Agent J comes from besides the events of the movie trilogy.
(*13) - In the World of Kamen Rider/Universe-616, SHIELD's Scientific Advisor would be the mysterious interdimensional time traveller and Time Lord known as the Doctor. He is credited for having saving the Earth and the universe from many dangers. He usually is seen travelling with a companion or two, humans or non-humans. It is known among the superhero community that the Doctor and Mr. Fantastic were old friends and trusted allies who would consult each other on scientific matters.
(*14) - In the World of Kamen Rider/Universe-616, Oshihomimi, or Ame-no-oshihomimi, was the first son of Amaterasu, the ancestor of the Japanese imperial family, and the one who handles the majority of local affairs within the Amatsu-Kami race on his mother's stead.
(*15) - Yes, Power Rangers is an in-universe fiction in Agent J's universe.
(*16) - In the World of Kamen Rider/Universe-616, Daisy Johnson, alias Quake, was an Inhuman with seismic (earthquake-producing) abilities. At some point, she had been recruited into SHIELD by Agent Coulson, being her mentor, and has since been one of SHIELD's top agents in the field.
(*17) - From the Rider Wiki - The Kabuto Kunaigun (カブトクナイガン, Kabuto Kunai Gan) is Kabuto's personal sidearm that has three modes to use the weapon in various forms.
(*18) - Okay, for any scholar or history expert among the readers who may noticed, this phrase, I borrowed from Sun Tzu, a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC).