Scene #8066: My Rider Akamendamia

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Kale Hearthward	WONDERWORLD! Everyone loves Wonderworld! Today, our heroes are- Oh, wait, first. LAST TIME ON KAMEN RIDER COAST, our heroes fought off another park takeover attempt by the evil Concessors - this time from the diabolical OP-Corn, who was ready to make things POP! But with Bradley having lost his RideBand (yet again!) and Fabbri stuck searching for it, it fell to GUEST CROSSOVERS to make sure OP-Corn's plans for the park stayed unbuttered. What awaits our heroes today, in the next exciting episode of KAMEN RIDER COAST?! Okay, with the intro out of the way: Having made contact with veteran heroes from outside of their world, Coast and Thrill have requested some training, and a chance to ask some questions. The meetup spot is in the park after-hours (employee passes are lent out to get in) down in the It's A Little Earth Isn't It ride. (The animatronic dolls are all turned off, but they still look creepy.) "I mean, I don't see what all we'll get from this," says Coast (wood/brown and steel/gray colors). "I mean, all we need to do is hit the bad guys, right?" He crosses his arms and leans against some ride scenery. "And we've done that every time just fine, no problem." "I don't get how you can say that with a straight face," says Kamen Rider Thrill (orange and white). "We've had how many near misses now - no thanks to you, forgetting your RideBand, or trying to schedule a date in the middle of a Concessor attack, or sleeping through your alarm..." She turns to whatever heroes have taken up their request, and bows. "We really do need your help," she says. "It's all been kind of... edge-of-your-seat here. I guess, if you have any general advice, to start with?"
Karlan Nobles	After the getting roped into a larger mess than expected, it'd be easy for Pramanix and SilverAsh to just ignore the problem and focus on their own issues at home. Still, with SilverAsh sniffing out opportunities to grow his corporate empire with Wonderworld (while sneakily indulging in a bit of sick crossover action with Kamen Riders) and Pramanix seeking more excitement in another colorful rubbersuited world (and also indulging in sick crossover action), it's hard for either of them to refuse the request. "Hitting them is important, yes, but there's far more at stake than simply striking your opponents as hard as you can. You need to consider collateral damage, obtaining liability insurance, maintaining secret i- "That's too much to deal with all at once. Just focus on... Being inspiring first!" "That, too. A hero is not one that only perseveres in combat, but alleviates the fears of the weak and innocent who observe their struggles from below." "Exactly. So! Do either of you have any proper catch phrases picked out yet?" Pramanix counts off on her fingers. "Announcing your presence for a rescue, to stop an attack, to use just before disappearing in a cloud of smoke..." A beat. "Do you... Have smoke powers? Or... Wait. What /are/ you gimmicks, anyway?"
Hibiki Tachibana	LAST TIME, ON KRE--wait a second. Oh yeah, guest star. It's more like Super Hero Time. She might still be a bit exhausted from previous events, but Hibiki is more than happy to return to Wonderworld to help Kamen Riders in need. Though admittedly, it does feel a little weird being the one with more experience for once. Not in a bad way, though. Just a little weird. She's here, and in proper genre conventions with Coast and Thrill already henshin'd up, she's also on the scene transformed herself - her Symphogear's oversized scarf gives her something to tug on as she listens to the two go at it, leaning up against a wall rather than against any of the attraction's parts. "Well, hitting is good enough most of the time..." Man. Animatronics /are/ creepy. And there's a lot of them down here. "...but not all the time," she says towards Coast, after the Karlan pair get in their word. She shuffles a bit, bringing her hand down to fold her arms over her chest. "Some enemies need a bit more than that. Or they'll have some weirdo gimmick that you'll have to get around. Sometimes they might not even be your enemy at all," she says nebulously, particularly remembering Drive, Mach, and the Roidmudes as she does so. "...I'm not really any good at the 'hero' suggestions like that. But I can at least tell you that you really gotta keep better hold on that RideBand of yours." Hibiki is very obviously looking at Coast while saying that. "If you lose that thing again and we're /not/ around, you don't want Thrill to have to do all the fighting herself, do you?" She pauses, and then raises an eyebrow slightly. "...I'm really surprised you lost it in the first place. It seems way easier to keep on hand than those big bulky belts..."
