Within a forest, there was a short girl with dark brown hair with a large ponytail tied with a white ribbon was seen lying down unconscious on a patch of grass. The girl let out a small groan before slowly opening her eyes as she rose her head up and looked around her new surroundings. Her name is Asuka.
"W-Where am I?" She asked herself out loud as she brought herself up. She walked through the forest as she couldn't help but notice the tall and thick trees and vines all over the place. However, one of the things she noticed was the strange looking purple fruit attached to the vines. She ignored the fruit as she continued wondering around until she came across a large field and she was surprised by the view in front of her.
It looked like a war was about to begin. She could see there were three different factions upon the field and she was able to get a good look at the people leading the army. The first one she noticed was a blue armored warrior with orange-themed armor that made him look like a samurai. He had a crescent-like head crest, as well as the visor resembling an orange slice. He wore a black belt buckle with a knife-like switch with the 'fruit' sliced open. He carried a katana-gun hybrid weapon, and in one his hands was a sword that greatly resembled an orange slice. The horse that he was riding maintained his balance. Meanwhile, there was an army of insect-like gray monsters with blue highlights.
She then looked towards the second army, and she saw another armored warrior on his bike. He was mostly red and white, having a similar design to his enemy but looked more like a medieval European knight, and his armor also resembled a banana. Even the eyes, torso, and the side horns were yellow; emphasizing the fruit theme. Behind him was an army of the same creatures but had red highlights and another armored warrior behind him. He was brown colored armor warrior, and his armor was in the theme of an acorn. There were also troops piloting watermelon-like aircraft.
Asuka then noticed the last army, there was the same monster as the other two but with green highlights and among them were large naginata-carrying samurai-like mecha, which seemed to be the other mode of the watermelon-like aircraft. In front of that army was a shielded white samurai-like warrior with a white bodysuit. He wore green melon-themed armor, a light green visor, and a stag-like head crest.
Beside him was a gun-wielding green warrior with grape-themed armor, with purple compound eyes.
Asuka then noticed how the orange-themed samurai was looking towards her direction. At first, she didn't know what to say until she heard footsteps behind her. She turned behind her and was shocked by who it was behind her.
It was her…Or at least someone that looked like her.
Asuka saw a girl with the similar facial feature as her but her hair was blonde and she was in a white dress wearing some kind of silver necklace. Her skin was pale, and one of her eyes was red.
Asuka focused her attention back to the battle as she saw the blue-orange warrior roared, signaling his forces to attack. He soon charged himself and the red forces then charged next as the red warrior took the lead. Then the white and green warriors stood up, ready for the battle.
The blue and red forces begin firing at each other as they continued their charge at one another.
She saw the green army was watching along with its armored warriors as the Orange and Banana Warrior charged at each other…Only for Asuka's eyes to suddenly open as she fell out of bed.
"Owie…" She said as she slowly got up and rubbed her head. "Wow…So that was all just a dream?" She asked herself as she was curious about that dream. Just as she thought she looked at her alarm clock when she saw the time she let out a shriek.
"Ahhh!" Asuka shrieked as she began rushing through her stuff to find some clothes.
"Aw man, I'm going to be so late for the boat!" Asuka said as she finally got properly dress and headed out. Thankfully Asuka was able to make it to the ship at the time she was enjoying the trip back home. Once she was able to see her city, she smiled brightly.
"Wow, I can't believe I'm finally home! The city looks prettier than I remember." Asuka said with delight as she leaned on the railing of the boat she was on. She enjoyed the feel of the breeze on her face. She was excited to be back home and to continue her ninja training at Hanzo Academy.
The smile on her face remained a bit until she heard a voice speaking up.
"So, you're from here huh?" Asuka turned her head towards the voice and saw a girl about her age. She had tanned skin, and her dark brown hair is tied in a long ponytail with a white ribbon, the ends of the ribbon standing straight up. She also wore an all-black sailor fuku with red trim. "Since you said you're back home, I'm guessing you're from here?"
A slightly embarrassed expression appeared across Asuka's face. She chuckled lightly as she scratched the side of her cheek. "Was I that loud?" She sheepishly asked as she didn't even notice that.
The other girl merely smirked before responding. "Well I don't think the whole boat heard you, but I definitely did."
Asuka completely turned her body with a light pink blush of embarrassment. "A-Ah I'm so sorry! It's just that I was going to school and I really loved it but something happened, and I had to leave for a bit…" Asuka realized that she was babbling on and she lowered her head. "I'm sorry, I'll shut up now."
The other girl could only chuckle at Asuka before turning around and walk away. "Well, you're an interesting one."
Asuka rose her head as she heard this, tilting her head slightly. "I am?" Asuka asked, but the girl merely waved goodbye. After her encounter with that girl, the boat had finally reached the dock, and Asuka soon left with excitement. She was wandering through the streets of her city as she noticed that some things have changed since the last time she was hearing. Throughout the city, Asuka saw various signs, ads, and transportation all with the same company name.
"Yggdrasil…" Asuka said as she remembered the name before she left; however, she didn't remember it becoming this large. "Wow…I thought they just owned that huge tower; I didn't think they would become a bigger corporation."
"HELLO~! Everybody!" A voice boomed throughout the city. Asuka's entire body flinched at the sudden voice as she looked behind her. She saw a tall building with a large screen that showed a middle-aged man with a polka dot shirt with various logos and wristbands and a watch on his wrist. He wore a pair of goggles and headband on his head, and a headphone wrapped around his neck.
"Well, that's new…" She muttered to herself as she continued to watch.
"It's DJ Sagara coming to you live!" He excitedly said before continuing. "This goes out to all the Beat Riders that's been participating in the Inves Game!"
"Inves Game?" Asuka repeated as she tilted her head a bit. She didn't recognize a game that was called that, maybe it was something that occurred while she was gone.
"The Inves Games have so many groups, but only one can claim the most territory for themselves! Now the only way to show which group is the best, they gotta use one of these babies!" DJ Sagara stated as he brought out two different lock-shaped objects, but they both resembled fruits. "As for which team is the best so far, it seems like Team Baron managed to keep their number one rank on the chart."
