COME ON. SWITCH ON.

[its_space_time]

Characters: Gentarou and YOU.
Setting: Room 1-20, Dorm Halls, Cafeteria, Floor Eleven
Format: Starts prose, will follow whatever!
Summary: Gentarou gets up and about, and tries to figure out just what the hell is going on.
Warnings: None so far, will update if necessary.

*Room 1-20

Once the paralysis wore off, Gentarou launched off and over the side of his bed like a bolt of lightning. All this served was to leave his face planted right into the floor. Not exactly the most graceful waking, but he was pretty confused, in all fairness.

After a few moments of this, Gentarou managed to find his legs and fumble around until he discovered the trunk at the end of his bed. Inside it resided clothes, his Fourze Driver, and ... well, he figured those were all forty (one) of his Astro Switches.

And hair gel.

...

Yeah, that was even more confusing.

He hastily dressed himself, trying to piece things together in his mind. The last thing he remembered, he'd defeated the Gemini Horoscope... They'd returned to the Rabbit Hutch...

Rising up and not yet loading up his Driver, he finally took notice of the letter addressed to him.

Then, he read it.

There were a few moments where he stood there, slack jawed and in shock. If what this was saying was true, then everyone was...

He eased less than a minute later, crumpling the paper in his fist and shaking his head.

No. He couldn't, he wouldn't believe that. Even as his mind tried to wrap itself around the possibility, he tried to punt it right out of his mind. He'd come back from oblivion himself, and he'd sure as hell noticed it when it happened.

There was no way.

...right?

With an audible groan, he slapped his forehead.

First thing was first.

"Where the hell AM I?!"
-
*Dorm Hallways

Now armed with his loaded Driver tucked in his jacket and an assortment of Switches, Gentarou stalked out of his room like he owned the joint. It had taken a serious self pep talk, but for the moment he was trying not to let the worries about his friends and world stop him.

He wouldn't stop worrying about those things, but if he concentrated on them that would grind him to a halt. He had to have tunnel vision, if only for a little while. He had to figure out just what was going on. Thus, he moved out, looking for anyone who would listen to him.

Hell, even if they didn't want to, he wouldn't give them much a choice.
-
*Cafeteria

...but even the most steadfast hunt for the truth isn't going to work on an empty stomach.

Gentarou made a face as he sat at a table, stirring the bland looking oatmeal sitting before him.

He made an even bigger face as he tried eating it.

Suddenly, he was seriously missing Amanogawa High's cafeteria.
-
*Floor Eleven

Eventually, after eating and wandering around and wondering just what kind of crazy mad scientist could have concocted this place, Gentarou made his way to the 11th Floor, and stared out at the open air.

He pursed his lips and slapped the NS Magphone shut after the umpteenth time of trying to get a signal on it and getting just ... nothing. Diddly squat.

Thus, he pulled out his Driver.

From pretty much anywhere nearby, anyone could well have taken notice of an explosion of energy and an energetic shout, before the white armored Kamen Rider Fouze stood in Gentarou's place.

Reaching down to the Driver, he flipped the black switch on the far left side.

[RADAR ON]

There was another flash around the gauntlet of Fourze's left arm, as the Radar Module appeared on it. He thrust it into the air as he attempted to activate it.

"C'mon, Kengo!" he shouted, frustration seeping into his voice. "Pick up the damned phone!"

Several moments passed, but... nothing. Not even any indication that the damned thing was even working beyond its activation.

He gave a dejected sigh, and slowly lowered his arm - eventually, after a few minutes. Not bothering to untransform, Fourze squatted down and looked out. He stayed like that for a good while.

Comments

Room 1-20

[geometry]

Gentarou announced his confusion at roughly the same time Equius opened the door to their room. He had left earlier that morning without taking notice of the newcomer at all, mostly because he was more concerned with getting to the cafeteria and back without getting jump-attacked by a certain psychotic murder machine. He had been like this for several days, and that morning was no different. Needless to say, being on high alert for said psychotic murder machine meant that his already-frayed nerves went on complete overdrive, and so when the troll boy opened the door to some unfamiliar human screaming, it was only logical that he flip out too, right?

...Yeah, not really. But unfortunately, Equius couldn't stop himself from yelping at the newcomer. He seemed to realize a second too late what had just happened, and checked the hallway quickly before slamming the door closed on both of them.

