Do Riders Dream of Henshin'd Sheep?

By ManaGoddess

Disclaimer: I do not own Kamen Rider; all parties involved in this are owned by the Toei Company.

Author's Note: This was a writing prompt from reddit in r/KamenRider. The prompt was: Your favorite Secondary Rider gets his own spin-off show while you're least favorite Rider is that show's secondary. What are they and the plot?

I decided to use Kamen Rider Zeronos as my main rider and Kamen Rider Kaixa as my secondary. I wrote a small description in the thread but the idea stuck with me and now I want to make it into a story. I hope you like it.

Beware as there are a lot of spoilers for Den-O, 555, Blade, Kiva, and more.

It was a cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Yuto Sakurai checked his gold pocket watch as he walked through the observatory, making sure all the maps and charts were properly displayed. At the end of the week a group of middle school students were coming to do a project for their class and wanted to make sure everything they needed was available. It was exciting to see students so eager to learn about the stars and planets. They reminded him of, well, him.

Walking back to his small office Yuto smiled at the picture frame sitting prim and proper on his desk. It had been a long journey to make sure that picture would happen, but it was worth every painstaking moment. Picking up the tiny wooden frame, he gently touched the faces. His wife, Airi Nogami, and his daughter, Hana Sakurai, stared up at him, great big smiles on their face as Yuto stood with them. It was winter and Hana, now thirteen years old, had made snowmen of her family. She had spent so long on it with Airi's help Yuto couldn't help but want to take a picture to capture the moment. It made him so happy to have his family in one place again.

In reality, Yuto had already met his wife and daughter when he was a young man, barely out of high school. Time had managed to displace itself in the future, which caused him to be thrown ahead a decade to save it. His daughter, from far in the future, had ended up on a time traveling train when her time had gotten severed.

It was hard, but Yuto knew he had to fight to right things. Using other people's memories of him, Yuto Sakurai was able to transform into Kamen Ride Zeronos and battle monsters called Imagines to correct time alongside his future brother-in-law, Ryotaro Nogami. In the end, Yuto went back to his own time period as things began to connect once again. Back then, Yuto was unsure of what was going to happen now that the original timeline hadn't quite returned to its original path and that he was no longer the man Airi would fall in love with.

Through fate and luck, Yuto had managed to find Airi once again. She was a bit different than the woman he had started to fall for in the future, but he was still drawn to her sweet personality and their love of stars. Soon enough they were married and their life went on as planned. Their daughter, Hana, was born soon after their wedding and Airi's coffee shop, The Milk Dipper, was doing great.

Every now and then Hana would look up at Yuto with a faraway look in her eyes, as if she was seeing him through someone else's eyes. When that happened, Yuto felt as if the original Hana he had met on DenLiner was looking at him. He kept waiting for her to start complaining about the Imagines doing something annoying or how Ryotaro was being silly. Not once did she talk about those still on DenLiner, the only way he knew that she had memories of them was from her drawings she made as a child. He would ask her about them, but she would shrug saying the Imagines were friends she saw in her dreams. Yuto would laugh and listen to her 'made up' stories about the friends she had, afraid to tell her that they were true. The hardest part was listening to her talk about Deneb.

It had been almost twenty five years since Yuto had last seen Deneb, or even heard the train whistle of ZeroLiner. During the Imagine war of 2007, Deneb had been Yuto's rock, keeping his head afloat as he almost drowned in the sorrow of watching everyone forget him. It was Deneb who had comforted Yuto the first time he looked in Airi's eyes and she didn't know who he was, or who his future self was, then again when he had to use her memory of this younger form of Yuto to transform, and she had forgotten him all over again. To this day, Yuto never forgot the look of disappointment the other Hana from DenLiner would give him when she would realize that he wasn't the man her father was.

Yuto took a shaky breath as he pushed back memories. He was free of that now, with his wife and daughter to love him and peace all around. Even during the year 2007, when the Imagine War was going on, it was peaceful in his time line. He honestly wasn't sure if Nogami had taken care of it all over again or if it was the effect of his being ripped from his own time to fight. Either way, he was happy with how things had turned out.

"Enough sad thoughts, time for lunch," Yuto said to himself, smiling as he grabbed his bento lunch and started walking towards the cafeteria. From the smell of it, there would be shiitake mushrooms in his lunch today. One day he would correct his wife and tell her that he hates them. For now, he would do it to honor his old friend.