"Huh…I wonder if I'll see an Inves Game going on in person." Asuka asked herself until she quickly realized that she was wasting time. "O-Oh no! I'm going to be late!" She cried out as she then rushed as fast as she can to her school. However, the moment Asuka left, DJ Sagara announced a major Inves Game that was about to take place in a certain school.
Asuka had reached the school gate, and she was about to head towards her classroom until she saw something that caught her attention. She saw students gathering around as if they were about to watch something that was about to happen. For some reason, she couldn't help but walk over to see what was going on. She made her way through the crowd and saw what everyone was getting excited about.
There were two different groups of boys that looked like they were about to fight. On the right side, there was a young boy with white hair with the traditional National Hanzo Academy male uniform. Behind him was a small group of students behind him.
On the left side was another student with black hair. He was wearing the Hanzo Academy's uniform as well. Behind him was another small group of students.
Asuka noticed something, their uniforms had the logo of Hanzo Academy, but they each had a logo stitched onto their uniform that she wasn't able to recognize.
"Heh, I think it's about time that Team Baron takes Hanzo Academy as their territory. So your little team Gaim should give it up while they can, Yuuya."
Yuuya frowned as he tightens his grip. "Sorry, but I won't let Team Baron think they can push everyone around. If you want to claim this territory, then you have to take it by force, Zack!"
Both of them brought out their Lockseed before activating it, causing a zipper-like portal to open up as a holographic ring appeared. Two insect-like gray monsters emerged from the portal, everyone cheered at the sight of the Inves Games, while Asuka could only stare in shock at the familiar looking creatures.
'N-No way! Those look like the monsters from my dream!' She thought to herself as she decided to watch the battle to see what happens.
Both of the Inves began fighting each other as the students cheered loudly at sight. Yuuya and Zack held their Lockseeds tightly as they watched the fight going on but unbeknownst to them, there was a young man in the distance with the same logo as Zack. He grinned to himself as he brought out a slingshot with a metal piece as he aimed it at the leader of Team Gaim. He pulled the slingshot back before firing it as the metallic piece hit Yuuya's hand.
Yuuya let out a small wince as he dropped the Lockseed. Everyone became silent as one of the Inves stopped attacking and broke through the holographic ring. The Inves no longer looked holographic as it looked to be a creature of flesh before opening its mouth to let out a roar.
All the students began to panic as they tried to run away from the Inves. Most of them shoved and pushed each other away to get as far as possible. Yuuya tried to retrieve the Lockseed, but the scared crowd kicked the Lockseed away from his grasp, meanwhile, Asuka couldn't help but mix in the panic crowd but was pushed down as people ran past her.
Asuka let out a small groan as she rubbed her head, opening her eyes as they widen with shock. The Inves jumped in front of her as it was about to attack her but before it could reach her, a male student ran in front of her as he hit the Inves with his backpack, sending it flying away. The student quickly turned towards Yuuya.
"Yuuya!"
"Got it!" Yuuya shouted as he finally grabbed the Lockseed as he activated it, causing the zipper portal to open. The Inves stood back up before jumping inside the portal as it closed. Everyone began to calm down, but a loud blare was heard as all of the students turned towards Team Baron.
Zack could only smirk as he activated his Lockseed, opening the portal as the Inves jumped into it. "Since you dropped your Lockseed that means Baron had won, doesn't it?"
Yuuya and the rest of team Gaim frowned at their taunts, but before they can say anything, a voice shouted at them.
"All of you students get back to class! Hanzo Academy is no place to have your childish Inves games!" One of the teachers shouted as most of the students started making their way to class.
The young man that helped Asuka let out a sigh as he rubbed the back of his head. "Honestly," He muttered before turning towards Asuka and offering her his hand. "Are you okay?"
Asuka looked up at him before nodding her head as she extended her hand towards him. "Y-Yeah, thank you."
The student gave Asuka a kind smile. "No problem, my name is Kouta Kazuraba."
Asuka's entire body suddenly flinched, she was supposed to keep her identity and existence a secret from the regular students in this school. She couldn't risk exposing her name out in public like this. "U-Umm….M-My name is…"
"Hey, the two of you! Get back to class!" One of the teachers called out, causing Asuka to sigh in relief as she mentally wasn't prepared for this situation.
"Well, looks like I gotta go," Kouta said. "I hope to see ya again!" He said as he rushed off to join Yuuya and the other group of kids.
Asuka watched as they went off to the academy before making her way towards the "back entrance" of the school for Shinobi. She snuck herself into a traditional tea room as she looked around before going into a gap, revealing to be a hidden door that took her to another room. Asuka saw different students on a table as they all stared at her with various expression.
Asuka could only chuckle nervously as she scratched the back of her head. "Hehe…I guess you all saw that huh?"
The first girl is a fifteen-year-old with neck length pink hair tied in two short pigtails, held together by three black bows and two holding said pigtails while one is placed on her head to give her more of an adorable look. She has sky blue eyes with pink cross-shaped hues, which would often raise a lot of questions to people wondering if she was born that way. This is one of the first year students, Hibari.
The other girl beside Hibari is also a fifteen-year-old with long white hair tied in pigtails held by black shuriken-like bows, wore a brown eye patch over her right eye that had a black ribbon, and the left eye is red. She wore a calm demeanor that made it impossible for anyone to tell what she's thinking, or even wonders if she's thinking at all. This is another first-year student, Yagyuu.
The third girl is a seventeen-year-old with long blond hair who has a blue ribbon tied on top of her head and green eyes. This is Katsuragi.
And the last girl is an eighteen-year-old with long, flowing black hair in a home-style and blue eyes. She has a blue band on her upper left arm with the Hanzo Academy symbol on it. This is another third-year student and class president, Ikaruga.
Ikaruga could only let out a sigh before speaking up. "What happened today was quite unfortunate but let's hope that boy will forget about your existence in due time."
"Heh, I doubt that~" Katsuragi spoke up, grinning before rushing behind Asuka and groping the younger girl's breast. "There's no way any guy would forget a pair of lovely melons like these ~."
