Hopper1, Houtaro, etc. | Kamen Rider Gotchard

Timestamp: 2011

There were some things Professor Kongo did not miss about the Alchemist Union - but the Chemies themselves weren't on that list. So when certain alumni offered to bring them over to show the children- well, she'd insisted on precautions, she wasn't careless. But she was hardly going to turn them down!

Steeeeeaaaam! MadWheelWHEEL! Kesuzooooo~!

Not all of the Chemies had come along; that was to be expected, particularly with the Cosmic and Fantastical Chemies - the history between the Level 10s of those categories and certain alchemists meant such an association would always be more fragile than any that involved the other categories - but there were still more than enough to hold the attention of all the children under her care, from the youngest to the oldest.

BountyBUN! ~Panpakaparka!~ RenKING!

Which meant... a lot of Chemies. And while she was far from understaffed, and some of the older children had siblings they looked after, that still all added up to a LOT of commotion.
---

Sabeliger hadn't been convinced the other Chemies' enthusiasm about these small, 'pre-alchemists' was warranted. But as one of the more imposing Chemies, he'd seen fit to come along in X-Rex's stead, to oversee some of the likewise-small Chemies in the hopes of providing some needed protection.

... And yet, he had found himself an object of- climbing. They did not pull on his fur, making it more akin to an awkward hug than any of them trying to treat him like Xeggdrasil, but it did cause difficulty keeping track of everyone else.

'Are you all right, Mister Sabeliger?'

Sabeliger nudged one of the kids who had gotten too close to his face - a mild warning, swiftly adhered to - and turned to look down...

Televi. One of the newer Artifact Chemies. An appearance reminiscent of recent human technology, making them 'newer' on more than one level.

'I am unharmed, Televi,' he replied, resisting the urge to shake out his fur. (He could now see that three of the Insect Chemies had found a toy chemistry set. BeetlX had joined this expedition, making that not his problem. Thank goodness.)

'If, however, you are willing to distract some of them for a time, that would be... appreciated.'

One of the small humans leaning against him was purring, which led him to believe this might not work, but his patience WAS limited. He had to try.

Televi cocked their head, then nodded. 'I'll do my best, Mister Sabeliger! Just, hold on.'

They scuttled over to a desk - a clean one, not where the aforementioned chemistry set had been - and started tracking down age-appropriate channels. On silent, not that that stopped all of the kids from noticing.

The reaction was notable. And, thankfully, positive.
---
Smaphone was on a mission.
br
This new place had many computers - but, maybe there was one like him, that was ALSO a Chemy? Then that Chemy could be a trio with Smaphone and Televi!

Which meant putting its Chemy Detection app to work...

Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping-

Whoops... That was the downside of so many of them being here, but it could deal with that!

"Hello? You're not really a phone, are you?"

Smaphone pointedly did not jump upon being addressed, turning to see... one of the pre-alchemists, small and with brown-blonde hair. Both Chemy and human stood still for a few seconds, sizing each other up.

"Sma sma?"

"... Oh! I know! I can take you to Sabimaru-kun! If he doesn't know the answer, I'm sure his brother will. I'm Amu; what's your name?"

That was easy enough to answer: "Smaphone! Sma sma!"

The two chattered away with questionable amounts of mutual intelligibility, eventually making it to the library. Finally able to sense something different through its detector app, Smaphone grew increasingly animated in excitement.

"Hey, Sabimaru! Do you know what this Chemy can do?"

There was an even smaller pre-alchemist, holding a tablet, hiding behind a stack of books. The little one flinched, and Smaphone couldn't help but relate. 'Hi! We won't hurt you!'

Whether this human could understand it wasn't entirely clear... but the tablet in his hands had something interesting on its screen.

Provoking a muffled "Hey!" from Amu, Smaphone jumped down to get a better look. The center icon glowed, and Sabimaru... calmed down?

The tablet even emitted a voice: 'It is nice to meet you, Smaphone. Amu wasn't bothering you, was she?'

Smaphone shook its head, absolutely thrilled at being in this situation. Human and technology, working together to speak!!! What an excellent friend to make.
---
Renkingrobo had had his reservations - not about the kids, or the lab, but about himself. How he'd hold up.

It wasn't possible to be full size in this location, but being so small felt... more vulnerable than he'd like.

Which was why, rather than joining in the hubbub of play and conversation, he had found himself in a work-area with desks, quietly picking up the debris that seemed to accumulate anywhere alchemists worked. Pens, papers, little cardstock pieces - he being one of the Chemies with sufficient articulation, picking things up and moving them out of tripping-hazard range was well within his capacity.

'Hello? Look, Gutsshovel, it's one of the other Level Nines! Maybe he can help us.'

Renkingrobo did not startle, and good thing; one of the Chemies that had spoken was hovering just overhead - the other, just as small as Renkingrobo himself at the moment, rumbled along the hall to a stop.

'... Well, how can I help you?' He tilted his head, mentally placing them. 'Gekiocopter and Gutsshovel - can't find Steamliner?'

The flying Chemy chirped privately to its fellow, then responded to him again: 'Well, we can't, no, but that's not what we need help with - one of the pre-alchemists threw something in a game, but now it's stuck on the roof! Would you be willing to spot for us?'

Renkingrobo put the last of what he was holding (a particularly beat-up eraser) on a stable desk surface, then put one hand on his chin. 'You're used to working as a team, then?'

'Of course! I'm rated to carry any of the other Vehicles, except Steamliner when they're big, or Exceedfighter all of the time, really.'

And Renkingrobo... smiled. 'I'll help, then. And thank you for coming to me. We need to be able to rely on each other, to help at our best.'

The two Vehicle Chemies cheered. And so did the kids, once the frisbee (and a few assorted other knick-knacks) was rescued.

(Fill done on anon for precuretokuprompt)

( Technically entirely SFW )

User Name/Nick: SMF/Ace
User DW: N/A
E-mail/Plurk/Discord/PM to a character journal/alternate method of contact: Autistic_Ace, Discord: s_m_f
Other Characters Currently In-Game: N/A

Character Name: Hopper1
Series: Kamen Rider Gotchard
Age: [Canon does not provide an age; I am handwaving them as having existed for over a century due to a specific fight that happened 120 years before the date in which the series starts (2023). ... I sincerely hope canon does not joss me on this one. (There IS timetravel involved, but the event that explains this occurs in a separated timeline and universe.)]
From When?: Post-finale/episode 50.

