I have taken far too long to get this chapter out. Because of that, I'm sorry. I've recently looked into the Fate Series- I will admit, very good- got addicted to FGO, and Destiny 2-which was a letdown after some time. That, and I'm not able to find my drive like Shinnosuke or William are.
But, I will say Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2018 turns out better than 2017...
Let's get to some reviews:
DragonWarrior74: Thank you. I gave Krim and Genjuro that past connection because I thought Krim should have a start somewhere and a reason why he worked by himself or with Banno.
dsgundam00: Thank you. I have considered Relic Shift Cars and the girls being able to utilize Shift Cars, but whether I plan on using them in the story would be spoilers for the future.
Redbull98: I have the intent on making OC Roidmudes in place of Special or movie Roidmudes.
Unknown 13: Don't worry, I'm okay with spammed reviews so long as they aren't negative ones.
Sankishin Susanoo: Truth be told, it was more or less me using the Symphogear Wiki and reading the first real name I could find for Habakiri.
Warning: I have full intention of steering clear of Doom Marine. I am also sorry to hear you were one of his victims. I don't like it, but no matter where you are on the internet, there is always that one person who thinks he is invincible and will troll everyone just to make themselves feel good. I wish you the best of luck in bringing him to justice.
THIS IS ALSO FOR EVERYONE READING!
If you are contacted by Doom Marine 54, do everything in your power to ignore him! Delete any threatening messages and reviews he may leave you, but only after using them to prove his guilt. We all come here to read beautiful stories of amazing series we all know and love. We don't need someone to come here and ruin our experiences just so they can get a laugh. I know it's not much, especially coming from such a little influential author that I am, but we can one day protect one of our favorite sites from people like him.
Now, let's get on with the chapter, shall we?
Chapter 10: Mach Speed
A figure was standing in the dark of the night sky, looking up at the moon as the lunar light bounced back enough to reveal the white armor they wore, but not bright enough for detail. Their scarf was blowing in the wind as they looked down, their blue eyes lighting up as they climbed on top of their motorcycle.
The figure revved the engine before driving away, small items left behind in the form of small motorcycles the size of a Shift Car, each one with a sign of some sort on the back tire.
The Shift Car sized motorcycles took off as they drove in separate directions, only one chasing after the figure.
Drive was already in Type Technic as he reloaded Door-Ju. He lifted it up to aim at the Noise as he fired, his finger pulling the trigger quickly as he already exhausted the new charge.
"Charge!" He reloaded again as he pulled on the trigger again.
"Ah!" A man fell down as the woman beside him stopped to help pull him up. A Noise had somehow got past Drive and saw the opportunity, leaping at the two. The couple saw the Noise, their fearful expressions nearly attached to their faces before it suddenly turned black and turned to dust.
"Run!" Drive told the couple as they did just that, running away to leave the area.
"Drive: Type Speed!" Drive's body switched into Type Speed as the tire locked onto his torso. He threw Door-Ju to the side while whistling, his gun flying to the Tridoron as Handle-Ken came flying into his hand.
"Spe-Spe-Speed!" His tire spun around his torso as he ran forward, slicing through the Noise at rapid speed as he turned around, kicking a Noise behind him.
"Will!" Hibiki almost screamed his name, causing Drive to turn and look at her to see another group of Noise chasing after her as she ran towards him.
"Oh boy…"
"I am beginning to question why these Noise attacks often include Noise with enough numbers to equal an army each outbreak."
Drive took Shift Speed out of the Shift Brace to put it into Handle-Ken, preparing the finisher.
"Hissatsu! Speed! Full Throttle!" Drive ran past Hibiki and into the Noise, slicing through them with more strength before. Once he got to the back of the group, he swung his sword one more time to annihilate the remainder of the group.
Drive looked around to see if there were any more, but all he could see were either their remains, or whatever poor soul was unlucky enough to get caught before they arrived.
"Are… are they gone?" Hibiki asked him as she sounded as if she was out of breath. Again, he looked around, but he saw Dump and Hunter coming towards him. Both of the Shift Cars honked at him, telling him what he needed to know before they drove away.
