When Virulina and Harlock pass through the pathway they found themselves surrounded by blinding light, soon dimming enough to find themselves in the middle of a very busy city square. The world looked advanced enough with the presence of self-driving cars and robots going about doing physical work, but probably long ways to go when compared to the technology from either of their worlds.

People did not seem to take notice of the two - who found themselves dressed in more fitting attire that matched the area. Virulina could feel herself still wearing her armor despite it looking like she was in her attire before civilization fell in her world (a form of illusion perhaps?) while Harlock was garbed in a long black coat and business suit underneath. Weapons were well concealed underneath, Darkness probably thought ahead on how they can blend in.

They were standing in the middle of a park, with the location surrounded by tall skyscrapers. The statue standing in the middle of the park was something the Darkling Lord would recognize - resembling the Ringed Magician in form but possessing different features.
This message was last updated by the GM at 07:52, Thu 02 Apr 2020.

After stepping through the portal, Virulina didn't feel any different... but the two of them failed to attract much attention from passersby.  When she looked down to her arm, Virulina noted the presence of illusionary clothing.  She found a window for both her and the Captain to view their new appearances.  She seemed to be wearing her newscaster clothing from that fateful day.

"This is a useful trick."

And upon seeing the statue, Virulina let out a harrumph.

"I see somethings never change... there is always a 'wizard'.  I wonder how many worlds they span across."

"Wizards are a thing of myth and legend where I come from...Although I would call my friend Tochiro a Technical Wizard as he designed my ship, the Arcadia among other things of wonder - from a scientific point of view", Harlock said as he looked at the statue with Virulina.

As Virulina and Harlock discuss about wizards and the usage of the word, they could see a plaque inscribed on the base of the statue...

Kamen Rider Stage

Valiant hero. Protector of our beloved city.
He fights for the sake of peace against the
horrors known as Grand Shocker.

Comparing the date inscribed on the plaque with a nearby digital board displaying the date and time, it appeared the statue was fairly recent - a week at the latest.

====Elsewhere in the city====

Something was definitely off. Moments ago she was at the helm of her ship - the Ancestor, taking the hit for an allied ship that was targeted by unknown forces that were threatening Empire territory. Bright light enveloped her and the rest of her crew and forced her to shut her eyes. The next thing she knew she was standing in the middle of a bustling city's park.

A quick check in her memory banks retrieved no match of the city despite some elements being similar. It was possible Varin ended up in a territory she has not heard of... but not being able to get in touch with her crew was a bit worrying.

Varin quickly looked around, and was glad that she always wore her trench coat, even when aboard ship as she quickly slipped her left hand into her coat pocket to hide it's robotic nature before noticing a statue and hoping it might yield some clue as to where she was and what was going on she went over to it, noting two other individuals near it as she did, the female she dismissed, but there was something about the man, that made her think he was a ship captain like her.

Varin stopped infront of the statue and adjusted her brown fedora as she looked at the plaque, reading what it said, and noticed the date on the plaque and comparing it to the date on a nearby display board, but everything she saw just raised more questions for her, but she stayed nearby hoping to overhear something from someone nearby to give her a better idea as to what was going on, and with her cyborg enhanced hearing she didn't have to be too close to others to hear what they where saying.

"Perhaps he was some Cavalryman...The plaque says he was a 'Kamen Rider' - a mounted warrior of some sort?", Harlock said as he speculated about the statue and who it might be to this city to be honored in such a way.

"Without knowing what a Karmen is, we can only guess."

The inscription of the statue did however give Virulina an idea.  And unless security forces noticed them first, there didn't seem to be any pressing engagements.

"Since the plaque isn't stated in the past tense, this 'Stage' must still be alive.  Do you want to go looking for him?  We could ask some of these people for directions... that one looks promising."

Virulina gestured in the direction of Varin.  She'd chosen the lady because of her overcoat... the other passersby looked decidedly more civilian (and less useful).

Varin listened to those around, but in particular the man and woman near by and from what they said they where just as lost as she was, which meant one of two things, they where a couple of tourists, or they had experienced the same or something similar to what she had. When the female commented about talking to her she couldn't help but smirk as she continued to study the statue.

Harlock looked to Virulina at her gesturing to the woman looking at the statue not to far away and surmised that she wanted him to talk to her himself.

