Fourth Wave

Maizuru Naval Base, April 4th 2051, 1205 hours

Normally, it would take a while for someone to run from one building to another in the base, considering how large the facility has become over the years. There are a few jeeps around, but the girls rarely use them.

Were he a mere mortal, Jin Keisuke would've needed a jeep to carry his patient, Minato Michal, into the hospital building. Fortunately, he's not.

And so, he ran from the cafeteria to his office, carrying the young man like rucksack. Passing through any of the ship girls that happened to be in his way, they were amazed on how fast he was.

'Alright, we're almost there, Minato-kun. Hang in there.'

By chance, he saw that a window was opened on the floor his office was in. "Minato-kun, are you awake?" he asked the youth. His only answer was a groan, and Minato was most likely unconscious. Keisuke had a thought, 'Alright... nobody's around. Let's see if I still got this.'

He crouched down, and in moments, he jumped. He reached for the ledge with his free hand, and grabbed it. He easily pulled himself into the window. 'Yep, still got it.'

As he got closer to his office, the door opened.

The moment he walked inside, he spotted a bed that had a few items placed close by. On the nightstand was a pitcher of water and an empty glass so that Minato would be able to stay hydrated as much as possible while riding out the symptoms of the food poisoning.

"Over here, doctor!" He spotted Akashi bringing a large bucket to the bed as well. Minato would probably be putting that to use when he regained consciousness and needed to vomit. "Do you know what he ate to cause this?"

As Keisuke put the ailing man onto the bed, he turned to his assistant and uttered two words, "Hiei's curry."

The girl winced, remembering the few times she helped her "victims" before.

"Well, if that curry could knock a ship girl out of commission for a while, it's going to be worse for a normal human. I would be surprised if he starts feeling better within the first 24 hours." When comparing the biological systems of a human and a ship girl, there was a stark difference in terms of how the body would go about when trying to recover from sickness. "Wasn't Kongou giving Hiei cooking lessons?"

"Something must've gone wrong, Kongou's one of the best cooks out of the ship girls in this base..."

Keisuke was silent as he searched for the right medicine. She was right; Michal may be a Kamen Rider, but he's still a normal man.

"I got just the thing." He said, snapping his fingers. "As you remember, I was one of their victims."

"That's right." Akashi said, "I think you were the only one who recovered in a few hours, Keisuke-san. How did you do it?"

Keisuke smirked, "Well... perhaps I was lucky. Anyway, I prepared some special pills in case this happened to anyone who isn't one of the ship girls. If this doesn't work..."

He looked at a medicinal bottle locked inside its own case. Keisuke knew the damage it could cause and he would never put anybody-ship girl or normal human alike-through it. But if the pills didn't work...

"There's always the laxative."

The medical ship girl shuddered, "O... okay there..." While Akashi turned back to get a blank report form to fill out regarding this incident, she spotted the note she had written down shortly before Keisuke called her about the food poisoning. "Ah, that reminds me. The Commander left a message for you, Keisuke. A trade was negotiated between Maizuru and Ominato Naval Bases. They're going to be sending us some medical supplies and upgrade parts in exchange for some steel and bauxite. You'll have to inspect the medical goods for any spoilage so you need to be at the Northern Docks by 1300 Hours."

"From Ominato, you say? If it was from Kure, I'd go there myself on my bike."

Fantastic. He had an urgent patient to attend to, then this happened. Sighing, Keisuke grabbed the jar containing his digestive pills. "Alright, there are still some left." he muttered.

The doctor turned to Akashi, "I'll go. Who's coming with me? I'd pick you, but we have a patient."

"She didn't say who's coming with you. If I were a betting person though, I would say Yuudachi, Kiyoshimo and Shimakaze would be the ones to accompany you."

Keisuke nodded, "Then perhaps I should go ask the Vice-Admiral herself."

He held Michal up, instinctively the youth swallowed the pills. After giving him a glass of water, the doctor turned to Akashi, "Take care of him, alright? It's a shame that his first day has him spending it here."

"Will do, doctor. I suggest that you ask the Vice-Admiral to look into who let Hiei on kitchen duty when she hasn't even proven herself qualified for cooking," piped up the medic ship girl before resuming monitoring Michal and filling in her report.

"Roger that."

With that, Jin Keisuke exited his office. This time, he walked out of the building instead of jumping out. As he went outside, he was greeted with a few ship girls. One of them was Hiei.

'I see she wanted to personally apologize to Minato-kun...' Keisuke thought. The girls stopped on their tracks, startled by his presence.

Jin Keisuke is a nice man. It's very difficult to anger him, but the thought of such negligence leading to a comrade getting injured or fallen ill irks him. He tried his best not to glare too hard at the girls as he crossed his arms, but little did he know that they were intimidated by his gaze.

"Hiei... what happened?" he asked in an almost fatherly tone.

"Hie~!" Hiei looked a bit apprehensive when he addressed her. After all, she got a pretty big chewing out from the Commander when Keisuke got sick from eating her curry.

"HEY! Don't get on her case, Jin-jii!"

"According to my calculations, the curry should have been edible and not caused food poisoning."

Along with Hiei were two of her sisters, Kongou and Kirishima. All of them wore similar miko-seifuku attire with a radar headband with the main differences being hairstyles (Kongou having the longest hair of the trio) and some of the minor colourings on the uniform. In addition, Kirishima also sported a pair of glasses to further distinguish herself from the other units in her class.

Keisuke never liked scolding the girls, but sometimes he had to do what he must. Arms still crossed over his chest, he told the trio, "As a doctor, the healthiness of everyone in this base is my responsibility. Whether they are ship girls or normal people."

