Arc 1 - Worlds Apart

Chapter 02: Wake Up, Yamato!


Unknown Location

"Foundation X?" questioned Yamato, looking away from the mirror.

"An organisation, dedicated to the advancement of science," replied the man, "No matter the cost."

"What have you done to me?" demanded Yamato, his anger starting to build.

"Most obviously we replaced the arm and leg you lost in your accident," explained the man, "Some enhancements to other parts of your body to repair the damage, your left arm was rather tricky, but you should have full use of it again."

Looking back at his reflection, Yamato felt horror rising within him. Set into his chest was shiny metal rectangle with a symbol stencilled on the front, a gear with two lines running opposite to each other, forming an X.

"That on your chest is the mainframe for your cybernetic implants, it will also host the support AI you will receive during the mental adjustment procedure," answered the man.

"Mental adjustment?" repeated Yamato, "You're gonna brainwash me?"

"No exactly, the procedure will make you more compliant, allow you to act with hesitation," assured the man, watching as Yamato struggled against his bonds, "Don't bother trying, even at the maximum output of your cybernetics, those bindings are far stronger."

Yelling, Yamato renewed his efforts, launching forwards as his bonds ripped like paper. Landing on the ground, despite the horror and anger he felt at being torn apart and put back together again, he couldn't help but relish at the feeling of being whole again.

"G-Get back!" stuttered the man, shuffling backwards.

"You did this to me," snarled Yamato as he walked towards the man, his hand shaking as he drew a shock baton from his belt.

Surging forward, Yamato knocked aside the man's arm, the shock baton falling from his grasp as his arm shattered, the man flying backwards.

Yamato shuffled back, looking down at his hands in horror as the man yelled in agony from where he'd landed.

"I'm a monster," muttered Yamato, not even looking as the door to the operating room open and guards dressed in black combats flooded in, surrounding him and striking him with their shock batons.

Falling to the ground, Yamato watched as medical staff rushed in, immediately beginning to tend to the man, as his world went completely black.


"Wake up, Yamato!"

Slowly forcing his eyes open, Yamato looked around himself, he was still in the same room. Looking up, he saw he was strapped to the operating table once more, this time with metal clamps. Sighing, Yamato glanced over to where the man had landed after he'd hit him, the image of his shattered arm haunting him.

"Good morning, Yamato," spoke a female voice in his ear.

"Who's there?" called Yamato, looking around the room.

"My name is Assistive Rider Interface, ARI for sure," explained the voice, "I am the AI assigned to aid you in your duties as one of Foundation X's X-Riders."

"X-Riders?" questioned Yamato, looking down at the metal section in his chest.

"A program set up to create an army of Kamen Riders, utilising the powers of the past, present and future," informed ARI, "You were assigned to Project Hansei, in order to be the perfect opponent for Kamen Rider Build, to be able to copy anything he does."

"Those bastards!" snarled Yamato, feeling his rage beginning to build, but managed to push it down as the image of the man he'd injured came to the forefront of his mind.

"Since you are now conscious would you like me to complete my initialisation and connect to the Foundation X's mainframe?" queried ARI.

"Would that alert them?" replied Yamato.

"Yes, your mental adjustment procedure was scheduled to be in two hours, it is most unusual for you to wake up prior to the operation," answered ARI.

"Who do you take orders from?" asked Yamato, a worried look on his face, he didn't really fancy having an evil AI in his head, or chest, or wherever ARI was.

"If I was connected to the Foundation X mainframe, my administrator would be your handler," responded ARI, "However since you instructed me not to link to the mainframe, the position of administrator falls to you."

"Good, from now on you don't take any orders from anyone who works for Foundation X," instructed Yamato.

"Permissions updated," spoke ARI, "You are now the permanent administrator for my system."

"Nice, now let's focus on getting out of here," stated Yamato, pulling on his metal clamps, only for them to click open, allowing him to drop to the floor.

Yamato groaned as he pushed himself to his feet, "What happened?"

"I may not be connected to the mainframe but I can still interface with nearby objects," explained ARI.

"That's gonna come in handy," murmured Yamato, approaching a table on the far wall, grabbing a pair of black pants and pulling them on over the boxers he was wearing, then slipping his feet into a pair of combat boots from under the table.