"Oh God. You..." Sorry, give him a moment to collect his thoughts. "...Did you just wake up here?"

Re: Room 1-20

[its_space_time]

Gentarou started to speak before swinging around.

"Yeah! I did, I--"

Then he did swing around and just stopped cold, staring at Equius.

Well. That was hardly normal. The horns, y'know.

Thus, already feeling a bit rattled, Gentarou gave a shout and jumped back a couple feet. He just raised a hand and pointed wordlessly, mouth moving but no words coming out.

[geometry]

Yeah, the horns. He gets that a lot.

"Oh god, you are. Uh..." First thing's first: open the door. Provide a clear path of escape. Give the adversary every comfort and opportunity to leave--

Equius fumbled over the doorknob a bit, but eventually succeeded; with no door left to press against, he used the wall instead.

"Sorry." First thing he said. First thing you always say. Apologize. Put yourself in the wrong. Hopefully they won't kill you, then. Or at least just not as badly.

(Paranoia. When it hits, it hits hard.)

"Uh... you... the letters. Did you get the letters? Did you read those?"

[its_space_time]

Gentarou shook his head vigorously.

Maybe it was some sort of growth. Or birth defect. He shouldn't stare. Staring was rude.

"Uh. Yeah. Yeah, I did," he said, blinking vigorously and trying not to stare at the horns. He peered curiously at the door, and then gave a casual shrug of one shoulder. "You know what's going on here, dude?"

[geometry]

(Don't worry, Gentarou. It's no birth defect. You'll realize that very soon.)

It took a moment for him to gather his bearings, and get out of the auto-pilot mode he took when he thought someone was about to kill him -- which in his current state was always. Eventually, he stood up a bit straighter and took a few breaths. Gotta explain.

"You, um... you've been taken here from your world. We don't know if they were telling the truth or not, but... you're really here. And you kind of. Can't. Get out."

Floor 11

[blankplatform]

[...Right, so he was wandering this place again, since hey, it's a pretty cool thing, creepy vibes aside! And he's about ready to head up when he noticed something... strange just squatting down and looking down. ]

...Are you okay?

Re: Floor 11

[its_space_time]

[Fourze didn't say anything at first, but after a moment he gave an audible cough and straightened himself up. He turned and gave a quick, two fingered salute, trying to regain the composure in his voice that he would be about near losing out of sheer frustration.]

Ah, hey. Yo. Sup?

[Because he doesn't find just standing around in his transformed state odd at all, no. Why do you ask?]

[blankplatform]

[Because it's awkward for him okay...!

There's some silence as he regarded the costumed male before him. For some reason, the design looked a bit too familiar to him, but he can't exactly remember if he ever saw someone like hi-

...

Of course.]

...Are you a Rider...?

[its_space_time]

[Fourze gives a laugh and slaps his chest a couple of times, before shoving out his hand in a thumb's up.]

You bet! Kamen Rider Fourze, at your service!

You know about Riders, eh?

[blankplatform]

Erm yeah...

[Awkwardly. Responding. He's never really met other Riders before, (Momotaros and the others did, but not him.), which is why this is a THING that's happening right now...]

...I'm... one, actually.

Floor 11

[thisclinchesit]

Shoutarou heard the shout from the stairwell - he wasn't quite sure about coming out on this floor again after what happened with Francisca, but curiosity got the better of him, and cautiously drew him out.

However, the sight he did see wasn't one he expected. He approached Gentarou from the side, looking the armored fellow over with some shock and curiosity.

"...another Kamen Rider?"

[its_space_time]

Fourze did a double-take as Shoutarou approached him, but his hesitation was extremely brief. Elated, he gave a hoot and slapped his hands down on the switches of his Driver. Energy blinked around him as his Rider suit powered down, and he rushed up Shoutarou with the biggest grin, reaching out to slap his shoulder.

"MR. SHOUTAROU!" he exclaimed, excitedly. "All right, now we're in business!"

[thisclinchesit]

Hope you're in the mood for some deja-vu, Gentarou, 'cause you're getting that same unsure look you got the first time you slapped Shou's shoulder. However, unlike that run-in, Shoutarou's got a bit more empathy going on this time. And some experience in how the tower operates. He was from Philip's future. Eiji and Terui were from his future - maybe this guy was, too. He knew he'd never seen a kid or Rider like this so far.