Lilian Rook	The entire thing with the Kamen Riders sort of flew over Lilian's head and sort of didn't. The entire investigation functionally took place without her, as did the battle, because the point was to shove her off onto Rita and force them into a dark tunnel ride to make ~~out~~ up, but, also, she just sort of believed the mission statement at face value about a terrible threat to the park, since she'd been called in, and found the greeble storage in the vault, thus all the totally high budget CGI drama happening offscreen must have been very convincing. "I'm sort of annoyed that 'concessor' sounds a little bit menacing." says Lilian, wearing considerably less touristy clothes from last time, glad to ditch the awkward stockings and glove at last as to put on a shirt that actually covers her navel (scandalously exposing collarbone though, as a treat). "In the first place though, it's terribly presumptuous of you to assume that you will even be able to hit everything that comes your way. Do you really expect every single enemy you'll ever face to be individually weaker than you?"
Kale Hearthward	"RIght - catchphrases! Now we're talking!" says Coast, standing back up straight. "Yeah! I've got..." He poses. "Get ready for the drop!" He poses again. "This ride's jumping the tracks!" And again. "You just got railed!" Thrill coughs. "The RideBand says 'Kamen Rider Thrill is leaving the station' and 'Please keep your arms and legs inside the ride until rider kick is complete', and that's been enough catchprhases for me." On the topic of gimmicks: "Oh yeah! Check these out!" Coast taps on his RideBand. <Rideband Quickpass Confirmed: TrackRiders.> A pair of in-line rollerblades appear on Coast's feet. "Yeah! Sick rail grinds, and wall rides, and stuff!" On the topic of losing your greebles: "You'd think so," says Thrill. "That it'd be harder to lose a wristband than a bet, but somehow..." "Hey, it's just bad luck!" says Coast, balancing on his skates. On the topic of foes and weakness: "Oh yeah!" says Coast, flexing. "I've got this in the bag! Every Concessor so far has been easy!" (Behind him, Thrill shakes her head quietly.) "I mean, if they had something stronger, why not send that guy instead of the weaklings they've been sending!" "... Look." says Thrill. She turns to Hibiki. "You mentioned weird gimmicks that'd make them hard to hit. Can you give some examples?" She says, directing the question to the rest of the group. "Some... I don't know, some foe you've fought that you couldn't just punch hard, and how you dealt with them?"
Lilian Rook	Elbow in hand, Lilian slowly tilts her head into resting her cheek against her knuckles, and fixes Coast with a stare too politely stunned with disbelief to blink. "The drop is a musical term. Are you perhaps actually dubstep-themed? And which is it? Are they in the ride and it's jumping the tracks, or are they on the tracks and being hit by the ride?" Her tone creeps incrementally more darkly smug in that way it does where she doesn't so much as shift a facial muscle but feels menacingly condescending anyways. "Though, I suppose if I had to choose which to believe, you look more like a 'ride' than someone who'd 'rail' anything to me." She lifts her head back up and waves her fingers. "That's not what inspiring means. That's marketability. Are you trying to sell your merchandise? Inspiring is about filling civilians and first responders with confidence in your presence. In a panic situation, only one in five people will do as they're supposed to; half will simply freeze up or stop thinking, and the rest will do something counterproductive or self-destructive. If you can't mitigate that collective panic and direct civilian and emergency response, then at best, you're the mythical 'good guy with a gun'. Not a hero. Scarcely useful. When you transform, from your first few words and your opening attack, you have to be able to fill bystanders with the sense that things will be alright if they listen to you." Her lip twitches like it was just about to curl in disgust at Coast's last bit of confidence though. "Really? You believe you're stronger than all of your enemies? That this will be easy?" "If they're really so weak, couldn't anyone do that? If you'd never lose to an enemy, then there's nothing heroic about you fighting them, is there?" She's more glad to shift her attention to Thrill. "She's speaking from experience." A smug little grin and a side-glance flickers to Hibiki. "I'll show you. And by that, I mean try to hit me. At all." "Don't worry. You won't."
