Chapter Three: No Brand Girls

Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined this.

Still half-dragging Eli's stunned and limp form away from the battlefield, Nozomi watched the eight Riders fight. It was almost like practiced choreography; the way they ducked and twirled in the light and away from the deadly attacks of the enemy was literally magic. And, yet, she could see the bonds of familiarity between them – bonds that had probably been forged by shared experiences and sorrow. She saw the dragonfly themed Rider smack the left side of his belt and vanish in a blur of motion, sending the humanoid monsters flying. A glance to her left showed an impossible sight of cards flying from the blade of the blue beetle Rider, seemingly giving him the ability to execute a lightning blast from his weapon. Even behind them, the dragon themed Rider with the golden crest of horns twisted the left side of his belt, his form shimmering and changing to a gold and blue form with a strange staff-like halberd as a weapon.

"Who are they?"

Rin shook her head slowly as she registered Hanayo clinging tightly to her. Of course, everyone in the Tokyo area had heard the urban legend of the Kamen Rider, a warrior that fought for the protection of peace and sanity against unnamed evils but she had dismissed it as that – something with no basis in reality. Compared with the athletic achievements of Ryo Ashihara and the incredible cooking skills of Souji Tendou, Kamen Riders seemed almost too mystical. That didn't mean she hadn't researched all of the information about them she could. All of their battles were known by her as well as the foes they fought against from the first Kamen Rider until the newest one that had just popped up a few weeks ago. Only Hanayo knew of her secret hobby and she encouraged it, though she had been a bit hesitant at first. To think that Kotori had links to Black RX and the original Kamen Rider was incredible but she knew that, until a few moments ago, the girl hadn't known of it.

"The Kamen Riders; warriors granted unimaginable power to fight against the forces of darkness that threaten the world."

The words fell from her mouth without her realising them. Rin crept as close as she dared to see the battle – RX delivering deadly kicks and chops to the Chaps around him, OOO switching out the tiger claws on his arms for something that looked like praying mantis blades and the Armoured Rider Zangetsu, from Zawame City, carving up those around him. Kamen Rider Drake had exited his Clock Up mode and was blasting away with the Drake Zecter, clearing a path for the girls to run to shelter if they wanted to…and Rin wanted to run away. She wanted so desperately to run away from this nightmare and wake up on the day of the third Love Live, ready to perform one last time. She felt Honoka's hands on her shoulders, dragging her away in a similar fashion as Nozomi was doing with Eli. In a small corner of her mind, she hoped this event would be the final catalyst that would allow the purple-haired girl to confess her rather obvious attraction to her friend. However, the bigger part of her mind was hoping that this wouldn't send her emotions over the edge.

Ever since they had set the date for the third Love Live as their final concert, Nozomi had been acting slightly strange. She had been staring at them with a strange expression of wistfulness on her face; very reminiscent of when they had been composing Snow Halation together and on the day of their graduation. For the sake of everyone around her, Rin hoped she didn't do something crazy stupid as, in her own words; the nine of them together was a miracle coming true. She had to know that, no matter what, they would always be close friends – no matter how far they were from each other. Plus, it wasn't as though one of them was going to go to space or anything; they would still be on Earth and within reach. She hoped her friend understood that though. Blinking in surprise as the blue and red form of Kamen Rider Drake appeared in front of her, her mouth dropped open as she heard a strangely familiar voice coming from him.

"Uh, is there a Kotori Minami somewhere here? I'm sorry; I'm not one for faces…which is a tad ironic."

Kotori blinked slowly as her mind caught up with her ears. She recalled the name of the Australian school that had sent her the Letter of Offer in her second year and the name of the business founder she had spoken to in haste after the concert: Daisuke Kazama. He had been known as one of the greatest make-up artists in the world a few years ago before dropping off the face of the planet for a few months during the Worm incident. After the dust had settled, he had reappeared and opened up a small fashion and design school that expanded overseas with glowing praises from everyone in the industry. Slowly raising up her right hand, she nodded at the Rider. Pulling on a lever protruding out from the tail of his Zecter, the Rider armour dissolved off him to reveal the man underneath. Dressed in his signature brown vest with a dark collared shirt, light grey pants and his black beret, he looked like a normal person and not someone who had been, only moments ago, blasting away humanoid creatures.