"Kyaahhh!" Asuka shirked before managing to pull herself away from the blonde, who smirked and chuckled. "Geez, why do you have to do something like that?"
"Hehehe…" The blonde giggled as her hands were preparing themselves to grope once more. "Aww come on~ I gotta punish you for getting yourself exposed like that."
Asuka couldn't help but shiver a bit from the gaze she was receiving from Katsuragi, but a dejected expression was seen across her face. "I'm sorry, I…I just couldn't help but wonder what the Inves games were all about."
"Why would you want to know about a silly game like that?" Yagyuu asked as she looked towards Asuka, eating a squid tentacle.
Hibari nodded her head in agreement. "Y-Yeah, why would you wanna know about a game with scary monsters?"
Asuka couldn't help but reAsukan silent as she was debating whether she should tell her friends about the dream she had about the armored warriors and the Inves. If she told them, then they would definitely think that she's crazy. 'Oh…What do I do?'
"Asuka?" Ikaruga called out, causing her to snap out of her thoughts.
"Huh?"
"We asked you why you want to know about the Inves games?"
"O-Oh…W-Well I was just wondering since this whole Inves game is something I'd never seen before." Asuka nervously explained.
The rest of her friends looked at each other for a bit, but then, out of nowhere, a smoke bomb exploded. When the smoke faded there was now a man in the room, he is an older man with gray wavy hair and auburn colored eyes and is wearing an all-black suit; this was their teacher named Kiriya.
Kiriya smiled as he looked at his students. "Good morning class, is everyone ready for today's lesson?"
Asuka and her classmates bowed their head. "Good morning sensei." They all greeted.
"Asuka…" Kiriya called out, causing her to straighten up.
"Y-Yes, sir?"
"So I heard you wish to know about the Inves games," Kiriya said.
"E-Eh?" Asuka nervously said as she couldn't help but let out a sheepish chuckle as she scratched her cheek. "So you head that huh?"
Kiriya chuckled lightly before speaking up. "I did, I also heard the incident that took place earlier. I had to ask a friend of mine to give you a chance to leave."
"S-Sorry…"
"Now, now, it's nothing to apologize about. Anyways, the Inves game is something that popped up out of nowhere a few years ago," Kiriya explained, earning his student's attention before continuing. "It became something quite large in just a few days; teams were even formed from this game. An example would be the two teams that are in this school, Team Baron and Team Gaim."
"Ugh…Team Baron." Katsuragi groaned, earning Asuka's attention.
"Katsuragi, you know them?" Asuka asked.
"Eh, I don't know them personally. I've just seen them in the park a couple of times, and their leader keeps bragging about how Team Baron is the strongest." Katsuragi explained. "Compared to us, his team isn't all that."
Another thought came into Asuka's head as she turned to her sensei. "Umm, Kiriya-sensei, what about the Lockseeds? Where do they come from?"
A small frown appeared on Kiriya's face, which was noticed by his students. "Unfortunately, I'm not so certain where or how they're made. The only idea we have is one salesman that sells the Lockseed to the teams, he goes by the name Sid but were unable to learn more."
"I'm a bit surprised to hear that, Sensei," Ikaruga spoke up. "I'd figured there must be at least some information on the origin of the Lockseeds."
"Usually when something like that pops up, we can obtain every information that we can get. However, whoever is behind the Inves Game and Lockseed, surely knows how to cover their tracks." Kiriya explained before clearing his throat. "Now, I think that's enough talk about the subject. It's time for us to get to work."
"Right, Sensei!"
The school day had ended, and the girls were now on their way to complete a mission that they've received from their sensei to handle some punks that have been terrorizing the shopping district.
Katsuragi had let out a sigh as she walked beside her friends. "Man, I still can't believe we have to deal with those punks, I mean they will be beaten easily by us. I wished we had been given a cooler mission than dealing with punks. Like at least escorting a VIP or infiltrating an embassy to get some info."
"I doubt there would be anyone to hire us for dangerous missions when there's more qualified shinobi," Ikaruga spoke up. "Especially given the fact we're still a bunch of High school students."
"I guess you're right about that," Katsuragi admitted. "But if there are some many then why do we have to deal with them?"
"And how are we going to fight them in a public place?" Asuka asked as she looked around the marketplace. "More importantly, how are we going to find them? We can't exactly expose ourselves as Shinobi."
Ikaruga immediately stopped, while the others stopped as well. Ikaruga placed her hand underneath her chin as she began pondering. "Well, I suppose it would be best for us to split up to find the punks." She then turned to the others. "I want each of you to go to search around the rest of the shopping area if you find the punks then be sure to call us immediately."
They all nodded their head in agreement before spreading out to find the punks quicker.
Meanwhile, on top of a rooftop was a black-haired man wearing a black coat and pants with a grey button-down shirt underneath. He was looking at the city beneath him, but he was able to keep his focus on the shinobis that hid with the crowd.
"Perhaps it's about time to show them your newly acquired power, wouldn't you agree?"
He asked out loud as another male figure stood behind him with a Sengoku driver around his waist while holding a Lockseed that resembled a red apple. The mysterious figure clenched the Lockseed before turning around and walking away.
The man could only laugh as he slowly raised his arms. "Rejoice, everyone. Once the game begins, I shall become a god and save all of you." Those were his last words before his entire body became a red light and vanished from his spot.
The Hanzo's Academy students began their search for the punks. Ikaruga searched the marketplace but sadly had no luck. While with Katsuragi searched around an amusement park but had no luck either. Meanwhile, Asuka was searching at the Sensō-Ji temple.
As Asuka looked around, she couldn't help but let out a sigh. "I don't see any signs of those punks anyway…" She muttered to herself. As she looked around once more, but her eyes widen as she saw someone she didn't expect to see. It was that girl from the dream that looked exactly like her, standing there among the crowd as everyone just walked by her as if she wasn't even there. The girl began walking away, and Asuka didn't know why but she started following the mysterious girl as she walked past the crowd. Asuka did her best to follow the girl, but despite her shinobi training, she wasn't able to catch up with the look-a-like.
