NS: ALRIGHTY! It's time for my guy to shine!

UO: You see, this story here is a Gaiden for my own story. For those not familiar, my name is UnitedOsprey1991 and I write the Journeys of the Dreamers series.

NS: An underrated, still slightly rough-around-the-edges sorta story.

UO: Understatement, probably because of who I have with one of the characters. Anyway this little side project came about when I asked NS to help beta read Journeys. As a result, his ideas are gonna start showing up as soon as I get to Fantasia which is Chapter 16 of the second book, Nakama United. Anyway because of the sheer depth of the story we decided to do a gaiden focusing on his character when he's not interacting with my story directly.

NS: Just so. So yeah, this here is about a character I came up with awhile ago, using a little thing called the Worm CYOA. Those who know what that is will probably know where this is going. Those who don't? Prepare of unashamed OPness.

UO: (Tries to say something only to get slapped with a wet fish)

NS: NO SPOILERS!

UO: Sorry! So anyway, the events of this chapter will take place starting in Chapter 16 of Nakama United. We will reveal which chapter each ties into if you want to follow this story more than the main one. Again, the OC will be in the main story, this is for when he's on a different mission.

NS: Or in this case, before he even gets to the Guild.

UO: ALRIGHT! Let's Take Flight! (Studio explosion) Oh my god seriously, what the heck set it off this time?

NS: Sorry Osprey, but this is my stage now!

UO: Just start the show. OC is NSG's property, Fairy Tail is Hiro Mashima's blah blah about Pokemon blah blah Kamen Rider, you get the idea we're poor they're rich!

"Speech"
Thoughts
Text
Inner Dialogue
Belt/Phlebotinum/Super mode
Attack/Skill/Power/Magic

Chapter 1: Hit the Road

"-marks the third year since the infamous Golden Morning-"

*click*

"-Local hero Zenith has declined to shed light on the activities of her partner, the famous independent hero Foundation-"

*click*

"-Parahuman criminal activity is at an all-time low, but Parahuman Response Teams throughout the country are remaining vigilant. They've released no concrete reasoning as to why, but this reporter finds it likely that they're unwilling to let all their new technology go to waste, provided by-"

"Tch." A brown-haired man waved his hand, dismissing the holographic screen. "Three years and everyone's still going on about it."

Friedrich Holmgardt sat in his lab, poring over a mass of circuit-boards. Armored gauntlets covered his hands, tiny plasma torches beaming from the fingertips into the material. The circuits glowed mysteriously as he muttered nonsensical words to himself.

The torches cut out as he heard the doors hiss open. He glanced up, cringing as the lights suddenly brightened to full capacity. "Hey, uncle Freddy," sighed a young woman wearing sleek red power armor, "Still workin' on your stuff?"

He grunted, returning to his project.

"Take that as a yes, then," she said, smirking with some amusement, "People are still trying to get ahold of you, you know."

"So I saw," replied Friedrich, "Asking the same questions as every year. 'How'd you do it? Why didn't you try harder? Why didn't you do it sooner?' Feh. No thanks. I did my duty, that's all there is to it."

She patted him on the shoulder. "Yeah, I know. That's why I've been keeping them off your back."

"...Thanks, Kathy."

"It's fine. I didn't feel like putting up with 'em either, so I didn't. Isn't that what you taught me? Do what you want to be right."

He snorted, gathering up the parts on his desk and standing up. "Did I really say it like that? What a shitty teaching."

Kathy smiled, running a hand through her long, brown hair. "You've been better to me than he was," she told him softly.

The man looked up into a reflective, half-completed archway. A pair of eyes gazed back at him, divided down the middle each, half green, half blue, pupils mismatched. "It's been ten years," he said quietly, those mismatched eyes tightening at the corners, "Ten years ago, I woke up in your uncle's body, erasing his entire memory."

"Yeah," she agreed, "Looking back, it's hard to tell who was more scared."

"You had your uncle replaced with a stranger."

"Eh, he was always really distant anyway. You're the one who suddenly had to live in a strange house and take care of a kid."

There was a clunk and a small whine of energy as a slab of circuited metal slotted into the archway, the seam between them vanishing.

"...What have you been making, uncle Freddy?" asked Kathy. It wasn't an idle question, there was genuine, almost desperate curiosity in her voice. "Please. You've been so…I dunno, depressed, since you started building this thing."