"...I'm afraid I don't know you, kid - but you know me." He reaches up and strokes his chin, thinking. "When did you meet me?"

[its_space_time]

Gentarou took a step back and squinted.

No, he hadn't mistaken this guy for someone else. It was Shoutarou, and he knew what a Rider was... He couldn't have forgotten him that quickly, right? Shoutarou seemed like a pretty smart guy.

"Ehhhh?" Gentarou's expression contorted for a bit, before he reached up and scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "What do you mean? How could you forget all that?"

He cocked his head to one side. "Me, you, your partner, and OOO worked together to smack around those Foundation X guys. That was only a few months ago!"

[thisclinchesit]

Shoutarou reaches further up, and adjusts his hat this time. "Well, I can't forget things that haven't happened - at least, for me." One hand goes to his hip - time for exposition! The other gestures general motions as he speaks. "This place, this tower - when it takes people from worlds, it can take them from different times," he starts, holding up one finger, followed by a second. "...or they can take them from similar worlds where different events happen to cause a different outcome that what is 'normal'."

A dramatic pause.

"Or in simpler terms - I've only worked together with OOO once, and not against Foundation X directly. So either you're from a parallel world, or simply from my future - though, I suspect the latter is more likely."

Cafeteria

[notagiraffe]

Taiki was sat eating a plumb and waiting for Gyousou to come down for breakfast. He would have just waited upstairs but he didn't want to seem clingy, or make lord Gyousou think he had to look after him all the time instead of doing other things. He watched the man who was sat over from him and gave him a tiny smile. "It's not too bad... sorry..."

Re: Cafeteria

[its_space_time]

Gentarou made increasingly complex contortions of his face as he ate the stuff, and shook his head vigorously. He had a high tolerance for pretty much anything, but this was not a meal he was planning to revisit. Still, it was something to eat.

"Well, it could be worse, I guess," he said, plunging his spoon back into the bowl. "Hey, guess I gotta look on the bright side - at least I've got food!"

He looked over at Taiki and gave a friendly nod and wave of his hand without skipping a beat. "Nice to meet ya! I'm Gentarou Kisaragi!"

[notagiraffe]

"Yes... sorry... there was a time where there was no food... that was worse I think..." He took another bite of plumb, "And once you finish it you can eat whatever you like... sorry..."

He was quiet a moment, "It is nice to meet you Gentarou Kisaragi... I am Kouri..." He had finally after many many months come to the conclusion that he could not be Taiki if Tai no longer existed, so Kouri it was.

[its_space_time]

"Good to know, thanks!" he exclaimed, and gave a wide grin. "But you gotta stop apologizing - you haven't done anything wrong!"

He went back to his oatmeal with slightly more enthusiasm. The proverbial - or literal, in this case - carrot on a stick of getting to eat real food later was encouraging.

"So, how long you been here?"

[notagiraffe]

"So..." Taiki cut off the apology and grinned sheepishly. "Ten months..." He concentrated a moment on finishing his plumb and watched Gentarou for a moment. "Do... do you have any questions? I can help maybe..."

dorm halls

[mustlovedogs]

[Mondo was finally emerging from his room, despite a splitting headache from a night of drinking the previous day, and though Gentarou doesn't strike him as odd in any way, because of everything else, he ends up stopping and staring at him for a while. People exist? Oh, right, right, they sure do, he's one of those...]

[its_space_time]

[He gives a friendly nod as he nears Mondo, and also slows down a bit. He sweeps a hand back across his own pompadour - though he does not TOUCH it - before pointing at the other man.]

Man! Dig the hair.

is it bad if that's the reason I had to tag

[mustlovedogs]

[Hearing someone speaking to him pulls him out of his daze. Though it takes him a moment to realise what Gentarou said, once he does, he grins.]

Hey, thanks! You too. Nobody appreciates it like they should.

Is it bad I was kind of praying you would?

[its_space_time]

[He throws Mondo a thumb's up.]

Ah, people're just jealous. Not everyone can be graced with the power to pull it off so well!

I'm really glad we're on the same page

[mustlovedogs]

[Oh, thumbs up, huh, well, right back at you!!]

It's real rare, wouldn't be right if just anybody could be this cool! Really defeat the purpose.