Very similar to Queen Baraluda he thought to himself as he nodded curtly to Virulina and made his way to the woman she had gestured to.

"Excuse me, miss...I am my companion are new to this city and we were wondering could you tell us more of this statue - who was this person?"

Varin turned to look at Harlock as he came up to her and asked if she could give them any information on the statue, but she had a feeling that even being a visitor to the city wouldn't be a reason not to know the person the statue was of. If this person was protecting the city from some enemy force they should be well known even outside the city if they where popular enough to get a statue made of themselves and put in a central location.

"I'm afraid I'm in the dark about this individual as much as you are sir, though from the conversation I've overheard with your female friend you might be able to help me understand whats going on better."

while she was talking though she made sure to still keep her left hand fully in her coat pocket to keep it's robotic nature a secret for now.

Virulina made a small "Hmmm" noise but otherwise let Harlock take the lead.  However the woman didn't know the information they sought so Virulina pegged her as a fellow traveler.  She then shrugged... and snagged a random passerby by the arm.

"You!  We are looking for the magician Stage... where can we find him?"

Even without her armor being visible, Virulina had a very commanding manner... as befitting her knightly status.

"Magician? Stage?" the salaryman blinked for a moment as he got off the phone to attend to Virulina's question.

"Oh, you mean Kamen Rider Stage?" the man then asked as he figured out what was being asked from him, pointing to the statue, "He's not exactly a magician, but he's the protector of this city. It's been months since he first appeared and fended off monsters that have attacked here. The local government even has arranged means to support him so casualties can be better avoided."

"If you would excuse me, I still have a call waiting for me," the man added afterwards as he tended to the caller on the other end of his line.

Glad for some information (rather than none), Virulina stopped the next closest person.  If she had to stop people one by one, she would...

"Where can we find Karmen Rider Stage... or a Government branch that can help us?"

"Virulina!", Harlock said sternly but not loudly. "Confronting every person within earshot randomly will not garner us the results we need. There may be a Library or other source or repository of information we could access."

Turning to the other woman, he asked, "Do you know of such a place?"

Varin shook her head at Virulinas actions before turning back to Harlock with a sigh and readjusted her left hand inadvertently letting a bit of the robotic nature of it be able to be seen for a moment.


"As I said, you and your friend probably know more about whats going on, then I do, how ever I'm fairly sure if we allow your friend to continue as she has been we might get answers if anyone reports her behavior to the authorities, but that could also cause further complications to matters."

"When was seeking a hero deemed a criminal deed?  I'm merely trying to expedite things..."

Virulina scowled when the latest citizen she had been hounding... slipped away.  What soured her mood further, was the suspicion that finding Stage would only get them looking for someone (or something) else.  She'd had enough games from Merklyn... to not want more of the same.  However she gave a resigned sigh.

"If it makes you two feel better, I will be 'nicer'."

As for the next person that Virulina tried to seek help from, she smiled and adopted a most earnest expression.  She even let her eyes water a bit.

"Ahem, please citizen... we seek Karmen Rider Stage to aid our noble quest.  Our world is in peril.  Any help you can give would be appreciated... think of the children."

"Karmen Rider? Oh you meant Kamen Rider Stage!" the young man in casual clothes replied after some thought, trying to catch up with what Virulina said, "I'd really like to, but even I don't know much about the city's hero."

"He shows up whenever there's a monster attack," the youth added after apologizing, "It's cool really, the emergency alarm goes off and alerts us of the monster attack, signs direct people to safety and clear out the area for Stage to fight the monster without worrying about casualties!"

As if on cue, the alarms rang overhead. Street signs and digital billboards changed into public service guides leading people to the nearest shelters in the vicinity. PA systems also keep people calm and give clear instructions on what must be done.

"Ah, there it is - you should also follow! It's not safe to stay out here while monsters are abound!" the young man said, going ahead to join the others for shelter. There's a timer counting down on the estimated arrival of the monster - about 13 minutes and counting.

After the more helpful youth had scurried off, Virulina turned to the others.

"Clearly we're going to stick around to participate, correct?"

Staying near the statue in open ground had its appeal, but she looked for other areas that might make equally suitable battlegrounds.

Varin shook her head as Virulina seemed to misunderstand what she had really meant but when the alarms started going off and Virulina had turned back to them and asked about them participating, there was a subtle change in how Varin bore herself and made it obvious to those that knew what to look for that Varin was a professional.