Warden Justification: Why does the Admiral think your character would be useful as a warden here? What do they bring to the table? Regardless of their methods and motivations, do they have the capacity to help an inmate achieve graduation?
TLDR: Hopper1 is an empath who does not give up. Understands that kindness and compassion is a choice, not just a tendency. Has a knack for seeing compatibilities between people (wanting Kajiki and Hijiri to meet because of their shared interest in supernatural sightings), or traits in others that they may have difficulty discussing (Houou Kaguya Quartz, who tends to distance himself and put himself on the front lines in a fight because he has a hard time letting other people take on risk; Hopper1 was able to catch on to this before Houtaro did).
Despite any communication difficulties, Hopper1 is not easily discouraged and like its human partner Houtaro, is unwilling to give up on helping others be happy.

Item: What form will your character's Warden Item take? A Chemy Riser that has a strap.

Abilities/Powers: Generally wardens may keep their powers in full, but anything with the potential to be gamebreaking, or anything that would render a warden more powerful than the Admiral, will need to be nerfed. If you're unsure whether or not your character's powers qualify for nerfs, feel free to contact the mods!
[Copied from Permissions:]
As an alchemical creature inherently attuned to (mostly just human) emotion, Hopper1 can sense others' emotions, malice-colored threats (to wit: able to alert the protagonists when Gigist or Glion are about to drop something new on the team, or when a Malgam is about to form), and presumably this counts as an overall life-sense. Also, as an alchemical being, it functions as a component in physical transformations both willingly (Kamen Rider Gotchard himself, in his base form SteamHopper) and unwillingly (Malgams - there are three types, so into the dropdown we go!).

Malgams

Malgams are the Monster of the Week of this Kamen Rider series; any Chemy can be fused with a human experiencing significant negative emotion (a robber trying to flee the scene of a crime; a salaryman turning serial killer; a girl suffering from a bad breakup - there is one exception where a spirit fused with a like-minded Chemy to bring about something only a Rider Kick could accomplish, but it's not clear how common that sort of trickery is in-universe). Then there are Golden Malgams, which specifically involve alchemy-derived Malice Dolls, which have 'purer' malice than the average human (which have things like... more positive emotions, connections with other living beings, etcetera). These are stronger Malgams, as are appropriate for monsters fought closer to the halfway point of the series. Then there are Dark Malgams, brought about specifically by Gigist - a former-human-turned-third-of-a-Demon-King - who originated the first Chemies two thousand years ago. He explicitly is stated to cannibalize a Chemy's own inherent Malice to create these forms, and after these are defeated the Chemy is left in a drained state, with no emotion-energy to speak of (effectively dead). The only thing that prevents or fixes this is the intervention of another specific Chemy, which takes us beyond the purview of this character writeup. Example visuals of all three types can be found here

Hopper1 in particular has also been gifted a powerboost, allowing it to shift back and forth between a more bipedal form as needed (Crosshopper).

Details

This form is primarily gold and blue, with a red X on its chest. The form comes with a helmet and shoulderpads. Visual can be found here

Wardening Strategies and Philosophies: How will your character respond to and operate on the Barge at large? How will they view their role as warden, and how will they engage their inmate in their efforts to help them on their path to redemption? What are their wardening strengths and weaknesses likely to be? What sorts of inmates would your character pair best with, and conversely, what sorts of inmates would they not be such a good fit for?
[Hopper1 is the epitome of an 'out of left field' candidate for any inmate. While ambivalent about the idea of being in a position of power over anyone else, it will do its utmost to be respectful of any inmates. What it has to offer is being a source of both surprise (including constant questions), cute, and raw empathy. Hopper1 will expect to be underestimated, but will not be complicit in letting its own power (as a target for transmutation) be abused.
Inmates who can relate to others with communication struggles, or who need someone who can detect emotions, may benefit from an emotional support grasshopper.]

Deal: Here for a blueprint on safely integrating Chemies into human society; it's not here for Houtaro's quest to be solved for him, but it is definitely on the look out for best practices, and perhaps some allies.

History:

Link followed by INFODUMP

The most thorough Gotchard wiki recap is here, covering all fifty episodes and both movies. (Spoilers from the Summer Movie will not be accounted for, as the English Translation has not yet been released.)
Character-specific history includes:
[[All headcanon bits will be within these double brackets.
Lacking better information, I am placing Hopper1 as having been created in 1900 by certain time-displaced alchemists, one of such having a familiar zippered backpack, and their adopted son who was rescued after his family died in a flood. These alchemists were mostly independent from the Alchemist Union of the time, but did their best to give the kid and his new Chemy sibling a good life.
Then the Demon King - the unification of Germain (yes, that Germain), Gaeliyah (an astrologer) and Gigist (who debuted the first Chemies approximately 2000 years in the past from present day, in order to trouble humanity) - made his way back to Japan, and the Alchemist of Dawn rose up against him, using what is portrayed as a potion in a historical storybook to banish the Demon King to the Ouroborous Realm and vastly limit the latter's power. A fragment of this power splits off into raw potential energy, an entity later called Tamagon.
Hopper1, present at this fight but not supposed to take part, launched itself into the path of a last-ditch attack from the Demon King. After it awoke again, the Dawn Alchemist had gone back to the future with the rest of his family. Having warned his kids about the time travel, and vowing that they would meet again, he had instructed Hopper1 to go to the Academy and help protect the other Chemies there.

This Hopper1 did, as the 20th century grew on and the Academy alternately developed (mostly by accident) and acquired Chemies from other places, even other countries where the resources to prevent destructive interactions between the creatures and humanity were sparse. Also colonialism typical to Japanese attitudes of the time, let's be real here.

Xenophobia spread even to more peaceful minds, and as World War II encroached the Alchemist Union elected not to get involved with the war - or at least, to not risk bringing about friendly fire by bringing emotion-reactive alchemical 'ingredients' to literal war zones. No new Chemies were acquired during this time, though some were doubtless born elsewhere in the world.