As Yuto put his hand on the door to his office, a train whistled echo'd in the empty room. His heart froze as he listened, disbelief washing over him. The trip down memory lane had caused him to start hearing things. Again, he heard the sound of a steam train even though there were no train tracks anywhere near the museum. Fumbling for his watch, Yuto checked the time, his fingers gripping the watch tightly, the incantation on the back digging into his hand. It was 1:13pm, or 13:13. Filled with disbelief, Yuto threw open the office door, praying to see the hallway which would lead to the telescope and classrooms. Instead, all he saw was a desert of sand.

"No…it…it can't be," Yuto stuttered as he watched an all too familiar green train pull up to his door as if it was a stop at a station. The door to one of the compartments opened as a green Imagine stood there, waving at him.

"Yuto~" The Imagine called out to him, jumping up and down. Yuto couldn't move, couldn't breathe. There was no reason for Deneb to be here. "Hurry, we have to go!" Yuto shook his head; he refused to believe this, it had to be some sort of dream. Deneb hopped down as the train came to a complete stop, running up and throwing his arms around Yuto Sakurai.

"D-Deneb," Yuto wrapped a shaking arm around the Imagine, embracing him. "Why are you here?!" Deneb grabbed Yuto's free hand, pulling him towards the train urgently.

"We have to go, it's about to fall apart," Deneb shouted again, half dragging Yuto away from his office. For some reason, Yuto's feet wouldn't work, they kept trying to dig in and take him back to his home, his time, to a normal life. The war was over, there was no reason for him to get on ZeroLiner.

"Stop this, Deneb, what's going on?!" Again Yuto tried to get the Imagine to explain things, but Deneb kept telling him there was no time. It made no sense to Yuto; they were literally inside of time. Finally Deneb stopped and swept Yuto up in his arms, carrying the man onto the train. Yuto thrashed, demanding to be let down but Deneb was determined and held him tight. As soon as they were on the train, the door slammed shut behind them, blocking out the outside noises. Deneb set Yuto down as the train began to pull away.

"I'm sorry, I had to make sure you were safe," Deneb apologized, bowing at the waist to his former partner. Yuto's fists shook with anger as he punched Deneb in the face.

"You idiot, what are you doing?!" tears streamed down Yuto's cheeks as he pushed Deneb aside, trying to open the door before they got too far away from his office, but it was locked. Looking through the window Yuto watched as his desk began to fade away.

"Yuto, please, don't look!" Deneb tried to pull Yuto away from the door, but something told Yuto he needed to stay, needed to watch. Suddenly, cracks formed on the small door that showed his office. The cracks spread to the desert, chasing the train as it sped off. Even the sky began to crack.

There was a loud boom as everything shattered like a glass window, falling to the ground and leaving only complete black. Deneb let go of Yuto as he dashed to the head of the train, taking control as it plummeted into nothingness. Darkness swallowed ZeroLiner as Yuto crawled away from the door, making his way towards the compartment he had always stayed in, the train tossing him from side to side as it tried to find the tracks again.

Fear griped Yuto tightly as he crawled into a seat, holding the bento lunch his wife had made him to his chest as if it was a life line, his only tie to his own time. Every few moments he would look out the window, but there was nothing to see, just emptiness. The train lurched a few times, making sharp corners or dropping suddenly. There was nothing for Yuto to do, except hold on. He didn't even notice the other person sitting in the train car with him.

Finally, things smoothed out as the train seemed to be back on its proper tracks. Outside, the world was still black, but at least Yuto wasn't as panicked. He finally looked around the car, memories flooding him as he remembered traveling in this train through time to fight in a war he was too young to be a part of. He jumped as he saw the other man sitting in the corner.

"Who the hell are you," Yuto demanded, setting his lunch on the table. The other man lifted his head up, scoffing at Yuto.

"You just now notice me? You must be getting old. The way Deneb talked on and on about you I was certain you were half a god," The man turned away from Yuto, staring out the window.

"Alright punk, let me say this to start: I am fairly strong," Yuto stood up and walked over to the other man, gripping him by his black button up shirt, and dragging him to his feet. They were eye to eye with each other, each man glaring.

"Sure you wanna go at it, old man?" He taunted, smirking as he watched the rage on Yuto's face. It was too easy. "Don't think I'll go easy just because you're old…" Suddenly the door to the first compartment slid open, Deneb standing there with a basket in his hand.

