#we've got two episodes left and i needed these out here asap

[sailor-cresselia]

Riders ReUnited: During Zi-O

Hey there! So, Zi-O is ending soon. We’ve only got a few episodes left, and at this point, I have absolutely no idea where the endgame is going, if people are going to get their histories back, or anything of the sort.

I have plans for what I want to do in the Riders ReUnited storyline with regards to adapting Zi-O, since at this point I can’t ignore it like I had intended to.

But with no real way of knowing how it’s going to end, I don’t know if any of the segments I’ve been working on since October are going to still work. I might wind up using them anyway, but it’s up to chance right now.

So, I figured that I ought to put these up somewhere, instead of potentially letting them go to waste.

I’ve repeatedly stated my preference for the riders who ‘forgot’ to have been pretending, and this mostly deals with that.

As such, here are my plans for the events of Zi-O, as they happen to the rest of Phase Two. (Keep in mind, I know next to nothing about Den-O, and half of the ones that involve Decade were written before I had, in fact, seen Decade.)

Hey, so, about the new kid...

It’s a full house at the meetup this month – nearly everyone who was active starting with Double and Accel is present. It’s impressive, really.

The problem starts when the sound of a train carries into the park.

There’s no train station nearby. Or tracks, for that matter. The station’s across the city.

Another train horn sounds, from a slightly different direction.

At this point, both Eiji and Shinnosuke have grown considerably pale.

Takeru looks at them. “Officer Tomari, Eiji, what’s the problem?”

“Remember the first reason I said I hate time travel? Zeronos was stuck in the loop with me.” Shinnosuke gulps.

Eiji’s chanting under his breath. “Please don't be another Shocker timeline please don’t be another Shocker timeline…”

As the trains pull through – slightly distressing everyone who hasn’t seen them before – it’s apparent that something is going on. There’s a large number of imajins with the two riders and…

“We didn’t do it!” Ankh shrieks defensively. “Whatever the hell happened, it wasn’t us!”

The conductor is there.

“I understand your apprehension-”

“I mean it! I’ve only been back a few months! I haven’t done a damned thing wrong and they're all witnesses!” He wildly points at the group.

“We know it wasn’t you, don't worry.”

Zeronos speaks up. “The new guy’s the one causing the problem. Or well, ‘is-slash-will be-slash-has been’ causing the problem. So… older guys, remember Tsukasa?”

“Vividly.” Shotaro darkly answers. “What’s he doing this time?”

“No, no, it's not him – well. Mostly not him. He’s involved. Ish. Actually, we’re all involved.”

“Everyone since Kuuga, actually.” (Den-O) winces. “Apparently, the powers that decide all our fates-”

“I knew someone had to be screwing with us!”

“Meteor, not now. Apparently they’ve decided that just about every ten years is ‘time to have someone go around and screw with all their predecessors’ time. And I’m being really literal here – he’s a time traveler. An annoying one.”

“No. No, no, NO!” Shinnosuke yells. “I’m not doing that again! Ever! You hear?”

“No, so far you don’t seem to have to worry about that…” A distortion appears in the air, Tsukasa walking through, his nose in a book. “Looks like as far as the new kid’s info goes, you don’t meet him… a lot of you don’t, actually, but.” He frowns. “Hey, spooky kid. You can use those forcefields to push things, right?”

“Kind of? Why?”

“Cause you’re going to need to do that. A couple times. It’s pretty impressive to see, actually; I just came from there.” He waves the book. “That’s how I got this. The kid’s stealing my whole gimmick. He’s basically ripping off my ability to copy people, and I just had to give him the ability to copy me copying other people. It’s absurd, and I’m basically stuck playing the bad guy again. But essentially…

“As far as he and his group know, their enemies are turning people into versions of riders that replace the actual riders. But they’re basically monsters, half of them seem to lose their sense of self, certain others go mad with power…” He glances briefly at the doctor group “And basically the powers of the rider they’re copying leave the rider, and go to the monster.”

“Hang on.” Haruto interjects. “If they’re taking our powers, what else…”

“Our memories go with them – but only for the chronological synchronization of when the ‘Another Rider’ exists.” Zeronos shrugs. “Also, our enemies are erased for that period of ‘time’ as well.”

Ankh skips directly from inarticulate protests straight into a flurry of swears. It’s an impressive selection of languages, actually. Japanese, modern German, middle German, a variety of slightly-broken phrases from regions Eiji traveled to in the past handful of years…

Parad lets out a scream of rage. “So, we’re just not going to exist? What the hell?!”

Den-O laughs awkwardly. “Kind of? It’s temporary. You’re temporarily ‘retconned’ out of existence, until the ‘Another Rider’ is defeated. Then everything’s back the way it is supposed to be. Thing is, these guys? The new guys? They think that once they do this, nobody existed. They think that everyone’s past as a rider is completely gone.

“For some reason, they’re convinced we all wind up with amnesia since ‘none of it ever happened’, so just. Just play along, it’ll be over with soon enough.”

“Question!”

“Yes, Hojo?”

“What if they meet us in the past? You’re kind of implying that’s a thing.”

“We’re actively warning the people we have on record having met them. Also, uh, we. Might be gettin g a few people back from the dead because of all this?” Tsukasa shakes his head as he turns a page. “Gonna have to double check some of this information… Some guys going by Kaixa and Baron might be back to stay? It’s unclear.”

“Huh.” Micchy bites at his lip. “Kaito wasn’t too pleased about being brought back when the Megahex invaded.”

“Yeah, he wasn’t that thrilled at that stunt Genm pulled, either.” Kiriya mutters. “Pretty sure he’s gonna ask to go right back to the afterlife.”

---

I KNEW we were forgetting something!

“Look.” Shinnosuke jabs at the table. “I hate time travel. I don’t like this whole ‘we have to fake amnesia’ situation. But as long as this doesn’t land us in yet another Shocker timeline, we can probably make it through this alright.”

Humming uncertainly, Eiji shakes his head. “I dunno. I mean, I trust Den-O-”

“That’s not even the one we met, where was the purple guy?”

“Pretty sure it was the same conductor, though, so we’re not escaping that triple-consecutive lifetime ban anytime soon.”

“Tch.”

“Anyway.” Eiji continues. “I trust Den-O and that team to not get us into a Shocker timeline. Decade, though?” He laughs incredulously. “We are all. Going. To die.”

“Aw, come on.” Gentaro frowns. “He isn’t that bad.”

Shotaro looks over. “Gen. When you met him? That wasn’t the first time he lead a version of Shocker. Or the first time he erased all of the other Riders.”

“Can I ask a question here? For some context?” Embarrassed, Ryuuga raises his hand, Sento snorting in the background. “Hey, shut up! So, I get that this Decade guy is another Rider, and you’re all sick of him for some reason. But who is this ‘Shocker’ you keep mentioning every now and then?”

The assorted conversations around the room rapidly die down.

Kiriya shrugs. “Gotta admit, I was wondering, too.”

“I don’t know what Shocker is, and at this point I was too afraid to ask…” Parad admits, looking away.

“They had… something to do with that Hero Taisen game? I think?” Biting his lip, Emu rubs the back of his neck. “Maybe? I was ‘busy’ for most of that, so…”

“Oh.” Shinnosuke’s face falls. “Did we… did we never actually tell you guys?”

Shoving his chair back, Gou turns and storms out of the room. “Not it. Not reliving that. Count me out. See ya. Bye.”

Holding his head in his hands, Takeru whimpers. “Mister Hongo is going to be so disappointed in me. Again.”

“No, no, nonono, you’re coming at this wrong, man.” Gentarou shakes his head, grinning wildly. “Takeru. Bud. This? This is our time to shine. We just need to get some things together-”

“Please don’t wear the Stronger costume.”

“Aw, come on, Ryuusei! You weren’t even here for my Stronger costume!”