In the aftermath of the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the alchemists gave in to their own consciences and went to help the disarrayed and dismayed populaces. Some of the Chemies, of course, had utility in this respect - and others just plain snuck out after the humans, missing interaction and wanting to spread hope that things could change.

Hopper1, by its nature, was one of the latter - and, happening upon a surviving soldier mourning his family who had been imprisoned while living in America (and were likely dead), a Malgam formed from their joint feelings of inadequacy and abandonment. But, being a 'natural' Malgam, the two minds could hear each other. And so, Hopper1 tried and talked to him; even with the pain in his soul, the person he was most a danger to was himself.

It took the Chemy a whole week, but at last the Malgam reverted - which allowed the alchemists to catch up and wipe the memories of that man. Hopper1 was returned to the Academy, where it tried to distract itself with other 'rebuilding' tasks.

Four days later, the man turned up dead. Hopper1 was beside itself, and the alchemists were spread thin enough that no one had the attention to spare for it - so the Chemy spent another week locked away so another Malgam could not accidentally form in the interim.

When they did realize this was a bad idea, they let it out and no one saw Hopper1 for a month. Time passed, and the incident had severely paled the grasshopper's vibrant green color.

But one thing did improve in the ending of the war; the alchemists could once more venture out into the world and rescue Chemies. In the early 1950s, one of the Chemies was a steam train - which, naturally, helped transport the rest to their new home. Hopper1, even as lackluster as it had become, still sought to fulfill its obligations and learn new things. The train, having a small form it could use to hide or fit into small spaces, shadowed Hopper1 as it brazenly borrowed books from alchemy students.

Steamliner asked how it was allowed to take their things, and Hopper1 obliged by answering - and also offered to show it how to read Japanese, if it hadn't been shown yet. Slowly, the Chemies began to bond.

Again, time passed; more Chemies acquired - and some lost, for if a Chemy simply does not want to live, that is when it truly dies. (Otherwise, you'd think there'd be a LOT more than 100 made over 2000 years...)

Some time during the next decade or so, Glion dropped in (perhaps using an alias) to get the scoop on how things were developing. Being an immortal homunculus, he could presumably pull this stunt every other century if he was careful and didn't feel like just mindwiping people every time. With Gaiard and Dragonalos rooming at the Academy grounds by this point, the Chemies could definitely recognize Glion for what he was... but not necessarily be listened to.

Also during this time, especially towards the 1980s and '90s, presumably Ichinose Houtaro's father became an alchemist and adventurer - perhaps a researcher or rescuer of Chemies. Canon does not give us a word about him apart from his absence in Houtaro's life lining up with Glion's first run at the gold-planet-ing ritual, so I am placing his debut in the timeline in this spot. He was a friend to Chemies and a decent cook, but for now I'll leave the rest to the writers.

The early 2000s are when Minato could have first joined the Alchemist Academy as a student... and I am dropping him here in time, from the past. Due to Glion's lucky timing and careful machinations, Minato does not remember much of his childhood, and thus isn't as attached to the Chemies or Hopper1 in particular as he would have been otherwise. Hopper1, however, does remember - and grieves.

It is never established when the Chemy Cards were created, but assuming Professor Fuga Kudoh is not immortal, I am placing him as having created them during the 1980s and '90s. These cards can be mobile (floating), and are impervious to most kinds of damage, but the act of being first captured in one is at least somewhat unpleasant. Inside them, however, the Chemy can do whatever they can think of with the flexible space, and see the world around them. Hopper1 is not very attached to its card, but does stay in it at least some of the time during the show.

With time - and now, space - to themselves, the Chemies have had much opportunity to learn many things - though they are still mostly sheltered from being at the Academy for so long - so more than a few of them can read and write, though the inability to speak more than their own name is an obvious limitation. ... They can also consume media, particularly when the alchemy students bring their technology to the grounds and don't supervise it very well. They know what the internet is, though not all of them necessarily know how to use it.

By the early 2010s, there is a sort of uneasy balance - new students are coming in, and the sense of what the wider world holds is expanding. Maybe the Union will reach out to other schools of alchemy again? Maybe a certain local Laboratory will cement the process for creating Chemies, and there will be a Renaissance for alchemists?

But things were not going to be as easy as that. ]]

-Flashback-history, year 2013
The year 2013, Glion made his move. A short few days before he attempted the ritual to turn the world to gold, one Ichinose Houtaro (age 6) stumbled into the Ouroborous Realm and befriended certain Chemies, primarily Hopper1 and Steamliner.
This also happened to be the day Glion tracked down where Kudoh Fuga had his blueprints for the GotcharDriver. In the chaos of the subsequent fight, Glion and his creations the Dark Sisters managed to swipe some Chemies to create Malgams. One of these became a distraction when Glion came back to the Alchemist Academy, whereupon he had the latest generation of students slaughter each other, killed two skilled Combat Alchemists (orphaning Kurogane Spanner in the process), and brainwashed the Academy's higher-ups to see him as a defender of the Academy instead of the instigator.
Fortunately, the ritual Glion was so determined to pursue, was thwarted by Fuga Kudoh, though this also meant he and the Chemies had to seal the Ouroborous Realm entirely to prevent any followup.
-Ten years of quarantine: Not much happened for Hopper1 during this time, though it is unlikely it slept through the entirety of the ten years like other Chemies are presumed to have done.