Karlan Nobles	The siblings nod slowly when the topic of losing RideBands is brought up, and it takes them a bit before Pramanix snaps her fingers. "Maybe they could be reworked like those one-day passes!" "The ones that you need to cut off to remove?" "Right! Except bigger and flashier and... Heavier... Oh. Never mind." On the topic of callouts, meanwhile, Pramanix offers a sympathetic, if somewhat unconvincing smile. "Built-in callouts... Oh, that's very good. If you don't need to think about, you can save energy for the actual fights." "And it doesn't quite run the risk of... Consistency as making up your own." "Come on now. His first two weren't terrible." Luckily, neither of them are drinking anything, or otherwise Lilian's bit about riding versus railing would have them both spitting on whoever's unlucky enough to be directly between both of them. "L... Lilian! That's not...! J-just because it's true doesn't mean you-" "True? Ah, so you've seen that type before, then." "... I don't know what you're talking about." After being terrible at lying, Pramanix stays quiet until the topic of gimmicky opponents comes back up and has them both considering how to actually help these two improve their... Everything. "'The fool flaunting his gallantry reaches none with his vanity.' Overconfidence when you cannot even hold onto your RideBand could lead to your demise sooner rather than later." "That's a little extreme, but... He's not wrong. Consider what you'd do if you encountered someone you couldn't hit-" Pramanix eyes Lilian curiously. "-or one where a single blow would be impossible to withstand." She looks at Hibiki at that one. "Indeed. Do you have any tools or strategies for overcoming such opponents?"
Lilian Rook	Lilian reaches out just to stealthily pinch the tip of Pamanix's tail and hold it still. "What's wrong with stating a fact? We're in a theme park. I'm clearly surrounded by rides." Meaningful stare, meaningful stare; the Watch is not safe.
Hibiki Tachibana	Even though Thrill has a mask, there's a fairly decent chance that Hibiki is making the same face as her, watching Coast talk about how easy things are. Truly, they are kin even in the realm of catchphrases. A finger drifts up to scratch at her cheek. "Well..." She starts in response to Thrill, turning very pointedly towards a certain raven-haired woman who has joined them today at the same time she looks her way. "...Yeah, Lilian is a pretty prime one. If you think you can beat her just by hitting her really hard, you've got another thing coming. Go ahead and try it, if you want. I wouldn't even say I could 'deal with it' now. Just have a better sense for when things get 'weird' and move to react without really thinking about it." The magical girl glances back to Thrill after, leaving Coast to try and achieve the highly improbale if he dares. "...Though that's probably not super helpful advice from me. Let's see..." That finger becomes a hand on her chin, over her scarf. "...Yeah, okay. The opposite of that, think about an enemy that's tough enough to take anything you have to dish out, and any damage you do lay on just heals back over. Nothing you do'll stick. You need more than just power. Or a Rider Kick. Heck, or maybe they'll explode or something, and take out everything around them when they go down." Her hand comes off and curls into a fist, which she looks at momentarily. Just where is she getting this example from, anyway? "You'd have to have some way to force them somewhere else, and also stop them from being a threat. Maybe if you did have enough power, you could just sock them into space, or some crap like that. That's what I'd do. Or you could talk them into fighting somewhere more convenient and work from there. Maybe talk them down completely. Avoid fighting at all." "...Though, from what I've seen from these Concessor guys, I really don't know about them." She means that in a lot of ways.
Kale Hearthward	"Yeah, well I am a rider! Not a railer!" says Coast, to Lilian, the double meaning flying right over his head. "So - I guess I should say, get ready to get ridden!" "Please don't," says Thrill, to Lilian. "You're not the one who's going to be putting up with him saying things like that." "... And also, ma'am," she adds. "I'm not trying to be a hero. I just want to protect this place, and then get back to my life, and-" "COAST - RAIL LIFT - FINISHER!" yells Coast, grinding up a suddenly-manifesting pair of roller coaster rails, and drop-kicking down towards Lilian after reaching the peak. Thrill waits for this to finish playing out. "... Right. An enemy who heals faster than you can damage them, or one who you can't stand more than a single blow from... That's something to think about." "... Or one that will explode..." She reaches behind her and unholsters a spear. "I've got the Drop Tower Spear, if I supercharge that it can extend upwards pretty high. I could use it to get the exploding enemy way above the park, where it won't hurt anyone..."