“I’ve seen the Stronger costume, and I’m telling you. Don’t.”

--- ---

Episodes 03&04, Version One

When the time mazines take off, headed back to 2018, Emu has to hide the sigh of relief… and the burgeoning headache.

He brings the father and his son to Seito university hospital, and the boy is admitted. So they were able to fix something, at least.

It’s not until he leaves, sneaking out a back entrance, and makes it to a nearby park, that he can finally sit down, and it’s just barely in time for him to avoid collapsing.

“Emu?”

It’s really hard to look up, but he has to. “…Hey, Hiiro. This is a heck of a plan we’re carrying out, isn’t it?”

Nodding, Hiiro carefully makes his way to sit next to his coworker. His manager, at least at CR. At least, in their own time. “It certainly is. Are you all right?”

After hesitating, Emu shakes his head. “No… not yet. Probably will be once we’re home. Did you get your end of everything done?”

“Yes. A whole slate of those blank watches, hidden amongst everyone’s personal possessions, with none of us the wiser. Getting the two for Kuroto and Parad into the Genm offices was difficult.” He looks at Emu with a critical eye. “You are certain you’ll be back to normal once we’re in 2018, aren’t you?”

Emu makes a noncommittal hand gesture. “Pretty sure. That’s what Team Den-O told us, anyway. I don’t think this is why Shinnosuke and Takeru hate time travel, but it’s a pretty good reason in my book. Though, they haven’t had to deal with having part of themselves unwritten.” He sags, as if he’s having trouble staying upright, before Hiiro carefully pushes at his shoulder to guide him to lean against the back of the bench. “This temporary erasure thing hurts so much… Sento and Ryuuga are on the same ride as us, right? Gonna have to make sure Ryuuga’s okay…”

Hiiro grumbles. “There you go again, worrying about other people more than yourself.”

Emu manages a weak smile as a set of train tracks unfolds in front of them. “I mean, it’s part of the job description.” He receives a sharp glare. “The Rider one, Hiiro. Besides, we couldn’t avoid this for him or myself, so at least they let us get it out of the way.”

“Come on, you two, get a move on!” (choose an imajin here) yells. “We don’t have all day, if ya don’t want ta be spotted!”

“Right, right…” Emu stands up- or, tries to, anyway. His legs almost immediately give way before he can take more than two steps.

“Emu!” Hiiro catches him around the waist.

“Sorry…”

“Come here, let me help you, alright?” Hiiro’s face softens. “I’m sorry you’re dealing with this.”

“It’s fine, really. History fixes itself once we get back, right?” Emu looks up at (the imajin) with concern. “If the bugsters don’t come back, what do we do then?”

“I dunno. Save that existential stuff for my boss, kiddo. Up ya get.” Grabbing him under the shoulders, he hoists the uncharacteristically limp Emu up onto the train. “Geez, what’s with you, anyway? Ya didn’t look this awful when we dropped ya off. Thought you weren’t one of those bug guys.”

“I’m technically not. ‘m kinda part-way, though.” (Imagin) and Hiiro manage to get him to one of the seats. “It’s complicated.”

“Now leaving 2016, now leaving 2016. Next stop, 2017. Next stop, 2017.”

Slowly, he slumps down, so that he’s laying on the bench. “Let me know when we’re back in the present…” He drifts into an exhausted slumber.

---

“Now arriving in 2018, now arriving in 2018. Please watch your step as you disembark the train.”

Emu stirs, cracking his eyes open. “Are we done?”

(Some rider, whichever den-o's here) nods, offering an arm to help Emu get up. “Right, that’s the four of you set. I’m sorry that you two-” he nods to Ryuuga and Emu “-had to take so much of the side effects-”

Ryuuga, a blanket wrapped around him, waves it off. “Eh, not the first time I’ve taken a hit for someone else. Only difference is that I’m taking it for past me.” He shivers. “Freakin’ cold on this train, though.”

“It’s not, actually, you’re just not used to feeling temperatures like the rest of us do.” Sento rubs his partners shoulder.

“The… er, biology issues should start to repair themselves when you’re off the train. The re-written timeline should insert itself into your respective memories then, as well.” (Den-o) winces. “The first one might be kind of painful, though. This isn’t exactly… a normal situation.”

“Been there, done that, forced it back into existence one time by punching a jackass.” Ryuuga shrugs. “I’ll cope.”

“As long as everyone else is okay…” Emu stumbles a little as he gets to his feet. “It’s the real bugsters I’m more worried about.”

As the quartet disembark, there’s a handful of people waiting for them. “Geez, ace, you get into a fight back there?” Kiriya whistles as he helps Emu step down.

“…A small one. My powers fizzled out partway through it, so I got sidelined.”

“How are the four of you faring?” Hiiro steps down.

“Eh.” Kiriya shrugs. “Some static for me ‘n Genm, nothing serious. Stung like a son of a bitch, though. Parad and Poppy came through fine.” He grins at the two sighs of relief. “Poppy got hit a little worse, prolly because she doesn’t have a back-up human.”

Emu squints. “That’s rude. And possibly speciesist.” Flinching, he rubs at his forehead. “I… need to sit back down…” Once on a bench, he buries his face in his hands. “You know, if we hadn’t already done enough tests to prove that my genetics have been altered by the virus, this would be a whole lot more terrifying. Is there anything else we have to do?” He directs the last part towards the train.

“Yeah, seriously.” Ryuuga leans heavily on Sento. “I got experience with this regrowing shit, but it sucks way more this time around.” He glances at Emu. “Had that extra bit of time off the train, so I’m already more caught up, but…”

(Train boi) shakes his head. “Nope, that book Tsukasa nicked/duplicated/duped/copied says that you’re set. Genm’s got a trip coming up, though.” He flips through a copy of the ‘Oma Advent Calendar,’ before biting his lip. “How do he and Hino get along?”

“Eh, Eiji’s not exactly fond, but neither is anyone else, so… Zeronos took them a half hour ago, said something about ‘getting there before the first set of revisions kicked in.’” Kiriya gives him an odd look. “You guys said that Fake Fourze and Faiz were the same guy, is there a fake GENM, too?”

“I wish.”

Hiiro rubs his forehead. “Eiji became OOO in 2010, didn’t he?”

“Yup."

“And, technically speaking, we had business in 2010.” Emu half-whimpers. “Or, well, Kuroto and I did. If you guys are taking a human Kuroto back to then, in a time plane that doesn’t have the bugster virus at all, he’d be in a completely different situation.” He looks up imploringly. “Please tell me that he’s not Another OOO.”

“I mean, I could tell you that, but…”

All three of them groan.

---

(Earlier)

“Hey, Lazer, bad news. Gonna need you to warn Ex-Aid when he gets back.” Yuuto/Zeronos/green-train-boy comes up. “I gotta take the next batch down now, before the repairs for your team come through. Turns out I need Genm for a thing with OOO.”

“Eh?” Kiriya looks up from trying to knead away his headache. “Fine, fine. What’s the warning?”

“Since he’s leaving the time plane for a reason, and one tied to the current situation at that, it’s going to take longer for your group to recover. I’m really sorry, but what’s supposed to happen requires Dan Kuroto to be human, and that means lifting him from a point when that’s possible.”

“Meaning, now?”

“Meaning now.”

“Damn.”

--- ---

I wrote a lot of these out of order

Den-o curses. “Guys, we’re going to have to make a detour.” The four passengers look up – well, three look up. Ryuuga seems to be catching back up to normal, but Emu is a wreck. He’s barely awake, and doesn’t spend the energy to do more than open his eyes.

“Build, Cross-Z, I need to set you guys a few weeks earlier than we left from.”

Sento purses his lips. “We have to meet with them again?”