"Yeah… that's another outbreak we stopped."
Hibiki's panting stopped for a moment as she smiled, raising her hand in the air while releasing a low tone voice. "Yay…"
Tsubasa was running down the street, charging straight at the Noise ahead of her. The Noise changed their shape to shoot themselves at her, hoping to destroy her before she could kill them.
She raised her sword, cutting the Noise in half before sliding under the rest to cut them from below.
Type Wild used the tire on his shoulder to hit a car, causing it to go flying across the parking lot and hit a giant Noise in the leg, somehow causing it to fall down onto its knee.
Meanwhile, Hibiki was running again. Right behind her was another giant Noise that was trying to step on her to crush her. The Noise had grown tired of the chase, bringing one arm into the air before slamming it down, causing a shockwave as the ground beneath her began crumble.
"Tire Koukan! Hooking Wrecker!" The tire attached itself to his shoulder as he grabbed the hook, spinning it like a lasso before throwing it, the rope going around Hibiki and grabbing her as Drive pulled back to bring her towards him.
Hibiki landed on her rear beside Drive, letting a pained groan.
"Hey Krim, have you ever seen the movie 'The Empire Strikes Back?'"
"I… can't say I've heard of it."
"Okay… well, here's one of my favorite scenes." Drive took the rope off her to spin it again, throwing it one more time as he had it wrap around the legs of the second Giant Noise, pulling back as he caused it to tighten.
With the rope around its legs, the Noise found it very difficult to move. Despite the obstacle, it tried to step forward, but the rope prevented it from doing so as its leg got caught in the rope, too much of its body already leaning on the leg as it fell over.
Tsubasa fell down onto a Noise as the blades on her feet cut it into pieces. She drew her sword as she cut a Noise that was right in front of her, turning around to do the same to one behind her.
"It's been a month, and the only ones working together are William and Hibiki…" Genjuro noted as Ryoko nodded in agreement. They turned away from the screen showing footage of Drive and the girls.
They instead turned to face a screen showing the three forms of Roidmude that haven't evolved, the Spider, Cobra, and Bat. Beside it was a screen showing Iron, Crush, and Volt.
"Roidmudes. Mechanical beings capable of evolving and becoming more humanlike over time. Their bodies are made entirely of a rare alloy a scientist, whose name I am not willing to disclose, created. However, at some point, this scientist hit a wall during their development and came to me, asking for my assistance." Krim explained as the screen he was connected to changed to show all the evolved Roidmudes he and Drive have encountered so far.
"I was happy to lend my fellow scientist a hand in the development of the Roidmudes. But, later, I had stumbled upon him performing a lethal experiment with the first Roidmude to take a human form. I was disgusted at what I saw from him, so I broke our agreement and our partnership. Unfortunately, I was too late to do so as the Roidmudes had been finished, and they killed not only their creator, but me."
"I was meaning to ask how you passed away…" Genjuro admitted as Krim's icon changed to his more stoic one.
"I am sorry I had been withholding that information, old friend. Now, the invention I gave to the scientist is the one that powers Drive, the Tridoron, and the Shift Cars. I called my invention the Core Driviar, an incredible source of energy that I had hoped would help further humankind and possibly even help in protecting us against the Noise. When I gave that scientist a prototype Core Driviar to use for the Roidmudes, they seemed to have copied it numerous times until there were 108 Roidmudes with a Core Driviar inside them.
Because of the amount of energy each Roidmude has access to, no human has a chance of properly fighting against a Roidmude. Not only that, but the Roidmudes had used their power to evolve to develop the gravity surges we call Density Shifts. With so many Roidmudes together, they had created a Density Shift so powerful, they not only stopped time for all humans… they somehow covered the entire world."
"If I'm correct, that would be the Global Freeze, right?" Ryoko asked as Krim used the belt on his side to move the Drive Driver in a nodding manner.
"Yes. And with humans incapable of moving through Density Shifts without Core Driviars themselves, there was no one to fight against the Roidmudes."
