Nothing.

Three whole days, and nothing.

No word from Kazumono at Genm Corp., no new Bugster, and probably most worringly, no confrontations with Doku Dasao or Yoshoku Kaguga. Were they waiting to see who made the first move? Or were they maybe waiting until he dropped his guard before coming after them? Should he make the first move? And if he did, what? Try to talk to them, or give them a reason not to try anything with him?

Kensei Hidenaga laid back and stared at the smooth white ceiling of his bedroom, dimly lit by the glare of the street outside. What was he doing? Fighting with monsters and other kids his own age? Hadn't his brother died doing this? Wasn't something like fighting a war supposed to be somebody else's job, so ordinary people like him could go on with their normal lives?

He shut his eyes, wondering what he might dream about, and knowing it was too late to ask questions about whose job this was. He was Kamen Rider Utsura now, like it or not. The Gamer Driver he'd been sent had bonded to him, and nobody else could activate it. The only questions he could ask were the ones about what came next.

And Kensei was sure he'd need to answer them sooner than he wanted.

His eyes were just closing as his phone rang loudly over on the desk. Reacting out of instinct Kensei lurched out of bed, stomped twice while bent over and fumbled at the corner of his desk for his phone, and answered it on the third ring as he recognized the number.

"I'm here! What's happening?"

"Nothing!" answered the voice on the other end. "But it's great you're so pumped up when you saw me calling! We need to train even harder tomorrow!"

Kensei let out a sigh and dropped his hands to his waist for a second, then raised the phone to his ear again. "Kiiko, why are you calling me this late to talk about training? Can't we just talk about this at school?"

"No!" Kiiko practically yelled into the phone, but Kensei could tell from her light tone she was smiling. "I found a game center that's a lot bigger than the one we've been going to! It's got much better games to train on, too! Don't worry, I'll still pay."

"Well, if you're buying—"

"I am, but you're training! See you at school tomorrow!" Then without waiting for a reply, she hung up.

And standing there in the darkness of his room, in the middle of the night, Kensei Hidenaga couldn't help smiling at the crazy girl who'd declared herself his trainer. He was still a little unsure about what he was doing, but Kiiko, she couldn't be more psyched up about him being the hero who'd get to the bottom of all this.

Yuuma…he had to believe it really was Yuuma somehow, who snuck into Genm Corp. and sent Kensei his henshin gear. He seemed to think this was a job Kensei was the best person to handle too.

…and, would it be so bad, having a friend again? Even one as crazy as Kiiko Mishiranu?

Kiiko didn't talk much the next day, but every so often when the teachers weren't paying attention she'd glance over at Kensei and gave him a smug little smile, like she had something lined up for him she was just waiting for the chance to unveil.

He wondered what kind of game she'd found, but he kept looking back over his shoulder as well at Doku Dasao, the angry nerd who'd badmouthed the entire class the other day. The one who'd been sent a henshin device and a Rider Gashat just like Kensei had. But why? And did he know about Kensei having Kamen Rider powers too? Had Genm Corp. talked to the others yet?

As lunch break came closer, Kensei tried to decide if he should confront Doku about their shared powers. To see if maybe he'd be willing to talk about joining forces. It didn't seem likely, not with the way he'd talked down to the whole class, but then again "friends are something it's hard to have enough of," his mother had always said.

Since Kensei was stuck doing this after all, he was sure he'd come to appreciate that saying in a whole new way.

But Kensei didn't get the chance to come up with an answer to his question of what he'd say to Doku. He looked over as Kiiko cupped a hand over her mouth, to hide the fact that she was suddenly breathing heavy. Tiny currents of purple energy danced through her hair. Behind him, Kensei was sure he could hear Doku letting out a small gasp too.

"Is something wrong, Mishiranu-san?" the teacher asked. Clearly he'd noticed too.

"Yes," Kiiko asked. "Something's happening to the school."

