trans_9 | Hero Time! The Land

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Hero Time! The Land

Welcome, dear visitor, to a world consisting entirely of plastic-looking city sets. My, don't they look ready to blast apart at a moment''s notice? It's almost as if an attack is expected in this sector.

But not to worry! The 'attacks' here are just goofy entertainment. Lovably laughable employees in dull green suits may make menacing gestures at times, but they're just a nuisance. The visitors to this section are protected by the Masked Rangers, the people in heavy helmets and spandex suits you might see from time to time. The acrobat-types, the ones in the flimsy suits, perform tricky stunts and wave 'blasters' that shoot a cheap spark effect from time to time. Driver-types wear heavier armor and traverse this section of the park in their specialized motorcycles, zipping down specialized roadways seemingly from nowhere.

Other than that, the environment is fairly industrial. The main attractions are in the 'abandoned warehouse district'. It features greasy food (and surprisingly good smoothies, strangely enough), alarm bells every now and then, and the crowning ride of this sector: an exciting cart ride through the warehouses that culminates in riding atop a giant mecha. The vibrations as the mech carrying the vehicle shoots its lasers are quite unsettling the first time or two, and riding through the smoke cloud of a post-henshin explosion can cause mild fits of coughing. This adventure is not for the faint of heart.

Simpler shows are done in the park-like area, where a few of the more acrobatic employees in helmets and flimsy costumes seems to dance-fight with several of the mooks. It's a cute show, and the only exciting thing is the spread of the explosion. It shoots up in a rainbow of colors when the heroes make a pose. Games can be played here, but always be ready to clear out and make way for the heroes! A little parade of motorcycles and mecha comes through several times a day, and masked characters address the audience with well-prepared safety tips and suggestions for community service.

Gift shops in this area feature knockoff Masked Ranger costumes, transformation toys that light up, toy mecha and motorcycles that combine in many very expensive combinations, and little sparkler lights. Fortunately, actual material for an explosion is not sold.

This nonsense might feel strangely familiar...

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"Oh... is there any way you could get the ship to stop at somewhere where you could get better stuff?" Atom started walking in a direction he deemed to be likely to hold a gift shop or two.

"Wow, that does sound rough. But if you survived all that, you must be pretty strong!" Atom didn't mean physically strong, either. He'd known plenty of people whose will had impressed him more than brute fighting ability ever would.

"No, we don't have any control over Stacy's path. It was pre-programmed by someone. We think it was the Daligig crew that ran this ship in the past, but we're not sure. Our efforts to gain control haven't been successful. A long time ago, we thought we could go home if we just gained access to the bridge---but people died, and we learned that our homes were gone."

That had been the first time he'd truly felt the weight of their situation. He remembered the feeling of helplessness and despair very well.

"I'd like to think I'm getting stronger," Billy answered with a little smile as they entered, poking through the first gift shop's selection of hats and toys. "Do you think you'll be all right?"

Andy frowned. "Yeah. That'd definitely be a problem. And of course that makes sense. I mean, I feel the same way."

And oh dear, pun. "Though... yeah, I don't think you're that bad."

"Pre-programmed, huh... what kind of AI is Stacy? Is she an AI?" The mention of people dying sent a shadow over Atom's expression. "What killed them?"

He gave Billy a smile anyway, though. It wouldn't do to let anyone down, not when there was so much at stake. "Sure, I'll be fine. We can't give up until our worlds are back, right?"

"I hope not! Anyway, did you want some food? That seemed decent when I passed by, at least. It's actually like home. An athletic center and a restaurant in one..."

He shook his head, grinning at those old memories.

"We believe so. All signs point to it, at least, but we really know very little about our situation. It's frustrating." Billy just bowed his head, remembering the people who had given their lives in all of this.

"Right. We can't allow things to stand as they are. Besides, even if we did run, I have a feeling the fight would find us." The Ohm knew they were there, and seemed to regard them as a mild threat. No, there was no running.

Atom sort of wished Professor Ochanomizu were around now. Or even Professor Tenma. He might be a super-advanced robot, but he wasn't a roboticist, so he couldn't offer much help in deciphering Stacy.

"Yeah... sometimes running is the best idea, but I don't think this is one of those times..." Atom fidgeted a little, toying with a collapsible spoon-fork combo he'd spotted on one of the shelves.

Billy kept rummaging through the piles and piles of items, eventually selecting some batteries. They might be useful someday!

"And I don't think we can. We're seeing this through to the end---hopefully their end." It had better be their end.

Andy laughed at that. "Really? Wow. Though I guess that's not that farfetched. Sure, let's go check it out."

"Strange things happened there sometimes," Billy recalled, peering inside the door before entering out of habit. "Watch out for the cake, someone might have it smashed over their heads."