"Kongou," he addressed the long haired sister, "You're a terrific cook, there's no denying that. And I'm sure you taught your sister everything you know about cooking. But this kind of negligence is unacceptable."

Putting his arm in a more normal position, he took a step closer to the trio, not noticing that despite Kongou standing in front of Hiei and Kirishima, her legs was shaking, "It was fortunate that I have a tough stomach when the last time I tried Hiei's cooking. Unlike some of the girls I treated before, Minato-kun is a normal man."

"As you know," he told the girls, "you ship girls are a bit... different than normal people. Basically, your physiology are far better than others. Such is the reason why you all recovered quickly from certain injuries." Keisuke sighed, then looked at Hiei with a sad expression, "Hiei, as much as I want to say that it wasn't your fault, the fact that the curry you made caused Minato-kun's predicament stands."

The doctor put his hand on Hiei's head. She was startled, but his gentle expression calmed her, "I am not angry at you, my dear. I just want to know what happened so I can prevent this from happening to anybody else, including your sisters. Don't be scared, alright?"

"It... it wasn't an exotic curry first of all," Hiei began as she recounted the events from earlier. "It was supposed to be a light seafood curry, strictly following recipe instructions."

"That's right! We're making sure that she gets the basics down before she starts putting LOVE into it!" added Kongou. "She even washed her hands thoroughly too!"

Kirishima crossed her arms. "Then maybe there was an ingredient contamination that we didn't pick up?"

Taking his hand off the girl's head, Keisuke stroked his chin, digesting the information they told him. "If that's the case, Kirishima-kun," the doctor said, "Then we should investigate that. Maybe there was a mix-up between the fresh and rotten ingredients that somehow happened."

'That, or she put something else that she thought was alright to add.' the doctor pondered to himself.

Keisuke couldn't believe how many time he sighed today, but he let out another one, "Unfortunately, as much as I want to figure this out, the vice-admiral had just given me an assignment. I'm to go all the way to Ominato to check if the medical supplies were save and uncontaminated, then bring them back here."

The trio put on a dejected look. Keisuke smiled at them, "Hey, don't worry. If you still want to apologize to Minato-kun, he should still be awake now before the pills I gave him put him to sleep."

"Well, perhaps it would be better if he slept it off. Then when he's feeling better, Hiei-chan can apologize." For once, Kongou's tone sounded normal. Of course, that didn't last very long. "In the meantime, it's time to look into the mystery about the contaminated food! Detective Kongou is on the case and THE GAME IS AFOOT!"

This fired Hiei up as well. "Then this Hiei will help Onee-sama the Detective with all my spirit!"

As the two girls took off to the scene of the 'crime', Kirishima merely sighed and adjusted her glasses before bowing politely to Keisuke. "If you'll excuse us…"

Keisuke laughed at the enthusiasm of the two, and waved them goodbye as Kirishima said it. "Now to go find the vice-admiral."

A few minutes later, the doctor found the admin building. He knocked on the vice-admiral's door, "Come in." said Aosaki, which Keisuke did.

"Vice-Admiral. You have a mission for me?"

"Good, you got my message." Aosaki stamped one more requisition form and placed it in her 'approved' pile before putting the stamp away for the moment and passing over a list to Keisuke who quickly went over it. "Here's what we should be getting from Ominato."

'Rifampicin, amphotericin B, hydrocortisone cream…' The first three items listed sprang off the page for him. Rifampicin and amphotericin B were sensitive to light while hydrocortisone cream can separate and become useless in the heat. 'Paracetamol, ibuprofen…?'

That didn't make sense since Damaged Fleet Girls were never in any actual pain when they returned for repairs. They would normally complain about the damage to their equipment and clothing.

"Hmm... I guess the ibuprofen is for Michal when he's ready for field work?"

The woman nodded. "Correct. I've also asked for antacid but unfortunately, they didn't have any on them."

Keisuke raised an eyebrow. "Antacid? If I recall correctly, Ashigara's next turn in the kitchen isn't for another three days."

"True but I wanted to stock up ahead of time. Besides, you never know when the girls might suddenly do a kitchen shift swap with each other."

Keisuke couldn't help but laugh-he's been doing it a lot lately-that even someone like Vice-Admiral Aosaki realize how dangerous eating the cafeteria food could be, considering who cooks them.

"Alright, I'll use my boat to carry these supplies." he said. Since working at Maizuru, he has been using his personal boat he bought 20 years ago to trade medicinal supplies along the JMSDF bases. Sometimes, he went on by motorcycle, but since Ominato was located far north, he won't ride his way to it.

He asked the vice-admiral, "Aosaki-san, who will be my escorts?"

Personally, Keisuke prefers to go alone. But due to how dangerous the Abyssal Fleet is, like it or not, he is to be escorted to each bases he'd visit. He doesn't mind the company, but considering his secret identity, he would like to at least defend himself.

'Some days, I wish I could just show them who I am...'

"I'll be assigning Yuudachi, Kiyoshimo, Tenryuu, and Shimakaze to accompany you. Even though the route you're taking isn't going to stray far from Japanese waters, you never know if you'll run into stray Abyssal scouts." She got back to her requisition paperwork. "That'll be all."

"Very well, have a nice day, vice-admiral."

Exiting her office, Keisuke stopped for a moment, and snapped his fingers, "I knew I've forgotten something. Better ask how Hiei got assigned today, and tell her to check if the ingredients are contaminated..."

He was about to knock, but the doctor could hear a phone ringing. The vice-admiral picked it up, but her voice turned sour as she said the name of her caller, "Tomari... Eiji. Hello, 'honey', how are you?"