-Canon begins: September 2023, Fuga sends Hopper1 and Steamliner out into the world to find the one destined to wield the GotcharDriver. Hopper1 sneaks into a maintenance area, waiting for Houtaro to brave his nerves and approach a scary-sounding monster...
Cheerfully greeting the boy (who does not remember that first meeting... yet.), Hopper1 tags along and is offered some of Houtaro's bento leftovers, while the boy wonders why Hopper1 feels familiar. This seems enough for the little Chemy to consider its task finished, whereupon it gives an extremely loud call to its train partner. Houtaro and classmate Kudoh Rinne confront/are confronted by Steamliner, who makes a big scene without actually harming anyone by virtue of being a life-sized magical train. At one point, Houtaro ends up dangling from a bridge, when Hopper1 drops out of his backpack to hitch a ride with Steamliner. Houtaro falls, is caught - and then Steamliner brings them back to the Ouroborous Realm to meet with Fuga and attempt (somewhat) to explain the situation and hand over the Driver.
This is when the Dark Sisters reappear, Fuga seemingly dying to protect Houtaro. We redirect back to the 'main' world, the seals breaking on all the other Chemy cards. (Depleted of energy), they rush about in Houtaro's hometown and cause much surprise and distress.
One of the Dark Sisters - Clotho - forcibly equips Kamantis to challenge Houtaro, who transforms with the help of his new friends. After a hiccup where he appears as a steam-powered grasshopper, he gains the distinctive blue armor of more human-seeing Kamen Rider Gotchard and, after some quick thinking, thwarts the Malgam and rescues the Chemy.
This is when his history teacher - one Minato other names unconfirmed; his name is only rendered in katakana and means harbor, which I must assume was deliberate - turns out to be an Alchemist professor as well, suppressing all memory of the Chemy-caused havoc of the day... except in Rinne and Houtaro, the latter of whom vows to become a big-shot alchemist some day.

After all that, life settles into somewhat of a pattern - Hopper1 alerting Houtaro and his new friends (alchemy students Renge and Sabimaru, and increasingly Rinne as she learns to warm up to people) to when Malgams are about to form, and in their off time trying to enjoy life in a mom-and-pop restaurant that is also the Ichinoses' home. We meet Spanner, who has grown distant in his own way after the death (and suppressed memory thereof) of his parents, and who proclaims Chemies to be tools.

Hopper1 is not pleased by this philosophy, and the first time it comes up they attempt to attack Spanner.

More episodes pass, but there are largely no big moments for Hopper1 to highlight for a bit. There is one moment where a Dragonfly-based Malgam launches an attack at Houtaro - which doesn't land, and instead gets stuck in Hopper1's Chemy Card. The Chemy is none the worse for wear.

Some episodes along, Houtaro heads off to Kyoto on a class trip - Hopper1 deliberately hiding in his backpack to join him, instead of having to be stuffed in there so people don't spot it - and is confronted by more Malgams instigated by the Dark Sisters. Hopper1 still finds time to sight-see, however, being delighted when non-alchemist classmate Kajiki has an Encounter with a girl that shares his supernatural interests. (The episode ends sadly for the couple, since Hijiri ends up a Malgam after her brother is fought, meaning all involved again have to be mindwiped - but, the two do manage to reconnect over their shared interests.)

A dark arc begins for Gotchard when the Dark Sisters debut a new factor - Kamen Rider Dread, an armor/Driver that is itself aware, destroys the life forms in any cards placed within it, and consumes the life force of any wearer - particularly if the user is inexperienced at Alchemy. Sabimaru is captured and held hostage within the armor, subsequently forced to beat Houtaro himself with an inch of his life, and other such terrors.
We meet a 'level 10' Chemy - UFO-X - who can mostly take care of themselves when attacked, helping the heroes out by lending an augment to the Driver known as Exgotchalibur - and through the use of this new tool and friendship Houtaro is able to free Sabimaru. This is not directly relevant to Hopper1 just yet, but the next Level 10 they meet most certainly is: X-Rex, a Chemy that views memories by... eating people.
The people this happens to are not harmed, but it sure does shock Houtaro to see a younger him, playing with a young Hopper1. The Chemy doesn't offer an explanation when Houtaro later asks about it.
(That same episode, while it is not as important, Hopper1 'helps' Houtaro decorate the Ichinose restaurant's Christmas tree. It also sings along to 'Jingle Bells'. Yes, Hopper1 IS adorable.)

We are then given another set of surprises - one of the higher-ups secretaries (Shiori) turns out to be a devotee of the Dark Sisters, briefly holding Hopper1 and other Chemies hostage as she boasts about their vision and purpose - only for the Dark Sisters to kill her off once she's outlived her usefulness.
Her boss Licht, it turns out, is also a villain, but it has nothing to do with Glion and his memory-wiping - instead, he's on a crusade for power, and the Winter Movie is all about his machinations, laser-focus on one Ukiyo Ace, and his exploitation of the Level 10 Chemy X Wizard to expedite his defeat of the aforementioned Ace.

During this movie, our framing setup is Houtaro struggling with school in the advent of his new Alchemy Gotcha, and fighting with his mom about his grades. Hopper1 is sympathetic, and also later helps him find and befriend the Level 10 Chemy of the Insect-type: Beetl-X.

There is also a dream sequence (inflicted by X Wizard midway through the film) where Hopper1 talks in Japanese while helping Houtaro at the Ichinose restaurant, but it's never covered if this is actually shared dream/what Hopper1 would want out of a dream future.

Houtaro makes up with his mom at the end of the movie, something Hopper1 is very pleased about.

Episode 16 is where the show starts to shift; Glion makes his first appearance of a sort, possessing Lachesis and initiating a new Malgam just in time for the Christmas season. The city is plagued by a multi-headed dragon (Orochimaru) turning people to stone, and Houtaro, Rinne, and Spanner struggle to protect anyone.
When it comes down to Houtaro alone, detransformed and almost at an end, who should appear but... another Gotchard? (This Gotchard is from the future; context implies that the GotcharDriver itself summoned him, from an alternate future. This moment in time is where the timelines branch. I'll refer back to this later.)

This brings us to episode 17 onward, where Minato disavows his students and appears to aid Glion's efforts in controlling the Alchemist Union and its Chemy-collecting mission. We learn a little more about Golden Malgams, which Glion specializes in - directly introducing a doll of concentrated Malice and bonding it with a Chemy. They are much harder to defeat than the usual, and Houtaro needs a new device to push through this block - or rather, an old one.

Using the TimeLord Chemy Card loaned from the other Gotchard, Houtaro returns to that first meeting in 2013, encountering his younger self and asking to borrow a set of goggles Hopper1 and Steamliner used alchemy to help him make. That same day is, again, when Glion and the Dark Sisters first find Fuga's hiding place in the Ouroborous Realm; both younger Houtaro and his present self try and protect the Chemy Cards, a deed noted with praise by Fuga after the fight... and, after older!Houtaro leaves (due to too much self-contact, which damages TimeLord), we see Fuga suppress kid!Houtaro's memories, presumably to then return him to Earth safely.

