#everything is the same except tsukasa is king in that plot

[tsukikoayanosuke]

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time! 

Sega! You can’t just give me alchemist, king, mermaid, and now witches and just get away with this!

So, excuse my brainrot. I want to write a fanfic for this, but I haven’t come out with a decent connective plot, so here’s some ideas from the characters (except the vocaloid because all of us have a mutual agreement that they are gods):

So, you have your medieval fantasy kingdom, a floating steampunk city, a fantasy wilderness, and hell/underworld itself.

Tsukasa, Saki, and Touya are siblings/half-siblings/cousins because I believe in the Tenma siblings' supremacy. Touya is the heir of the medieval fantasy kingdom instead of Tsukasa who is the oldest of the three. 

Touya is your classic prince who wants adventure rather than sitting on the throne.

Because the throne isn't for him, Tsukasa is assigned as the Captain of the Royal guard. Underneath him are Akito, Mizuki, and Shiho.

Saki still has her terminal sickness/deadly curse that even potions can't heal. 

As her bodyguard/right-hand man, Shiho always makes sure that the princess and her best friend have enough rest.

Shizuku and Haruka are royal sorceresses of the kingdom. Shizuku however has a terrible curse: every night she turns into a rabbit.

Haruka considers retiring from using magic because she injured one of her friends back then, but during her journey in the wilderness, she has a life-changing experience after meeting Minori the angel.

Akito is a half-fae who decides to venture into the human civilization and managed to rescue Touya from danger in their first meeting. He was recruited as Touya's bodyguard/right-hand man right after that.

Mizuki is a demon in disguise. She was part of the underworld's Snow White Theater but ran away for a reason unknown yet.

Minori is an angel, but not that religion-like angel. She's more of the fae goddess of nature and protector of the fantasy wilderness.

Airi is Minori's most loyal fae and practically partner.

Ena is a half-fae. Her fae father married a human mother, thus making her and Akito half-fae, but only Ena grows wing while Akito doesn't.

Nene is a mermaid. Her pond in the middle of the forest has a secret magic tunnel that can lead to the sea.

The steampunk city is located in the sky similar to Star Wars' Cloud City or Skyward Sword's Skyloft. Only a few on earth know about its existence of it. Likewise, only a few in the sky know about the existence of the land beyond the cloud.

Emu is the fun-loving daughter of the mayor who dreams to revive the local sky race called the Grand Prix. She also often visit the local alchemist at the edge of the city.

Ichika is local sky police and often have to chase the alchemist around town. But, she’s close with the assistant alchemist.

An is a pilot who creates her own ship from scraps. Her dream is one day to be part of the Grand Prix and win it, just like her father.

Kohane is a shy navigator. After first time flying with An, she decides to become her navigator if they join the race one day.

Rui is your local alchemist who lived in a planetarium-like workshop. He's very interested in the world below the cloud.

Honami is Rui's assistant who often works with the paperwork for damage controls. She's also an astrologist and a house cleaning lady for a peculiar house.

Kanade is a music box maker who rarely comes out from her room, continuing her father's legacy. She dreams of one day making a song that will save people. But she's also surprisingly knowledgeable. She knows the existence of the land beyond the clouds and the other dimension.

Said another dimension is actually a hell/underworld-like realms where demons, vampire, and those other evil beings roam. In its center, stands the Snow White Theater.

The Snow White Theater's primadonna is Mafuyu the living demon marionette. It's said that she's once a doll but the director gave life to her so it became alive.

A few references:

Tsukasa, Saki and Touya being related is because they're all featured in The Tenma Household's Hinamatsuri

Touya is the heir and his outfit is obviously from A Song of Vows for You, Dressed in Pure White!

Tsukasa is supposed to be the heir is kinda a nod to his card from Wonder Magical Showtime!

Tsukasa, Akito, Mizuki, and Shiho being knights is from The Gentleman Thief's Thrilling White Day!? (the reason I made this in the first place lol)

Princess Saki's outfit is from Operation ♡ Secret Valentine! 

Shizuku and Haruka being witches from Cast Spells on You

But also Shizuku turning into a rabbit from The Two Moon Rabbits

Akito saving Touya is kinda a nod from Period of NOCTURNE and main story since Akito is the first one who notice Akito, he's kinda a gateway for Touya to street music thus helping in "saving" Touya from classical music

Mizuki being a demon from My Footprints, Your Destination

Airi and Ena (to an extent Akito) being fae from Tell Me Your Problems! Exciting Picnic

Angel Minori from Let's Deliver! HOPEFUL STAGE ♪

Mermaid Nene from Mesmerized by Mermaids

Emu being daughter of the mayor is an obvious nod to her family owning Phoenix Wonderland and her dream of reviving the Grand Prix is her wanting to save Wonder Stage. Also her victorian-esque dress from Operation ♡ Secret Valentine!

Ichika's outfit from Knock the Future!! has such a steampunk feel (and the main reason why the whole steampunk city exist lol)

An dreams to win the Grand Prix is a nod to her dream of wanting to make a bigger event than RAD WEEKEND.

An and Kohane plotline is basically Vivid Bad Squad's story minus the Bad Dog. And their outfit is borrowed from Period of NOCTURNE which has the classical/steampunk feel

Alchemist Rui from Revival My Dream

Honami as an astrologist comes her loves for stars in the main story but also her outfit from Unwavering Feelings, Now Put Into Words 

Kanade's story is basically her plot from the game, and her dress is from Carnation Recollection (it has some gears in the trained version)

Snow White Theater is a nod from Mirage of Lights

Marionette Mafuyu from Imprisoned Marionette 

I'm convinced PrSk is slowly building its own fantasy au.

There's knights, now. There's an Alchemist. There's hermits (even if they're also knights and fairies!). Princes and Princesses!! Angels and Witches!! Mermaids!!!!

It's a fantasy au!!! I'm now waiting patiently for my food in the form of a mixed fantasy au event ty.

I have such a deep-rooted love for fantasy or royalty aus so I'm frothing at the mouth tbh

[sailor-cresselia]

Kamen Rider Zi-O 49: Finale

…You know what? No preamble this time. Let’s just do this.

Kamen Rider Zi-O episode 49: Season Finale.

Let’s go.

––––

We re-open with Tsukuyomi’s transformation into Kamen Rider Tsukuyomi!

Geiz is surprised, he didn’t see this coming. Woz and Sougo are both impressed, and Tsukuyomi… throws her hand forward… and… pauses everything…

Except Swartz.