'... I believe this could wait.' Keisuke thought, and turned around. But he couldn't help but wonder, 'Tomari Eiji... isn't that the son of Shinnosuke, Kamen Rider Drive? I wonder what's... No, none of my business. I should focus on my job.'

Somewhere deep within his subconscious, Jin Keisuke was both worried and jealous of his junior; a married life is a luxury most of the Showa Riders could not have. He wondered if he should visit Yuuki Joji's family sometime.

Jin Keisuke then proceeded to the docks. In the olden days, the base would be filled with all sorts of naval warships. Now, with the abundance of the Fleet Girls, only one boat were anchored; his own. It was modeled after the speedboats of the early 21st century. The gray boat had streaks of red in certain spots.

"Alright, then. Now where are those girls..." he muttered to himself, sitting on his vessel.

It didn't take him long to spot the four already gathering at the spot, checking their equipment and their fuel levels. Tenryuu certainly stood out with her predominantly black seifuku and black stockings along with one of her eyes covered with an eye patch. She had short dark hair and one visible yellow eye.

Kiyoshimo on the other hand had longer hair and it seemed multi coloured with the strands looking grey from the outside and the inside looking blue. Her uniform was more colourful with purple as her primary colour covered by a white light jacket. Her eyes were grey as well. She was also the first to notice the approaching doctor. "Good afternoon!"

"Ugh… for a mission like this, I'm probably more than enough," grumbled Shimakaze. "We're just going there and back to get stuff, right? Everyone else is gonna be too slow to keep up."

"You can't have that type of attitude. With that type of overconfidence, you'll be easy prey for those big…" Tenryuu made a dramatic look to mimic one of the Abyssals and got up close to the skimpily clad girl. "… scary monsters!"

"Oi!"

"Fufufu… you scared?"

Shimakaze's only response was to shove Rensoushou-chan in the other woman's face. "Attack! Pew pew pew!"

"Ah… lovely to know that my escorts are all so colourful," said Jin with an exasperated smile on his face.

"Can't have it any other way, poi!" pointed out Yuudachi.

Keisuke gave them a smile, before plugging in the ignition key into his boat. He turned it, and the engine roared to life. "Alright, ladies. I'll be in your care."

At his command, Shimakaze dashed forward into the seas, going ahead of them. Kiyoshimo and Yuudachi looked surprised, but Tenryuu took command, "Alright girls, diamond formation. You two cover the doctor's flanks, I'll protect his rear."

"Come on, Uncle Keisuke, keep up!" cried the destroyer girl with the rabbit ears headband.

"Alright, Shimakaze-chan, take it easy!" he replied.

Keisuke pulled out an old CD case, and inserted its content into the CD player installed in the boat's cockpit, "If you don't mind girls, since this is a long ride, I would like to play some tunes."

Tenryuu smiled, "Judging by how old that thing looks, I wouldn't be surprised if the songs are as old as you are."

The doctor laughed, "You could say that!", and pressed the start button.

(Play Song: Rebel Yell by Billy Idol)

The one-eyed cruiser girl raised an eyebrow; who knew that the doctor enjoyed something as old as this? At least it wasn't something that sounded boring.

And thus, as the sailed their way to Ominato, the doctor's songs played along the way.

Unknown, 1230 Hours

The room was small with plenty of piping and wiring sticking on the wall. There wasn't much lighting either with only two fluorescent lamps placed on the ceiling which illuminated the bed along with the person who occupied it below. On a single wall was a large window, placed next to a door. On another wall, there was a storage cabinet filled with the leftover contents from a first aid kit, namely bandages, wrapping, some personal protective equipment like gloves, tweezers and some disinfectant.

This small chamber served as the infirmary for the Abyssals, which was a rather foreign concept to them. Whenever one of them got damaged in a sortie against Fleet Girls, they would simply regenerate when they returned to base. They didn't need a specific dedicated area of space to recover from combat injuries. But that case didn't apply to their human companion who currently occupied the only bed which had been set in an upright position.

Said human companion was rather young, a Japanese male teenager only fifteen years old. He had school uniform trousers on while his top was bared with ice packs attached to the sides of his chest to help reduce pain and swelling. While he stayed focused on trying to breathe normally, two Abyssals spoke outside the room. One was the small Abyssal he had protected earlier which he addressed as Hoppo. The other was an older woman with long silky black hair and green eyes. She was dressed predominantly in black with dark trousers and a black see-through t-shirt that showed a red undershirt beneath. Her designation was Battleship Ru-kyuu and as she was doing medic work for the moment, her usual Abyssal parts were not with her.

For the moment, she was giving a status report to the smaller girl. "He has some leg bruising, a light concussion and cracked ribs. To be frank, I'm baffled at how he got in this condition. Wasn't his armour supposed to be super tough?"

"Enemy was vicious, skilled. Picked strikes carefully," replied Hoppo.

"Really? Did you tell the others about him?"

An affirmative grunt came from the shorter girl. "Other Hime-classes have been informed of Poseidon. They will adjust sentry patrol routes."

While the Abyssal Girls were conversing, the boy was disturbed by a peculiar ringing sound.

"Awaken, Kamen Rider Abyss..." it called to him, "Awaken."

The teen groaned a bit, tilting his head to the source of the voice; a shattered mirror.

"I thought you want to be strong," the male voice said, "Strong enough to help broker a peace between the Abyssal Fleet and humanity in order to reunite your parents to live a happy family life. Strong enough to defend the Abyssal Fleet from the very world itself. Strong enough to overcome all obstacles. Yet this one Kamen Rider defeated you."

