Kamen Rider Will-O [Archive]

Ryutaros

05-26-2007, 04:09 PM

Title: Kamen Rider Will-O
Author: JoeHundredaire
Rating: R/FR18.
Disclaimer: The entire Kamen Rider property (including Den-O) belongs to Toei. And I’m not Joss Whedon or someone who might be able to legally make money off the Buffyverse. Not mine!
Summary: The train of time, DenLiner. Will the next station be in the past or the future? Thanks to Ethan, it's making a stop in Sunnydale just in time for Halloween…
Dedications: To Miss Wicked. Sorry I couldn't get you a threesome with Xander and Gwen, sweetie. Have some toku/Buffy crossover to make up for it?
Joe's Note: Obviously, if this is back in 1997… Willow can't be watching Kamen Riders Den-O or Kabuto, or Boukenger or Gekiranger. I've moved the entire thing up to 2007 to make the timelines work. But does it really matter in the grand scheme of things?

********************

Waiting until Buffy and Xander were out of sight, Willow ducked back into Ethan's. Now that the pushy blonde was gone, she wanted a chance to look around and actually pick out a costume for herself. Not that she didn't appreciate Buffy's help, but… they were different people. Just because Buffy liked an outfit and would look good it in didn't mean Willow wanted it on HER body.

Wandering along one of the walls, Willow blinked as she peered through a beaded curtain. She hadn't seen this section when Buffy was pulling her around the store. Stepping through, the redhead looked around in wonder. She recognized this stuff! Zecters, Accellulars, GekiChangers… all sorts of Japanese import toys. "What is this?"

"This, my dear, is how I pay the bills." Willow looked back over her shoulder. Ethan, the nice British gentleman who had sold Buffy her dress, was behind her. "What did you think I did eleven months of the year? This month is lucrative, but not enough that I live off it all year. I make ends meet by selling high-quality period replica outfits, Japanese imports, and… special adult costumes."

It took Willow a minute to figure out what he was talking about with the last bit and she blushed bright red, ducking her head and turning her attention back to the toys to hide her reaction. "So, um, is this stuff still for sale this month?"

Ethan chuckled and the curtain clinked softly as he entered the room fully. "Of course. I just relocate it because I realize that most of your peers would not appreciation things such as these. I do my best to listen for people discussing certain shows and then direct them back here. If I had known, I could have steered you in here before."

Nodding, Willow ran her fingers over a few of the boxes on the shelves before stopping at one. A large silver and black belt, with a familiar logo on the box. Den-O! This was perfect! It was part of her and Xander's normal Thursday night; he'd come over and she'd download the latest episodes of his favorite programs and they'd watch them.

Buffy wanted to be an 18th century woman to get Angel's attention, and now Willow knew exactly how to get Xander's. After all, what better way to remind Xander she was there and she was a girl than to remind him of the times they spent curled up on her couch watching television?

"I take it you're interested in the Terminal Buckle, miss?" Willow grabbed one off the shelf and turned to Ethan, nodding. "Excellent. Since it's Halloween tonight and I likely won't have another chance to sell that before closing… thirty dollars. And I'll even throw in a box of hair dye for you." Turning, he exited the back room and Willow followed behind.

Hair dye? Willow furrowed her brow. She didn't dye her hair. It's not like she had red hair with blonde roots or something that he'd think she needed to touch up. "Why do I need hair dye?"

Ethan placed the box on the counter and perused a display behind the register for a moment before setting a box of brown hair dye next to it. "I do try to watch these shows a bit so I'm not completely confused when my customers come in. The hero… he is a brunette, is he not?"

"Oh. Yeah. You think I should dye my hair?" Willow reached up to run her fingers through her red locks. She'd never even considered that in the twenty or thirty seconds she'd spent working on her cunning, cunning plan. "Well… do you have stuff that's not permanent? So I can wash it out after a few days?"

Huffing, Ethan began to ring up her purchase. "Of course; that's what kind I gave you. I didn't think you'd want to turn such glorious red hair that color permanently. Thirty dollars plus tax comes to… thirty-two dollars and eighteen cents."

Willow dug into her purse, very glad she'd taken her parents' debit card and visited the ATM on the way. Two crisp twenties would pay for this… and then maybe she would visit the mall to spend a few more. After all, she was coming as she wasn't for the night. Buffy said she was supposed to get 'wild and crazy'. Nothing in her wardrobe worked with either of those things. Which meant… as much as she dreaded it… shopping time.

********************

"So you're trying to be… a Japanese guy for the night?" Buffy looked Willow up and down and gave the former redhead an uncertain look. "I'm not sure what to say there. Because if I tell you that you did good, that means you look manly… and that's not a compliment."

Willow sighed as she stood in front of the mirror, trying to fluff her dyed brown hair into a style that looked messy without LOOKING like it was supposed to look messy. "No, I'm not trying to be a guy. I'm trying to be a character from a Japanese TV show that HAPPENS to be a guy. When you cosplay, it's okay to be a character who's the opposite gender. Well, if you're a guy trying to be Sailor Moon things can get kinda icky-looking, but for girls it's really not that weird."

There was a long slow blink from Buffy before the blonde shook her head. "I'm going to nod and smile like that made some kind of sense, and then I'm going to go over here and get my wig, kay?"

"It's really not that… oh, whatever." Willow sighed and went back to messing with her hair. Why did it bother her? She was probably going to spend most of the night explaining who she was to the kids… so why did Buffy being, well, Buffy-like bother her? Probably because her prepared excuse for the kids, comparing it to Power Rangers, would have gotten her an even weirder look and so she had nothing to work with?

Sighing again, Willow looked herself up and down in the mirror. She wasn't used to seeing herself with brown hair, for one. While it was a nice change of pace, she was really hoping the brown temporary dye actually DID come out after a week's worth of washing and was glad she had talked herself out of cutting it to actually look like Ryoutarou's. Apart from that, the only visibly different thing was the clunky Terminal Buckle belt around her waist and the black Rider Pass tucked into her pocket.

Well, actually she was different from head to toe. Hair, dyed. A tight-fitting new t-shirt and equally snug jeans, courtesy of a stop at Old Navy. And… Willow couldn't even think about the underwear she had on without blushing. Victoria's secret probably had something to do with how she got women to pay so much money for such tiny underwear.

Sadly, they were the first clothes she had bought for herself ever. Cordelia's teasing about her mom shopping for her came back to her and Willow scowled. She could shop for herself. It wasn't her fault that her mom kept ordering stuff from catalogs while on the road for her, and Willow didn't have the heart to just leave the clothes in the delivery boxes…

The doorbell rang and Willow gave the ghost costume a fleeting look. She'd dug it out of the attic from last year (waste not, want not) just in case… but she wasn't going to wear it again. She had a perfectly good costume that she was comfortable in, so why not wear it? Giving her hair one final fluff as Buffy pushed past her to head for the stairs, Willow straightened up and smiled. Show time.

Standing near the top of the stairs, Willow waited and fidgeted nervously as she listened to Xander compliment Buffy. He really liked her costume… even though he knew who she was wearing it for. Well that wasn't fair. He was supposed to be irritated that she was dressing up for Angel, not drooling over it!

Willow rounded the corner and stomped down the stairs. Even with her deliberately heavy footfalls, Xander didn't look up from his appreciation of Buffy until after Willow had reached the bottom of the stairs. "Hey Will. Thought Halloween was about dressing up? Although hey, you dyed your hair. Looks… different."

"…you don't know who I'm dressed up as?" Willow looked down and then made a show of smoothing her t-shirt down to make sure it was behind the belt and not obstructing it, not to mention bringing attention to the Terminal Buckle itself. Xander still looked a bit confused. "I'm Den-O! From Kamen Rider Den-O! Remember? You make me download it every week and burn it to a DVD so we can watch it?"

A frown came over Xander's features. "Uh, I hope I'm not the first to tell you this… but you're a girl. Ryoutarou is a boy."

Willow scowled. "Don't we need to go pick up some kids?"

********************

The spell was cast, and a pulse of magic rocketed outward from the back room of Ethan's. All across the Hellmouth, the power of Janus fed upon the small bursts of magic that Ethan had imbued in all the costumes and accessories he had sold.

Soldiers. Criminals. Demons. Angels. Aliens. Janus was just as imaginative as those who had dressed up, seizing upon every opportunity to inflict as much chaos as possible. The residents of Sunnydale suddenly found themselves at ground zero for rematches of everything from the Revolutionary War to classic comic book battles to the supreme war between good and evil.

Ethan Rayne smiled. "Show time."

Lt. Cmdr. Radner

05-26-2007, 05:48 PM

okay interested, more please

Ranger of Oz

05-26-2007, 11:53 PM

Oh the possibilities.

Momo!Willow sparring with Buffy.

Ura!Willow hitting on Xander.

Kin!Willow breaking Giles's books.

Ryu!Willow just causing trouble.

XD

Ryutaros

05-27-2007, 12:05 AM

Ura!Willow hitting on Xander.XD...you do remember Urataros likes the womenfolk, right? o_O

Ranger of Oz

05-27-2007, 03:22 AM

Yeah. But this would be a female version. Or...so i thought. But maybe not.

Ryutaros

05-27-2007, 03:43 AM

Yeah. But this would be a female version. Or...so i thought. But maybe not.Why not Xander? Well, in this case, a picture says a thousand words:
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m76/joehundredaire/stories/cordy0.jpg

Ranger of Oz

05-27-2007, 04:11 AM

Willow/Cordy? O.o Sorry, i really don't see that pairing working.

Ryutaros

05-27-2007, 04:17 AM

Willow/Cordy? O.o Sorry, i really don't see that pairing working.Actually, you'd be surprised how well it can... not that I'm 'pairing' anyone, per say. Urataros doesn't seem like the monogamy type. No, just some fun Imagin-fueled interaction between our favorite nerd and our favorite... whatever Cordy is.

Not to mention a new Imagin. :)

Ranger of Oz

05-27-2007, 04:48 AM

Cordy = Bitch Queen. More so than people make Buffy out to be.

New imajin, huh? Say, you wouldn't be willing to help me out with something would you...?

Ryutaros

05-27-2007, 04:51 AM

If it involves decapitating Whedon for that new Season 8 comic he's putting out, sure!

If not, it depends what my schedule looks like. PM me with what you need. :)

Ranger of Oz

05-27-2007, 05:02 AM

PM'd.

Is it really that bad? I have had a chance to pick it up.

Ryutaros

05-27-2007, 05:23 AM

It really just feels like now that Whedon has had 3-4 years of downtime since he ended the two shows, he's had a lot of time to reflect on how shitty the endings of both shows were and so we're getting retcon punches worthy of Superboy Prime.

Oh, and there's a government agency that's into the supernatural and has a leader with his own agenda that involves being in league with demons. And Amy rises from the not-really dead, instead of from the Plot Thread Wasteland this time.

Ranger of Oz

05-27-2007, 05:27 AM

ANOTHER Initiative? Gorrammit when will people learn?

And Amy. amy, amy, amy. Why do you keep doing this?

Ryutaros

05-28-2007, 04:06 PM

Title: Kamen Rider Will-O
Author: JoeHundredaire
Rating: R/FR18.
Disclaimer: The entire Kamen Rider property (including Den-O) belongs to Toei. And I’m not Joss Whedon or someone who might be able to legally make money off the Buffyverse. Not mine!
Summary: The train of time, DenLiner. Will the next station be in the past or the future? Thanks to Ethan, it's making a stop in Sunnydale just in time for Halloween…
Dedications: To Kelsey. Sorry I couldn't get you a threesome with Xander and Gwen, sweetie. Have some toku/Buffy crossover to make up for it?
Joe's Note: I realize this is going to be a departure from canon for Xander as well, but… he went as a generic soldier. I thought the spell might work on perception of identity to create the new personality… so Willow wanted to be Den-O and got the Imagin and a working belt. Xander just went as a grunt, and so… well, you'll see.

********************

Willow stumbled as something unseen swept over her like a tidal wave. All of a sudden, she felt… different. It wasn't something she could put her finger on, but she instinctively knew that something had changed. And then, out of the blue, there were voices in her head. Her eyes got wider and wider as a cacophony played out inside her mind. Oh no. No no no. This couldn't be happening. They were just characters in a TV show. She couldn't be hearing them in her head.

'What's going on? Where are we? And where's Ryoutarou? Speak, girl!'

Momotaros? It had to be, as impossible as it was. His voice was just like on the television show and he seemed just as brash and impatient as his fictional self was.

'Relax, sempai. Sometimes the grass really IS greener on the other side. This might not be a bad thing.'

The master manipulator was there too. Willow made a mental note to keep herself far away from Buffy, Cordelia, and half the other girls from school until she could figure out what was going on or until she was sure Urataros couldn't actually take over her form and cause trouble.

'Speak for yourself, Turtle Boy. I liked Ryoutarou! I liked my grass!'

And they were just as obnoxiously as opposed as she remembered them being. Great. Not only did she have voices in her head, they liked to argue.