For a moment, Friedrich remained silent, slotting more pieces into place. Finally, he said quietly, "It's an inter-universal portal, based off of Professor Haywire's tech."

Kathy's shoulders slumped. "You're...leaving?"

"Yeah. I am. Ever since Scion, I've had the feeling like there's nothing more I can do around here. Those guys," he tapped the side of his head, "Have been going on about reaching the end of the contract. I dunno. I just…feel like there's nothing left to be had here."

"What about me? I can't just leave behind all the people depending on me."

He shrugged lethargically. "Then stay. This portal's only meant to be one-way; I'm flinging myself out into the great unknown, looking for something new. If I feel like it, I can use Doorman. In the meantime, I've arranged for my money and the house to go to you. All my black-boxed tech will be given to Dragon, so don't be too surprised if she shows up."

The brunette hung her head. "If you feel like it, huh…? Ten years ago, that would've pissed me off. But…I know, that's just how you are." Her uncle stiffened as she wrapped her arms around him from behind. "I'll miss you."

"Yeah…I'll miss you too," he admitted, turning around, "Keep up the good fight, Zenith. Don't turn a blind eye to the evils of your fellow men and women."

She snorted. "Trying for formality, are you?" Her expression became somber as she pulled a red mask from her back. It extended out to wrap around her face, enclosing it in a helmet. "Goodbye, Foundation. The groundwork you've laid will be remembered."

Friedrich's clothing, a long blue coat and baggy black cargo pants with thick boots, melted into a silver fluid, reforming into various mechanical parts that slotted together into a silver suit of armor. A glowing pair of blue and green eyepieces were the only real feature of his blank helmet. "Thanks. I hope that I'll come back, one day…"

Behind him, a vortex of swirling energy flashed open, crackling and humming.

The two armored heroes watched each other for several long moments, simultaneously wanting to memorize this last sight and hoping their masks would hide their tears. Then, they both turned away, Friedrich towards his portal, Kathy towards the exit.

As he stepped through the glowing rift, there was a blinding flash of light and an ominous booming in the distance. When the flash dissipated, Friedrich was gone. One of the greatest heroes ever known to Earth Bet, vanished into the unknown void.

Unfortunately for him, the void was nowhere near as pleasant as he'd hoped. For as he stepped inside, the pull of gravity sucked him into the vastness. He would have screamed if he wasn't used to craziness that his old home had. He was more amazed at how quick he was being pulled through the infinite mass. One unfortunate aspect of his teleporter was that the device didn't have a way to set a destination. Or any real way for it to be tested.

Suddenly, he did scream as pain streaked throughout his entire body. The scream was joined by four others, from inside his mind, as the manifestation of his powers found themselves ravaged by interdimensional forces.

He- they -came apart, then back together, so many times he couldn't count, his armor shattering and blowing away into the ether. It felt like lightning striking him a million times a second. Then his body stretched thin as the gravity pulled him in a random direction. With a twinkle, he was pulled into a random pocket. The last thing he saw before blacking out was a weird red serpentine creature, roaring ferociously.

Unknown field, Fiore

With a boom and a swirling flash of light, Friedrich hit the ground with an "Oof!" of surprise, once more dressed in his long coat. He lay there, body aching and throbbing with residual shock. "I have…so many regrets…!"

He took a few minutes to recover from the harrowing experience he'd just had, then clambered to his feet. "Gghh…a'right Janus, where am I?"

There was no reply. Some faint lights flickered in his eyes, but other than that, his armor gave no reaction

"Janus? Aw, crap, that's not good." Without his armor, he was nothing more than an abnormally strong human with superpowers. "Aaah, great, now what? Any roads? Any towns? Any…anything?" He closed his eyes, feeling for the energy that flowed from his head down to the rest of his body…only to wince. "Ow, shit! Oh come on! No magic?! What the fuck?!" He glared down at his left side. "Have you decided to fuck off as well?"

No. I'm hungry.

"...Well, at least some things don't change," he grumbled. He looked around, seeing nothing but flat land and trees all around.

"Okay, direction time." He closed his eyes and chanted. "Eeny, meeny, miny, that way!" He pointed to his left. "When in doubt, go to the left."