“Rookie has to get the finished watches at some point. And, uh, sorry, here’s your script-”

Reading it, Sento’s face falls. “…Oh, right… because the so-called ‘past’ us took him to Nascita…”

“Course he’d go looking for us there. Damn.” ryuuga grimaces – partly from the headache, partly from the situation. “Fine, fine, if ya say we have ta, we will. Are…” he bites his lip. “Are Misora and-”

“Nobody else is there. They’re actually closed that day – I guess you’ll be faking the place being open.”

“…Fine. As long as the others aren’t there.” Sento stares at the floor.

Hiiro gives them a stern look. “You know how we all feel about this ‘not allowing them to see you’ thing, right?”

“Yeah, and we’ll all just have to agree ta disagree.” Ryuuga huffs.

---

As Ryuuga and Sento re-disembark, Den-o pulls Hiiro aside. “Hey. I should tell you, and I would tell Hojo, too, but he’s still out. You two are going to be on here a while longer. There’s some shenanigans going on, and someone’s getting dragged back and forth to a bunch of different points, and… well, the ‘game disease’ thing needs to be cut off from existence for longer than we thought.”

Hiiro glances at Emu, who’s looking rather pale, actually, which is concerning. “Since the focal point of the timeline alteration is Ex-Aid, Emu has to stay isolated from said timeline, correct?” Den-o nods. “Damn. Being here is supposed to… if not shield him from, at least take off the worst of the effects from the changes, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but… you said that he’s not just using the powers, he’s technically part of where it originates from. Since the real form of the Another Riders is that of the ‘enemies’ –  your bugsters, Build’s smash, OOO’s greeed, etc, that is what is being removed from the timeline. No enemy, no riders. But removing the enemy is done by removing their origin – and the origin for you all is the virus he… well, helped form, I suppose.”

“…Hey…” Den-o and Hiiro both startle at hearing the bleary voice from the bench. “Really sick of people talking about me like I’m not around. At least go to the other side of the car to do it.” Emu rolls his eyes, continuing. “The other riders aren’t gonna have to deal with this type of thing, right? Because that’s just cruel. I can understand it happening on my end… but it wouldn't be fair to them.”

“No, no, they should all be fine.” Den-o looks aside. “Well, I mean, Ghost might have some problems, but I’ve looked ahead, and his might be more flashback related than whatever’s happening to you.”

Hiiro crouches down next to Emu. “Are you doing alright? I can’t imagine this is easy.”

“…” Emu hesitates before answering. “…Don’t want to worry you…”

“Which means you’re not alright.”

“…It hurts. It shouldn’t, I can tell it shouldn’t, but whatever is going on hurts so badly…” He shivers a little before continuing. “It feels like having part of me torn out, and like when my infection flares out of control, and it doesn't make sense!” He chokes off a small cry. “But if it’s this bad for me… I can’t help worry more for Poppy and Parad, because they might- they might not even exist right now, and that’s- that’s awful, it’s too-”

Hiiro places his hand on Emus, cutting him off. “You need to listen to me, okay? You’re getting caught in a spiral, and have to get out of it. Just calm down for me.”

It’s a few moments before Emu can respond. “…Right… thanks… When did you learn to talk to people again?”

Hiiro allows himself a smile. “Well, my manager has repeatedly shown that his methods are more suited to certain situations. I’ve simply learned from the best, that’s all.”

“…Wait… was that a compliment?”

“He has excellent powers of observation, as well,” is the dry reply. “A bit lacking in self-awareness sometimes, however.”

“Okay, see, that’s just rude.”

--- ---

Episodes 01 through 04, Version Two

Gingerly lowering himself to the bench, Emu closes his eyes against the quickly growing headache. It makes sense – the time travel at work is rewriting some aspects of history, after all. …He hopes that in the slightly altered future they’re making, that they save Keisuke.

But this was going to happen, and he went in knowing that full well. The changes can only take effect once their enemies have… vanished, and although the time travelers reassured everyone that they come back after… what, an hour? Two? Well, not long, anyway.

Knowing that they’ll be fine doesn’t make this any easier, though.

Not when part of having the bugsters semi-vanishing means part of him is in flux, too.

It feels like… well, he usually hates to use this analogy, but it’s almost as though he’s been hit by a car. And seeing as he has experience with that, it really means something.

…This might count as worse, actually, because he doesn’t get to be unconscious for this.

“How are you holding up?”

The only reply he gives Hiiro is a groan.

“Hey, I need you to answer me, Emu.”

Yeaaah, true. He doesn’t need to look up to picture the cross expression that must be on Hiiro’s face.

“Can’t let myself think about it. If I think about it, that’ll just make it worse.” Against his will, a pained whimper manages to escape him. “This hurts so much, Hiiro. I need a distraction. Something, anything, right now…”

“What type?” Hiiro’s voice is… gentle, almost. That’s nice. He’s learning how to socialize.

“Just… help me stay awake, and not thinking about this whole thing.” Emu makes a distracted, floaty gesture at himself that he hopes is enough to indicate his infection and the assorted issues it’s bringing up right now. “If I think about it too much, it’ll get more potent, and we can’t afford that right now. If I fall asleep or pass out – which sound really appealing right now – then odds are we’re going to get called in on ourselves, and that’s just a whole mess of trouble that I don’t think we want to get into.”

There’s a sigh, and a shifting of fabric, and then something drops onto Emu’s head. “Wha-”

“I borrowed one of Nico’s hats before we left. I know how you tend to get light-sensitive when your infection acts up.”

“…Oh. Thanks.”

“It’s not a problem.” There’s a pause before Hiiro starts speaking again. “Those two… what were their names, again?”

“Sougo and Geiz.”

“They’re… they’re just children, aren’t they?” There’s a noticeable waver to Hiiro’s voice. “I know, intellectually, that they’re not the youngest to have gotten involved, but…” he trails off.

“I get where you’re going with this. It was one thing when we met Takeru, when he was already done. It was another when we heard about Philip and Gentaro, and how young they were. But seeing people so young coming after us?” Emu frowns. “It doesn’t feel right. I hate that this is all we can do to help them. What’s the point of the group if we’re not allowed to-” he cuts himself off. “New topic. Please. Something else.”

“Our ride’s here.”

Emu huffs. “Good. It’s about time.”

He doesn’t need to look up to see the glare he’s definitely getting from the time joke. Worth it. “Do you think you can walk?”

Emu twitches his legs experimentally. “…I don’t know. Definitely not on my own, maybe not even with help.”

“All right then, hold on.”

Emu opens his eyes a little – enough to see where they’re going, but not enough to let too much light in. Hiiro has him sling one arm over his shoulder, helping support most of Emu’s weight.

It’s not quite enough, though. They make it up to the train before Emu’s knees refuse to hold him up any longer.

“Geez, thought you new riders were made of sterner stuff than this!” A strong, pointy pair of arms hoists Emu up. “A little time distortion never hurt anyone.”

“Shut it, peachy…”

---

“What the hell was that?”

“Look, I panicked, okay?”

“You said you were Katsuragi. Dude.”

“Well! They said that in the ‘altered timeline�� none of us ‘ever became riders,’ so if that were the case, then ‘I’ wouldn’t exist, now would I?” Sento throws his hands in the air, before dropping them back down to cover his face. “Ugh. Let’s just get to the meeting point and get home already.”

“Y-yeah…” Ryuuga stumbles a bit. “Right.”

Freezing, Sento turns back around. “Ryuuga?”

“Just… feelin’ off. That’s all. Prolly the whole ‘time taking out the bad guys’ deal.” He waves Sento off. “Stupid space… Just gotta power through this. I’ll live.”

Sento’s expression goes soft. “Hang on, here…”

“Wha-”

“Here, you can lean on me until we get there, then you can sit down.”

“…Thanks, man.”

“So, feeling ‘off’ how?” Ryuuga glares at his partner. “Well, they’re picking Emu and Hiiro back up first, aren’t they? Better to figure out what to say now.”