'Awwww. I'll never become the conductor of the train of time now! And where's Onee-chan?'

…why her? She had the psychotic and childish one in her head too? The others, she could deal with. But Ryutaros? A super-powerful child with the power to hypnotize people and a tendency to act out could only lead to badness.

'Silence! We have a duty to protect our host, and right now she is our host.'

And what multiple-personality moment would be complete without Kintaros? At least he was noble and somewhat sensible… and would sleep a lot, which meant one less voice in her mind half the time.

'Says who, Bear Boy? You?' There was a moment of silence and then a soft snore. 'Urgh! Bastard!'

Except she was. And all around her, everyone in costume was starting to react oddly. A pirate let out a deep laugh as he chased a giggling girl in a pirate wench costume down the street. Then a rather familiar snap-hiss cut through the night and Willow whirled around to find Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker dueling on someone's lawn. All around her, as far as she could see, something was turning the people into their costumes.

A growl behind her made Willow jump and then stumble backwards. What had been a group of nice kids in scary costumes was now a clump of snarling, evil-looking demons and vampires. Why did Sunnydale's children have to have such an obsession with the demonic? She'd been wigged out enough by their costumes but this… this just made it worse.

Well, if everyone was turning into their costume… and she could hear some very familiar Imagin bickering inside her head… then maybe, just maybe her toy belt was as real as Darth Vader's currently-ignited lightsaber. 'Momotaros!'

'You know who I am?' Momotaros sounded a bit confused, then she felt a not-hers sense of… satisfaction? 'I knew it! You're behind this! You stole us from Ryoutarou! Send us back, now!'

Willow sighed and kept backpedaling from the little monsters stalking towards her. 'Listen, I don't have time to explain this to you guys. Yes, I know who you are. No, I didn't have anything to do with this. But I need help. And you like to fight. You can fight all these demons, but they're really kids underneath. It has to do with how you ended up in my body. So you can only fight them if you don't kill them.'

There was a moment of silence in her head. 'She's ENCOURAGING me to fight random people? I like this girl. I'm in!'

Reaching into her pocket, Willow pulled out the Rider Pass and took a deep breath. Either this was going to work and her problems were solved (at least for now) or she was going to look like an idiot for a few seconds and then get pounced on by a bunch of preteen not-really-demons. Holding the pass in her right hand, Willow reached down with her left to push one of the four buttons on her belt. There was a slight musical tone and the circle in the center of the belt lit up red. "Sword Form."

So far so good. Well, the belt had electronic sounds and lights. So that didn't really mean anything, come to think of it. Willow closed her eyes and then brought her right arm down, swiping the black Rider Pass across in front of her belt. "Henshin!"

********************

Corporal Alexander Harris shook his head, trying to clear the vague fuzziness in his mind. Corporal? Since when was he a corporal? For that matter, since when did he use his full name?

Looking around, Xander tried to figure out what was going on while fighting off what felt like a monster hangover. He hadn't felt that bad since the guys at Fort Bragg had taken him out drinking to celebrate his promotion to Private First Class. Wait, whoa. Drinking? Army promotions? Something was very muchly wrong here.

Evidently, he wasn't the only one who was having problems. His vision finally cleared and the pounding in his head settled down to manageable levels, allowing Xander to take in his surroundings. Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker were dueling on someone's lawn, something that looked suspiciously like an angel flew overhead in pursuit of some sort of winged demon, and Willow was currently backing away from a small army of demons.

That was bad.

Xander hefted his formerly plastic gun, amazed both at the cool metal in his hands and the fact that he had no problem with the weight. Aiming it seemed like second nature too. Lining up a shot, he prepared to open fire when a familiar word caught his attention. "Henshin?"

A burst of red light erupted from Willow's belt and Xander winced and used his hand to shield his vision. There was a loud rushing noise, like a passing train, and then silence fell again for a moment. Then, Xander heard a voice he recognized but wished he didn't. "Ore… sanjou!"

Willow had transformed into Den-O's Sword Form: a black PVC undersuit that made it way too evident that his bestest bud was a growing girl, along with silver and red armor over it. Xander recognized it well; all confusion over her costume aside, he was a huge fan of the show. It meant that somehow Willow's prop belt had become real, and she had somehow been possessed by a real Momotaros. No good could come of demonic possession. The year since Buffy's arrival had taught him that much.

And if Willow could turn into HER costume… did that mean the demons were really people in costumes? While Xander wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the chandelier, he didn't need to be to figure out that might be a possibility. Willow was transforming. He could remember how to field strip a whole bunch of guns, and more military regulations than he could shake a stick at. Was it really that far out there to think that these 'demons' might be in the same situation as Willow and he?

As he internally debated who he had to save, Willow from the demons or the demons from Momotaros, the decision was taken from him. "Listen, I don't do warning shots." As Xander inched towards Willow to either help or restrain her, her possessed form was busy pulling the four pieces of the DenGasher from her belt. There was a popping noise as she fitted the components together in a particular order. With the fourth piece in place, a red blade slid out to produce the Form's signature weapon. "From start to end, it's completely a climax!"

"Wait, Willow, Momotaros, Willotaros, no!" Xander rushed towards Willow and tried to grab her arm as she brought the sword back. "I think they're just kids!"

Growling, Willow lunged forward and swung her sword. Instead of cleaving through flesh like Xander had feared, it just raised lines of sparks and drove each child-demon back. "I know, you jerk! Willow already told me." Xander jerked back at the familiar and very masculine voice of Momotaros emerging from what he knew was Willow's body. "Now shut up and let me have fun."

Xander threw himself backwards as the red blade of Den-O's sword came perilously close to his chest, deciding to stand back and watch. No, he was… guarding Willow's six. Yeah. That sounded a lot better. Besides, the way Momo-in-Willow was hacking away at the demons, it would be really easy for someone to sneak up on her. Him. Them. Whatever.

He was rightfully worried, Xander discovered. As Willow tore through the child-sized demons, a hulking full-sized one was lumbering up the street towards them. Hopefully, it was a real demon and not a football player with an interesting taste in costumes. Otherwise, Xander was going to feel really bad about what he was about to do.

Bringing his gun up, Xander took a deep breath and let it out before squeezing the trigger. The MP5 roared in his hands and three rounds tore through the head of the demon. It let out a sick gurgle before slumping forward onto the ground, its glowing blue lifeblood flowing out to puddle on the pavement.

The gunfire attracted someone's attention, Xander found out, when a roar echoed down the street and an identical-looking demon began lumbering towards him. He didn't even think before bringing the gun up and firing off another burst, peppering the demon with bullets. Given that he was firing the submachine gun with deadly accuracy when he had never touched a gun before… oh yes, something was most definitely wrong with him. Felt good, though.

Before he knew it, Momotaros had driven off the miniature demons. While Xander's quarries bled out on the street, the Imagin possessing Willow let out a disgruntled huff before unclasping the belt around her waist. There was another flash of light and then the Willow he knew was standing there in front of him. "Xander?"

Xander nodded and gestured to her belt, then beyond her at the still-visible fleeing 'demons'. "Did you just..?"

Looking around nervously, Willow nodded. "Uh, yeah. Well, kinda." Then her eyes landed on the nearest of the two demons before sliding back up to Xander's gun. "Did you just..?"

"Pretty much." Yep, he'd found out that his 'toy' gun was a real MP5 and taken two demons down with the precision of a hardened soldier. And she'd just transformed into a fictional character, complete with the personality shift that came with being possessed by the demon that granted said character their powers. Why couldn't ANYTHING be normal in their life?

"This is wiggy."

"Oh yeah."

"Hey wait a minute. Where's Buffy?"

"…crap."

Ranger of Oz

05-28-2007, 07:47 PM

Poor Willow. I almost feel sorry for her.

Acatl

05-29-2007, 02:30 PM

I have no effing idea what Kamen Rider Den-O is about, but that doesn't prevent me from enjoying this fic. I really like the way you're portraying Will... and I kinda hope Tara will make a cameo appareance...

and make out with Will...

Lt. Cmdr. Radner

05-30-2007, 03:05 PM

Okay we had Momo appear, so whose next? Ryutaros should definetly be saved for last so that leaves turtle bastard and bear boy. Hmm, personally I rather want to see the turtle bastard in action next just because he is so cool and I want to see Spike's reaction when he asks 'Mind if I string you along?' Update soon!

Ranger of Oz

05-31-2007, 06:10 AM

Actually, i can see Spike grabbing Lady Buff, making her cry.

Naku? NAKU! *Axe Form tone*

But that's just me.

Lt. Cmdr. Radner

05-31-2007, 12:08 PM

point conceded. That also would be fun to experience

Ryutaros

06-02-2007, 12:52 PM

For those who are wondering...

Chapter 3: Wipe Your Tears
Chapter 4: String You Along
Chapter 5: Solving Problems
Chapter 6: I Can Defeat You, Right?

Been a bit slow lately due to onset sickness from a new medication. Cure is worse than the disease sometimes. Ugh. Working on it now.

Ranger of Oz

06-02-2007, 09:04 PM

Coolness. Can't wait. And feel better!

Ryutaros

06-02-2007, 09:08 PM

Eh, it's a constant thing. Get on new meds. Stay on them. Meds lose effectiveness. Withdrawal from coming off meds (just finished that). Onset from new meds (going through that). At least these ones, I'm not vomiting randomly like the last onset.

Yet.

Ryutaros

06-10-2007, 05:59 PM

Title: Kamen Rider Will-O
Author: JoeHundredaire
Rating: R/FR18.
Disclaimer: The entire Kamen Rider property (including Den-O) belongs to Toei. And I’m not Joss Whedon or someone who might be able to legally make money off the Buffyverse. Not mine!
Summary: The train of time, DenLiner. Will the next station be in the past or the future? Thanks to Ethan, it's making a stop in Sunnydale just in time for Halloween…
Dedications: To Kelsey. Sorry I couldn't get you a threesome with Xander and Gwen, sweetie. Have some toku/Buffy crossover to make up for it?
Joe's Note: Sorry this took so long. Medication onset sickness for the lose. For those of you who aren't on psychotrophic medications, that's the lovely period between when they start pumping you full of chemicals and your body gives up trying to fight/expel the chemicals. In my case, a two week period of nausea, vomiting, twelve hour a day sleep periods, general weakness, and failure to give a fuck. Isn't modern medicine great?

********************

Sighing, Willow toyed idly with the black plastic Rider Pass in her pocket as she roamed the streets of Sunnydale with Xander in tow. Still no sign of Buffy… and still no clue how everyone in town had managed to turn into their costumes. ’Some kind of magic, obviously. But who? And how?'

'Is magic that common that it's the first thing you think of?' Urataros for once sounded… genuinely curious, rather than manipulative. 'I'm not sure how this could be the work of an Imagin, but after seeing what Ryutaros can do… just because you see one fish in the pond doesn't mean there isn't a bigger, tastier fish hiding in the waters.'

The little Ryutaros section of her mind perked up at the mention before settling back down into inactivity, and Willow considered it for a moment before dismissing it. 'Imagin work in the present to go back to the past, right? How could they have turned us into our costumes? Xander's not old enough to even be in the Army yet, so it's not like the Imagin changed things so he enlisted a few years ago or something.' She nibbled on her lip as she thought. 'We need to talk to someone who knows more about this kind of stuff. We need Giles.'

Momotaros let out a grunt. 'I still don't trust you, even if you do let me take over your form. How do we know you're not behind this?'

"Read my mind then. Go through my memories. I didn't have anything to do with this!" Xander gave her an odd look and Willow sighed. "There's a party in my head, and everyone's invited?"

Realization dawned on Xander's face, and then a pitying look. "They're all in there, aren't they? Momo, Ura, Kin, and Ryu?" Willow nodded and Xander sighed before throwing one arm over her shoulder. "We'll find a way to get them out. Giles is good at this kind of stuff. I'm sure he knows something we can do."

Willow pondered that for a minute. What would happen to the Imagin if that happened? Was there a real Ryoutarou floating around out there who was wondering where his companions were? Or were they created by whatever spell did this and exorcising them would just send them off into the void somewhere? Heck, would they even survive the end of the spell? Was there a way to end the spell? They needed answers.

Before Willow could articulate any of these thoughts, a shrill scream cut through the night. Looking around, it took her but a moment to spot a brunette in a very familiar red dress racing down the sidewalk. Well, racing was a comparative term. Willow was pretty sure that even she could have run faster than Buffy was moving. Barefoot. On broken glass.

Close behind Buffy in hot pursuit were a pair of large, slobbering dog-like demons. They almost reminded Willow of how she thought a werewolf might look… humanoid but decidedly animal at the same time. The real question was… why was Buffy fleeing? It was 'only' two demons. She could probably take them with one hand tied behind her back.

The brown hair streaming behind Buffy caught Willow's eye again and then she grimaced. Except Buffy probably wasn't Buffy at the moment, just like she wasn't her normal self and Xander was running around with a working gun.

