The Holodex Henshin

[Henshin!] 

'Oh yeah!'

Norvin thrust his hands above his head and then down to his waist, striking a pose as he imitated the character transforming on the television show he had seen many times before.

'This is the best.'

A flurry of punches and kicks came flowing out towards the bad guy of the week, both on and off screen.

"Are you watching that Power Ranger stuff again? You should take it down a notch before you wipe out the TV."

A deep voice sounded from behind Norvin, interrupting his combo.

Norvin stopped mid punch and rolled his eyes.

"Kamen Rider."

"Beetleborgs?"

"It's called Kamen Rider, and you know it you giant turd!"

"Whatever you say Vin, I know you aren't a total klutz, but try not to throw a rider kick through the big screen, okay?"

Norvin briefly clenched his teeth, then relaxed his jaw and turned around. He watched the man in the striped tracksuit who was yawning at that moment and digging in his ear with his pinkie finger.

"Seriously Ed? We were supposed to game two days ago. You ditched. Yesterday morning you said you would play last night to make up for it and then you were a ghost, let me guess? You found the right one again?"

One of Norvin's eyebrows raised and he went on.

"Maybe I'll have a date with Mrs. Lowell, then we'll see what all the noise is about."

Edward snorted and retorted:

"She would never date a crab apple like you Vin."

Edward proceeded to throw a lightning fast jab without warning that was intercepted equally as fast!

The punch was deflected and pushed out by Norvin while using the left over energy from Edward's cheap shot to spin and throw his own!

Both of these lifelong friends turned roommates knew how to push each other's buttons, and how to throw punches.

A quick exchange of half playful, half serious blows were thrown back and forth between the roomies before Edward and Norvin both started laughing and dropped their hands down.

'Seriously kid, you're almost as strong as me.' Edward thought as several beads of sweat started to form on his forehead.

Edward wiped them with the dark colored part of his sleeve, thinking the same thought he always had whenever he saw the freak reflexes and moves his best friend displayed.

"If you came to the gym to train instead of relying on that photographic memory of yours to fight, you would scare even me Vin."

This was saying a lot, seeing as how Edward 'The Lunch Boxer' Lowell was locally famous as an Olympic level boxer, as well as local gym owner/ tough guy. Not to mention the fact that he was massive.

'Ed's Gym' wasn't massive by any means however, but it did well enough to pay its owners half of the rent, while still allowing Edward a few bucks to go out on dates with. 

Speaking of dates, Edward had just found a girl he really liked, she kind of liked the big mountain of a man back. This was the first time Edward had gone out with a girl on more than one date, hence the unfulfillment of prior hangout arrangements and current friendly scuffle.

Edward normally would not bail out on Norvin, so it had really bothered the later.

Norvin grinned while muttering, "Kusaka, I really hate you sometimes… but you're still my friend."*1

"Eh?"

"Nothing."

There was a brief five second pause while they stared at each other.

'That kid is always saying random shit.'

Edward tried to place the weird quote he didn't recognize but gave up after drawing a blank. He decided to try explain himself to Norvin.

"Sooo...I actually WAS out on a couple of dates, with the same girl dude!"

Norvin blinked several times rapidly and then started throwing his fists at Edward again! 

"I knew it!" 

"Ouch!...cut it out Vin!"

Norvin had managed to slip one past Edward's guard before slowing down his rain of fists, a suspicious look rested on his face.

"Wait...did you say multiple dates with the same woman?"

"Yeah same girl. I'm into her for real dude. You're gonna have to meet her, she's the one Vinny! I know, my bad, I ditched you the other night. I couldn't risk letting her go. You'll see though man...Tell you what bro. Ill make it up to you, okay?"

Norvin half closed his eyes while enduring Edward. "I'm listening."

"How about we go to Makoto's Pub tonight, you know, the one and only place you'll ever go to? The one with that cool, headless Asian knight armor, the old school arcade games and the amazing staff?"

'Amazing staff? He means barely dressed bar wenches.'

It was true that Norvin liked Makoto's pub. It always had some sort of Godzilla or other kaiju movie playing on one of the big screens. There was Ultraman and other tokuatsu memorabilia all over the place as well.

However, it was not true that it was the only place Vin was willing to visit.

"Asian knight armor? Its called a 'Yoroi' and those were worn by samurai. I told you that last time we went there. Oh, and yes, you know I know it, it used to be the old arcade and that's why there are so many game cabinets there. Why are you trying to sell the place like I've never been there? Stop being a turd and just tell me you want to get wrecked at Tekken...you don't have to try sell me on that Ed."

Edward made a face at Norvin, sticking out his tongue at him. He often explained things to Norvin that Norvin already knew just to piss him off.

"Yeah we could hit up Tekken and get some beverages. Or, we could get some beverages and play the game Greg told me they dropped in. It's that old mech game we used to play when we were kids!"

"Virtual on!?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay, yeah, that's fucking SICK man!"

Norvin normally didn't swear too much out loud, only when he was truly excited and most of the time he was extremely bored.. He never agreed with the rat race style. In fact, that was the primary reason he had never taken on a normal job in his life.

