Tubi

“Why start with this one?” Angewomon asked, shifting back into the sweater-clad form of Angie so she didn’t have to crouch this time as she stepped through the doorway.

“It’s the one that’s most recently been added to the front page after a software update some months ago. I figure that makes it the least likely one that anyone’s been sent into. Might as well check the least likely one first, right? Get it out of the way?” Lenny proposed, stepping through the onyx doorway to find scores of shelves in a large warehouse-like space.

The walls and floor were purple and black, while the shelves themselves were all a bright yellow. Each shelf had a variety of DVD cases and VHS boxes, and stalking the corridors were several chunky humanoid people clad in faded jeans and purple polo shirts. They looked like cobbled junk and machinery, and every so often they grabbed a title before carrying it with them somewhere else.

One such title that Erica clocked was the movie “Bloodsport” starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. “… why is this place a cross between Costco and Blockbuster?” she asked, an eyebrow raised as she waved a hand in front of the eyes of the cobbled together mecha-employee next to her, finding no direct reaction.

“It’s basically what it is. The content’s free, with ads, and they basically have a trove of stuff no one else cares to try licensing. I like it from time to time, depending on my mood and what I end up finding.” Lenny explained, shouting over the many shelves as he walked over to a specific area marked by a “Continue Watching” sign hanging from the rafters.

And right at the leftmost space, the spot reserved for the most recent watch, he found one show that he’d never seen before.

“Do any of you know what the heck ‘Kamen Rider Geats’ is?” he asked as Erica and Angie stepped over to either side of him.

“… wait, I think Mara had a charm that looked like that guy clipped to her bag.” Mara said, pointing to the armored white-and-orange superhero guy on the front cover. “Do you think… can that really be what happened…?”

“… one way to find out, I guess.” Leonard replied, sighing as he opened up the DVD case.

When he awoke next, there were only three in their group. The floating block seemed to be gone, and furthermore Lenny, Erica, and Angie were all now standing amongst a crowd of Japanese people who were all vocally confused about why they were there.

“What the—”

“Where am I—”

“How did I—”

Similar such exclamations filled the air, but more importantly all of them were being spoken in Japanese. And curiously enough, both him and his roommate could effortlessly understand everything they said. It was like there were subtitles in their brains that corresponded to the language they were hearing.

“… hey, Erica-san?” Lenny asked, suddenly speaking Japanese.

“… yeah, Lenny-kun?” she responded, also speaking Japanese.

“… what the fuck…?”

Soon a woman dressed in a black-and-white dress appeared while holding a tablet, explaining that everyone would now be fighting to protect the world in something called a “Desire Grand Prix”. To be honest though, Leonard wasn’t really listening, just trying to find where Mara was. It was tough since some guy everyone called Ace-sama drew a lot of attention and got people riled up, but eventually towards the end he spotted her dyed-blue hair among the gaggle of admirers for the well-dressed guy.

He motioned to Erica and Angie, who due to their taller physiques had a much easier time pushing through the crowd as two other people, a guy and a girl, seemed to have their own reunion too.

Once the trio reached Mara, Erica asked “Hey, what’s happening!? Why are you in here!?” in a hushed yell while she took ahold of the girl’s shoulders and shook her to grab her attention.

Mara whispered “Shh! Quiet down, it’s Ace-sama! Oh, and Michinaga-san too, just like my fave fics…! Keiwa-kun and Neon-chan too…! Ooh, this is better than going to AnimeExpo…!” as she pointed to the three persons of interest from before, including a fourth sullen guy who seemed to have a chip on his shoulder in regards to the “Ace” person.

“Look, we need to get out of here. We’re inside my TV now, specifically the Tubi app that’s installed.” Leonard explained, grabbing Mara’s arm so she’d turn to look at him. “I’m guessing we’re somehow inside this ‘Kamen Rider Geats’ show, but do you know how to exit from here?”

“Why would I exit? This show rules. Gotchard was a decent follow-up, but Geats was PEAK!” Mara replied, for some reason not drawing any attention as she raised her voice.

Well, except for one thing. The guy everyone called “Ace-sama” made eye contact with her and winked as he flashed her a smirk. This made Mara almost faint from the resulting fangasm, and Erica had grab her by the shoulders to keep her on her feet. “Were you alone when you went in here? Where’s everyone else?” the tall woman asked, insistent and focused.

“Oh, Rena’s right here. See?” Mara answered, pointing to the yellow-haired girl next to her, the human form of Renamon. “More importantly, are you guys Kamen Riders too?” she added as she pointed to the devices that were now strapped to Lenny’s, Erica’s, and Angie’s waists.

Each of them had the same black device, with a colored item inserted into the center that was unique to each of them. “… what the fuck. What’s happening…!?” Lenny screeched.

“Just follow me, I’ll show you the ropes. This isn’t my first rodeo.” Mara replied with a smirk, placing her hand on Lenny’s shoulder.