Chapter Text
Fuuka sighed as she walked alongside her girlfriend. A hand on her pregnant belly. “We’ll get him to come back.” Ichika smiled and kissed her girlfriend’s cheek.
“But he has been acting like this since I told him about these two. Girls...they’re little girls growing inside me.” She sighed happily.
“I know...and it’s more me than you...got a feeling this is about what I thought the gangs from this time were like more than these two.” she patted her stomach. “We’re at Mama’s and Papa’s.” She smiled and saw the man that they were looking for trying to make himself useful.
“Papa hired a new handyman around here and didn’t tell me?” Ichika smiled at her husband.
Cobra looked up, then immediately headed for the rear of the garage.
“And a chatty one too. Do you do windows?” she blocked him as he made his path away from them.
“Move.” His tone was bored, although his eyes were hostile.
“Sorry, I can’t move until Thursday.” She smirked at him. “Look I’m sorry about what I thought about the gangs of this time. But you have a very pregnant woman here who needs the father of one of her daughters. She blames herself, you know.” Fuuka blushed looking at Cobra.
“Why apologize? And she needs to rest at home, so go. I’m busy.”
“Because we both know I hurt you unintentionally. With everything that’s been happening in your life, finding out your wife thought you were a sissy punk that couldn’t take a punch without crying for three hours. I’M SORRY. Take it out on me, not her. You’ve been away from the house for three days this time.”
“You didn’t hurt me. I’ve just been working and helping Yamato. No need for anybody to blame themselves.”
“I’d buy that if I didn’t pass the case of empty tequila bottles outside. Papa started drinking that too did he?” she took his hand. “We love you. You are a great man and a wonderful father. Between the murder rage, talking to your father...or rather ignoring his ghost, and then finding out about me...I’m sorry I added to it, love.”
He tensed, then forced himself to relax. “Yamato occasionally drinks with me. But I’m not having this conversation. I need to finish working, so please go home.”
Fuuka went up to him timidly. “I...I love you Cobra...I feel like I added to this too. I didn’t plan this.” She rested a hand on her growing belly. “I know you have other kids...but I want these two to know their Papa the way I got to know him. The man...the man I fell in love with.”
His eyes softened. “Things happen. Do you really want me to raise them? I’m not a good influence, you know.”
“But a great man. They would be amazing girls with you as their Papa...do you want them to take after Murayama?” She smiled at him.
He shuddered slightly. “Don’t you want a better life for the girls? Away from here? You’ve seen my parenting. The boys aren’t going to win any awards.”
“True...but they are good men. Like you. You can tell me a thousand ways you fail as a man, a father, or a gang leader. But I am an analyst and can tell you a million more ways you are a great man, husband, boyfriend, and father.”
“Good doesn’t mean much in SWORD.” Cobra looked away, one hand absently twirling the wrench he held.
“God, why do I love this bonehead?” Ichika groaned. “Do we have to brand it on your forehead that you’re the best?” she smiled at him. “C’mon already. Come home we miss you. Murayama would be here too. But he was telling us to let you be.”
Several long minutes passed. Several emotions flitted over Cobra’s face before he finally sighed and nodded.
* * *
Naomi smiled as she set food down in front of someone. “Oh look who it is, it’s Murayama,” Dan said, seeing the man Naomi gave the food to.
“I’m about to eat,” he said, picking up his chopsticks. “Itadakimasu.” He seemed calmer than they had seen him.
“Oy. You may be Cobra’s boy toy but this was our place first.” Dan grumbled.
“I said I was about to eat.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t mess with him,” Chiharu said looking at the look on his face.
“He needs to learn the pecking order. He may lead Oya but this is Sannoh and he is only the boy toy.” Dan said and Tetsu nodded. The guy in the blue leather jacket pulled out a pirate sword.
“Do I need to speak more clearly?” he asked softly but his voice spoke volumes louder with the sword pointed at them.
“N-No sir. ENJOY YOUR MEAL!” Chiharu, Tetsu, and Dan ran from Itokan.
“Where did you have that?” Naomi asked, looking at the sword.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he smirked.
Before too much longer Naomi heard the sounds coming from the outside. “I told you two to leave him alone.”
“You know me, I like fixing his outbursts. Plus Fuuka is pregnant with his kid. He said once babies need their Mamas. Well, Mama’s need their partners during pregnancies.” Ichika chuckled.
“Not an outburst. And I wouldn’t walk out on her.” Cobra grumbled.
“Sounds like an outburst Dad.” Kiba chuckled.
“Don’t poke Dad, wolfie boy.” Joe shoved Kiba through the doors. In walked Joe, Fuuka, Ichika, Cobra, and Murayama.