“…‘kay, you’re not wrong…” Ryuuga slumps down, letting his head hang. “Kinda… sick to my stomach, I guess? It’s… I mean, last time I got the space junk pulled out, I kind of had that happen, too, but. I dunno, I guess I chalked it up ta being disgusted that the bastard would use you like… like that.”

“Hmmm…” Sento nods. “That’s fair, I suppose, but he wasn’t able to remove those genetics from your body all the way back then. This time, it’s the fabric of the universe itself trying to delete them. It stands to reason that any side effects would hit you harder.”

“Existing has it out for me, gotcha.”

“That is not what I meant, and you know it.”

---

(on the train ride back)

Sento sighs, turning the cup of coffee around in his hands. “You know…”

“Mnuh?”

“I don’t like it. That they’re so young, I mean.”

“Dude, is this the ‘feeling old’ thing again, cause let me tell ya, that’s-”

“That’s not it. It’s that those three… they’re practically children. Intellectually, I know that a lot of our friends here were even younger, but still…”

“It’s messed up, isn’t it?” An exhausted voice comes from the bench across the aisle.

“Hey, thought you were sleeping.”

“Tried. Can’t. Everything hurts too much.” Emu lifts himself up a little, enough to look at Sento and Ryuuga, staunchly ignoring Hiiro’s stern look. “It’s just wrong that teenagers keep getting dragged into these things.” He winces, and leans back down. “Ow… wow, I hope we can get this over with soon. Another thing is… I told one of them, Geiz, that he was kind of cold, but… that’s not it, really. It’s that he’s hardened. The look in his eyes…” Biting his lip, Emu seems to be trying to choose his words carefully.

“It was like the one you two had, when you arrived here for good.” Hiiro runs with the idea. “I… suppose I noticed it too, but I was trying to focus on the task at hand… I didn’t even think to say anything.”

“…Which look?” Ryuuga huffs. “The ‘super lost’ one? The ‘tired of the nightmares’ one?”

Emu shakes his head, flapping a hand in the air loosely to give the message, in case they can’t see him. “No, not those. The same one that the Zawame contingent gets sometimes, and Eiji, too. The one where…” he hesitates. “The one that says you’ve been in a war.”

Ryuuga breaths out a curse. “Didn’t see ‘im long enough to catch that. He’s the one with the red suit, yeah? That Sougo kid was pretty peppy, though, so I doubt he has.”

Sento absently fidgets with the hem of his shirt. “I think I can safely speak for all of us when I say this is terrible, right?”

--- ---

HeiGen Forever

When the crowd of riders detransform, Zi-O and Geiz are nowhere to be seen. Several people look over at Sento and Ryuuga.

Ryuuga spreads his hands defensively. “What?! We’re not in charge of ‘em! If they’re gonna run off and do whatever, I’m not gonna try and stop the kids!”

Shotaro scoffs. “Hey, didn’t we mention something about taking responsibility for guiding the next- ugh…” Cutting himself off, he rubs at his head. “…The hell?” Leaning on the Hardboilder, he squeezes his eyes shut. “The hell is all this…?”

“Shotaro?!” Emu goes over, helping his senior sit down. “Are you alright?”

Sento looks nervous. “Ah. They. Uh. Zi-O used the Double watch earlier. I think this is you getting hit.” He winces. “But you’re not nearly as tied into your power source as certain other people are-”

Shotaro grits his teeth. “KADOYA! Can you get me to where Philip is?!”

“Uuuugh.” Tsukasa rolls his eyes. “I wanted to see the sights, but noooo-”

“Get. Me. To. Him.”

“Alright, alright, already. I’ll be back for everyone else in a little while, seeing how the Denliner’s up and left us behind.”

A wave of rippling air moves past him, Shotaro, and Emu, and they vanish through it.

Wataru shudders. “Think we can find a different way home? I hate those things.”

Haruto glances at him. “You mean you hate him.”

“He’s a complete tool! Just because you met him later-”

“It’s called growth!”

“It’s called ‘dying barely taught him his damned lesson!’”

“I’m sure he’s better about the whole world-ending thing than he was when you met him.”

“You weren’t there for the third Daishocker stunt, either!”

“Wait, hey, third Shocker ‘stunt’?!” Takeru pipes up.

Kazuma scoffs. “Yeah, Decade’s a real winner. Guy led a branch of Shocker, got the shit kicked out of him and lost his memory, and then immediately went back to leading it when he got his memory back. Not to mention his literal existence was disintegrating the multiverse.”

---

“PHILIP!”

“Sh-Shotaro? I can’t – what’s going on, the library, I can't get there-” Philip looks briefly up, wide-eyed and panicked, before focusing back down on his book. “If- if I try harder, maybe I can just-”

Shotaro grabs him around the shoulders. “Philip, hey, it’s okay, you can stop, it’s…” he flinches. “This sucks so much.”

“What’s going on, I’d look it up but I can’t, I-”

Emu kneels down in front of them. “Hey, focus, okay? It’s going to be a little while. I can’t say for how long, but this is the history alterations in effect. It’s just for a short time.”

“The- what? From- from Zi-O?”

Emu nods. “Yeah. Sento and Ryuuga said that he used your watch for the first time today. Sometimes it takes a while for the effects to kick in. I guess since reality needed you two to be Double shortly after, it took a bit longer than it did with Ryuuga and myself.”

Shotaro groans. “Why am I getting hit, too? It didn’t hit anyone else’s teammates.”

Philip answers quietly. “Sorry. Since we’re so closely tied together, it might be from that – from our connection. So, it’s my fault…”

“Okay, neither of you should start with the blame-game, because I already went down that path when he got mine.” Emu carefully reaches for the book, resting a hand on one side. “May I? if you aren’t as tempted, it’ll probably help you cope better with not having access.”

Slowly, Philip nods, and Emu gently closes the book, setting it next to the pair. “I hear people are doing sightseeing while we wait for the time train team to give us the all-clear to head home. Think you two are up for it?”

--- ---

Episodes 13&14

(some time after the events, once people are back together.)

“Where’s. Decade.”

That simple statement has multiple people back away from Takeru as he stalks up to Tsukasa. The steely glint in his eye doesn’t help matters.

“You-! You could have given me a better warning than that! ‘Oh, hey, might wanna get to perfecting that force push’ is not the same!”

“Look, kid-”

“I barely had time to- Sougo could have died! Damnit, Kadoya, this isn’t-argh!” Infuriated, Takeru rears back

And decks Kadoya Tsukasa across the jaw.

Tsukasa falls to the ground, but Takeru freezes. his breath hitching for a moment.

--- ---

Episodes 9&10

“I don’t like this plan. I don’t like it at all.” Hina frowns. “You hate your father, and politics, and now you have to masquerade as… as what, his successor?”

Eiji shrugs minutely as he straightens his tie. “It’s fine. It’s to keep up appearances. Our names are similar enough that it’ll work, and I can can get this over with that much sooner.” His shoulders sag as he looks at himself in the mirror.

The suit fits perfectly – he wouldn't expect any less from Hina having chosen it. He managed to talk her into letting him wear a tie that matches his aesthetic, at least. But still.

Hina matches his slightly confused expression. “This doesn’t feel finished. Something’s missing, but I can’t figure out what.”

“Hey!” Ankh calls out from where he’s been watching. “As far as this kid knows, none of our stuff ever happened, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“That means that I never existed in his so-called past.” Stepping forward, he unfurls his wings, a small shower of curled red feathers fluttering with them. He bends down to pick one up, his wings fading back out of sight. “And you guys are supposed to have been ‘drawn together even without the original history’ or whatever BS they’re sticking us with feeding him, so…”

He turns Eiji around, a little gentler than would be expected. “Here’s your finishing touch.” Quietly, he carefully sticks the feather into one of the suits button holes. “There. Hina, what do you think?”

She grins. “I think it’s perfect. Mind if I get a picture?”