"N-No way…How did I lose her?" Asuka whined as she looked around, finding herself in a warehouse district as she looked around until she came across something strange. In the corner of one of the warehouse, strange plants were growing, and a zipper portal was opened behind those plants.
"What are these things?" Asuka asked herself out loud as she bends down to examine the plants. She'd never seen plants like these before but for some reason...they had a special allure to them.
"Isn't that an Inves portal?" Kouta asked as he bends down beside Asuka.
"Ah, now that you mention it, it does look like the portal those things came out of…" It took Asuka a few moments to process what happened before letting out a surprised gasp as she fell on her butt by the sudden appearance of the student.
She looked up and was surprised to see who had approached her. "Ah! You're Kouta, right?"
Kouta gave her a nod and a smile, standing back up before speaking up. "Yeah, but I don't think you gave me your name." Kouta pointed out as he extended his hand towards her.
"Oh…That's right…" Asuka mentally sighed as she didn't have a chance of escaping without him noticing, plus, she couldn't leave the strange area without inspecting it first. Asuka figured it might not hurt for him to know her name. She smiled at him. "My name is Asuka." She replied as she took his hand and got back up.
Both their attention then went towards the mysterious portal that was in front of them.
"Where do you think this leads to?" he asked out loud as he walked into the portal to see where it goes.
"Wait!" Asuka protested but joined in with him anyway.
They've both entered a strange forest, that is filled with trees and vines, with purple fruits growing out of them. They walked around for a bit, and Asuka couldn't help but frown slightly. This place looked exactly like where her dream took place, with the trees and even the weird looking fruits.
"Where do you think we are?" Kouta asked her.
"I…I don't know," Asuka replied. While she kinda visited this place before, she wasn't exactly sure what this place was.
"Hey, Kouta, can I ask you something?"
"Hm? What is it?"
"What were you doing at the warehouse in the first place?" Asuka asked, wondering why he was there in the first place.
"Ah, my friend, Yuuya texted me that he'd got something good and he wanted me to meet him. But, when I came to meet him, I wasn't able to find him, so I went looking around, and I saw you." Kouta explained as he turned towards her. "If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing there?"
Asuka's body flinched at the mention of the question, not exactly sure how to answer. However, she saw something that caused her to pulled Kouta with her behind a tree, "H-Hey! What was that for?" he asked.
Asuka shushed him, "Shh, look." she pointed to where she's seeing. Kouta looked into her direction and couldn't believe his eyes.
"Aren't those Inves?"
Elsewhere
As Ikaruga and the others were looking for the punks, Hibari and Yagyu were the first one to find them. Soon Ikaruga and Katsuragi joined them as they all took care of the punks while Hibari made sure no one would bother them.
Katsuragi dusted her hands off as she and Ikaruga stood over the unconscious forms of the punks. "Man, I didn't even break a sweat against these guys."
"I wonder why Asuka never showed up." Ikaruga wondered as she looked around.
The blonde sighed. "Right? Just what are we going to do with that girl-"
Katsuragi stopped when she noticed the punks suddenly begin to rise to their feet almost like zombies, a dark aura surrounding each of them. They discarded their bats and pipes and pulled out swords or shinais instead.
Both Katsuragi and Ikaruga jumped back with looks of shock and surprise. "How can they get back up after we beat the crap out of them?"
"It looks like we're in over our head with this mission," Ikaruga added.
"Wait, you guys!" The others turned to see Hibari running towards them with her school uniform back on and looking worried.
Yagyu, who was still perched on the roof, looked surprised. "What is it, Hibari?"
"It sounds crazy, but those guys are soulless!" Hibari warned.
Katsuragi turned back towards her with confusion. "Soulless?"
On the roof of another building, a girl was overlooking the street where the confrontation was taking place. She had blonde hair that was curled at the ends with a large pink bow at the top and green eyes.
"She might not be the brightest, but she is quick-witted." She focused her gaze down towards Hibari and licked her lips with a smile. "She'll definitely be fun for me to take."
The girl snapped her fingers, and all hell seemed to break loose. Almost instantly, the entire area, perhaps even the entire city, turned a dark shade of purple.
Katsuragi looked around in shock. "No way! You gotta be kiddin me!"
Ikaruga's eyes widened. "This is a shinobi kekkai!"
Yagyu jumped down to join the others with her attention on the thugs. "I knew there was something off about this punks."
"They're shinobi too." Katsuragi pointed out.
"Then I guess we can't hold ourselves back anymore." Ikaruga said as she witnessed the dark aura surrounding the 'punks' flare up.
Katsuragi grinned excitedly. "All right, it's time for an ass-kicking!"
"Sensei might get pissed, but we have no choice." Ikaruga's eyes narrowed as she and the others made different signs with their hands.
"Shinobi Transformation!"
The girls' bodies then began to glow, and their clothes began to change. Ikaruga's new attire consisted of a white gold-trimmed jacket with six buttons and a few golden tassels strewed across. A Hanzō Academy armband was pinned to her upper left arm; her outfit came with a short gold-trimmed skirt and white gold-trimmed boots accentuated by black tights underneath. She also wielded a katana in her hands.
Katsuragi's attire somewhat remained the same. She still wore her Hanzō Acadamy shirt; only it was unbuttoned to reveal most of her underneath; particularly her breasts. Along with a blue plaid skirt, she wore long socks under her signature weapon, which was black and gold metal boots adorned with blue tassels on either side.
Yagyu now wore a pale brown jacket over a white school shirt, a red plaid skirt, brown loafers, and calf-high black stockings. Around he shoulders was a black mantle with a triangle design along the trim and two extended tails while also brandishing her oilpaper umbrella like a weapon.
Finally, Hibari's outfit changed to a light pink track jacket with the Hanzō emblem on the left chest area, dark blue bloomers, black socks with white sneakers.
The four got into their fighting stances and prepared as the thugs all charged at once.
The girl from the rooftop licked her lips as she watched the fighting take place. "Well, now things are getting fun." Her eyes soon narrowed as she looked towards another direction. "Now what is this? An uninvited guest?"