Daisuke looked at the girl, noting the similarities between her and Kotaro. Both had a serene quality in their mannerisms but held fierce fire in their eyes. He recalled the hurried conversation he had held with the girl a few years ago and his agreement that her acceptance to his school would only come into effect after she had finished her school idol duties. At the time, her name hadn't meant anything to him but now, knowing she was the cousin of the famed Kotaro Minami, well, that changed things considerably. With Yuriko managing the Australian campuses as best as she could, an opportunity had come up for him to open up a smaller school back in Tokyo. At first, he had been hesitant as the memories of Rena's destruction had haunted him for a long while. However, he had recently had a long talk with Tendou and had come to the decision that it should be done for the sake of the future. Well, something along those lines anyway. Additionally, he could easily see the bonds of strength and friendship these girls had with each other; a sight that warmed his heart considerably.

"I am pleased to inform you that you will not have to travel overseas in a few weeks. The School of Makeup, Fashion and Design is expanding yet again and I am looking for locations to open in the Tokyo area; perhaps even in the same spot as the original school was."

Kotori blinked in surprise as an explosion blossomed behind them. If he was opening up a branch in Tokyo, she wouldn't have to leave her family and friends. She would be staying in Japan and wouldn't have to learn an advanced level of English before starting the course. On the other hand, her IELTS Test Results had come back a few days ago and had granted her the overall band score of 6.5; a very envious score indeed. However, her mother had advised her to do a few weeks of English anyway as a precautionary measure. Relief and elation spread through her as her legs gave way due to the stresses of performing and seeing her cousin again. Honoka and Umi caught her before she could hit the pavement and began chattering excitedly at her, expressing great relief that she wouldn't have to leave. Daisuke looked at them and smiled, before looking over to the battle with a grim look on his face – a look Nozomi didn't miss.

She was extremely grateful and happy that Kotori wasn't leaving for Australia but she was still melancholic as fate would soon conspire to pull them apart once more. Her card reading this morning had been extremely specific: there would be two endings today, an arrival and a sudden departure. The arrival was heralded by the return of Kotori's cousin and one of the endings had been the dissolving of μ's. She didn't know what the other ending was to be but, with the appearance of the strange mirrored spider monster, she had a sinking suspicion she knew what it was. The only way she knew to prolong their lives was to sacrifice hers; a rather selfish decision but one borne from love. Closing her eyes, she muttered a prayer of guidance under her breath and slowly set Eli down behind the elated Kotori. As if mirroring her internal anguish, a light peal of thunder rumbled overhead and, soon after, rain began to fall. Her clothing would be ruined beyond repair but…well, it would be ruined anyway. Eli, finally recovering from the shock of her experience, caught her right arm and looked confused.

"Nozomi? What are you…?"

Any more words were silenced as Nozomi leaned in to place a tender kiss on her lips. Eli's heart raced as she leaned into the feeling and warmth she had only dreamt about. The others watched on, slightly embarrassed by the display of affection – though Daisuke held a faint smile on his lips. Pulling the blonde closer to her, Nozomi intensified the kiss, slipping her tongue into Eli's mouth and hearing her softly moan in delight. Reluctantly breaking off the kiss, she looked at Eli and tried to commit her face to memory, though it really should have been the other way around. Stepping away from her, she looked at the continuing battle and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Eli. I can't keep my feelings bottled up any more. I'm in love with you so much and I don't want us to be apart. But the cards have said today will be an ending today in more ways than one. μ's is no more and we'll be pulled apart again. This miracle is one that can't be allowed to end. This feeling…I want to cherish it the only way I know how."

