Second Wave

Maizuru Naval Base, April 4th 2051, 0640 Hours

"… and in regards to the outstanding case, there has been no progress made on the investigation," reported Nagato.

"I see." Aosaki stirred her spoon in her coffee cup, making sure that all the milk, cream and sugar had dissolved to make her coffee blend just the way she wanted it. "Thanks for the status updates."

"Then if you'll excuse me." Before the flagship could walk out, the Vice Admiral called out to her.

"Your hand… what happened to it?"

"There was a minor accident yesterday when moving some munitions around the storage warehouse." The secretary glanced at her injured hand, opening and closing it to feel any pain. There was none. "My grip had been too tight on some crates which resulted in the load falling on my right hand. There's no need to worry though. I've been cleared by the doctor to have the bandages removed by approximately 1300 Hours so I will be able to make any afternoon sorties you have planned."

"No, I don't have anything like that right now," clarified the naval woman while taking a sip of coffee. "But that bit of clumsiness back there is a bit odd for you. Is there something you would like to talk about?"

Nagato paused for a moment before speaking. "The truth is… it felt like a memory sleeping within me started waking up. I recall a landscape… friendly and enemy ships, a giant light… and oblivion."

Aosaki felt a bit surprised hearing her Secretary open up so quickly. Honestly, she had expected that either she would have to spend more time trying to get Nagato to open up or that Nagato would be so stubborn about keeping this to herself that the matter would be dropped. "I see. What do you plan to do? Do you want to try and regain that memory fully or would you rather let it sleep?"

"What would you suggest, Commander?"

"You need to decide for yourself. Look inside and see if you feel whether the memory is worth trying to get back. Typically, you would want to retain good memories to honour a treasured time. But even bad memories can have some worth as they force us to remember key lessons learned during rather dark times."

The flagship noticed how the Vice-Admiral spoke. "It seems that you have some personal experiences."

"Well, I would like to think I learned a few things about being a better person after my recent divorce." Aosaki gave a wistful smile while idly stirring her coffee. "Anyways, that's your food for thought for today… or should I say fuel for thought?"

"I appreciate your input on this matter, Commander," said Nagato before saluting.

"If you need to talk further about your situation, I'm always available. Or you can drop in Keisuke's clinic and he'll be happy to help as well." With that, she downed the coffee in one last gulp. "I better not keep you from your work. You're dismissed."


Speaking of remembering the past, a certain doctor was doing just that in his office.

Jin Keisuke was sitting next to his desk. An old photo album rested on its surface. Each pages shows different events of his life. One had him standing with his four seniors and two juniors, alongside the elderly man who was their teacher on a quarry with a smoking pipe on his hand. Another has him standing alongside a young man, his face was scarred and had a prosthetic right leg-which is also a shotgun. The third was one of the more recent ones he got decades ago. He was in a restaurant, eating a bowl of ramen alongside two younger people; a girl and a man with bushy brown hair. Said young man was blowing his noodles because it was too hot for him, and the girl pointed at him, laughing at the expression he made.

'So many memories... sometimes I wonder why do we stay when the ones we care are now gone?'

Keisuke was having one of those days. He had moved on in many things, but sometimes memories of the past pulled him back. He missed the friends he made, both from his younger days, and beyond.

Closing the book, Keisuke looked to a certain framed photograph, and hold it in his hand. It was of his father and himself as a child. Both wore karate gi and were standing near a beach shore. His father, Jin Keitaro, was a strict man. Some part of him still resent him for being distant, but he never held any hatred towards him. Not anymore.

One of the few regrets that he has is that he cannot find any photos of his mother. Nor anything with his parents and himself together. 'I don't even remember how she looked like anymore...' Keisuke thought to himself.

Then, he smiled in a melancholic way, "I wonder of the others have this kind of days... I'm too old for this."

"Too old for what?" asked a female voice as someone entered the office for her morning shift. Known as Akashi the Repair Ship, she had long pink hair and wore a standard school fuku with a white top and blue dress. "Ooh... what's this? A photo album?"