That realization came at the same time as the demon catching up with the fleeing Slayer. With a mighty roar, it lashed out with one massive arm, catching Buffy and sending her flying through the air. She hit a nearby car with an almighty thump and slid to the ground sobbing.

Sobbing?

Oh poop.

It was a decidedly odd sensation to feel different parts of your brain reacting to a situation. Even as Willow processed the crying form of her friend slumped against the car, she could feel the other Imagin in her head backing out of the way. Mostly because they all knew what was coming. 'Nakeru?'

As much as Willow wanted to keep her visiting personalities under control, part of her had a great big evil smile at the thought of what Kintaros would do to the two demons. 'That's right. They made her cry.'

'NAKERU! NAKERU ZE!'

********************

Lady Elizabeth Summers sniffled as she cowered back against the strange object she'd been thrown into, back and head burning with pain. Why was all of this happening to her? Had she somehow offended the Lord and this was His form of divine retribution? That must be it. Otherwise, how would she come to be in this strange and uncivilized land, when last she'd been in her bed at home?

There was a loud roar and Elizabeth looked up, far up, at the strange wolf-like beasts standing over her. So, this was it then. She'd never get to marry, or have a child, or even host her own dinner party. Some woman she'd turned out to be.

Suddenly, the wolves' heads whipped around to stare at an approaching figure. It reminded Elizabeth somewhat of the knights of old, from the storybooks her father had read to her before bed. Covered in yellow and silver armor, he held a large axe in one hand. "My strength will make you cry." There was a burst of wind, and pieces of white paper fluttered around them. "Wipe your tears with this."

"Aroo?" The wolf creatures looked at each other and gave very human-like shrugs before turning to face the newcomer. The knight reached up and gripped his own jaw, jerking his head to the side with a noisy pop before making a beckoning gesture at the two wolves. The wolves gave each other another look and shrug before charging into battle.

The wolves had large, drooling mouths full of sharp teeth, not to mention very sharp claws and strong arms. Elizabeth knew firsthand how sharp said claws were and how strong they were from her rather impromptu flight into… whatever this unholy metal object she was resting against was.

The knight was armed solely with an axe, his rather unimpressive body covered in black, silver, and yellow armor.

It was no contest.

The first wolf was felled with a brutal horizontal slash of the knight's axe. There was a moment in which the head spun in midair, propelled forward by the monster's own speed, before it hit the ground with a wet splat and rolled to a stop. Elizabeth fought the urge to vomit at the sight.

Her other tormenter faired no better against this odd knight. Each lunging bite or swipe of claws was met with the now-silent knight's axe, leaving small slashes all over the wolf's body as he whittled away at the monster. The wolf seemed to get more angry or desperate with each failed strike, lashing out harder and faster, but the knight showed no signs of panicking. Each attack was calmly met with a sharp clang of fangs or claws against a metal axe.

Finally, the knight seemed to grow weary of the game. Pulling out a black object the size of his hand, he dipped it over his belt buckle. The buckle flickered with golden light and a strange, inhuman voice came out of nowhere. "Full Charge."

Letting out a grunt, the knight tossed his axe into the air. The silver blade glinted in the glow of the streetlamps as it spun end over end and then its owner leapt skyward after it. Wrapping his hand around the handle, he brought it down with a thunderous crash and an explosion of yellow energy. "Dynamic Chop."

The final wolf didn't die so much as explode in a shower of fur, blood, and gore. Elizabeth let out a shriek as her expensive dress was covered in filth, clapping her hand over her mouth as the unknown knight turned to regard her. After a moment of inspection, he popped his neck again and then reached to unclasp his belt.

A bright flash of yellowish light had Elizabeth blinking spots from her eyes. The scene she found herself with had her blinking again. The knight's armor was gone, somehow, and instead of the gallant gentlemen she was expecting, a slim brunette girl was staring at her. A slim brunette in a shirt that was far too small for her, and BRITCHES of all things!

This was all too strange for her. Strange places, stranger creatures, and now a mysterious knight that turned from a heroic man into an indecently-dressed woman. There was only one way a woman of her stature and breeding could handle such a situation.

Elizabeth's eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out.

LttleDvl

06-11-2007, 07:41 PM

hah! Buffy faints... lol.

Ryutaros

06-12-2007, 11:04 PM

Title: Kamen Rider Will-O
Author: JoeHundredaire
Rating: R/FR18.
Disclaimer: The entire Kamen Rider property (including Den-O) belongs to Toei. And I’m not Joss Whedon or someone who might be able to legally make money off the Buffyverse. Not mine!
Summary: The train of time, DenLiner. Will the next station be in the past or the future? Thanks to Ethan, it's making a stop in Sunnydale just in time for Halloween…
Dedications: To Kelsey. Sorry I couldn't get you a threesome with Xander and Gwen, sweetie. Have some toku/Buffy crossover to make up for it?
Joe's Note: The longest chapter yet, and there's not even any combat in it? I think that's why most of you show up, anyways. Aww. Well, I'll bring it back soon. For now… 僕に釣られてみる?

********************

Sighing in annoyance, Willow wrapped her arm around Buffy's waist and held the girl upright as Xander cracked open the back door of the Summers house and peeked in. Getting a firm grip on his gun, he slid inside and Willow watched him make a quick pass through the kitchen and dining rooms before disappearing into the living room. "All clear!"

Willow stumbled over to the couch and none-too-gently dropped Buffy onto it. Rolling her shoulders, she looked around. "Hello? Mrs. Summers? Dawn?" No response. "Good, they're gone. It'd be really tough to explain this to Mrs. S, and Dawn is smarter than she looks."

A sudden banging against the front door caused Xander and Willow to jump. Xander's rifle came up again as he stalked toward the door and Willow put her hand on his shoulder to stall him. "Don't open it! What if it's one of the little demon kids? We don't want to hurt them, but they sure want to hurt us!"

"Or it could be a civilian who's trying to escape from the mini demons." Xander pushed himself up on his toes, trying to peek through the small panes of glass near the top of the door. "Let's see if I can figure out which before we open the door, eh?"

Turning away, Willow found Buffy awake and wobbling around the living room. Slowly, so not to spook the not-Slayer, she walked over to find the girl staring at a picture of herself. "This… this could be me."

Willow sighed. Xander was normal-ish… normal with a side order of soldier memories. Why did Buffy have to be so difficult? "It IS you, Buffy. Can't you remember at all?"

"No! I… I don't understand any of this!" Buffy stomped her foot before hurling the picture at Willow. "This is some other girl! I would never wear such low apparel, like you do, and I don't like this place, and I don't like you, and I just want to go home!"

That got another sigh. "You ARE home!" Buffy just burst into tears and Willow rolled her eyes before pulling her fist back and punching Buffy in the face. Her fellow brunette crumpled and Willow caught her before she hit the floor, steering her back over to the couch. Straightening up, she found Xander gaping at her. "She couldn't have dressed up like Xena?"

Xander shook his head before returning to his window peeping. "She's going to kill you for that later, you know that right?" The window in front of him shattered and he recoiled as a hairy paw reached through. "Not a civilian!" Bringing his gun back around, he took aim at the wildly groping arm.

"Hey! Hey! Could be a kid inside! Don't shoot it!" Willow winced as the gun fired, the noise thunderously loud inside the living room. After a moment, the paw retracted and an indistinct shape loped across the lawn before disappearing.

"Big noise scare monster, remember?" Xander leaned down to peer at the broken window. "God damnit. And I didn't even bring my duct tape." Willow gave him an odd look and he gestured to the hole. "Duct tape and a gun are the soldier's two essentials. If it doesn't have holes and should, shoot it. If it has a hole and shouldn't, duct tape it."

That… actually made a strange sort of sense to Willow. Entering the den, she took up watch through another set of windows to keep an eye on things outside. They still weren't any closer to Giles or a solution, but at least Buffy was safe until this wore off. And Xander. Unless his gun had a magically infinite supply of bullets, he probably wasn't going to be able to protect himself for much longer.

A scream outside drew Willow's attention to a brunette in a cat costume fleeing from something that looked kinda like Bigfoot. Willow pulled up the hem of her t-shirt and patted the Terminal Buckle before pulling the Rider Pass out of her pocket. Cutting Xander off at the door, she nodded toward Buffy. "Stay here. I'm not going to run out of ammo anytime soon."

"Help me! Somebody help me!" Willow grimaced at the voice as she stepped clear of the house. Oh great, Cordelia. Just the person she wanted to see right now. Sighing, she waved to get the statuesque brunette's attention and Cordelia swerved to run towards her. "Willow! Help me! I'm too pretty to die!"

Oh, now she REALLY wanted to help Cordelia out. But no, it would be wrong to let the cheerleader get killed (and possibly eaten) by the rampaging demons and demons-for-the-night, so Willow grabbed Cordelia by the elbow as she neared and helped pull her into the safety of the house. Slamming the door behind them, she listened to the demon bang against it fruitlessly for a moment before grumbling and wandering off.

Wandering into the living room, she found Cordelia ranting at poor Xander. "Okay, seriously? I knew this town was bizarre, but what's going on? I was just attacked by Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy and look at my costume!" She waved her arm at Xander, showing him what looked like a torn sleeve. Willow wasn't sure, mostly because she didn't care that much. "Do you really think that Partytown's going to give me my deposit back? No chance in hell!"

Willow frowned and leaned back against the wall as she pondered that. Buffy's costume? Ethan's. Xander's costume? Ethan's. Her costume? Ethan's. Cordelia's costume? Partytown. And one of these things was not like the others. Was Ethan's the source of the problem, or did Cordelia just luck out because who or whatever did this didn't want a giant catgirl running around because it wasn't amusing enough for their tastes?

"…at any rate, now that tall, dark, and furry is gone, I think I'm going to be on my way." Cordelia gave her torn costume one last mournful glance before heading toward Willow. "As bad as being chased by monsters is, being seen with you people? Almost as bad."

Again, Willow battled the urge to let Cordelia go and get herself eaten by some sort of creature of the night. But, as much as she disliked the cheerleader, that was sorta like being an accessory to murder. She had to convince Cordelia to stay in the house… but how? Xander was already getting a bit angry looking and following behind her, no doubt ready to get into a fight that would just drive Cordelia out into the night faster.

And then suddenly, the perfect solution came to her. She could get Cordelia to stay in the house where she was safe, and let one of her Imagin companions out to play. An Imagin companion who had been trying to force himself into control of her body ever since he caught his first glimpse of Cordelia.

'Urataros. Showtime.'

********************

Xander scowled as he strode after Cordelia, reaching out to grab her arm and stop her forward progress. He missed but before she could reach the door, Willow slid smoothly the brunette and the exit. "I'm not sure that's such a wise idea, Cordelia. Wouldn't you rather have an ugly catfish beside you than an angry shark?"

"Uh…" Cordelia stopped and blinked at that one, trying to figure out what the actual question was. "Did you just call me an ugly catfish or an angry shark? Because either way, I think I'm insulted. Or are you two the…"

Letting out a soft laugh, Willow gestured toward the stairs that lead to the upper floor. "I meant that if you stay in here for now, nobody will see you and your chance of being killed is much lower." Her arm wrapped around Cordelia's waist and Willow stared up into the taller girl's eyes. "Perhaps we can even find you a change of clothing worthy of your beauty? Such magnificence shouldn't be wrapped in tattered rags like these…"

Cordelia nodded slowly. "A change of clothes would be nice. I like clothes." Willow's hand gave a little push on the small of Cordelia's back, and the brunettes slowly ascended the staircase. Looking back over her shoulder, Willow winked one bright blue eye at Xander.

Bright blue eyes.

Urataros.

Aww crap.

********************

Cordelia made her way up the stairs in a daze. Here she was, in Buffy's house while the blonde was passed out on the couch and Willow Rosenberg of all people was offering to help her find a change of clothes. Several objections came to mind there… Willow's abhorrent taste in clothing, Buffy's comparative midgetness, et cetera. Any second now she was going to come to her senses and flee.

Any second now…

The cheerleader followed Willow into what she presumed was Buffy's room, and when had Willow dyed her hair brown? It was actually a halfway decent color on the girl, it turned out. Opening a dresser, Willow looked Cordelia up and down before reaching inside and pulling out a gorgeous turquoise top. Shaking it twice, she smirked and held it up. "Try this."

"Like Buffy's going to have anything in… hey, this is my size." Cordelia frowned and examined the top closer. A velvet peasant top from Boston Proper, in a color that the Slayer usually didn't wear, in just her size. That was like, an eighty dollar top. And Buffy happened to have one in her dresser? "How did you..?"

Willow gave her a peculiar half-smile. "Like a magician, a fisherman never reveals the secrets of a good catch." And there were the odd fish comments again. What the hell? Although… it was a gorgeous top. It was worth a little weirdness, right? Bending down again, she opened another drawer and started digging again. "Let's see if we can find you some pants."

Uh huh. Cordelia snorted and looked down at Willow again. Buffy was like, half a foot shorter. And Cordelia had a lot more leg than the blonde. Like anything in Buffy's wardrobe would fit her. Then she looked down at the top in her hands. Then again… "So why does Buffy have clothing that fits me? And this nice?"