"Until you made Drive, right?" Hibiki asked as Krim did the same motion with the belt as last time.
"Yes. At first, I made a prototype version of Drive, who I call Protodrive. He fought the Roidmudes, and he managed to destroy their bodies, but back then, Drive did not have the power to kill the Roidmudes. Once a Roidmude has their body destroyed, they release a core. Think of these cores as their souls, their very being. Even without a body, a Roidmude can still survive while they may even find a method of acquiring a new body- which I fear may have proven to be true because some of the Roidmudes William has fought were some of the Roidmudes Protodrive fought and destroyed their bodies."
"So even if the Roidmude's body is destroyed, they can find the source of their new bodies and come back to fight Drive…"
"Unfortunately, that is how it is. With so many Roidmudes fighting Protodrive during the Global Freeze, and no one capable of assisting him… he fell. I spent a long time performing research and asking for two of my other close friends in assisting me enhance Drive. Thanks to them, Drive was later capable of destroying not only the body, but the core. However, not everyone can become Drive. After finishing improving the Drive system, it soon came to light that not just anyone had the power to transform into Drive."
"But William is capable of transforming. What is it he has that lets him do so?"
"I wish I knew. At first, I thought perhaps it was his genetics. But, the only information I was able to acquire in that area was April and his grandfather. April was incapable of becoming Drive, so I currently believe it either came from William's father, or he was born with a rare gene no one has seen before."
"He doesn't have one." Ryoko told him as she pulled out a tablet, scrolling through it before revealing a health record of a certain scarf wearing teen. "He has regular genes, and the proper amount. He has no form of irregularity in his body."
"… William, I truly am curious into why you are capable of transforming."
"You and me both."
"Now, getting back on track. Drive is the only being capable of moving through the Density Shift without being slowed down. Drive's body is created by using the Drive Driver."
""Drive Driver?"" Genjuro and Ryoko asked in nearly perfect sync, making Krim's icon change to him with a drop of sweat.
"Y-Yes… I know it isn't a very creative name, but I was in a hurry to fight against the Roidmude. Like I was saying, like how Miss Tachibana and Kazanari use the Relics in their possession to equip their Symphogears, William uses the Drive Driver and Shift Cars to transform into Drive, while also performing a Tire Koukan to slightly adjust some of his stats and granting him additional powers. For instance, by using Max Flare, Drive is capable of using fiery attacks to fight the Roidmude. William, if you would."
"Alright." William grabbed Krim and put him around his waist, proceeding to grab the ignition and turn, grabbing Shift Speed and flipping its back as he put it into the Shift Brace.
"Henshin!" He announced while flipping the Shift Car.
"Drive: Type Speed!" Upbeat jazz music played as he was surrounded by the holographic cylinder, the armor latching onto his body as Dimension Cab had created a portal for the tire to fly onto his torso. Drive then took Shift Speed out and replaced it with Max Flare, flipping it as Dimension Cab kept the portal open.
"Tire Koukan! Max Flare!" The burning tire latched onto his torso. Once the tire was on, Drive raised his arms up, holding onto his right wrist as he clenched his fist, causing some embers to spark off.
"… The girls need to sing their songs to activate the Symphogear. Why do you say henshin every time you transform?" Genjuro asked the question that was bugging him since he first saw the transformation to fight Paint.
Drive flinched slightly as he gave off a nervous laugh. "Well… it kind of slipped out when I first transformed… and it stuck with me since. I mean… it just feels right to say it."
"It sounds really cool when you say it, Will!" Hibiki spoke out, trying to help him feel better with his habit as he canceled the transformation. "You're like the superheroes we used to watch on TV! Like Ultraman!"
"… Atleast someone is on my side…"
"The victim is Hanamura Kinzo, 64 years old." One of the many officers in the room read out the report as everyone else listened, including Gen who was behind the officer. "He's currently in the hospital because he was recently attacked. The attacker delivered a blow to his head while in his very home."
"Mr. Hanamura was a real estate speculator with a reputation nearly as bad as some gangsters. We've had our eyes on him for a while, and there is a long list of people who could have a motive to attack him."