The curious shipgirl moved over and flipped open the book to a random page. One of the pictures caught her eye quickly and she pointed out to the snapshot of the three people eating ramen together. "Is that you when you were younger, Keisuke? Wow, you have such a cat's tongue!"

'Yep. Definitely too old for this; especially if I let my guard down like this. Oyaa-san would scold me for being careless.'

Keisuke was so focused on the past, he forgot to pay attention to the present. Specifically, using his enhanced hearing to listen to footsteps coming closer to his office. Explaining the picture of his father, he could do. But explaining that he was actually the older, middle-aged man rather than the younger one? This would be difficult.

'Should I be honest, or keep silent?' is what Keisuke has been thinking. He was about to answer when Akashi asked him about the framed photo he's holding. He can answer that easily, "Oh, this is me and my father. We were training karate near a beach on our old home. I could never beat him."

"That pic looks kinda old. I guess you're a fan of classic cameras and black and white photos. Now back to that other picture with the ramen. Who's that girl with you? Is she your old girlfriend?" Her mouth was moving pretty fast to get all that out in such a short timespan.

On one hand, Keisuke was amused by her enthusiasm. It's rare for him to talk about his own life to other people; he doesn't even know what kind of lives his seniors and juniors had been living unless they told it to him. He would love to open up with people, since socializing is healthy.

But on the other, she's going to blow his cover. If he did talk, how is he to explain why he looked so young now while he looked old in the photo? So far, only the admiral and Nagato knew of who he really is. He'd prefer to only have the admiral to know it, but Nagato was an insightful and observant girl.

However, the mention of a girlfriend had sparked an old memory. One that he would rather not remember. But something in him urges Keisuke to talk.

"Actually... she's not." Keisuke answered, "I was cruising the country when I found them in a restaurant."

'Okay, keep it vague, but truthful...'

Keisuke continued, "I had a... personal problem back then, and these two helped me resolve it. I had a fiancee once, her name was Mizuki Ryoko. She had a twin sister, Kiriko."

Keisuke looked up to the ceiling. Were he to see Akashi's face, he'd see her sad expression. But he continued, "Something... bad happened. They're gone now. It feels like a lifetime ago, but I cannot forget about them. Not to mention my father passed away a few weeks before..."

Taking a deep breath, the doctor went on, "That's where I met them. They basically cheered me up. I hope they're doing fine now." he said with a smile. 'Although I doubt they are, especially you, Takumi...'

"Ooh..." Akashi felt a bit guilty for digging in a bit too much. That's Aoba's job as the base's newshound. "Sorry for prying. Anyways, what appointments do we have for today?"

Keisuke turned to Akashi and gave her a smile, "It's alright. I think you helped me the same way they did. Thank you."

The girl blushed, but she didn't get a chance to respond as Keisuke put the framed photo back to his desk and got up from the chair, "Actually, there's no appointments today. I was thinking of taking a walk around the base. Do you mind looking after the office, Akashi-kun?"

"No problem! Just make sure you take a walkie talkie with you in case of an emergency!" Yes, those things were still around military bases even in the mid 21st Century.

Keisuke grabbed the aforementioned device, and strapped it onto his utility belt. "Don't worry, I won't forget it. Amazing that this thing is still around; I thought people today would use those... iDroid things, was it?"

Seeing the girl's confused face, Keisuke scratched his head and let out a small laugh, "Sorry, but I rarely keep up with today's technology. Still, don't fix what's not broken, right?"

"Indeed. See you around, Keisuke!" With that, Akashi went right to work, sorting the completed paperwork and moving certain pages to their respective patient folders.


It was 7 AM when Michal's alarm went off. One shower and a change of clothes later, he went down to the cafeteria to pick up breakfast. He noted that during regular meal times, the cafeteria actually set up separators to create two distinct sections. One seating section would be used by lower ranked personnel and students while the other seating section would be used by those with higher ranks or special staff members like himself. This explained the relatively empty section that he took his meal in while the other section was pretty lively with conversation.