"What are you talk—" the teacher started to ask, then stopped. A wave of weird energy was seeping into the classroom through the windows, square shapes flickering in and out around the edges. Kensei froze in horror, and not jut because a Game Area was suddenly forming right in the middle of his school. They weren't on the ground floor, but the color forming inside the room was a pleasant sky blue…

"COME ON!" Kensei yelled and grabbed Kiiko by the arm and ran as fast as he could for the hall door. He didn't need to say a word: the entire first row was already in front of him, panicking and clawing at the door. By the time they made it to the hall every other class was already spilling out too, the students running for the stairways to get to the ground, to some hope of escape. In the confusion it wasn't hard for Kensei and Kiiko to disappear up one instead.

"You're sure about this?" Kensei asked when they got to the next floor and saw the last of the students and teachers disappearing down other stairways. "If you're wrong, I have a feeling we're going to be thirty feet in the air with no floor."

But she pointed up and that weird purple glow that had led them to a Rider Gashat before was already brightening up. "It's definitely up there. We have to go there to get it and make this stop."

Kensei grunted uncertainly as the Game Area kept crawling over the floor and walls, all sky blue with no ground in sight. Kiiko suddenly laced her fingers through his, and gave him a reassuring squeeze.

"That's still something couples usually do," he mumbled.

"We're not a couple, then, if you're worried about that," she replied. "Instead, let's be brave heroes! The games never just drop the heroes off a mountain, right?"

"I guess not," Kensei replied, supposing that did sound like a huge ripoff. And as the Game Area crawled up under their feet he saw the edges of a narrow mountain path forming under them. The Game Area closed over their heads, and high above them was a flat mountain peak. Hovering just above it Kensei could see a faint blue glow.

And circling the peak, over and over again, was a giant bird.

At least, that was what Kensei thought it was at first glance. But as he looked a little harder he realized it was actually a horse with wings. And when he looked even harder he saw it had the upper torso of a man where its head should've been, wearing gleaming silver armor and carrying a lance and shield like a knight.

Then, realizing he probably shouldn't, Kensei looked down. Far, far below at the bottom of the mountain he saw tiny people milling around, and realized they were the people from his school. Somehow he and Kiiko were so high up the rest of the students looked like ants, even though they'd only been on the third floor when the Game Area appeared. Were these things that powerful, that they could warp reality that much?

But past them he could see the edges of the game area slowly spreading over the buildings on the rest of the block. They'd have to hurry.

"Okay," Kensei said. "Let's go be brave heroes." Kiiko grinned. "Does the brave heroine know a quick, safe way up to the top?"

She pointed to a path that circled up the side of the mountain. The light at the end of her finger got even brighter.

They started up the trail.

But they weren't alone.

He knew he probably should've kept his hands free to grab something if he started to lose his balance. He'd never been the athletic type, after all. Big surprise.

His henshin gear had to be held in his hand, though. And he knew these games well enough to know to expect a fight out of nowhere. Wasn't that how it always worked? You were just walking through the woods, or up a mountain, or about to get into a town or whatever. Then BOOM. The screen exploded and there was a bunch of monsters who had a problem with you for some reason. He had to be ready for when that happened.

It always did in these games.

It was how you got stronger in them. By winning lots of fights. He knew that, but it seemed like some people thought they got to skip the path to being a master. He'd seen that idiot Yoshoku go into a cave, probably thinking it'd be a shortcut to the top.

Doku, though, he recognized this area already. This was clearly Mount Testament in Taddle Quest, that was guarded by the Pegasus Knight at the top. That cave had a few interesting items in there, but mostly he'd be spending an hour fighting an endless string of annoying, poisonous spider-bats.

"Taddle Craft," said the Gashat in his other hand as he hit the trigger. He inserted it into the Gamer Cepta and pulled back on the dial it had on its side. "Arcana Level 2." Like before, power surged down his arm and spread through his whole body. Green lines ran up and down his body, tying themselves into complex Celtic patterns. A hooded purple robe appeared and draped itself over his shoulders and mystical symbols flashed into being all over it.

"I'll make you proud, Hiromi-san," Doku, or rather Kamen Rider Rune whispered as he started up the mountain.

"Something's coming," Kensei whispered, and already had En En Chambara in his hand.

"I can hear it too," Kiiko said. There was a sound of something beating in the wind, and after another few seconds a group of three men with long feathered wings flew around the side of the mountain. They had weapons in their hands—a spear, a barbed sword and a studded mace—and their faces were hidden by clouds of flickering pixels.