"S...shut up." Shinichiro murmured, "He was... stronger. I will... get better. I won't let this injury stop-"

The boy fell down from his bed, alerting the Abyssal Girls. Hoppo cried out to him, "Onii-chan! Are you alright?"

The voice continued, and told the youth in an almost mocking tone, "Boast all you want, Tomari Shinichiro, but as you are right now, you are decades to early to defeat him. But I'm sure with enough training, you will surpass him."

The ringing subsided as Shinichiro was carried back to his bed; the figure within the mirror was gone.

It took him another moment to get control of his breathing again. Right now, he felt like he could only take shallow breaths but Ru had instructed him to continue breathing normally despite the pain to clear mucus from the lungs and prevent chest infections.

And speaking of Ru, she crossed her arms with her green eyes looking pretty furious at him. "What were you thinking climbing out of bed?! Do you want to aggravate your injuries any further?"

"I'm… sorry." Shinichiro winced in pain before shooting a reassuring smile at the smaller girl hanging by his bedside. "I'll be fine."

With the way the Northern Ocean Princess glared at him, she wasn't buying it. "Don't move from here, Onii-chan. Let your body repair properly."

"Roger that!" He would have done a mock salute to Hoppo if he had been able to do so.

As for Ru, she noticed someone else approaching the infirmary: a woman with long silky black hair, pale skin and a pair of short, upward curving horns on her forehead. She had a one piece black dress on which allowed her shoulders and some cleavage to be exposed. Her legs were mostly covered with white stockings in a black trim.

Seeing that Hoppo would keep an eye out on him for now, she exited the room to greet her superior known as Battleship Princess, or BB-Hime, who immediately asked for a situation report. "How's everything?"

"All we can do now is wait for his body to heal from the injury naturally. That should take about three to six weeks. My main concern is that we don't have any pain relief medication that he can ingest while allowing the ribs to heal."

"Pain relief?"

"Right now, every time he coughs or breathes normally, he's going to feel pain. If we don't get him pain medication, he'll likely start trying to avoid coughing or start taking shallow breaths to avoid pain, and that'll increase his risk of getting a chest infection."

The black clad Princess took this into account before nodding once. "I'll see to getting something for him."

'Damn... should've brought some first aid before going here.' Shinichiro thought to himself, 'Could've use the Abyssals healing factor right about now.'

Such information was never made public, and he could understand. How would the people react if the supposed enemy can come back right from the dead? But these girls... they never wanted to be the enemy. They never wanted to hurt the humans.

Their leader, BB-Hime, told him-albeit not much-that the Abyssal Fleet were made by someone... Whoever they are, they've kidnapped numerous young women and turned them into what the world see them as today; monsters that needed to be taken down.

'Grandpa... You've told me of the Roidmudes, and this particular one named Heart.' he thought to himself, 'Were things went differently, I may have made friends with one today. But now...'

Looking at Hoppo, the Abyssal Girl tilted her head as he glanced at her. 'Was that a smile?' Shinichiro noticed, but he couldn't tell.

'Heh... guess this isn't too bad. Can't believe I'm beginning to think of them as... cuties.'

That thought process was halted as Ru reentered the room.

"Since it doesn't seem that you're planning to concentrate solely on resting, we might as well get this out of the way. Namely, what do you know about Poseidon? Are there others like him that we have to watch out for?"

"Well..."

Ominato Naval Base, 1500 hour

It was snowing.

Fortunately, due to how close spring is, it was but a drizzle and it wasn't too cold. But just in case, Jin Keisuke had put on the snow coat he kept in his boat when Tenryuu warned him of the weather condition surrounding Ominato. He felt rather guilty, since he was the one keeping warm. The rest of the girls were vulnerable to the cold, no thanks to how exposed their choice of clothing made them. Sure, they're basically superhuman but they're human nonetheless. They feel hungry and tired like everybody else, only they were more durable than many.

When they finally arrived, he was relieved that the weather didn't get any worse, but once they arrived, he insisted that the girls get warmed up as he check for the medical supplies. Either by getting cups of hot chocolate or eating cup noodle; he'd prefer a healthier meal, but it's the most effective in his experience.

"Alright, Tenryuu. I won't be long." the doctor told the eyepatched cruiser girl, "Keep an eye out on things, and please get inside. I don't want you to catch a cold like last time."

The girl smirked at Keisuke, "Don't you worry about me, doctor. Just see if the meds are fine so we can go home and take a bath in the onsen to warm up. I'd invite you, but..."

"Nagato would kill us, you know." Keisuke stated, "And I'm too old for you, find someone younger."

Tenryuu scoffed, "You say that to every girl in the base. You do realize that some of us are of legal age, don't you, doc?" She then tapped his chest with her pointer finger, "Not to mention that some of them are... okay with older men. What's wrong, scared by how many of us like you that way? Intimidated by the amount of cuties vying for your attention? You're a civilian member, so it's not like we're breaking some fraternity rule if we were to... you know."

Jin Keisuke was about to retort, but then he remembered who he was talking to; he had seen enough to know what that tone mean to him. "You're teasing me, aren't you?"

The eyepatched girl smirked, but couldn't keep herself to turn it into a grin, then letting out a laugh, "Aww, man! I thought I got you this time!"

Rolling his eyes, Keisuke shook his head as he told her, "These old eyes have seen enough to know trickery. Good luck next time. Now please, get inside and warm up."

"Maybe if you let me coddle with you in that snazzy coat of yours I will-"

Doctor Jin Keisuke of the Maizuru Naval Base is a very patient man. But like every human, he has limits. Today, Tenryuu just made him reached the limit of his patience. Thus, he introduced her with the infamous Jin-Style Karate Chop-to-the-noggin' technique.