Um.

She goes up to him, and.

Um.

Bows. To him. Dropping her transformation.

And says that she has obtained the powers of a Kamen Rider, and that she will be useful to her brother. That she’s royalty, too, and will do whatever it takes to save the world.

Um. Tsukuyomi? You are pretending, right? This is part of a plot to catch him off guard, right?

Because, uh, your expression isn’t one of, you know, devotion or satisfaction, or even resignation. You look like you don’t want to do this, so. Uh.

Please be faking?

Please?!

––––

If she’s not, and if she doesn’t transform again, this is the shortest Female Rider stint we’ve had. Didn’t think anything would beat Alia’s ‘literally one fight before becoming a prisoner’ run as Necrom-P, but…

––––

Woz’s recap – Oh HELLO.

The recap vault? You know how it has an appearance in the opening, with burning pages falling from the ceiling?

Guess what’s starting to fall around Woz right now.

The contents of his recap are simple. Thanks to Sougo’s efforts, Tsukuyomi’s become a Kamen Rider. And then she defected, which nobody saw coming. This is the last page until the end of the world.

––––

There are no opening credits today. We go right from Woz’s vault to the show title, to the sponsor segment, and to the episode itself.

––––

Tsukuyomi and Swartz stand on a rooftop at night, under a blood-red moon. He asks why they had her become a Kamen Rider.

Her answer? It was part of Tsukasa’s plan, because, according to him, her and Swartz’s world is trying to end because there are no Riders.

Swartz looks… I don’t know if that’s confused, frustrated, or ‘oh shit, I didn’t think of that.’

––––

It actually kind of works with Decade’s lore, too. If a world enters a Kamen Rider season, it has to have Kamen Riders, or it will start to collapse in on itself… even if that world isn’t supposed to have Kamen Riders. The Sentai-verse got a bit screwy when he crossed over with Shinkenger, to the point of the monster-of-the-day becoming Another Diend.

I wish I were kidding about that, but that MOTW was the OG Another Rider.

And we’ve only ever really visited one world that doesn’t, technically speaking, have Kamen Riders in the series that I can remember – during Heisei Generations FOREVER. At which point, Futaros’s actions in bringing Riders there started to mess with the fabric of space-time, to the point of old monsters just showing up, uncontrollably, with nobody there to stop them.

You know.

Like has been happening here.

––––

Okay, so I don’t think they told Geiz about this plan, but Woz and Sougo both knew.

Can… can Geiz just not lie? I mean, he’s super blunt about everything, and Tsukasa did say that his acting was horrible… Did they realize that he would somehow spill the Rider Tsukuyomi part of the plan, and not tell him that part? Because that’s the only reason I can think of for him to not know.

It does also allow us our exposition, though, so that’s something.

Tsukasa starts to detail the plan. By making Tsukuyomi into a Rider, her world could be restored. Thus, as Geiz points out, creating a ‘World of Tsukuyomi,’ not unlike the AR worlds in Decade, that they could use as a refuge from the currently-ending world they’re on now.

Woz says that she’s become a rider, so that means the plan is a success, isn’t it?

Tsukasa isn’t so sure. There are billions of people here. How could they all make it to another world?

(Sougo sort of slumps back at that. Geiz and Woz are still rigid, but Sougo seems resigned.)

Tsukasa continues. Right now, they’re in what could be called the ‘World of Zi-O.’ With Zi-O on one end, and Tsukuyomi on the other, the two powers could resonate, and create a bridge.

(Sougo draws in on himself. My ‘someone has to be there to close the door behind them’ theory is looking increasingly likely.)

There’s a visual of the plan, too. Two Earths, side by side, with a beam of light coming from each and meeting in the middle.

––––

Tsukuyomi is describing the plan to Swartz at the same time, saying that for it to work, both worlds would need ‘many Riders.’

––––

However, according to Woz, it’s all for nothing, because Tsukuyomi betrayed them.

Geiz wants to know why she would do that.

…Sougo looks like he’s thinking of something.

If they need one of them on each end, and the only people we know who can go between the two worlds are Tsukasa, Daiki, and Swartz…

They need some way to get Tsukuyomi to her World without Swartz constantly trying to kill her, now don’t they? What better way to do that then have her working on the inside?

––––

Swartz asks if she will acknowledge him as king, to which Tsukuyomi replies that his ascending to the throne is divine foretelling.

Toki No Ouja’s orchestral version starts to play as she kneels, while she has that same wide-eyed, almost hollow look as before.

––––

The music continues as Sougo stands up, and says that they’ll just have to hold them off, even if breifly.

Tsukasa points out that they’re speeding up the destruction of the world. Is he ready for that?

We cut briefly to the outside of the shop, and then to Junichiro working on cleaning a small gear of some sort. We don’t get to see what it goes to when the shot draws back, showing that he’s working at the front counter, with only the lights above him on. Whatever he’s fixing, it’s hidden behind the box he was holding last episode.

The music hits its final note as that shot closes.

––––

It’s daytime, now. There’s monsters everywhere.

I have no idea who this guy is that’s summoning a smoky cloud over a valley, but he’s got to be someone’s final boss… hang on… I have an idea… I saw this sort of cloud in Decade, during the World of Kuuga arc, so…

Yeah. Yeah, this is Kuuga’s final villain, N-Daguva-Zeba. This is fine. The world-destroying has progressed to end-bosses now.

That’s made all the more apparent by Evolt summoning a black hole and destroying three buildings in the process.

Geiz, in his Time Mazine’s mecha form, is beating up a giant crab…. YUP, same one from Hibiki that they fought off in Decade, a Bakegani.

Geiz is pissed, shouting that none of them are going to get away with this.

As he literally kicks the Bakegani away, those dragonfly like monsters start to swarm him, but he’s just shooting them down with… uh, okay, apparently the Time Mazines have missiles. This is fine.

Ah, and looks like I was right earlier, those dragonfly things are the swarm of mirror monsters that showed up at the end of Ryuki, Hydragoons.

––––

Woz and Decade are fighting against a plethora of mooks and named enemies, including Revol, the Katana Ganma (y’know, the one what did the thing in episode one), a Lion Inves, and Argus, one of the Phantoms.

They use a pair of finishers to defeat the mooks, but it doesn’t do any good – the larger enemies survived, and the mooks just respawned immediately.