Karlan Nobles	The pinching gets a startled yelp from Pramanix, followed by her instinctively wriggling it to try and slip out of Lilian's grip without putting so much force into it that she might hurt herself in the process. (She needs it working so she can still fail to land properly.) "Wh...! Y-yeah, I knew that! I wasn't... You know what you were...! "Is that so? I must admit, I, too, am curious about what it is Dame Rook was supposed to know." As Pramanix continues feeling her face burning up at all of this (somehow, even moreso when Coast just misses that entirely), SilverAsh has to actually turn around when Coast speaks of being ridden and covers his face with a hat for a few moments. Even he has his limits! Eventually, though, they are finally able to settle down enough to get back on the topic of ENEMY GIMMICKS. SilverAsh strokes his chin lightly while Pramanix keeps tugging at her tail to try and get it around her arm where it's (presumably) safer. "I'm afraid our gimmicks are a little more... Horde-suited?" "We aren't duelists in the same sense that Miss Tachibana or Dame Rook would be, no. We'd be akin to the exploding foe, or to someone more suited for holding a massive number of hostages." "A little cutthroat, isn't it?" "That may just be what they run into over time. Rather than fighting head on, our best strategy would be to strike multiple places at once. Should either of you attempt to attack the other or we lose contact, we'd know to begin executions immediately." "That's...! Nneh. If we're really going with that hypothetical, I guess..." Pramanix looks over at Lilian and Hibiki again. "Having strong bodyguards would make it even easier to maximize our... Body counts, if we were that sort of foe." SilverAsh chuckles briefly, then turns to Thrill and Coast. "Would you have an answer for this sort of situation? Not a perfect one, but at all?"
Hibiki Tachibana	Yup, there Coast goes. Poor guy. Going down on Lilian from above never ends well. Fortunately, whatever's going on between her and Pramanix apparently goes over her head. Well, he'll learn his lesson the hard way. Once that's over with, Hibiki focuses back on Thrill, nodding while glancing over the weapon she brought out. "Yeah, there you go. That's a really smart way of handling it. If every problem was as easy to deal with as busting out a big punch or a kick, life would be way easier..." She murmurs, seemingly to herself, before shaking her head. "Anyway, yeah. Even other Kamen Riders have to deal with weird stuff. The Roidmudes that Drive and Mach fought before could slow everything down around them, and I just had to tough it out. And my own world has monsters that just go right through most attacks and will take you out in one hit if you're not careful." There's a small exhale, and she shuffles against the wall she's leaning against. And then, she looks back to Coast, and then to Thrill once more. "...It's pretty important to work together, too. It's way simpler to solve problems when you got someone watching your back and working alongside you. There's only so much you can do all by yourself. How...would you rate your teamwork?" Her tone makes it obvious she's not expecting a very favorable answer.
Lilian Rook	Lilian slowly looks sidelong to Thrill. "How old is he?" she asks. "And which lorry did he fall off?" 'COAST - RAIL LIFT - FINISH--!' Lilian is actually six feet backwards, according to a hurried correction issued by the universe; in prime position to knock Coast over while he's precariously landing on one greebled heel and then be a total bitch and sit leg over leg on his back. "See, that's Tachibana's problem, but even worse. Do you have any idea how tremendously predictable that attack is? The enormous windup, the shout-out, the literal rail showing the exact direction you'll go and constraining you to a linear path? Certainly, it's powerful, but only a terrified lackey is going to sit still and let you hit them with it. Powerful, linear attacks like that are for opponents who are either immobilized or unaware." "Forget contrived special abilities. The minute you run into an enemy with real combat experience, the fact that all you know is horseplay will show you up immediately. You have no 'battle sense' at all; you should be training with your level-headed partner, not inventing catch phrases." She quickly pops her her smart device windows and leafs through them to check on something, answering Pramanix offhandedly. "They wouldn't have to be stronger than Coast or Thrill, but simply 'enough' to bog them down and render it impossible for them to intervene in time. The obvious counter-tactic would be to have one of these two draw their attention, while the second goes for the real target." A thoughtful pause. "So I suppose maybe Coast does have a use."
