"Morty…" Rick glared at his grandson. He sighed and placed his palm onto his face. The two stood in what appeared to be a laboratory mixed with a lounge. The murderer that Morty rescued, Ryuga Banjo, was looking around the lab as the two were talking. "Uuuuugh. Take over for me." Rick just walked away as a man with circular glasses and a straw hat came up to Morty. To him, he was kinda like his father Jerry, if he was less of a wimp and more of a goof.

"Do you realize what you've done?!" He asked.

"I know, Mr. Isurugi, but we might have something big here! He said that he isn't a murderer and that he was framed!" As Morty said that, Rick stopped dead in his tracks. He turned and saw Morty stare at him.

"Hang on, let me handle this…" Rick went to Isurugi's side as Morty went to him. The two went up the stairs. The two went out of a secret door in a refrigerator, leading into the upper level, where it is decorated to be akin to a café. "You know, you can be a real douche bag." Rick took a swig.

"Doesn't that guy look familiar, Rick?" Morty glared at him.

"No. Must have been- buuuuurp-a Tuesday." Morty rolled his eyes.

"He was framed." The two shared a bit of silence. As Morty saw Rink just blink at him, raised his arms and shouted. "Oh, for Pete's sake! Remember when we first came here!?"

"… Ooooooh!" Rick snapped his fingers.


A green portal opened in a living room. Rick and Morty went out of the portal as Rick looked around.

"Okay, I set the portal gun to where Katsuragi gave the message, so where is he?" Rick pondered as he looked around.

"Rick!" He came to Morty's side. When he saw what Morty found, he just sighed.

"Juuuust great." Rick saw a man laid down on the ground. It was Katsuragi. He crouched down and tried to get a pulse. "Nope. He's dead." With that, Morty's eyes went wide.

"OH MY GOD, RICK! WHAT DO WE DO!?" Morty screeched as he ran around the living room. Rick just sighed as he looked at the body of the scientist.

"Morty, Morty, Morty..." Rick then grabbed Morty by the shoulder. "We're gonna leave this apartment. Okay?"

"But this man's been murdered! We must find his killer! If the police come here, they'll think we did it!" Morty asked.

"Don't worry, M-uuuuuurp-orty... We'll find his killer." Rick walked out to a window, opened it, and took out a small pistol. He aimed and fired a dart at a random man walking on the street. This man just so happened to be Ryuga. He passed out as Rick then took out his portal gun, teleporting his unconscious body to the apartment. He picked up his body and slumped him next to the murdered scientist. He put on a pair of gloves, grabbed the unconscious person's hand and pressed his fingers all over the knife. "There... We found the killer." Rick took a sip from his flask.

"What are you doing?!" Morty pulled out his hair.

"We're framing him, Morty! I'm gonna call the cops and they'll come. We have ten minutes before he comes to." Rick pulled out a phone and dialed 110.

"Are you crazy!? We can't just frame an innocent man!" Morty said.

"We can, and we will." Rick waited a moment to get an answer from the police. "Yeah, there's been a murder of aaaaaaaaaaa Dr. Katsu-Katsuragi... You better h-uuuuurp-rry." Rick then hung up. "Alright, let's go Morty." With that, Rick walked out of the apartment.


"So, now we have to go find Katsuragi's real killer! Because now we got an innocent man involved in this! And we're going to clear his name! Even if it takes us nine more seasons!" A bit of drool flew out of Morty's mouth.

"Okay, Morty! Take it easy!" Rick said.

"It's ready!" As soon as Morty heard a girl's voice from the basement, he rushed down.

"WHO ARE YOU!?" Ryuga's voice boomed from the basement as well. Rick sighed and shook his head. Soon, a woman walk into the café. She saw the open fridge door and smirked. Just as she was about to go, Rick took out a laser gun and pointed at her.

"And where do you think you're going?" Rick asked.

"I merely want to explore the Kamen Rider's hideout." She held her hands up.

"What the hell's a Kamen Rider?" He blinked and before long, he groaned. "Damn it, Morty."


Morty looked at a brown, translucent bottle with liquid inside of it. On it was molded into the shape of a gorilla's head.