"Listen here, young lady." he scolded, "I may take the antics of you ship girls with stride, but I am still your superior officer. We have a job to do, and even though there were no Abyssal Fleet in sight, that does not mean you can goof around like this. The Ominato Base may be a part of the JMSDF but we are guests here. Behave yourself... or else."

Tenryuu's forehead was still throbbing with pain, but she knew from that glare of his that he means business.

"Well?"

"Ye-yessir! Understood!"

The girl instinctively saluted the doctor. A part of her berated herself for being so scared, but another made her remember the story of the last time Jin Keisuke lost his temper... it was not pretty.

Howling winds were their only company, before Keisuke turned his frown upside down, and gently patted Tenryuu's head, "Good girl." he told her, before turning around and leaving her, cheeks red as the blade of her sword.

She was about to say something obscene, before she saw Shimakaze-coming out of the cafeteria-being approached by the doctor. She was shivering, and from the looks of it she was obviously cold. Keisuke said something to her, who looked rather reluctant.

Eventually, Keisuke took off his coat, and put it onto Shimakaze. The size difference made it look like she was using a fluffy blanket, but the young girl wasn't shivering as much as before.

"T... Thank you, Ojii-chan." she heard Shimakaze said, before reentering the cafeteria, and the blush she had from the cold just got a bit brighter.

'Man, that old guy doesn't even have to try! Don't tell me he's into...' Tenryuu shook her head of such awful thoughts, 'Nah, no way in hell! Doc's a reliable guy, he would never do something like that. But...'

Keisuke shook some snow off of his normal jacket, and walked into the hopsital wing. Tenryuu couldn't help but wonder about something.

'Huh. I thought he'd be shivering by now. Even I feel like shivering now... must be whatever karate training he talked about. Bah, better get inside before he-'

"Tenryuu! Inside the cafeteria, now!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" she cried out, grumbling her way to the building Keisuke pointed out.

Just as the eye-patched girl entered the cafeteria, Kiyoshimo was standing near the entrance, and muttered, "You know… it's pretty crazy,"

"What do you mean?" Tenryuu asked.

"The weather difference! Back at our home base, it's pretty warm but here, it's 10 degrees lower in temperature!" Indeed, Ominato was located close enough to Mutsu, Aomori and usually by April, the temperature would be a bit crisp. It would hover at least above the freezing mark but it was by no means weather in which anyone can go out in short sleeved clothing. Maizuru's temperature on the other hand didn't dip below double digits too often and for the most part, the locals could start bringing out their t-shirts early to enjoy the warm weather.

"That's true. I bet Shimakaze-san can't wait to go home, poi," commented Yuudachi as she joined in the conversation, noting the bunny girl sitting down at a table while clad in the extra jacket.

"Well, let's get something in our bellies like Keisuke said. What can we get though?" asked Tenryuu as she searched for a cafeteria menu.

"Perhaps I can help you with that," said a soft feminine voice that came from another area. The group all turned to spot a woman who came in from another entrance.

She had long brown hair in a ponytail with a radar-mast themed hairband decorated with cherry blossoms. Her attire consisted of a standard red skirt and a light sailor style top with a neck accessory hanging around at the top with a golden flower embedded in the middle. She wore a normal leg sock on her right leg and a thigh-high on her left. As for her arms, they were covered in long white gloves that just stopped beneath the shoulder.

Shimakaze looked up from her spot. "You are…?"

"The Secretary Ship of this base…" Her introduction got cut off though by a certain Destroyer.

"That's the battleship Yamato! And not just any battleship… she's the first in the Yamato-class herself, able to wield 46 centimeter cannons!" exclaimed Kiyoshimo like an excited fangirl.

"Hehhh… that's pretty cool, poi."

"Of course, I'm a bigger fan of her sister, Musashi! Ah… I hope I can meet her one day!"

Tenryuu sighed once upon seeing the smaller Destroyer's antics. "Oi, you really shouldn't say something like that in front of Yamato."

"That's alright." Fortunately, the other Battleship didn't take offense. "But enough about that, I understand you're looking to get some nourishment?"

"Yeah. Nothing too fancy though… cup noodles will be fine," replied the Light Cruiser.

Yamato frowned upon hearing that. "That won't do. Cup noodles are fairly high in fat and sodium for its serving size. Not to mention that the carbohydrates come from refined white flour. I'll arrange for some proper noodle soup bowls to be prepared for you all."

With that, she took out a golden bell and rung it once before small fairies showed up and started running things in the kitchen. Since it'll be a few minutes before everything is ready, the assembled ship girls engaged in small talk while Shimakaze kept huddled in that large coat of JIn's. "So I see that the base here is stockpiling on steel and bauxite, poi."

Yamato nodded once in response to Yuudachi. "That's right. The truth is Admiral Genbu has been working hard to gather enough resources so I can legally be allowed to make a sortie under the current regulations. Although I think those could be put to better use for the other ship girls stationed at the base…"

"Even if that's true, he understands the base desire of all ship girls: to go out to sea with their comrades and protect the homeland from the enemy," said Kiyoshimo. "Battleships are no different from us Destroyers in that regard."

"So rather than saying all that stuff about how those resources can be put to better use, why don't you appreciate your husband's efforts?" With her one eye, Tenryuu could easily spot the wedding band around Yamato's finger.

"I… um…" Her cheeks began to turn red.

"Yay! Hotel Yamato will be joining us on the front lines, poi!" cheered Yuudachi which caused the Secretary Ship to react.

"I'm not a hotel!"

It was at that moment that the fairies finished their work and began bringing out trays, carrying bowls of ramen to the visiting ship girls. There was also an additional bowl set aside for Keisuke as soon as he finished his work. As Shimakaze reached for her chopsticks and stirred her bowl around, she noticed the ingredient make-up of the meal. "Mushrooms and beef, huh?"