"Oh, they're not Buffy's. They're mine. You can keep the top. As well as…" Willow pulled a pair of jeans out of the dresser and held them up. "These."

Oh… my… God! Cordelia snatched the jeans out of Willow's hands and practically drooled as she looked them over. The patch over the right rear pocket told her all she needed to know. "True Religion jeans? These are like, one fifty… two hundred dollars easy. How can you afford… and in my size… and I can KEEP these?" Even her parents drew the line at too many pairs of super-expensive jeans and she had 'only' three different pairs. And these were a dark shade of blue, with distressed spots running down both thighs… yum! Darting forward, she forgot who she was dealing with and hugged Willow tight.

Willow let out a chuckle against Cordelia's neck and a pair of hands slid up and down the taller girl's back. "I can't teach you to fish, so I suppose giving you the fish will have to suffice." The hands settled at the small of Cordelia's back again as Willow leaned back. "Did you know you get a bit flushed when you're excited about clothes? It's really quite beautiful."

It was then that Cordelia realized how close she and Willow actually were. She hadn't given the little geek one of her normal 'lean in and barely touch' hugs that she passed out to her Cordettes. Their bodies were pressed close together, the way most of her boyfriends hug her. And… it actually kinda gave her that warm and tingly feeling her boyfriends did. She licked her suddenly dry lips. "Really?"

"Oh yes." Willow reached up and ran her fingers over Cordelia's cheek. "Quite beautiful indeed." She leaned in and Cordelia froze as their lips grew closer together. Geek girl was going to kiss her. Geek girl was going to kiss her and she wasn't trying to hit Willow. What was going on?! Instead, Willow leaned forward and her lips brushed against Cordelia's earlobe. "I'll be waiting downstairs while you change. Don't take too long."

The two slip apart and Cordelia stumbled a bit as Willow slid towards the door. The brunette shot her a wink before slipping out the door and closing it behind her. Cordelia let out the breath that she'd been holding and fell onto her back on Buffy's bed.

What… the hell?!

Lt. Cmdr. Radner

06-13-2007, 08:27 AM

And once more Urataros shows just how big a playah he is, even in a female body he can still score the ladies. Great chapter and I can't wait to see some Ura and Ryo fighting action and I loved Kintaros' enterence last chapter. Keep them coming

Ranger of Oz

06-13-2007, 11:30 AM

Heh...Ura enters the scene and Kin gets a chance to show off his strength. Shnifty.

Ryutaros

06-13-2007, 04:11 PM

Preview for Chapter 6, and Chapter 5 is chillin' like a villain in my beta's inbox at the moment... as always, pre-beta material is subject to change slightly or wildly to conform with new story ideas...

A third figure joined them at that point, a tall plastic cup grasped in his metal fingers. "Mistress. I brought you the coffee you asked for. Vente java chip frappuccino with raspberry, hold the whip cream, extra chocolate sauce." Frowning, Deneb handed over the coffee cup. "It seems a bit expensive for a cup of coffee, though…"

"Shut up, Deneb." Staring down at her drink, Zeronos found herself in a bit of a quandary. She had a cup with a straw. She was wearing a helmet. This wasn't going to work out at all. "Deneb. I need to power down for a bit. Stand guard."

The black-clad Imagin nodded before taking up a position in front of Zeronos and kneeling. "Roger."

Pulling the green and black card out of her belt, Zeronos slipped it back into the holding pouch before unfastening the belt. There was a whoosh as her armor disappeared and she leaned down to take a sip of her frappuccino before letting out a delighted sigh. "Ahh. Much better."

Ryutaros

06-13-2007, 06:48 PM

Ranger of Oz

06-13-2007, 07:59 PM

Poor Spike. Poor, poor Spike. I'm going to miss him. And knowing Ryuu, so's he at first. XD

Lt. Cmdr. Radner

06-14-2007, 08:03 AM

I called it! But I do feel sorry for Spike, so young not even three hundred yet. Anyway I hope Ryuu doesn't cause too much damage. Update soon.

Ryutaros

06-14-2007, 05:21 PM

No love for Plan Xander? You all suck. jk

About 600 words into the next chapter. Slowed down because I'm waiting on a few people to get back to me with translations and thoughts.

Ranger of Oz

06-14-2007, 06:25 PM

Eh, got over used in MF, so...not so exciting. sorry.

TuxedoK

06-16-2007, 03:08 PM

this is proving to be an interesting story, and nice job with the photo.

Ryutaros

06-16-2007, 03:54 PM

Title: Kamen Rider Will-O
Author: JoeHundredaire
Rating: R/FR18.
Disclaimer: The entire Kamen Rider property (including Den-O) belongs to Toei. And I’m not Joss Whedon or someone who might be able to legally make money off the Buffyverse. Not mine!
Summary: The train of time, DenLiner. Will the next station be in the past or the future? Thanks to Ethan, it's making a stop in Sunnydale just in time for Halloween…
Dedications: To Kelsey. Sorry I couldn't get you a threesome with Xander and Gwen, sweetie. Have some toku/Buffy crossover to make up for it?
Joe's Note: I did want to play with a new idea for this chapter, but I think it'll have to wait until later. Therefore… just some Gun Form action here. And some Rod Form. And Deneb.

********************

"I can defeat you, right?" Willow's head tipped to the side and she grinned. "Can't hear you!"

Zeronos sighed and leaned against the saber form of the ZeroGasher as she watched the teen girl engage in an odd dance as she closed the distance between herself and the monsters. "Well, at least some things never change. Ryutaros is still an idiot, and Den-O is still a loser."

There was a soft sigh from beside her and Zeronos turned to regard her companion. "Just out of curiosity, are you going to get involved at all or just watch?"

"Just watch, probably." Zeronos fingered her belt for a moment. "As long as I don't have to actually use the ZeroGasher, I can recycle the Zeronos Card for another transformation." The two turned their attention back to Willow again, who held her hand up and snapped her fingers twice. All of the smaller demons joined her in her dance as she lead them back away from their larger counterparts, then took off as a group down the street. "Besides, it looks like she has everything under control, doesn't it?"

A third figure joined them at that point, a tall plastic cup grasped in his metal fingers. "Mistress, I brought you the coffee you asked for. Vente java chip frappuccino with raspberry, hold the whip cream, extra chocolate sauce." Frowning, Deneb handed over the coffee cup. "It seems a bit expensive for a cup of coffee, though…"

"Shut up, Deneb." Staring down at her drink, Zeronos found herself in a bit of a quandary. She had a cup with a straw. She was wearing a helmet. This wasn't going to work out at all. "Deneb. I need to power down for a bit. Stand guard."

The black-clad Imagin nodded before taking up a position in front of Zeronos and kneeling. "Roger."

Pulling the green and black card out of her belt, Zeronos slipped it back into the holding pouch before unfastening the belt. There was a whoosh as her armor disappeared and she leaned down to take a sip of her frappuccino before letting out a delighted sigh. "Ahh. Much better."

There was a sigh from beside her and the other human present tucked a silver pocket watch back into her trench coat. "Do what you want, Little One. My task here is done." Zeronos watched as the figure wandered down the street before slipping between two houses. God, adults were so boring.

"Majo-chan says I can't hurt the little demons because they're just kids. But she says I can hurt you." Willow danced towards the demons again in what Zeronos was horrified to recognize as a very credible imitation of MC Hammer's technique. "This is the part where I destroy you, kay?"

A pale blonde in a leather duster growled and stepped to the front of the pack, obviously the leader of the group. "Give it your best shot, kiddo. Weren't you cowering in a classroom while the Slayer tried to save your sorry arse?" Closing the distance between them, he threw a punch at Willow's head.

Willow smoothly ducked under the attack and thrust her palm out, slamming it into Spike's chest and sending him flying back into his cohorts. "Can't touch this!"

Reaching down, she tapped her belt and the center lit up with a bright purple light. "Gun Form."

"Henshin!" The Rider Pass came down past the belt and Willow erupted in purple light as she transformed into her most powerful solo form. Zeronos just shook her head, tucking one blonde lock back behind her ear as she sipped her frappuccino. It was just so horribly gaudy looking. Then again, her Altair and Vega Forms weren't much better. Still, green was a much better color than purple.

Unless you were Prince, in which case it worked for you.

Another sip. Mmmm, chocolate.

"My… my… my… my… music hits me so hard, makes me say 'Oh my Lord!'." Den-O slid cleanly between two of the demons, ducking back and forth as they did their best to hit a target that just wouldn't stop moving. And boy was it odd to hear a male voice coming out of a figure Zeronos knew was Willow in armor. "Thank you for blessing me with a mind to rhyme and two hyped feet!"

Okay, watching two demons punch each other out while trying to hit Den-O was funny, even she had to admit that. "Feels good when you know you're down, a super dope homeboy from the Oaktown." An interesting strategy on Den-O's part, Zeronos realized. The monsters were huge and hulking, while he was slim and flexible. One after another, the monsters fell either to 'friendly fire' or from Den-O's flying fists and feet. "And I'm known as such, and this is a beat UH you can't touch!"

One hulking blue demon broke away from the group and Deneb made himself useful by twisting the thing's head until its neck snapped, but most of the group fell to Den-O's attacks. Soon, it was just Spike and Den-O. "Bunch of right pitiful losers. Don't know why I kept them around this long." Spike cracked his knuckles and then slid his duster off, tossing it onto the hood of a nearby car. "Right then. Bring it on."

"Kay!" Den-O quickly pulled out the four pieces of the DenGasher and fit them together in a vaguely gun-shaped arrangement. A trigger appeared and shots rang out, peppering the car next to Spike with bullets. The blonde dove away just in time for the entire car to erupt in a massive fireball. "Like that?"

Spike's horrified gaze shifted from Den-O to the burning car. "Bloody hell. I LIKED that coat, you bitch!" He leaned back as another shot tore through what would have been center mass had he not moved. "Hey! Stop shooting at me! I'm yelling at you right now!"

Shrugging, Den-O unloaded three more shots into the pavement at Spike's feet, forcing the vampire to dance backwards to avoid having his legs blown off. "You're boring. I'm going to end this now, kay?" Pulling out the Rider Pass again, Den-O slid it over the belt and waited for the resulting 'Full Charge' announcement before dropping it to the ground.

While Spike wasn't the brightest bulb in the chandelier, even he knew that when a person's futuristic gun started glowing and announced it was fully charged, it was time to get the hell out of there. Scrambling to his feet, he gave Willow one last glare as he ran off down the street.

The Rider Pass jumped back into Den-O's right hand as two fingers of the left unwrapped from the grip of the gun to tap her belt. A burst of swirling blue light emerged as he tapped a button and then ran the Rider Pass over her belt. "Rod Form."

Zeronos raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow as Den-O's armor burst into pieces and whirled around like a tornado before reassembling in a different pattern, complete with a new helmet. Not only was it odd to see her counterpart powering down (not that this little vampire required much effort to defeat, mind you), it marked the first time she'd seen someone force Ryutaros to follow their orders. Maybe this Den-O wasn't quite as pathetic as Ryoutarou Nogami.

Rearranging the pieces of the DenGasher, Den-O took off in hot pursuit of Spike. Zeronos was torn: she wanted to see what happened… but that meant actually having to run after them. Sighing, she handed her frappuccino to Deneb and absorbed him back into her body to protect it. There. No spilling now.

She didn't actually have to chase too far after the pair. Den-O whipped his weapon forward as he ran, the tip separating and racing forward to tangle around Spike's feet. The vampire hit the pavement face first, moaning and clutching at his nose. "You bwoke it!"

"Sometimes you go fishing for tuna and catch a killer whale, little vampire." Den-O stood over his fallen foe for a moment before ramming the tip of his staff into Spike's chest. The vampire let out a scream as blue energy erupted from his mouth and eyes, and then he exploded into dust. "Good bye."

There was a flash of light as Den-O powered down and Zeronos found herself face to face with Willow. The two were silent for a moment before the corners of Willow's mouth quirked up. "So does this mean you're the zero now?"

Snorting, Zeronos held her hand out and waited until Deneb's arm reached down, depositing her frappuccino in her grasp again. "As if."

Willow laughed. "Glad to see this hasn't changed you too much."

Lt. Cmdr. Radner

06-16-2007, 05:38 PM

Okay then, many questions raised. Mainly who the hell in Zeronos is? I have an idea but one of them is so out there that if I'm wrong people will point and laugh at me. But as always great work and I look forward to the next chapter.

Ryutaros

06-16-2007, 05:59 PM

You can take a guess. The answer will be out in #8 (not the next chapter, the one after).

Been tinkering with Photoshop while I wait for my sister to finish inking so I can get to work on her next piece of art. Not quite as good as the first; the red highlights in her hair got lost a bit in the lighting. Mrr. Maybe I'll start from scratch later tonight. For now...http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m76/joehundredaire/stories/MomoWillow.jpg

Solar-Lion Ranger

06-16-2007, 09:23 PM

Loving this so far. :D Keep going!