"Oooooh! Wow! A Gorilla! Thanks, Misora!" Morty said to a girl in a striped dress wearing brown hair in a pony tail, who smiled back.

"No problem... Going to sleep now..." Her smile faded as she walked off to the other side of the lab where her bed is.

"Alright. Night!" Morty waved to her as he sported a bit of a blush. He looked to the brown liquid bottle in his hand. He then went over to a table where he had a device laid down an an assortment of similar bottles in front of it. The device had a hand crank, a large metallic circle, and two gaps where bottles would be placed in. He grabbed both the device and a light-blue colored bottle, one that had the molding of a perfectly cut diamond. He placed the device on his waist as a yellow belt sprung up from one end of the belt and zipped around his waist to the other end, tightening it.

"They're pretty strong, and with a diamond's resistance…" He then placed both the Gorilla bottle and the light blue bottle.

GORILLA! DIAMOND! BEST MATCH!

"Yeah!" Morty smiled.

"Nicely done!" Mr. Isurugi clapped his hands.

"What the hell is that?" Ryuga ran and went on his knees while investigating Morty's belt.

"This? It's the… Have we ever given this a name?" Morty asked. Mr. Isurugi shrugged.

"I just call it the Build Driver." He said.

"Yeah! The Build Driver! By matching two bottles together, I can become a superhero!" With a smile on his face, Morty took the two bottles off and went to show Ryuga his collection of bottles. "I only had one other Best Match, Rabbit and Tank… And if I get ten of them, I can place it over there and something cool happens!" He placed both Gorilla and Diamond together in the collection. The only other bottles that were paired closely together were a red and blue bottle. True to theirs, the red bottle had a rabbit mold while the blue had a tank mold.

"And that would be?" Ryuga asked.

"… I don't know. That's all Mr. Isurugi told me." Morty shrugged. Ryuga went over and picked up two of the bottles, an azure bottle with the molding of a skull and two swords below it and a gray bottle with the molding of the front of a six-barrel gun.

"Well, let's see if I can make a Best Match." Ryuga plugged the two he had.

KAIZOKU! GATLING!

… Nothing after that.

"Eh?" Ryuga raised an eyebrow.

"That was actually one of the first guesses Morty made. Making a Best Match is a lot more than just pairing similar Bottles together. For one," Mr. Isurugi picked up two bottles, a marigold bottle and a turquoise bottle, "one half must be organic, and the other half has to be inorganic. A creature and a machine, for instance," as he said that, Ryuga noticed how the bottles were molded. The marigold bottle had a lion's head while the turquoise bottle had a vacuum cleaner. "The other must be how one would benefit the other. Let's take that Gorilla Diamond match for instance. As Morty said himself, a gorilla's strength would compliment a diamond's toughness. A rabbit's speed would compliment a tank's strength. You get the picture?"

"So, for a Best Match with say… this," Ryuga pulled out the Gatling bottle, "the matching bottle has to be organic and compliments an ability for firearms."

"Yes, exactly." Mr. Isurugi nodded. Soon, Morty noticed someone enter the room.

"Uuuuh, guys?" Morty pointed to the stairwell as Ryuga and Mr. Isurugi turned to see a woman in their basement. She had short brown hair, a white jacket with a burgundy blouse, and a black skirt with floral patterning. "Who left the door- RICK!" Morty screeched out his name as Rick came down.

"Damn it, Morty. I'm not a bouncer. Cover your damn tracks next time." He took a swig from his flask. The woman entered the lab and looked around.

"Amazing! This is where the Kamen Rider hides out! Aaah~! And this might be where he makes his new toys!" She began to jot down on a notepad. Morty ran to her.

"Excuse me, but… who are you? And more importantly, how did you find out about this?" Morty asked.

"Ah, sorry. My name is Takigawa Sawa. And, well," she coyly smiled, "I'm here to thank the Kamen Rider who saved me," she turned to Morty.

"Uuuuuh, doooo I know you?" Morty's teeth chattered.

