oomori_hill | Month 2: Enter the Meme King

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Month 2: Enter the Meme King

In a secluded, shadowy, disused location, the select few of a newly formed organization come to meet.... What dark and--

"Oh for gods sake, do you have to narrate every damned time?"

"Look, I'm trying to build the atmosphere here! How are we to be proper about this if we don't even go that far?"

"Who cares about being proper!" a third figure, noticeably smaller than the first interrupted. "I wanna know who's gonna be fighting this week!"

"Ug, seriously? We don't even have everyone here yet!"

"So???"

"He does have a point, you know..."

"Oh, don't you start too."

"Hey, I'm just saying..."

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"All right, all right! Eesh! Make your report already!"

There was the distinct sound of glasses being adjusted, a glint of light reflecting in the darkened room. "Currently over 25 individuals of note have been recorded. Not all of them are of significance, however, as a few... supporting individuals seem to have been connected as well. Of these, the Rider franchise seems to be the most represented, with Ultraman coming in second. More research is needed to determine how to create connections in a more targeted way before phase two of our operation can begin."

"And I can fight them!!" the younger voice piped in excitedly.

A deep sigh from the glassed figure answered. "After they fight each other first," he corrected. "We've been over this..."

"Ha! You just think they need to be softened up first, don't you?! Don't you believe in my power??!"

"... don't make me answer that."

"Hey!!"

"And that's enough of that, I'd think... Fade to black, everybody!"

"...drama queen."

Any Displaced individual prone to visions, premonitions or other plot sensing type skills may have had a variation on the above scene in a dream, vision or just felt like someone was watching them. Even those without a plot speaking skill may start getting a strange feeling of being watched when they're out in public....

Not that it will be foremost on their mind very long, as suddenly, every single TV screen or similar nearby flashes white, before a short clip begins to play:

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"If it weren't for that nonsense, I wouldn't still be human. I might not even be alive."

Tachibana stiffened, the words feeling like salt rubbed into his greatest failure.

"Lucky that it worked for you," he returned, voice suddenly so much colder and harder than before. He glanced over at the traffic going by, debating if he could just simply. Stalk way over to his bike and drive off.

Eiji knew that shut down. It was how Ankh always told him a conversation was over.

Good thing he rarely listened.

"It wasn't. I lost someone because I couldn't see that in time. If I'd listened to him earlier, maybe it wouldn't have gotten that bad."

Tachibana tensed further, fists tight as his side, knuckles turning white. He should just leave. He should just be somewhere else before he--

But the logical part of his brain always was very swiftly overpowered by the emotional part, and Eiji's words had hit far too deeply on a wound that even after 10 years, was still far too painfully raw.

He turned, eyes blazing with anger. "The most important person in the world to me was murdered because I reached out to her! And the second most important person, the one who had those same stupid ideas, sacrificed his goddamned human existence and every goddamned thing he had to make up for my failures because I wanted to believe that his way of looking at things was right! I have lost almost every goddamned thing that mattered to me in this world, so save your goddamned advice for someone else!"

Eiji generally tries to get along with everyone. But he has a limit to his patience.

"So now what? Are you just going to push everyone away so you don't get them hurt, or so you don't get hurt? Because it doesn't help anyone else you care about if you do this to them."

He takes a breath, trying to keep himself from completely losing his temper. "I'm sorry that you lost someone. And that horribly. But as someone who almost did give up his humanity, I know your other friend would have wanted to do everything within his power to keep anything like that from happening again--to keep you and everyone else from ever feeling that kind of pain again!"

There were so many angry retorts that nearly were shot back, but the pile of them seemed to cause a jam in his throat, leaving him simply only able to glare until one did manage to make its way to the top of the jam.

"It's been ten goddamned years and he hasn't even tried to contact any of us. Other than that bullshit when he hung up on Hajime before he even said a goddamned word."

The raw pain behind those words would surprise him later, when his anger had died down enough for him to realize what he'd said. That small, seemingly insignificant moment, staring at Hajime crying on the phone...

Of course it had been Hajime. It had always been Hajime. Hajime who had his family he had wanted to protect, who had a life still to live... Of course, it had been Hajime that Kenzaki had called. Not Kotaro who had offered up his home and his life to help Kenzaki out. Not Hirose who had been the constant back up support who had been ready to help and defend him at a seconds notice.

And definitely not him.

He tensed freshly, turning away, pressing his lips together as the burst of hot anger started to fade, leaving the all too familiar dull ache and twist of guilt in its wake.

