This must be clearly understood, or nothing that happens next will make sense.
It had happened last year - suddenly, and from a source that nobody had expected. The question of how Ivan of the Magpies got a hold of the weaponry he'd carted back to his superiors had been a lingering question in everyone's minds, and it was swiftly and horribly answered when Tremor of the Black Dragon appeared as if from nowhere and levelled half of South Vegas. In the resulting skirmish that followed, the Kobbers had been hideously beaten by the geomancer, whose powers had been slowly approaching those of a deity due to past events, and it seemed as though he could just not be brought down by anything that was thrown at him.
The sudden and awful twist ending came when Beck, spitting sparks and furious beyond measure, had leaped at Tremor just as he had been winding up to smash somebody around the head with a fist of solid granite.
The crunch of a shattering AI Core would forever be ingrained in the minds of the people present.
Tremor had then fled, leaving the others to realize what had happened. Then the panic had set in, and Beck's mangled body had been rushed back to the K.O.B. in what basically amounted to a spare wheelbarrow someone had conveniently found lying about. There was a mix of horrible tension and vague hope as the gadgeteers and scientists studied the remains of what had once been their former comrade and spunky, heroic ally. Surely, they reasoned, he could be restored? What were the Kobbers if they couldn't bring someone back from a fate as horrific as this - they'd come back from worse, hadn't they?
All hope died when Doctor Light turned to everyone assembled and shook his head.
There was nothing to recover. The AI Core had been pulverized, and the Xel system had no means of reconstructing the very thing that told them to form a body to begin with. Even if they could recover anything, there wouldn't be anything that was Beck to put in a new body or restore - the same personality, but none of the memory or experience. Doctor Light did not believe in keeping personality backups, as evidenced by his refusal to restore Rush two years ago, and he hadn't the hand-eye co-ordination anymore to recreate the systems he'd forged the body from.
For all intents and purposes... Beck Light was dead.
Permadead.
The realization settled in like sea-fog; slow, but cold and bitter, and everyone took it badly in one way or another. Jewel Man broke down into hysterical sobbing and had to be comforted by an equally tearful Rock, Crash and Splash Woman. Sarah had sobbed quietly, and the rest of her week had been spent in mournful silence, not even touching her pancakes at breakfast. Kevin and Jin had promised to pay tribute to him in a special episode, touched by how he had gone down fighting. And even David, who didn't give a shit about much else, poured himself a drink in memory of the robot - although he immediately forgot why after he'd downed it.
But none took it harder than Ash. Beck had been practically like a second child to him, and the moment he'd heard about what was essentially the murder of a close ally, something dark and shocking erupted from within the Godslayer. A kind of cold, silent rage enveloped him, and he'd turned and left the bar without so much as saying a word. The only news anyone had of him was at the end of that week, when news reports came of an entire army descending upon the south quadrant of Vegas where the Black Dragon made their lair.
There wasn't enough left of Tremor to fill a tuna can.
Ash had been banished to the couch for a month. Even Sam had to admit that it had been rather extreme.
They held a funeral on the next day. It had been so long since they had held a funeral, since barely anyone died amongst the Kobbers like this, that it felt strange and dark. Rock spoke of how proud he was to have a son like Beck, and that he would not wish for any other, not even as a replacement. Ash had quietly spoken of the boy's enthusiasm, willingness to learn and unyielding sense of justice. Melody - the doll - had begun to say something, then broken down and had to be escorted to a back room. Then the single pen drive that contained what remained of Beck's programming was lowered into the dusty earth of Nevada, as all present recited the traditional rites mechanically and dully.
It was going to be a long year. And one of their own wouldn't be around to help.
-------
Time passed, and people moved on, as they do. The bar was a little duller without those bright green eyes and cheerful smile, but there were villains that needed stopping, friends that needed rescuing and personal lives to attend to. Ash and Christine had their child in the intervening time, and Sam found himself stuck with babysitting duty on more than one occasion - when he wasn't busy with Chastity, that is. It wasn't long before 2016 rolled around, and faces old and new gathered in Vegas to sample the culture, lose a lot of money and beat up the obligatory storm of villains that descended upon them.
Then the strange... things had begun.
Firstly, reports came in of strange attacks, of people being assaulted by invisible things they couldn't see. The gadgeteers among the Kobbers had sprung into action, as was expected, visiting the sights and sweeping the areas for any signs of activity - natural, paranormal or otherwise. But they found nothing; no trace of an animal that camoflauged itself, no hints of any organized force with access to cloaking tech, not even so much as a drop of ectoplasm. The effect was disconcerting, and speculation abounded amongst the group as to what could have occured... and what was behind the attacks.