For some reason, that happened all too frequently. "Do they even have cake? Let's see...mud pudding, smoothies, salads, sandwiches, burgers, ice cream...and yes, a cake. Great."

He looked around once more, making sure no employees were going to move it.

Atom nodded. "Yeah. But hey, maybe we'll be able to figure out what's going on. The way we're going, it looks like the only way out is to get rid of all the Ohm. But I'd rather find a way to coexist than fight anyone..." Hatred and revenge never led anywhere good, even if you destroyed whoever it was that had wronged you. Atom had tried solving things that way once, and he never wanted to feel that way again.

He picked up a whirling little doohickey, momentarily distracted. "Hmm... I think this is some kind of combination tool."

"I wish we could too," Billy said darkly, leaning over to examine the whirling thing. The mechanism certainly looked useful. "There's a lot about the Ohm we don't know, and the longer we fight, the more people will die."

Simple fact. "Do you think we should buy this?" he asked, but his attempt at diversion wasn't all that convincing.

"Yeah..." Atom said, looking gloomy. "War's never any good. Not even for the people who win."

Billy's attempt at diversion might indeed not be that convincing, but... well, Atom didn't need much convincing to move on to other topics. "Might as well!" he said brightly. "I haven't spent much of my credits yet. I'm sure it'll come in handy sometime."

Andy laughed. "Really. Why would anyone do that? It's a complete waste of cake!"

Though he wasn't going to complain if it did happen. Though, why was Billy looking like he was sneaking around.

He followed after him, and smiled when he saw all the food on the menu. "Well, at least we're not going to have to worry about what to eat."

Billy nodded his approval, presenting some little gadgets of his own at the register. He watched the families come and go for a few moments, still thoughtful.

"It seems like they're having a good time...but I wonder if they feel safe. Is this place safe?"

It was a rhetorical question, but he didn't make that obvious. He was envisioning Ohm coming hurtling out of the sky, swooping down and slicing the people where they stood. This couldn't be all that was.

"It's amusing, apparently," Billy rolled his eyes as he ordered an orange smoothie and burger. "Either that or an accident. After what I've heard about the other restaurants on this planet, there might be a banana peel on the floor to simulate the effect."

He didn't see one, but he did carefully step around a spill. "Did you have a 'hangout' location?"

Atom smiled. "With us here, it is!"

After all, there were people with all kinds of abilities on the ship. And Atom himself, who was no slouch in a fight. "It doesn't look like it, but I bet this place had lots of security, too. I mean, you have to if you run a park this big, right?"

Billy still worried. "I've had my hand on my morpher half the time. It's never exactly been peaceful for us on a planet. I seem to be waiting for the inevitable end of our good luck."

And it wasn't a fun existence. He finished paying for his tools and took one last look around. "But I suppose worrying isn't changing anything."

That was the benefit of being a robot -- no morpher. "Really? Never?" Man, things were tough out here. "So you never get any time to rest?"

Atom paused, thinking this over for a moment. "Then I guess we should enjoy our time here as much as we can..."

"Never's probably too strong of a word," Billy amended as he slipped out of the shop, lost in thought. "Almost never. It's a stressful life, I can't lie about that. And there's always the dread of more death. But..."

He looked around at the people wandering here and there once more. "The world's not falling apart at the moment. I'll act when it does, and...maybe, maybe we'll get lucky."

It was a long shot to him, but he'd try this optimism thing.

Andy laughed. "Well, I guess that makes as much sense as anything," he said, before ordering his own burger and soda.

"And no. Not really. My friends and I really outgrew Pizza Planet once we became teenagers and I hadn't been at school long enough to find a new place to hang out."

Atom followed him with a bag of his own tools... maybe a superball or two had found its way in there, too. "Hey, we don't have to wait and hope that we get lucky. We can make our own luck. We're doing it right now."

They were acting, procuring tools and useful items instead of standing around hoping things would get better. "People die all the time in war, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do all we can to make sure it doesn't happen because of us."

Billy remembered places like Pizza Planet. Childhood wasn't all that different from their lives as teens when he thought about it, not really. "I was tossed into trash cans the first few times I tried to hang out, but I did find a group who accepted me." And that had been the happiest time of his life.

Unfortunately, one of the employees' ears had perked up upon hearing the word 'trash can'. He stumbled over, looking menacing. "Something the matter, punks?"

"Not again," Billy swore darkly. Already he'd watched people die and feared it was his fault. Already he hadn't been fast enough.

But there was no changing that now. He took a breath and pressed on, leading them out of the shop.

"So what's next on the list? I can't assume you want to look through these displays all day."

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I should stop at that kitten place or something. My little sister used to like them a lot..."

And she particularly liked BIG cats. She'd have kept a lion if she'd been allowed.

"What about you? Aren't you planning on meeting your girlfriend?"

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Hero Time! The Land

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