A hail of gunfire comes from the other direction. Sup, Diend?

He’s all smiles right now, since he and Tsukasa get to ‘enjoy’ the end of the world together. Now that’s the greatest treasure he can imagine.

…

Rider-Time. Rider-Time, did. Did Tsukasa actually say ‘Enough flirting, and fight!’?!

Because. Uh. I don’t think he actually said that, but my Japanese isn’t good enough to pick up that sort of thing, but oh dear lord if this is how we get confirmation in-show that Daiki and Tsukasa are a thing…

He doesn’t reply to Tsukasa telling him off, and everyone just keeps fighting.

(But seriously, Daiki, this is not the time to flirt. I get that it’s kind of a ‘now or never’ situation, but come on, read the room!)

––––

At 9-to-5… Sougo’s almost finished a meal that Junichiro’s barely started. (Oh no.)

He’s not… taking his time, but he’s getting all that he can out of it.

Junichiro asks if everyone is fighting, and Sougo nods.

He finishes, and thanks his uncle, formally, in a way that he usually doesn’t do.

… oh shit. Junichiro picked up on it, too.

Shit.

“Sougo, you weren’t planning on this being your final meal, were you?” The shot switches from a very justifiably scared uncle to Sougo. “First off, you still need breakfast.” Sougo nods, making an affirmative noise.

He’s definitely agreeing to the first part.

Sougo gets up, and starts heading out – but Junichiro gets him to wait for a moment, and goes behind the counter to get something.

…You know how Junichiro was looking at the broken Build Watch a few episodes ago? And how the stand was empty when everyone headed out last episode? And how I said that the box he was carrying was about the right size for a pile of broken watches? And how he fixes clocks for a living?

Tokiwa Junichiro pulls out a tray, with a soft velvety fabric as a cushion… and eighteen disks, with the mask of eighteen different heroes.

All in full color.

Sougo’s astonished – how?

His uncle is tense. Why wouldn’t he be? His nephew is going off to fight, and potentially die, and there isn’t anything he can do about that. But these are Sougo’s and his friends’ precious watches, and there is no clock that he can’t fix.

“Ask everyone what they’d like for dinner, alright?”

Sougo pauses, smiling. “Got it. I’ll be back.” He looks up at Junichiro, determined.

Sougo may or may not be planning to make it out himself, but… he’s going to make sure that his friends do, at least.

(Seriously, my ‘he’d hoped that they would all keep each other company after he was gone’ line from the 22nd wasn’t supposed to happen, come on…)

––––

With Decade and Diend, Woz starts a Ginga Planet finisher, which starts to rain mini-planets down- and everything freezes.

Tsukuyomi emerges from behind them, hand outstretched, telling them that they can’t avoid the worlds destruction.

Swartz, as Another Decade, comes on scene, calling Woz disappointing. Or calling what he’s doing disappointing, it’s a little unclear. Either way, he blasts all three riders; Decade and Diend being thrown off screen, and Woz being frozen mid-air.

There’s no background music what-so-ever.

Swartz readies an energy blast, the same type he killed Tsukasa with, saying that he’ll make sure that Woz dies.

A second hand ticks, and a golden gate opens to the side, labeled 2017.

Build!

Swartz gets blasted by the Fullbottle buster, as wielded by Build in his TankTank form.

Drive!

He gets triple-struck by Drive: Type Formula running past.

Ghost!

He takes an Omega Drive Rider Kick from Ghost, in his base form.

Ex-Aid!

Five hits from Ex-Aid in Maximum Mighty X.

“Impossible! The history of Riders is supposed to be gone!”

The four summoned riders pose in a line, before turning to light and being de-spawned, the lights going back to the newly-recreated Grand Zi-O Ridewatch.

Sougo, untransformed, wearing his Ziku Driver, strides forward. “It’s not gone.” He holds up the watch. “Erase history all you want, but Kamen Riders are forever!”

There’s one big ol flaw in Swartz’s plan. Well, aside from Sougo’s determinator status. He had all of the riders coalesced into one, saying that it took away their histories. But even Grand still didn’t, since Sougo summons them out of their shows. We could see one of the canyons behind Build when he was summoned just now, and there’s the ‘OOO being summoned along with the column’ from Grands debut.

They’re not gone. They’re just tucked away, nice and safe in a little pocket of time.

Slowly, Sougo activates his two watches, places them in his driver, and, after what feels like a slight hesitation, starts his transformation.

I can’t complain about them using the full Grand transformation. Not in the last episode, not when it counts this much. It’s not nearly as bad as Decade Complete, it gets to the point way faster. This? This is good.

“One last showdown.”

––––

The orchestral battle version of Toki no Ouja plays. I specify that, because it feels… important, this time. Toki no Ouja is used as a battle theme with the higher level Zi-O forms a lot, but here it feels… more significant than usual.

Grand Zi-O and Another Decade trade punches, and knock each other back. Furious, Sougo tells Swartz to feel the power of the Riders.

OOO!

OOO Tajador swoops in, taken directly from an episode. I think it’s the episode Tajador debuted in, too – they’re definitely using archival footage, with OOO flying down and using the medal shield to block energy blasts, before he uses a Scanning Charge and claws Swartz with the Condor talons.

Sougo goes in for a quick sword attack against Swartz, moving him into the path of-

Wizard!

Wizard Infinity delivers a Shining Strike, which I think comes from that forms debut, too. He gets some damage in, but the giant fucking axe is still shoved away.

Gaim!

Gaim Pineapple Arms (this is fine) delivers a kick, but since he’s not anything more than a mode change, it’s easily deflected.

Grand Zi-O and Double CycloneJokerXtreme team up for another, powered, pair of energy slashes, which break through the shielding that Another Decade raised, throwing him to the ground.

(Okay, that’s almost all of the phase two’s accounted for, now where’s our Fourze appearance?)

Two can play at this ‘summoning the past’ game, though! They’re not just fighting Swartz, they can feast their eyes on the… Rider’s Rogues gallery.

Okay, Rider-Time, I really don’t think that’s what he called the endbosses that he just summoned, but it’s accurate enough.

So he’s opened a wall, and pulled through… uh. Not sure who that first one is, then N-Daguva-Zeba, Gamdeus, someone else, and Evolt.

Oh, wait, hang on. Still can’t tell who the first one is, but the person between Gamedeus and Evolt is Saggitarius. I couldn’t tell until he started moving, and I could see the zodiac symbols on his belt.