"To be precise, matsutake mushrooms and wagyu beef," answered Yamato, causing Yuudachi to freak out a bit.

"Are you kidding me, poi?! Those things are seriously expensive, poi!"

"How pricey are we talking about?" asked Kiyoshimo.

"Matsutake mushrooms can go up to nearly 250,000 Yen per KG, poi! Wagyu beef is even pricier at nearly 350,000 Yen per KG, poi!" Yuudachi couldn't believe that they were being served such a luxurious meal at this base.

"Heehh…" Tenryuu picked up a piece of beef with her chopsticks and gave it a taste before giving her judgment. "… As expected of Hotel Yamato."

"I told you I'm not a hotel!"

"Hmm... so far, so good."

Keisuke was inside the medical building of the Ominato base. He's currently inspecting them, with Kaga accompanying him throughout the base.

"You know," he wondered, "There are plenty of other staff who I'm sure are more knowledgeable than I am. Why did they want me to inspect it, Kaga-san?"

"It's likely due to the shifting change in climate at the base. There were many personnel who came down with fevers and had to be looked after. The department staff wasn't able to properly allocate enough time to run the inspection themselves before the trade deadline."

The girl was clad in a simple uniform with black stockings, a short blue hakama and a short upper white robe. Her hair was tied in a ponytail. Due to not being on active combat duty, she wasn't in her full combat gear although she still wore a four fingered yugake on her right hand, typical of one who practices the art of archery.

Keisuke nodded, and added, "I see... not to mention Maizuru is a bit closer. Makes sense."

"I won't ask why you couldn't just deliver this by truck," he commented, "But the higher-ups have made their choice. No use wondering. Anyway, everything checks out. Is this all the medicine you want us to deliver?"

Before Kaga answered, she heard a slight rumbling sound. The carrier girl noticed that Keisuke was rubbing his stomach.

"Ah... apologies. I haven't eaten anything, a new member at Maizuru had a... stomach problem. I took care of him, but before I got lunch, I was already ordered to go here."

"Yes, that should be everything. Please feel free to help yourself from the cafeteria before departing." The Aircraft Carrier bowed once in appreciation of their visitor's work.

The doctor smiled, "Oh, it's no problem. Always happy to help."

A few minutes later, Jin Keisuke had put the medical box into the trunk of his boat. One last thing to do is to get the girls. He then found a building with "Cafeteria" written on its doors. As he opened it, he was greeted with a beautiful woman. It was none other than the secretary-and wife-of Ominato's admiral, Yamato.

"Greetings, Jin-san. We've prepared a serving for you so please take a seat and your meal will be brought out to you shortly." The Battleship brought out her golden bell and rung it so that the fairies would bring out the tray.

"Make sure you savour every bit of this luxury meal, poi!"

The Kaizorg blinked oddly at Yuudachi's statement. "... luxury meal? It's just ramen, right?"

Tenryuu let out a small laugh at his expression, "This isn't the same as a ramen you eat on those old ramen wagons. As good as they are, you wouldn't believe how good Hotel Yamato's ramens are!"

Yamato was about to protest, when the fairies flew with the tray. They put it down on a table, and as they pulled the top off, Keisuke was blessed with the most beautiful looking ramen he has ever seen.

"Well, what do you think, doc?" Tenryuu asked, but the response she get was a rumbling stomach, courtesy of Jin Keisuke. The eye-patched girl couldn't help but cackle, "What do you know, you can get hungry! I see you in the base so often, but not once have any of the girls hear you growled like this!"

Keisuke would blush at her teasing, but he will not reduce himself into one of those young men in those old animes who can't handle a cute girl's teasing.

Tenryuu moved closer, forming a left fist, "Was beginning to think that your gut is made out of iron or something." and she swung at the distracted Keisuke.

"I wouldn't do that if I were-"

*CLANK*

"... you."

Tenryuu screamed in pain, her left hand glowing red. She try shaking the pain off and blowing it away. The girl glared at the doctor, "Damn, pops! I was just exaggerating, I didn't know that your gut is literally made of iron!"

Keisuke took a moment to compose himself, but he failed; a burst of laughter came out of his mouth, "Ah, I'm so sorry, Tenryuu-kun. I'd take care of your hand, but I think you need more training if a punch to my gut hurt you this badly."

Rolling her eye, Tenryuu replied, "Oh, ha-ha, very funny..."

'Wait, I don't like that look of hers.' Keisuke thought to himself.

"You know, this does make me wonder... what do you look like under this stuffy jacket of yours. You keep saying that you have been training karate since childhood. I wonder how muscular a guy like you would be..."

"I appreciate that you and the Maizuru girls consider me flirt-worthy, but I'm too old for any of you. Also, take this."

Tenryuu has a charm that may entice most men, but Jin Keisuke will have none of that. Thus, he gave her a second karate chop. He left the girl, rubbing the injured spot, and saying, "That's for calling me pops."

The Kaizorg should've accepted the fact that he is old, but Jin Keisuke is still human; very few mind being reminded of their age.

'Besides... there's only one man I would call pops. And he's long gone...'

A series of breaths were heard, bringing Keisuke back to reality. Turning his head to the side, he could see Shimakaze blowing on the ramen trying to cool it down. "Geez… this is too hot! How am I supposed to eat this quickly?"

"You're not supposed to eat it fast, Shimakaze," pointed out Kiyoshimo.

"Says who? My name means island breeze so I won't lose to anyone in speed, whether we're in water or eating together."