"No. But I know you. Morty Smith, age fifteen, American. No other information outside of working at Nascita," she took out a business card, "which is how I found out about this place, by the way, aaaand other than that, a complete enigma. Well, that and the fact that you're the Kamen Rider that saved me the night before at the pier." That's when Morty realized.

"Oooooh! Where I got the Harinezumi Full Bottle!" Morty snapped his fingers. Sawa just blinked a bit before nodding.

"Ermm… Yes. Whatever that means." Sawa said.

"Well," before Morty could reach for his collection of Full Bottles, Mr. Isurugi just stepped in front of Morty.

"Yeeeaaah, look, I'll explain things to her and work out a deal," Mr. Isurugi grabbed Morty and pulled him aside, "if you noticed," he whispered, "she's writing almost everything we say. If she goes out with this info, we could be in a lot of trouble."

"Oh, I… didn't think about it that way." Morty muttered.

"Well, I hate to leave, but that Gentoku guy's gonna have my ass if I'm late." Rick walked up the stairs.

"Well, while you go and talk with her," Morty turned to Ryuga, "we have to clear your name!" Morty turned to Ryuga.

"Yeah… But first, I need to call someone," he looked around, "anyone got a phone?" Morty handed him his phone. "Thanks!" He took it and dialed a few numbers before he brought it to his ear. "Kasumi? It's me!"

"HELP!" Ryuga's eyes widened as he heard the pained screams of someone.

"KASUMI! Are you there!?" Ryuga shouted into the phone.

"Banjou Ryuga…" Ryuga listened to a new voice, a digitally distorted one, "I'll bring the girl to you…"

"WHO ARE YOU!?" Ryuga continued to scream before the phone hung up. Ryuga ran off as Morty followed.

"W-wait!" Morty shouted. Before Sawa could follow, Mr. Isurugi got in front of her.

"Excuse me, but, perhaps we can discuss matters on this whole reporting on the Kamen Rider thing?" Mr. Isurugi placed his hands together in a prayer as he made a wry smile.


"I can understand the reason, Professor Sanchez. Admittedly, my own father gets annoyed with me every now and then." Gentoku Himuro, the head of the Touto Institute of Advanced Matter Physics and son of the Prime Minister of Touto, said. The two walked through a large lab with many other physicists looking through notes.

"Yeah, my grandson is a pain in the ass, but he's still my grandson." Rick said.

"Speaking of pain in the ass, you surely have heard the news on Kamen Rider, right?" Gentoku asked.

"Not really, but I heard a bit of that this morning. The hell's a Kamen Rider?" Rick took a swig.

"A criminal, Professor Sanchez. A dangerous one at that." Gentoku passed by a TV where Rick noticed security camera footage of a red and blue masked man riding a motorcycle with Ryuga clinging on for dear life. "He has harbored a murderer by the name of Banjou Ryuga. You might know him better as the killer of Katsuragi Takumi." The footage continued and showed the rider destroying swarms of robotic men on bikes. "Kamen Rider has labeled himself an enemy of the state with this act of defiance."

"So, what will you do once you capture this Rider guy?" Rick eyed the TV.

"If it was merely safeguarding the murderer, he'd get off with some jail time. However, he has actively fought and destroyed Guardians. They were made for the safety of Touto and he is responsible for diminishing those numbers. Dwindling numbers mean potential enemies will invade the defenseless nation. That right there reeks of treason. In the end, though, my father decides what the punishment for Kamen Rider would be." Gentoku said.

"Eh, he'd probably suggest something like exile or long-term prison sentences." Rick shrugged.

"That said, he's getting older by the day. Eventually, his age will catch up to him and he'll end up being unfit to run Touto. In that case, I'll act in his stead. And believe me, Professor Sanchez," Gentoku went in front of Rick and sneered, "I'm not as forgiving as my father." Rick just looked at him for a moment.

"Sir!" One of the guards ran up to Gentoku.

"WHAT!?" Gentoku shouted at the guard and caused him to stumble back.

"I-it's Kamen Rider! He and Ryuga have been sighted at the pier!"

"WHAT?!" Both Rick and Gentoku said at the same time.