Ryutaros

06-16-2007, 10:05 PM

I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is, my desktop made a sound like a jet engine taking off and then died. So it's either overheated, completely fried, or now vacationing in Mexico. I'm not sure which. And Photoshop is on my desktop.

The good news is, my writing is on my laptop and even then I use a thumb drive. So I haven't lost anything fic-wise. Whoot.

Present while I stall from writing to figure out what the hell just happened:http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m76/joehundredaire/stories/UraWillow.jpg

TuxedoK

06-17-2007, 12:35 AM

Ryutaros

06-17-2007, 12:48 AM

It's called distractions. ^_^

Now I need to go find where my desktop flew away to. I think it's been sighted in Guadalajara...

TuxedoK

06-17-2007, 01:36 AM

good luck. I don't think it could of gotten to far on it's own.

Ryutaros

06-17-2007, 01:41 AM

Nah, it's here but I'm trying to pin down what the overheating noise was before I try and turn it back on. If it's one of the 80mm fans, I have spares. If it's the CPU fan... I have a spare and so does my sister. If it's the little fan on the graphics card... I am so screwed.

Mostly cranky because I had most of a Kintaros!Willow done in PSCS when it happened, and was in mid-save. Meaning the file is likely corrupted and unrecoverable now. Baka.

Ranger of Oz

06-17-2007, 04:46 PM

Those pics are really cool. Can't wait to see Kin!Willow.

Ryutaros

06-19-2007, 01:21 PM

Those pics are really cool. Can't wait to see Kin!Willow.No Kin!Willow. Need to fix Ura!Willow, too. Just remember... she dyes her hair at the start of this. And it doesn't come out because of the magic. I've been writing her as such, but I never thought to fix that when I was doing the manips. Ooooops.

Title: Kamen Rider Will-O
Author: JoeHundredaire
Rating: R/FR18.
Disclaimer: The entire Kamen Rider property (including Den-O) belongs to Toei. And I’m not Joss Whedon or someone who might be able to legally make money off the Buffyverse. Not mine!
Summary: The train of time, DenLiner. Will the next station be in the past or the future? Thanks to Ethan, it's making a stop in Sunnydale just in time for Halloween…
Dedications: To Kelsey. Sorry I couldn't get you a threesome with Xander and Gwen, sweetie. Have some toku/Buffy crossover to make up for it?
Joe's Note: New shit! *dances around* Have some Den-O, some original, and some plot twist. I think. Is it a twist? You tell me. Hmmm. Twister. I want to go play now.

********************

Turning down Revello Drive, Willow shook her head. She couldn't believe… out of all the people to have a closet tokusatsu fetish… popular girls weren't supposed to like the same things she was. Or dress up as them for Halloween. It was just unnatural, darnit.

Willow opened the door and hesitantly stuck her head inside. She had no real desire, after fighting demons and dusting Spike, to get her head blown off by a trigger-happy Xander. Instead, she found a wigless Buffy flopped on the couch next to Xander and Dawn, watching some sort of horror movie. "Hey guys?"

"Willow!" Xander beckoned to her. "Check it out. We found a horror movie marathon to watch. Maybe you can break the tie here… I think this girl on The Grudge looks just like Buffy but she doesn't think so."

This was too surreal. They were acting like nothing had ever happened… like Xander hadn't been shooting guys with a working gun and Willow hadn't punched Buffy out to shut up her whining. And where were Angel and Cordelia?

On top of that, while her mind was quiet, Willow could still feel a presence floating around in there… a general sense that she was not alone inside her head. Just like she'd felt ever since the spell was cast. 'Guys? Are you still in there?'

'Yes.'

'Yes.'

'Yes.'

'Yes.'

Aww poop.

********************

She was dreaming, Willow realized very quickly. Even during her night as Den-O, she'd never set foot on the DenLiner. Night as Den-O. Wasn't she still Den-O? After the rest of her friends had settled back into what passed for normalcy on the Hellmouth, she had a small group of voices providing a constant running commentary in her mind. Not arguing, not like before, just… talking. They were actually startlingly polite now, compared to what she'd seen of them on television.

It turned out the startlingly polite bit extended to this dream, too. Instead of running around and causing all manner of havoc, each one of the Imagin was seated at one of the dining car's tables waiting for her. Even Ryutaros was… well, he was bouncing in place a little while sipping a coffee, but he was acting halfway normal for once.

"This is bullshit!" Momotaros hopped to his feet and Willow groaned. She knew it had been too good to be true. "Just because there's a new girl doesn't mean we have to obey her! We didn't listen to the brat when he showed up, and he's strong enough to boot all of us out of Ryoutarou's body!"

Before Willow could open her mouth to argue, something white blurred past the side of her head and smacked against Momotaros's chest, sending him flopping back into his seat. "No, but Ryoutarou did not have a contract with Ryutaros. I have one with Willow. You will obey me, or there will be consequences."

Willow looked back over her shoulder and found herself face-to-face with an anthropomorphic, fox-like creature in a kimono. Clutched in one hand was a white cat 'o nine tails, matching the nine fox tails gently waving behind the woman's back. "I wish I had someone like Hana to help keep these guys in line…"

"And now you have someone." The kitsune let the cat 'o nine tails drop down to slap against one thigh as she extended her free hand to Willow. "Your blue friend has already dubbed me Tamamos. I like it well enough, so it'll do."

Looking over at the rather cowed male Imagin, Willow nodded absently. Tamamos. Tamamo-no-Mae. A kitsune Imagin. It fit. "So… that was enough to form a contract with you? I didn't even know were you there. And, uh, how are you still here? The spell is over. Buffy and Xander are normal again. Shouldn't I be normal too?"

Tamamos let out a rich, throaty laugh as she moved to sit on the edge of the dining car's service counter. "They're not Singularity Points. It's a bit like… if someone had cut off your arm last night. You wouldn't wake up suddenly and be able to clap again. You were made a Singularity Point, you became host to five Imagin… your friends did not. That's why you're still different."

"So Deneb and…"

"Yes."

Willow couldn't help it. She laughed loudly at the thought of a fully-powered Zeronos Belt and an Imagin in the command of one of her classmates. Particularly THAT classmate. "Anyone else? Gekirangers? Stray Imagin? Another Rider?"

A shake of her head, another shake, and then a nod. "You must beware the Valkyrie. Odin sends the valkyries to every battle. They allot death to men and govern victory." Tamamos looked rather sober for a moment for a moment before her expression lightened. "But you shouldn't have to meet her for a while. And if the Valkyrie comes for you… well, you're going to die. Not much you can do about that."

"So… at least I don't have to worry about random Imagin causing trouble. I'm not sure Buffy could handle them on her own and I'm not sure You-Know-Who would want to get involved with this fight." Willow frowned. "And so what, there's basically a girl out there who might kill me some day? And I should just accept it because it's her job?"

"She's the Valkyrie. It's what she does."

"Has anyone, uh, tried stopping her?"

"Yes."

"How did that work out for them?"

"They died."

"…drat."

Tamamos shrugged. "I didn't even know she was in this dimension. Don't worry about. If you ever meet her face to face… it means you wouldn't have lived to lie down and sleep that night anyways." Hopping off the counter, she puttered about aimlessly. "So, how is this going to work?" Willow looked confused and Tamamos gestured to herself, then the other Imagin. "Me. Them. You. Us. I have access to your memories too, and I've seen Ryoutarou and his Imagin… and then Sakurai and Deneb. Being contracted, I'm tied to your will more than they are but I really don't want to be a slave. Or locked in your body except for when you get tired of arguing with yourself."

Frowning, Willow played with her hair idly as she thought. Brown. Huh. Oh yeah, the hair dye. Why did she have a feeling that it wouldn't be washing out in a year, much less a week or two? Wait, no, focus. Imagin. "Well, I don't like slaves either. Slavery is bad. But… I don't want you guys running around all crazy-like in my body. People already think I'm weird enough as it is. I don't need Kintaros pulling doors off their hinges or Urataros… being Urataros."

"If I was the one inhabiting your body, the others would be unable to force themselves to the surface except when you want them to. Or even make too much mental noise… unless they want to be totally cut off from your senses and arguing with each other in an endless void in your mind?" Tamamos glared at the four male Imagin, who shook their heads vehemently. "I thought not. Although maybe we can come to some sort of agreement with your appearance… a little nod to each of them so nobody feels left out when you and I are running around out in the real world?"

Willow nodded and then zeroed in on Urataros. "That reminds me… are you going to tell me where those three hundred dollar jeans came from? She was too busy drooling to notice her and I wouldn't fit in the same size if our lives depended on it… but I'm not, mister."

Sighing, Urataros dissolved into a blue spot of light that flew into Willow's chest. There was an odd sinking sensation and Willow felt her mind being pushed back as the Imagin took control of her body and then suddenly it was gone and she was alone in her head again. "That's how I did it. Electric eels aren't the only fish with unique abilities."

"Did what?" Willow looked down and let out a little eep. Somehow, in that second or two of possession, Urataros had swapped out her oversized t-shirt and sleep pants for an almost Cordelia-esque undersized blue tank top and mini skirt. "Woah. You can make people look skanky on command?"

The others snickered and Urataros sighed. "Conjuring. Momotaros has some control over otherworldly energy and Kintaros has most of his strength even when you're not transformed. And you know what Ryutaros can do. I simply went into your mind, found the clothes you were thinking of buying and then didn't before school this year, and then made them in Cordelia's size."

Willow frowned and looked down at the tank top and skirt. It… probably was flattering on her, especially with her none-too-human blue eyes and matching lock of hair. She'd have a whole theme thing going. And Urataros seemed to possess fairly good fashion sense, for a heterosexual male. "But the others change Ryoutarou's look when they take over too…"

"Think of it like… let's use a train metaphor instead of fish, just for variety. Momotaros, Kintaros, Ryutaros, and I all work in Tokyo and take the train to work." Urataros gestured at their surroundings. "I, however, helped design the locomotive that pulls the train. We all get to work each morning, but while they understand THAT the train works, I understand WHY the train works. They can change themselves." He snapped his fingers and the black-framed plastic glasses she was used to seeing on Ryoutarou's possessed form appeared in Urataros's hand. "I can change the world."

"Ah." That made sense. Willow gave her clothing another look before focusing her mind completely on them. If this was a dream or inside her head (or, duhh, both) she could change things, right? Her clothes shifted back into her normal pajamas. "So… some sort of energy thing, conjuring, strength, hypnotism." She turned to Tamamos. "What can you do?"

"Make sure you are a very popular girl, starting this Monday morning."

"This doesn't have anything to do with why certain girls are popular with the jocks, right?"

"Err, no."

Solar-Lion Ranger

06-19-2007, 07:31 PM

Ahaha. That was good. Liking Tamamos too. I get the image of that digivolution of Renamon only more realistic about her.

Keep up the good work!

Ryutaros

06-19-2007, 07:37 PM

Ahaha. That was good. Liking Tamamos too. I get the image of that digivolution of Renamon only more realistic about her.

Keep up the good work!We looked at a few different appearance variations. Like one that was essentially the love child of Willow and Emma Frost, with fox-like ears. But we decided to go a bit more traditional...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v331/skotti-chan/Sketches/tamomos.jpg
Coming soon, #8. Zeronos revealed.

Ryutaros

06-19-2007, 10:07 PM

Title: Kamen Rider Will-O
Author: JoeHundredaire
Rating: R/FR18.
Disclaimer: The entire Kamen Rider property (including Den-O) belongs to Toei. And I’m not Joss Whedon or someone who might be able to legally make money off the Buffyverse. Not mine!
Summary: The train of time, DenLiner. Will the next station be in the past or the future? Thanks to Ethan, it's making a stop in Sunnydale just in time for Halloween…
Dedications: To Kelsey. Sorry I couldn't get you a threesome with Xander and Gwen, sweetie. Have some toku/Buffy crossover to make up for it?
Joe's Note: The moment you've all been waiting for is here. Who is Zeronos? How will people take to the new Willow? Who's the Valkyrie? Well, you won't find that out, but the rest of your questions will be answered.

********************

Leaning against her locker, Cordelia tuned out the chattering of her Cordettes as they discussed the night before and the weird stuff they'd seen. They were actually perilously close to uncovering the secrets of what went on after dark in Sunnydale, but Cordelia wasn't too worried. She didn't exactly surround herself with these girls for their brains.

Except Harmony. Well, not that Harmony was exactly Harvard-grade material but her sometimes friend, sometimes competition had this glint in her eyes. The same sort of look the blonde had displayed before announcing her fabulous new boyfriend or being the first in the group to get a car. Something was going on with her, and Cordelia resolved to get to the bottom of it.

The bottom of it.

Holy shit, what was Willow wearing?