"This isn't an eating competition. You should take the time to enjoy it," said Yamato in an attempt to try and bring a little order. "Just wait for it to simmer down a little."

"But I don't want to wait!" complained the small bunny eared Destroyer. "Make this ramen edible, Miss Secretary Ship!"

"Haaaa…"

In mere seconds, images of a certain young man popped into Keisuke's mind. He was blowing a ramen, too hot for his tongue. Complaining to the chef that it is so, but the old lady simply told him that his tongue is just sensitive.

That was one of the last times he had met the young man... Until that day.

'What happened to him?'

'Who are you talking about?'

'The timeline may change, but our memories don't fade away. How do you think we know all of those things?'

'You... remember him?'

'Now tell me, Zeronos; what the hell happened to Kamen Rider Faiz? Where has Inui Takumi had gone to?!'

'I... I'm sorry, Keisuke-san.'

'How could you let him-'

"Oji-chan, what's wrong?"

Shimakaze's voice brought the doctor back to reality. He turned around, and was greeted by the girls' worried expression.

"You're sweating, Jin-san." Yamato pointed out, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, doc." Tenryuu nodded, "You looked like you had a nightmare or something. What's wrong?"

Jin Keisuke wanted to answer, but he couldn't. How can he explain that one of his closest friends was gone... especially in the way he still couldn't believe.

He could only answer in one way; avoiding it, "I... I don't want to talk about it. Sorry."

Turning around, he approached the prepared ramen, sat down, and began to eat it. Despite Shimakaze's complaints of her ramen's heat, Keisuke devoured it as if he didn't feel the heat. The girls looked to each other, worried that one of their comrade just had an old wound reopened... or perhaps it's one that never healed.

Unknown, 1605 Hours

"Wo-class to Battleship Princess."

"Go ahead." In front of the black clad Princess was an advanced computer console, something left behind by the GOD scientists who had been the previous inhabitants of this particular space.

"Wo's aircraft scouts have found source of pain medicine for Comrade Tomari. Transmitting data feed."

The image on the main monitor showed up with a group of four fleet girls and a civilian speedboat travelling in the same direction. "Fleet composition?"

"One Light Cruiser and three Destroyers are accompanying the vessel carrying the cargo. Wo is uncertain about their combat strength."

"That shouldn't be a problem. Our objective is only to obtain the cargo, not sink the ship girls. The Ha-class and the Ni-class Destroyers with you should be sufficient enough for the mission," said the Princess sharply. "Get into position and prepare to engage."

"Affirmative. Wo out."

(Play BGM: Ocean Drive by Miami Night 1984)

"Doc, you sure you want to play that thing loud?"

"I am sure."

Tenryuu's attempt to make the doctor open up had so far failed. What did he remember that made him this moody? Still, it's not like that the song will interfere with the radars the girls use.

"Seeing him like that has got me thinking…" began Kiyoshimo quietly. "Do you think he's like us?"

"What do you mean, poi?" asked Yuudachi as she 'skated' closer to the other Destroyer to hear her better.

"I mean, you hear about how other Fleet Girls sometimes remember their past? Suppressed memories and all that? He seemed to act like that back there." The grey haired girl frowned. "Plus there's the fact that we can't even access old information about the War even though it's part of history and available to the public. It really makes me wonder."

Shimakaze had been about to insert her own perspective on the discussion when her radar went off, detecting enemy aircraft dropping charges on their position. "Incoming!"

(BGM Stop)

Four simultaneous huge splashes were made, one on each side and effectively forced the travelling group to stop. While they were trying to get their bearings straight, Kiyoshimo's eyes spotted a group of black deformed shapes heading their way. "I see six enemy Destroyers!"

Tenryuu grinned in anticipation of a fight, happy that she could get her mind off this depressing stuff for now. "Get ready, ladies!"

The eye-patched cruiser turned to Keisuke, "Doc, we'll handle this. You get back to the base as fast as you can, and get us some backup!"

"Right, hang in there!" Keisuke replied, and cranked up the speed of his boat.

In reality, Jin Keisuke wanted to help. Simply transform and fight alongside them. But he can't. "Hongo-senpai," he talked to himself, "I know you made these rules for a reason... but we've been around for so long. Thing change, and this situation... what do I do?"

Then, he remembered an event that happened long ago, from the year 2014. The Badan Empire had returned, and both Showa and Heisei Rider fought each other to rule them out. However, the Showa Riders really were serious on fighting their Heisei juniors. Long story short, after the battle was done, Hongo takeshi told his fellow Showa Riders that Kamen Rider Gaim had reminded them of something important. Something that they've forgotten in their long fight against evil.

"We have been fighting for the big picture for too long," he told his 14 juniors, "but in the process, we have forgotten about the little pictures that make it up. I guess along the way, we abandoned our humanity for the greater good... that will not do. Everyone, we have been granted this long life to protect humanity; I would like to include our own, so do not forget that. Remember what Oyaa-san taught us..."

Suddenly, the whistling sound of incoming fire snapped Keisuke to reality. He steered right to dodge, and the path he was on exploded, splashes of water fell onto the boat. Keisuke turned around, the girls fighting fiercely against the Abyssals. He had to make a decision.

(Un)Fortunately, the day has given him one.

"As I live and breathe... Jin Keisuke, still alive all this time."

A booming voice distracted the Kaizorg. Whoever he was, he's on his boat. He turned, and for a moment flashes of his father, Jin Keitaro, appeared in his mind... he saw him stabbed by the very same creature he's looking right now.

"Neptune! It can't be... I killed you!"

The GOD monster cackled, "Ha! I'm so glad you remembered, Jin Keisuke! What say we catch up?"