So, everyone charges forward. Evolt versus Wizard, Saggitarius versus Double, N-Daguva-Zeba versus OOO, and whomstever the fuck that guy is against Gaim.

And it seems that the Riders summoned by Grand can stick around as long as they need to, since they’re actively fighting now. Not that it’s a surprise, we saw this happen with Drive sticking around during the Grand vs Oma fight a while ago, but it’s good to have confirmation.

Swartz and Gamedeus team up against Sougo, and start promptly kicking his ass, knocking his sowrd away. We cut to Kuuga end-boss and whomstever taking out OOO and Gaim, and then to Saggitarius and Evolt doing the same to Wizard and Double.

(Seriously,who is this guy?! Is he one of the Lords from Agito? Because I can’t find a picture of him there, but the belt and weapon style says he would be…)

All six villains start charging attacks, which merge into one huge purple fireball, which strikes Zi-O. He’s tossed back, to the ground, where his transformation breaks and he lays gasping in pain.

Swartz charges a sickly green-and-purple fireball. “Now, die!”

He fires, and Sougo curls in on himself, bracing.

Typhoon!

Geiz Revive Typhoon blocks the blast, holding it off for a moment, before it overpowers him and flings him backward… his visor breaks as he’s thrown back, before the armor dissolves.

I don’t know if his armor broke before or after he hit the wall in an explosion.

But either way… Sougo runs to an untransformed Geiz, who’s lying on the ground, and pulls him into his arms, begging Geiz to stay with him.

Geiz is having trouble speaking, but he’s still managing, somehow, even as he’s in obvious agony. “Zi-O...” (Use his name god damn it) Geiz forces himself to grab Sougo by the shirt, as the piano version of Toki no Ouja starts. “Become Oma Zi-O… become the king of time. You have what it takes… to become the most beloved overlord.”

Sougo shakes his head, barely holding back tears, begging Geiz not to die. (Rider-Time translated this as ‘don’t leave me,’ but he’s straight up saying ‘don’t die,’ come on, guys.)

“I was so happy… to have come to this time…” While Sougo is sobbing, Geiz is staying as stoic as he can, he doesn’t have the energy to have emotions and give his last words.

“Sougo…” (We see the first tear actually fall from Sougo’s eyes, and I start crying in full as well.)

“I’m happy to have been… your comrade… and friend.”

As Sougo (and myself) beg for this to not be happening, Geiz’s hand drops from it’s deathgrip on Sougo’s shirt.

Miyokoin Geiz dies in Tokiwa Sougo’s arms.

Sougo sobs, his whole body shuddering. He turns a cold, hateful gaze in Swartz’s direction…

As sparks envelop his belt, turning the white and black driver into gold.

––––

Another Decade watches as Sougo emerges from the smoke.

Glaring, Sougo crosses his arms, and screams in rage as he throws them down. A clock emblem appears on the ground, dark golds and reds and black, seeming to crack the pavement as magma surges around.

Oh, or maybe it’s not magma, or lava. Maybe it’s molten metal. It would be appropriate for the metallic armor, after all.

The haze of the heat can be seen rising up as Sougo growls the word. “Henshin.”

The transformation is dark metal circles, and shadows and smoke. A deep gong rings out when it completes, and the sheer force of the energy pushes all the villains back a few steps.

Woz runs up, just saying ‘my overlord...’

I don’t think Woz thought that Sougo would ever actually do this. Not this Sougo, the one he’s come to know.

Especially given his shock when Sougo… when Oma Zi-O orders him to rejoice.

It’s the voice of Tokiwa Sougo, but he’s cold and empty, there’s nothing there but a calm fury. And he ordered Woz to make his speech.

The final line of which is “We are now within the moment of history’s final chapter!”

Swartz starts to laugh. (Also, in the background, Evolt’s posing it up, one hand on his hip, and whomstever the heck that unidentifiable guy is tucks his staff under his arm, and is briefly clapping sarcastically.)

Swartz laughs, saying that he’s cornered Tokiwa Sougo for all this time, for this moment. Now he can claim the power of Oma Zi-O for himself. Sending out those energy waves, he starts to draw the powers to himself.

Woz runs back, the energy there is way too much for him, but Oma Zi-O… doesn’t move. He’s standing stock still, not reacting as Swartz drains him.

Swartz is gleeful as he does this, the golden light coursing over him, eventually glowing in the gaps between the ‘cards’ of his Another Decade form. Now, he can finally surpass his sister, now, he can take the throne for himself!

The power stops flowing to him, suddenly, with a burst of fire at his chest as it cuts off.

Oma Zi-O is fine, not even having to really shake anything off. “you think someone like you can take on my power?” Ridewatches start appearing in the air – Build, Ex-Aid, Fourze, Faiz, Wizard. “i have the power of every single rider!”

And he means it. OOO, Gaim, Beast, Decade, Ghost, Kiva, Necrom, Ouja, Drive, Baron, Blade, Zeronos, Kuuga, Agito, Double, Den-O… Kabuto, Mach, Eternal, Cross-Z, OOO Tajador, Genm, Knight, G-3… Sasword, Proto-Drive, Garren, Kaixa, Rogue… and even more that I can’t identify, and more that aren’t any more than multicolored lights in the background.

And each and every one of these Ridewatches turns to pure light and draws into him.

Oma Sougo has not moved a step.

Evolt and Mystery Villain charge him, but are immediately taken out with firey punches. He turns, and a swarm of bats from OG Oma Zi-O’s Kiva attack takes out the swarm of Hydragoons that tried to divebomb him.

Kuuga’s kick takes out N-Daguva-Zeba, and a single burning punch dissolves Dragblacker as it tries to bite him.

Gamedeus gets the ‘ticking golden ball of pain’ treatment that Sougo received from OG Oma Zi-O when they met, and Sagittarius gets punched into the sky, where he promptly explodes.

Oma Sougo has only turned in order to attack. He still has not moved from his spot.

Just like when he fought himself the first time.

Swartz is impressed. But he’s gotten some of Oma Sougo’s powers, at least. He’ll go back to his world, and rule as king. He summons a wall to escape-

“HYA!”

A white blade of energy pierces him in the gut from behind, running him through.

Kamen Rider Tsukuyomi is the one wielding it.

Oma Sougo makes a small sound of surprise, as Swartz makes little choked sounds of dying.

Furious, Tsukuyomi shouts. No one needs a king like him!