"Of Course, though I wish they would say where this monster was most likely to show up so that we could head there before hand to hopefully get into a tactically advantageous position."

As Varin spoke she intentionally pulled her left hand out of her coat pocket revealing it's robotic nature as she used her left hand to readjust her hat before leaving it at her side.

Harlock listened to the man Viriluna stopped to "ask" about Sage and he heard his talk of a monster attack. Harlock was curious about what this monster attack entailed - was it a single creature? An army of beasts? Also this Sage must be powerful to defeat such a foe or force.



"We will not seek shelter if that is what you mean", Harlock said to Viriluna.

Seeing the other woman he was talking to earlier expose a cybernetic appendage, Harlock raised an eyebrow but merely said. "Let us find a less exposed position - if we are to encounter 'Monsters', let us be on the move - with me."

Harlock pulled out his Cosmo Gun and Gravity Saber and began walking at a brisk pace to be less of a target and if need be, look for a position where he and the others could defend themselves if they should encounter these monsters.

The billboards have shown that civilians have cleared the area. A strange marking then appeared on the city map a few blocks north of the park with a timer counting down.

Alert - multiple intruders approaching in sector N-8.
ETA is five minutes and counting...
Kamen Rider Stage has deployed and is now headed to the scene.

A figure bearing the same features as the statue rode down the clear streets on a motorcycle, rushing quickly towards the identified location.

Lets see if I can find some suitable terrain in this Sector N-8  She thought to herself.

Virulina's idea of suitable was a body of water... a fountain, pool, or shoreline.  It would limit her tactics to those of defense, but she could utilize her totem... IF such area existed.  Otherwise she would make do as she always did.  Virulina set off for Sector N-8 with all due haste.  If the ETA countdown was accurate, she had five minutes.

Varin looked up at the displays before heading off towards sector n-8 but as she got outside the park she jumped and climbed up ontop of the nearest building before heading towards the sector along to roofs, but taking it easy incase Harlock decided to try and follow her.

Upon seeing the Billboards as they went and seeing Virulina making to this sector N-8 noted on them at a very quick pace, he followed her now. He saw her eagerness and almost an abandonment of caution from her and hoped whatever they encountered wasn't anything that they could not handle.

Seeing the other woman take to the rooftops, he looked up at her for a moment as she also was more than meets the eye and continued on.

As the trio arrive at the sector they find the city's hero standing on the middle of the wide street. The open space before him was warping, taking humanoid shapes before assuming a more recognizable form for Varin and Virulina. There were about ten similar figures standing at the front resembling a cross between a mummy and a zombie with a round glass eye on its face. Behind these foot soldiers was an impeccably-dressed old man in white and red accompanied by a man-sized bat monster and a lion man with cannons on its back.

"To think we have to bring a larger force in order to bring you down means a lot, traitor," the old man called out at the Kamen Rider as the minions start circling around him, "But the Leader is still a merciful man - surrender now and we will make sure your death is swift and painless!"

The surrounded fighter remained silent, assuming a fighting stance as he studied the invaders. It was clear that surrender was not in his mind.

"No? Then we'll just have to beat the life out of you before bringing you back to the Leader!" the old man declared as the mummy-like zombies shuffled towards the Kamen Rider. The lone fighter employed exceptional fighting skills, managing to keep these many minions from landing a hit on him despite their numbers by moving about with dodges and parries before delivering punches and kicks at minions that got too close to him.

The bat and lion monsters moved to opposite sides of the road, observing the Kamen Rider as he fended off these weaker foot soldiers.

"The clock needs adjusting..."  Grumbled Virulina.

So instead of preparing the site for an attack, the Darkling Lord had to jump in and tilt the battle in Stage's favor... but how to best do that?  The mummy minions were probably a waste of time, so that left the Bat or the Lion.  The former seemed more to her liking (no guns).  The man in white/red probably wouldn't fight... at least not initially.  And if that other woman (Varin) was around, she could always have a go at the leader.

"Captain, can you duel the Lion?  I've got the Bat."

Drawing her 'sword', Virulina ran towards the Bat creature, weaving to the left and right.  She exchanged a few blows to measure it's strength and speed.  Maybe it was a worthy dagger target...