“Been waiting for you. Ended up having to order a meal.” The man took a bite of the food in front of him. “Delicious.” He smiled.
“Nope. Not dealing with this.” Cobra groaned, going over and sitting down in his booth.
“Look who it is. The real crazy one here.” Murayama chuckled.
“Who is this?” Joe asked, standing next to his brother.
“Your namesake. Hello again Joe-san.” Ichika said. Joe smirked and nodded his head toward Ichika.
“Why am I the crazy one?” Gokaiger Joe asked Murayama.
“YOU GO FIGHTING THOSE SKYSCRAPERS THAT WANT TO KILL YOU. I just fight street thugs.” Murayama chuckled.
“Fair I guess. Your ‘mother-in-law’ is a good cook.” Joe said going back to his food finishing his meal.
“W-Who is this guy?” Fuuka asked, hand resting on her pregnant belly.
“I’ll show you. You wouldn’t believe me otherwise.” Gokaiger Joe stood up after he finished. He pulled up a key shaped like a person. “Gokai Change.” He flipped the key up and inserted it into his phone, turning the key.
“ GOKAIGER! ” They heard as in a flash he stood before them as Gokai Blue.
“Gokai Blue,” Joe said, resting his hand on his helmeted head. After a minute of stunned silence, he undid his henshin and smirked at Murayama.
“See, this guy is the crazy one. He goes after monsters in spandex. Then they grow big and try to destroy cities. THAT’S crazy. I just fight street thugs.”
“Why does he look like Murayama and Joe?” Naomi looked at the man in shock.
“Loads of theories about that. But I’m not the only one.” He dropped a bunch of pictures on the table.
“Seriously that guy from Rude Boys? This one I had a run-in with Oya. Wait...TIRE TRACKS?!” Murayama’s eyes bulged.
“Tire tracks?” Gokaiger Joe asked. He looked at him and then the picture. “That’s Kamen Rider Lazer, Kujo Kiriya. That nickname you gave is even funnier seeing as his base form is actually a motorcycle.” He chuckled. Ichika giggled as she approached the pile.
“And DOUBT boy?” Ichika looked at the two pictures of the same man. “Why are there two pictures of him?”
“He is Kamen Rider Grease Sawatari Kazumi and Kamen Rider Dark Kiva Kurenai Otoya. He is one of the few that have multiple warriors that look like the same person.”
“This is my boyfriend.” Joe’s eyes widened seeing the picture of his Oya boyfriend.
“Kamen Rider Live, Igarashi Daiji”
“What is this?” Fuuka asked as she held a picture of herself.
“Finally another one of ours. Igasaki Fuuka, ShiroNinger from Shuriken Sentai Ninninger.” Joe smiled at her.
“One of yours?” Fuuka asked, looking at herself.
“Most of these are Kamen Riders. Nice to see a Sentai face.” He half smirked. A smirk that didn’t match Murayama’s crazy grin at all.
“Mama...why are you three not trying to wrap your heads around this?” Kiba asked, looking at the pictures of everyone who was a Toku hero and someone they knew.
“The time loop that I have spoken about before was his doing,” Ichika said, looking at Kiba indicating Joe. “It’s why I named Joe after him. Without this man, he wouldn’t be born.”
“About that...it’s why I’m here. What we did to save Murayama...is coming back to bite us.” Joe explained.
“MOVE OVER LOVER BOY. I’m the one at fault this time.” Murayama leaned his head on Cobra’s shoulder.
“Why did I fall for the mentally challenged?” Cobra sighed. “What’s happening?”
“Under normal circumstances, you can only travel to worlds that have the same matching factors that created the twins that are responsible for Ichika to travel to this timeline. Creating a paradoxical loop. You travel back to have Kiba who will travel back to have the twins. These are the rules that allow someone to travel through your multiverse. That they could have had or did have Kiba or the twins.” He sighed.
“There are worlds that do not fit into that mold of course. But they do not require the multiverse to function as these worlds do where all of you can be found like this do. But thanks to the aftershocks of what we did it has allowed something to travel to this world that shouldn’t have. And she is just the first to arrive. Soon more will come. More to the point. Another version of him.” He nodded toward Cobra.
“What do you mean something that shouldn’t travel here?” Cobra almost growled.
“Vampires.” Gokaiger Joe said blankly. “There are worlds out there where werewolves and vampires exist in SWORD. We have information that three vampires have come or are coming to this world. One of them is a vampire Cobra.”
“And...I know one of them...” Kiba said softly to the shock of everyone there.
“What do you mean?” Ichika asked her son who looked like he was a young boy with his hand caught in the cookie jar.
