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It would be funny if it was less embarrassing.
Foundation X is an interesting creature. Of course it is - it’s Sanjo’s damn baby. Organizations like Shocker were just too comically evil, but unholy experimentation was going out of fashion.
There’s a reason the genuinely well meaning fools are now known as the Showa scientists.
So he found people like him. Who didn’t care why , just that it was happening.
Or. Didn’t care who was funding them.
That was the case of the Kisaragis. Friendly, nice. Incredibly intelligent.
And Sanjo is many things, but one of them is observant.
They had a damn son, you see.
And he became Fourze .
Kamen Riders are just problems to be solved, in Sanjo’s mind. Far too many of those problems caused by the very organizations X funds. It’s not a badly organized operation, after all. That’s why such greats of the past fell so thoroughly. Too centralized , despite the god that ran them all. That’s why Neon was smart enough for Sanjo to follow her lead.
Fourze is a problem he’s been playing with since 2018.
The initial beginning of all the problems of his Another RideWatches. Some just… wouldn’t work, and the time reset? Absolutely no success.
So Sanjo deals with what he can control.
The former Fourze is scared of him, this time. Good. Sanjo isn’t sure what he wants, yet, squishing the man’s cheeks as he examines him.
“I wonder,” he says. “Are you human? You must be. It’s what makes Fourze run. And yet, you must not be. Space is too big for coincidences.”
He lowers his hand.
“W-what do you mean?” Fourze asks. Sanjo smiles.
“Your parents worked for us,” he says. “Accidents happen. They happen more when you turn to people with real money to fund you. Like us.”
“Okay,” Fourze says. “And?”
…God, it’s so hard to phase this man. The body control was fun, and it did a pretty good job, too…
But Sanjo despises repeating himself.
“People like us,” Sanjo says. “Don’t leave any stone unturned. Or any experiment unfinished.”
It’s not really about answers about his parents. Sure, finding out their son is just a little bit more genetically optimized for space travel is intriguing, so is th ever so slightly sped up healing.
Mostly, he’s just curious about the man himself.
Fourze is a little bit of an anomaly. Most of the time, even if they come out with a true victory, Sanjo could find a Rider in a crowd from the unique shadow over their face.
(Since that mess with Shin in the 90s, he’s even been able to predict it. It feels new. A blessing. A warning. Some kind of precognition.
He wishes he knew why that damn Zi-O kid scared him so much.)
Fourze is different.
It’s some cosmic (ha!) irony. Some of the few half decent people with X funding, who barely altered their son except secondhand.
Oops. Now here he is.
Sanjo doesn’t intend to keep him. He likes keeping it periodical.
Dissecting a living subject is hard, too, and the man deserves some recovery before Sanjo comes up with his next trick.
He almost even feels bad for this.
Kisaragi Gentaro is not fine. He’s just stubborn.
If he thinks too hard about any of it, it’s much worse. His stomach is half-open and sewn shut. Gentaro’s been injured enough times to know it was done badly. It hurts to breathe.
Standing… quickly fails. And he’s barely dressed.
Credit where credit is due, at least Sanjo left him on a table.
It could be worse, he tells himself as he drags himself to the wall. This is Sanjo. This is at least the fourth time he’s targeted Gentaro now. He’s almost getting used to it.
…Almost.
Gentaro sighs. His stuff is probably somewhere reachable. He also thinks he might need to get to a hospital.
…He really needs to find a way to stop this man before he breaks, doesn’t he?