"Yuto, please be kind to our guest," Deneb hurried forward, separating the two as he pushed his way in between. Bowing to the mysterious man, Deneb reached into his basket, offering a giant lollypop. "Please forgive Yuto, he is not very good at making friends." The mysterious man blinked, surprised by the Imagine's frankness.

"Deneb!" Yuto growled, his face flushing slightly. Throwing his hands up in the air he turned from the two, going back to his seat to eat his lunch. He wouldn't admit how much it comforted him to have Deneb still be…Deneb. Either way, it didn't help his bravado.

"Sorry, Yuto," Deneb turned to his former rider, bowing apologetically. Yuto ignored him as he unwrapped his lunch. Pain struck Yuto's heart as he saw that the themed lunch his wife had made him had been destroyed. It was supposed to be the story of the Weaver and the Cow Herder; at least, that what Yuto thought it looked like. Sighing again, he found his utensils and began to eat in silence.

"Going to explain to him what's going on," the other man said as he sat back in his own seat, propping his feet up on the table in front of him. Yuto shot him a glare, but went on ignoring both of them.

"Oh, right! Yuto, this is Masato Kusaka, he is a rider like you." Deneb introduced, stepping aside so the men could see each other proper.

"Former rider," the two men said at the same time, stealing a quick glare at one another. Yuto raised an eyebrow at the other man. Many, many years ago Yuto had left his belt and card deck on this train when he left to go start his own life. He wondered what the story was for this Masato guy.

"R-right, former rider…anyway, I was digging in the garden when-" Deneb continued but was interrupted by Yuto.

"Wait, we have a garden? Since when?" Yuto frowned as he set down his lunch. It was a two car train, there wasn't enough room for a garden.

"Oh, we've always had one. Fourth car back," Deneb gestured over his shoulder to the back of the train. "As I was saying-" Again he was cut off.

"I thought we only had two train cars," Yuto got up from his table and went to the door that would lead him back a car. Originally it had just been a small balcony where he could stand and watch the sands of time pass. Now, he was really curious.

"Please, Yuto, just sit and let me explain. You see time has-" for a third time, Deneb was interrupted. Yuto whirled on Deneb, storming up to the Imagine and shoving at him to emphasize each point,

"You kidnap me from my own time after everything has been fixed and you won't let me explore my own train?! What the hell is going on, Deneb?!" Masato slammed his fist on the table as he sat up, his patience having finally snapped.

"If you would sit down and shut the hell up he would tell you," Masato growled, glaring daggers at the man. Ever since Deneb had started talking about how wonderful Yuto Sakurai was, Masato had hated the man. It was unfair that this man get his own life even after the world had tried to erase him, several times.

"Ah, really, it's okay Kusaka, he is always like this," Deneb bowed apologetically, confusing both men with his kindness. Shrugging again Yuto stormed back to his seat to resume eating his lunch. "Ehem. Time has broken. Someone from the future has found a way to travel through time and break it, changing the world as we know it. This new time has been eating the original timeline, which is what you had just witnessed."

"Why involve me? I don't have the belt anymore. Can't Nogami do this, or any of those other riders?" Yuto gestured towards Masato, lumping him in with the term 'other riders'. Masato sighed as he leaned back in the little both, watching the darkness go by outside the train.

"That's just the thing, they are all gone. I've searched and searched but couldn't find any one of them, not even DenLiner. Because ZeroLiner still existed, I knew I could find you." Deneb explained, wringing his hands in worry as he paced the car. Yuto frowned at this information. He remembered the other riders, so they couldn't have been completely wiped from time.

"What does this have to do with your garden?" Yuto asked, trying to backtrack to the start of the conversation before the tangent, coughing as he swallowed a large lump of rice. Fussing, Deneb grabbed a cup of water and handed it to the man, who drank deeply before returning to his lunch.

"Oh, right. Well I was digging in my garden and I found a strange box with the words 'Smart Brain' on it. I have no idea how it got there, but when I opened it up a strange belt and cellphone was inside. Picking up the weird flip phone, I opened it up and a Rider Ticket appeared with a strange date. I went to that time only to find a world of gray and sorrow." Deneb offered the other man a glass of water before refilling Yuto's cup. Silence hung in the air as Yuto digested the information.

"Isn't that what the world between time is, though?" Yuto asked, frowning as to how it would be different. Deneb shook his head, returning to Yuto's side.