Not wanting to look at their hurt faces, she knelt down in front of Eli once more and gave her another kiss, this time on the forehead. She looked at the others and tried to put on a brave front, though she was certain she was crying her eyes out. Daisuke was torn between stopping her foolish endeavour and allowing it to continue to whatever end she had planned – though he would stop her if he had to. And if he couldn't, well, Tendou had travelled through time once before using his Clock Up System or he could run down to the Milk Dipper and ask that unlucky kid he had seen there for assistance. He also hoped the rain wouldn't get any heavier as the majority of his luggage was still out in the open; albeit, being shielded by some foreign tourist. Swallowing hard, Nozomi took a step towards the battlefield, before looking back to speak to Eli once more.

"I love you so much, Eli. Always remember that."

Eli's brow furrowed at the English words as she finally realised what her friend was about to do. To sacrifice her life for her friends would take an incredible amount of bravery. It would also take an incredible amount of stupidity as the other Riders could easily cover their retreat from the venue without any blood spilled. Shaking her head in denial, she was aware of the others in various states of shock and alarm as their minds processed what was about the happen. Honoka, in particular, looked like she was about to explode or burst into tears. As her friend stepped away from them, she yelled out in horror, not wanting her final memory of her to be being ripped to shreds. Rising to her feet, she scrambled towards her but slipped on the wet ground, unceremoniously crashing into Maki and Nico.

"Nozomi…no, what are you…"

The next few moments would be burned into the minds of everyone for the rest of their lives. Breaking free from the rest of the group, the mirrored spider monster charged towards Nozomi with an expression of bloodlust clearly evident in its dead eyes. Acidic venom smoked on the ground as its fangs discharged in almost orgasmic ecstasy. Its armour was cracked in places but no blood was seeping through. Leaping into the air, the monster heard a sound of running footsteps and crackling energy but paid it no mind. The Riders of this world were weak and would fall easily after they had witnessed the death of this foolish human girl. He would gain the strength and, more importantly, power needed to breach the dimensional barrier and bring chaos to the ones that had sent him here. How he would be able to gain revenge on the mysterious Rider was beyond his level of understanding but it would happen. Baring his fangs once more, he leapt into the air in what would be the final moments of the girl's life.

"Watch out!"

A glowing figure leapt over Nozomi and slammed into the monster, knocking it off course. As the creature crashed to the ground, Nozomi blinked slowly and shook her head as if coming out of a stupor. What had come over her in the past few moments, she didn't know but now that it had apparently vanished from her mind, she could think clearly for the first time since the ending of the concert all those hours ago. Thinking back, she had recalled seeing something moving in one of the mirrors near her but had dismissed it as a figment of her imagination – up until the point where something had come out of the mirror to splash onto her face. Lifting up her right hand, her fingers caught onto some sort of webbing and pulled it away; though that motion did nothing to quell the emotions churning up inside her heart. Looking at her saviour, she stumbled back as the transformation glow surrounding it faded, leaving her stunned at the new sight.

"Who…who are you?"

The new Rider was clad in orange material that almost looked like spandex with a flickering flame design running down his sides. His chest was covered with a simple armoured vest with a symbol embossed on the upper right side. From her vantage point, it looked almost like a dinosaur of some sort but that couldn't be realistic. Short spikes protruded from his shoulders and curved slightly upwards, though they were too dull to be used as ramming weapons. His fists were covered by white gloves that looked as though they had been speckled with some sort of red colouration and his black boots glistened wetly. His head was covered by a frighteningly realistic helmet that looked nothing like the other Riders; moulded in the shape of a snarling dinosaur with no discernable mouth plate that she could see. On his belt was a strangely streamlined device that looked like an enlarged buckle of some kind and there was a turret of some kind on his right arm. In short, whoever this new player was, he looked as deadly as he could get without brandishing a bloody machete. Opening her mouth to ask again, the figure turned his head slightly and spoke in slightly accented English.

"Kamen Rider RAPTOR."

TBC…

AN: And, with this, Masked Family is officially part of my massive Ultra Crystals universe/Multiverse. Of course, I need to write the chapters leading up to this event but they'll come soon. Also, italics are English.