Then, one by one, stories began to circulate amongst the Kobbers themselves.
On the first day, DJ Candy claimed that she'd had an odd experience the previous night, at Club Candy. She'd been in the middle of a particularly wild bout of scratching the vinyls when she'd felt a presence by her side, as if somebody was appreciating the music. But when she turned her head, intending to scold them for slipping past the bouncers, nothing was there - and all the security swore that nobody had climbed up onto the stage at any time in the performance.
On the second day, Ash and Christine had been awoken from sleep by their infant daughter, as was a regular occurence by now. But irritable tiredness had given way to confusion and mild panic when the noise that came through the baby monitor revealed itself to be laughter rather than crying. Rushing into the nursery room, they were surprised to find Athena looking intently at a patch of empty air, with nobody else in the room, and greater was their confusion when "Eck!" was the only explanation they could get out of her.
On the third day, Melody had been playing on the roof of the King of Beasts resort with the other dolls when she'd lost her footing and toppled off the edge into the air below. For a horrible moment she'd plummeted, screaming in terror of the coming impact, only for a strange force to suddenly grasp her tiny body and slow her descent, before gently carrying her back up to the same place where she'd fallen off. The others, although relieved beyond measure that she was safe, insisted they'd seen nothing - yet Melody insisted that she'd caught a glimpse of familiar green eyes, looking kindly back at her as she'd hovered in mid-air...
-------
It was on the fourth day when the biggest story of them all came forward.
Dawn had been working on something to solve another problem when she was struck in the head, as if something had bashed her with some kind of weapon. She went tumbling down, sensors screaming in bewilderment. She was the only one in the laboratory, and not one of the security measures had sounded a warning, so how the hell did somebody get in? Granted, Mother's security wasn't the greatest in the world - the multiple invasions of her own lab and warehouses were proof of that, but surely something must have-
A second blow, that felt like a kick to the ribs, flung her back against a wall. This time, it was the turn of the diagnostics to scream, as something inside buckled horribly and her vision sparked and fizzled like bad cable reception. No time to don one of her battle bodies - they were too far away, in a completely different room, and there wasn't any weapon to hand that she could draw against this thing. Dawn could only scrabble against the wall, away from where she hoped the invisble attacker was, optics scanning frantically in search of the thing that was, no doubt, advancing upon her at this very-
And then things got even weirder, as a masked figure suddenly leaped from the shadows and rammed into the thing.
Let's Go! A Burning Glow!
Gho-Gho-Gho-GHOST!
(Go! Go! Go! Go!)
With her safety now somewhat assured, Sine's robotic daughter could scramble to her feet, albiet with some pain, and stare in confusion as the unknown entity struggled with seemingly nothing at all - or, perhaps, the same foul presence that had meant to do her injury to begin with. In fact, her savior seemed a little off as well, his shape blurring and sharpening like a faulty camera struggling to focus properly, and his signature on her internal radar flickered on and off in the manner of an old bulb. But when it was in focus, the energy he was giving off seemed to come in tremendous amounts - unlike anything she'd recorded before.
What was this thing...?
She didn't recieve an easy answer to that question, as the fighter shoved the solid nothing away (was that a snarling noise just then?) and pulled the handle on the side of their belt.
"NOW WITNESS: My Soul's... OMEGA DRIVE!"
An orange glow filled the air, and the figure quickly lashed out with a foot, which connected with a sharp, metallic clang. For a split second, Dawn caught sight of something humanoid, glinting like razors hammered and twisted into some foul origami shape, recoiling in pain and fury from the strike. Then an explosion rocked the room, and she had to shut her eyes in order to block out the blinding light that illuminated everything like a lighthouse on a dark winter day. By the time it dissipated and her optics had stopped screaming, the thing was gone.
But the masked stranger was still there.
He turned to her, as Dawn rose to her feet, and for the first time, she noticed his body still had an odd, orangey glow to it, like Christmas lights or a bedside lamp. But it was an oddly familiar, warm light that seemed to reassure her - this was no malevolent apparition, that was for sure. But it didn't explain why, despite being quite clearly in front of her, none of her scanners seemed to register him properly - he seemed to be like heat haze or mist, in that it was just on the peripheral edge of her vision...
Robot and ghost regarded each other for a long moment.
And then he spoke.
"Sorry about that. You just finish up here, okay?"
Dawn blinked.
And, just like that, he was gone, leaving the realization to sink in like an anvil through the ocean.
"...Beck?"
-------
And now, it's time for...