“You little wench. You’ve been after my blind spot…”

Swartz turns, shoves her into the air, and blasts her, point blank, sending her flying into the far wall.

Sougo screams her name, and, furious and shaking, activates a finisher.

Demise Hour

An ominious ticking noise accompanies him as he rises into the air. Not jumps. Rises, surrounded by gold light and black swirls of smoke.

Another Decade activates his own finisher, as Oma Sougo descends, screaming in rage and despair, the clock-hand cape spreading like wings as he attacks.

The Overlord’s Decimation

Gold light from Oma Sougo’s kick meets the purple light from Another Decade’s punch, and we circle the balanced attack twice, while the deep gonging of an old bell sounds in the background.

Oma Sougo’s kick breaks through, sending Another Decade flying back, and leaving a torn ring in the air just behind where they connected.

The scene freezes, cast in the green light of the usual freeze.

––––

Tsukuyomi, with her original outfit glowing a bright white, and Swartz, in his black-and-white outfit, smoke rising from him and staggering in pain, appear.

Tsukuyomi steps forward. “This world… is already mine. Brother…”

“Sister… Spare me your words!” He’s barely able to talk, as he’s slowly dropping to his knees, juxtaposed in his human form behind the face of his paused, soon-to-be-defeated Another Rider self.

She turns to face Oma Sougo, frozen in time, as she starts to fade to transparency, pink lights rising from her. “Sougo… the two worlds are now in your hands.” She smiles, sadly and fondly, as the two Earths pictured before are shown again, and merge into one.

The royal siblings both fade. Her by quietly turning to lights as she looks at her friend. Him by crying in pain as he is turned to smoke and what looks like ash.

––––

Time resumes, and the explosion of Swartz’s destruction creates a wave of time energy that engulfs the area, spreading outward and erasing the monsters that filled the sky.

Oma Sougo stands up, and Woz approaches, arms wide. “You’ve done it, my overlord. The world is saved, and you may now reign over it for eternity.”

“No. That won’t be happening.” Oma Sougo’s tone is just shy of despondent. “Because I’m going to be tearing down space and time.”

––––

“So, this is the path you choose.”

Tokiwa Sougo, bruised, bloodied, and burned, stands in a black void in front of his future self, whos face is still obscured in light.

“You have the right to rule the world, you’re the one who saved it.”

Sougo disagrees. It wasn’t him. We cut from the wide shot of the two, to just Sougo’s face. He’s absolutely dead inside, trying not to break down. “The ones who saved the world are Geiz and Tsukuyomi, and the powers of every rider.”

Shots from throughout the show, of their lives together at 9-to-5 – of Sougo, his uncle, Geiz, Tsukuyomi, and Woz. Not as heroes or soldiers, but as people. As themselves.

Tokiwa Sougo, who was so lonely before these three time travelers came into his life, won’t accept living in a world where he rules as king, but none of them are around.

He asks his future self again. “Can the powers of Oma Zi-O only be used to destroy?”

Oma folds his hands. “Destruction… must come before creation.”

(Sir, either you’re trying to give yourself a clue, or you’ve been reading too much Fullmetal Alchemist lately. Just saying.)

Sougo firms his resolve. He’s going to bring about creation, and rewrite history.

Leaning forward, Oma has one last point to make. “You’ll never be a king again.”

Sougo disagrees. “I think it’ll work out, somehow. After all, the hands of time can only move toward the future.”

Over Quartzer starts to play.

“It may seem to move back, but time only goes forward.”

Sougo smiles, real and true, as he reminds his future self of the advice his uncle gave him, way, way back at the earliest points of the show. You can move a clock backward, but it still advances.

Oma chuckles. It’s been a priveldge to see his younger self.

Oma Zi-O, his face still obscured by blinding light, fades into golden motes and disappears.

––––

In the real world, Oma Sougo raises his arms out, and a pale gold wave of light, encircles the planet, little golden clock faces accompanying it.

Tsukasa and Daiki stand on a hilltop, as the Fuuto and Yggdrasil towers, and the Skywall, dissolve.

Daiki comments that time’s being rewritten.

Tsukasa says that it looks like a new journeys starting, and they both smirk as he opens the viewfinder of his camera and takes a picture.

The one Earth is shown glowing, before diverging into 21 separate Earths.

(It’s still only one reality, Toei, nice try. But also nice nod to the fact that there’s a new rider in town. … oh my god is the World of Zero One also the World of Tsukuyomi nah i’m just kidding but that’d be hilarious)

The worlds glow, and the TV-size version of Over Quartzer ends on a shot of the outside of 9-to-5.

––––

There’s a sign saying ‘Rooms to let’ on the door.

Tokiwa Junichiro calls upstairs. “Sougo! You’re going to be late for school!”

…wait, what?

Sougo narrates. “September, 2018. Summer vacation’s over, and the boring school days have begun.”

Wait. What?

Sougo’s on his way, walking his bike down the stairs, when some of his classmates pester him about saying he’s going to be a king, as he always does. Three of them jog past, and the fourth…

Wait. What.

The fourth says he’ll wake Sougo up, just like the anonymous one from the first episode, and flips Sougo onto his back, just like in the first episode.

Except it’s not the student from the first episode.

It’s Geiz.

Or, as schoolgirl Tsukuyomi calls him, Miyokoin-kun. Please note that they do not use her name at all. Thanks.

She tells him that he’s always too rough, grabs him by the collar, and yells at him to just be nice… before flipping him onto his back. She didn’t have to get back up like he did, and flipped him over her, as opposed to how he sent Sougo below where he was.

Sougo is recovering a whole lot faster than Geiz, who is on the ground in pain as Tsukuyomi dusts off her hands and walks away.

Schoolgirl Hora – wait what – comments that they’re always like this, and schoolboy Heure – who looks happy and that makes me happy – says that he sure admires ‘Ou-sama-sempai.’ Or, as Rider-time translates it, ‘Upperclass King.’

Hora asks what that names all about. Heure replies that well, he’s always said he’s going to be a king, right? He’s kinda dumb, but Heure thinks he can do it.

“…Whatever.” Hora checks her watch, and incidentally reveals that she’s got a little toy rabbit keychan hanging from her bag. “I’ve got some bad news for you.”

“Eh?!”

“We’re going to be late.”

All five of them start taking off – and nobody helps Geiz up, because being Geiz is suffering.