Harlock nodded an affirmative to Virulina and moved to intercept the lion man. Facing him, Harlock drew his Cosmo Gun & Gravity Saber, holding the saber in a defensive position before him.

"In my experience, those that need to outnumber their opponents either do so out of lack of skill or fear...Which one do you ascribe to i wonder?", Harlock said, addressing the Lion man.

Varin crouched on a roof top watching events unfold, she knew she had her .50 caliber five shot revolver with three speed clips for a total of 20 rounds, her .357 magnum  with three speed clips for 24 total rounds and finally her 9mm with three clips for a total of 80 rounds. but the .50 cal was already loaded with a mix of armor piercing and hollow points and had the greater power and range so she pulled that out first and watched as Virulina went after the bat creature and Harlock for the lion creature and decided to go for the head honcho and aimed for the man that had been doing all the talking, but she didn't aim to kill, for now just to maim as she aimed for his knee's and taking advantage of her cybernetic body and strength and fired off a shot for each of the mans knee's one shot being a hollow point which would obliterate normal bone and joints on impact, the other round was armor piercing and even if the man had harder then normal bones or was even a cyborg the round would still at least lodge in the joint disabling the knee if not pass through completely and still disable the knee.

once she fired though she quickly ducked down and moved as the two shots even though fired rapidly the noise alone would guarantee her position was revealed as there was no way of masking the cannon like sound of the revolver.

--Varin--

"Who are you!? You're not even - gaah!!?" the man in white and red was not even able to complete his question as he received a heavy blow to each knee, causing him to collapse in agony. Unintelligible curses were muttered under his breath as he struggled to cope with the pain.

--Virulina--

The bat monster let out a shriek of pain as Virulina's sword landed both cuts successfully against its chest. The Darkling Lord was quick to notice how tough the creature's hide was - the weapon managing shallow cuts against the bat's tough hide.

"You cur! How dare you interfere with us!" the monster spoke in comprehensible human tongue, albeit guttural in tone as it sized Virulina up, "I, the fearsome Bat Man will make you regret that!"

The bat monster then took to the air with a quick flap of its winged arms, diving towards Virulina at high speeds with knife-like claws prepared to rake at her.

--Capt Harlock--

"You look to be a promising opponent, will you be able to give me a good fight?" the lion humanoid asked as a grin showed rows of sharp teeth within his mouth. He then flexed his body and positioned himself into a fighting stance, motioning to Harlock to fight him, "Come! You can be appetizer before I move on to defeat that Kamen Rider!"

--Tristram, a few minutes before--

After checking his surroundings once more, Tristram could assure himself that he was no longer in Chicago. The buildings here were tall, the roads were wide, and immediately after the announcement every person have went into hiding. So he was left alone to ponder on what to do next when an armored figure on a motorcycle sped past him along the road. With no other leads left the young man followed at the direction where the motorcycle headed for.

There were loud cracks of gunfire echoing in the air up ahead when Tristram finally caught up, seeing the scene before him.

----

"Who are you people?" the Kamen Rider asked as he started subduing the mummy creatures and rendered them immobile on the ground, "It's dangerous here, I can handle this!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:51, Thu 20 Aug 2020.

"Where exactly is 'here'? I could have sworn I was at the bus stop a second ago," Tristram said, scratching his head. "And what are you wearing? You look like a power ranger."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:49, Thu 20 Aug 2020.

"Interesting, it talks..."

Virulina spoke in the most condescending tone possible, hoping to bait the Bat Creature into an unthinking rage.  When it flew upwards and lunged back down, she readied herself and took a large breath.  The next part was all about timing.  As the beast came in low, Virulina's chest plate glowed green and her form morphed into a HUGE translucent green shark.  Before 'Batman' could put on the breaks or veer away, she dived forward to clamp her jaws over his head and torso.

If she didn't kill the beast outright, Virulina would try to pin him to the ground and further savage the monster.

Harlock remembered the words of Milos, his old fencing teacher...

When facing an unknown opponent Phantom, gauge his abilities - launch a series of thrusts & cuts & see how he defends, see how he reacts, their stance - these tells will give you advantages on the field of battle.

...Raising his Gravity Saber in salute, he went at his opponent, launching into a series of thrusts, cuts & swings, looking for any weaknesses or openings in his fighting style to exploit.

Upon seeing that Harlock and Virulina where keeping the only other heavy hitters occupied Varin slowly stepped out of cover on the roof and hearing the riders question she smiles as she calls out while approaching the edge of the roof.

