mayfield_rpg | 01 - And So It Begins.

[A - 2239 Stevens]

[Hajime wakes up...which is not unusual in and of itself, but he becomes very aware of a few things. This is not the room he's been renting at the Jacaranda, nor are these the clothes he went to sleep in the night before. They're a very outdated style he hasn't really seen before. The room itself is more spacious than the one he's been renting, and it has windows, making it quite unsuitable for the makeshift darkroom he had going back home. Decorating the room are photographs of him and some humans he's never seen before, which confuses him.

Also, there's a woman lying next to him. Hajime sort of stares for a moment. He's now even more confused; he definitely doesn't know who she is and isn't the sort to take up with strange women. He decides the best course of action is to sneak out of the bed and try to figure out what's going on, but, unfortunately, when he starts to pull himself into a seated upright position, one of the mattress springs squeaks very loudly...]

[B - Around Town]

[Hajime is now stalking around town and trying not to look as confused by everything as he feels as he tries to get the lay of the land. He's trying very hard to pretend like he knows what's going on, which mostly means scowling and staring at things. He has now stopped to stare at something in the area, looking thoughtful and a little angry. Despite appearances, maybe he'd be up for a chat?]

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[Hajime likewise finds Tsukasa familiar, though he can't quite place where he's seen the other guy before. His gaze lingers on Tsukasa's camera for a moment before he answers.]

Possibly.

[He gestures to the camera.]

Back home, I'm a freelance photographer. Might we have possibly met that way?

Another one of those, eh? I don't think we did, though...if we've met, I was probably something other than a photographer, on your world.

[He walks over and holds out a hand.]

Tsukasa Kadoya. And you are?

[He returns the handshake.]

Hajime Aikawa.

[Tsukasa's name seems quite familiar, where has he heard it before?

...and then something inside Hajime's head clicks. There's a flicker of recognition.]

Decade.

...Chalice? The original one, that is.

[He shakes his head.]

You, Birth, and I are all here. I wonder if we'll see any others, like Kazuma or Kurenai.

[Hajime nods at Tsukasa's recognition.]

I ran into Birth earlier. I have not seen anyone else yet, but I've only been here a few hours.

[He glances around the area.]

Can't say I like it here.

There's not much too like about this place. I arrived here without my camera, my buckle, or anything.

[He pauses, thinking.]

Wait, are you...?

[His memories flash back to the Joker undead of the AR world, and then to what he does know about this Rider.]

You're human here, aren't you?

I'm without all of my gear, as well.

[Hajime nods when Tsukasa asks if he's human. He's never really happy when his status as the Joker's brought up, but under the circumstances, it's a valid question.]

Fortunately, it would seem. I'm without anything I could use to keep myself in check.

[Tsukasa nods, apparently he's happy with that answer.]

Well, with luck you'll be able to keep like that for a while. I'm actually...somewhat happy to be without my buckle.

[That was a lie, of course. Tsukasa misses the release that one gets from being a Rider, but he'd never admit it.]

There's a kid you might want to talk to; his name is Varon. He's good with cameras. [He holds up the wooden Twin-Lens Reflex Camera] Made me this one with his own hands. Might be easier than trying to get a camera from the general store.

[Hajime arches an eyebrow when Tsukasa says he's happy to be without the buckle.]

In my case, I'd wondered what it would be like to be truly human...and I find I'm not really appreciating it under these conditions. However, it beats the alternative.

[Because no one wants an uncontrollable Undead running around town...least of all the guy that would be that uncontrollable Undead. And under other conditions, he'd be totally down with being a human for real.

He listens with interest as Tsukasa mentions someone who might be able to make him a camera.]

I'll keep that in mind. Trying to keep things as normal as possible will probably be of some help in the long run. As far as I can tell, this place seems designed to wear on one's sanity...

[Yeah, Tsukasa knew it might be an odd statement, but...well, he's never been known as the 'Normal' rider.]

...Right. Well, you know that if you need help with anything, you can talk to Date or myself. We're not the only ones who can transform here, either. You might want to be on the look out for a stupid Pirate named Captain Marvelous, he's...sort of like us. I met others like him during my travels.

[And Marvelous is nowhere near as good as Takeru. Plus, the 'anything' was loaded with a 'if you find yourself losing it'.]

It does. I've not seen any of the really nasty stuff, but I did get messed with a bit when some weird flowers popped up.

I'll introduce you to the kid, and let you use the studio I've got set up until you can set something up yourself, if you'd like.

[Yeah, Tsukasa might seem a bit nicer than normal, but all the Riders had to stick in a world like this.]

[Hajime picked up on the meaning of the "anything," and he nods a bit solemnly at that. Good to have a contingency plan of some sort laid out, though he doesn't know what good Tsukasa's going to be in that scenario if he can't transform.]

A pirate?

[He doesn't think he heard that right. But hey, he's got other things to worry about, like why Tsukasa's being so nice. He's just going with it for now; that's got to be the least weird thing he's seen or realized all day.]

That would be helpful. Either there's something very wrong with this place, or my sense of direction no longer functions as it should.

[Someone's had a street loop back to the beginning on him this morning...]

Yes. A pirate. He's the leader of a group called the Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. He lives next door to me, and there's a pirate ship on their lawn.

[He actually pulls out a piece of paper with his address, as well as a place where he can be contacted during the day.]

It keeps you here, this town. I should have passed through a long time ago, and as long as we're here, we Riders should stick together, right?

[Pirates. With a pirate ship on their lawn. Hajime badly wants to question that, but he decides he'll have to go by for himself and see sometime.]

Gokaiger, right. I'll keep that in mind.

[He nods and takes the paper Tsukasa hands him.]

Thanks.

Sticking together would be wise. My senses may not be as sharp as they are under normal circumstances, but there is something very wrong with this place...

I'm at 2239 Stevens, but you might want to watch out for the woman I woke up with...she's...

[Oh, what's the word he's looking for?]

...somewhat annoying.

01 - And So It Begins.

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