“This.” Gokaiger Joe said, tossing a picture on the table of a woman who smiled up at them. “I think her name is Kili?”
Kiba blanched, looking desperately toward the door. “Me and my big mouth.”
“Ah ah.” his brother Joe stepped in front of the door. “Who is Kili? Your new girlfriend, the one that gave you those teeth you are fond of?” He looked at the picture of the girl on the table. “And this Kili is another of these Toku connections.”
“Hina from Kamen Rider OOO.” Gokaiger Joe said looking at the other person who had his face and his name too in his case. The room turned to face Kiba as he looked like he wanted to disappear.
“I’m not sending her back. Or killing her.” Kiba finally said defiantly. “You’ll have to kill me first.”
Ichika looked at her son...and burst into laughter. “You should think about taking up a career as a comedian kid. She’s yours, keep her. That Joe has a problem. I got a few guns with his name on it.”
“He said the universes shouldn’t be interacting, Chika. Only natural to assume our pirate friend is here to eliminate anyone coming from it.” Cobra’s voice was quiet.
“You do like to head down the darker sides of the conversation...you might even be able to bring Gai down from his highs.” Gokaiger Joe said softly. “We’ve known about her for months. She can stay. That’s not how universes work after all. YOUR multiverse only allows for travel between certain worlds that are connected. What we did back then opened the door for more worlds that weren’t which allowed this. It was us, not her, that caused it.
“That is not how the OMNIVERSE works either. You can travel and live wherever you end up with no problems in the long run. Maybe the universe compensates if too many people from a different universe live in any one place but one or two is just fine. She can live in whatever universe she likes. I am mainly here to warn you of the future attack and explain the challenges you are about to face.”
“I’m a realist. And since you expressly said the universes weren’t supposed to meet… Plus a soon-to-be attack does not speak highly of the possibility of living together in harmony. It would usually be correct to assume you were here to eliminate these vampires and somehow cut the connection between universes.” Cobra gazed steadily at the pirate without blinking.
“I’m not your boyfriend. I don’t do anything I don’t want to. Or fall over at that look. So I have only this to say: This is you that is coming, YOUR multiverse. HANDLE YOUR OWN DAMN MESS!” Gokaiger Joe growled.
Cobra deliberately stood, his face impassive. “Why come warn us if it’s our mess? Or do you just want to feel superior with knowledge?”
“You better sit down drunk. Or I will show you what a Gokaiger can really do.”
“Make. Me.” Cobra growled. “You don’t scare me, pirate.” Gokaiger Joe smirked. Then he hauled off and decked him. Cobra was back on his feet before his fist was even lowered.
“STOP IT!” Ichika yelled as the pair of men were throwing punch after punch.
“Once he is unconscious,” Cobra growled. Running at Joe in the tight space sliding at his ankle and spinning.
“A fast little gnat huh?” Gokaiger Joe growled as he brought him down on the ground.
“SHOW THE FAKE ME WHO’S BOSS!” Murayama yelled. As the two men fought and kicked each other.
“You know I am holding back right boy?” Gokaiger Joe asked Cobra with a smirk.
“FUCK OFF!” Cobra headbutted him.
“Fine...Gokai Change.” Joe growled. And in a flash, he was Gokai Blue and headbutted him back Cobra rolled backward a few feet. He jumped up on his feet and Cobra tried to stand up and punch him. Gokai Blue grabbed his fist and twisted his arm before he punched him, sending him into both of his sons.
“Do us a favor,” Gokaiger Joe growled and summoned his sword. He pointed it right at Cobra. “STAY DOWN!” Cobra tried to break free of his sons. Joe then added his gun to that. “NOW!”
Cobra suddenly drew a gun Ichika recognized, thumbing back the hammer smoothly. “Dodge this.”
There was a shot and Gokai Blue just grabbed the bullet from the air with his gun hand. “Really? You really thought that would work?”
“ ENOUGH !!” Ichika yelled, yanking the gun Fuuka had given her from her husband’s hands. “ YOU don’t use these jackass!” She scolded her husband.
“I use whatever I have to for the win.” Cobra’s voice was low, his eyes blazing. “He needs a lesson.” He stared calmly at the hero. “Do you have a will?”
“Do I need one?” He slammed the butt of his Gokai Gun on the back of Cobra’s head, sending him down to the floor. A blood spot trickled down from where he was struck.