“Aw, Hina, come on-” Eiji winces.

---

Hina has uploaded a picture to “Nice Looks”

Hina: Turns out Eiji looks good in a suit!

Date: :thumbs up emoji:

Akiko: I love it <3

Shinnosuke: Very nice!

Ryuuga: Is that a feather?

Hina: It was Ankhs’s idea. Really pulls it together, don’t you think?

Date: :eyes emoji:

Eiji: Come on, guys…

Yuuto: As much as I am, in fact, liking this outfit, we’ve got places to be, you two.

Eiji: Coming

Hina: coming!

---

Chat: EiAn pool

Gouto: So. Ankh suggested the feather.

Akiko: I knew they’d get it together.

Hina: Wanna know what’s better? His reasoning for it.

Hina: He said that since on record, he never existed, but me and Eiji were still somehow drawn to meeting, it only makes sense for him to have something to represent himself.

Sento: relatable.

Emu: Can I move my date up by a week?

Emu: I want to move my date up by a week.

Gouto: That is one of the single most saccharine things I have ever heard someone say.

Date: and with the hidaris and teruis around, that’s saying something.

Akiko: I’d be insulted if it weren’t true

Shotaro: and it’s coming from Ankh

Shotaro: I’m raising my bet

Yuuto: Same. This is tooth-rottingly sweet.

[jaysevhls]

There's A Bomb | Jay Halstead

Request: Jay falling in love with Voight's daughter.

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Voight!Reader

Author's note: Requests are open. (The moment with a bomb was inspired on episode from "The Flash" when Joe saved Cecile.)

Your dad was always worried about you, especially when you told him that you want to be a cop like him. First he didn't approve your decision, but when he saw you graduating the police academy, he knew that it's your right path. He wanted to keep you safe and close, at least he could do that, so he brought you to Intelligence. You were happy there since day one, it was your dream to watch him catching bad guys.

He partnered you with Erin, because he trusted her the most, like you. She wasn't from Voight's family, but she was like sister to you, she knew everything about you.

But after few years it was her time to go and she moved. You took it hard, just like Jay, who wanted to propose to her. You weren't close with him, but the pain he had was very similar to yours. After she left, Voight partnered you with him and Hailey, the new girl, was now a partner to Kim.

Cases that involved drugs were your favorite. Going undercover, to make a deal, that was your favorite part of the job. You were the best in this and you were happy to do it every time. But when kids are involved... This hits just different. You usually took it very personal, it was just too hard to see them working for those bastards.

"Okay guys, we've got a case involving drugs and a murder of mob boss. I think we all know who that is, Alejandro Cortez. 32 years old, he's chasing by police and FBI for 2 years. He killed his own wife, then mob boss, two murders with a bomb. One pinned to the car, the second one in club. He's hiding since then, we can't reach him." Kevin pinned his photo to the board and gave you files about the case."But, we know that his niece was taken from her family and we all think that he took her, because he wants to take a revenge on his brother for turning him to the police."

"All of this because he's angry? And why the kid?" you asked.

"We don't know yet. She's missing for 4 days and the people who saw the kidnapper described him. Description matches to Alejandro. They're living in Chicago, that means he's here and this might be our last chance to get him." you sat on your desk and started to look into the files.

"Hey, you okay?" Jay asked you. Before nodding to him, you brushed his hand with your fingers and smiled at him. He was always caring about you in cases like this, you were so thankful for him. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Y/N? Can we talk?" your dad asked.

"Sure." you walked into his office and closed doors.

"I'm worried about you. If you want I can take you off the case." he said.

"I'm fine, really. It's just... I don't understand some things, I need to figure them out. Don't worry." you hugged him and went back to your desk.

The tension was thick, everyone were working on the case, while Jay was trying to figure out his feelings. He couldn't talk to anyone about this, because they knew that person, especially he couldn't talk about it with you.

God, he wished that you noticed how much he adored you. He stood up and walked to your desk.

"Y/N? Y/N?" he tapped your shoulder.

"Hmm?" you muttered.

"You kinda zoned out, I brought you some coffee."

"Thanks. Do you want to go with me and check on this woman who saw Alejandro? I don't want to go there alone." you asked.

"Of course, partner."

You drove in silence, Jay was watching you the whole ride. He loved to look at your smile, eyes, when you tried to be serious, but he always made you smile and laugh. He trusted you like no one, he could put his life in your hands, because he knew that you'll help him no matter what.

"Chicago PD." you said and knocked on the doors.

"What do you want?" a woman appeared and looked so scared.

"Sophia? We're from Chicago Police Department, I'm detective Halstead and this is detective Voight. We wanted to ask you few questions."

"There's no need to, I already spoke with police." she answered.

"We know, but we wanted to ask about description you gave us. Are you sure that this was the guy?" you showed her a picture.

"Yes, definitely. Now leave me alone." she said and walked away, then closed the doors.

"I think she won't say us more." you laughed and made your way to the truck.

"Yeah Adam, what's up?" Jay said, answering his phone.

"We've got a possible location where Alejandro can be, go and check this place."

"Alright, let's go." Jay said.

"5021 Frank, detective Y/N Voight, we're heading to a possible location where our suspect can be. Plain clothes officers on the scene, roll a backup and ambo."

"Copied 5021 Frank, sending a backup and ambo."

"Do you think he's gonna be there?" Jay asked you.

"I don't know, I just hope to find his niece sooner than him so I could kick his ass after. I mean, she's a kid... How can he do that?" you answered. Jay looked at you worried. After few minutes you were on the scene.

"Take the back, we're going from the front." you said to officers who were there already.

"I'm coming in." Jay went first, you right after him.

"I'm covering you." you pulled your gun low, until you noticed blood on the carpet. "Blood." you both raised your gun and checked the first floor.

"Stairs." Jay said and again you followed him.

"You heard that?" the sound reminded you a cry.

"Chicago PD! Alejandro, put your gun down and come out!" Jay yelled. "Let your niece go first!"

"Stop! Stop!" you looked at Jay confused.

"Alejandro, if you won't come out we'll come for you" he yelled again.

"Wait, it's not him." you looked at Jay and nodded over the mirror where you saw a little girl tied up, sitting on the chair.

"Please, it's gonna blow!" you hid your gun and walked into the room while Jay was calling for a bomb squad.

"Hey, what's your name?" you asked her.

"Lauren." she cried so hard. You needed to calm her down when you saw a bomb pinned to the chair.

"Okay Lauren, I need you to sit there carefully, don't move, okay? We'll get you out of here."

"He said that he's gonna make them suffer!" she yelled.

"Jay? Call for a backup, send them to her parents." you knew that at this point he wanted to kill all of her family, to make them suffer, especially this little girl. "It's gonna be okay. I'm gonna check on timer right now okay?"

"Mhm." she calmed a little. 6 minutes you saw. You knew what kind of bomb was that. Jay told you his stories when he was in the army, you knew more than he thought.

"Y/N? What are you doing? Let's go, bomb squad will help her!" Jay showed up in the room, watching your actions.

"It will be too late. Hey, Lauren. I need you to switch places with me on 3 okay?" you looked at her, she nodded slowly.

"You've got to be kidding me! You want yourself killed?"

"Jay! Just let me do my job. It has 5 minutes timer now, when she'll stand, it's gonna run down, we won't be able to get out of there and they'll be too late. I'm gonna sit there to stop it from going down fast."

"Y/N, please..." he walked closer and hugged you.

"On 3 Lauren. 1... 2... 3..." you pushed her to Jay and sat on the chair. You looked at the timer. 3 minutes left.

"Take her out, I'll stay on the line." you said.

"5021 George, I'm going out with a hostage. Detective Voight will stay on the line." he felt tears in his eyes. He let go her hand and went outside. Lauren went to the ambo to get checked out.

"Halstead, what the hell? Where's Y/N?" Voight asked him.