"Banjou Ryuga and Kamen Rider have been spotted. Commencing pursuit." The robotic voices of the Guardians bellowed as Morty, wearing the red and blue armor, drove his bike away from them.

"Any ideas on how to stop them!?" Ryuga asked.

"I have an idea!" Morty took a white bottle, its molding of a hedgehog, and the Gatling bottle and plugged them in.

HARINEZUMI! GATLING!

Morty turned the crank as large tubes of plastic sprouted out of the Driver and wrapped around Morty. White and gray liquid emerged from the tubes and filled out a model of a white half behind Morty and a gray half in front of Morty.

ARE YOU READY!?

"BUILD UP!" Morty stopped cranking as a swanky tune played. The two halves pressed onto Morty. He gained two new things in place of his red and blue form: the white half gave him needle spikes on his shoulders and a spiky gauntlet while the gray half gave him a handgun that rested on his chest. He pulled the handgun out, pointed behind himself and fired the handgun at the Guardians, large needles spewing from the barrel and shooting them down. As he did, Ryuga noticed something.

The two were driving on a bridge, and unfortunately for them…

"The bridge is out!" Ryuga shouted and pointed at a huge under construction banner, behind it being a damaged bridge.

"Hmmm…" Morty put his gun away and thought for a moment. Once he was finished, he took out two bottles and plugged them in.

KAIZOKU! LIGHT!

He turned the crank as the pipes appeared again, this time protecting the two from gunfire from the remaining Guardians.

ARE YOU READY!?

"BUILD UP!" Another swanky song played as Morty gained a new body. On the left side of his chest was azure, with a pirate ship on his shoulder, while the right side was light yellow with a large light bulb on his shoulder. The light bulb on his shoulder glowed, blinding both Ryuga and the Guardians as he grabbed Ryuga and leaped off the bike into the water.

He splashed down but his left side remained afloat with Ryuga on his back. Ryuga massaged his eyes as Morty swam up the river. Ryuga panted.

"Warn me next time!" Ryuga shouted.

"Sorry, had to act fast." Morty looked up and saw the bike had folded back into his phone. He grabbed it and held onto it. "So, Kasumi… I'm guessing she's important to you?" Morty asked. Ryuga nodded.

"Y-yeah. She's… pretty sick. In fact, I was kinda worried she died in the year I was in jail." Ryuga said.

"I'm… sorry about what happened. With you getting arrested, I mean." Morty said.

"Don't be… Think I was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Ryuga sighed.

"Yeah, I have the feeling. Grandpa Rick and I get into tons of situations just because we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Like, there was this one time when we went to…" Morty stopped himself. Would Ryuga ever believe in space travel? Morty had dug into the history of this place and noticed how it was yet another alternate universe where one major thing changed everything. In this case, it was an expedition to Mars that resulted in an artifact found on it creating a massive wall and splitting Japan into three. He was pretty sure that Ryuga wouldn't believe in travel beyond just the solar system, especially on a planet known simply as the Purge Planet. "N-nevermind…" Morty said. As he and Ryuga swam to the docks, he noticed several Guardians marching in a box formation, only to stop and climb onto each other. "Holy crap!" Morty shouted as the Guardians began to form into a large chicken walker with Gatling guns for arms.

"Commencing Union State…" They said in unison.

"We're done for!" Ryuga said.

"... No. Not quite." Morty said as they reached the docks. He got out of the water and dropped Ryuga safely on the pavement. He took out the Gorilla and Diamond Full Bottles and plugged them in.

GORILLA! DIAMOND! BEST MATCH!

Morty began to crank and create the fluids needed to make the armor.

ARE YOU READY!?

"Super Build Up!" Morty shouted as the two completed molds of the armor clashed together onto Morty. Unlike the other two Matches he made, this one gave a unique announcement:

THE SHINING DESTROYER! GORLIIAMOND! YEAH!

The armor was a brown and cyan hybrid. His left side had a large gauntlet on his hand while the right had a large diamond on his shoulder. The mecha tried to stomp on Morty, only for Morty to block its foot with the diamond on his shoulder. As he struggled to keep the mecha up, he cranked the Build Driver.