One of the thugs raised his shinai and brought it down towards Hibari, but the girl was able to counter by ducking out of the way before grabbing the delinquent by his arm and tossing him to the ground behind her.
Hibari then turned and gasped when she saw yet another thug swing his sword towards her. She jumped back, only to bounce off the edge of the Shinobi Barrier that had been set up around them. But then, just as the same thug attempted to attack Hibari again, Yagyu jumped in front of her and opened her umbrella, completely blocking the strike and blowing the thug back in the process.
Yagyu took advantage of this as she pulled out a katana from the handle of her umbrella and slashed the large thug. Dark mist oozed from the cut before the body broke down, revealing the thug to be made from wood.
Katsuragi launched her leg at the nearest thug in a high kick, only for him to duck his head to the side and swing his shinai at her. The blonde managed to kick the weapon out of hands before kicking the thug in the chest and send him flying. Another thug tried to strike Ikaruga, but she quickly defended block the sword with her katana and slashed the thug.
The two defeated thugs revealed to be wooden puppets as their bodies fell in front of Katsuragi and Ikaruga. The two looked at the fallen puppets with a slight look of surprised.
"They were wooden puppets?" Ikaruga asked out loud. "How can that be?"
"Who cares, we took care of them," Katsuragi commented. "Still, I can't believe Asuka still hasn't shown up."
At that moment, footsteps could be heard approaching the four girls from behind. Assuming that they belonged to Asuka, the four turned around to face the source of the footsteps.
"Speak of the devil!" Katsuragi exclaimed. "Asuka, where the hell have you be-"
She stopped. It wasn't Asuka.
Instead, it was a red armored figure with a red chestpiece which had two sharp points in front and spiked shoulder pads. The helmet has a red headpiece that had horns on both sides that resembled apple slices. On their left hand was a large shield with a handle sticking out.
The four shinobi could only watch the mysterious figure cautiously.
Ikaruga was the first to speak up. "Who are you?"
The red armored figure didn't reply right away, soon gripping the sword handle that stuck out the top with his right hand, the figure drew the Sword Bringer before pointing towards them. "Kamen Rider…Idunn." The figure spoke up in a distorted voice.
"Kamen Rider Idunn?" Katsuragi repeated as she narrowed her eyes at the armored figure.
Yagyu and Hibari stood beside Ikaruga and Katsuragi as they ready themselves.
"Ikaruga," Yagyu spoke up.
"I know," Ikaruga immediately replied. "He's something we never faced before but take caution."
They all nodded their head as they watch Idunn taking a few steps towards them before charging in. The others did the same as they prepared a battle with the unknown enemy.
With Asuka
"Aren't those... Inves?" Kouta asked quietly not wanting to get their attention.
Kouta and Asuka, behind a tree, saw a pair of Inves, but they were much larger compared to the miniature sized ones used in the Inves games. The blue one was observing some purple fruits while the red was eating another. The red stopped eating as it threw the fruit to the ground to see that it hasn't been eaten yet, which seems to be that it wasn't ripe yet. The blue one chowed down on one which means it was ripe.
"They look like it," Asuka replied quietly.
"Then this is an Inves nest?" Kouta asked as he walked around and spotted one of the purple fruits growing out of a tree. The fruit stem resembled the lock arms of Lockseeds, and the inner layer of it looks like lychee. And so Kouta plucked two out of the vines to observe them.
'They look pretty tasty…' Kouta thought as he was about to take a bite.
Asuka looked at Kouta to see what he's going to do, only for her eyes to widen when she felt something dangerous approaching.
A loud roar caused Asuka turned around, and Kouta broke out of his trance to look at a fully grown Inves, but this one was completely different. It was human-sized, has a resemblance of a tiger with red eyes, green skin upper body, and gray legs. It has a jade shell-like armor, has long sharp claws to the right hand and oriental markings on its body.
Kouta immediately grabbed Asuka's hand, "Asuka!" he shouted, and the two ran for their lives with the Byakko Inves in pursuit. They ran as fast as they can, but the beast was still behind them.
"This way!" Kouta exclaimed as they turned right and hid behind a tree, hoping to lose the monster.
After a moment Kouta looked out to see if its there or not, and it wasn't, "I think we lost it." he said, while Asuka looked as well while panting a bit.
They both got a second to rest, and Asuka noticed something on the ground. "Umm…Kouta, what is that?" Asuka asked, pointing as Kouta looked in her direction. He quickly recognizes that it was the same device that Yuuya wanted to show him.
Kouta walked over to it to pick it up and shows it to Asuka, "This is it, this is what Yuuya wanted to show me."
"So that means your friend went in here too?" Asuka wondered as she glanced around.
Kouta held up the device and held it near his waist. "It looks like some kinda belt buckle…" Kouta placed it on his waist, and when he did, he was surprised when a yellow belt formed around him, connecting him and the belt. Then a faceplate appeared on the blank side of it. It had an armored face with a crescent sword-like decoration on his forehead, a blue helmet, a rainbow-colored visor, and a steel mouth plate.
Kouta then looked at the fruits in his hand where they transformed into Lockseeds, an Orange Lockseed where it has the imprint 'LS-07,' and the Strawberry with the imprint 'LS-06.'
"Eeh?!" was the reaction of Kouta and Asuka when they saw the transformation.
"Aren't these Lockseeds?!" Kouta asked in surprise.
Asuka then looked around the forest, seeing the various fruits around them. "Does that mean…All of these fruits are..." she kept looking before a familiar face appeared before them, the Byakko Inves.
"It found us!" Asuka exclaimed as Kouta took her hand once more and the two ran away again.
Kouta and Asuka ran out through the portal where they came from, but unfortunately for them, the Byakko Inves was hot on their trail as it jumped through.
"Asuka, This way!" Kouta instructed as they ran through the warehouses. They kept on running and ran through a few obstacles, but they got through until they finally found a safe spot to hide.
They both sat down to take a breather with Asuka asking, "What the heck was that thing?! An Inves?!"