Kale Hearthward	Coast slams down - and then immediately gets swept by Lilian, nearly effortlessly. "Hey!" He struggles against Lilian's hold - he's at least got her matched as far as strength, but she's got the advantage right now, and he's really still trying to figure out what's going on. "Having him draw attention, that'd work..." says Thrill. "Hey, get off!" says Coast. "... That one's tricky," says Thrill, to the Karlans. "There's just two of us, it's not as if there's some third rider waiting in the wings." She considers. "Not a perfect solution... I can use Splashdown - it'll cause a tidal wave, if I can move enough of your group close together with my initial strike, and fight them as one unit while Coast uses his speed to try to hit the rest in quick succession..." "Teamwork? It's not great!" says Coast, still pinned and trying to get out from under Lilian. "I'll say," says Thrill, blandly. "No - you don't get to act like you're all perfect," says Coast, trying to roll. "You - hrf - you wanted to make this all my fight when all this Concessor stuff started, act like it wasn't your problem, I had to literally drag you into helping me!" "... Not literally," says Thrill, glancing to the side.
Karlan Nobles	"Funny you mention that, Lilian. That's... Actually our preferred strategy!" "Shameful as it is, having someone larger or more irritating than us to hold an opponent's attention is a tactic we've utilized plenty of times elsewhere." With Coast being designated as the decoy of the two, it initially seems like a general plan is starting to come together! Right until their teamwork is revealed to be kind of bad, anyway. Even without being told that explicitly, the lack of shared enthusiasm between the Riders is easy enough to see within seconds. Naturally, that means it's time for bad ideas to flourish. Pramanix claps her hands together as she looks right at the two of them. "I know what you'll need to do then! You'll need to learn..." She snaps her fingers on both hands simultaneously, repeatedly, never missing the beat even while spinning once for emphasis. "Synchronized dance. It's easy enough to say you'll work together when push comes to shove, but you need to have those reflexes built up to really make it work!" "Indeed. To compensate for when one of you gets thrown off balance, to adapt when a new wrinkle is introduced after the curtains have already been drawn, to ensure that both you and your partner can make the most of the most dire situations with the least time to plan."
Hibiki Tachibana	"Hey now..." Hibiki frowns a bit, watching the pair shoot back at one another. She's not sure if Coast being humbled beneath Lilian makes the scene better or worse. Probably worse. Definitely not great is right. "I get it. Working together is hard, and you both got your problems with each other." She pushes off the wall she's been leaning against, letting her arms fall to her side as she takes a few step forward. "...I got a partner I work with back home, too. But at first, I didn't wanna have anything to do with her. Didn't want to fight with her, didn't want to team up, gave her the cold shoulder whenever she tried to talk to me." She stops when she's close to Lilian and the poor Kamen Rider rolling around on the ground, whom she lowers herself down next to on a knee. "Even when things got better, learning to do stuff alongside someone else was...hard. Felt weird, and took a lot of time. I guess she'd be the 'level-headed one'. Honestly, I think it'll be easier for you guys than us." She looks between the two of them, though she settles back on Coast. "Obviously, even if you goof around a bunch, you're at least serious about wanting to fight against the Concessors. That's important, so don't forget that." And then, to Thrill. "And even if you had to be talked into it, you could just toss your RideBand away and quit if you really wanted to, yeah? You guys both want the same thing, even if it's for different reasons. It wouldn't kill you to put some effort into working with each other better, would it?"
Kale Hearthward	Coast manages to get free. "What? Synchronized dance? That sounds silly," says the roller-coaster themed superhero. "You wouldn't put in the effort anyway..." says Thrill. "Yeah, well at least I'd show up," says Coast. Hibiki comes in with a well timed ~~friendship~~ teamwork speech. Coast nods, after a few seconds. "... Yeah, yeah I guess you're right. I can put some more effort into all of this... maybe get better about where I put stuff down, and keep my mind in the game while we're doing stuff." He looks over expectantly towards Thrill. Thrill looks away for a moment, but eventually relents. "... You're right, okay. I could have just thrown the RideBand away..." "... But I really like this place, and all the people that come to it, and I want to protect both..." She takes a breath. "I guess I can be a bit more enthusiastic, and put some more effort into working together, and put more effort into covering for Coast's flaws..." "Hey!" "I'm joking, sorry," says Thrill, which seems to be accepted by her partner. "For serious. More effort." "But no dancing," says Coast.