He began his casual stroll down the path he chose. As he walked he made casual observations. "Air's too clean. Must be pre- or early Industry. Lots of old growth trees, so expansion's been limited. Could mean it's a magical world, or for some reason they hate tech. God knows there's probably a thousand of those!" He scratched his head agitatedly. "Ah, whatever. I'll figure it out later…"

And so he continued on. The sun shone brightly directly above him, making him grumble and shrug off his coat. Underneath he wore an olive-green, long-sleeved shirt, and sheathed at his right hip was a combat knife.

"Hold up, stranger!" called a voice some time later. Friedrich blinked, coming out of his trance of endless walking and looked up. A man stood in the road ahead, leaning on a signpost that he couldn't read and dressed in a black jacket, white pants and with a red scarf around his neck.

"Yeah? What's up?" Friedrich asked irritably.

"You must be new to these parts. You got to know in order to get through, you got to pay a toll."

"Really?" The wayward traveled deadpanned, thinking, This guy's like the turnpike back home. "How much?"

"100,000 jewels!" The man grinned greedily.

Scratch that, he's worse! He gave a long-suffering sigh and drew his knife. "How about we add a little one-hundred percent discount to that, just off the top?" he asked idly.

The man laughed. "Boy. You got some balls on you. Don't you know that Acalypha Town is under the jurisdiction of Naked Mummy?"

"...I dunno which is worse," deadpanned Friedrich, completely unimpressed, "Your attempt at being intimidating, the name of the town or the name of that…whatever 'Naked Mummy' is." He smirked. "I'd say you need balls just to say that without laughing."

The man's smile vanished. "You've just made the biggest mistake of your life," he growled, pulling an object out of his pocket.

Friedrich squinted. "What's that, a tricked-out USB?" he asked skeptically. Then he blinked. "Wait…why would something like that be-?"

The man pressed a button on the object, and a voice called out MINOTAUR.

"-here…?" Friedrich trailed off. "...Did that thing just announce itself?"

Snarling, the man pulled up the side of his shirt, revealing a dark spot on his hip, which he slammed the device into.

"Dude! That's not how you...Use one?" Friedrich started his new adversary glowed and morphed, suddenly towering over him. Where the man had stood was no a massively muscled, horned, bull-headed beast, carrying a bone club.

The traveller watched the man beast snort at him. "Two things. One, tooth-paste and dentistry. Ever heard of 'em? Apparently not! Don't worry, they might seem scary, but they're not all that bad once you get 'em over with…"

"What's the other part?" grumbled the minotaur.

"Uh…shit, I forgot, hang on…"

This made the minotaur nearly fall over. "We're supposed to be fighting! Not talking!"

*BANG!*

The beast stumbled, shaking his head with a snort of surprise as a bullet bounced off his forehead.

"That enough fighting for you?" asked Friedrich coolly, both arms gripping the revolver that had appeared out of nowhere. The sheath for his knife was suddenly empty.

"Guhuhuhuhuhu!" Chortled the bestial man, "So you do have balls! Sorry, but only a Rider's gonna get through this hide! HAH! This Gaea Memory thing is a blast! UUUURRYAAAAAH!" He charged forward with blinding speed, swinging his club with a rush of wind.

Friedrich cursed, rolling backwards. The club just barely missed him, but the shockwave knocked him off-balance and he only had just enough time to avoid getting stomped on. With how large that thing's hooves were and the force of its stamping, one wrong move could crush him. "Should've really Bonesaw'd myself," he muttered, righting himself and watching the minotaur skid to a stop, "But noooo~ I had to be squeamish about the surgery!" He sighed irritably, while the revolver in his hand flashed with green light, becoming a heavier rifle. He hefted it and, taking aim with frightening speed, let off another shot.

"I already told you, that won't-!"

Another flash of green, and he was holding a sniper rifle.

*BLAM!*

"Gah!" The minotaur stumbled back, sparks spilling from his muscular chest.

"So, I dunno what kinda Rider you're talking about, but I guess a high enough caliber will do the trick," taunted Friedrich, cocking the bolt, "Now, if I were a bettin' boy, taking out that USB'll probably take you out too." *BLAM!* The minotaur roared and clutched at his right side, red sparks pouring like blood between his thick fingers. "Well, whatdya know? Bullseye."

His rifle flashed green, parts fading away to be replaced by an anti-tank rifle.

*BOOM!*

The monster was lifted off his feet, spinning around until he collapsed in an undignified heap.