READY? GO! VORTEX FINISH! YEEEAAAAH!

Diamonds spiraled out of the larger diamond, spinning into a cyclone of nothing but diamonds. The diamonds soon engulfed the mecha and solidified into a large diamond. Morty punched up and destroyed the diamond, shattering the mecha into tiny pieces of diamond. As the diamonds landed, Morty took out the bottles and got out of his transformed state.

"Well, that takes care of them…" Morty said. He noticed Ryuga running off. "R-ryuga! Wait up!" Morty ran after him.

"Kasumi might be in trouble!" Ryuga shouted back. As the two ran, a couple of Guardians, the few who did not go into a Union State, noticed them.

"Banjou Ryuga located. Kamen Rider located. Kamen Rider's identity… unknown… Commencing-" Before they could even move forward, they were caught in what appeared to be a thick fog. They tried to move but were stuck. The fog wiggled as they noticed that it wasn't fog, but a mist that emanated from spider silk.

"Appetizer's over. Now for the main course." A cold, male voice spoke up as they heard a finger snap. The spider web suddenly began to zap the Guardians and overload their circuits, detonating them in the process.


"Kasumi!" The two ran across a grassy field. Ahead of them was a large white apartment. "There! That's where she-" Ryuga stopped short when he noticed a large explosion that burst from the side of the building. "KASUMI!" Ryuga cried out.

"Ryuga! Look!" Morty pointed to a monster walking towards them. Its head and shoulders were comprised of three large orange and yellow bulbs with its hands being large lighters. Its overall pattern was a flame decorated in orange.

"You're late, Banjou Ryuga…" Ryuga looked around for that distorted voice. "But, I kept my word. Standing before you is Kasumi." Ryuga looked at the firey monster.

"Ka… Kasumi?" Ryuga approached her, only for the monster to point its match lighter hand at Ryuga and shoot out a flame. Morty pushed Ryuga out of the way as the flames caught onto his yellow shirt.

"AAAH!" Morty shrieked and rolled over.

"And… who are you?" Morty and Ryuga noticed a thick cloud of vapor materializing before forming into the shape of a person. It then seeped into the holes and crevices of a black armor. On this armor were large engine exhausts built onto the chest which had a yellow bat symbol on it, red and green wires coming from the engine chest and down his arms. His helmet also had the yellow bat as his visor, along with a large horn. Morty's eyes widened. "Aaaaah, now I remember…" He knew who this man was, and it seemed he does too. "You're the shrimp I toyed with one year ago…" Morty could remember himself inside a small tank as steam poured all over him, all while this black armored man was watching as he sat on a throne.

"YOU!" Morty shouted.

"You may call me Night Rogue." He said.

"… I don't care what you call yourself, y-you Batman knock off!" Morty took out two Full Bottles, Rabbit and Tank, shook them, then placed them in the Driver.

RABBIT! TANK! BEST MATCH!

He cranked the Driver as Night Rogue laughed.

"Heh, this is interesting." He saw the pipes come out of the driver and fill up on the liquids needed to make the armor.

ARE YOU READY!?

"LET'S BUILD UP!" Morty shouted as the two halves came together.

THE STEEL MOONSAULT! RABBITTANK! YEAH!

The armor snapped into place as white steam sprayed out from the seems. Both sides lacked any fancy attachments on the hands or shoulders outside of a small spike by his right shoulder with one side being a rabbit's ear and the other being a tank's cannon, and instead were a plain red and blue armor together. Morty ran towards Night Rogue as he merely dodged his punches. After one punch, he dove to the side and kicked Morty in the gut. Morty yelled and tried just one more punch, only for Night Rogue to grab it and twist it behind his back. He screeched in pain as Night Rogue chuckled.

"I'm not like those guinea pigs you fought, shrimp. I'm a whole lot more dangerous…" A fog appeared around Morty and Night Rogue as the latter reached out for something. He grabbed a sword that cleared away the fog. He jabbed it into Morty's back.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Morty screamed as sparks flew. Night Rogue tossed Morty away as he rolled over. Ryuga noticed a large gash on the red and blue armor's back. Morty didn't seem to be bleeding though.