Karlan Nobles	Pramanix pouts a bit when nobody buys into the dance suggestion. SilverAsh looks entirely unsurprised. Luckily, Hibiki's able to convince the Riders the value of actually trying to work together better, so she'll have her chance one day. Never. "When it involves people and places you care deeply for... Yes, you'll do fine." "That's not free license to slack off, mind you. There will surely be greater trials for you both ahead." "You can slack off a little. As a team!" "I... Sure." There's still the matter of actually getting strong enough for other foes in the future, though, and that's where their attention turns next. "So! Do you two have a plan for actually getting stronger, then?" "A general exercise regimen could do wonders, but improving your combat skill... That's an area where you may need to seek the expertise of others to uncover your true potential." "Or even improving your flexibility and reflexes, if that's what's lacking. And a good way to do that is-" "They already said no to dancing." "... I wasn't going to say that again." She was totally going to say that again. She's still pouting.
Hibiki Tachibana	That goes...better than Hibiki was expecting it to, honestly. She's made many a friendship slash inspirational slash teamwork slash hopeful speech in her time, but making it in a 'teaching' capacity and seeing it pay off is... Well, suffice to say, she has a noticable smile on her face by the time the two have come to an agreement with one another. Even tugs her scarf down with a hand to make it visible. "Yeah, there you go. It's still not gonna be simple. You'll probably still argue more than a little, have your disagreements over all sorts of crap, maybe bumble into each other during fights...maybe dance practice might have something to it..." The grimace she takes on for a moment makes it sound like she's speaking from experience. "...But as long as you're trying, and you got stuff you want to protect, I think it'll work out. You even said it yourself," Hibiki glances up to Thrill. "There's just the two of you, so you gotta be able to rely on each other." And then, back to down Coast. Stare. After a moment, she gives a single knock on his helmet with her fist, just loud enough to 'thunk'. "And there ain't anything wrong with covering for each other, by the by. Thrill might be the straight woman, but you can bring plenty to the table yourself." And then she finally stands back upright and steps away, leaving him to be at the whims of whenever Lilian will get the hell off. "Planning out what you're /actually/ gonna do is pretty important too, though...I'm not the best at that for sure." What a painful thing to admit. "Luckily, I think these guys are experts." SilverAsh and Lilian both get a nod each.
Kale Hearthward	"Right, working on combat potential..." says Thrill. "We'll find something for that. Might need to go off world..." "We'll take karate lessons!" says Coast. "... We'll work something out," repeats Thrill. "Thank you." "I think we'll be okay," she adds, to Hibiki. "Eventually." "Soon," corrects Coast. "Anyway - you all are welcome to come join us any time... probably could use the help," says Thrill. "And we'll reach out if something big is happening."
Lilian Rook	Lilian does eventually tire of sitting on a bulliable boy this shounen oblivious. Mostly once Hibiki crouches down and Lilian says "Cute~ You're getting down to his level for him~" with a big insufferable smirk on her face. Dusting her skirt off needlessly, Lilian says "Oh but I quite liked the dance routine idea. If you're both such blushing bambis, you could try one of those dance pad games instead. Or enter as a team into an athletic competition. Perhaps you should each try teaching the other something only one of you knows how to do." "But, as disparaging as I've been known to be towards it in the past, you'll also start to learn each other's rhythms and habits from simple sparring as well. You'll develop something approximating combat experience at an accelerated pace by looking to learn from and get around each other's developments. Aside from that . . ." "Find someone you can look up to as a hero. And think about what I said, regarding 'inspiration'."
Karlan Nobles	Pramanix looks strangely pleased that someone finally (claims) to like the dance routine idea. SilverAsh just has his usual resting asshole smile going on. "Karate lessons might not be such a bad idea if you need a change of pace from sparring and exercise." "Discipline through martial arts can help you hone your skills. Just take care not to let adherence to the art hinder your instincts."
Hibiki Tachibana	"Who's the one who was keeping him down there...?" Hibiki murmurs in response to Lilian, being Lilian. Some things will never change. Her hands come to her hips after. "If you need help, you'll get it. Don't be shy about askin' for it. I know you guys'll manage." Another nod comes. "...Figure the parkgoers will probably appreciate more 'cameos', too." "And if there's anything I can do to help with the training too, I'll lend a hand there. However I can. Sparring isn't even a bad idea, honestly. It really does help you learn to work with each other more."