He had always been bitter about the lack of true adventure to be had in his reality. The only great journey he could experience was vicariously done through video games, comics, books and especially through shows about heroes, like the episode of Kamen Rider Geats he had been fighting along with earlier for example.

His bright blue eyes turned from excited into playful as he brought up a memory about the video game cabinet in question.

"Hey, try not to put the game out of commission with that gorilla Kung Fu grip of yours again, loser."

Norvin snickered. Last time they had played that particular game, Edward's already adult size hand ripped one of the joysticks apart, no one in the arcade hassled either of them for quarters after that occasion had gone down.

Edward burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha sure thing weeb...good times, um…except the part where the manager didn't let us play there for a year after dude."

Their smiles faded a little, both of them remembered clearly how tough they had it growing up. One of them was misunderstood for their large size, the other for their strangely colored hair and eyes. The 'weirdo' and the 'giant'. The year they had been banned from the arcade was the worst.

The duo had started as childhood neighbors and as the years progressed, became best friends. Both had been frequenting the local arcade ever since they were tiny, their parents had also enjoyed some of the games there too so they showed up often. Until they were banned.

"Take the bikes?" Norvin asked, both eyebrows wriggling like caterpillars that have been shocked.

"No beverages then?" Sighed Edward regretfully.

"Lets just do sodas man, besides, you have a new girlfriend huh? Wouldn't want you flirting with someone else."

Edward narrowed his eyes at Norvin.

"Funny guy."

Norvin kept teasing.

"Hey, I'm not the one that turns into a lecherous monk after two drinks."

Edward rolled his eyes, "I've got a class to teach in 30 minutes, I'm going to leave a bit early and jog there to get the heart thumping. It'll save a few bucks on fuel."

Norvin nodded his still smirking head to acknowledge Edwards words and then nimbly sprung back over the couch, flipping while descending onto the cushions neatly.

"You do that dude, I've got a couple more episodes to watch before I do some work as well."

"Oh? Are you doing a little more costume work again?"

"Cosplay."

Norvin picked up a shiny looking device off of the coffee table and flipped the hand made 'buckle' driver around in the air, caught it, then handed it backwards to Ed while looking forward.

"I had already planned to make a delivery tonight, might as well make a few bucks while were out."

Edward immediately felt the smooth surface and extra weight he hadn't expected from the metal skinned prop as he caught it. The driver felt much more substantial than a normal toy should.

It was an imitation of the buckle driver from the show 'Kamen Rider Blade'. Adorned in a striking black paint that gleamed, the intricately designed patterns were visible, with four prominent symbols positioned at the center of the driver.

"Wow that's amazing craftsmanship! It always blows me away dude. Coolest side hustle ever...Clean up your mess in the living room."

"Side Business, except its what I do full time and you know it...you turd."

 Edward rolled his eyes but then they popped wide when he pulled the lever on the buckle he was still playing with. A metallic voice had suddenly called out:

"TURN UP! CARD EMPEROR"

The center of the buckle flipped around once, just like in the show. 

Norvin tilted his head back and smiled at his friend.

"This one is custom, it has the spade, the club, the heart and the diamond symbols because the customer's idea is the buckle can use any card from the show, instead of how the four riders stick to their own suit of cards. Four riders in one kinda thing. Its for a custom cosplay he had in mind. These go with it."

He picked up a pack of custom playing cards he had designed and printed, adorned with bizarre monster images. The cards boasted a holographic sheen and a shiny luster, giving them the appearance of an authentic deck from the show.

''They make cool sounds besides that 'turn up' phrase when you combine them with that buckle. He has the belt that belongs to the original version of this buckle I copied. In the show the belt just materializes and I obviously cant replicate that soooo….anyways..."

Norvin took a breath and continued.

"...since he's local I'll just let him know to come pick it up at Makoto's tonight. He also wants that 1:1 replica of Kamen Rider Buster's weapon and book, as well as my watch….That's my best work ever Ed...He's been bugging me constantly, trying to get it off me but I like it too much… Ill talk to him later tonight, you wouldn't believe what he offered for it…but still…I like that thing, almost too much to let it go."

'Local? Lots of money?' Edward rolled his eyes. 'Oh him…'

"Don't sell the watch okay? You love that thing Vin, I remember how many hours you spent on that. Its way too cool for that kid, if it is who I think it is. Isn't it a smart watch and your phone too man? That sounds like a hassle to switch shit around, don't do that for that little fat ass. Which guy is Kamen rider Buster though?" Edward asked, his face bunched up a bit from hating on who he assumed Norvin was talking about.

Norvin pointed to the corner of the living room where he kept his ongoing projects.

"That big ass sword I made last week and the book to go with it."

 "Oh that thing, that's the prop your other client bailed on right?"

Norvin squinted his eyes at Edward yet again and made his lips a perfect horizontal line while clenching his teeth and pulling his cheeks backwards until he looked like a underwhelmed frog.