He checked his schedule for his orientation day. First up would be observing some of the Destroyer drills being held at 0800 Hours near the Northern docks. Remembering what Aosaki told him the day before about tardiness, he quickly finished his morning meal before making haste to his next location where he spotted the group already assembled on the water.

The class of Destroyers consisted of Asashio, Shimakaze, Samidare, a girl in a black sailor fuku with long blonde hair and green eyes and finally, a girl in a white jacket covering a red sailor fuku with a blue bow. Her hair was predominantly grey with some hints of purple while only one blue eye was revealed, the other hidden behind hair bangs. As for the one running the drills, it was a slightly older woman with a white headband in her brown hair. Her eyes were brown as well and her wardrobe consisted of a purple top and skirt.

'Those last two girls… their names are Yuudachi and Asashimo,' thought Michal to himself. 'I see that they have Ashigara running their class.'

Along with their usual outfits, everyone appeared to have various bits of equipment on them that resembled the parts of naval ships. Yuudachi for example wore a giant smokestack on her back like a backpack.

"Yo, Minato-san!" greeted Asashimo.

"What is Minato-san doing here, poi?" asked Yuudachi.

"He's here to observe today's drills," came the reply from Ashigara.

Samidare looked on in slight confusion. "What for? I thought he was a new addition to the command staff and would be with the Vice-Admiral."

"That's only part of his job. He's also going to be serving as a special teacher here, passing on some of his own experiences to you ladies. So please treat him well."

"Really?!" Asashio seemed really excited upon hearing what Ashigara just said before she turned and bowed deeply at the young man. "I look forward to learning from you, Minato-sensei!"

"Seeeeeenseeeeeeeei~!" The word was drawn out in a mocking tone from Shimakaze. "You really are an Honour Student, Asashio."

Before the other Destroyer could shoot back a response, Ashigara quickly took control of things. "Enough already. Minato-san, will you be needing your own boat?"

"No, I'm good. I have this." He pulled out his device and scrolled to a small icon shaped like a mini jet ski in yellow before pushing it. Moments later, his personal vehicle arrived at his location. It's known as the Aqua Miraider, capable of travelling on land, air and sea. Right now, it was in hovercraft formation for travel on the Ground. The back part contained a small space for storage where he had stashed his safety helmet. After getting that equipped, he hopped on his vehicle and directed it into the water with the bottom portion of the vehicle changing for aquatic operation.

Asashimo gave a small whistle. "Pretty slick ride ya got there, teach."

"Thanks. And I'm not a teacher yet so you can just call me Michal-san like you did before," replied the young man while Ashigara turned to address the group of Destroyers.

"Alright, let's get started! We'll run our warm up laps around the base as usual so get to it!"

"Roger!" The group of Destroyers got in single file formation before their legs began moving similarly to how ice skaters move on ice. Within moments, they were gone which led Michal and Ashigara alone.

"So that's how they move…?"

"Indeed," replied the instructor behind him. "Our field abilities such as movement, attack and defense are based on two main factors: our original design schematics of the Imperial Japanese Navy along with our service history. An example is how Musashi has the strongest natural armour out of us Fleet Girls due to taking a lot of damage during the Battle of Sibuyan Sea. It's a shame that she couldn't claim victory that day."

"Uh huh…"

"If you want, we can sit down together and I'll tell you other miscellaneous facts that might prove helpful to you on handling some of the more interesting members of the fleet," offered Ashigara.

"That's not a bad idea. I'll have to see how my schedule looks like though." This could prove to be useful since the data on his information drive from Aosaki really contained more technical elements and didn't truly give him behavioural traits that he needed to be aware of which could affect the way he approached and treated the girls. "Anyways, I'm going to catch up with the class and watch their movements. If you'll excuse me."

Michal then directed the Aqua Miraider in the direction of the Destroyer class while Ashigara smiled at how their interaction went.