"...FUCK that was loud!" complained Friedrich, eyes screwed up as his ears rang. The rifle dissolved into green light, returning to his sheath as his combat knife, while the Minotaur staggered to his feet.

"You…what kinda weapons are those?!" groaned the man-turned-beast, hands clasped over the gaping, glowing hole that had been torn in his side. "I'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOUUUUUUUUUU!" he bellowed with fury, eyes flashing a malevolent red, skin taking on a violet hue.

MINOTAUR: MAXIMUM DRIVE

The monster vanished in a blur of speed so suddenly that for a split-second, Friedrich found himself staring at an afterimage before- *WHAM!* "Ghuh-!" he gasped, eyes bulging. On instinct, his knife had transformed into a riot shield, but the impact still knocked him back, shattering it in an instant. He bounced along the ground like a ragdoll, his arm throbbing with intense pain. Nowhere near as bad as when he'd traveled through the portal, but it still felt like something had cracked, if not broken. When he finally rolled to the ground, he had no time to lie there and regain his breath, forcing himself back up. His left arm hung limply, fingers twitching badly. The shards of his shield dissolved and reformed in his right hand as his knife. Damn it, Parasite! Give me something! This guy's gonna kill me!

…Hmph. Aegis, four-minute burst.

Suddenly, the pain in his arm lessened as the muscle surrounding the fractured bone stiffened up to compensate, letting him move it again. "About damn time, you greedy little bug!" he grunted, clenching a fist experimentally.

Adrenaline started flowing, letting the man see that his opponent was charging at him again, horns lowered. The minotaur roared as he thundered horns-first towards Friedrich. The man leaped into the air and hung there, just barely high enough for the monster to pass underneath. "Y'know, flying feels kinda like cheating here," he commented idly, reaching into his coat, "But under the circumstances, I'll cope." He pulled out a pair of long iron nails, gripped between his fingers, while his knife flashed into the other hand.

The minotaur whirled around, steam billowing from his flared nostrils, showing in the process that he still possessed the gaping hole in his side, from which sparks leaked. Looking closely, Friedrich saw that the mysterious USB was visible through it. "You're through." With that one comment, he hurled the nails outward. There was a crack of air being displaced as magnetic force seized the three rods. All three of them slammed into the wound, piercing the monster's flesh deeply.

As he stumbled back, roaring in agony, Friedrich touched down on the ground. He held his knife point-up, the butt of the handle held lightly between two fingers, while an aura of ghostly, green flames emanated from it. "Circus Trick," he announced, face a mixture between boredom, severity and judgement.

He flicked his hand, sending the blade screaming through the air like an arrow, leaving a brilliant green contrail behind. It speared straight through the minotaur, making him freeze as it passed straight through and emerged from the other side. With a beckoning gesture, the green, blazing knife turned sharply and zigzagged back through the air towards him. Friedrich caught it by the tip, tossed it up and caught it, admiring the device impaled on the serrated blade. It was hard to tell from the cracked casing, but he saw that the USB was marked with a stylized letter M.

"Weird. What's a USB drive doing out here anyway?"

The minotaur fell to his knees, a moan of despair escaping his large mouth. "N-no…! The memory…give me back…my Gaea Memory!"

Friedrich spared him a glance out of the corner of his eye. "Still transformed, huh? Eh, what the hell. Here." He flicked the knife, sending the device spinning away, shedding bits of metal, circuitry and plastic as it went. The minotaur cried out, reaching for it, but it hit the ground and shattered with a glassy chime.

The monster froze, color draining out of its body before, to Friedrich's astonishment, it suddenly blew up in a massive fireball. "HOly shit!" he yelped, rocking back on his heels, only to hiss as his arm suddenly twinged in pain.

Time's up.

"Oh, you arbitrary little shit!" he snarled, grabbing his wrist, "Fine, just give me some regen or something!"

Don't wanna.

"Fuck you!" Before Friedrich could continue the admittedly one-sided conversation, a groan was heard from the site of the explosion. He looked around to see the man who had transformed lying face down on the ground, completely unharmed. Even his clothes were intact. "What the hell? So your transformation doesn't affect your clothes but made them vanish?" He walked over to the man, turning him over with his foot. "Hey. Wake up, dumbass."

The thug jerked awake, staring up at him in horror. "D-d-don't kill me!" he yelped, crossing his arms over his face.