"She switched places with Lauren, she's holding out the timer."

"Y/N?" Voight spoke.

"D-dad, I'm fine. Just tell the squad to come here asap."

"They're 6 minutes out."

"Well... We've 2." you said.

"I'm calling them." Jay said. He put them on the line to speak to you.

"Y/N, we need you to say how this looks like."

"Well, it has a timer and 3 colors inside. Black, white and blue."

"Okay, that means he used the same bomb as on the vehicle. You need to stay calm and carefully remove the blue one." they instructed you. Your hands were shaking, eyes were blinded and your heart was pounding so hard.

"Okay, yeah, I'll do it." you took a deep breath and take moved slowly to blue cable. You looked at the timer. It has stopped.

"Y/N? Y/N!" Jay was screaming to his radio, but you couldn't respond. You immediately stood up and went downstairs. Tears blurred your vision. You reached out to the doors and opened them. All the members looked at you relieved. "Shit." he said and run to you.

At this point you were crying. He took you in his arms, softly stroking your hair.

"I can't breathe." you choked.

"Easy honey, easy. It's the adrenaline rush, everything is okay." he hugged you tighter.

You had still covered your face with your hands. They were shaking so bad. Jay tried to calm you down, so he took them from your face and kissed."Come on, I'm taking you home." he held you close and went with you to Hank.

"Oh god Y/N! What were you thinking out there?!" now he was the one holding you.

"I was doing my job, I needed to help her." you said as you felt something hugging you from the side. Lauren held your hand hard and cried.

"Thank you, thank you. I wanna be strong as you! I'll be a cop one day!" she was full of energy, she didn't realise what just happened, she was only 8 years old after all... And that fact was making you sick. That little girl almost died because of payback.

"I'm so glad you're okay baby. Go to see your mom." you pointed at police car, who just arrived.

"Hey, you sure you're fine?" Jay asked you when Hank left to speak with Lauren's mom.

"I just want to go home." he nodded at went with you to his truck.

You held Jay's hand the whole ride to your home.

"Can you go upstairs with me? I need someone right now... Also, I have your favorite beer." you smiled.

"Yeah, I'll take that beer." he answered and followed you to your apartment.

You closed the door and went to the kitchen. Taking a beer, you noticed Jay standing in the hallway, looking at the picture frame with you and him. You put the beer down and walked to him. He turned to face you, when you hungrily kissed his lips. The kiss was so desperate, but at the same time filled with passion and love. He put his hands on your back, bringing you closer. When you couldn't catch a breath, you pulled back.

"I love you. I love you so freaking much. I think about you day and night, if you're okay, if you slept enough. When I pushed Lauren into your way... I knew that I'll always want you to be the one who won't leave my side Jay. I want you to be here. Right here, with me." he pulled you into hug, just like before. It was different than the others time when he was with you. This time, there was a real love between you two.

"Y/N, you don't know how happy I am right now. You saved me so many times, you're my little miracle. I was so afraid to tell you that, but now I wish I could say it earlier. Holding you in my arms is the best thing in the world and I'll always be here for you baby. I love you." he kissed your forehead and took you to the couch. You sat next to him and covered you with blanked.

He couldn't stop thinking about how lucky he was to have you. You were his light.

[omegangrins]

A Rant on the End of Tremors 7: Shrieker Island

As the main man said,

Throwing caution to the wind because this blew up elsewhere.

If you can do it with Justice League, fuck it, let's do it for every shitty movie we've got.

While we're at it, can we change the ending of the 7th Tremors movie so *MAJOR FUCKING SPOILERS* Burt Gummer doesn't die or at least bring Jamie Kennedy back, or Marvel style recast Jon Heder, so he dies saving his son instead of a random-ass person who could have easily saved themselves. Or cut the forced montage of Burt clips at the end so his death is at least ambiguous. Seriously beyond pissed about that one. THAT is no way for him to go.

I would also like to point out that the next Tremors *HAS* to be titled Tremors 8: Ouroboros and bring everyone back for Burt's funeral . Otherwise, what's the fucking point?

I have feelings about it, people. *FEELINGS!!!*

One of my favourite childhood memories is picking out Tremors 2 from the local gas station's movie rentals and forcing my parents to watch it. I was probably 5-6 at the time.

Let's say that it's been a lifelong love affair ever since. It took me another 10 years before I even watched the 1st. Probably why I hold good sequels in such high regard.

I didn't even know about the 1st until it played as a trailer in front of 2 and never thought to watch until years later. That's a testament to its filmmaking if I ever knew one.

So seriously, that's how they chose to kill off one of the most well known and prolific characters in a movie/TV series known around the globe? With an unnecessaryily needed death and a montage of clips from all the other movies that are obviously better than this one.

And I'm saying that as someone who defends Chibnall/13th Doctor...

...and I'm fucking fuming because THIS is how you *actually* destroy something people love and hold dear to their hearts. It's like the ending of Game of Thrones. His shitty ass death has made it a loooooot harder to rewatch. And they are one of my favourite series!!! Not flawless but fun. But I will defend every other movie and all the episodes except this. Honestly I'll still defend 7/8ths of this one as well.

Like I said, it's easily fixed too. Fucking vice versa swap out Jon Heder for Jamie Kennedy, who the movies have been building up for the last two, and have Burt save his son in front of his old flame. Boom, you won't even need the montage of clips cause you can just have Travis and his mom reminisce about Burt instead. Show not tell. I don't even care he died by Graboid (although in all honesty, I've allways wanted El Blanco to take him down or Burt kills himself from the PTSD. It would have AT LEAST MADE SENSE. Hell, the best would be a heart attack to callback Val's "Yeah, Burt, the way you worry, you're gonna have a heart attack before you get a chance to survive World War Three.". But none of us ever get the best death.). And it's not even about Burt sacrificing himself to save a nobody. Cause that could work too. BUT YOU NEED TO BUILD THAT SHIT UP. Not just fucking drop it like it's hot.

Like I said too, the first 7/8ths ain't bad but it's an entirely different story than a swansong for a hero.

It's all about some billionaire scientist/cowboy hunter dude who likes to get his jollies off hunting the biggest and the baddest who ends up inviting people to this island so they can hunt down Super-Graboids he designed for shits and giggles. But then some Shrieker-fy....

And the pretentious douches come and die one by beautiful one while Burt tries to save them anyway and it's all spectacularly dumb fun until it comes crashing down in the final 10 minutes. Fuck, they should just cut the last 10 minutes. Then it's a perfect little Tremors ditty.

#RELEASETHE7THTREMORSWITH10MINUTESFROMTHEENDCUT

This isn't even about Jon Heder either. He's just doing his job. Hell, do what /u/VoiceofRonHoward pointed out.

"It is clear that Jon's character was just pasted in over Jamie's, the artifacts of the father-son relationship are all over it. They should have gone full Marvel and just replaced Jamie with Jon and acted like nothing happened."

CAUSE FUCK YES!! The only time a story sucks is when they don't commit. Commitment makes all the difference. Now, I'm pissed double-pissed they didn't do that instead since Heder and Kennedy are similar in terms of white-boy-ness.

Even Michael Gross agrees:

"Yes, yes. Now I can't presume to speak for Jamie [Kennedy]. My understanding was they asked him and he said no. And so that's why they went with somebody else. So I had nothing to do with that decision. I just heard the stories. I missed him for that reason. You begin a relationship with the character, and you want to continue it....

...As you build a relationship with this son, we had two, it would've been nice to have three, but that was the hand I was dealt."

One of my favourite bits of Tremors lore comes from the 5th too so it's not like I hate sequel changes out of hand:

"This is a warrior dance. Our ancestors hunting the lnkanyamba and the Impundulu.

"What's that?

"Impundulu. It's what you call the Ass Blaster.

"Ass Blaster.

"Yes.

"Yes.

"Hey, you know, you make Ass Blaster sound good.