"No, this is a new world, one where monsters have free reign over it. I was shocked when I arrived, as I found out that this timeline is being eaten by that one. I slammed the door shut and headed back to the past, to warn you. Along the way I found him wandering the sands of time," Deneb nodded his head to Masato.

"After I died, that was where I ended up. The curse of using the Kaixa belt too much I suppose," Masato sighed heavily as he turned to Yuto, his cocky attitude back in place.

"Something big is going on, isn't it," Yuto's voice was quiet as he watched his old friend intently, the realization of how heavy this situation was had begun to weigh on him. Deneb hung his head, unable to look Yuto in the eye properly.

"Your time has been completely destroyed. I'm taking you and Masato to the new world in hopes of fixing it," Deneb sniffled as he wiped away a tear. "I'm sorry, Yuto." Yuto approached Deneb, putting his hand on the Imagine's shoulder and squeezing it. He forced a smile.

"Don't worry; we'll have this fixed in no time." Yuto sounded more confident then he felt. He did his best to not think of his wife and daughter. Hana would be fine, but he didn't know about Airi. Another thing Yuto had to worry about was how long it had been since he had truly fought, and he wasn't sure if he could do it as well anymore.

"And how do you plan on doing that, old man?" Masato asked, reading Yuto's emotions as he reclined back in his seat with his feet on the table. Deneb gasped, suddenly remembering something. He disappeared to the front of the train, returning with a green belt and a small clip with cards in it.

"I kept it, just in case. It seems the cards have refilled since…since then," Deneb placed the belt on Yuto's table, next to his lunch before backing away from the table again. At first, Yuto could only stare, part in horror, part in relief that he had a way to fight, to right what had been wronged and restore the past. Hesitating, Yuto touched the belt, afraid it would disappear. He was also afraid of the price it would cost him to transform.

"Does it…still run off memories?" Fear laced Yuto's words as he picked up the cardholder to inspect the cards. Pulling out one, he winced as he saw it was green on one side and red on the other. "Zero form, huh."

"I'm sorry; it seems that it would run off your memories once again." Deneb apologized once again, bowing deeply.

"What's so special about your belt," Masato asked, throwing the Smart Brain case on the table and opening, his phone and belt displayed propery. "Mine runs off life. It has killed people, innocent people who just wanted to live a normal life!" He shoved the case off the table, his glare full of malice as he stared at the silver Kaixa Driver, the yellow and silver taunting him with memories of his past, reminding him of the smile from the only woman he ever loved.

"I don't know if mine is any worse than yours, but it completely changed time. Every time I transform it uses someone's memory of me, they forget everything about me. In order to save the world once from this sort of thing I had to sacrifice my future self, my wife, and my daughter." Yuto turned to look at the bento lunch made by his wife, emotions choking him.

"Am I supposed to pity you," Masato sneered as he got up to pick up his belt, throwing it back on the table. "Mine killed me in the end, so yours already is less intimidating. At least you were able to save your wife in the end. Mine…she abandoned me and lives with that asshole." Masato cursed his old partner, damning the Rider to whatever hell there was.

"It doesn't matter whose belt is worse, what's important is that we fix the time line," Deneb pleaded with the two men, trying to break up the quarreling. Yuto sighed as he sat at his table, his fingers grazing the belt as he tried to remember every person he had met. It was hard to say goodbye to them.

"Your right, Deneb," Yuto sighed as he picked up a piece of Deneb Candy, the wrapper having a cutesy version of Deneb on it. There was a bit of comfort in it as he ate the candy bonbon, savoring the taste for a moment.

The train car began to shake again, the tracks going out of control, pitching the group to the side as the train made a sharp turn. Fumbling, Yuto ran to the head of the train, sitting on Machine ZeroHorn motorcycle that controlled everything. Trusting his instincts Yuto threw his weight into menovering through the darkness, attempting to straighten out the tracks. Up ahead, there was a tiny light. It was faint, but it was a way out of here.

"Finally, the blackness was just as boring as the sand," Masato complained as he leaned against the door, watching on the screen as the light got larger and larger. Yuto felt the weight of the Memory Cards in his pocket as he sped the train towards the light. Everyone held their breath as they entered the new time line.

Author's Note: Perfect place to leave off. Thank you for reading and I hope to add more onto this soon. I have it already planned out so hopefully there won't be too many surprises. Review if you wouldn't mind, please.

Just so you know, this isn't the same Yuto Sakurai from my story/world Dreams are for Nights.