And they immediately came diving at the two teens, screeching like angry birds.

Kiiko immediately slipped back along the path, and Kensei knew she was retreating to give him all the room she could to let him fight. "En En ChamBARA!" the Gashat yelled as he hit the trigger button and slid it into his Gamer Driver and immediately pulled the lever open. "Kenjutsu Level 2."

The bird Bugsters were about to crash into Kensei and impale him on all their weapons at the same time. Suddenly the pieces of his samurai armor came flying through them, scattering them and forming around his body as the Gamer Driver's power covered him, changing him into Kamen Rider Utsura again. His helmet locked onto his head, the crescent spike on it gleaming as if signifying his power.

But the Bugsters recovered quickly, circling back to attack again. Utsura hit the icon to summon his Gashacon Zashi then mashed the A button on the hilt until another toy-looking wakizashi appeared in his other hand. As the Bugster armed with a spear came in to try and stab him Utsura held his swords up in a scissors shape, catching the tip of the spear between them, then closing suddenly and snapping the spear in half. Before the Bugster could recover from his surprise Utsura jumped and slashed with both swords, sending the Bugster spinning crazily through the air before disappearing into a stream of pixels.

The other two Bugsters hovered in the air, seeming unsure after Utsura had easily disarmed and defeated one of them. They flew off but after a second they circled back, coming at him from different sides. Utsura stood his ground and gripped his swords for what was coming. He could survive this but his timing would have to be absolutely perfect…

Tucking in their wings the Bugsters both went into a dive at Utsura with their weapons held out in front of them, aimed at his head and torso. Behind his mask he shut his eyes, sucked in a breath, and then a second before he was about to have his body caved in by the two Bugsters coming at him like missiles Utsura he suddenly spun like a tornado and hit them both at the same time with all his might.

Neither monster made a sound as they spun away from the side of the mountain until they disintegrated into steams of pixels that followed the first Utsura had taken care of. He gave a sigh of relief that his plan had worked, but stopped as Kiiko cried out.

"Kensei! I mean…look!"

He did and saw a green and purple blur flying past, and inside a small tornado. He landed on the trail far in front of Utsura, and the giant eyes underneath his hood were unmistakable. "Rune," Utsura said.

"That's right," the hooded Rider replied, but then without waiting for a reply Rune ran up the trail, obviously eager to get to the top first.

By the time Utsura and Kiiko had caught up, Rune was already at the top of the mountain. It was wide and flat, looking an awful lot like an arena to Utsura's eyes. He didn't have to guess why, with the winged centaur he'd noticed before circling the mountain top coming lower and lower until he landed in the middle of the area, between the two Riders and the glowing Gashat at the end.

"Turn back, humans!" he yelled at them, but the effect was ruined a little by being muffled through his heavy helmet. "The power kept enshrined here is not for lowly beings like you!"

"I'm not a lowly mortal, and I don't care who put you here, Pegasus Knight," Rune retorted. "I'm a great wizard, and I'll teach you to respect my name! Just like I'll teach everyone else!"

"It won't work," Utsura said, not reacting to his grandiose introduction.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Rune asked without turning to look back at him.

"Those Gashats, we can't use them. It'll fly away after you touch it. I got one before but I never got a chance to use it."

Rune scoffed at him. "Just shows how weak the rest of you are. Watch, and you'll see how someone who knows how to use power does it!"

Pegasus Knight stomped his hoof angrily. "Enough! Leave or prepare to do battle!"

Rune responded by pointing his wand at the winged monster and firing off a blast of icy air, giant snowflakes whipping out and slicing into the monster's armor. Pegasus Knight gasped in surprise but then picked up his lance and charged at Rune.

As the other Rider dodged out of the way Utsura raised his weapons and stepped forward to join the fight. He'd seen what happened when they tried to take one of these weird Gashats that created a Game Area, but what if Rune was right, and there was some way for one of them to use it? Could he risk letting someone as angry as Rune have even more power?