"Given the history of possible grudges, we already looked into who would have an axe to grind." One of the officers in the very front announced as every else in the room responded with a loud 'Yes sir.'
"Hold on a second, captain!" Gen spoke out and raised his hand, catching everyone's attention. It says here that there were local reports of Density Shifts at the time of the attack. They say the culprit walked right into the crowded house during this and took a statue out of Hanamura's hands to then attack him with it."
"Are you saying a monster did it?" The captain asked while leaning forward, his brow raised in curiosity as he tried to look intimidating.
Needless to say, he failed.
"Could a normal human possibly pull that off? I'm 100% certain our culprit is a monster."
…
…
…
Every officer in the room broke into laughter, causing Gen to stand straight as he looked at everyone, realizing immediately they were all laughing at him for saying such a thing.
"Gen! You've been acting like a nut job since you began working with the freak squad!"
"The Special Crimes, right? The guys who aren't even posted in a real police station?"
"Aren't they also the guys who have two teenagers working for them?"
"You have my sympathies for dealing with such nut jobs!"
Gen's body began shaking slightly as it looked like anger was slowly building up inside him. He slammed his hands on the table.
"DAMN IT!" Gen yelled into a megaphone outside the window, but it was still loud enough for everyone in the room to recoil with the volume. "I'M GOING TO PROVE THERE WAS A MONSTER INVOLVED!"
"For pete's sake Gen!" William shouted at the man, hoping to make him drop the megaphone before his eardrums burst. "Put that thing down! And we already checked the scene! There weren't any traces of a Density Shift!"
"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!" Gen turned around, causing the volume of his voice to become even louder with the megaphone.
William decided to do everyone a favor as he got up from his chair, walking straight to Gen and taking the megaphone right out of his hands. "Stop. Some of us are rather fond of hearing."
"Yeah… and only the people inside the house reported a Density Shift. It's kinda weird if they were the only ones to report the Density Shift." Kyo added as Gen's face changed to look more annoyed than angry as he reached to grab the megaphone from William. He responded by grabbing his arm, turning his back towards Gen, and then lifting him over his shoulder and throwing his back onto the floor.
Once Kyo and Rinna saw the officer getting friendly with the floor, they turned to look at the cause of his new friendship. "… He had it coming. Besides, for all we know, it was probably just some landsharks getting territorial and blaming it on a Density Shift."
Gen looked to the side as he let out a deep breath, using it to calm himself when he saw how right the kid sounded right now. He pulled himself back up to his feet, dusting off his sides as William sat back down, lifting his scarf up to cover the lower half of his face and hide the smirk he had. 'Wanted to do that for months…'
"Alright, you might be right, but still. Hey, Nerd boy and Doc, don't leave me hanging- wait, where's the captain and the little lady?!" Gen just now realized that neither Jun or Hisui were present.
"Jun is currently with some of the higher ups and Hisui took the day off. Her brother finally arrived from America so she and her mother decided to use the day to catch up with him." Rinna informed him as Gen didn't look pleased.
"Damn it! Everyone is goofing off when there's work to be done! I'm going to the scene with that gizmo thing!" Gen stormed off towards the door, grabbing his coat as he almost threw the door open. "Kid! Give me your keys! I need a ride to the scene!"
"Not happening."
"What was that?!"
"I said I'm not giving you my keys. My car, my rules."
"Then atleast give me a ride!" Gen shouted at him before storming off this time. Once he was gone, everyone began giggling slightly, William pulling his scarf down to reveal his smile.
"He's worked up because everyone laughed at him…" Kyo managed to get out as he began laughing lightly.
"I'm almost glad. It's almost like he's part of the team…" Rinna also said as she managed to keep her enjoyment down to just the giggling. William sighed as he stopped his laughter, grabbing his jacket and putting it on.
"Well, I'll see you two later. I've got a grumpy officer that needs a ride." William then stepped out of the room himself to go after Gen.
As he made his way through the hallway, the three Shift Cars that give Drive his body drove up beside him.