We don't get another Hopper1 moment for a few episodes (though Rinne gets a Rider form, Spanner becomes a Malgam and then gets a proper Rider form after he recovers...), but the Chemy is the first to spot out Zukyumpire in their surprisingly human-passing new form. The humans don't realize immediately, but they do give the grasshopper credit shortly thereafter, as the vampire Chemy attempts to make the whole world happy - with a power that turns out to also be a massive energy drain their followers, something they didn't know at first and are then horrified by.

The Ichinose Alliance (Houtaro, Rinne, Sabimaru and Renge) stop both them and Clotho when she tries to take advantage of the situation, and the episode ends with Hopper1 making a show of adoring Zukyumpire (much to Houtaro's comedic despair).

After the brief foray into comedy, we have a 'clip episode' that rapidly turns dark when it stops being a clip episode. Minato seemingly sends the Alliance a note and, Houtaro desperate to believe in the good in his mentor, it leads them all directly into a trap. With the help of a recently-Malgamized WarpTera, Glion is able to collect almost all of Houtaro's cards (a good few dozen by this point) - both Hopper1 and Steamliner push Houtaro away, to prevent him from falling into the damaging portals (as shown in Shiori's episode, alchemy such as this is actually quite bad for human constitution), but only Steamliner is able to stay behind due to its greater weight.

We don't get all that much detail as to what Glion does with the newly collected Chemies in the next episode - though something about his presence means none of them except Dragonalos (who he'd had trapped in a gold rubiks cube for most of the series) make an attempt to attack him. Dragonalos quickly becomes Malgamized with the aid of an enormous Malice Doll, as the Alliance is caught up on why Minato is so tied to Glion (the slaughter covered before in the 2013 timestamp, including of Daiki, a classmate Minato had been particularly close with and whose personality and goals were similar to Houtaro's), and attempt to reach him by assuring him they will not let that cruel man overpower them.

Also, Steamliner gets an upgrade, courtesy of a determined Houtaro, a surprise cameo by (a) Fuga, and some forbidden Alchemy. By itself, it can't sustain the form for too long.

Then comes episode 27, where Glion starts his ritual in the Ouroborous Realm, having enough Chemies to sacrifice - including all of the Level 10s, thanks to the events of the Winter Movie - and we're shown several shots where all of the Chemies are in pain and suffused with dark energy. Rinne, Spanner, Sabimaru and Renge all have their own moments - Minato breaking through Glion's conditioning and showing up to block a fatal sword blow - and all of them allow Houtaro a chance to reach out to the Chemies. The memories of Houtaro helping them all culminate in Hopper1 both breaking free - and speaking, through a damaged Isaac (Sabimaru's assistant Alchemy Tablet Intelligence). Hopper1 is granted power from all of the Level 10 Chemies, resulting in the new form of Crosshopper. Crosshopper then retrieves the GotcharDriver from when Glion had taken it before to channel the energy of the Chemies. Crosshopper and Tenliner prove to be stronger than Tenliner alone (getting Hopper1 back also seems to sort out the latter's sustaining problems from this episode forward), and the form Platinum Gotchard makes swift work of Glion by borrowing powers from all Chemies without designated combinations.

We get a break from the heavy for a little bit, the Alliance visiting Renge's grandmother in her home village. Rinne is the only one to enjoy some spooks provided by two Occult-Type Chemies (Carery and Berosol), but Hopper1 doesn't seem very scared by the prospect of ghosts or anything.

The next mini-arc takes us back to school (yes, it DOES matter to the setting, and no this is not typical for Kamen Rider situations), introducing some relationship drama for Houtaro, and some am-I-still-your-friend drama for Rinne. Hopper1 pops up for two things: to laugh at a comedy routine from one of the school clubs, and to be Unnerved when Seina recollects Ichinose's childhood promise to marry her. (Due to Malgams and memory-wiping shenanigans, Seina backs off and comes to respect the strength of Houtaro&Rinne's bond.)

In the wake of Glion's defeat, one of the Dark Kings - Gigist - breaks from the Demon King amalgamation and starts his own strides in 'improving' humanity. At the same time, warriors from another dimension appear, pursuing an ally of a rider named Legend (also known as Houou Kaguya Quartz). This ally is Houtaro, who has lost his memory of the encounter (Hopper1 and Steamliner don't do much during the special, so I skipped summarizing it, but it happened during the first 'arc' of the series).
First, Houtaro and Clotho are trapped in a maze with the warriors, while Gigist watches and waits with Atropos. (Lachesis since I forgot to mention this bit WHOOPS has already deserted as of episode 26 and by this point is working with Professor Kyoka and Spanner primarily to understand her former humanity and what she wants to do with it now.)

Then, once they fight their way free and Clotho declares her desire for power to protect her family..., Gigist gives her that power, making her more monstrous.

But before they can properly react to that, Kamen Rider Legend arrives properly, taking the world by storm with his 'shiny' personality and cool aloofness. He's quite a good fighter, but used to going it alone - at one point, he takes Hopper1 and Steamliner from Houtaro, even firing the former at the enemy to end a fight. But Hopper1 does not seem to hold a grudge, and Butler translates that it senses something in common with Legend and his wish to put himself between all others and danger.

Gigist steps up things a little, giving one of the Generals of those invading warriors and giving him a four-part Malgam Upgrade - even swiping a Chemy from space to do so. Houtaro and Legend (with the aid of Spanner and Sabimaru) renew their friendship and defeat the overpowered Rider (plus his Doom Countdown accessory, which had also been used to terrorize Legend's homeworld at some point).

Then, and only then, does Gigist approach Houtaro directly - seeking to reclaim the power that had split off from the Demon King 120 (121, by this point) years ago. This power now resides within Houtaro - or rather, his Driver, and thus being in sync with him. This is what allowed him to access those 'Wild' forms like the steam-powered grasshopper (and many, many others), and enabled him to be a Kamen Rider despite so little background knowledge and training.

