Nyte's Point of View
"My lady." The Spider Queen kneeled at her mistress's feet, presenting the "Pillar of Analysis" to Jellyfish Hitler's gloved fingers. Nyte pulled her hand back just as soon as she could do so without giving offense. Those hands dripped.
"Fufufu, excellent, Spider Queen Nyte! With this, we shall devise a counter to this...Future Hero." Jellyfish Hitler marched over to a console that glowed blue, a piece of technology that stood out oddly in her lair with living walls, walls that pulsed and undulated, even sweated. The humidity was beginning to be uncomfortable, even in her sheer dress.
The leader of Stinger inserted the "Pillar of Analysis" into the console. A sound that reminded Nyte of a dial-up modem connecting to the internet reverberated off the walls of their Texas headquarters. Jellyfish Hitler worried over an oversized keyboard not built for human hands, typing and thinking, of what, Nyte couldn't guess.
"Oh? Now this is passing queer," gurgled Jellyfish Hitler, her voice sounding as if she were underwater.
"Indeed, my lady? What have you discovered in your infinite wisdom?" simpered Hamburger Satan, always the flatterer.
"It appears, my faithful Hamburger Satan, that this Future Hero is powered by pure energy, whilst we, Stinger, use corrupted energy. How novel! Why, he is the exact opposite of us, in every way!"
Nyte smirked. And opposites attract. Wait...no! Bad Nyte! I only like Richard! It sure would be nice if Rich hit her the way Future Hero did, though...
"And how might we reckon with such, my lady?" Hamburger Satan pressed.
Jellyfish Hitler's eyes narrowed. Those eyes, the most human thing about her, burned with an unnatural intellect. "Bring forth the patient!"
At her word, a pair of Stinger soldiers wheeled in an unconscious naked woman, with only a thin sheet draped over her to preserve her modesty. Much of the skin had been peeled away, revealing not soft biological tissue but circuitry.
Another pair of soldiers brought in what looked like a whole assembly line. There were metal plates and little robo-welders and all kinds of machines she didn't recognize.
Their leader swept her hand forward like a general ordering a charge. "Prepare Car Cyborg Hellcat for field deployment!"
***
"You excited, Becca?" he asked his sister in the back seat. His twin had chivalrously yielded the shotgun seat to him.
"Nervous," she said honestly.
Rich checked her out in the rear-view mirror. She'd definitely lost weight. Her cheeks were narrower, jawline sharper, and her loose clothes hung even more loosely. They'd been walking and doing light exercise for about a month, while working at Chili's the whole time. With the fat tips Richard was getting, and a little help from Dad, who was surprised by how much money they saved not getting takeout for a whole month, they had enough for a basic used car.
"I'll be there with you both the whole time," Dad said reassuringly. He was the one driving them to the used car lot. Of course, he would be.
Rich smiled. Dad wasn't talkative, exactly, but he was acting a bit more normal these days. They'd all taken Mom's death hard, but he'd taken it hardest of all. Not having to cook or clean, and having both his children with him seemed to be helping.
"And what's this I hear about you having a girlfriend?" Dad teased.
Becca laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world. "We're not dating!" Rich proclaimed. Neither of them looked convinced. He sighed. "Okay, it's like this: there is a girl interested in me, but we're not officially together."
"Julie Cohen," Becca said the name.
Dad's dark fingers gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. "I know her Mom! Hotshot corporate lawyer, did some work for Texas Instruments. We bought out a little device company a few years back. Her firm did a lot of the legwork. That Julie Cohen?"
"Captain of the football team, too," his sister pointed out in amusement. "Rich is basically a shoe-in for homecoming king at this point."
"We're not dating!" Rich repeated emphatically.
"But?" Dad said, like he could tell Rich was holding something back, which he was.
Rich took a deep breath to steady himself. "I promised not to date anyone else," he said in a small voice.
"That's basically dating!" Becca said with certainty. Dad didn't say anything, but Rich could tell he at least somewhat agreed.
"You've got it all wrong, really! Julie was super hurt when I told her I wasn't ready to date. I had to give her something! We agreed that I'll remain single for now, and I won't date anyone but her."
"And once you're ready to date?" Honestly, his sister was having too much fun with this.
"Then I guess we'll start dating," Richard said, utterly defeated.
The rest of the car ride was awkward as hell, with Rich forced to field question after question from Dad. On reflection, this might've been the most "boy talk" they'd ever done. What did Julie look like? Was she tall? Was she handsome? Was she kind to him? On and on.
***
"Hello and welcome to Harriet's Used Vehicles! Harriet Mitchell, at your service, gentlemen and lady."
The oily, obsequious woman was checking him out, Rich realized. He was wearing a V-neck shirt that showed a bit of chest, borderline slutty in this world, but pretty normal teenage boy wear.
"Let's see what you have," Dad took control of the conversation. From his tone, Rich could tell he had noticed.
"Of course, of course. Now see here, this one just came in today." They followed him down the lot. He patted the hood of a red car for emphasis. "Brand new Dodge Challenger, brought in by a Soldier who couldn't afford the payments. I can make you a really good deal on this one!"
Rebecca looked interested, but something about the car just rubbed Rich the wrong way, like it was corrupt somehow. The ring on his finger burned a little when he touched the Hellcat.
Dad made a face. "Not really 'first car' material."
The owner of the dealership looked annoyed for a moment before she plastered a business smile back on her face. "Of course, I have plenty of basic models to choose from."
They almost settled for a Honda Civic with decent mileage when they came to the end of the lot. "What is that?" Rich spoke up. He'd let Dad do most of the talking up to this point.