––––

They’re all running into the courtyard, and Woz watches from on top of the building. Regular, brown coat, book-carrying Woz.

He says that for Ordinary High School Student, Tokiwa Sougo, a future where he becomes Oma Zi-O is waiting for him. …Or, maybe it isn’t. Time will tell. From here on, a different history from the one in his book will have to be written.

He closes the Oma Advent Calendar decisively.

Our closing shots are of Hora and Tsukuyomi laughing to each other, Heure smiling, and Sougo and Geiz running together.

The end screen has the Zi-O and Geiz watches… and the Zero One watch in the center.

––––

So. That. Sure was an ending.

It was going great up until that world-changing maneuver.

I’ll have to try and write up some proper thoughts on this eventually, but for now…

I’ve never been a fan of the ‘it never happened’ ending for stories. It cheapens the struggles, for me. I’ll have to find a way around this when I finally get there in ReUnited, but that’s beside the point.

This is… I don’t know if I like the decision of how to save everything that Sougo came to. But the others – Geiz, Tsukuyomi, Heure, and Hora – get to have normal lives now. That’s… that’s good. They never had a chance for that before. So I’m happy for them. But…

It still feels hollow. It feels wrong that they don’t remember what happened, that nobody but Woz is around who remembers, and that he can’t even interact with them. They aren’t the same people anymore, anyway. They may be better off, they have the same quirks, but… it’s not the same.

And time even reset back to before Sougo met any of them, so this entire year may as well have never happened for the World of Zi-O.

Hm.

That’s Kamen Rider Zi-O. 49 episodes. A metric boatload of cameos from previous seasons. Two metric boatloads of re-used monster suits. A second season for Decade, and possible confirmation that Tsukasa and Daiki are a cou- okay, sorry, disregard that last bit, it’s not relevant.

But this has been the 29th season of Kamen Rider. On to season 30, Kamen Rider Zero One.

(Toei, I am begging you, find a better naming scheme, and stop using hyphens in your season names. Please.)

EDIT, MANY HOURS LATER: UTOPIA. THE VILLAIN I COULDN’T FIGURE OUT IS THE UTOPIA DOPANT. IT’S KAZU FUCKING JUN. SCREW THAT GUY.

[sailor-cresselia]

Zi-O 43: Σ(°ロ°)

Previously, on Zi-O: Everything went to hell. This time, on Zi-O… well. Everything continues to be terrible, and quickly gets worse.

––

Hiryuu mocks Sougo for not being able to protect Tsukuyomi, which… okay, valid. But Sougo’s going through a lot right now, and he was kinda stopped by Woz. There’s just too many battles on too many fronts right now.

And then Hiryuu proceeds to kick the collective asses of Sougo, Geiz, and Tsukasa, the last of whom realizes that they are out of their depth, and yanks them away via a dimensional wall.

Man, those things are handy.

(continued under the cut)

––

After Woz’s recap, we head back to that ballroom/throne room that Hiryuu was lounging in earlier, with Swartz, Uhr, and a bound Tsukuyomi.

So the time stopping ability? Is supposed to be hereditary – it runs in his and Tsukuyomi’s family. Which, uh, remembering the time that Swartz dragged Sougo to when the kid was eight? That’s! Not helping! At all!

(Please don’t have Tsukuyomi be related to Sougo PLEASE don’t have Tsukuyomi be related to Sougo)

Swartz… intends to be the one on the throne. Uhr justifiably questions that – they were supposed to be finding someone to sit on the throne instead of Oma Zi-O. Except… well, technically speaking that’s what Swartz is doing. He just never told you the full story.

You know how I’ve been saying he’s had his candidate all along?

YEAH THAT SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN EVEN MORE ACCURATE THAN I THOUGHT.

And then he knocks Uhr to the ground, and Hora shows up – telling Uhr that Swartz gave Daiki the same powers that he gave them. (At least Daiki has the ‘decency’ to pretend to be embarrassed. “Was that supposed to be a secret?” indeed.)

Hey. Hey Swartz.

Screw you.

What can be given can also be taken away, as he so easily demonstrates…

Last episode he grabbed Daiki and forcibly implanted the time jacker powers into him.

Today he grabs Hora, and forcibly drains them from her, leaving her to fall to the ground, where Uhr barely manages to catch her, trying to back away. Hora’s not here right now – she’s incredibly limp, barely conscious, and I’m scared for her.

Good tactics on Uhr, though – using Tsukuyomi’s blaster to shoot at Swartz, who, as usual, deflects the blast without even looking. That’s just a distraction, though, so that Uhr can get the two of them out of there.

I’ve been telling you two kids to run for months now. He has never had your interests at heart, has never had the same agenda as you.

You really should have caught on during Kikai.

…Daiki, do not go along with Swartz’s orders to eliminate them. Don’t do that, you’re not going to get whatever he promised you. He just attacked his underlings, why on earth do you think he’ll follow through on any promises he makes to you?!

So, Daiki takes off, and now we’ve just got Swartz and Tsukuyomi.

…Is he going to give us actual LORE?! Are we ACTUALLY GETTING THE PLOT?!

Well, maybe. Only after the OP, though.

––

Or maybe not, because we jump back to 9-to-5.

Tsukasa admits that Daiki’s never had that particular power before, despite his sizable grab bag of powers – uh. Tsukasa. You just. Left all of that bread. In the helmet. Why are you using the helmet as a bread bowl. Tsukasa please.

…Junichiro PLEASE. NO. You can’t go save Tsukuyomi, you would DIE. Just… please, just go make dinner, okay? Please stay here, and save, and not making a fool of yourself like literally everyone is aware that you would do. You would not survive fighting these people, not when your ‘armor’ is sauce pans and veggies.

Oh no, poor Sougo – people still don’t remember him, including his uncle, so here comes the minor breakdown over Junichiro saying he’s never cooked for him before.

Geiz just pats him sympathetically on the shoulder.

––

And now back to Uhr and Hora, who are hiding out in… some abandoned restaurant or other, which for some reason still has all the tables set? Sure, whatever. Toku apocalypses are weird.

Uhr’s pissed that they’ve been being used – again, really should have caught on when he forcibly turned you into Another Kikai – and swears that he’s going to take Swartz down… and Hora doesn’t look like she’s doing so hot.

Even less so when Daiki shows up.