Houtaro is not going to let Gigist win without a fight. Hopper1 also attempts to fight, and is batted aside like nothing. Gigist takes a moment to taunt Hopper1, calling it a being of gluttony and a pest. Houtaro is offended on his friend's behalf, but is once again knocked to his knees, losing his Chemy Cards again.

Gigist picks up two cards - Skebows (skateboard Chemy) and AnTrooper (ant-plural Chemy) - and demonstrates his power and specialty by turning the former directly into a Malgam. By this point, Houtaro's allies have caught up to help, but their efforts to fight (including the finisher from Houtaro) do not produce the usual results: Skebows returns to its shape, but its color is all white. For all intents and purposes, it is dead.

Gigist does not waste much time, taking advantage of the Alliance's despair and siccing the remaining Malgam upon the general city populace. Houtaro puts off Hopper1's attempts to cheer him up - which is when it decides to get him some flowers. (For context, in the previous episode the characters revisited a book Rinne had in her childhood, that mentions the Alchemist of Dawn and features Hopper1 prominently in some of the pictures. The flowers are part of a story, one that takes place before the fight with the Demon King.)

Forming much of the plot of episode 37, Hopper1 sneaks out on its own - with none the wiser until much later - and goes searching for flowers that match those of the storybook. After some lighthearted misadventures, it manages to cross paths once more with the Kamen Riders, having neatly dodged a blast from AnTrooper and fallen right in front of some of the flowers it was looking for.

Wearing a flower, it calls out to Houtaro and hops over - which is when the narratively-inevitable happens and Gigist captures it. At first pushing off the transformation by calling on its Crosshopper form, Gigist notes how the brightest lights cast the darkest shadows and forces his win anyway. Spanner attempts to fight him first, but goes down easily. Hopper1 Malgam's finisher swarm attack knocks everyone present to the ground. There is a brief pause where Houtaro tries to hug and talk to his friend, but is interrupted by a civilian trying to retrieve a toy dinosaur. Houtaro is forced to take down his friend, Tenliner once again taking point.

Houtaro sinks into despair... but instead of a Malgam forming (which would allow Gigist to retrieve the lost piece of power), the egg Tamagon forms a massive egg around the hero and teleports away. The narrative splits to follow the conversation between Tamagon and Houtaro (once the latter calms down from his initial despair, he makes himself something to eat in the imaginary space in the egg... and then makes Tamagon one too, because why not.) and the actions of the rest of the Alliance against Gigist to defend Houtaro's egg.

Houtaro and Tamagon learn more about themselves, and their inner strength, and Houtaro's promise as an alchemist is to ensure everyone's heart is as a rainbow across a clear blue sky (translation, paraphrased). Tamagon is reborn as Nijigon, egg becoming a little dragon critter in Gotchard's colors. One of his abilities is to restore other Chemies - and to prevent Malgamization.

Gigist spends the next several episodes trying to recoup what he's already lost - trying and failing to make more Malgams, to kidnap Nijigon, and he fails so badly all 100 Chemies team up and Houtaro unlocks a new ability: GotcharBrothers, allowing various Chemy pairs to independently pilot their own Gotchard forms. The strength of Houtaro's Gotcha bamboozles Gigist to the end, and he eventually retreats with his metaphorical tail between his legs. (There is an additional moment where Hopper1 supposedly zeroes in on why one of the two remaining Chemies was hoarding various stuff, something Nijigon congratulates Hopper1 over in that episode's ending.)

This is when the other two Dark Kings appear - Germain steals the spotlight first, describing himself as 'loving' humanity and wanting to help them - again, with the power of Malgams. But his main tactic is using alchemy to create Golems instead. Nijigon briefly goes missing when Spanner asserts that without fights, Chemies are again useless. This disappearing act (looking for a job for Chemy) causes Houtaro to panic and the others, including Hopper1, to worry.

Germain doesn't last too much longer, mostly due to Atropos manipulating Rinne into defeating Germain in battle (as part of an epic multi-Rider teamup) and using Glion's surviving golden rubiks cube to bring the homunculus back to 'life' in a more dominant position. (We also get a brief moment where Hopper1 reprimands Nijigon for going off without telling anyone.)

Gaeliyah waits a little longer before trying again - during this period, we visit Sabimaru's home at Kongo Laboratories, a split-off group of Alchemists who do not trust the Union, or Glion. We don't see Hopper1 doing too much during this part, but there is the bit where Glion steals advanced AI technology to power his Kamen Rider Dread replicas... (This is when the Summer Movie is supposed to take place, but see my note above re: including its summary for the time being.)

But after that, Gaeliyah takes advantage of former Malgam hosts, re-initializing the transformation to cause more trouble - and when one of them is Hijiri, who at episode's end vows to hold on to her memories good AND bad, Gaeliyah uses the stored energy from her chain of Malgams to cause everyone to remember all encounters with Chemies.

Chaos ensues - not all of it bad, because some of those encounters did end well - and Minato, having caused all those memory suppressions, has to reap what he's sown and can't do much to help the heroes. Professor Kyoka's lab is raided, and Spanner takes that personally. People try to steal Chemies from Houtaro to exploit them, something he and Rinne do not allow to stand. Gaeliyah briefly steals one of the Chemy Cards, disabling the GotcharBrothers powerup for a time. And then, having marked Rinne with some alchemy for her next stage in the plan, she leaves and lets Spanner announce himself as the new head of the Alchemist Union. His plan? To eliminate all Chemies and restore order, now that all of the higher-ups have fled.

Episode 47 focuses on derailing his plan - to transmute all 100 Chemies (presumably minus Nijigon) and use them to take out the remaining Dark Kings, killing them and himself in the process. We don't see as much of the Chemies reacting to the danger, though Spanner's primary Chemies appear steadfast in standing beside him. Houtaro is given a pep talk by Kajiki and one of the more notable hosts - one who merged with a Chemy over positive synergy, not unbalanced negative emotion.

Spanner begins the transmutation, and is almost immediately interrupted by Houtaro punching him. Fighting ensues, including an all-out brawl, and Kamen Rider Valvarad has his Driver destroyed.

Sabimaru fits Houtaro's Chemy Card case with a proper security lock, this time. And after Spanner walked off to heal and possibly find himself again, Hopper1 and Nijigon wonder if Spanner will be back, worried for the young man.