Willow was a geek. A nerd. The bane of her existence. She shopped at Sears and J.C. Penney and squandered her parents' money on fluffy tops and skirts that could have fit two Willows. She, therefore, was not supposed to be strutting down the hallway in the cutest denim miniskirt Cordelia ever laid eyes on, a pair of oversized headphones in place over her ears as she moved to a beat nobody else could hear. And oh… my God. Three hundred dollar Joie fur lined leather vest. A bit too bear-esque for Cordelia's personal tastes, but they were in. Everywhere Cordelia looked to try and find one had been sold out, most of them back-ordered too. And Willow had one? No fair!

As the brunette (Willow had dyed her hair?) dropped her book bag and began fiddling with her locker, Cordelia glared. Nobody flirted with her, gave her presents, then ignored and abandoned her. Nobody. She was Cordelia Chase, damnit. People flirted with her, bought her stuff, and then groveled at her feet for scraps of her attention. The fact Willow wasn't supposed to flirt with her, nor was she supposed to want Willow to flirt with her, was secondary to that.

"C'mon, guys. Time to go greet the geek squad." The rest of the Cordettes formed up around her as Cordelia crossed the hall to go pester Willow, the hallway traffic parting to make way for her. Willow shrugged off her vest and Cordelia let out a little sigh of relief. Rainbow suspenders, of all things, and a black tank top with something in glittery red written on the front.

Cordelia had been getting a little worried about whether Willow's new fashion sense meant someone in the school was wearing more expensive outfits… and while the gleaming white iPod clipped to Willow's belt loop was expensive, it didn't really count as clothes. So she was still the reigning queen of the platinum card at Sunnydale High, at least for another day.

While she didn't recognize the symbols on Willow's shirt because duhh, she didn't speak Japanese. But Harmony evidently did, letting out a quiet snicker. "Ore sanjou?"

"I have, haven't I?" Willow tipped her headphones down to wrap around her neck and there was a moment of silence before they began blaring a new song. "Morning, girls. Gwen… new hair?" The blonde nodded and fluffed the layers of her pixie cut. "It looks fabulous. New shoes, Aura?" Another nod from Cordelia's fellow brunette. "Oh, those are to die for. You have great taste; we should go shopping together some time. And Aphrodesia… spin for me." The redhead obediently gave a pirouette. "You've lost weight, haven't you?"

Aphrodesia nodded, her red curls falling forward across her face before she tucked them back behind her ear. It was interesting, Cordelia noted, that Aphrodesia had the same shade of red hair as her Willow, but combined a bit of styling and some color-coordinating to look so much better. Before today. Wait a minute. Not her Willow. No no no. Bad brain. "I didn't want to say anything because it's only two or three pounds. I've been sorta seeing my mom's diet guru and he gives me little tips on what to eat. Didn't think anyone would notice for another week or two."

Shaking her head, Willow made Aphrodesia spin again. "It's subtle. Just a little in the back, but since you wear a lot of shirts that show off a bit of your tat… it's not THAT hard to notice. If you pay attention to people, that is. And that brings us to… Harmony." Willow drew the blonde's name out and her eyes had that same glint as Harmony's. Whatever secret Harmony had, Willow was in on it. Curiouser and curiouser. "Nice belt." Cordelia looked down and frowned when she found just jeans, shirt, and a thin band of tan skin peeking out between the two. Harmony wasn't wearing a belt.

At least she didn't feel left out; the Cordettes looked a bit confused at the compliment, even more so when Harmony just smiled in reply. "Thanks. It's one of those accessories that just goes with every outfit." Cordelia blinked as Harmony's eyes took on an odd greenish cast, and the blonde reached into her pocket for a moment before withdrawing something. "Candy?"http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m76/joehundredaire/stories/Harmonos.jpg Willow unwrapped a multicolored hard candy and popped it into her mouth, and Cordelia coughed to bring attention back to herself. "Okay seriously, what's going on here? Willow, this is Gwen, Aura, and Aphrodesia. Girls, this is Willow. Willow Rosenberg. We hate her, remember? We don't make small talk with her."

"Why don't we?" Aphrodesia looked confused and the rest of the Cordettes nodded. "Her family's pretty wealthy, and look at her clothes. We've just sorta followed along and tormented her for you… but what IS wrong with Willow?"

Cordelia gaped at her sheep. They were questioning here. They weren't supposed to question her. "Because I said so." Stepping closer, she snapped one of Willow's suspenders. "Rainbow suspenders? And… and…" Leaning down, she put her ear next to one of the headphones. "Ice Ice Baby? Aren't you like, two decades behind the rest of us?"

Hooking her fingers in the belt loops of Cordelia's jeans, Willow pulled the taller girl closer. "Actually, seventeen." Cordelia blinked. "It's 2007. To The Extreme came out in 1990. 2007 minus 1990 is seventeen. Not twenty. So I'm seventeen years behind you guys, not two decades." Cordelia blinked again. "I'll draw you a diagram later if you still don't get it?"

Cordelia was a bit more distracted by Willow's eyes. The night before, they'd been a bright blue… almost inhumanly blue. Today, they were cloudy white. They reminded her a bit of her rich uncle Robert who had cataracts. And she was pretty sure Willow had possessed a blue streak of hair that matched her eyes, but it too was gone and replaced with two thick white streaks that made Cordelia think of Rogue from the X-Men movies she'd die before admitting she liked.

"I get it. I was just amused that you're trying to argue three years like it makes you less nerdy to be seventeen years out of date instead of twenty." Cordelia looked down at their bodies, tightly pressed together again. The butterflies were back. "You're touching me."

"Yes. Yes I am."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

Ahh, that was interesting logic. "Yes, well, I don't need you giving me geek germs." Cordelia pried Willow's hands off her and stepped away. "This…" She gestured to her own body. "Is for boys. Very select boys who meet certain standards of mine. That…" She waved at Willow's still body. "Is for… well, nobody. But that's not my problem. You're a girl. I'm for boys. See why this whole flirtation thing of yours isn't going to work out?"

Willow shrugged and reached down to shrug her back pack up onto one side again. "Who's flirting? I'm just being friendly, Cordelia." She clucked her tongue. "And you don't seem to mind my friendship. Or do you always wear the clothes people you hate give you?"

"Hey, if you want to drop that much money in my lap, I'm not going to refuse it." Cordelia looked down at her clothes. The jeans were amazingly comfortable, too. "Doesn't mean I'm going to let you feel me up or turn dyke for you or something. Now don't you have a class to be half an hour early for or something?"

The first cracks in Willow's cool, calm, friendly persona appeared as the brunette shot her a glare before smoothing the look away. "It was just a hug, just like last night. Which, I'm pretty sure involved YOU pressing yourself against ME, Cordelia." Turning away, she paused for a moment to look back over her shoulder. "And please, have some class. Lesbian, not dyke, Cordelia."

"Aww, that was really mean Cordelia." Aura put her hand on Willow's shoulder as the other Cordettes glared at their leader. "I'm sorry, Willow, she's just…"

"Cordelia. Cordelia is just being Cordelia." Willow gave the brunette a winning smile. "Not your fault. Anyways, she's right. I should probably get to class."

Cordelia was graced with matching looks of disgust from Gwen, Aura, and Aphrodesia as the trio formed up around Willow. "Don't we have the same first period?" Gwen took a step down the hall to prompt Willow into motion. "You know, I read that part on the Battle of Bull Run three times last night and I still have questions…"

"What… the hell?" Cordelia watched as her sheep… former sheep, maybe… took off down the hall with Willow. A few feet down the hall, they were joined by two guys that Cordelia recognized from the football team. "That was Willow Rosenberg, right? Shy, blushing, nerdy Willow Rosenberg? Who just came in here in a few hundred dollars worth of clothes and stole my friends?"

Shrugging, Harmony took a sip of the frappuccino that Cordelia hadn't even been aware her friend was holding. "Yes. And no. Things are changing, Cordelia. It's like evolution. If you can't keep up, you go extinct."

Cordelia pondered the oddly philosophical statement from Harmony. "And you know what's changing?" The blonde nodded before wandering off, leaving the cheerleader alone in front of Willow's locker. Her friends were behaving oddly, Harmony even more so, and Willow was suddenly flirty and friendly. And fashionable to boot. Willow's eyes and hair had changed colors… and Harmony's eyes turned green for a moment. The two of them shared a secret, but neither seemed inclined to tell her what it was.

Grr. She hated mysteries.

Lt. Cmdr. Radner

06-20-2007, 10:45 AM

God I Hate it when I'm right, ofcourse is makes a strange sense Harmony being a closit Kamen Rider fan. And I like the new Imagin to pull Hana duty, looking forward to the next chapter and seeing how the normal night life reacts to having a Rider and a Slayer guarding the hellmouth and lastly

RIP Spike we barely knew ye

TuxedoK

06-20-2007, 10:19 PM

I'm just waiting for Ryu to bust out in a big dance number.

Ryutaros

06-21-2007, 12:05 AM

God I Hate it when I'm right, of course is makes a strange sense Harmony being a closet Kamen Rider fan. And I like the new Imagin to pull Hana duty, looking forward to the next chapter and seeing how the normal night life reacts to having a Rider and a Slayer guarding the Hellmouth and lastly

RIP Spike we barely knew yeWell, the whole Slayer/Rider thing... not going to go too well with THIS Slayer...I'm just waiting for Ryu to bust out in a big dance number.I'm looking for a song, I swear.

Preview of Will-O #9:
"I saved Buffy from demons last night. I kept Cordelia safe and in the house. I destroyed Spike, SLAYER OF SLAYERS FOR YOU!" Willow's eyes cycled through a swirl of colors as she battled her emotions. "I get turned into fate's bitch, I save you anyways, and this is the thanks I get? This is how you repay me? I mean, Cordelia's not even a Scooby. She just showed up to squeal to Buffy about me being 'possessed'. But fine. I see how it is. Fuck. You. All."

Preview of Will-O #10:
Cordelia was drunk.

She was not 'tipsy', 'happy', 'buzzed', 'intoxicated', or any of the other polite terms for people who had a few too many drinks in them. She was drunk.

She wasn't even supposed to be drinking, either. After two years, she'd largely given up on trying to bribe any member of the bar staff with money, cleavage, or some combination of the two to look the other way when it came to her lack of proper identification when carded. But tonight, she'd barely settled at the table she'd dubbed Leperland before a bottle of Smirnoff Twisted was plunked down in front of her with a gruff "On the house" and the bartender wandered off.

That had been three bottles ago.

They tasted like watermelon.

Preview of Will-O #11:
"Do we really need to go stalking through the mall in black sunglasses and trench coats? I feel like I should either be offering people the red pill or shooting the place up."

"Wait a few more minutes and you can do the second. As for the coats, Cordelia wants us to be a surprise."

"Whiiiipped."

"I'm sorry, whose Imagin stole whose purse and doles out money as needed?"

Harmony glared and Willow licked her finger tracing a line in midair. Another point for her in their unending battle of verbal superiority. Still, as much as they hated each other, the threat facing the world was big enough that the two could manage to play nicely… for a while. "Let's just get this over with. I saw a sale on shoes on the way in and Deneb likes sales."

Nodding, Willow led the way toward where her girlfriend should be waiting with the rest of the Scoobies and their opponent. And then there the Judge was, in all his hideous, blue glory. Wow. "You have got to be the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my life. And I've seen Buffy in the morning with bed hair and no makeup on."

Disclaimer: All spoiler text from unpublished chapters is subject to minor and/or major changes in between the time of posting and the time my beta tells me to "run along and post". Author makes no claims as to the accuracy of these passages compared to the final content.

Ryutaros

06-21-2007, 08:09 PM

Title: Kamen Rider Will-O
Author: JoeHundredaire
Rating: R/FR18.
Disclaimer: The entire Kamen Rider property (including Den-O) belongs to Toei. And I’m not Joss Whedon or someone who might be able to legally make money off the Buffyverse. Not mine!
Summary: The train of time, DenLiner. Will the next station be in the past or the future? Thanks to Ethan, it's making a stop in Sunnydale just in time for Halloween…
Dedications: To Kelsey. Sorry I couldn't get you a threesome with Xander and Gwen, sweetie. Have some toku/Buffy crossover to make up for it?
Joe's Note: This chapter is a bit of a short compared to the others, but it marks chapter nine out of twenty. So there's more coming up for you to look forward to, including chapters that are back up to par as far as regular length.

********************

Shaking his head, Xander leaned back in his chair. "Cordelia, believe me, there's something going on with Willow but it's not a demon. I wish it was; then it'd be easy to deal with. But this isn't going to be a simple little exorcism and then she's back to normal. Willow's… different now."

Giles looked thoughtful while Buffy and Cordelia rounded on Xander. "You know what's wrong with her? How do we fix it?" Cordelia grabbed Xander's shoulders and shook him. "She's taking my friends, she's flirting with me… fix her!"

"He can't fix me because there's nothing broken." Peeking under Cordelia's arm, Xander found Willow standing there with a peculiar look on her face. "And I don't think I like you referring to me being myself as 'broken', Cordelia. If having friends and being interested in people makes me broken, aren't we all broken then?"

