trans_9 | 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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"Andy!"

Now there was a voice Billy hadn't heard in a while. He spun around and lifted an arm, waving his teammate over.

Looking around at their strange surroundings, Billy shook his head. "You shouldn't have to see this. I promise it's not always like this."

Andy shook his head as well. "Don't worry about it. This is just a really... not that great theme park. They probably just think it's all some sort of stupid story. If any of it were actually real they'd probably have a different attitude."

"Not that I want it to be real," Billy said in a nervous whisper. "Not for them, at least. It's always the worst when the enemy attacks amusement parks. Not only is there a large crowd to injure, but kids get hurt."

He hated to see kids afraid---or worse, hurt---or worse, dead. That was the worst part of his job.

"Have you found anything of interest here?"

Andy nodded. "Yeah, I get that. I was talking more about if they lived in a world where stuff like this happened like you did."

He shook his head. "Not... really. This place just seems a bit weird, to say the absolute least."

Billy took one look around and privately agreed. "Who would be entertained by this? It may be a comedy show, to laugh at the ridiculous nature of groups like ours, but there are better comedies to produce. The most I've seen is that ride."

And he was still wary of the warehouse ride.

"Well, I doubt that they got their information about it from any place that actually happened," Andy said. "It honestly seems a lot like those not too great super hero shows that I watched when I was a kid rather than anything else."

Right. Billy nodded, strolling past the fake trees and just narrowly avoiding a leftover spark from one of the shows. Those were everywhere.

"That would make more sense. I suppose all the explosions are to make things appear interesting. They don't really happen when we morph."

Or at least he didn't think they did.

Andy smiled at that. "Yeah. I haven't noticed anything like that when we morph either. If it did, we'd probably have quite a few problems, wouldn't we?"

"We'd endanger everyone around us for a start," Billy agreed, laughing as one of the explosions in the park shows went off. "I do feel tempted to give speeches at times, though. I feel...powerful and righteous, if that makes any sense."

He cringed as he heard the puns, though. Apparently an apple-shaped monster was a 'bad apple'. "Am I that bad?"

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."

"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.

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.

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."

"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?"

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."

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?"

Andy nodded. If he knew what Billy was thinking, he would've agreed a bit, though it didn't seem like it at the time. Of course, the world exploding was big on changing your perspective on things. "I'm glad you finally did. I never had that problem, thankfully."

He blinked as the employee came over to him, shaking his head. Punks? Them? Really? "No. Nothing's wrong at all."

Hero Time! The Land

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