INKOPOLIS NEWS! With your hosts, Callie aaaaaaand Marie!
"Hold onto your tentacles, folks..."
"It's Inkopolis News time!"
"And our top story tonight - it's Ghost-Mania over in Las Vegas, as sightings of the mysterious figure known as Kamen Rider Ghost continue well into August!"
"It's almost like he's trying to get people's attention - hard to do when you're already invisible."
"All the reports have been consistent with each other so far, describing a masked, humanoid figure much like the Kamen Riders that have been seen among the Kobbers, dressed in a vareity of spiffy - dare I say, fresh hoodies and bearing a strange glow. This figure has been noted to appear at moments of great danger or crisis, using his cool spooky powers to help those in trouble and foil criminals, although once his job is complete he mysteriously vanishes without a trace!"
"Which has made getting solid footage of this guy a pain in the ink sac, I'll tell you that. I'm sick of all these paranormal things messing with our equipment - quit being camera shy, you dorks!"
"Ah, yes - on that note, these reports have often coincided with the sightings of the monstrous phantoms that have been dubbed Ganma, or Eye Devils, by the authorites in Las Vegas. Whilst many speculate that there is a connection between the two, Mayor Eggerman has reassured the public that it is still too early to jump to any conclusions about either Ghost or the Ganma and what their relationship might be."
"Funny, I seem to recall you jumped to a lot of conclusions about Ghost."
"Wh-what are you on about?!"
"Oh, you know... the part where you gushed about his manly chest and awesome mask, and how you'd love to be swept up in those strong arms-"
"THAT WAS OFF-CAMERA AND YOU KNOW IT!"
"Oh, Mr. Ghost, thank you for saving my life! How can I ever repay you, except by smooching you on your creepy ghost mask~?"
"SHUT UP"
-------
"How many more, Yurusen?"
The spectral imp blinked, single eye surveying the city as it hovered in place. "About, oh... nine more. And they're all hidden somewhere in this city."
Green eyes closed, and a heavy sigh was heaved. "Jeez... I've got my work cut out for me, then. Who knows if the Ganma have found any more by this time?"
A moment of silence, as the Nevada sun slowly sank beneath the horizon. Except for the rousing cocktail party going on on the roof, but not a single one could have seen this interlude even if they tried.
"You don't ever... miss being alive, do you?" asked Yurusen, turning it's gaze upon the speaker next to it.
"Well... I miss being able to do things. Like eat, or sleep, or join in on parties. Or being able to hug people when they're sad, and tell them everything's going to be okay." Another heavy sigh. "Poor Aggie..."
"But things aren't okay, are they?" pointed out the imp. "You still worry about them. Even if you're not dead-dead, you can't really interact with people in the Living World, so you might as well be, right? I mean, half of them still think you're dead and the other half think they might be hallucinating! And a fat lot of help that's going to be," it finished, with no small amount of sarcasm in it's voice, "when the Ganma decide to step their game up!"
"...it's probably for the best."
"Huh?" Yurusen did a double-take at that.
A silvery, eye-like device was flipped up, caught, flipped again.
"I don't want them to dwell on it, Yurusen. They have lives to live, things to do, and I know I couldn't be there to be a part of it forever. Nor can I really try to be a part of it now - the last thing I want is to drive them into further grief with these odd glimpses, or give them some kind of false hope that I might be able to be brought back. And I can't risk dragging them into this war for my own sake, because what good would be fighting in the name of a dead man do? Better for them to move on, and live for the here and now, than to try and bring back the past."
Yurusen put it's stubby hands on it's hips, glaring. "But what about your wish, dummy? If you collect all the Eyecons-"
"Forget it. I'm not looking for a second chance - I've been a hero long enough, and my time's been and gone. I'll cross that whole 'wish' bridge when I come to it, but it's time I let someone else do the heroic stuff. I'd rather just not have the Ganma have the last laugh."
"...you really are a hero, you know that?" huffed the ghost, rolling it's eye. "Always thinking of others and not even considering how things impact you."
"Comes with the job description." The Eyecon - for that is what it was - was caught once more, before being pocketed into that wonderful little dimension we call Hammerspace. Green, open, honest eyes turned to where Yurusen was hovering, fixed with the kind of stalwart resolved best left for superhero comics and films about King Arthur. A confident grin spread across a youthful face invisible to the party going on behind him, but familiar to those who had once knew him in life and could still remember it long afterwards.
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| Original Art by ultimatemaverickx |
"Right this way!" chirped Yurusen.
And thus, the duo stepped off the roof and descended, invisible, to the streets below.
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