Pegasus Knight whipped around and aimed his lance at Utsura as he charged again. Utsura threw one of his small swords at Pegasus Knight's chest and the monster raised his shield and deflected it. But while he was focused on that Utsura ran up and actually jumped on to the monster's lance, running up it and dealing a powerful slash across Pegasus Knight's shoulder. He yelled in pain but held onto his lance, whipping it to the side and shaking Utsura off.

Pegasus Knight turned around and ran right into another blast of icy air from Rune's wand. It was even colder than his first attack and in seconds frost was forming on Pegasus Knight's armor and the horse-like part of his body. The monster slashed with his lance at Rune, but the wizard Rider was just out of his reach. He kept the Gamer Cepta pointed at Pegasus Knight and the icy wind got even colder until a sheet of ice covered the ground and crawled up to form over the monster's four legs.

Then Rune twisted the dial on the side of the wand and instead of ice it shot out a blast of flame. The ice melted rapidly and Pegasus Knight was blasted backward. Rune was twisting the dial for a new attack but it seemed he'd underestimated his opponent, as Pegasus Knight suddenly lunged up and jabbed Rune on the tip of his lance.

Rune yelped and went flying a few feet before he hit the ground. Most of his health bar flickered out, and Utsura jumped in between Pegasus Knight and the other Rider. Pegasus Knight swatted the wakizashi out of Utsura's hand with a swipe of his long lance, and swiped at Utsura himself. But in a flash Utsura was wielding his even more powerful katana that he easily used to block the lance. Pegasus Knight gasped in surprise as Utsura then swung so hard a crescent wave of power ripped from the blade of the katana and slammed into him, knocking him off his feet.

"Taddle Critical Finish!" Utsura looked back to see Rune raising his wand high over his head as it glowed with power, then he pointed it at the ground and an earthquake shook the mountain. Utsura and Kiiko were knocked off their feet as chunks of rock fell off the sides and a huge crack ripped through the middle of the plateau, right underneath Pegasus Knight. Energy surged up through the crack and covered his body. He threw his wings wide just before his body dissolved into pixels.

Before the shaking stopped Rune ran past Utsura and grabbed the Gashat out of the air. "I got it! What was that you were saying about this flying away after somebody touches it, huh?!" he laughed triumphantly. The Gashat quivered in his hand, and for a second Rune's hand jerked upward, but he held onto the Gashat. "Guess you're just too weak to be able to hold onto greatness even when it's literally right in your hand, Hidenaga!"

To his surprise, Utsura didn't shout an insult back or make a move to attack him. Utsura did clutch the Gashacon Tana a little tighter, but all he said was, "So what do you do now?"

Rune stood there speechless for a second, like he hadn't expected such a nonviolent response. When Utsura still didn't attack he opened his inventory and pulled out a giant blue coin with an image of a transparent man in front of a city skyline. "I don't do anything now. I won, and I'll be going. Don't try and stop me," he said as he faded from sight, trying to make his exit line sound as full of contempt as he could. "Next time you'll see how a real fighter uses one of these! If you even last long enough to see me again!"

Then he was gone, it seemed. No surprise magical attacks came, just holes in the sky peeling back to show real clouds and the edge of the sun. Kiiko ran up to Utsura and leaned on his shoulder. "Are you sure it was okay? To just let him leave with the Gashat like that?"

"I don't know," was all Utsura could say. "I don't know if he's going to do something bad with it…I mean, somebody wanted him to have Kamen Rider stuff, like Yuuma wanted me to have mine. I feel like that person probably had a good reason for it, if Yuuma thought I could handle this."

"I guess we'll see if it was the right decision," Kiiko said gently, not judging him letting an arrogant loudmouth get away with a potent power item, just observing his thoughts.

"We should probably get out of here while there's still ground up this high," Utsura said, his tone almost teasing.

Kiiko looked up into his mask's giant eyes, and smiled a little. "Yeah, we should. My training's working, you are getting better!" Utsura just shook his head, but couldn't hide a faint chuckle too.

As soon as the Game Area had completely disappeared the police were rushing onto the school grounds. The students at the bottom of the mountain, now an ordinary high school again, had hit an invisible wall as they tried to escape while the police had ben unable to get inside to help because of that same invisible wall surrounding the Game Area.