Friedrich grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't yet," he grunted, unimpressed, "Now, I got questions, you got answers. One question, one answer. You don't got an answer, we got a problem. We got a problem, you got a problem." He glared down at him. "Get me?"

The guy nodded his head rapidly, eagerly. "Y-yeah, I get you!

"First question! What the heck was all of that you just had? I've never seen a device that could transform someone so quickly. Even Lab Rat couldn't do stuff like with just a USB…"

"U-uh…"

He jerked his head impatiently. "Ignore that last part. What was that device?"

"A-A Gaea memory! I-its power can turn any human into powerful beasts!"

"Define beasts," ordered the blue-clad man.

The thug twitched. "A-ah, well, n-not just like what I had…my bosses, th-their Gaea Memories have different powers, b-but they still transform!"

Friedrich nodded, frowning thoughtfully. "Did they get it from anyone?"

"L-look man, I'm just a lowlife. If you want to know more, you gotta talk to my b-boss!"

"Who are these Riders?"

"I'm…not really sure," admitted the man, "Just heard the name, is all. They've been d-destroying all of the Gaea memories they come across. They're heroes to the civilians, but I've heard rumors the Magic Council doesn't like them, since they've been the only ones to even d-destroy them."

"I seemed to manage just fine," he deadpanned, "Fucking broken arm notwithstanding."

"Eek!"

"Tch. Whatever. Who are your bosses and what Gaea Memories do they have?"

The thug remained silent.

Friedrich's eyes narrowed. "...What, you think they'll protect you? I just beat you and destroyed your Gaea Memory. I'm guessing that's a precious resource to you and your group."

"It is! The person who sold it to us wanted 2 million Jewels each!"

"Guess Jewels are the currency...what world uses them?" Friedrich thought aloud.

"World?" asked the interrogated goon, confused.

"Don't worry your head. Now, what can you tell me about these...Riders?"

He shrugged. "Nothin'. Never even seen them before, but they show up wherever there are Dopants. The fact that they haven't caught us means they don't have any way to actually find us without searching."

"Any common thread?"

"Um...Oh yeah, they started showing up about...maybe six weeks ago? Magnolia was the first confirmed sighting."

Friedrich frowned. Oi, Parasite, care to gimme Tattletale?

Don't wanna.

Feh. "And how long have there been Dopants, compared to that?"

"No idea."

"Tch. Alright, question-time's over for now. Get up. We're walking," he ordered, gesturing.

The man blinked, but slowly got to his feet. "Uh, o-okay…where're we going?"

Friedrich snorted impatiently. "Where else? To that village you were talking about. I'm hungry, tired, got a bad injury and I don't know where else to go."

He pushed the man forward with his good arm, forcing him to lead the injured taveller. As they walked, Friedrich was thinking about what the man said. Gaea Memories, huh? USB drives that can be inserted into a body and supercharge their strength by turning them into monsters. First thing I wanna know is how the hell that works. Second, whoever runs that operation must have some serious money to be able to pull that off. Third, is who else has one?

His thoughts shifted to something else. 'And just who are these...Riders? I've never heard of such a term in most of the worlds I can think of. There's no way it's a Holy Grail War, or Alagaesia. The closest I can think of is some sort of armored heroes...Power Rangers? It fits, I guess. But I've never heard Power Rangers go by that name. Maybe something else.

Ah, whatever. I'll figure it out eventually. Just gotta be patient. Take it one thing at a time…just like the old days.

FHG

NS: And there you have it. My guy, out there at last.

UO: He will join the story properly once I finish the Fantasia arc. Which shouldn't be too long. Once I finish the next chapter, the pace of progress will pick up tremendously as NS joins as a co-writer and I can split my focus properly.

NS: Yeah, and you don't post your chapters before I can beta them. :P

UO: Excuse me, Mr I haven't updated on the site in months.

NS: You're not excused. That being said, this story won't be posted until the end of Fantasia, when he makes his first appearance, so as not to spoil the surprise. Anyway, now for the list of Friedrich's powers and their status.

Mysticism: Control mechanism damaged.

Supernatural Combat: Functional.

Intuitive Replication: Functional, but uncooperative.

Power Suit: Severely damaged, Nonfunctional.

Weighted Attacks: Functional.

Electromagnetic Projectiles: Functional.

Inspired Inventor: Reset, but Functional

(Unknown): Activated

(Unknown): Standing by for trigger.