Primitive cultures fighting Graboids, Shriekers and Assblasters. I just love that thought.

Hilariously, my meta opening to the 8th movie would be a flashback to 10,000 years ago and a Neanderthal-like Burt Gummer teaching others how to drive Graboids off cliffs like they did with mammoths.

Thank you for giving me the space to rant. Cause fuuuuuuhhhhhhhhuuccck!!!

Here's Michael Gross' own words from his AMA that prove the people making Shrieker Island didn't know their shit.

"The Tremors series is one very close to my heart and I want you to know how appreciated your continued effort is for your core fan base.

My only question would be were there ever any studio decisions made for Burt that you refused to comply with? Or was everybody pretty much always on the same page on what to do with the character?

Thanks again for your dedication.

- Josh"

"Thanks for the kind words, Josh. As regards the first four films, with Wilson and Maddock as the writers, we were very much on the same page. 5,6, and 7 were a bit different, because there was a 13-year hiatus between 4 and 5, and we had to refresh our memories while "reinventing" the franchise for a new audience. I will give you one example: in an early draft of Shrieker Island, a new writer wrote a draft where Burt threatened to shoot one of the bad dudes, and I had to tell him—this is true—"Burt never intentionally points his gun at another human being."

And his own thoughts on Burt's "death" and how to bring it all back together again.

Universal and the director [came] to me with this idea, and they said, 'This could be emotionally very powerful, if we have to say goodbye to this man after 30 years. And I hemmed and hawed, and I thought about it a little bit. And I said, 'You're absolutely right about the emotional gut punch this can be.' And I said, 'You're going to hurt a lot of people's feelings.' And I said, 'But I thought this franchise was over after four. So I could certainly live with it being over after seven.'

"What we negotiated -- well, it wasn't really a negotiation, we all agreed on this -- is that we kind of left the door open. >!Because although Burt is gone, we never see a corpse. We never see his remains. Everybody assumes he's gone. Is he buried somewhere? Is he unconscious somewhere? We never see Burt dead. We see Burt gone. We see Burt not returning. What does that mean? Has he been knocked out? Does he have amnesia somewhere? Does he wander off? Is he in a kind of coma? So yes, the way it ends is pretty profound."

"As regards to the end of Tremors 7, let me just say that while people ASSUME Burt is gone, we never see his remains, do we? Just sayin.'

"The only reason he has become the main character is that everyone else in the original cast moved on to other things. I NEVER thought of him as the central figure, but it just worked out that Michael Gross, like Burt Gummer, was a "survivor." :0) "

"No one would like to see it more than I!!! One of my greatest regrets is that so many other cast members fell away over time. Reba was on to other things, Kevin said no to a second, Fred said no to a third. I would LOVE one last go with all of them, but it is not up to me. :0( "

"There are no guarantees, but for those who wonder aloud if this is the final film, I will say what I have said before: SALES drive sequels, Show biz is 5% show and 95% business, so if this latest addition to the Tremors franchise, sells well, [Universal] will follow the money, and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment may will be back for more."

/u/ActorMichaelGross, the bell has been rung and the song sung. Get the producers on this ASAP!!

I was also the first person to discover the symbolic foreshadowing of Stumpy's end with Earl's sleeping bag in the original movie.

Let's just say, I really *really* love these movies. So if anyone knows anyone, hook me up to the producers of this series and I'll Justin Lin in the Fast and Furious out of this shit.

Since I don't think it's good to critique without proposing either, I say we can make up for this fuck up with the next movie. We'll call it Tremors 8: Ouroboros. After the snake which eats its own tail.

We find out Burt faked his death to get the Proudfoot Corporation to let down their guard and when everyone from the previous series comes back for Burt's fake funeral they give him ever loving shit for being such a paranoid whack-job that he would fake his death to fool a government agency. Why would he do this? He found an old photo of Hiram Gummer with a Graboid warning on the back and asks himself why this valley, why these things, why allways me? And we find out, it's not Burt. It's that lifestyles of extremes will end up in places of extremes. Burt and the Graboids are survivors of different species. Sure the Proudfoot Corporation IS using Mixmaster to combine Graboids, Shriekers, and Ass-Blasters into one super creature for the military but it pales in comparison to Burt looking at his life and wondering in shame how many ancient giants like himself he has killed. And with that, he actually dies, and we keep the ball rolling with the rest of the characters trying to stop what they allways thought was just another one of Burt's crazy conspiracies.

That's why it's Ouroboros. Everything comes back around. We could end/start the movie with Grady, Earl, and Jodi opening a Monster World in Perfection Valley a la Desert Jack's Graboid Adventure. I don't know. I'm fucking trying harder than the people they paid to do this already.

It ain't perfect but I'm building on sand here so changes are gonna get made.

Like if the makers of Tremors notice this,

Then DM me because fucking A you guys need some help.

[purplerose244]

Thoughts journal about Season 13!! 💪💪 (1/4)

Phew, I actually made it to the English release without spoilers! 🤩 I do know general things about little plots for the ninja, hopefully nothing major! Finally, the Cole season we've all been waiting for, with Rock Mom and possibly plenty of our Earth baby development! COLE IN THE SPOTLIGHT AT LAST!! 🖤🖤

Well, I know I'll be shooting rainbows from my eyeballs if I see even one Nexo Knights reference! For the rest I don't really know what will happen, I'm curious! 🤔

It's the 6th of July, and here we go!!

GENERAL THOUGHTS

Is it just me or the dialogues sounds better? More built up, funnier, cohesive just like in the earliest seasons of Ninjago? Maybe it's just me but I'm really appreciating 🤷‍♀️

It also doesn't feel that rushed anymore! Which was my biggest problem in Prime Empire really. The episodes seem to me like fragments of a nice movie, not a too long story forced into 11 minutes. I'm very happy with the quality so far, I feel good about this for now! 👍

No matter what season it is, you can count on The Fold to make an AMAZING intro!! Freaking awesome, it was epic and very final battle like 👌👌 I WANT THE FULL VERSION ASAP!!!

SHINTARO

I do appreciate we are not forgetting about the adventures we had until now, it feels like from season 11 forward we are building a new backstory of. But they still show stuff from the very first seasons so I'm happy anyway 😍

Pff, Cole plays Prime Empire right after being trapped in it. And Lloyd joins in! YES!! Maybe there is hope for a season without greenie being traumatized! 👍👍

Also he's doing laundry because I DON'T WANNA DO THE DISHES NO MORE~ 😎

The chicken is back 😂 The constant reference to the movie we are all kinda attached to a this point (well I am, LOOK AT THE LITTLE HAT 💕💕)

Is it me being a "I've rewatched this show way too much" type of fan to feel that Nya saying that Jay using Spinjitzu for chores will get Wu mad might be a reference to how the guys had cleaned the very first Destiny Bounty with that? You think that Wu found out and got crazy mad? That would be kinda cool 😂😂

Okay, poor sensei and all, but he's kinda right 😅 I like Wu, I really do, but Aspheera was a problem kinda because of him, they all going to another dangerous realm could have been dealt a lot better if he hadn't been so on edge and in Prime Empire he freaking got kidnapped by NORMAL PEOPLE. Maybe he is getting old 🤷‍♀️

At last, he has returned...