No-one noticed Doku Dasao sneaking out of the building to blend into a crowd of his classmates. No-one much noticed him anyway, and this time it was an advantage he didn't mind exploiting. He noticed Kensei Hidenaga and Kiiko Mishiranu coming out of a side door and joining the others, Kensei giving him a cautious look as they did.

They knew. They had to know that had been him, didn't they? But why hadn't Kensei done more to keep him from getting away with the new Gashat other than that pathetic story that it would fly away when someone touched it? What was he planning, and what would he do to get it back?

Doku Dasao was still wondering that when night came, and his homework was done in an hour and a half. His parents were keeping out of his way like they always did when they heard him say two words: "entrance exams."

Really, of course, he was studying his new prize. It was a Gashat like the one he already had, of course, and it was even from the same game series. "Taddle Quest" was written on the label, above a knight wielding a glowing magical sword. This had been the trademark Gashat used by Kamen Rider Brave, one of the CR Riders who'd stopped the previous Bugster outbreak.

Doku's stomach tightened up a little as held the Gashat in his hand, his eyes transfixed by the bright blue case and the detailed art of the knight on the label. This object, this treasure had been the basis of a real-life hero's powers. The fact that Brave didn't have it anymore was scary and incredible at the same time.

Scary because he had to ask if the Gashats of the missing Kamen Riders were all over the city, where were the Riders themselves, and why didn't they have their power items anymore? How serious was this new outbreak?

But incredible, because right there in his hand, Doku had the thing that symbolized the power of a living legend. As he thought about that he shook with excitement and almost dropped it. With this, he could do even more incredible things than he already could. With this, he could help carry on the legacy of a missing hero.

Then something buzzed inside his school bag, and Doku smiled lightly. He was already getting his chance.

Not that far away, but struggling with more than his homework, Kensei kept looking down at his Gamer Driver and En En Chambara lying in easy reach in the top drawer of his desk. The thought of making some excuse to his father and going to check on Doku had occurred to him, but even if he did what would Kensei do? Try to see what Doku was doing without giving himself away, or just going up to Doku's house and asking for a secret meeting or something?

Then something buzzed loudly in his desk, another device Kazumono had given him, pushing those questions out of his mind for the moment. Kensei was reaching for it when his phone rang. On the screen was the all-too-familiar UNKNOWN tag, and Kensei picked it up answered. "I'm a little busy right now, Kazumono."

"Yes, I imagine there are a lot of important things on your mind right now, Hidenaga-san," someone answered, but it wasn't the voice of the Genm Corp. tech. "My name is Kyotaro Hinata, I represent the Ministry of Health."

"…Kazumono said he was going to let me handle this on my own."

"I'm sure that's exactly what he said, but after this morning's incident I'm also sure that you understand things are escalating too quickly. The appearance of a second Game Area in which a large number of civilians were trapped, including quite a few you know personally. That's the case, isn't it Hidenaga-san?"

This Hinata person was right, a Gashat had created a mountain right out of his own school, and after the factory appearing downtown the other day there was really no hiding that the Bugsters were back. With new, bigger tricks they hadn't had before, maybe. Soon people were going to start wanting to know what was being done about it.

"All right. What do you want me to do?" Kensei asked in reply.

Hinata's reply was immediate. "I'm inviting you—and the two other new Riders—for a private meeting tomorrow. To explain why it's in all of our best interests to cooperate. You'll be contacted after your school lets out."

"I can't tell the other two what to do," Kensei pointed out. "They think I'm a big enough idiot as it is."

"We'll take care of convincing them," Hinata answered. "All of us stand to benefit from this. In the meantime, it sounds like you have something else demanding your attention. I look forward to speaking with you soon, Hidenaga-san." Then without waiting for Kensei's answer, he hung up.

Kensei looked at the phone for a second, then slid it into his pocket and reached into his desk drawer again to pull out a triangular device made of white plastic, with a black button on the back and a bright pink pad on the opposite long side.

He pressed the button. Then he knew where he had to go.

Fear filled the man's eyes, his voice stolen by the enormous shape that spread wider and wider, seeming to cover the entire world. It bubbled and slurped, moving closer to him like a huge mound of blue jelly. He swore that inside it he could see a human skull slide past inside the giant slime. And underneath, a dark purple trail was spreading over the ground and killing the grass it touched.