He blinked rapidly a few times and said: "You and him could be buddies, welching on prior arrangements there Eddie. Also, be nice to Huey, I know he's a little annoying, but he's nice, you make him nervous and he acts out."

"Alright alright alright, okay."

Edward raised his hands defensively and waved his guilt away with a new bribe.

"I'll buy the cokes and snacks tonight ok? And put fuel in the bikes alright? Also, by 'made a book to go with the sword', do you mean you wrote a whole ass book? Also, Huey talks too much."

"That's more like it." Norvin replied and then answered the rest of Edwards questions.

"It's not a full-on book, that thing's just a little two-page plastic accessory that I upgraded with a metal shell, that goes along and clips into the sword to transform. It's just a gimmick of the show and how riders transform in the series 'Kamen Rider Saber'...It also makes cool transformation and battle noises just like the buckle you're holding right now did earlier on; by the way, give that back before you break it!"

Edward pretended to drop it before he passed the buckle he was still playing with back to Norvin and then took a serious tone, which was even deeper than his standard voice.

"Well, the sword part of the cosplay certainly doesn't look like a toy at this point, better wrap it in a sheet if you take it with you to sell okay?….transporting it on the back of the bike no less...you edge lord. What? Do you think you're the main character of an anime or something?"

Norvin answered by simply raising his middle finger into the air and going back to his show.

Edward smiled and started walking through the hallway to the door. He grabbed his wallet and shoved his possessions into his tracksuit pockets evenly and zipped them up. Edward couldn't stand it when he was jogging and had one heavy side, so he liked to put his wallet in one side and his phone in the other. He lazily proceeded to bend over and put on his massive sneakers; he then went on to tie them up.

At 6 foot 8 inches tall and 340 pounds of dense muscle, he was a monster of a man. He had grown much taller, much earlier than most children his age. At ten, not only was he the height of an average man already, he seemed to also have the power and agility of an Olympic class athlete! Now at twenty eight years of age he had reached his current weight and his strength had nearly doubled. Most would think someone his size would move quite slowly but on the contrary, his arms and fingers looked like a blur during the four seconds it had taken to lace both shoes up!

He knocked on the wall then turned the fist that had been doing the knocking into a peace sign behind his back, opened the door, looked back while leaning and swaying and said "Peace."

"Later Dude." Norvin didn't need to look over to know that his huge buddy was pulling one of his mocking poses.

'And he makes fun of Kamen rider while posing like one of the Ginyu squad constantly...turd.' Norvin laughed in his head.

The door shut. Edward's Dojo happened to be five blocks away, a perfect warm up before he started working his students. The hood on Edward's tracksuit went up at the same time as the volume did on Norvin's show.

Norvin looked down from the 'Rider Kick' that was being performed on the show to the watch he was wearing and played with the dial on it. Each time it rotated, a different face or suit appeared, as well as custom data on each character or equipment that was selected.

There were multiple Kamen Riders stored in the prop watch, along with a couple Ultraman variations, Super Sentai, Guyver, etc. There was even a dragon mech, a Gundam and a certain web slinger entry. Norvin had spent countless hours programing this cool little costume gadget!

'Yeah I'm not selling this thing, it took way too long to build and program the app to go with it. I can't sell it. Ed isn't right about Huey but he's right about not selling it to him.'

He paused the show, stood up and stretched.

Norvin packed and wrapped the things he was going to sell before grabbing his and Edwards helmets and gloves, walking them over to the kitchen table. He pulled both bikes out of the little garage attached to their house, and made a quick bite to eat before he sat back down in front of the tv, pressing play on the remote control.

This way, the bikes and gear would be ready to go the moment Edward got back. Norvin was already looking forward to Virtual On, the sooner they could ride to the bar the better!

Another Kamen Rider was battling and as soon as Norvin finished his sandwich, he popped back up and started air boxing the enemies that were on the screen again, their moves and speech were locked away into his picture perfect memory so it seemed like he was reacting to their blows too fast, it had been a couple months since he had watched this particular season of Kamen Rider too.

Both disappeared into their own worlds while the time for their 'Virtual On'' gaming session drew closer.

Meanwhile across the city, at a certain pub, cracks start to form. They stretched out slowly, following the mortar between the old building bricks and started to glow blue and vibrate slightly. One lone figure stood on the roof of the building opposing this spreading glow while glowing somewhat himself.

"They're almost here…those cracks are exactly like the ones from thirty years ago… I wish a couple of the others I saw in the visions had shown up before today already….this is going to be too troublesome. I feel bad for the poor drunk soul that's about to wander in but….best not to mess with intersecting records right?...Ill wait inside." He looked up into the universe and then at the mouth of the alleyway and waited for something, or things for a few moments and shook his head regretfully.

His silvery armor started vibrating, visor flashed, buttons blinked and then the mysterious man vanished, blending into the night air while stepping backwards.

If the homeless, heavily inebriated fellow that had just stumbled, bottle in hand into the darkness of the alley had noticed the figure first, instead of those glowing cracks slowly forming, he would have claimed that the man who looked like a 'Space Robot from an old Japanese show' had gotten blurry and then vanished into thin air!