'Fufufufu… the first step has been taken. If my luck holds, i will achieve my Ultimate Victory!'

She had been feeling a bit down when her continuous attempts to charm Keisuke kept falling flat. But Luck had been on her side as another suitable man came to the base and may ultimately be the one who finally helps her shake off that Christmas Cake status. Already, she liked what she saw with the blue clad youth and looked forward to getting to know him better.

'Michal, beware! The Hungry Wolf is on the prowl and she has you in her sights!'

… Godspeed, Kamen Rider Aqua.


April 3rd 2051, National Museum of the US Navy, Washington, DC, 1815 Hours EST

And speaking of GOD, trouble brews in the Star Spangled Nation.

The hallways were quiet, as expected since visiting hours were done for the day at the museum. By this time, a shift change would have occurred for some of the security staff to go on a meal break. Instead, all of the guards were knocked out cold and the security system deactivated while a group of thieves went to work. Honestly, it wasn't like there was anything of major financial value being stored in the museum and there was no way that any of the historical artifacts could have fetched a big price on the black market.

But they still moved forward as they were ordered to obtain that part for their superior. Apparently, he was eager to resume his experiments with those trinkets, even after the first batch went rogue. What they were after was a time capsule which contained mementos from previous American ships that bore the name Enterprise. While it had originally been presented to the first captain of the PCU Enterprise during her launch ceremony in 2027, he generously donated it to the museum a few years later.

With the time capsule retrieved, the figures moved back to their waiting black van and made a hasty retreat, just in case there had been a silent alarm triggered to alert authorities. It would be a few minutes until their spatial warper had enough energy to open a large enough gate for the van. While they drove along the road, the driver made a sharp left turn at an intersection, nearly causing an approaching motorcyclist to nearly crash.

'Found you.' The motorcyclist revved up his vehicle and picked up speed before cutting off the black van, making it come to a forced stop. As soon as it did, he parked his vehicle and removed his helmet before glaring angrily at the van's driver.

"Geez, that was dangerous! Who taught you how to drive?!"

"What's that kid doing?" asked the van driver while staring at the angry Japanese youth. His hair looked like it was dyed brown and he was dressed in a black jacket over a white t-shirt with a black landscape drawing on it. He had a standard pair of jeans and black sneakers.

"Che… don't have time for this." The figure sitting in the passenger seat got out of the vehicle and pulled a gun but before he could fire on that boy, his weapon got knocked away by a blue blur. "What the…?!"

The blue blur revealed himself as a figure that resembled an Oni with pointed horns, black upper chest armour and shoulder pads. "Looks like your hunch paid off, Kotaro."

"Did you expect any less, Teddy?"

"... the hell?! You're no cop!" exclaimed the driver upon seeing the smug look on the young man's face.

"That's true but considering how this theft seems to be related to the Abyssals as a whole, I'm obligated to look into this."

"What do you mean?!" This kid was seriously on to them!

"Debris was found from the first battle between the Abyssal destroyers who got defeated by the Fleet Girls. They matched the stolen trinkets. And just now, you stole a time capsule containing mementos that belong to one of America's most famous naval ships. The connection is obvious…" Kotaro pointed his finger at the group of thieves. "You're involved in the creation of the Abyssals!"

"If you know that much, then you have to die!" At once, the passenger door slid open with two rear passengers charging wildly with their swords. But as they approached, the blue oni took on one of them while Kotaro dodged the wide sword strikes of his other opponent and put some distance between himself and the enemy before whipping out a belt and slinging it to his waist. The colour was predominantly pale gold from the outer rims to the SetTouch in the Terminal Buckle.

In a flash, his spare hand retrieved the Rider Pass in his pocket before scanning it against his buckle. "Henshin!"

"STRIKE FORM"

On cue, a blue body suit began to form on his body while parts of his armour hovered all around him. After a while, the final part of the lens went down to his helmet and split into two to form the lenses. Now he was in his complete form with winged, pointy shoulder pads, a piece of chest armour that resembled a rail on it to match with the belt, and the DenGasher on his sides.