Yeah, I didn’t expect that he’d actually try to kill them. He’s in this for himself, first, foremost, and only. (I miss the photo studio polycule. Natsumi, Yusuke, please come ground this asshole.) So, he’s… just… okay, so he’s clearly got his eyes on a bigger prize than the Grand Watch, because he tosses it to Hora.

Of course, he has to make this whole ‘totally being the guard dog’ scam he’s pull look convincing, so… Daiki no. He calls in the two Another Riders who were searching for the two former time jackers – Another Faiz and Double.

––

As they’re running away, and even just as they’re in the restaurant, Uhr is his usual slightly bouncy self, albeit more furious than usual, but Hora’s not nearly so active. Yeah, she usually kind of lounges around, but she’s exhausted. We can see this even clearer when Another Faiz and Double have them cornered – Hora’s got eyebags under her eyebags, and looks like she had difficulty running however far they did, going by how she leans on the platform/loading dock they’re backed up to.

Geiz thinks this whole thing is a trap – why would Another Riders be chasing Time Jackers if it wasn’t – but Sougo’s still going to help them, even if it is a trap.

He’s too nice, but it’s also very necessary right now. At least he acknowledges the possibility of this being a trick, so that’s something.

Sougo’s gotten a lot more clever since we met him, and I’m proud.

The Another Riders are dispatched easily enough, and somehow by their respective RideArmors. Which. Uh. Shouldn’t those be part of the Grand watch right now? To say nothing of how altered-timeline Geiz probably shouldn’t have the Faiz watch anyway. …You know what, whatever. Not gonna question it any more than that.

Sougo asks why the Another Riders were after the pair, and Uhr tries to dismiss the whole thing as none of their concern, attempting to leave.

But Hora wants to ask a favor.

(Careful, guys. Last time she asked you for a favor, it was so that she could properly make the Another Kikai watch.)

(I’m more willing to trust her right now, though.)

(Although I trusted her back then, too.)

––

(TERRIFIED SCREAMING ENSUES ON THE PART OF THE BLOGGER)

OKAY I ACTUALLY WATCHED THIS SCENE COMPLETELY THROUGH BEFORE COMING BACK TO THE NOTES BECAUSE HOLY SHIT

holy shit

Okay so by “the power runs in their family” we apparently mean “the time powers are a trait in a ROYAL BLOODLINE.”

And by “Swartz and Tsukuyomi are part of a ROYAL BLOODLINE” we mean “one from a completely different timeline.”

And also mean Swartz is the sibling with the most power and he feels it would have been logical for him to be next in line for the throne.

But the role was going to go to his sister.

You know.

Tsukuyomi.

The amnesiac.

Who was not rendered that way accidentally.

No, because Swartz, the petty bastard that he is, erased her memories and dropped her in another timeline.

The Oma Zi-O timeline.

He didn’t expect her to survive.

But it’s nice that she did, and that her powers have awakened.

Because now he can take them from her.

Mind you, as he is saying all of this, he is losing his usual composure, and becoming increasingly visibly unhinged.

When she tries to run, he force lifts her in the air and starts painfully draining the power from her.

She’s saved by Woz timely (heh) running in and using a green burst of energy to break his focus, and she falls to the ground. Woz looks scared.

For all that he’s on umpteen levels of subterfuge, Woz might genuinely care about the trio. I hope. Please.

After all, he calls her ‘Tsukuyomi-kun’ and runs up to try and help her.

He doesn’t make it, unfortunately, because Swartz hurls him bodily into the wall – the part by the ceiling. The very high ceiling, and then he drops.

This is not fine at all.

Swartz: It was pretty blatant that you switched sides to get info, you know.

Woz: And yet you still revealed your plan. (ow) Thanks. (I am in so much pain)

Doesn’t matter to Swartz. He’s just going to take her power, and nobody will be able to stand in his way.

And he does. He force lifts Tsukuyomi again, and Woz can’t stop him, and he drains her power from her before letting her drop. She’s not moving. Woz scarf-teleports the two of them the hell out of there.

Swartz doesn’t seem to give a damn. He’s got what he wanted – and the aura of purple energy that surrounds him is scary. Not as scary as the laughter, though. Or as scary as the way his eyes glow purple right before the scene transition…

With the sound of an Another Watch activating.

––

Hora gives back the Grand watch, making Sougo swear that he’ll take down Swartz with it. And at least now we’ve got people on the same page – she and Uhr told Sougo and Geiz that Swartz intends to become king.

I think this is the first time everyone has had the same information, actually. Well, once we get back to 9-to-5, and a bedridden Tsukuyomi tells them that apparently her and Swartz are siblings. But even if they are related, she won’t let him do as he pleases.

Tsukasa says that he gets what’s going on… more or less. “No, I can’t actually tell you, Geiz, because I only mostly get it, and I have to keep up my chill demeanor somehow.”

And yeah, Woz was siding with Hiryuu to get information. Which makes sense – area man is on multiple levels of playing fields at all times. But Sougo, you really shouldn’t have had faith in him. I mean, I know that you don’t know that he’s most likely more loyal to Oma Zi-O than Kamen Rider Zi-O, but still.

So. No matter who it is – Swartz or Hiryuu – Sougo isn’t about to let them rule. Not like this. The first order of business, then, is that they have to take down Hiryuu and repair the timeline.

––

Time to storm the castle…

Or. Uh. Walk up to it through the woods, and stand in a line, seeing all the Another Riders there. Including Another Kuuga, of all things, hulking above the rest of them.

(Most of the another riders are being super generic, but I still noticed Another Fourze doing the hair straightening thing in the shot that included him, and that still makes me giggle a little.)

(Also, Tsukasa, if you could stop appearing so lackadaisical about this? We are entering a pretty decently sized fight here. I know you’re a veteran at this and all, but there’s a lot of enemies, and you have been getting your ass kicked lately. I’m just saying.)

Hiryuu goes on about how Sougo ruined his life, so he’s going to ‘wipe out Sougo’s very existence.’

Okay, so. Cool motive, still murder. Also your motive is wrong, because it’s all the fault of the guy what gave you the power in the first place, and this is very definitely not okay. I mean, you can’t just. Take over the world because of this. You can’t just change peoples entire histories for revenge.

Sougo agrees with most of my points. All except the one where it’s not Sougo’s fault in the first place. No, Sougo apologizes, saying he never meant to hurt Hiryuu.

(He never actually did, anyway, he saved his life, but… I mean really.)

When Sougo says that he’ll beat Hiryuu, and set things right… he’s so quiet. Subdued, even, especially compared to how he shouted that what Hiryuu is doing is wrong.