Was this really the end for him?
"Taddle Quest," a deep voice announced.

"…what?"

"Skill Level 2."

Then suddenly the air temperature plunged and the edge of the slime about to crash down on the man had frozen solid.

And standing in between him and the slime was a man in black and turquoise armor, icons of a snowflake and a roaring flame under the health bar on his chest armor. He wore a mask with a silver visor from which two giant cartoon eyes peered out, with a long blue plume sticking out backward from the top. In his hand was a sword with a jagged blue blade, still crackling with the power that had frozen part of the slime.

Hanging off his belt was a long white wand with a bird ornament on the top and the Taddle Quest Gashat sticking out of the bottom.

"…Brave?" the man asked, managing to find his voice.

The Rider didn't answer, instead hitting a button on his sword and making the blade turn around and become a fiery orange. The slime slithered around, moving its frozen part away to the side and rearing up to try to smother them. The Rider slashed out with his sword, engulfing the blade in flame as it bit into the slime leaving blackened tissue where it touched.

And the Rider kept dragging his sword into its body in a wide arc that carved a large hunk of the slime's body off. It splatted against the ground and then dissolved into a stream of pixels.

Suddenly the slime launched itself into the air like a rocket. As it came back down it spread itself out, shooting out tendrils in all directions. The Rider grabbed the monster's intended victim by the shoulder and dragged him out of the way. One tendril smashed down on his foot as it landed and the Rider went sprawling from the sudden stop.

The man screamed at the top of his lungs in pain. The Rider growled in rage and raised his sword over his head with the blade seeming to burn twice as fiercely. He slashed at the closest tendril and sliced it off, then charged at the slime and hacked fiercely at it again and again. "Not anymore! I don't have to take anybody's shit anymore! Even if they're a monster!" he screamed, hacking off a huge hunk of its top that dissolved into pixels before it even touched the ground.

"Now I'm the one who's strong!" he kept ranting. He slapped a button on the hilt and the blade flipped to its ice form again, then he stabbed it into the slime and started freezing the enormous jelly. "Now what I say matters the most!" He yanked the sword out of the frozen slime and then kicked it hard, knocking a big chunk off that immediately dissolved. Dark energy started creeping up over his sword.

"…Brave?" the man asked and the Rider stopped as he heard the question, then turned around. "Why are you so angry?"

"What?"

"You were never this angry," the man continued. "You were always so calm before, even when things were really bad for you guys. I…my son and I, I mean, we both really looked up to you."

The Taddle Quest Gashat started shaking in its mounting. "You…you don't know who I am. You don't know what this means to me."

"But all the times you risked your life, even when your enemies were so strong…" the man babbled on. "You were a hero!"

"A hero?" the Rider said. "…mister, you're bleeding like crazy on that foot. Oh my god, did it hit you?" He stepped back and stared with eyes almost as wide as the ones in his mask. "Shit…that looks bad," he whispered.

As he saw the man cowering in pain, too injured to think about running away, a memory started echoing in the Rider's mind.

A girl was cupping his chin lightly and putting on the bravest smile anyone had ever had.

That was what he'd always wanted, the chance to be brave, to matter for something important. She'd always been brave, but like she had so many times before she told him, "Doku-chan, you should be brave too, but you should do it because there are so many people who need help."

"Is that why you're going back out there with all the monsters?" he asked, his cheeks shining with the trails of tears.

She smiled. "There are people out there in trouble, Doku-chan. They're hurt and they need help."

"No!" he'd wailed. "There's already Kamen Riders who want to stop this! They can fight, let them do it!"

But she shook her head, still smiling a little to reassure him. "They can't just wait out there hoping someone finds them, Doku-chan. And I can't just stay here in a shelter knowing that there's someone out there somewhere who needs help."

Then she walked out the door.

He never saw her again.

The slime gurgled behind him and the Rider whirled around. Seeing his twin's face for the last time in his memory, he realized he was maneuvering himself between the giant bubbling creature and the injured man as it crawled closer and left a spreading purple trail behind it.