"Let me explain why…" Night Rogue stood beside the monster. "You and I are at a Hazard Level of 3," he held up three fingers, "meaning we're evenly matched. The Smash that you have been facing were all at a Hazard Level of 2," he lowered his ring finger, "but Kasumi here is at a Hazard Level of 1…" He lowered his middle finger and pointed to the monster, who merely growled.

"A-are you implying that… this… Smash is weaker than the others?" Morty struggled to get up. "I-if so… t-then I'll easily defeat her and-"

"She'll die the moment you extract the Smash Essence." With that, Morty and Ryuga froze.

"W-what?" Morty muttered.

"She'll... die?" Ryuga muttered.

"Hazard Levels 1 and 2 are nearly indistinguishable from each other. When people of those levels are exposed to Nebula Gas, they turn into Smash. However, the key difference is their overall health." As Night Rogue said this, Ryuga began to tremble.

"N-no… You don't mean…" Ryuga looked blankly at the monster that was once Kasumi.

"Kasumi was in suboptimal health compared to the other subjects. She couldn't handle the gasses and died as soon as she inhaled them. What you see now is a husk, unable to truly die… Unless you wish to put her out of my misery." Night Rogue chortled. The monster held up its lighter towards Ryuga… only to hesitate and point it at its own head. Flames exploded as it flopped to the ground. It moaned in pain. Morty could only watch as the monster fought between attacking Ryuga and hurting itself. He could hear it cry in agony. Night Rogue just groaned.

"DESTROY THEM, YOU BITCH!" He struck the monster with his sword as she screamed. He grabbed the monster by the arm and forced the lighter towards Ryuga. "FIRE!" The lighter shot out a huge fireball as Ryuga tackled Morty away from the blast.

"STOP IT! STOP HURTING HER!" Ryuga cried out.

"She's no longer alive, idiot! She's just a weapon for us now. A very STUPID ONE!" He punched her in the head. "NOW WORK RIGHT!" He jerked her arm and bent it behind her back. There was a large crack as the monster shrieked. A huge fireball began to form on the lighter as he pointed to Ryuga. Before it could fire, though, three bolts flew and struck Night Rogue. As he let go, the monster turned and aimed at Night Rogue. She released the fireball right at him. It exploded and caused Night Rogue to get knocked away a few feet. His armor smoked from the flames.

"You're truly scum, Rogue…" Night Rogue looked to his side and saw a man in an armor similar to his. However, his under suit was bright white, with his chest armor resembling a large spider, with four legs reaching below his ribs and four legs peaking over his shoulders. On the center, the spider's body was bright blue. Black and yellow wires ran from the chest and over to his arms much like Night Rogue's armor. His helmet had a blue visor resembling an hourglass turned on its side with what looked to be red eyes underneath. He too shared a horn that jutted out of his forehead.

"Speeder… How dare you strike your superior like that?" Night Rogue growled.

"We'll discuss my insubordination later after Build cleans up the mess you made." Speeder turned to Morty. "Build! Finish her off and extract her essence!" Morty just stood up and gripped his fists.

"You two… are the real monsters here!" Morty took out two bottles and shook them hard before placing them into the Driver.

HARINEZUMI! SOUJIKI! ARE YOU READY!?

"BUILD UP!" The two armors came together and snapped in place. While Morty was equipped with the spiky white half again, the second half was turquoise, with his right hand being nothing more than a large vacuum cleaner while his shoulder had the container for where whatever it sucked up goes. Morty ran towards Speeder and threw a spiky punch at him. Speeder pulled out a gun, dodged his attack and fired at Morty. This caused Morty to fall and drop his phone. As it fell, a Full Bottle spilled out of the phone. Speeder picked up the Full Bottle and looked at it. It was the Lion Full Bottle.

"Ah, we have gained a Full Bottle…" Night Rogue chuckled. After a brief look, Speeder shook it and tossed it to Morty, who caught it. "What are you doing!?" Night Rogue shouted.