While Yuudachi returned fire on one of the enemy Destroyers, her eyes caught sight of the strange creature that stood opposite of the doctor on his boat. "There's someone with Keisuke, poi!"

"Eh?!" Dammit, they were really tied up right now with these things. Tenryuu quickly swapped in a new magazine for her 7.7 mm Machine Gun before barking orders. "Shimakaze, get to him!"

"I'm trying!" While she was speedy, the Abyssal Destroyers weren't too slouchy in the speed department themselves and did a good job of preventing her from making a clean breakaway to Keisuke.

"I see you allied yourself with these so-called Fleet Girls, Jin Keisuke." Neptune pointed out, "If I remember right, they aren't completely human, aren't they? Just like you..."

Keisue gripped the boat's steering wheel so hard, it was crushed. "Leave them out of this."

The humanoid piranha monster laughed, "Aww, did I touched a nerve? To be honest, I'm somewhat jealous; there are so few women in our organization... which reminds me, how is Ryoko doing?"

Neptune brought up a name Keisuke didn't really want to rememmber; his fiancee, Mizuki Ryoko. She was a spy for GOD, but despite that fact Keisuke still cared for her. Unfortunately, both she and her twin sister Kiriko died by the hands of GOD.

All these years, he still has difficulties getting over it. And now a resurrected monster threatened to dig up old memories.

"Oh, that's right!" the monster exclaimed, "I was told that the wench died, alongside her twin sister. Must be tough, huh? In addition to having your beloved and future sister-in-law being dead, your father died too. Oh, wait, that was my fault wasn't it? Stabbed him with this trident, I did. Why, I still remember that look on his face when we gunned you down like the dog-"

Normally, Jin Keisuke (and many of the Showa Riders) don't usually get angry. They have decades to temper their rage, channeling them into their drive to fight for the freedom that any evil organization threatens to destroy or control.

Today was one of the rare moments where one of them snapped.

Gone was Jin Keisuke, the calm mannered doctor. The Jin Keisuke, who was once an angry young man whose life was turned upside down by GOD, reemerges. And that fury was as powerful as a tempest.

The Kaizorg threw a punch, intending to silence the monster. He grabbed his fin mohawk and slammed a fist into Neptune's face. Repeatedly.

As Kiyoshimo landed the finishing blow on the enemy Destroyer she had been dealing with, she quickly checked on the doctor… and concluded that she must be seeing things. Right now, her eyes could clearly see Jin Keisuke, one of the calmest individuals she had ever met in her existence, fiercely punching a monster in the face on his boat. His face was full of a fury that she had never seen before.

'Did I take a torpedo strike and hallucinate that…?!'

But just as she rubbed her eyes to clear her vision, she picked up the sight of someone surfacing close to the boat. She was clad in a tight white bodysuit and black leggings. Her skin and hair colour were white and her eyes were green. On top of her head was a hat… that was grinning and which also had gun turrets on the side and tentacles hanging at the bottom. A large collar was around beneath her chin that resembled her headwear's lower jaw. In her hand was a black cane.

"A Wo-class carrier?! Keisuke, get out of there!"

As for the Abyssal girl, she commanded her aircraft to grab the cargo while her gun turrets aimed themselves at the brawling pair who didn't seem to pick up her presence.

"Foul creature of GOD..."

The turrets cocked once, the sound being the only warning for Keisuke and Neptune.

"…SINK!"

Moving on instinct, the Kaizorg shifted his position so that the monster's body would act as a shield from the Abyssal's attack. Upon contact, the sheer force of the blast threw the both of them off the boat and deep into the ocean.

EZ: This came together a bit quicker than I expected. I was honestly expecting to take a break after the Third Wave but a few scenes popped up in my head a few days later and before I knew it, me and Stranger were running with them to the point where we actually wrote a pretty lengthy and polished chapter in just a little over 2 weeks.

Stranger: Yeah, I haven't been this pumped since writing Rising Unto the Stars... maybe I should continue it soon lol But anyway, a scene that's rarely seen in Kamen Rider; Showa Rider being emotional. I know those Old Guards are stoic badasses, but I see them as humans who have lost touch with their humanity. Especially the Kaizou Ningen ones. So have an emotional Jin Keisuke!

EZ: Actually, I do recall Minami Kotaro being pretty damn passionate/hot-blooded back in Super Hero Taisen 3: Grand Prix. And speaking of hot-blooded, we reveal the one who wields the Abyss Advent Deck: Tomari Shinichiro, the 15 year old son of Tomari Eiji from Kamen Rider Drive: Surprise Future and Vice Admiral Aosaki Sumire. He's a rash youth who takes some of his grandfather's old recklessness. While trying to fix his broken family, he learns the truth about the Abyssals. Now he fights, hoping to prevent the Roidmude tragedy from happening to the Abyssals.

Stranger: Okay, maybe just the first 10. Minami Kotaro is a class of his own. Yeah, kinda obvious, but there is a reason for that... and a reason why the GOD Kaijin Neptune returned. I'd say he's based on his SIC form, but monsters of the week rarely get some love. So use your imagination or something. Some of you might wonder why the story has Keisuke being targeted by some of the Ship Girls as an eligible bachelor... well, I think it's funny. No, this won't be a harem story or anything; I have Rising for that lol

EZ: But since the Kancolle franchise had the Admiral as the Launcher of a Thousand Ships and spawn a truckload of doujins, having Keisuke as the target of a handful of Ship Girls isn't as crazy in comparison.

Stranger: Pretty much, yeah. So, next time there will be a Great Transformation from Jin Keisuke, and a lot of ass kicking will ensue.

Until next time, Read, Review, and Rejoice!