"Stay the hell out of things that you know nothing about," he finished, voice stiff, but without the sharper, angry edge from before.

Eiji recognized the envy only through retrospect in his own memories. It had never been an emotion he was all that familiar with--he'd grown up privileged, and when he'd lost all desire for himself, it wasn't really something he needed to feel.

Ankh had felt it, though. It was something he couldn't understand back then, but did now--every time he'd taken Hina's side in an argument, every time he'd flown as TaJaDor.

That was what Tachibana was feeling right now. That anger about not being contacted, and the way his voice seemed to die after mentioning who had been.

"I'm sorry," Eiji said. "You shouldn't have had to go through that."

Jealousy hadn't been something Tachibana had much experience with until Kenzaki had joined BOARD. His own struggles as a Rider had been so difficult, but he had been able to bear it, knowing that it was something that someone had to do, and for lack of anyone better suited, that someone had to be him.

But when they had found someone better suited... someone who took to the System like a duck to water, surpassing Tachibana's hard-earned efforts in a matter of weeks, the blow had been almost physical. The resentment of how seemingly easy Kenzaki had it, the deeping worries that despite all his efforts and sacrifice, he still wasn't good enough and would just be discarded had cracked him open, sending him into a downward spiral that had all but destroyed him inside and out.

But that was how it was supposed to be. BOARD had taken extra care and effort to make sure that the person they brought in to be the second Rider would be well suited to it, and all of Tachibana's effort and energy to test and refine the System meant that Blade would be a superior System to Garren. An extra year of development, research, and finding that perfect match so that it wouldn't be another case of "just good enough."

But it had still hurt.

All of it, still hurt.

He said nothing for a long time, looking down at nothing, hand restlessly bouncing against his leg, as if telegraphing his desire to just-- run away from the situation like he often did.

He had never known how to deal with the seemingly awkward condolences, the sympathy that always felt condescending, even though he knew it never was. Everything that he had suffered through... was just because he hadn't been good enough. What good did sympathetic words do in the face of that? They couldn't do anything to bring Sayoko back. They couldn't do anything to change the past.

.... but maybe...

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. We should be focusing on what's going on now, now the bullshit that happend before."

Eiji watched Tachibana hesitantly. For a while, it had looked like he was gearing up for a fight, and then he seemed frozen, and now...just going on. Mind you, Eiji wasn't exactly looking forward to getting hit or anything, but he knew from experience that this was not the best way to handle things.

"Okay," he answered, even if his tone said he wasn't convinced they weren't going to have to talk about this later.

Fights were more reserved for when transformations were involved. And he wasn't quite up for just busting out his belt in the middle of a street where there were bystanders. ~~That was reserved for out of the way locations~~.

That Eiji seemed willing to actually just let him change the topic was... honestly a large relief, and it showed on his face. "We should see if we can find out more about that... game," the distaste was clear in his voice on the word. "See if it's a contributing factor to what's going on, or just another world's variation pushing its way into this shared space."

"So...like infiltration?" Eiji guessed.

It wasn't like he hadn't just snuck into places he shouldn't have been, like with Foundation X.

Tachibana blinked, not at all having expected that sort of suggestion.

"...are you good at that sort of thing?"

Because he sure as hell wasn't. And had more been thinking of going on a research dive, since that's one of the few things he was good at.

Eiji flushes.

"Not really. I got captured last time."

Mogami had been waiting for him specifically, having those cloned Greeed ready. He'd probably expected Gentaro to join Eiji, but Gen had been smart enough not to fall into the trap and was able to help rescue Emu and Banjou for him.

"Then don't risk it. We don't know what we're up against, meaning calling for backup will be more difficult. But asking around, seeing what's publicly available should give us at least some clues."

Eiji nodded. That was safer, and he really had to be careful to watch out for himself without anyone from home to help do that for him.

"If I'm right and he is from my world, there's a chance he might recognize me anyway. Just because of Emu. But I don't know if that'll help or make things harder."

"Was this game something that was in your world?" Tachibana asked, curiously. "Or is it something new?"

"I don't know," Eiji admitted. "I've been out of the country a lot. I'd only been back for a little while when I realized something was starting up."

"Might be worth checking to see if you can find any records of it. Even if we don't seem able to contact some people from our proper timelines, a newspaper archive or similar should still be accessible," Tachibana reasoned.

Eiji nodded. "But if there's this many worlds here, it's possible there's other things we might be missing. It might not just be tied to the Riders."

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Month 2: Enter the Meme King

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