But as soon as he'd done it, the Taddle Quest Gashat yanked itself out of the wand on his belt. It spun end over end a few times then went flying away into the sky, to the same small dot of light that the pixels from the slime's pieces were going. A screen appeared, showing the Gashat appearing next to a bright pink one and starting to spin slowly in place, reading "Collection Expanded" across the bottom.

And standing there, moonlight reflecting off of his thick glasses, was Doku Dasao. "You're not Brave," the man gasped. "You're a kid?"

Doku didn't answer for a second, staring in disbelief at the Gashat as it flew away until it was totally out of sight. He gaped at it in disbelief, then turned to the man and said, "Maybe I am, but I'm the kid who's about to save your life." He loaded his own Gashat and pulled back on the dial of his Gamer Cepta.

"Arcana Level 2." The mystical symbols on his robe flashed into sight as his regular armor appeared over him. He twisted the dial on the Gamer Cepta until the window on it showed a jet of flame.

The slime lurched at Kamen Rider Rune, bubbling angrily as it oozed over the street. Rune aimed his wand and a blast of fire the size of a car ripped from the end, exploding as it hit the slime and sprayed bits of burnt jelly over the street that dissolved immediately.

It gurgled angrily and reared up to throw its giant bulk at him, so Rune twisted the dial again and the picture changed to the word SLOW. A spiral of shifting colors spread from his wand and covered the slime. It seemed to be moving in slow motion as it started to rear up.

Rune twisted the dial again and the picture changed to an ice spike. "Taddle Critical Finish!" it yelled as the bird at the end spread its wings even wider and seemed to cry out as the ground underneath the slime glowed just before an ice spike ten feet high gouged up through the middle of the slime. It seized up and twitched horribly for a second, then fell to the ground with a crash and breaking down into more streams of pixels. In another minute there was nothing left of the giant jelly creature or the trail of purple filth it had been leaving on the ground underneath it.

"Damn," the man breathed at the display of power he'd just seen.

"Not bad, huh?" Rune chuckled a little, twisting his wand to the side so that the man wouldn't see that barely 10% of the energy bar on the side was still lit, though. Then he looked down at the man's mashed foot. "Look, I'm going to call an ambulance, okay? Whatever you do, don't stand up."

"Why? What are you talking abo…oh GOD!" the man looked down and screamed.

Rune cringed and looked away, fumbling for his phone. As he struggled to hit the numbers he wanted with gloved fingers, he realized the man he'd just saved had said something to him. "What?"

"Who are you? What's your name?"

"You can call me…Kamen Rider Rune."

"Got a real feel for the dramatic there, huh kid?
"The kid who just saved your life," Rune reminded him with an annoyed growl as he managed to enter the number.

The man just smiled lightly at the retort.

And down the street, Kensei Hidenaga turned and walked away unseen.

The sound of the smoke detector woke Kensei up the morning of his fateful meeting with the Ministry of Health. He heard a panicked yell and something that sounded like a bucket of water splashing all over the floor. Apparently his father had tried to make something for breakfast that was way beyond his level again. Kensei supposed he should get up, and see if his father needed help saving the house from burning down.

As he got up Kensei noticed there was a new message on his phone, a text from an unknown sender. It said "We've found out where the new Bugsters are coming from."

It had come with a picture of the night sky over the city, showing a purple circle whose edges bulged out in a few places, and arcs of white and grey energy whipped across its surface. Streams of pixels that had to have been the defeated slime monster were flowing up into it.

But surrounding the edge of the purple circle was a ring of ten irregular but familiar shapes. They were the molded grips of Rider Gashats like his own. And they were all as black as night.

He'd seen those before when he'd had his meeting with Kazumono, who'd said they were extremely important. Then it clicked.

Those were the ten Proto Gashats. The ones that had all the important information on the people who'd lost playing Kamen Rider Chronicle and disappeared.

They were up there, in that weird hole in the sky.

Whoever had stolen them, whoever had kidnapped the CR Riders, had put those all-important Gashats up there.

That didn't sound to him like something a spontaneous evolution of a virus would cause to happen. It sounded like something somebody had to have done on purpose. Who had that someone been? And why did they do it?

He hoped the meeting with Hinata could answer a few of those questions.