"... a Kamen Rider!" It was hissed out with such venom in the cloaked figure's voice.

"That's right. Kamen Rider Den-O. My strength…" Kotaro paused to snap his fingers twice. "… is for real."

"... I thought Den-O was a red hotblooded idiot who kept going 'Ore Sanjou!'," remarked the mook who had lost his gun earlier.

"Wait, Den-O's some blue playboy who wants to reel girls in!" corrected the driver.

"No, he's a purple break-dancer who can't hear what others are saying!"

"Nah, I'm sure he's a yellow bear whose strength makes others cry!" The moment didn't last for long as that last enemy mook raised his sword again. "Who cares?! We're still killing ya!"

Kotaro gave an exasperated grunt as he parried the attack with his arm before kicking his opponent in the stomach, driving him back. "Geez, how can you mistake me for that guy?!"

"Well, he is a very memorable character after all," admitted Teddy, leaping over a wild swing from another enemy to land by his partner's side.

"You mean those Imagin, not my gramps." Kotaro then snapped his fingers again before Teddy leapt into the air, changing into a sword for the Rider to wield. "Ah, whatever… let's wrap this up quickly."

"Count?"

"Let's see…"

Before the thieves could resume their attack, one of cried out, "Hold it! The boss is talking."

Holding an earpiece, he listened intently as the person on the other side gave him orders, "Alright, so let me get this straight; everything went well until this Kamen Rider appeared?"

"Yes, sir. He calls himself Den-O."

"... Is he telling everyone that he has arrived, or is he a young looking punk in blue who has his blue butler following him?"

"Well, technically he's navy blue, boss, but yes."

The voice chuckled in amusement, "Ah... so it's the New Den-O. I always wanted to fight that kid. Hold him off, I'm coming."

"But, boss! We don't have the tech to handle him!"

"Didn't our... benefactor, gave you all briefcases filled with something good? Use them."

The goon immediately took the aforementioned briefcase, and clicked it opened. He then threw a few belts to his comrades.

"Ah, finally! I thought we weren't supposed to use them yet!" a younger member commented, putting the belt around his waist.

"Boss' orders. It's show time, boys."

All six of them stood side-by-side, the buckle of their belts were in a vertical position, its other end on the right side of the users. They were primarily red in colour with the centre portion of the buckle ready to be fit into place.

Behind the visors, New Den-O widened his eyes, "Those belts… It can't be!"

An older looking goon laughed at the Rider, "You'll never live long enough to find out why we have this. Let's do this!", he shouted, and all six cried out one word:

"HENSHIN!"

COMPLETE

One flash of light later and they were now in black bodysuits with red armour, and a helmet that made the wearer look like an insect with a single circular plate acting as a face masl. All of them wielded a strange looking dagger.

"They look like Riotroopers but the coloring is different. Are these modified Smart Buckles?" mused Kotaro.

"That's probably the case," came Teddy's response. "Then… would that mean the Abyssals are failed results in an attempt to create some new type of Orphenoch?"

"HAAAA!" Three of the red Riotroopers charged forward with their daggers ready while the other three began reassembling their weapon to form a pistol shape.

"Speculate later! In the meantime…" Kotaro brought up his weapon to block two simultaneous attacks thanks to the length of his blade before making a forceful motion to the right to knock them off balance, giving him a chance to make a counter attack. He directed a swing of his blade in a counterclockwise direction to hit and damage their chest armour, generating sparks. "Twenty seconds for this first batch!"

"Acknowledged."

"Cocky punk!" One cried out, he charged at New Den-O, going for a leaping stab. The Rider easily dodged the attack, and slashed him away.

"Twenty, nineteen, eighteen..."

The trio who has their daggers in gun modes fired a volley of shots, which New Den-O dodged and retaliate with a few shots of his own via the MacheTeddy.

"Oi, what are you doing?! Can't you hit that guy?!" shouted the Riotrooper who had been assigned the role of vehicle driver.