"We can handle things like this so no worries, and why deny potential allies in a fight of any kind."

As she finished Varin, walked off the edge of the roof and falling with her trench coat billowing around her to the pavement where she landed on her feet and continued towards the rider almost as if she had not just stepped off the roof of a several story building. As she approached though she took out her 9mm pistol and started knee capping any of the other creatures that got too close to her or the others.

"I'll rip you to shreds!" the bat monster shrieked as it dived at Virulina at its full speed, displaying superhuman speeds but unfortunately not intellect or reflexes as it found itself head first into the jaws of a glowing verdant shark. It shrieked in annoyance as razor-sharp teeth tore its tough hide, the monster struggling wildly in an attempt to pry itself free from Virulina's bite.


ooc: due to GM oversight. The monster Capt Harlock is fighting is not a lion creature but rather a tiger creature. The GM profusely apologizes for this mistake and promises to check before posting further.

"Come! I, Tigeroid shall ensure your defeat!" the tiger monster declared as he leaped forward to meet the veteran captain head-on in combat. Tigeroid moved swiftly despite his size, using his toughness in combination with this speed to minimize the blows he received to cuts and bruises while attempting to rake Harlock with his clawed fingers.

"A power ranger, what is that?" the armored warrior asked as he produced a short sword that looked to have qualities resembling a gun.

Shooting Sword -Slash Mode-

Stage then used his weapon to cut through the mummy-like creatures within his vicinity, slashing them quickly and causing them to explode. Shattered coin halves drop from where these unusual creatures once stood.

"Nevertheless, do not underestimate them," Stage said as he turned to assess the situation, "These beings have long discarded their humanity!"

The other mummy-like creatures collapsed to the ground from Varin's gunshots, but still attempted to shamble towards her like some unliving creature given life. The old man in white and red let out a pained laugh at the scene before him.

"You speak as if you are innocent of the same thing, traitor!" he coughed and slowly pushed himself up to look at the Kamen Rider, and then to the woman that shot him, "Allies? It looks like you have been busy amassing forces of your own as well!"

"Ok," Tristram said, "I have no idea what is happening, but I'm guessing you're the bad guy."

Then, seeing some of the mummy-like creatures approaching from behind him, he used his stand, Stone Cold, to punch them all, launching them all away, though to everyone else they looked like they were suddenly launched out of a cannon after being looked at.

Virulina the shark kept a hold of 'batman', chewing harder and shaking it around like a rag doll.  The taste was pretty bad, but the taste of victory would compensate for a bad aftertaste.  Virulina's only regret was that she couldn't get in a good taunt.

However her held breath eventually started to wane, so she spat out the batman like a bowling ball, aiming for a few mummies too.  Then the green shark faded to reveal Virulina's true form.

Oh, yes.  I still need to knife someone don't I?  Hmmm...

Drawing the 'magic' dagger from her belt, she signaled Harlock and then threw it to him (underarmed).

"Stick him with this, Captain."

Then Virulina drew her own blade and went to work on some mummies.  If Batman still lived, one of the others could finish him.

The feline creature was fast as well as skilled Harlock noted as he dodged and parried the creature's claws. He holstered his Cosmo Gun as he stepped back and circled his opponent, now getting a sense of the beast's capabilities. He decided to try to slow it down by limiting its mobility.



Catching the dagger with his off-hand, Harlock then launched into an overhead, one handed swing with his Gravity Saber and then stepped back a bit to allow the beast a counter attack which he would follow through with a slash against its leg to impair it and if an opening presented itself, jab with the dagger Virulina had tossed to him.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 34):

As the rider commented about the creatures having given up their humanity she looks at the crawling ones with a hint of pity before she drops the clip that was in her pistol and loads a fresh clip in and almost as fast as the guns design would allow puts a round into the heads of all the creatures she had knee capped before turning to any others that came too close and with no hesitation puts a round in their heads, but when she hears the comment from the robed man she turns to him.

"We all make mistakes but wise is he that learns from them and tries to better themselves. As to amassing forces, I was just wandering around aimlessly when you and these creatures showed up and I have no problem dealing with vermin that think a quick death is a mercy as you implied."


