Chapter Text
“I think I might be able to help.”
Instinct kicked in at that exact moment, propelling Marvelous to swing his Gokai Saber at the unexpected fourth that had appeared out of nowhere. The telltale clang of metal hitting metal rang out, initiating a classic blade lock, and he could already tell that the Batgirl and Sword Master behind him had moved to strike if needed.
“Not a single spec of rust in sight.”
Of course, such a thing ended up not being necessary, for Marvelous immediately recognized who had appeared before him. Chestnut hair, black suit with a pink button-up, and an all too familiar pink twin lens camera hanging from his neck. That smart-ass grin of his was just the cherry on top, more so than the telltale sword in his hands, because it told Marvelous that he was seeing the real deal.
“Good to know you’ve kept yourself sharp.”
Marvelous let out a scoff as he backed out of the blade lock. “Kadoya.”
The man’s grin grew ever-so-slightly. “Marvelous.”
“It’s never a good sign when we’re in the same room together.”
“What else is new?”
All at once, the tension in the area evaporated. Batgirl and Sword Master lowered their weapons as the familiarity between Marvelous and Kadoya became readily apparent. Marvelous himself, though, didn’t take the moment to fully relax. “Alright, what have we gotten into this time?”
“For that, let’s go someplace a bit more private.”
And just like that, with a flick of his wrist, Kadoya’s signature silver curtain appeared behind him, and upon a flick forward, it rocketed past him, whisking all four of them away from the area. The quartet now stood inside a spacious interior filled to the brim with various pieces of photography equipment, from cameras to backdrops and lighting rigs galore.
“A… a photo studio?” Batgirl asked, barely concealed curiosity in her voice as her gaze drifted across the area.
“Okay, this is getting weird,” Sword Master admitted, “how the heck did you do that?”
“Travelers need a way to get around,” Kadoya replied, “and when you travel the multiverse like I do, silver curtains are the best way to do it. Now then, follow me outside and get your notepads ready. Class is about to start.”
Marvelous let out a little “tch” at that remark. Leave it to Kadoya to be a smartass even in the middle of something chaotic. Nonetheless, he followed suit, with Sword Master and Batgirl trailing not too far behind. The quartet stepped through the front doors of the photo studio, and found themselves in a strange, starry void, a far cry from the usual streets that the place would occupy on normal travel.
But that wasn’t the big thing waiting for them outside. It was the thing that Batgirl let out a startled gasp at as she took a step back. “What in the…?”
“That,” Kadoya said, pointing at the massive storm that seemed to be made out of the fabric of reality currently twisting itself into a destructive nightmare, “is what happens when someone tries to bend space-time to their will. The end result is several different multiverses, and yes, I said multiverses, colliding together lord knows how many times over. The end result’s still scattering people halfway across existence, which is how Marv—”
“Stop calling me Marv,” Marvelous interrupted.
“No,” Kadoya interrupted right back, his grin turning ever-so-slightly mischievous, “which is how Marv found his way to the museum and how our bat-themed friend even ended up in The Collector’s hands in the first place. He doesn’t exist where you’re from, same with us.”
“So, wait,” Sword Master interjected, his growing concern etching itself across his face, “you’re saying that you, Marvelous, and Batgirl are all from different multiverses than me? Not just from a different universe?”
“Hang on, just me?” Batgirl interrupted, a glare shooting through her mask lenses and right onto Marvelous. “If Marvelous was at the museum by choice, then what were you even doing there?”
“Official pirate business,” Marvelous snarked.
“That, we can explain inside,” Kadoya interjected, already walking back into his studio, “we’re letting a draft in anyway, and I don’t want Natsume to say anything about the A/C bill going up again.”
The group found themselves back inside the studio in short succession, taking a seat at a roundtable that Kadoya had set up for them. “By the way, this is Hikari Studio. Might as well get to know each other since we’re safe here. I’m Kadoya Tsukasa, I own the place. You’ve already met Marvelous here.”
“Yo.”
“So who might you two be?”
Already, Marvelous could see the hesitance to share that info from the duo. Batgirl especially, as she tensed up more noticeably than Sword Master did. It made sense given the mask, there were likely people she was protecting with that thing. It wasn’t exactly a luxury he had back when Zangyack was in power, but in truth, it rarely bothered him.
“In that case,” Sword Master began, breaking through the silence as he reached his hand out for a potential shake, “I’m Lin Lie. I’ve been acting as Sword Master for about two years now.”
“Pleasure to put a name to the face,” Kadoya replied, taking the offered hand in his grasp.
Batgirl let out a forlorn sigh, as though her current reality was not one she wanted to accept at the moment. “This stays between us. Got it?”
“My lips are sealed,” Marvelous quipped, “pirate’s honor.”
Batgirl let out another sigh as she reached up towards her cowl, taking it firmly in hand before pulling it back. The face beneath was slightly pale in complexion, with slim, slate-gray eyes framed by jet black hair that had a pair of bangs next to each eye. Her lips were pulled into a tense line, likely from not being used to unmasking in front of random people.
“Cass,” the girl muttered, “I’m Cass. Can I keep it to that?”
“If that’s what you’re comfortable sharing, we won’t push,” Marvelous stated. He knew that old behavior all too well, especially with how he used to take part in it. Everyone had their secrets, and trying to force them out could often lead to disaster.
“Well, now that we’ve got introductions out the way,” Kadoya interjected, “what was our dear captain doing in the museum? You joked about it being official pirate business, which means the same man that jarred our guests up likely screwed you over.”