"Sixteen, fifteen, fourteen..."

"I'm a thief, not a marksman! And it's not like you're doing any-" The sentence got cut off as the weapon got sliced up by Kotaro's sword before he took a hold of the enemy's collar and tossed him aside, landing on his butt near the first group.

"Thirteen, twelve, eleven..."

'Damn, he's fast!' The driver Riotrooper tried a point blank shot at New Den-O but the Rider ducked, causing the energy discharge to hit the other Riotrooper instead. Seeing him disoriented, Kotaro weaved behind and kicked the stumbling enemy right towards the driver. 'And what's with that sword of his counting down?'

"Catch!"

"Eh?!" Just as he caught his comrade, Kotaro made an upward swing with his sword, sending them stumbling back towards the other Riotroopers.

"Ten, nine..." Teddy continued his countdown which got the youth's attention.

"Better finish this quickly now that they're all together." He whipped out his Rider Pass and scanned it against his buckle...

FULL CHARGE

... causing Teddy to glow with energy. With his weapon now powered up, Kotaro released a series of energy slashes against the group of enemies, causing all of them to be enveloped within a gigantic explosion of power. Once things settled down and the smoke cleared, he could see all of them sprawled out on the ground with their suits deactivated and even their cloaks damaged, revealing a strange looking logo on the chest.

'It can't be... that's the-'

"Apollo Magnum!"

Before Kotaro could finish that thought, a loud explosion came from his left. As soon as he recognized it as a gunshot, his instincts kicked in and he rolled to the side just as a projectile sailed over his body and hit a statue, blowing it to smithereens.

"Huh. So this is what you looked like."

Kotaro's head turned towards the source of the voice before a small gasp of surprise escaped his lungs.

They had crossed paths once before in a sense. To be honest though, the one he remembered seeing looked a bit different. Despite the similarly designed helmet, cape, and shield, this individual looks nothing like the one he had met. For one thing, he looked more intimidating, especially with that giant tubular weapon attached on his right forearm. A purplish blade sat on the end of the tube, around it were holes that might be a projectile weapon; a bayonet of sorts. His winged helmet that covered his entire head has a silver device attached in front of it. On the shoulder of his shield arm, was a small red shoulder guard.

Kotaro had done some studying on the history of Kamen Rider, and the young man recognized who this menacing figure is.

"Apollo Geist?!" He shouted, taking a stance while he did so. 'This one looked different... could he be the one from the original timeline?'

"The one, and only." He taunted, before aiming his signature weapon, the Apollo Magnum, at the Rider. "Let's see how strong today's Kamen Riders are compared to... him."


Stranger: Hello again, everybody! Stranger here, and now we get to see who the antagonist are. Apollo Geist returns, the goons using Riotrooper gears, not to mention stealing some World War II artifacts... I wonder what they're gonna do with them.

EZ: I recall some readers asking for Rider action and here it is... but not in the way you were likely expecting! While things are relatively calm in the Land of the Rising Sun, danger runs amok in America's Capital.

Stranger: Worry not, they're all connected. Ooh, a reminder that Apollo Geist is physically based on his SIC Figure. Same goes to New Den-O and the Riotroopers. I'm sure you can google them to get a better idea on what they look like. Anyway, this Geist is the original; not the one from Decade (which I never liked to be honest) but the one from the original Kamen Rider X show. Clips of him in motion are hard to find, but when I found them, he was an instant favorite to me, like how General Shadow from Kamen Rider Stronger was.

EZ: To be fair, if it wasn't for that AU Apollo Geist showing up in Decade and subsequently Battride War, New Den-O likely wouldn't know of him on a more personal basis.

Stranger: True, not to mention that it's thanks to that new Apollo Geist and General Shadow that I got interested in finding out what their original selves are like. Shadow was still cool, but Geist could've been done better. And speaking of Battride War, I'm so happy that there's a new one coming next year! Finally, the Showa Riders make their debut. I do hope Riderman is playable.

Anyway, Read, Review, and Rejoice!