"I don't know..." Kouta muttered through his breaths; he looked to his Orange Lockseed before turning it at the back to see that it has an octagonal shape. He looked at his belt buckle in the middle and placed his thumb into it to see that it had an octagonal porthole that the Lockseed can fit into.
Meanwhile, Asuka was about to take her scroll out to fight against the monster, but she paused. 'A-Ah that's right, I can't expose myself as a Shinobi since Kouta is with me. But if I don't do anything, then this thing is going to kill us.' Asuka mentally argued to herself, but she soon snapped out of it when various beams were unleashed and almost hit them.
Kouta clenched his fists as he realized there was only one action to take. He looked back at Asuka.
"Asuka, when I draw his attention, I want you to run away from here as fast as you can," Kouta instructed not wanting her to get hurt. He may have just met her, but there was no way he was going to risk her getting hurt.
"Wait, what are you saying Kouta?!" Asuka asked in disbelief, while it was a heroic effort, it was also a stupid one at that.
"I'll be okay! Just go find help!" Kouta reassured her, "At this rate, both of us will die, and I won't let you get hurt!" he got up and ran out of cover.
"Kouta!" Asuka called out.
Kouta ran out of the alley to get the monster's attention, "Hey, this way you freak!" he shouted before he ran away, getting its attention, as it chased after him. Kouta was able to jump over a couple of barrels and a big crate before he ran again. He looked back to see the Inves was still in pursuit of him, running into through the obstacles that Kouta jumped over like it was nothing.
Kouta stopped to see that a fence blocked his path and looked back at the Inves and found a couple of pipes lying around, immediately grabbing one as the Inves caught up.
"Take this, you ugly-!" Kouta yelled as he swung it at the Inves, but it didn't even flinch by the attack. He tried again but was swatted away by its claw, and the monster struck his face, staggering him. It kicked him in the gut making him double over before it held him up high and threw him into a fence.
Kouta groaned in pain as he rolled on the ground, blood seeping out of the corner of his mouth. He struggled to get back up as he saw the Inves coming towards him slowly.
Asuka watched from the distance as she frowned at the sight. Kouta, a boy she just met, is protecting her. 'Kouta…Why are you going so far as to protect me? I know I can't expose myself as a shinobi, but I can't let him die from protecting me!' She was about to move her hand to her chest to bring out her scroll, but she immediately stops when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
Asuka's eyes widen as she turned around, only to meet with the person she'd been searching for. "I-It's you!" Right in front of Asuka was her blonde doppelganger. "I have so many questions to ask you, who are you? What is that forest? Why is it full of Lockseeds…"
"You can't interfere…You must let him fight."
Asuka could only stare in shock, hearing that she can't do anything to help Kouta. "W-What do you mean? He's going to die trying to protect me! I can't let him do that! Don't you care if he dies?!"
Asuka could have sworn she saw a saddened look on her doppelganger's face as she looks towards Kouta. "I do care…However, his fate will rely on his decision if he chooses to fight or not." The blonde girl turned towards Asuka. "I ask of you, please do not intervene in his fight…His fate depends on it."
Now a frown appeared on Asuka's lips as she turned towards Kouta, tightening her fists. "I…I get it…I won't get in the way." Asuka said as she turned towards the mysterious girl, only to see that she disappeared. Asuka wanted to question it, but she returned her gaze towards Kouta, bringing her hands together.
'Please be safe, Kouta…'
Meanwhile, Kouta soon touched his belt as an idea formed in his head, looking at the Orange Lockseed. He grunted as he brought himself back up, raising his right hand with the Lockseed and pressing the button on the side. The lock opened, and the orange glowed a bit.
"Orange!"
A zipper portal materialized above Kouta and opened in a circle. However, instead of an Inves, a giant metallic orange appeared. Kouta then inserted in the Orange Lockseed into the porthole of his belt and closed the lock before it shined again.
"Lock On!"
The belt made a horn sound like they used in the Sengoku period as the Byakko Inves stared at him. Kouta stared down at the belt.
"Now what?" Kouta asked before he noticed at the sword-like lever, "Do I use this?" he brought it down to the lock.
"Soiya!"
It sliced the front off of the Lockseed with the slice attached to it was hanging off of it. The inside of the slice had a picture of a katana with the blade resembling an orange slice.
And the orange sphere dropped on Kouta's head and landed on his shoulders. Then energy surged out of the orange and went through Koua's body, which coated him in armor. He had a blue bodysuit with golden bracers on his arms and legs. On the left side of his belt was a katana/gun hybrid weapon with the same octagonal porthole as his belt.
"Orange Arms! Hanamichi On Stage!"
"Eh, I'm an Orange now?" Kouta asked in confusion before his head was covered in a blue helmet with a silver mouthpiece, a dark gray visor, and a golden headdress on his forehead with a diamond through it which looks like a crescent katana. And his visor turned into an orange slice when it landed on his head along with an orange helmet. The orange sphere then dropped and formed, with the sides brought down in the form of shoulder pads, the chest plate with two black lines above it from left to right, and on his back was the top of the orange that folded back. And the sword that was on his sliced Lockseed was in his right hand.
"Huh?" Gaim asked looking at the orange blade in his hand before looking down at himself in bafflement, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!"
Asuka was speechless, normally she would be amazed at the sight of an armored hero but Kouta transformed into the samurai Asuka saw in her dream. She couldn't help but wonder what this all means, first the Inves, then the forest and now this? 'What else is going to show up from the dream?'
The Byakko Inves didn't seem fazed by the transformation as it jumped towards Kouta, which caught him off guard, and it grabbed him by the shoulders, smacking him with his clawed hand.
"Ow! That hurts!" Gaim yelled as he flipped it off his back making it land on its back. The rider looked at himself to see that he didn't take much damage. "Hey, can I take him on like this?" the Inves then chased him into a warehouse.
"Okay! Okay!" Gaim said as he raised his Daidaimaru up to block the incoming attack before he was slammed into a wall and blocked the Inves' attack again, "F-Fun's over! We can stop now!" Gaim then slashed him vertically through the chest with sparks flying out of it. And he did it again horizontally before he paused to see it still standing. Gaim backed away before being pushed into a couple of boxes and through some barrels and crates outside as he rolled over.