Picking up a jacket with the Foundation X logo stenciled on the breast pocket, Yamato glared at it before tossing it away. Grabbing a white t-shirt he pulled it on, uncovering a black briefcase as he did.

"What's this?" questioned Yamato, opening the case to reveal a strange belt with a red handle sticking out the left side, a translucent barrel and two slots, next to it was a small purple bottle.

"The Alpha Driver, a prototype of the Build Driver created by Sento Kiryu in the year 2016," informed ARI.

"2016, that's over twenty years from now," spoke Yamato, scrunching his face up in confusion.

"Foundation X has access to time-travel technology," continued ARI, "That Driver was stolen from its creator, it allows the user to transform into a Kamen Rider by blending both organic and inorganic powers, stored as FullBottles."

"So this is what Foundation X wanted me to use as their puppet," spoke Yamato, a flash of anger appearing before he pushed it down.

"Yamato, it appears that freeing you has alerted the guards," stated ARI.

"Is there still time for me to slip away?" queried Yamato.

"There is not," replied ARI, "If you wish to escape, you will have to fight your way out."

"I can't, I could have killed that doctor," muttered Yamato, looking down at his hands, "I'd definitely kill the guards."

"Would you like to activate non-lethal mode?"

"Non-lethal?" repeated Yamato.

"I can limit the output of your cybernetic and constantly change to adapt to your enemy," elaborated ARI.

Yamato nodded, picking up the Alpha Driver and FullBottle, "Do it."

"Non-lethal mode activated."

Lowering the Driver to his waist, Yamato watched as it fastened itself to him.

"What do I do with this," pondered Yamato, staring at the FullBottle in his hand.

"You shake it and then flick the switch on the top before inserting into the Alpha Driver," explained ARI, Yamato nodding as he began the sequence to activate the FullBottle.

[CRYSTAL!]

"Now turn the handle," continued ARI.

Nodding, Yamato began to turn the handle, watching in shock as a black and gold metal rectangle formed around him, with him at the center. Suddenly, two semi-clear tubes came out of the front of the Alpha Driver, creating a frame similar to Gunpla runners, both in front of him and behind him.

"Whoa," gasped Yamato as a purple substance flowed through the pipes, forming a set of strange purple armour, the half in front of him covering the top right of his chest, his right arm, his left leg and the left-hand side of his face. Glancing behind him, Yamato saw the remaining sections of the purple armour had appeared there.

"What do I do now?" asked Yamato, looking between the stationary halves of his armour.

"The system has motion detection, cross your arms over your chest and then lower them to your waist," explained ARI.

"Got it!" confirmed Yamato, doing as he was told, the armour immediately reacting by encasing his body.

[ARE YOU READY!?] [ BROKEN CRYSTAL!]

Turning to look at his reflection in the mirror, Yamato grinned under his helmet, "This is awesome!"

"You said I was part of Project Hansei," continued Yamato, "I guess that means I am Kamen Rider Hansei!"

Marveling, Hansei examined his Rider form, a black undersuit with lines running across it at a 45 degree angle, purple armour with matching lines on his torso and shoulders, and a helmet with light grey plastic lenses covering where his eyes were, however one had a crack in it while the other had a piece chipped off.

"Something's wrong," mused Hansei, staring at the reflection of his chest armour, it looked like it hadn't fitted together completely, one pauldron was higher than the other.

"It seems that you haven't fully synced with the Alpha Driver for some reason," responded ARI, "It could be that you don't trust me."

Before he could reply he door to the lab suddenly burst open, guards charged into the room, forming a semicircle around Hansei.

"Cancel the unauthorised transformation and surrender immediately or you will be met with extreme force," ordered the leader, his gun aimed at Hansei.

Turning to face the guards, Hansei spoke, "Try me."

A hail of bullets spewed from the guns of the guards, their fire focused directly on Hansei.

"Confirm visual, is Test Subject 7 down?" called the leader, struggling to see through the smoke.

"No, he isn't," stated Hansei as he appeared in front of the leader, unharmed except for a few scratches.

Launching forwards, Hansei struck the leader in the gut, giving a small sigh of relief as his cybernetics limited his strength, causing the leader to crumple to the floor instead of sending his kidneys to the other side of the room.

Seeing their leader fall, the other guards charged in, swarming Hansei. Dropping into a fighting stance, Hansei quickly knocked a fist aside, spinning on the balls of his feet, striking the attacking guard with his knuckles in the neck, dropping him immediately.