Varin saw the bat creature also go flying through the air and had to admit to herself that Virulina did seem like a formidable individual to fight with that odd shark power, but as she saw her turn to go after the mummy creatures Varin pulled out her .50 cal revolver again and while using the 9mm on any mummies that got too close for comfort kept an eye out for the bat creature and if he made to attack again would use the .50 cal to try and kill the person.

With Tristram and Varin's efforts the mummy-like creatures soon evaporated, each leaving half pieces of coins on the streets. The Bat-Man was still alive despite looking worse for wear from the thrashing it received from Virulina. It stumbled to get back on its feet to see what was going on.

Tigeroid was very confident that he could take on Captain Harlock, sensing the blows from his weapons were not that painful until the dagger the pirate captain jabbed at him plunged deep onto the tiger monster's chest. There was visible surprise on the creature's face as it tried to pull the dagger out with little success.

"What trick is this!?" Tigeroid exclaimed as he struggled to get the unusual weapon off from him, sensing something amiss from within.


The old man was looking at those present, paying attention to their features before finally speaking up.

"Could it be that all of you were displaced from your worlds?" the old man asked as a dark expression showed on his face.

It took only an instant for the dagger to take effect. One second, Tigeroid was attempting to pull out the dagger, the next he fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings had all been cut at the same time. The body twitched a few times, before getting up, and Tigeroid looked himself over for a moment before doing some basic stretches. He turned to Harlock, smirking.

- "Not too shabby! Been a while since i was a guy, but give me half a minute and i'll have everything figured out."

The voice was unmistakably Tigeroid's, yet the manner of speaking made him sound like someone completely different. He casually pulled out the dagger, and tossed it aside: It dissolved into thin air before it even hit the ground, the wound it left behind healing at a speed far beyond Tigeroid's own natural healing rate, not even leaving a scar behind.

Virulina confidently called out to her companions as to what should be done.

"Knife entity, how about you thrash the bat monster and then tell us all Tiger's juicy little secrets?  Everyone else, subdue the old man.  Nobody escapes today until we get answers."

Darkness had called the entity an Avatar of Destruction, but Virulina was merely guessing that it could access 'host memories'.

- "Fair enough."

Thanacheir moved towards the bat monster, whom she assumed didn't know that the one once known as Tigeroid had just switched sides on him. She -- he -- did still have his appearance, after all. Once close, he crouched down, and a large gun appeared from his back to fire an artillery shell into the bat monster at near point-blank range. She would survive the explosion, she knew she would: The body would simply regenerate from next to nothing if need be, as long as she willed it to. But she was curious how durable it was, and if it was immune to its own weaponry: this was the most efficient way to find out.

Varin had been about to shoot the bat creature when the old man mentioned being displaced from their world, and she slowly turned to look at him on the ground before fully turning towards him and slowly yet purposefully walking towards him, as she walked she put away her 9mm, but with the .50 cal she opened the cylinder and purposefully removed all but one round before spinning the cylinder and twisting the gun causing the cylinder to swing back into a locked position but with the live round at an unknown position.

Varin came up next to the old man and coldly looked down at him pointing the revolver not at his head but instead for now his shoulder.

"As you saw I have one round in the gun, answer my questions and I won't pull the trigger, don't answer or give me an answer I don't believe is true and I pull the trigger, if your lucky the camber is one of the 4 empty ones, if your not lucky it's the chamber with the live round and you lose your shoulder."

Harlock took a step back from his opponent now ally, still confused as to what had just transpired until it dawned on him that it had to do with the dagger Virulina tossed him during his battle with the creature.

"What was that dagger?" he asked of her.

- "I can answer that."

Tigeroid stepped out of the cloud of dust that had gotten thrown up when he had fired an artillery shell at the bat monster from point blank range. His fur looked scorched and burnt, and his shoulder even had some bone showing, but it soon regenerated until, a moment later, he stood as if nothing had happened to him.

- "Long, technical story, but the gist of it is that you guys allied with a extradimensional force, and that dagger allowed me, his representative within this alliance, to 'home in' on the body it got stabbed into. So the dagger acted as a cosmic lightning rod of sorts, i suppose you could say."

The Bat-Man screeched in pain, not expecting Tigeroid to suddenly attack him. The high output of the artillery cannon on Tigeroid's back hit really hard, tearing a hole into the monster's chest. The bat monster stumbled back before collapsing to the floor, rapidly dissolving until nothing was left of its body.