"William, are you on a case?" Krim's voice came from Shift Speed as the teen shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not 100% sure, but I'd appreciate your help if it turns into one."
"Without a question, I will assist to the best of my capabilties."
William smiled as he watched the Shift Cars drive ahead of him and away. He let out a soft chuckle once they were gone. "Kind of feels like cheating when I think about it…"
William sighed as the Pikopiko was strapped to his back, the weight of it already killing him. He stepped outside of the Hanamura household and into the yard. He really hated walking around with it on his back.
"She could have atleast made it smaller or out of a lighter metal…" He mumbled to himself as he looked up at the dark sky above him. He probably should have brought an umbrella, because it looked like it was going to rain.
"You find anything yet?" A voice from behind forced him off that train of thought, turning to see who asked him the question as he somewhat expected Gen.
Instead, it was a boy who looked to be about his age if not younger by a year or two. He had blonde hair that was cut short with a pair of green eyes that he couldn't help but say looked familiar. He was wearing a grey shirt and a pair of brown pants, a pair of white and grey shoes while he also had a silver necklace with a motorcycle hanging from it with a white jacket over his attire and its hood pulled up to cover his head.
William blinked when he saw the boy before shaking his head. "Hey, this place is off limits to the public. Heck, you can be arrested for trespassing."
"Really?" The boy asked with what sounded like a shocked tone while placing his hand over his chest, gasping as if to exaggerate his 'shock.' "I had no idea. Quickly officer, take me away!" He then held both his arms in front of him and towards William, the perfect distance apart for him to apply handcuffs.
Something in the back of his head was warning about the boy. He glanced down at the Pikopiko's rod, holding it towards the boy as he watched none of the signs of Heavy Acceleration particles on the boy.
'Okay… so he wasn't near when the Density Shift happened, and he might not be a Roidmude… despite their colorful personalities so far…' William sighed as he pulled the device off his body and set it to the side."Look, I'm sure you have better things to do right now instead of walking into an investigation scene. So just… go home or go hang out with your friends."
The boy smiled slightly as he brought his arms to his sides, looking at William as he began paying more attention to the details of his face. "Hm… onyx eyes…"
"What about them?"
"Nothing! Just an interesting color. Not a lot of people with black eyes like yours." The boy walked around William as he looked up at the sky, his smile coming back. "You're looking at the case with the wrong view, by the way.
"I'm not looking at the- wait, what?" William was baffled by the boy's words as the boy jumped over him to perform a flip, proceeding to then do another flip over the various flowers and shrubs they had in the garden. Once he got close, he landed on his feet to turn around, jumping backwards and landing on his hands as he used his arms to push him up again, this time performing a back flip over the wall to leave the area.
William stood there, flabbergasted at what he just saw. He had to let his mind register what he just witnessed as he shook his head to get rid of any confusion he had left. "What… was that about? And more importantly… why did he look fami-"
He cut himself off in the middle of his sentence. Blonde hair and green eyes… those were the same traits Hisui had. She had been constantly worrying about her younger brother coming back for the past few weeks, and that boy fit the description pretty well.
'Don't jump to conclusions just yet… I need more pieces to this puzzle before the picture is revealed.'
"Oi, kid!" Gen's voice brought him back to his senses as he turned to face the older officer, watching him heading towards him.
"Y-Yeah, I'm over here."
Gen ran to the young officer, almost skidding to a stop when he got close as he grabbed William by his shoulders.
"I found something! Apparently, one of the locals say they saw the culprit running away in the middle of the Density Shift!"
His eyes narrowed slightly the moment he heard that. Moving normally in a Density Shift? Whoever their culprit was, it was either a Roidmude, or someone working with a Roidmude like with the Scooper Roidmude's case.
"Where did he run?"
"The local didn't know where he ran, but he had a bike with the label of Kuroda Industries on it!"
An elderly man in his work uniform was holding the picture of a young man with black hair and a mole just above his mouth.