"Build! Swap out Harinezumi for that!" Speeder said. Morty just glared at the two. "You want her to suffer more?" Speeder asked. Morty's hand trembled as he slowly shook his head. "Then you know what must be done." With that, Morty took out Harinezumi and replaced it with Lion.

LION! SOUJIKI! BEST MATCH!

Night Rogue looked to Speeder, as did Morty.

"Hmph. Lucky guess…" Night Rogue walked away as smoke erupted from his body. When it cleared, he was gone. Morty took the moment to crank the belt.

ARE YOU READY!?

"Super Build Up…" Morty muttered as the Belt shouted out.

THE MANED CYCLONE! LIONCLEANER! YEAH!

The golden half of the Lion Full Bottle's armor came to Morty and replaced Harinezumi's half. Instead of a spiky gauntlet, a lion's head was mounted around Morty's wrist. The monster roared in pain as it got up and fired at Morty. Morty took the vacuum cleaner and sucked up the fire, its flames moving into the container. Morty then cranked the driver one last time.

ARE YOU READY!? VORTEX FINISH! YEAAAAH!

Morty released the container as it shot out the flames in a large cyclone. Morty then held up his lion-suited hand as the flames went into the lion. He ran towards the Smash and punched it with the Lion half's fist. The Smash got knocked down as a woman wearing a white gown fell out of it. The woman's body glowed a soft orange as the Smash remained dormant. However, the woman was breathing.

"Interesting… You managed to separate the Smash portion from the subject…" Speeder looked as Ryuga ran to her.

"Kasumi!" He cried out. Speeder lowered his head.

"Unfortunately, this is all you can do for her."

"Ryuga…" Kasumi rasped. "I'm… sorry…"

"It's fine… Don't talk…" Tears began to form up in Ryuga's eyes.

"Nabeshima… He asked me to send you to Katsuragi… He said he could have your license reinstated if I did that... I didn't realize I'd destroy your life… If it weren't for me… your life would be..." Ryuga shook his head.

"No… This… My life is great because of you. I'd… I couldn't ask for a better life! You make me the happiest I could ever be… I… I love you!" Kasumi just smiled as her body began to fade away.

"Thank you… Ryuga… I… love you… too…" With that, she became silent as her body disappeared into tiny light particles. Morty could just stare at the Smash. He slowly took out a clear Full Bottle and held it out. The Smash turned into particles and got absorbed into the bottle. Afterwards, he took out the two bottles as the armor disappeared. Speeder could see him going into a thousand-yard stare, though the way his body moved to grab his phone, it seemed it wasn't the first time he had this sort of experience. Meanwhile, Ryuga just sat on the ground and broke into tears. All the while, police sirens began to wail.

"We… we should go." Morty muttered.

"It's fine… It doesn't matter anymore!" Ryuga sobbed. Speeder just slowly approached Ryuga.

"What is…" Speeder then grabbed Ryuga by the collar as Morty freaked out. "What is 'fine' about this!?" Morty immediately rushed to the two and tried to push Speeder away, only for his arm to feebly press against his armor. "Is being branded a murderer 'fine' for you!? Is that what she'd want!? Did she die just for you to go down as some criminal?" Speeder took a moment to look at Ryuga's face, nothing more than that of a crying child. He tossed him to the ground.

"… You… You assholes are the reason she's dead!" Morty shouted at Speeder. He stopped.

"Rest assured, Build, I would have never let that happen to her. What happened was Night Rogue's doing. If you wish to avenge Kasumi, then you will do your best to live up to your name. Build up your Hazard Level in the hopes that you surpass us and that you defeat Night Rogue. My name's Freeze Speeder… And I hope our next fight will be better." Speeder walked away as he too disappeared into smoke. Morty could only stand there and tremble as he heard the vroom of a car. A gray mini-van pulled up next to them as a door opened.

"Morty, hop in! The cops are- Jesus, you two look like shit!" Rick came out of the driver's seat and patted Morty into the van. "L-like what the hell happened!?" Ryuga got up and slumped over to the van as well. The van drove off, only for the wheels to fold inwards and flew off.


