[Fourze characters/Liveman family/anyone really/go wild]

[catcameback]

To switch, or not to switch?

Why is it called a Switch anyway? It's obviously a button.

To press, then, or not to press? That is the question.

Comments

[catcameback]

Oh, he's very serious suddenly. I didn't know he was capable of being serious. Interesting.

"How do you know such a thing to be true?" I ask curiously. The overly theatrical boy who had given me the stupid thing had been incredibly unforthcoming about the effects of the device. "Perhaps I use it to protect others?" I pull the Switch out of my pocket and hold it up. "What would you do with it?"

[uchuukitaa]

"I'd destroy it!" I yelp. I cup my hands together and jerk my chin towards them. "Give it to me? Please? No one's ever used one to protect people, well, kinda me as Fourze, but that's different. If you want to protect people there are better ways!"

[catcameback]

Destroy it? I can't let him do that. If this stupid Switch thing is the key to restoring me to my true form, possibly my complete form, without the dependence on Medals... But I'm not stupid enough to press it before I know for sure, and I'm certainly not stupid enough to let this odd human destroy it before I have any real clue as to what the damn thing is or what it does, or whether I could use it to my own ends.

I return the Switch to my pocket. "I can't allow you to destroy it." I hold out my hand. "But I do believe we could be friends. You seem to know more about these things than you let on."

[uchuukitaa]

...Okay, it's not as good as I'd hoped but not as bad as it could be, either.

I tentatively shake hands with him. "Kisaragi Gentarou," I tell him happily. "We'll be great friends, Kazari."

[catcameback]

Well, at least he is calling me by name. I shake his hand with as much grace as I can manage. "I'm quite sure we will. I think our relationship could be... very mutually beneficial."

[uchuukitaa]

I brighten at that. If I help him, I can ask him again to get rid of the Switch. "What can I do for you?"

[catcameback]

I smirk. His desire is easy to manipulate even without Medals. "I want to know more about these Switches. What they do. How they work. You seem so sure that this one in my pocket is bad, and will make me bad in turn. Why?"

[uchuukitaa]

"Because that's what's happened to everyone else," I tell him quickly. "These Switches make them transform, and they, I don't know, kind of magnify the bad feelings in them. It's really hard to give that up and stop doing damage."

[catcameback]

"Everyone else..." Sounds common. Maybe this isn't the power I seek after all. I put my hand over my pocket thoughtfully. "What if I don't have any bad feelings? What would happen if you pressed it?"

[uchuukitaa]

I blink at him. I blink some more. "You don't have any bad feelings?"

[catcameback]

I consider his question. I don't want to lie to him, after all. Not if we're friends.

"I suppose that depends on your definition of bad feelings. I'm sure everyone feels bad occasionally. But bad enough to want to destroy things, that's a little excessive."

[uchuukitaa]

I begin to smile at him. "Really? Because there seem to be lots of people around here who'll happily destroy stuff if they get enough power! It's been really hard stopping some of them!"

[catcameback]

"A shame." I pause. He wanted to destroy it. He mentioned having to fight me if I used it. "Why exactly is stopping them your responsibility, then?" I suspect he's one of the Kamen Riders the theater freak mentioned. Which one? Does it even matter? Could either of them be even a fraction as annoying as OOO?

[uchuukitaa]

Enh, I might as well tell him! Most people know anyway. "I'm Fourze," I say happily. "It's fun. But it's kinda important, too."

[catcameback]

"Fourze," I say, drawing it out into about eighteen syllables. "And you fight evil?" No, not specific enough. "You fight these?" I draw the Switch out again for reference. "Or the people who use them?"

[uchuukitaa]

"I do, yes," I want that Switch. So badly. "I fight the people who use them, but I don't want to destroy the people. Just the Switches."

[catcameback]

"I'm afraid I still don't understand why," I frown, holding the little device up with my thumb on the button, experimental like. I wonder what he'll do if he thinks I'm about to press it. "It can't be... controlled? What if you pressed it, what would happen?"

[uchuukitaa]

I squawk, flapping my arms at him. "No, no, no, please! It'll hurt you, but you won't even realise it's hurting you!"

[catcameback]

He is quite overwrought. Now there's a part of my arguing in favor of pressing it just to see if he spontaneously combusts, or if his ridiculous hairstyle will right itself out of sheer furor. "I'm not afraid of this little thing," I purr. "Not when no one will tell me what it does." My thumb circles the red button. "How it's supposed to hurt me."

[uchuukitaa]

"It'll transform you and you'll get meaner and you'll hurt people and I'll have to fight you," I gabble. "C'mon, please don't."

[catcameback]

"What if I'm already as mean as I can get? What if I don't want to hurt people? What if I just want what's mine back?"

I lean closer to him, curious. "And what do you fight with?"

[uchuukitaa]

"You can get meaner," I say fervently. "And other people've said things like that, too! C'mon, Kazari, let me stop you with the explosive power of youth!"

...

"I have weapons as Fourze," I say cautiously.

[catcameback]

"Youth?" I laugh. I can't help it, I actually laugh in his face. And I can't say I feel bad about it. "I may look young, friend, but I am far from it."

I tilt my head and hold up the Switch again, teasing the button with my thumb. I think I'm just teasing him with it now. "What if I told you I'm already a monster on the inside?"

[uchuukitaa]

"No one's a monster on the inside," I say sharply, outraged. "Everyone can be saved. No matter how old they really are."

[catcameback]

That's cute. Idealistic. He's actually insulted, presumably on my behalf. "Oh, I think you'd be surprised. We're friends now, so maybe you should know that I am in fact a monster. An alchemical creature of legend. Monsters exist. I am one of them."