THE ONE AND ONLY RULER OF NINJAGO, THE POSTMAN!!! 💜💜💜 Was he missing since March of the Oni? I can't remember if he was around for the Aspheera part 🤔

Soooo, not to be that person, but a secret group of royals asking the ninja to meet them in a place that was never open for outsiders before then? Kinda... feels familiar... *SoG flashbacks* 😰

Okay, not the biggest fan of Misako, but her scolding Wu was kinda fun 🤣 Needed to change the animation for her to get a bit of personality apparently 😉

Ah, you left Pixal behind to let her do... chores. Well, if you guys are happy 😒

Ninja babies all excited ❤💚💙🖤🤍💦 Also I'm excited because there is FINALLY a white heart between the emoji! I didn't notice it until now, I just need a gray/maroon heart now 😍

Jay screaming NOT MADE UP cracked me up so much 😂😂 Gosh I love my bluebell

A bit of action scene, nice, nice, also Cole going full buddy mode to save Jay gives me my beautiful Bruise vibes 💙🖤💙🖤

Well hello Brian

Looking good 💕💕 The designs are rocking in season 12 and 13, I cannot tell it enough! Super super cool

Overall nice episode, seemed more nicely focused than usual, I don't know if it's just me. I'm happy anyway 😁

Ooohhhh, so the sails were ripped off by the bats, and they were flying thanks to the soldier guys with wings. It makes sense, I was confused by the trailer, now there's the answer!

IN THE DARK

Okay, Vania introduction, I wonder what kind of princess we will get after last ti-

Vania: I'm such a big fan of you, I was the one that insisted at having you here! 🤩

... besides the fact that she sounds and looks absolutely ADORABLE, I'm kinda with Lloyd about feeling suspicious... because that's exactly how Harumi introduced herself back then 😅 And away it goes, the possibility of Lloyd spending a season without feeling disturbed or traumatized...

Ah, there we go, Cole and Vania. Soft looks, instant attention and... that's it? Idk, Jay and Nya's meeting had that one very awkward color question (💙❤💙❤), Kai literally heard romantic music while looking at Sky (❤🧡❤🧡), Lloyd was being mocked all the way by the guys as he looked at Harumi (💚😰💚😰). This one seems a bit weak? I don't mind it actually, I'm actually a bit curious about how it will develop since it started like this 🤷‍♀️

References to Hiroshi's Labyrinth and the Tournament of Elements, my fangirl heart is happy 😍 Is it too much thinking that the maze was a reference to Shadow of Ronin, since they all went there in the game while in the show only Lloyd was at the Labyrinth? Idk 🤷‍♀️

JAY SAYING COLE IS HIS BEST FRIEND, YES!! YES!! FINALLY, HAVEN'T HEARD IT SINCE SKYBOUND!!! BROTP IS BACK 🖤💙🖤💙 Also Jay confused that Vania is interested in Cole, pff, you clearly don't know the fandom 😂

But it is a bit fishy, does she knows stuff? Now I'm into it...

Lloyd sneaking in, that was creepy 🤣 And ninja like, of course

I kinda like how this is going, Cole straight up saying dude, I just met her, calm down. Like, I do understand green bean and I'm kinda on his side, but still 🤷‍♀️

Cole: I'm not just gonna jump on the lovesick wagon like you weirdos, geez

"It felt like a cloud of warm contentment." I'm gonna use this whenever someone asks me why have I been in my bed all day 😎

I know they all believed Cole was just dreaming the purple guy, but honestly they could have just said "Cole, we had flaming snakes raining on Ninjago a few weeks ago, what are you so worked up about?". But yeah, ROCK MOM FINALLY!!! I wanna know more!! 😍😍😍

Mr Sparkles 😂😂 So cute

Vania is cool for now, she is basically the innocent Harumi without a scarring tragedy from her past changing her into a vengeful villain... yeah 😅

Did Cole notice that she talks a lot and loud, kinda like Jay? Is that why he seemed a bit annoyed? 😂😂

For now they don't seem that annoyingly into each other, they look chill, no major lovesick moment or anything. I like it, I don't know if this ship will be super important or something, but at least I'm happy they are dealing with it in a different way 👍

With all these creatures chained up and a crazy dude making them work, Cole must have one HECK of a flashback from back in Chen's island 😵

Okay, I get the drama, I get the lair which is

Legit cool, with that nice Underworld vibe, but really? A wood door with ropes behind a lava fall? Security measures who? 😂😂

So Skull dude is the bad guy, and has a mask. People with masks means big reveal at some point. I like dudes with masks 😗

Aaaahhh, figures it was too easy being in a literal mine with the power of Earth. They really can't keep their powers for more than five seconds now can they 😂😂

But this seems interesting, is it connected with the burst thing they said in the trailer? Or even Cole's mom? Is this Skull Sorcerer connected to her? I HAVE QUESTIONS PEOPLE!!!

I am legit enjoying this 👌 They are building up questions and I do hope we'll get a good flashback moment with Rock mom... or even finding out if something else happened to her... EXCITED 🤩🤩

So to be the main ninja of a season lately you have to be either without powers (Kai Fire Chapter) or trapped in an unknown place (Zane Ice Chapter and Jay Prime Empire). Cole got them both 😅

IT REALLY IS ROCKY'S SEASON FINALLY 😎😎

WORST RESCUE EVER

Mm, the king is being weird, what's up with this mountain thing? Does he know who the Skull Sorcerer is? QUESTIONS

So Vania keeps being extremely adorable, I think I really like her character 💕 We'll see what will happen with her, how she will interact with the others, especially Lloyd since he seems very suspicious... can't really blame him 😅

Kai ready to argue with a king because one of his friend is in danger, THAT'S MY FLAME BABE ❤❤❤

Okay, the conflict between the two tribes, I read about this in some plots of the season. Not sure how that will play, but

I did laughed at this 😂 Sorry Mole

Okay, seriously, have we not learned anything from letting Kai come up with a plan? The notoriously bad planner Kai? The think before talking Kai? The let's follow the sun because yes Kai? I love him to dead but really, it was meant to go bad right away even if the title wasn't that 😅😅😅

AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO GOT EMOTIONAL AT COLE'S NINJA-GO WHILE DOING SPINJITZU?? 😭😭 They don't say it that much anymore before spinning, it kinda hit my tornado shaped heart 🖤🖤

I expected at least a comment about them being similar to the Skulkin, too bad. Not fundamental though, I'm really enjoying this so far 👍

Well, all of the ninja are trapped now 😅 Is Wu going to come for the rescue? Is Vania? I know they will be separated and will all go on separated quests, and I'm kinda more looking forward to it now. Let's see what happens!! 🤩

THE TWO BLADES

Considering how big of a fan Vania seems to be of the ninja, I bet she had those figures way before this moment 😂

Wooooo, hearing someone addressing Cole as the leader, does this count as a major throwback to pilots and season 1? I would make it count 😍

Okay here Vania does seem into Cole, we'll see how that plays out 🤷‍♀️

Ooooooooohhhhhh, vengestone! This actually make more sense than the last two times they were left without powers 😅 We never actually saw where that material came from, and here there's an actual mine full of it! Very cool, I like this! Big question is, what does Skull dude need all this vengestone for? 🤔🤔

Okay, the legends fits, sounds good enough but... she? SHE?!? WAS THAT ROCK MOM??? She was clearly a ninja and she did spinjitzu!! I didn't even considered the possibility, I only saw Misako, Doubloon and Aspheera knowing Spinjitzu before!! An actual mom?? THAT WOULD BE EPIC!! 🖤

Pff, these tribes are a bunch of idiots, I actually like them 😂 I like them better than the rats of Prime Empire that's for sure, but maybe that's just me 🤔

Aww, this Mino creature is cure! Cole did pretty good with him, does he remind him of Rocky? ☹

Nice, this I was waiting for! Cole and Lloyd together, leaders collaboration 💚🖤💚🖤 It didn't last much, but I think there will be more of it? I HOPE SO!!!

So the blades must be somewhere hidden, if they really have been taken by the Skull Sorcerer. I mean, even in Prime Empire they thought for sure Unagami was Dyer, so I wouldn't jump on it right away 🤔

There we go, the divided team! I knew about Kai and Zane stuck together, I remember stuff not too promising about Nya having to fight for Jay, but I'm honestly really enjoying the season so far! I like the pace and it doesn't seem as rushed as before! I hope we get to some good plot twists and backstories soon!! 🤩🤩