"Yeah, this is definitely looks like our Todagawa." The man spoke to both William and Gen as he then looked down at his watch. "In fact, it's almost time for him to arrive."
As if Lady Luck herself smiled upon the two officers for no more than a second, a young man in his work uniform was just now riding his bike down the road and towards them. The elderly man turned around and saw the younger one, waving his hand in the air towards him. "Hey, Todagawa!"
Todagawa was riding normally for a second until he saw both the officers beside his boss. He quickly turned the bike from riding towards them to riding away, quickly peddling faster for him to get away.
"Hey, wait!" Gen shouted at the young man as he broke off into a sprint to chase after him, William following right after him.
They chased Todagawa into the industrial area, the bike he was riding accidentily popping a tire as he had to ditch the bike. He ran towards one of the many stairs that led up, the officers coming straight for him as they went up with him. He ran as fast as he could in hopes of escaping them, using the stairs as much as possible to wear away at their stamina while hearing the older officer constantly shouting at him to stop. He climbed up one more fleet of stairs as he came to the top of the structure, realizing he no longer hand any room to go up.
Gen and William came up just in time to see him turn around , both of them gunning for him.
Without anywhere else to go, Todagawa grabbed one of the pipes that was lying around with his right hand, swinging it wildly in an attempt to intimidate the officers and force them to back off.
Both of them kept their distance to avoid getting hit, making the suspect realize he wasn't going to get anywhere with the current plan. He looked down beside himself to see a bucket full of oil, quickly kicking it towards the officers.
The moment he kicked it, he then turned around and held onto his left arm as a wave of familiar heaviness passed over the surrounding area.
"I knew it! He was the monster!" Gen exclaimed as he moved forward despite how slow he now was. William stumbled slightly to get his balance as he watched the bucket of oil from before land and spill its contents right in front of Gen.
As if Lady Luck then frowned upon Gen in particular, his foot landed in the oil, causing him to stumble slightly as his now slippery shoes caused him to slide towards the edge of the structure, falling over the railing as he began falling to the ground below.
Behind, Todagawa ran away and escaped.
'For the love of-! Does his luck hate him?!' William slowly made his way to the rail as he saw the older officer slowly fall due to the Density Shift.
Maybe if he was lucky enough with how physics worked- despite his already terrible track record with luck- then the fact he was falling slowly and not speeding up would mean the impact would be only as painful as if he jumped from the ground.
So long as physics worked the way it was supposed to.
However, from where Todagawa escaped from, a new figure appeared. They were armed and quickly fired at William.
The Shift Cars reacted as fast as they could, driving towards William as an explosion covered the area he just was.
'Oh crap! If the kid just kicked the bucket, I'm next!' Gen thought as he feared what would happen when the report of William's 'death' reached April. That… was a nightmare in itself.
The blast from the explosion died shortly, revealing nothing where he previously was. The attacker was confused before he looked over the side.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" William was repeating the same word of pain as he slid down a makeshift ramp created by the Shift Cars by using their special roads, the signs and lights on the sides of said roads constantly hitting his sides and breaking off because of his size.
He landed on the ground with a grunt, pulling himself up and dusting himself off as he saw the Tridoron driving towards him.
"Could've been less painful you know…"
"Apologies, I just never anticipated having to use Shift Cars like that." Krim apologized to him before the door shot open, the belt flying out of the car and into his hands as he quickly strapped the Driver around his waist. "Now, quickly!"
"Right! And sorry about the complaint!"
"It's okay! Now, start your Engine!"
William grabbed Shift Technic and flipped its back, putting it into the Shift Brace as he turned the ignition.
"Alright… let's finish this with a shootout. Henshin!" He announced as he flipped the Shift Car, starting the transformation.
"Drive: Type Technic!" Dynamic music played as the holographic cylinder appeared around him before the green armor latched onto his body, the tire flying from the Tridoron's front wheel and attaching itself to his upper chest.
Drive shrugged his shoulders slightly before whistling, the Tridoron releasing Door-Ju as it flew into his hand. He saw a figure running down the structure, most likely his assailant and the Roidmude for this case as he dashed forward, jumping into the air as he landed on the platform right in front of the Roidmude.