Huh.

––

THIS IS TOO MANY JINGLES AT ONCE.

MY POOR EARS.

I’M NOT EVEN WEARING HEADPHONES.

––

BWAHAHAHAHA!

They’re about to go attack, but-

Woz: IWAE! MY OVERLORD IS GONNA BEAT AN IMPOSTER DOWN, AND RECLAIM HIS RIGHTFUL THRONE!

Decade: …oh dear lord, he’s still doing this?

Geiz: He’s done this before?

Tsukasa: Oh, my sweet, summer, altered-timeline child…

––

So, we’ve got some fights going on here. Sougo and several Another Riders head for the woods, namely Ghost, Den-O, Hibiki, and Ryuki. Then Hiryuu shows up, trying to use the Zi-O II future-vision to get the drop on Sougo… who. Flashsteps out of the way?

Saying that it’s his power?

Huh.

––

And then over with Decade… he’s able to take down Another Double and Agito with Attack Ride: Blast.

Another Faiz, Kabuto, and Gaim manage to temporarily stall him, before he takes them out with Attack Ride: Slash. Also, I noticed Another Faiz doing that lean that Actual Faiz sometimes did, so that’s nice.

That’s five down, since we didn’t see Sougo defeat the ones he’s against.

But then Tsukasa gets shot in the back.

Diend: Hey again. You get to fight me.

…Has Daiki always used ‘boku’? I don’t think I’ve ever noticed that before.

(What? I’m doing an Ex-Aid rewatch. I’m now contractually obligated to try and pay attention to which pronouns people use.)

Tsukasa knocks Daiki down-

Daiki: NOPE! freezes Tsukasa mid-attack prep

Tsukasa, internally, because he’s frozen: Oh shit

Daiki, to Swartz, who has been looking on like a creeper: How’s that?

Swartz: Sweet.

He then proceeds to take out a blank ridewatch.

Wait.

Shit.

A blank watch. With a rider present.

We’ve only seen a few Another Watches formed.

There’s only two Another Riders we haven’t seen.

Drive.

AND DECADE.

Swartz shoves the blank watch against Tsukasa’s chest, breaking the time stop.

And draining Tsukasa’s power. Painfully.

His armor goes grey, similar to the color as when he first puts it on, and seems to dissolve into smoke as he drops down offscreen, struggling in pain.

––

SURE, cut to a clearing! Not like that was REALLY IMPORTANT OR ANYTHING!

But it’s to see Woz Ginga and Geiz Revive Typhoon fighting a whole bunch of Another Riders.

Namely Build, Fourze, Kuuga (who’s a bit hard to miss), OOO, Blade, Ex-aid, and Kiva.

And the two riders are so confident that they’re having a nice little chat as they fight.

Namely, Geiz – still with his memories altered – asking if they really worked together in the other timeline.

Woz: Oh, yes, of course. You were my completely loyal underling, we both worked for our overlord.

Geiz: That’s bullshit. Quit lying.

Woz: …How’d he know? Well, it was worth a shot.

A pair of finishers later, and we’re down another seven Another Riders. That’s twelve confirmed down, and four seen in action, but with unconfirmed status, leaving sixteen Mook Another Riders – seventeen total, with Hiryuu. …Where the heck is Wizard? He’s the only one I haven’t seen yet… well, outside of the obvious two that we haven’t had yet.

Also, Woz’s finisher was him literally raining METEORS onto the battlefield. Because Woz Ginga can never be too over the top, apparently.

––

Back to the Zi-Os…

Sougo takes out his allotment of non-boss Another Riders, still with no sign of Wizard, I went back and looked and he hasn’t been on screen since the battle started.

But they’re down, and he’s started to lay the beat down on Hiryuu, who’s intensely frustrated that he can’t win.

Also, he’s fed up with all the speeches.

Sougo says that it’s because Hiryuu’s too focused on the past, while he is trying to forge a new future.

Finish Time! Grand Zi-O!

All Twenty!

Grand Zi-O leaps into the air for his finisher, and – HOLY SHIT.

THAT SURE IS ALL TWENTY HEISEI RIDERS.

BEING SUMMONED INTO THE AIR. IN THE CLASSIC RIDER KICK POSE.

Notably, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to the particular order they appear in, but they are located in the same places they are on the Grand Watch.

THAT SURE IS A FINISHER THOUGH.

It launches each rider in rapid succession, starting with Kuuga and going in order. As each one lands their kick, his respective emblem appears behind Hiryuu, finishing with Sougo landing a reality shattering kick.

Waves of rainbow energy expand outward, fixing the city, erasing the commemoration statue, and leaving Sougo…

––

And leaving Sougo, untransformed, having just landed a Rider Kick. And in a park, presumably the one they were in in the altered timeline, but where everything is repaired and normal.

Everything is very repaired, since Geiz and Tsukuyomi remember him again. But where…

Ah, there’s Hiryuu, collapsed on the ground a little ways away, reaching for his still intact Another Zi-O watch for crying out loud what will it take to destroy that thing?!

Well, I guess we’re not going to find out, since Daiki just up and takes it!

Oh, look, here’s Swartz, letting him take it! And telling Hiryuu that he’s served his purpose, and that he’ll meet up with the others again.

I can’t tell if he says this aloud, but… he says that Decade’s powers are his, and walks off.

Revealing a very unconscious Kadoya Tsukasa on the ground behind him.

––

The last shot of the episode…

Swartz, on a roof.

Holding the Another Decade watch.

“Now… let us begin.”

––

the endcard is Another Zi-O II (center), Another Decade (upper right) and… Another Hibiki (lower left), who are quickly replaced with Zi-O, Geiz, and Woz, respectively.

Why Hibiki, though?

––

Next time, on Kamen Rider Zi-O!

Another Drive appears!

Uhr and Hora are looking for protection!

A good water boy appears! Hi, Miharu! We’ve missed you! I can’t say that any of us expected that particular rumor, about Kamen Rider Aqua showing up, to be true, but here you are!

Yay!

And, in the significantly less ‘yay’ department…

Swartz appears to plan to be turning himself into Another Decade.

Whether that’s him under there or not, Anotehr Decade looks powerful, going by that wall of explosions he’s setting off.

––

So. One problem – Hiryuu’s reign of terror – has been dealt with, but now we’ve got a whole NEW set of problems! FUN TIMES!