(He does come back. Lachesis also dies. These things are related! But at least she went out affirming she was not a mere doll anymore.)

Gigist is defeated by Spanner's new resolve - and new form, as Kamen Rider Kurogane. Glion reappears to be the final villain, having attacked Minato and casually appeared in the Ichinose restaurant to reassert where things stand.

The final battle gives everyone something to do - from freezing Dread replicas to fighting summoned mute versions of the Dark Kings. Houtaro rides Golddash (motorcycle Chemy) into a literal giant rubiks cube in the sky to confront Glion one last time, asserting that humans, homunculi (like Clotho, passing away after burning herself out fighting Glion and reaching one last time for her sisters) and Chemies all have things in common, have lives and dreams and goals. That they all matter. (Hopper1 agrees.)

Glion asserts his anger against change and imperfection, seeing worth only in gold frozen in time. Thus, Glion and Houtaro fight once more, the latter shifting from form to form as Glion uses one last powerup to turn more and more Chemies to gold - starting with Nijigon. By this point he has a counterpart Dragon (Eldragon), and when the powers of both Dragons are combined he makes giant Dread replicas and starts turning the world at large to gold.

All the Chemies are whittled down, with Hopper1 and Steamliner being the last to defend Houtaro. But, when Houtaro is blasted... he moves again, the words of his mentors, allies, and former enemies reaching him and giving him strength.

Which is when he takes all that surface-deep gold Glion's been spreading around, and the Dread replicas and makes an entire new world out of the material. With his restored friends and first partners, Kamen Rider Gotchard punches Glion all the way to that new world, and the Chemies tag-team taking him down. At the last, Glion admits his respect for Houtaro's chemistry, just as Houtaro had said Glion was an incredible alchemist in his own right.

Glion dissolves to ash, and supposedly that's the end of his story - but for the Chemies, and Houtaro, and the Kitchen Ichinose Alliance, there is still much more to be done to integrate Chemies into the human world.

Sample Network Entry: 5-10 sentences of spoken/written monologue, not including narration. This sample should reflect the character's day-to-day behavior and a distinctive voice, and must be Barge setting specific. You are permitted to link a thread from the Test Drive Meme, as long as it's recent (within 3 months of application date) and in network style. [Need to request thread...]

Sample RP: TDM Thread (Prose); TDM Thread 2 (Network)

Special Notes: Anything else not covered here that you'd like us to know!
[]

Promptfill from Jukebox June! (Initial post here)

( Lachesis POV, post-series )
[OTHER PROMPTS!]

in the snow, the antlers (Lachesis POV, Lachesis and Atropos, post-series)

She never thought she'd return to the Ouroboros Realm. It wasn't her birthplace, not truly, but it was a place specifically associated with alchemy-
And yeah, where Geryon had disappeared. And, yeah, she'd given Minato passage there, but she hadn't stepped on that otherworldly ground herself. It was different.
But today was the anniversary of when their mission to prepare the Driver had begun. And now, she had a bit of a mission herself.
---
There was a fog over the land - patchy, in places, revealing glimpses of a blue sky, or a darkly-gleaming snake biting its tail. The base elements of Life itself resided here...
And one, small homunculus, sitting alone. Thought so.
When it came to their creator, their feelings these days were largely the opposite - but, particularly due to Kyoka's influence, she'd gotten a lot better at hearing out viewpoints that weren't her own.
"You know how he feels about you," Lachesis began, kneeling next to where her eldest sister sat.
Said sister spat on the dirt, glittering fragments of her alchemical artifact at her feet. "... I do now."
"But you still miss him. How he treated you." Out of them all, Atropos was the one he most appreciated - perhaps the circumstances behind her creation were the ones Geryon had most appreciated - but in the end, he'd still only seen her as a doll.
Which, naturally, had bitten him right in the ass, when he'd reasserted that viewpoint. Right when he could have gotten away with everything, started anew.
"I didn't understand what it meant. To not be the favorite."
Lachesis shifted a little, sitting closer to Atropos (who didn't seem to notice, or pretended not to).
"He wanted us different enough to work as leverage against each other, if needed. But in the end, to him we were the same."
"Disposable." Atropos growled, and internally Lachesis agreed wholeheartedly. She sure does understand now, that's for sure.
Still, Lachesis didn't immediately speak again; only look, one which the shorter Abyssalis Sister met slowly.

"... I wish I could only hate him."
"So do I," Lachesis said, taking herself by surprise. "I think Clotho does too."
But those words did have some sort of impact on Atropos; her shoulders relaxing ever so slightly.

"Ready to head back home?"
And, again to her surprise, Atropos did not say no, or even correct her.

parentheses, the antlers + spanner/minato (Spanner POV, post-episode 27)

"Wheel!"
"Not now," Kurogane Spanner murmured, one hand drifting to loosely hold MadWheel's card in his pocket.
"I need to do this." The other hand, he brought up to knock.
---
The juniors not understanding him, he could live with - they were kids, and he was pretty sure he was always going to think of them as younger than him, needing to be shielded from the worse truths of life, the ones they didn't discover for themselves firsthand anyway.
With Kyoka - Professor Kyoka - he'd learned slowly that he didn't need to rush making her understand how he felt, the things he did. He did feel that he didn't deserve her, sometimes.

But that wasn't the matter today. He needed to make sure Professor Minato - senpai - understood. To know that he did. Especially now that he was back.
---
The door opened without more than a single knock; Minato had been expecting him.
Spanner could feel his arm just holding position there. Before the voice inside him that pointed out every time he acted a fool could speak up, though, the other man stepped back, gesturing for him to come in.

Good. That was... that was good. "I should be holding the door," he said, even as he stepped inside.
"Please, leave me some things," Minato said - Spanner paid maximum attention to the faint smile on the older man's face - before shepherding the two of them to a familiar couch. Behind them, the door shut of what seemed its own accord.

Knowing Minato, it was a subtle sort of alchemy... or, perhaps, Spanner wasn't the only one who wanted to keep more than just an eye on the man.

"Thank you," Spanner said, and then his voice left him. I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I? Hell.
"I know you're not talking about how I acted as Dread," Minato said, a note of wry self-deprecation creeping into his voice. Spanner fought off a scowl.