"How did I do that?" murmured Hansei as he ducked another fist, dispatching the guard with a punch to the knee.

"A combat program was uploaded to your cybernetics as a part of my software package," answered ARI, "It supplies you with the most effective technique to defeat your current opponent."

"Huh, neat," muttered Hansei, rolling to one side, sweeping a guard's feet out from under him in the same motion.

Straightening up, Hansei charged forward, lashing out with a left hook, stunning a guard, following it up with a kick to the chest. Feeling a strike on his back, Hansei slowly turned around, coming face-to-face with one of the guards.

"Do you really want to do this?" asked Hansei as the guard quaked in his boots.

Within a second, the guard made a hasty retreat, leaving just three guards left standing.

"Let's do this," smiled Hansei, assuming a fighting stance.

Striding forward, Hansei knocked the first guard aside as he rushed, kicking him in the side as he did. Dodging a swing of a shock baton from the second guard, Hansei lashed out with a roundhouse kick to the face, sending the second guard to the floor, unconscious.

"You'll find I won't be defeated so easily," sneered the third guard, drawing a strange belt with two large slots on the front, from his jacket. The guard lowered it to his waist, a silver belt materialising, holding it in place.

"What is that?" queried Hansei, backing away slightly.

"A mass-produced Sengoku Driver, created by Yggdrasil in 2013 in order to create their own personal army," explained ARI, "The former Head of R&D at Yggdrasil destroyed all the remaining Drivers after the resolution of the Helheim invasion."

"Let me guess," muttered Hansei, "Foundation X hopped to the future again and stole a few before they were destroyed?"

"Correct," agreed ARI, "However I fear they may have made some, improvements."

"Great," intoned Hansei, his voice laden with sarcasm.

[BLOOD MANGO!] [CHERRY ENERGY!]

"Henshin!"

Looking up, Hansei examined the objects in each the guard's hand, strange padlocks, one with a cover styled as a dark red mango and the other as a pair of cherries. Flashing a smug smile at Hansei, the guard slotted the padlocks into the ports on the driver.

[LOCK ON!]

Walking towards Hansei confidently as a guitar riff blared from the guard's Sengoku Driver, before he flicked the knife of the device, both of the padlocks opening.

[BLOOD MANGO ARMS! - SHADOW OF HAMMER!] [JIMBER CHERRY!] [HA-HA!]

Suddenly, two zippers appeared above the guard, each unzipping to reveal portals to some kind of forest. Out of one of the portals came a large metallic mango while a metal object in the shape of two cherries came out the other.

"This is so not good," sighed Hansei.

Above the guard the two metal fruit pieces merged into one, forming a strange looking black rectangle that lowered itself onto the guards shoulders. A wave of purple energy washed down the guards body, leaving a black bodysuit with pieces of silver armour on his shoulders, forearms and shins.

Strolling towards Hansei, the guard raised his hand as the black rectangle unfolded, forming an samurai armour over his base suit. His helmet had a silver crest on his forehead, a red gem set below it, and a red crescent-shaped visor, with silver horns at either side.

"You can call me, Kamen Rider Chishio," sneered the guard, as a red and blue bow appeared in his outstretched hand.

"Lovely," replied Hansei.

Sighing, Chishio lunged forward, striking Hansei across the chest twice, leaving deep gashes and sending him stumbling back.

"Now that hurt," grunted Hansei as he steadied himself.

"Not as much as this will," stated Chishio, pulling back the handle of his Sonic Arrow, letting energy build at the tip before releasing it.

Reacting as fast as he could, Hansei dived to one side, the energy bow scraping his shoulder, leaving a dent in his pauldron.

"This guy is too strong," sighed Hansei as he hid behind the vertical operating table.

"Come out and play!" called Chishio, reading his Sonic Arrow again.

"I can't beat this guy," groaned Hansei, holding his damaged shoulder, "He's too strong."

"I determined the cause of your desync issue," spoke ARI, her electronic voice coloured with worry, "I was as I theorised, the root of the issue is that you don't trust me."

"You have to come out eventually," continued Chishio, "And I'm happy to wait."

"Of course I don't, I only met you half an hour ago!" retorted Hansei.