Thanacheir noticed that while the artillery cannon's barrel looked a bit worn, the back-mounted weapon's integrity was nevertheless solid. There was little needed to fix with her own power with the amount of power she let loose from within the tiger humanoid.


The flamboyant old man looked up at Varin, his face twisted in mad glee despite threatened to receive more pain. Long squid tentacles shot out from his body, swatting aside the threatening firearm as the old man's disguise came off to reveal a monstrous squid humanoid underneath.

"You have the gall to threaten me with that peashooter of yours!? I'll pay you back double for the humiliation you inflicted upon me!" the creature angrily cried out as unusual portals formed to the left and right and unleashed spheres of explosive energy at the group in an attempt to blast them off.

The Kamen Rider was quick enough to respond, leaping out of the way as the spheres landed on the streets and causing explosions in the general vicinity.

"Kekeke!!! You may have won this round, but I'll be back!" the monster called out as another portal appeared behind it while the heroes were forced to regroup, giving the Stage Shocker creature time to retreat.

Thanacheir watched as the old man removed his disguise, revealing a -- to her -- familiar face beneath. Any doubt on whether it was the same creature swiftly dealt with by the appearance of the portals she had seen before.

- "Oh, don't be like that, Space IkaDevil!"

She took a few steps towards the squid-monster, spreading her arms to either side of her.

- "Why don't you come get a hug... like last time?"

She continued her advance, giving no outward sign of aggression, though the sinister laugh wasn't doing that impression a lot of good.

Harlock heard the explanation but was at a loss to fully comprehend what the explanation exactly meant coming from a creature who only moment ago tried to kill him. Before he could try to make sense of it all, one of the creatures unleashed some kind of explosive devices and Harlock had to leap out of the way himself.

As the tiger creature now ally expressed familiarity with the tentacled one that caused the explosions, he turned his attention to the Kamen Rider.

"Forgive our intrusion between your enemies but we are new to this place and only wished to assist and not hinder your efforts."

Varin jumped back as the old man revealed that he was some other kind of creature, and dodged out of the way of the explosives it summoned and once it was gone turned to the others as Harlock addressed the Kamen rider, but now she made no effort to hide her robotic hand as she reloaded her guns.

Once explosions and cowardly evildoers had disappeared, Virulina emerged to meet this Kamen Rider and see if they could advance their mission.  Their objective had been a bit murky, so she'd have to trust in her woman's intuition to steer her true.

"Your 'monster friends' are charming, Stage... do they visit often?  At any rate, we came seeking the creator of this world... and we're hoping you can facilitate it.  Other worlds are in peril from 'goons' of this ilk."

While the monstrous being did not let Thanacheir's provocation get the better of him, Space IkaDevil shook a tentacle angrily at the avatar that possessed one of its minions before vanishing through the portal completely. There was a momentary silence before the group met up with the one called Kamen Rider Stage.

"Despite your unexpected arrival, I am still grateful for your help," the masked warrior said as he turned to look at the newcomers, his curiously looked at the direction of the former Stage Shocker warrior that was also taken over by one of the otherworlders, "But I'm not sure I understand what you mean about the creator of this world... Whoever you may be."

- "Long story."

Tigeroid shook his shoulders for a moment and, enveloped in a brief glow, changed back into a form resembling an Asian middle-aged man with a leather jacket and sunglasses. He took the sunglasses off, inspecting them for a moment.

- "Hm. I approve of this."

He then turned back to Stage Shocker.

- "Basically, Space IkaDevil has an ability to travel between worlds, and he's trying to take them over, stirring up trouble with the locals in each one with the usual promises of wealth and power. Bigger villain pulling his strings too, but for now we're taking it one world at a time."

"It is alot to take in - believe me, i know", Harlock said. "But its true - my own world has succumbed to this...Imbalance for lack of a better term. Helping you is hopefully the first steps in saving mine and my companions respective worlds."

Varin stood by the others and listened before she spoke up.

"Well some of that would explain why that lame brained admiral suddenly decided it would be a smart idea to start a war with not only the outer colony pirates but also the galactic empire pirates at the same time. But that doesn't really explain how I went from using my ship to shield an ally to suddenly being in a park here in this world."

Thanacheir sighed, taking her -- his, she needed to get used to that -- glasses of as he approached the masked rider.