Buffy held her hands out pacifistically towards Willow as she slowly closed the distance between her and the brunette. "Willow, you have to admit this isn't like you. Wearing short skirts and hanging out with the jocks and the rich girls? They're the people you used to make fun of."

Shrugging, Willow gave a slow spin as pale white sand seemed to seep out of her pores to collect at her feet. "Because they used to make fun of me too. Now they love me, so why not love them back? I went from having two friends to having lots of friends, and some of them are even useful. Like Tamamos."

"Yes, like me." Xander sat up straighter as the sand formed into a fox-like woman, her body cut in half with her legs hovering in midair above her head as her waist rested on the floor. Then her torso floated upward as her legs sank through her body, integrating to form a proper humanoid and Tamamos went from a white sand construct to a real being. "Hello, friends of Willow."

Faster than Xander's eye could follow, Buffy darted over to grab a sword Giles had just finished polishing. Taking a two-handed grip, she spun once before unleashing a horizontal slash that would have decapitated Tamamos.

Would have, because Willow's arm blurred out into the sword's path. The blade hit her arm and buckled from the impact. "Don't kill her, kay? The others don't like me because I'm not like them, but she makes them behave when she's around. It's kinda like having a big sister…"

"Don't worry, Ryutaros." Xander edged around the table and pushed Buffy away from the now purple-eyed Willow. "I know how much having an onee-chan matters to you. Nobody is going to hurt Tamamos. Nobody." He glared at Buffy and leaned in so he wouldn't be overheard. "Let's try a new strategy and NOT piss off the creatures inside my best friend's body, okay?"

There was a flash of light and Xander blinked as the purple streaks in Willow's hair bled brown again, new blood red streaks appearing in different spots. "Ore futatabi sanjou!" Great. The Imagin were playing musical chairs inside Willow's head. Momotaros snickered and picked up the remains of Buffy's sword, admiring the bent piece of metal. "Hey, blonde bitch! Try that again, eh? I want to see what Tamamos does to the brat if he actually manages to kill you."

Buffy struggled again in Xander's grip and Tamamos sighed. "I can't leave you idiots alone for a minute without you screwing something up." Her body turned into a white swirl of energy that slid back into Willow, gracing their friend with white hair streaks and the fogged eyes she'd had when she'd entered the library. "Dumbass Imagin."

"So, is there a way we can talk about this rationally, Willow?" Giles looked up from where he was polishing his glasses. "Xander says they're not demons, you say we can't fix you… what are your plans for the future, then? You must admit this goes beyond the realm of the normal into the supernatural, and so you also must realize why we're concerned. Especially if you have some sort of power that affects your peers."

Pulling out a compact, Willow adjusted her hair for a moment before looking up. "Go to class. Pass some tests. Maybe date a little." Buffy let out a scoff at that and Willow shrugged. "What did you want me to do, take over the world?"

"And your fellow students?"

"I'm sure you know the legend of Tamamo-no-Mae, Giles. You saw Tamamos. Each of my visitors gives me a special ability. Tamamo-no-Mae was beloved in the Emperor's Court. I'm now beloved in the halls of Sunnydale. Kinda ironic given that being a geek is how I got the power but hey, what are you going to do?" Giles didn't look especially convinced and Willow sighed noisily. "I told you, this isn't The Exorcist, Giles. I've just… changed. I'm still Willow, even if you can break a sword on my arm. Really."

Cordelia snorted, drawing Xander's attention back to the cheerleader. He wasn't quite sure why they were helping her, to be honest. Anything that tormented Cordelia Chase, even if it was a skirt-wearing, girl-flirting version of his best friend, was okay by him. "You break swords, steal friends, and flirt with girls. I don't think you're still the same old Willow. Not that the old Willow was much better."

"Hey, I'm nothing if not fair. There are six people in my head now. Three of them like women, one is too childish to get a vote, Tamamos just likes having people around, and I… I just liked Xander but after ten years, I don't think he's ever going to notice me." Willow tucked her compact back into whatever mysterious place had first produced it and fiddled with one rainbow suspender. "So the women lovers win out, three to one to one to one. Gay now."

Leaning against a bookshelf, Xander pondered what to do. Cutting his oldest friend clean out of the group? Buffy didn't like Willow because of the Imagin and her only blind spot in the 'demons bad' mantra was an Angel-shaped hole. Cordelia wouldn't be too keen on Willow's presence unless the girl reverted to her meek self, mostly because of the way Willow challenged Cordelia now as a social queen. Giles would want to study Willow, her powers, her companions, and report it all.

Was this a case where it'd be kind to be cruel? "I think maybe you need to take a break." His best friend stared at him blankly. "From the group, Willow. Just until you can get the Imagin under control, Buffy and Cordelia can get used to the idea of having you around, and all that. A little time apart."

"I saved Buffy from demons last night. I kept Cordelia safe and in the house. I destroyed Spike, SLAYER OF SLAYERS FOR YOU!" Willow's eyes cycled through a swirl of colors as she battled her emotions. "I get turned into fate's bitch, I save you anyways, and this is the thanks I get? This is how you repay me? I mean, Cordelia's not even a Scooby. She just showed up to squeal to Buffy about me being 'possessed'. But fine. I see how it is. Fuck. You. All."

Willow spun on her heel and headed for the swinging double doors before pausing. "Oh, and Giles? See if you can get really far without someone to operate 'that infernal machine' while you try to research this, kay? I took out Spike on my own with my weakest of four forms last night. Meaning I can get a lot more powerful if I want to. There's another Kamen Rider, a girl with powers like mine, called Zeronos in Sunnydale who is just as powerful and she's a lot less nice than I am. And there's a third Rider out there called Valkyrie, who I know nothing about but has the power to destroy me."

Her lips quirked up as Giles grew paler as each level of this previously unknown power structure formed inside his mind and Willow let out a little giggle. "Good luck with that. And Cordelia, when you get tired of being the leper you tried to turn me into, come find me. We'll talk."

So many things were going wrong at once. His best friend was gone, swept up in fantasy made reality and torn away from him by a decision he'd felt compelled to make to save his friendship with Buffy. He'd also missed out on that point somewhere when Willow had become a woman with long, pale legs and short, short skirts. An amazingly beautiful woman who evidently had just given up on his attention in favor of pursuing Cordelia.

Sigh.

Why did Xander have a feeling he'd hate himself for a long time because of this?

Lt. Cmdr. Radner

06-21-2007, 11:01 PM

All hail Willow, Queen of Sunnydale High. Talk about tearing a new asshole for the group. I mean DAMN, in one fell swoop she dethrones Cordelia, makes Xander feel like an ass, and takes Buffy down a few pegs. Man this just gets better and better each chapter, also I can't wait for the Mayor to have to deal with a Kamen rider. Any chance for the DenLiner to make one appearence at least to take out a 60 foot snake?

Ryutaros

06-21-2007, 11:10 PM

All hail Willow, Queen of Sunnydale High. Talk about tearing a new asshole for the group. I mean DAMN, in one fell swoop she dethrones Cordelia, makes Xander feel like an ass, and takes Buffy down a few pegs. Man this just gets better and better each chapter, also I can't wait for the Mayor to have to deal with a Kamen rider.Also appearing between then and now: Acathla, Faith, Kakistos, and Ga-O.Any chance for the DenLiner to make one appearence at least to take out a 60 foot snake?<.<

>.>

http://ooebihara.sakura.ne.jp/ganngu/0704/041909.jpg

Ryutaros

06-22-2007, 08:51 PM

Title: Kamen Rider Will-O
Author: JoeHundredaire
Rating: R/FR18.
Disclaimer: The entire Kamen Rider property (including Den-O) belongs to Toei. And I’m not Joss Whedon or someone who might be able to legally make money off the Buffyverse. Not mine!
Summary: The train of time, DenLiner. Will the next station be in the past or the future? Thanks to Ethan, it's making a stop in Sunnydale just in time for Halloween…
Dedications: To Kelsey. Sorry I couldn't get you a threesome with Xander and Gwen, sweetie. Have some toku/Buffy crossover to make up for it?
Joe's Note: Another chapter with no real action, or at least combat action. That's fine with me. I'm not too big on it personally. It's rather hard to translate that particular aspect from television to the written word, in my opinion. Others may disagree.

********************

Cordelia was drunk.

She was not 'tipsy', 'happy', 'buzzed', 'intoxicated', or any of the other polite terms for people who had a few too many drinks in them. She was drunk.

She wasn't even supposed to be drinking, either. After two years, she'd largely given up on trying to bribe any member of the bar staff with money, cleavage, or some combination of the two to look the other way when it came to her lack of proper identification when carded. But tonight, she'd barely settled at the table she'd dubbed Leperland before a bottle of Smirnoff Twisted was plunked down in front of her with a gruff "On the house" and the bartender wandered off.

That had been three bottles ago.

They tasted like watermelon.

Her former friends, traitors that they were, happened to be spread out around the Bronze at the moment. Normally, they were clustered around Willow with the boyfriends the brunette had never been mean enough to veto for not being cool enough, talking and laughing like happy teenagers.

At the moment, however, the bane of her existence was dancing in the middle of the floor in the middle of a group of other girls from their school. Those bright amethyst eyes kept seeking out Cordelia's gaze as Willow lead the entire club in a bizarre dance. Purple lights flashed to the beat as Willow directed her peers through a complex but graceful set of gyrations, the mass of bodies moving completely in sync.

Itsu no ma ni ka, shinobi komu shoutai, nazo sugi te ochitsui te irannai. Sawagi deru mani migoto sutanbai, won't wait for the answer.

Jama na yatsu wa taoshi te kamawa nai? Itte mi ta dake kotae ira nai! Moriagari na! Odora seru waza, let your body move!

Cordelia wondered if the song would have made any more sense if she was sober.

The song finally ended and switched back to something by Linkin Park and Willow disengaged herself from the crowd to come over and visit. Even though the Bronze was packed on a Friday night, there was a distinct hole in the crowd around Cordelia's table, and another around the table where Buffy and her loser friends were hanging out. A circle of precisely five feet out from the center of her table, she'd discovered the night before. And it wasn't a cursed table; people avoided her anywhere in the Bronze she chose to go, and at school as well. Even though she'd always realized that her 'friends' at school really didn't care about her, she felt immensely alone.

"I hate you so fucking much." Cordelia blinked as she reprocessed what she'd just said. Huh. Evidently, she was not the friendliest drunk in the world. Or the smartest. "You steal my friends and my popularity and your legs are better and you do that thing when you're dancing where you bend forward a bit and roll your hips and I alllmost get to see up your skirt but never actually get to and it's not fair." Or the straightest?

Willow's eyes shot from purple to white as a tiny shudder ran through the girl. "You just scared Ryutaros into voluntary confinement. Good job, Delia." Reaching forward, she slapped at Cordelia's possessive hand and took away the Smirnoff so she could have a sip. "And it's for your own good. All of it. You'll realize that some day."

Grunting in disbelief, Cordelia pulled the bottle back to her and took a long swig. It burned on the way down and she coughed a bit. "You destroy my entire life, make it so I can't even go near people, and it's for my own good? You realize you sound like Carrie's mom, right?"

"Did you know Gwen's mother is battling a second time through breast cancer? Or that Aura is allergic to cats and dogs and that's why she has four ferrets and never stayed over at you or Harmony's place for the night? Or that Devon and Jonathan Davis have something in common in that they both can sing and play the bagpipe?" Willow looked down at her nails and then held them out for Cordelia's inspection. "Did you know that Nancy Doyle wants to go on to work in her mom's beauty salon after she graduates and that her mother does your hair?"

Cordelia's jaw dropped more and more with each tidbit of information about her former friends and ex-boyfriend. "How did you..?"

"Know?" Willow tapped the side of her head. "I asked them. And then I listened to the things they told me in response. You learn a lot like that. You were the queen of the school… you 'knew' all these people… what do you think would have happened when you got your diploma next year and walked off the stage? Where would you be?"

That cut through Cordelia's drunken bliss like a hot knife through butter. Nowhere. She'd walk off the stage, get patted on the back by her parents, and then nothing. She'd pack up to go to whichever college was willing to balance her mediocre grades, cheerleading-centric extracurriculars, and the amount of money her parents were willing to donate. Four years later, she'd probably do the same thing except she'd be walking off a stage and into the real world. No friends, nobody to lean on when she struggled, no love, nothing. Wow.

Cordelia eyed Willow over the top of her bottle. "So what? You almost kiss me, we do that hallway thing, you decide to upend my life to help fix me, and I'm supposed to think this is some guardian angel thing and you're doing me a favor?"

"No, you're supposed to think I like you and that I've torn you down to the subbasement so I can rebuild a stronger, better Cordelia by my side." Willow held out her hand, palm up, to Cordelia. "See, when you have a basketball team living in your head… you start thinking faster. Examining possibilities. Explore stuff from every angle."