"YOU INSUBORDINATE!" Night Rogue fired upon Freeze Speeder as the two stood in a dimly lit laboratory. Freeze, however, stood still as the bullets hit him. "You not only hit me, but you managed to give away a Full Bottle to Build!"

"At least I didn't kill a sick woman to lure her fiancé into a trap." Freeze said.

"You fail to understand what we do here. We use whoever we can get our hands on as test subjects." As Night Rogue got up into Freeze's face, a spider's leg sprouted out of Freeze's arm as he held it up to Rogue's neck like a knife.

"And you fail to understand our purpose. We're meant to train Build, not parade around a dark lair like some villain in a children's show." Freeze Speeder said.

"Did Stalk feed you that crap?" Night Rogue slapped away the leg and held up his gun. Before he was about to shoot, the two heard footsteps.

"Did someone say my name?" The two looked as a man in red spandex approached them. Like them, his armor was similar in design, pipes lining his chest with a large symbol of an animal on his chest and visor. In this case, it was a cobra. Blue and white wires were on his chest and arms as pipes also formed a sort of collar. Freeze immediately broke away from the confrontation and bowed before him.

"Blood Stalk, I apologize for Night Rogue's behaviour." Freeze said. Blood Stalk approached Freeze and patted him on the shoulder.

"Rise. You two did nothing wrong. Night Rogue was merely experimenting and got some impressive results. You on the other hand managed to help Build in recognizing a Best Match. Both those things are instrumental in our overall plan. I do hope you two try working together more often instead of tearing each other apart… It's much more fun that way." Freeze got up as Stalk walked past both him and Night Rogue.

"… Understood, Blood Stalk." Freeze crossed one of his arms to his shoulder and nodded.

"That said… Perhaps we can toy around with Build and his friend. Freeze, be sure to let Nabeshima know his services are needed once again." Blood Stalk said.


Morty sat by the bed back at Nascita's basement as Ryuga approached him.

"I… I wanna say thanks… for helping me with Kasumi." Ryuga said.

"It… wasn't supposed to be this way." Morty muttered. "I was supposed to be a hero who'd save everyone."

"Eeeeeh, don't worry about it." Ryuga suddenly got a slap on the back as he smelled alcohol. He turned to see an old man with spiky blue hair. He barely knew the man, but know that he was the drunkard who yelled at him when he first met Morty. "Morty's a," he burped, "he's just depressed. H-he'll be fine by tomorrow… or next week." Rick said. The three then heard a buzzer and a door popping open. "H-hey, Morty, that bottle's ready." Morty got up and slowly walked to the main lab where Misora exited from a large vault. Morty got the bottle and looked at it. He frowned while giving a drained chuckle.

"Heh, a dragon." He grabbed the Full Bottle and walked over to Ryuga. "Here… you deserve it more than me." Ryuga could see the perpetual frown on Morty's face as he walked away. He looked at the bottle. It was navy and like Morty noted, it had a dragon's head was molded onto the bottle.

"… What's wrong with him?" Misora asked Ryuga.

"He… He's just a little upset is all." Ryuga looked to Morty as he laid down onto the bed and began to cry softly.

"Goodbye… Moonman…" Morty wept. Ryuga looked away and closed his eyes, a few tears dropped from them.

"Wow, w-what pussies." Rick rolled his eyes and took a swig as Misora glared at him.


It was nighttime. Nabeshima rushed through his apartment. He grabbed what he could and locked them in a briefcase. He panted. Just a few more things and he'll be off, ready to run from…

That's when he noticed a cyborg spider man hanging upside down by a spider thread. He screamed as Freeze Speeder swung in and broke through the window. Nabeshima dropped onto his butt and scooted away from Freeze, only for smoke to bellow from his armor. As it disappeared, so did the armor. In its place was a young man with short black hair. He wore a white scarf with a tan leather jacket and a gray sweater underneath. Nabeshima just trembled before him.

"I'm not here to kill you. If I were, I'd have done it by now." The man approached him and offered his hand. "I'm here because you have a job to do." Despite the nice gesture, he fixed a glare at Nabeshima that only meant one thing:

This man will not take no for an answer.