Kiba sighed. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Kid...your dad is a warrior. He’d make a great Sentai leader or Kamen Rider if I’m going to be honest. But right now he is so far lost he can’t even tell he is outmatched and outclassed. I’m not a street punk Cobra. I’m a man as your boyfriend put it, crazy enough to fight monsters the size of skyscrapers. Nothing you do will be able to match that. Hopefully, you’ll wake the fuck up soon.” Gokaiger Joe looked at Cobra putting the blade behind his back in his standard pose.
Kiba cleared his throat. “Is the attack something we can stop?”
“You people are always fighting things twice as strong as you. Kuryu Group, Doubt, Chanson...vampires don’t stand a chance. Kili can tell you more about how to stop them better than I can. She knows this Cobra. From what we gathered she was his left-hand woman. He is traveling here with his right-hand man. She never got along with either. And the fact that she has lived this long without taking more than a few playful bites from you and the Junkos is a sign she is far more desirable than this asshole.”
“She said I didn’t want to know her world. That it was without hope or light. Fighting that might be impossible.” Kiba fingered his necklace, the small red-liquid filled vial glinting in Itokan’s lights. “Maybe this is just fate.”
“I’m not afraid of monsters.” Cobra’s voice was strong. “I just need to be a worse one to win.”
“You really think that will work?” Gokaiger Joe asked, sounding disappointed by the response. He turned away from Cobra to look at Kiba. “Sometimes we don’t get what we want. Tell her that Cobra is on his way and that he would kill you, Kiba, without batting an eye. His ‘Chika’ was killed opening this portal in the first place. Finding a son of hers will anger him. Hell, finding half of you will. After all, SWORD was there too. He fought AGAINST it in that world.”
“Idiot.” Cobra stood slowly. “I’ll bury him beside Daruma.”
A loud popping sound was heard. They turned to Ichika who just fired the gun she got from Cobra at the floor. “What did you just fucking say?” she growled, staring daggers at him.
“Daruma is lonely. Fitting for him. Would you like a spot too?” Cobra’s eyes were calm, his tone dispassionate. He produced a slightly rusted knife, twirling it idly.
“BASTARD!” Ichika roared. Kiba and Joe grabbed their mother before she attacked him.
“Oy. Cobra-chan...you’re pissing off the old lady again. Should I handle it before she does?” Murayama asked calmly.
“Where did you get that knife?” Fuuka asked, resting a hand on her stomach.
“Where I became the monster I was always supposed to be.” Cobra gave Ichika a frightening smile.
“ I’LL KILL ‘EM!! ” Ichika roared, fighting against her sons.
“I thought you wanted a gang leader from the past? One who fought his enemies and destroyed them? You could even say I fill in holes dug by hubris, ones that go unmourned by the world for fear of showing acceptance.”
She pushed her sons off her. “Cobra...Junpei, I love you with all my heart. You are the man of my dreams and the love of my life.” She punched him in the dick. “BUT IF YOU DON’T HAND ME THAT FUCKING KNIFE RIGHT FUCKING NOW I WILL PULL WHAT I DID ON LI ON YOU...WITH IT!” she growled.
“Take it if you can.” Cobra’s voice then lowered until only she could hear it. “Your dreams and love are over. I’m done with you.”
“Get out...get out and NEVER come back!” Ichika growled.
“Finally, the ghost goes into the light.” Cobra walked past her without a look back, the door tinkling as it closed behind him.
“Mama?” Joe asked, looking at his mother.
“I’m fine.” she breathed. “I-I’m...” Naomi came around and hugged her daughter as she broke down in her arms.
“I’m sorry.” Gokaiger Joe said softly.
“I’m going to kill him.” Kiba’s voice was angry.
“Get in line, kid. Get in line.” Murayama said softly. “Chika-chan.” She looked at him, tears still running down her face. “Our bastard is a fucking idiot worthy of Oya’s preschool...and that’s coming from me.” He hugged her. She clung to him like a lifeline. Fuuka came over and joined the hug.
Cobra walked and walked. He wasn’t sure what had just happened to him or why he had gone that far. Yes, he wanted to be the type of gang leader she wanted...but even he knew he had gone too far with his stunt with the knife. She was right to be angry with him. Right to have thrown him out. And he was afraid she would never forgive him this time. And she’d be right to never do so.
He looked down at the rusted knife. He had plucked this from the spot where he had hidden it in Ichika’s timeline when he was there. It was a reminder to him of what happened when he wasn’t...what he always wanted to be. A decent man and not the trash of Sannoh. He saw himself twiddling it in front of him and his hand trembled as he closed it and stuffed it back in his pocket. He didn’t even notice he wasn’t in control of his legs anymore.
Cobra walked into the cemetery like a robot. A voice was whispering in his head, although he couldn’t make out words. Then two red eyes locked on his before darkness swept him away.