Gaim got up and thrust Daidaimaru again only to be swatted away to the floor, and the Byakko Inves grabbed the Armored Rider by the throat as it was about to slash Gaim, only to fail to notice the Rider placed his right hand on the Musou Saber.
"That's it!" Gaim exclaimed before he drew it out and slashed the Inves across the stomach and sparks flew out of his stomach. And Gaim slashed the Inves once more, causing it to stagger back as it gave Gaim a chance to grab Daidaimaru off the ground with his left hand.
Now with two swords, Gaim swung both swords before charging it while shouting, "I can do this!" He slashed it down two times from left to right and vertically with both blades before slashing downward.
The Inves stumbled backward before retreating with Gaim chasing after him.
"Hey, get back here!" Gaim shouted as he chased after it before he saw it jump at a great height, "Whoa, he jumped that?!" The Inves reached the top of a tower with the railing of the stairs and on to another and onto the balcony. It faced the Armored Rider again as its body glowed bright green before firing beams towards him but missed as they hit a couple of cars around him. The cars exploded, however, Gaim didn't take that much damage.
"Fine then, me too!" Gaim shouted as he jumped high, like the Inves, but he couldn't control his landing as he grabbed the railing instead and was hanging there. The Inves rushed towards him as he punched Gaim, causing Gaim to fall back to the ground to him and pushed him off with a punch and Gaim fell back to the ground as a gate fell on him and he kicked it off in frustration.
"Ow…Just you wait!" Gaim cried out as he looked around, seeing the stairs as he ran to it and ran up.
"Waiting's over!" Gaim shouted as he got there but got kicked on the sides and fell on the railings as the two resumed fighting each other. The Byakko Inves tackled him, pinning him down on the railings before Gaim looked at the yellow part of his Musou Saber that looks like a ring, "What's this?" he asked as he pulled it, making a sound as lighted dots appeared on the yellow part of the blade, shooting the Inves in the stomach. Sparks flew out as the Inves stumbled back.
"Whoa! That made me jump." Gaim said before looking at his sword and getting an idea. He pulled it again, making the lighted dots appeared once more and fired at the Inves multiple times before a click was heard. "Eh?!" Gaim was about to pull the ring once more, but he had to dodge an incoming attack from the Byakko Inves. He got into a self-defense position before he noticed a hole at the bottom of his Daidaimaru's hilt, soon looking at the Musou Saber's to see that it's the right size for it.
"Wait…Do these?" Gaim said with thought as he put the two blades together, connecting them both to form a double bladed naginata, "They do!" he exclaimed as he spun it slowly.
The Inves snarled as it charged at Gaim again, and he dodged his attacks before it ran up the stairs with Gaim in pursuit, "Quit running away!" Gaim shouted as he clashed his blades against the Inves' claw. However, the Inves was able to corner Gaim as it threw him off the railings by, landing back on the ground below.
Gaim groaned as he tried to get up before he felt a presence by the stairs. He looked up to see a girl in white clothing, a black belt, brown boots, a necklace, strawberry blond hair with a ponytail, and a red eye in her right socket. And strangely, she looked exactly like Asuka. Gaim was surprised and confused by her appearance, "Asuka?"
She ignored him before speaking. "Be warned…Your choice now will turn the course of fate."
"What are you talking about, Asuka?!" Gaim asked as he got back up.
She ignored him once more, "If you continue down this path," she said as she walked down the stairs, "Then there will be no turning back. You will have to fight until the bitter end." she got to the bottom, "Till the world is dyed in your image."
Gaim didn't know what to say; he wasn't exactly sure what she was saying. "Well..." he paused before he saw the Byakko Inves jumped down behind him and turned to it. And he got in front of 'Asuka' in a defensive position to protect her, "I still don't know much about this power…But if I have the chance to protect people, including you, with this power, then I'll keep fighting!"
'Asuka' sighed sadly as she placed her hand on his Orange Lockseed on his belt to press the button, removing it.
"Lock Off!"
"Huh?" Gaim asked as to wonder why did she remove the Lockseed from his belt. 'Asuka' simply showed it to him and placed it on his left hand. The Inves charged at them, But Gaim blocked his attack and slashed it off the building, making it crash into a bunch of boxes and barrels. And the Rider jumped off the building to land on his feet and faced 'Asuka' again, who was pointing towards his Musou Saber. He looked at the Porthole for the Lockseed as he placed it in and locked it.
"Lock On!"
"Like this?" he asked her, only to see her gone and out of sight.
"1, 10, 100, 1000!"
He looked to see the Inves getting up again as it threw the barrel off its body and let out a roar. It was ready to shoot its beams again, but Gaim was ready for it.
"Get ready," Gaim said readying himself to defend again, the Inves shot its beams, but Gaim deflected it with effort as he spun his combined weapons like a windmill. And the Inves was shocked to see that none of its attacks went through.
Gaim, with his Musou Saber glowing with energy, took a stance, "Take this!" he shouted as he slashed at the Inves with a couple of energy slices at it, trapping it inside in an energy force field that's in the shape of an orange with the green stem on top and Gaim spun his combined weapons to deliver the finishing blow.
"Orange Charge!"
Gaim gave a battle cry as he darted towards the Inves and slashed it in half along with the orange. And it exploded with a couple of orange slices flying out of it, thus defeating the monster at last.
And with that, Gaim took the Orange Lockseed of his Musou Saber and back onto his Driver where he locked it, folded it and turned back to normal with the armor disappearing. Kouta breathed out as he looked behind to see if it was real or not and looked down back at his hands as they were shaking, at what he experienced.
"Just…What was that?" Kouta muttered to himself. He soon looked up when he saw Asuka walking up towards him.
"A-Asuka?"
"Why would you do something so dangerous?!"
Kouta flinched a bit when he heard her. "S-Sorry, I just…"
"You…You shouldn't risk your life like that." She muttered before letting out a small sigh.
"I was reckless but…" He looked down as he removed the Orange Lockseed from his driver as he looked at the Lockseed. "I-I really transformed."