"Yamato, if you want to get out of this, you're going to have to trust me," urged ARI, "I have my reasons to betray Foundation X."

"You're right, if you were working for or being controlled by Foundation X you would never have released me," spoke Hansei, "You could have alerted the guards and allowed me to be brainwashed, but you didn't."

[ARE YOU READY?!]

Looking down in surprise, Hansei watched as the Alpha Driver strapped to his waist glowed for a few seconds before the light faded away.

"ARI, let's beat this guy!" declared Hansei.

"Roger!" affirmed ARI as Hansei stepped out of cover with his back to Chishio, his hand grabbing hold of the handle on his Alpha Driver and beginning to turn it.

"Now I win," sneered Chishio, releasing the handle of his Sonic Arrow, an energy bolt rocketing towards Hansei.

[CRYSTAL!] [ONE-BOTTLE BEST MATCH!]

A wave of purple energy rocketed out from the Alpha Driver, destroying Chishio's arrow and sending him flying backwards. Turning around, Hansei's chest piece slotted together perfectly, steam billowing from the seam, all the damage done to his suit repaired.

"I will change my fate with these hands!" stated Hansei, raising his hands, one organic, one inorganic.

Surging forward, Hansei quickly launched a kick at Chishio, who'd just got back to his feet, pushing him against the wall. Lashing out with his fist, Hansei punched the other rider in the stomach, an area unprotected by his Jimber Cherry armour.

Raising his Sonic Arrow, Chishio slashed at Hansei, who quickly grabbed the blade of the weapon and pulled it out of Chishio's hands. Spinning around, Hansei pulled the handle of the weapon back and allowed the energy to build for a few seconds before releasing it.

"NOO!" roared Chishio as the energy bolt hit him, encasing him in a pair of hologram cherries, which turned into a hail of arrows which bombarded Chishio.

"Checkmate," spoke Hansei as Chishio collapsed to the ground unconscious, his suit and armour fading out of existence. Holding up the Sonic Arrow, the Alpha Driver produced a stream of light, scanning the weapon.

"The Sonic Arrow has been analysed and integrated into your Rider arsenal," informed ARI as two of the clear pipes came out of the Alpha Driver, bending and cornering until it reached the Sonic Arrow, absorbing the weapon into the pipes.

Strolling over to where Chishio's smoking Sengoku Driver had fallen, Hansei picked it up, it and the Blood Mango Lockseed were wrecked, however the Cherry Energy Lockseed was undamaged, "I'll be keeping this."

Pulling the Crystal FullBottle out of his Driver, Yamato stowed it and the Cherry Energy Lockseed in the pockets of his combat pants, dropping the Sengoku Driver back on the ground.

Yamato grinned, "Now, let's get out of here,"


"Take the next left," instructed ARI.

Jogging down a corridor, Yamato effortlessly changed direction, his cybernetic implants making it easy. Entering a large room, Yamato slowed to a stop as he looked around him, his eyes falling on a strange frame with silver energy inside of it, on the opposite wall.

"What it this?" muttered Yamato as he walked towards it.

"It appears to be some kind of prototype dimensional wormhole creator," informed ARI.

"Woah," grinned Yamato, "That's so cool."

"I'm glad you think so," spoke a voice from behind Yamato, "It was designed for you after all, if you had accepted your fate like you should have."

Turning to face the source of the voice, Yamato was shocked to see a suit identical to his Crystal Form, however the purple armour was coloured black and the eyes were silver. The most surprising difference was that this Rider did not have an Alpha Driver on his waist, instead it looked like he had a similar device built into the axe in his left hand.

"Who are you?" questioned Yamato defensibly, drawing his Crystal FullBottle.

"You can call me Onyx," explained the rider, "I am Foundation X's most senior and trusted enforcer, and you have become more trouble than you're worth."

Slamming his Alpha Driver onto his waist, Yamato quickly shook his Crystal FullBottle and slotted it into his Driver as Onyx raised his axe.

[CRYSTAL!] [BOLTECH SLASH!]

Spinning the handle of his Alpha Driver, Yamato braced himself as the wave of silver energy rocketed towards him.

[ARE YOU READY?!] [CRYSTAL! / ONE-BOTTLE BEST MATCH!]

Just as the purple armour encased Yamato he was hit with Onyx's attack, sending him flying back into the silver portal, vanishing as he did.