Marvelous let out a low, frustrated grumble, because of freaking course Kadoya managed to clock him right out the gate. “Alright, fine. That same space-time nonsense you just showed us scattered my crew all over the place, and more than likely across several different worlds. I’ve been trying to find leads on where they landed when I got word from an old friend in the SPD that a man named The Collector somehow stole our ship.”
And, of course, Kadoya started snickering at the surprising situation, because, as expected, he was the exact type of troll who’d find it funny. “I, I’m sorry, he stole the Galleon? The whole thing? How, how did he think he’d get away with that?! Does he not know you exist yet?!”
“So your ship is in the museum?” Lie asked, injecting himself back into the conversation. “Wait, that means you’re trying to steal your ship back from The Collector! And on your own too?!”
“You are a very overconfident man,” Cass mumbled, shooting the red pirate in question with a funny, judgemental look.
Marvelous, for his part, chuckled at their reactions. “You’d be surprised by what I can do. Hell, things were actually going good before I ran into you two. But now with this jerk—” he pointed to Kadoya, “getting involved, I might actually need your help.”
“You’re just as much of a bad omen as I am, you know,” Kadoya quipped.
“Yeah, but you’re the more annoying one.”
“If I had 100 yen for every time I’ve been called annoying….”
“Can we get back on track?” Lie interrupted. “If The Collector has your ship, that means it’s something special enough to warrant bottling it up in his eyes. What’s so special about your ship that not only he’d grab it, but you’d risk stealing it back on your own?”
And just like that, Marvelous was feeling mischievous again. “See, I could explain that with words, but I think it’d be better to show you first. Kadoya, you wouldn’t happen to know where my ship’s at in that blasted place, would you?”
“I actually took a tour of the place before meeting up with you,” Kadoya replied, his grin matching the mischief, “I know exactly where it is.”
“In that case… curtain us.”
With a snap of his fingers, another one of Kadoya’s silver curtains was summoned, blazing over the quartet as they vanished from Hikari Studio and returned to The Collector’s museum. He and Marvelous found themselves leaning against a set of railings that kept them from landing flat on their butts. Lie and Cass? Not so lucky. Without the chairs they had been sitting in back at the studio, they hit the ground in an ungracious flop.
“Jerk!” Cass half-yelled, her face all but screaming that she did not appreciate that little trick. It was probably one of the few times she had genuinely been caught off guard, and already, Marvelous could tell that she did not like that.
“Not cool, man,” Lie muttered as he got back onto his face and pulled Cass up with him, likely out of courtesy, “are you this much of a troll with your own… woah.”
Ah, there it was. That look of wonder that Marvelous knew all too well, so he turned his gaze behind him to confirm that yes, his crew’s beloved ship was right there. “She’s a beauty, ain’t she?”
Before them, docked in the bay, sat a massive bright red pirate’s galleon made of steel and strength, trimmed with decadent gold from mast to rear. An octet of cannons lined the side of the ship, ready to fire at a moment's notice, with a set of jet-tipped wings right behind them. And of course, crowning the ship were the three sails, giant, proud, and adorned with his crew’s cutlass and key emblem. It had been a good long while since the old girl had seen this level of splendor, but Marvelous would happily take it no matter the circumstances.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the captain proclaimed, garnering everyone’s attention, “I give you the Gokai Galleon, flagship of the Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. It’s how we sail the stars, and for me and my crew, it’s home above all else.”
“Sail the stars?” Cass whispered, the awe in her voice wiping away the faux gravel she used to disguise her voice. “It’s a spaceship?”
Lie let out a whistle. “Okay, I see why you’d be willing to risk it.”
“Having the old girl back would make finding the rest of my crew that much easier,” Marvelous explained, “and for that, I’ve got a favor to ask.”
Lie and Cass both had their attention aimed at Marvelous once more, and he couldn’t help but smirk. “I’ll need some help getting her out of here, and as luck would have it, the two of you might be exactly what I need. No idea if Kadoya here’s gonna stick around, given his usual antics—”
“Hey, someone has to make sure our multiverses don’t collapse,” Kadoya quipped.
“So I’ll tell you what: you help me steal my ship back, and I’ll fly her home for both of you. It’s the least I can do in return, and don’t worry, I’m a man of my word.”
Lie and Cass were now glancing at each other, engaged in a silent conversation in an attempt to gauge Marvelous’s offer. The captain himself perfectly understood why, of course. He could tell the two of them were more straight-laced capes as opposed to the kind of rogue that he was, used to skirting around the law as the pirate he was. He still had plenty of enemies after him, after all, and getting involved would mean a bad rap by association.
“Believe it or not, you can trust the guy,” Kadoya quipped, “he’s his own kind of jerk, and a bit hot-headed at times—”
“Pot meet kettle, pinkie.”
“It’s magenta. Anyway, in spite of that, he’s a good guy. He’ll have your back.”
To Marvelous’s own surprise, that little vouch from Kadoya seemed to tip the scales, as both Lie and Cass nodded in agreement.
“We’ll help,” Lie stated.
“But keep the pirate stuff down,” Cass interjected, shooting Marvelous another glare.
For his part, Marvelous just held up his hands in mock defense. “No promises. Besides, I’m the captain, it’s kinda my thing.”
And he couldn’t help but smile a bit more at how things had turned out, for now he had a new crew to work with. Now he could really make a show of it.