"No - I - you, you went up against Geryon, unarmored."
Not unarmed, because that wouldn't have been the truth.

"I was there when I needed to be. For once," and there was no mistaking the self-hate in the older man's voice then.
Progress made, progress lost.

"Minato - Professor." There was a surge of strength in Spanner's voice, causing the other man to look at him, look up and truly look at him.

"You scared me. Seeing you do such a thing - even the right thing - at such risk to yourself, that scared me."

It was good they weren't sitting across from each other; it made it easier to reach out and, cautiously, rest a hand on the one that had been impaled in an older fight. Spanner watched as Minato didn't flinch.

"Minato. Senpai. You are one of the people I wanted to be strong for."

Where the professor hadn't pulled away at the touch, he did pull back at those words - at which point, entirely unexpected, MachWheel surged out of Spanner's pocket, de-Carding itself and rolling right over to Minato.

"Wheel! WheelMach Mach MachWheel!"

Even without knowing exactly what the Chemy was saying, the fury in its voice reached them both.

"... And you're why I came back. Why I resolved not to let my former master's words reach me anymore."

There wasn't much of anything more to be said after that - though to Spanner's relief, he wasn't the only one of them suddenly possessed with the strong need for a hug.

harbor, vienna teng + hotaro (Chemies Perspective, as of episode 39)

(Fun fact: the charactary used in Minato's name on the official cast list means 'harbor' and I think that's neat-)

If you had asked - as in, actually asked, such that you were speaking the same language as them and could understand any answer - why on earth the Chemies stayed at the Academy when they could probably just go anywhere and hide, live in a peace as free of malice as was possible on this planet, you'd receive a wealth of stories.

Not all of them had been born within these halls. Not all of them had even been made in Japan. All of them (barring two - and now three) had outlived their creators.

But the ones that had been made here considered this a home; the ones who had been brought here believed it to be shelter, better (in turns...) than the places that had raised them. And those who had come here of their own accord - they had the other Chemies to protect.

And now, with the youngest alchemists declaring they would protect the Chemies in turn, nothing short of the cessation of existence itself could pry them out of their place in the world.

never look away, vienna teng + Sabimaru&Renge (Sabi POV, pre-episode 27)

Alchemy spells, Tsuruhara Sabimaru had learned, were meant to be said aloud. It helped channel the flow of energy.

Much to his relief, it turned out he didn't have to shout the spells, and Isaac's presence did not derange any of them either. It had saved his friends more than once.

Combat alchemy, however, required that one did not speak at all. Logically, then, he should be better at it than regular spells.

But-

"Hiyah! C'mon, Sabi, you're doing great! Isn't this fun?"

Launching another deactivated charger, Ichou Renge smashed through her fifth target of the day - and Sabimaru was only on his second.

"We're not doing this for fun, Renge," Isaac reminded her, as Sabimaru sought to hold another piece of junk without using words.

And sure, she was right, but he was right too; they were doing this to get better as alchemists and seniors, to do their part in protecting the innocent and their friends, to stop Malgams and free Chemies. To stand up to Geryon.

He needed this little garbage can lid to move as part of that, that was all.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to make himself relax. To see the target like his friend probably did: a goal, something harmless, a benchmark to tell how they were doing.

Bonk!

Opening his eyes, he stared in bafflement at a dented target. "How'dya managed that one, Sabi?" Renge asked, about as surprised as him.

"... I think I need to try this another way." He wasn't going to give up - absolutely not! - but with a result like that, clearly he needed a new approach.

"Renge, what do you think of, when you're using combat alchemy? Why you're doing it, or something else?"

He'd said it aloud, not through Isaac, but Renge clearly had no difficulty hearing him: "It's not really thinking. It's more... feeling? That I know you're at my side, that the enemy is in front, and that what I'm movin' is only gonna hit them!"

... Now he felt a little like an idiot; that explanation was quite straightfoward, really. "Thanks, Renge!"

With another breath, and not letting himself close his eyes this time, he affirmed those truths for himself. My friends - my partner - are beside me. The threat is ahead of me. And I'm going to hit-

BOOM!

Them! Even with his eyes open, the demolished target ahead of him was a hell of a sight.

"Woohoo! Now let's keep at it!"

"You're on, Renge." He smiled, and he knew his partner was too.

The core alchemists are working on a potion/spell combination to change someone's species (basically reverse-engineering whatever it was X Wizard did, but for people with lesser power levels).

Only, when they first try changing a Chemy to human, Steamliner and Hopper1 interrupt and derange the spell!

The result? They are now cats. Torn between just waiting for the change to wear off, and trying to research a way to plain old reverse it, at least the alchemists can be entertained by EVEN CUTER shenanigans starring our favorite Chemies!

Thoughts:
Hopper1: some kind of tortoiseshell? Siamese? Mostly light-colored, with darker markings on the head where the antennae normally are. Very talkative, still always wants to see what people are doing... Also very sad over not having wings anymore. Can jump, but has no hunting instinct. "Pet me, Houtaro!!"
Steamliner: A fluffy black cat (with some grey/white underbelly?). Tiny meow, big presence. A very clever shadow who both follows you everywhere and somehow fails to be actually underfoot when doing so. Cannot jump normally for a cat to save its life, but can climb well and does not appear to have any trouble adjusting to its new limbs. "Hopper1 no, don't do it!"

Shenanigans: Hopper1 climbs a (fake) Christmas tree, only for the tree to immediately fall over. Steamliner panics and goes to get its humans, who extract the silly cat-Chemy and make sure Hopper1 is okay.
One day, tired of not being in the spotlight, Steamliner crafts a glider-and-harness and jumps down from Kitchen Ichinose's roof. It is a success, but gets the cat-train barred from leaving the house for a whole week afterwards.
(Hopper1 is forbidden from trying the glider out for itself, much to its disappointment.)
Video compilation of Steamliner and Hopper1 trying to get a toy, only for one of the unchanged Chemies to intercept and run off with the prize instead.

Bath time? Neither Chemy has an issue. Vacuums? They are chill. But going to the vet?
Hopper1 just sees it as a time for treats; Steamliner practically disappears whenever the idea of visiting the vet is voiced.