"That? Oh, you don't want that," the businesswoman waved a hand dismissively.
"My son asked a question," Dad said sternly. For such a little person, his voice could really crack like a whip. Not for the first or last time, Rich felt a rush of warmth. He really was just like Rich's mother from his first life.
"Fine, fine. It's a 1995 Toyota Tacoma, ten years old at this point, low-power 2.4-liter engine. Oh, and it only comes in manual," he said like it was a killshot.
"I can drive manual," Rich said easily.
Dad and Becca's heads snapped to him. "You can?"
"Of course. How about a test drive?"
***
It was perfect. Something just felt right, like the truck was speaking to him, like it was a real person, even. They'd be the best of friends.
"When did you learn how to drive a stick shift?" Becca asked as they took the old silver Tacoma out for a spin.
"Oh, around," Rich said mysteriously, shifting into another gear as they picked up speed. Dad, sitting in the middle, looked like he didn't know what to say.
"Can you teach me?" his sister asked eagerly.
"Absolutely," Rich agreed. "Dad, how about we get this truck checked out by a neutral mechanic? I think this is the one."
"Well, it is your money. I probably won't even have to help you buy it. Are you sure you want a truck? It's not exactly something most boys would want to drive."
Rich laughed. "It'll be Becca's too, remember. And think about it, what if we needed to buy a new fridge or something? A truck would come in handy."
"Mmhm. I hadn't considered that. Okay, let's get this baby checked out."
When they got back to the lot, the shady used car saleswoman tried to pitch them on the Hellcat again, but Dad shut her down fast. He arranged for them to get the Tacoma inspected, and they started on the paperwork.
Of course, Rich knew that anything Toyota built in the nineties was indestructible, and the mechanic said the same. At the end of the day, they were ready to drive him home. Oh yeah, Rich was surprised to learn that vehicles were usually referred to as male in this world. He found it weird, but that's just how it was.
"Will you two be okay to follow me home?" Dad asked, perhaps a little uneasily. They both had their licenses, but neither had been driving regularly.
"No problem at all," Rich replied. "Want to ride with me, sis?"
"You bet!"
Everything went well at first. Plano, Texas, on the weekend wasn't exactly a wild place. Traffic was light, and they were right behind Dad. Then Rich felt that oddly familiar corrupt feeling again, coming from RIGHT BEHIND THEM!
The supercharged engine on the Hellcat roared, and, to his horror, he noticed nobody was driving it. Rich swerved to avoid being rammed.
"It's Stinger!" he cried. "No wonder they were trying to sell us that Dodge Challenger! It's cursed or something!" Through his peripheral vision, Rich noticed Rebecca was freaking out at a driverless car trying to run them off the road.
Perfectly normal reaction, said the part of Rich's mind with a need to be fair, but he needed Becca's head in the game. "Take the wheel," he instructed. "I need my hands free to transform."
"But..."
"Just do it!" He held up his ring:
"From a future dark
To a post not set,
Stinger hasn't won just yet,
With Pureheart Power, a noble mission,
Come forth! Future Hero! Henshin!"
Future Hero transformed, but not just Future Hero! The same Pureheart Power that enveloped and transformed Richard Rice ran over the whole Toyota Tacoma, changing it from silver to purple! It was...it was...Future Roller! He knew the name in his very soul!
"Come on, Future Roller, we have to get out of here!"
The purple truck's red headlights blinked in understanding. Wait, a truck could blink!
"Rich, why are you talking like it's a person?" Becca asked reasonably.
"No time to ask questions, sis! Just go with it!"
Future Roller was faster than an old truck had any right to be, allowing them to stay away from the evil, possessed Dodge. Eventually, they found themselves in a quarry, somehow.
"Stay in Future Roller, Becca!" Future Hero told his sister. The Hellcat was right behind them. Once the demon car reached the quarry, it also transformed, this time, into a robot.
"Future Hero, I've been sent to destroy you!" the robot rasped harshly.
"We'll see about that, Stinger won't ever win!" Future Hero hopped out of the truck and got into his fighting stance. The corrupted energy wafting off the Hellcat robot was strong enough to make him nauseous.
Cautious after his recent loss to Nyte, Future Hero danced around the Hellcat robot, avoiding its attacks. Once he had a good handle on what it could do, he fully planned to counterattack. There was just one small problem: the longer the fight went on, the faster it got.
"Fufu, keep running, Future Hero! I'm just going to ramp up more and more. Once my supercharge starts, it can't be stopped!"
Before long, running wasn't a tactical choice; it was the only choice! Future Hero couldn't do anything but dodge as the Dodge kept chasing him, faster and faster.
"I have you now!" roared the Hellcat robot in triumph as it cornered Future Hero against the quarry wall, but no! Future Roller picked that moment to get involved.
Dustclouds rose like smokestacks as Future Roller slammed into the Hellcat robot at full speed, dashing the robot against the rocks. "Now's my chance!" With increasing understanding of corrupt energy, Future Hero felt as if he had greater control of his own pure energy.
Seeing the break in momentum, Future Hero leaped into the air, channeling Pureheart Power into his purple boot. "Future Kick!" he cried, and gravity did the rest, landing a devastating blow square in the chest of the Hellcat robot. Pure energy met corrupt energy, activating a chain reaction that caused the Hellcat robot to explode. Only...something was left behind.
...it was the dead body of a woman. Stinger wasn't building robots to fight him, but cyborgs! They were enslaving innocent people and turning them into weapons! Was there no end to their evil?
He dispelled the Endram Armor in disgust, and Future Roller also became a plain silver Tacoma again. "Let's go home, Becca."