- "Look, it can easily be verified. Despite the power we have just put on display, none of us exist in any of this world's databases. Well, this body might, actually, but that's beside the point. No license, no birth records, not even as much as a supermarket receipt. And with this amount of mastery, we'd have to have made waves practicing at some point if we had been born and raised in your world."

He motioned at the place Space IkaDevil had left through a portal a moment ago. Going by Varin's comment she figured he was a pretty recent addition, so he decided to include a simple explanation for everyone's sake.

- "As for them... Ugh, how to keep it simple... Okay, basically the entirety of existence as you know it runs on batteries, and those guys are trying to steal and drain them. The rest of us are all from different existences. That help?"

The Kamen Rider regarded each person before him, each visibly different in features from one another. It was clear to him that they were here looking for him in the hopes of restoring their respective worlds to how they were supposed to be.

"I am aware of your circumstances, being displaced from your worlds by a common enemy..." Stage spoke solemnly as he withdrew his weapon back into his belt, "But I am afraid you put too much faith in me, a lone guardian of this world. This world will not last long should I leave it behind."

Virulina decided that a direct approach was needed.

"We were told that your world is a very recent creation, Stage.  It is our hope that by learning how it came to be... we could learn things that may aid our fractured worlds.  We are not asking you to abandon your post."

In her opinion, The group had demonstrated suitable 'heroics' to make such a reasonable request.

Thanacheir looked surprised at that, tilting her head slightly as she listened to Virulina.

- "Or you could, y'know... ask me? I'm pretty much the only one here who can answer those questions firsthand."

She gestured at the others to ask away if they were interested, while taking a seat on the bumper of a car that got flipped upside down somewhere during the fighting.

Tristram, having been silently contemplating his current situation to no avail, sighed and turned to the scarlet-haired destroyer.

“Alright, I’ll bite. What do you know, uhhhhhh...”

Suddenly, his face turned from one of worry to a face of realization, a face similar to that of Archimedes upon his discovery of displacement.

“I just realized that I know none of you, so I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Tristram Teraff, Chicago born and bred!”

Thanacheir gave a polite nod.

- "Thanacheir. And currently also Tigeroid and Eisuke Mikage, depending on one's point of view. Either is fine. No homeworld, mine died couple of eons ago."

She then turned to Virulina, Varin Harlock and relative newcomer Akira, giving them an opportunity to introduce themselves as well before she'd begin.

Varin listened to first tristram introduce himself, and then the other being that had taken over the tiger creature.

"I'm Varin, captain of the galactic empire space pirate ship Ancestor, though I'm more frequently called the black hole devil."

"I am Harlock, Captain of the Space Galleon Arcadia", Harlock said.

There was a pause as Stage looked to each one when they introduced themselves. All of them were displaced because of the villain that was pursuing him. He took a deep breath before looking down.

"You already know that I go by Stage..." he said as he twisted the knob on the device stuck to his belt. A small sphere ejected from the top of the device before fading from existence, followed by a voice declaring "SCENE END" as Stage's armor dissipated to reveal a man in his twenties, garbed in a plain blue shirt and jeans with a white jacket, "Akira Hoshizawa is my name, and I am a former weapon of Stage Shocker."

The surroundings gradually changed to that of a large garage with couches on one side. Akira settled on one of the couches as he remained in deep thought. On a wall were shelves holding a variety of paraphernalia one would guess to belong to some of the monsters that were defeated. On another wall was a particularly large painting of various Kamen Riders of varying forms and features - Virulina would in fact recognize one of them.

"How were you able to find me?" the young man decided to ask first. His face showed a troubled look as he waited for their response.

- "Well, that part's fairly easy."

Thanacheir half-shrugged, and continued, using her hands as visual aides.

- "Okay, so imagine the entirety of this existence -- which i suppose you call a world -- is like a bubble. Someone entering it from outside would require them to punch a hole through, right? Normally the bubble would pop, but one of the crystals' tasks is keeping this existence stable, so that doesn't happen. Unless, y'know, they're not where they're supposed to be. But that aside, the making of the hole is what we detect, so here we are... And yes, that means we wouldn't know when the regular inhabitants of this existence get antsy and stage an attack on its defenders -- namely, you -- which explains why they're going through the trouble of recruiting, strengthening and in some cases organizing the locals, as you may have noticed."