"Transformed?" Asuka repeated, however, she slowly began to realize the sun was slowly setting down. She mentally panicked as she realized she was away from her team for too long. "W-Well, Kouta, today was definitely a crazy one. I think I should head back to rest up." Asuka quickly lied before turning around and running off.
"R-Right…" Kouta then realized that he was late himself. "A-Ah, Sis! I gotta get back home as soon as possible!" He cried out as he rushed off back to his home.
Elsewhere
Sounds of metal clanging echoed throughout the shinobi kekkai, revealing it to Ikaruga and Idunn clashing their blades against one another. Their blades continued clashing against each other before they pushed each other back. Idunn's attention went towards Yagyu, who thrust her umbrella forward like a spear.
Idunn quickly countered by raising his shield to block the blow. He was pushed a bit back from the blow but quickly pushed Yagyu back with his shield and sent her flying. Hibari rushed to Yagyu's side as she helped her friend back up.
A battle cry was heard above him as Idunn looked up and noticed Katsuragi was already in the air, dropping down towards him, one of her gold boots pointed towards him.
Idunn rose his shield over his head to block the strike from Katsuragi's boot, colliding against each other. The ground beneath Idunn shattered from the powerful impact as Idunn held his ground.
Meanwhile, Ikaruga saw this opening and charged so fast that she almost looked like a blur, swinging her blade across Idunn's chest. Sparks flew out of Idunn's chest from the impact as he grunted in pain, losing his footing slightly as that gave Katsuragi an advantage to take.
Katsuragi shouted as she put more force into her kick, releasing a powerful gale that coated her entire body. Idunn struggled until his body could no longer hold her back as he was pushed into the ground and took Katsuragi's powerful kick. A dust cloud was created from it as Katsuragi jumped out of the cloud and returned to her team.
"Heh, looks like he wasn't so tough," Katsuragi smirked.
Meanwhile, Ikaruga couldn't help but narrow her eyes. 'Did we do it? There's no way an enemy would show up, only to be defeated so easily.'
"S-So did we win?" Hibari asked, but before anyone could answer her, a loud noise was heard.
"COME ON! RINGO SQUASH!"
Various glowing apples erupted from the dust cloud as it rushed towards the four shinobi. They quickly got out of the way as the glowing apples exploded upon contact with the ground, making them feel the searing heat from the explosion.
The dust cleared up, revealing Idunn as he brought his sword up and slashing it down as an energy blade was created, aiming towards Hibari.
"Ahh!" Hibari cried out as she couldn't avoid the attack in time. However, Yagyu jumped in front of Hibari and opened her umbrella to take the hit. The energy blade collided against Yagyu's umbrella as she did her best to hold it back but it was too much for her as both she and Hibari was sent flying back from the force.
Suddenly, Katsuragi charged out of the flames as she leaps into the air while pointing both of her feet outwardly. She begins spinning towards Idunn like a drill, releasing wind that coats her entire body. Following that, a dark green long-bodied dragon would revolve around her as she spun. "Take this!"
Idunn tossed his shield aside as he pushed the knife lever down three times. "COME ON! RINGO SPARKING!" Idunn leaped forward as he tucked one leg in while the other extended as red energy surrounded his body, red energy shaped apple appeared in front of his extended foot.
Both kicks collided with each other as it resulted in a powerful explosion with a black smoke appearing as the aftermath of that attack. Katsuragi erupted from the smoke screen but skidding against the floor; her tattered clothes show the sign of damage she took.
Idunn landed on his feet as he emerged from the smoke screen, but Ikaruga used her incredible speed to appear behind Idunn, her blade coated in a blue flame as she was about to deliver the final blow. However, before anything could be done, a strange portal appeared in front of her.
Ikaruga's eyes widen as she saw the portal in front of her, she was stuck in mid-air, and she couldn't avoid it. The flames on her blade died out as she entered the portal, bracing for impact as she hit the grassy ground beneath her. The portal closed up as the remaining Shinobi could only stare at shock by what just happened.
Katsuragi gritted her teeth as she clenched her fists, struggling to get back up. "Y-You bastard! What did you do to Ikaruga?!"
Yagyu and Hibari could only remain silent as they didn't know what to say. Although, Yagyu clenched the handle of her umbrella tightly before rushing towards Idunn to strike him down.
Sadly, Idunn remained there before jumping backward as another portal appeared behind him. The portal closed up as soon as he entered inside, leaving Yagyu to hit nothing but the air.
"No!" They all cried out, and at that moment, the shinobi kekkai began to disappear. The remaining shinobi had a look of disbelief on their face, seeing that not only did they lost the fight, but also lost a team member.
With Ikaruga
Ikaruga was cautiously wondering around the new area she found herself in. She could tell she was within a forest, but she's never seen a forest like this before. 'I can't let my guard down…The enemy made that portal appeared so I guess he can appear anytime he wants. I need to think of a plan…' Her thoughts broke when she noticed a purple fruit on one of the trees.
Ikaruga walked closer towards the fruit as she took a closer look at it. She couldn't help but feel a bit hungry at the sight of it, typical; her shinobi training would help her with the feeling, but the fruit had an allure that she couldn't ignore. She licked her lips as she was about to bite down on the fruit, only to regain her senses when her instinct kicked in.
She quickly turned around and saw that it was Idunn, bring down his sword as Ikaruga rose her blade to block the assault. However, the force was too much as it pushed Ikaruga back until she slammed against a nearby tree. She feels to the ground as she slowly began to lose consciousness before blacking out completely.
Idunn slowly made his way towards her as he was about to strike her down, only to stop when his gaze fell upon her sword. He froze at the sight of it, but his thoughts broke when he felt various shots against his chest, sparks flying out of his chest. Idunn grunted in pain as he looked up at the source of the attack, only to see a white armored figure. Idunn clenched his sword as a portal appeared behind him, and he quickly got through it, causing it to close.
The white armored figure walked towards Ikaruga, looking down at her before speaking softly. "Ikaruga?" The figure lowered himself as he picked her up bridal style before walking away to take her elsewhere.