"To be blunt, before Halloween… I really didn't like you. Urataros took a shine to your beauty, though. Momotaros has seen my memories of you and thinks you're a strong woman. Remind him of Hana a bit. Kintaros and Ryutaros are pretty quiet, but anyone who fights with Buffy is okay in Ryu's book." Willow's head tilted to the side as she thought. "Tamamos is the one who really helped me think through your life, though, and do all this for you. She convinced me that if I was going to give you a new chance at a better life, I should give you a new chance period."

A soft frown graced Willow's features. "Tamamos… she's more like Tamamo-no-Mae than any other Imagin is like their myth basis. She knows what it's like to be beloved for no reason… to have everyone like you because you're pretty or some other factor out of your own control, and then have them abandon you. She didn't want someone else to go through that."

Staring at Willow's outstretched hand, Cordelia frowned. "You keep talking like this means anything to me…"

Willow laughed and slid off her stool, hand still out as she moved to stand next to Cordelia. "It will, soon. I'll explain everything to you. Take my hand, Cordelia. You've never known real friendship before. I've never known real strength before. Neither of us has known love before. We can learn from each other."

"Fine, but there will be at least four dates before you're allowed to get past first base with me." Cordelia slipped her hand into Willow's and rose from her chair. "And if I see a buzz cut, a mullet, or a pick-up truck, I'm out of here." There was a bit of parting from the crowd as the pair joined the mass on the dance floor but it quickly filled back in. "Are you going to give me my friends back now?"

Willow shook her head as she came to a stop. "No, you are." Cordelia's brow furrowed. "I only used my power the first day to bring people to me and push them away from you. Everything since then with my popularity has been me. And the same for you. If you stop acting like the Queen of the School and give people a chance to meet Cordelia Chase, people will start coming back to you."

Huh. That was it? Cordelia felt immensely stupid for managing to get herself stuck in self-imposed exile. "Who is Cordelia Chase, though?"

"That's what we're going to figure out." Willow raised her hand and then paused. "Man or woman?"

Blink blink. "Do what?" Cordelia looked down at herself. Had her breasts fallen off at some point while she was drunk? No, they were still there…

Willow let out a little laugh. "For dancing. Do you want to be the man or the woman? Lead or follow?" Cordelia shrugged helplessly and Willow snapped her fingers twice. The Bronze was bathed in soft blue light as the song switched and then Willow's arms dropped down to wrap around Cordelia's waist. "Making it up as we go along, then. Arms around my neck. Cheek on my shoulder."

There was one stumble as Cordelia's inebriated body disagreed with her orders to move, but the simple teenage 'sway in a circle to the beat' dance was mostly within her abilities at the moment. There'd probably be some sort of backlash against them at school for being a gay couple, she realized with a start. Or maybe not from the way people were whistling and shooting Willow thumbs ups. Even if there were problems, they'd be in the future. She'd worry about them then.

Could she reclaim her old life? Did she want to be the top of the social pyramid? Maybe being 'just' head cheerleader and popular was enough? Would she even be able to make real friends at school or was she so jaded and anti-social that such a simple thing would prove impossible?

Cordelia stuffed the thoughts down and moved a little closer to Willow. She was Cordelia Chase. Chases ran from nothing. Soon enough, she'd take the time to worry about her future. For now, she was going to enjoy Willow's company.

There's gotta be more to life, than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me. Cuz the more that I'm tripping out, thinking there must be more to life, well it's life… but I'm sure... there's gotta be more…

Ryutaros

06-23-2007, 03:26 PM

And a "I didn't go to PMC!" exclusive... Will-O wallpaper. Made from scratch with the screencaps for a base, but every layer was drawn from hand, sot he quality is a bit better than the other ones I've seen.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m76/joehundredaire/stories/Will-O-Logo.jpg

Solar-Lion Ranger

06-23-2007, 09:24 PM

I'd use that in a heartbeat if the WILL-O was larger / more technological. :D

Ryutaros

06-23-2007, 09:32 PM

Well, it's based off the opening of Den-O. So the Will-O is the same size as where it says Den-O on the canon logo, just substituted.

Solar-Lion Ranger

06-23-2007, 10:25 PM

I know. But thats part of the reason I'm not fond of the Den-O logo, too..

Ryutaros

06-24-2007, 06:17 AM

Title: Kamen Rider Will-O
Author: JoeHundredaire
Rating: R/FR18.
Disclaimer: The entire Kamen Rider property (including Den-O) belongs to Toei. And I’m not Joss Whedon or someone who might be able to legally make money off the Buffyverse. Not mine!
Summary: The train of time, DenLiner. Will the next station be in the past or the future? Thanks to Ethan, it's making a stop in Sunnydale just in time for Halloween…
Dedications: To Miss Wicked. Sorry I couldn't get you a threesome with Xander and Gwen, sweetie. Have some toku/Buffy crossover to make up for it?
Joe's Note:I know pronouns all go to hell here but it's largely because of an inherent problem in Den-O and Zeronos. Zeronos has two forms: Altair (Sakurai on his own) and Vega (Sakurai with Deneb). So with a female Zeronos, Altair is clearly female (Harmony on her own). On the other hand, Den-O has a solo form (Plat Form), and four paired Imagin forms (Sword, Rod, Axe, and Gun Forms). So while Den-O's Plat Form is a clear female (Willow alone), the gender of her combined forms gets horribly messy. Try and do your best to keep up though, kay?

********************

Cordelia ducked behind a table as the web of the Judge's power jumped from person to person, filling the air with screams and the smell of sulfur. There was a whoosh and Cordelia crossed her fingers. If everything was going according to plan, that was Buffy with the stolen rocket launcher, blowing the Judge to kingdom come.

But things didn't go according to plan. There was a loud explosion and the Judge's power waned, then loud laughter filled the air. Peeking over her barrier, Cordelia saw the blue demon standing in front of a massive, flaming crater. Huh. Buffy could hit a vampire in the heart with a crossbow… couldn't blow up a demon with a rocket launcher. Go figure.

Sliding back down, Cordelia's fingers flew furiously over her Sidekick as she sent messages. Seriously, what part of 'RIGHT NOW!!!' did the girl not understand? Cordelia let out a screech as something struck the top of her table, filling the air with the smell of ozone. Stuffing her Sidekick back into her pocket, she scrambled across the floor in search of safety.

Cordelia took a moment to reflect on how she'd gotten stuck in this situation. While the Scoobies were a bit hesitant to accept her overtures of friendship (which she had only extended because Willow begged her), eventually they'd decided that if Willow had a girlfriend, it meant part of her was still human and Cordelia could maybe reach her. So she'd become a card-carrying member of the loser brigade.

They were still pariahs, which made Cordelia laugh. At least she had friends outside the group. But for the members of the Scoobies… Buffy, Xander, and now Oz and Amy… the faint push of Willow's powers still clung to them and their own unfriendliness kept it there. So Buffy had no best friend to turn to when she slept with her vampire boyfriend and he woke up evil, because Cordelia didn't want the job and Amy was too busy riding Oz into every flat surface available to want to deal with the blonde. It'd be laughable if it wasn't so pathetic.

Then she had a free second to rise from a crawl to her feet, and she was too busy running for her life to laugh much.

********************

"Do we really need to go stalking through the mall in black sunglasses and trench coats? I feel like I should either be offering people the red pill or shooting the place up."

"Wait a few more minutes and you can do the second. As for the coats, Cordelia wants us to be a surprise."

"Whiiiipped."

"I'm sorry, whose Imagin stole whose purse and doles out money as needed?"

Harmony glared and Willow licked her finger tracing a line in midair. Another point for her in their unending battle of verbal superiority. Still, as much as they hated each other, the threat facing the world was big enough that the two could manage to play nicely… for a while. "Let's just get this over with. I saw a sale on shoes on the way in and Deneb likes sales."

Nodding, Willow led the way toward where her girlfriend should be waiting with the rest of the Scoobies and their opponent. And then there the Judge was, in all his hideous, blue glory. Wow. "You have got to be the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my life. And I've seen Buffy in the morning with bed hair and no makeup on."

"You!"

"Me!"

Buffy staggered forward, using what looked like a rocket launcher as a crutch. Willow could see a still-smoldering impact crater nearby from where she guessed the blonde had missed with her first shot. "What are you doing here? I thought we told you to stay away?"

Stepping forward, Willow shrugged off her trench coat, evading Buffy's attempt to grab her shoulder. Letting her left hand reach into subspace like the Imagin had taught her, Willow pulled out the Terminal Buckle and smoothly whipped it in an arc, the belt settling around her waist in time for her to snap the clasp closed. She heard a loud gasp from Xander; whether it was from her use of Ryoutarou's move or the way the leather pants she was wearing clung to her ass, she didn't know. "Haven't you heard yet, Buffy? This is what we do. Harm?"

"I swear to God, quote one more M.C. Hammer lyric and you can save the world on your own." Harmony slid out of her own jacket to reveal matching black leather pants and a green tank top, pulling the black Zeronos Belt out of subspace and imitating Willow's move. Reaching into a pouch on the belt, she pulled out the black and green card that allowed her transformation and smirked. "Ready."

Willow tapped the purple button on her belt. "Gun Form."

In sync, the two girls brought their right arms forward. "Henshin!" For Willow, the Rider Pass slid cleanly over the buckle of her belt. For Harmony, the black and green Zeronos Card slid into the belt itself.

Willow felt Tamamos receding in her mind, pulling her along out of the way in preparation of Ryutaros's arrival. By her side, she heard one last burst of sound from Harmony's belt and then she knew nothing.

"Altair Form."

********************

Cordelia had seen all four of her girlfriend's forms and both of Harmony's and it still amazed her to watch the transformation. The cute little mooing noises when Harm's helmet formed were particularly fun. At one point, Willow had sat her down and explained why Den-O's transformations were faster but the cheerleader couldn't remember the reasons as the light faded and Gun Form appeared. "I'm going to blow you up, kay?" He waited for a moment and leaned forward, tilting his head to one side and cupping a hand near where Willow's ear was under the helmet. "Can't hear you!"

While Den-O's Gun Form was all silver and purple over black, Zeronos's Altair Form was green and gold. Even as Den-O snapped together the four black pieces of the DenGasher into a gun to form his signature weapon, Zeronos connected hilt to blade and cocked the ZeroGasher into its crossbow mode. Thunder rolled, deafening in the enclosed confines of the mall, and then the impossible happened: lightning stabbed down from the ceiling to impact between Zeronos and the Judge. "I'll tell you this from the start: I am VERY strong."

Xander grimaced in pain as he hobbled over to where Cordelia was standing. "You knew, didn't you? That they were coming? You three planned this somehow to cover for if we failed?"

Hand dipping into her pocket, Cordelia pulled out her white Sidekick and brandished it at Xander. "I've been on AIM with Willow the entire time. You didn't think I was going to leave the fate of the world in Buffy's hands, did you?"

Conflict warred with relief on Xander's face before he smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Closing out of AIM, Cordelia opened up a simple timekeeping program and cleared her throat loudly. "Counting down from three, ladies. Three… two… one… go!" Cordelia's finger stabbed the button to start the timer.

Zeronos and Den-O looked at each other, then at the Judge. "Top or bottom?" Zeronos shook her head and then dropped her hand to her belt. "Never mind. You go high, I'll go low. I'd hate to blow those obnoxious pointy shoulder spikes of yours off." Tapping a button, the belt began to glow green. "Full Charge." Pulling out the card, Zeronos quickly thrust it into the butt of the crossbow's stock and the weapon began to glow with green energy. "Ready."

There was a moment of hesitation before Den-O dipped the Rider Pass in front of his belt again, causing purple lightning to crackle over it. "Full Charge." Light began to pool at the tips of the two spikes growing up from Den-O's shoulders, bolts crackling forward to connect with a third forming at the tip of his gun. "Set."

Dropping to her knees, Zeronos rolled and came up in a crouch in front of Den-O. "Fire!"

"Wild Shot!"

"Grand Strike!"

Almost instantaneously, the two energy attacks hit the Judge. There wasn't even time for him to twitch before dissolving into a fine, bloody mist that splashed across the ground. A quick tap of her thumb froze the counter at its present value and Cordelia grinned. She'd won. Xander gasped. "They just…"

Cordelia looked down and grimaced at the red mush on her shoes. Eww. Liquefied Judge. Those shoes were never going to come clean. There was only one solution to that: shopping. She'd seen a great two-for-one sale on the way in; maybe she could come back later with Harmony. Deneb whined a lot less about Harmony's spending when the phrase 'it was on sale' was involved. "Yeah."

"After I…" Xander stumbled again as one bruised leg protested being forced to move. "Four months. It wasn't supposed to be like this. I just wanted some time to calm Buffy down and get her to watch some Den-O. Help her see that Willow wasn't a demon or something. I didn't mean to get rid of Willow permanently. And she still came through to save us all in the end."

"Yeah."

"Wow."

"Don't you guys feel stupid now?" Cordelia waved the Sidekick as she walked over to where Willow and Harmony had powered down. "Thirteen point two seconds. I believe I had anything under fifteen. Time to pay up, ladies!"