Once he turned to see his opponent, he finally got a good look of them.
Their theme was of a cowboy from the west. He had a metallic black gallon hat on his head, his eyes a bright red with his face metallic with numerous sheets of metal on the sides and back in the form of scraggly hair. He had black pauldrons on his shoulders that held a large sheet of brown cloth around his back like a poncho, similar material on his torso with a strap of bullets on his chest as he had the same cloth on his arms, black metal gloves on his hands. He had two belts around his waist, one with bullets and the other with a holster on his hip. He had black metal on his shins and feet to look like boots with spurs on the back ends. In his hand was a somewhat bulky looking revolver in his left hand.
'Okay… so his name will be either Cowboy, or Gunman… let's go with the latter.'
Gunman raised his firearm towards Drive and fired at the Rider, who responded by raised his arm to block the bullet from hitting his head. The Roidmude fired again as Drive blocked the bullet, aiming Door-Ju beside him as he fired into the Roidmude's hip.
Gunman grunted slightly as Drive turned his attention to the screams of Gen, running to the rail closest to the falling officer. He looked down, seeing nothing there as he looked up to see the older officer still falling at a slow speed.
He reached out to grab Gen, but Gunman grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away from the side, kicking Drive in the stomach as he raised his weapon.
Drive ducked just as the bullet flew over his head, using Door-Ju to hit the Roidmude's arm and change the direction he was aiming, following it by getting behind Gunman's back and pushing him against one of the many pipes surrounding them.
Once Drive thought he was out for a few seconds, he turned his attention to the falling Gen. Gunman grunted slightly as he began channeling energy into his firearm, causing it to gather around the barrel and fly into the chamber to power up his next shot. Once it was charged, he aimed at the back of Drive's head as he pulled the trigger.
Without turning around, Drive raised Door-Ju just in time to block the bullet from hitting him. He silently cursed as he turned to face Gunman, seeing the Roidmude start to walk to the side. Drive began doing the same, both of them now walking in a circle as they waited for their opponent to make a move.
"I advise caution. He seems to be capable of charging his attacks." Krim informed him as Drive chuckled, running from the Roidmude who began charging his next shot.
"Remember… so can we." He turned around just as he heard the sound of the bullet being fired, raising Door-Ju and blocking it again as he grabbed the door.
"Charge! Charge! Charge!" Krim announced as Drive pulled the trigger, causing a charged projectile to fly out of the barrel towards the Roidmude.
Gunman reacted by stepping to the side and behind cover, peeking out for just a second as he fired at Drive again.
Drive jumped to the side to avoid the attack, getting behind cover himself. "This is one thing I didn't expect though… his aim is good. However, a ranged fighter's weakness…"
Drive jumped out from behind his cover, running to the Roidmude and ducking under his weapon as he delivered a punch to Gunman's abdomen. The Roidmude grunted with the attack, raising his leg to strike Drive with his knee.
Drive had too little time to move, forced to take the blow to the head as he aimed at Gunman's chest this time and fired. Sparks flew off the Roidmude's body as he stumbled backwards, his back now against the railing.
"… Is supposed to be close range!" Drive shouted as he charged at the Roidmude, tackling him as both of them fell over the railing.
Gunman landed on the ground with his back, Drive landing right on top of him with his shoulder on his chest as he took the most pain from the fall. He moved his hand up to Drive and removed the Rider from on top of him, kicking him in the side before he could recover as he ran away to make his escape.
Drive grunted as he held his side, pulling himself up to his feet as he watched Gunman's shrinking form fleeing in the distance. He turned his attention to Gen, watching the older officer finally land on the ground just as the Density Shift dispersed.
"Safe!" Gen announced, crouched down slightly with his arms to the side. He tried to stand straight up, but soon found the experience and feeling to leave an imprint on his body as he fell over and onto his back.
Drive sighed as he walked over to the officer, leaning forward and holding his head over him.
"You alright?"
"No way… the Kamen Rider!" Gen was shocked to see him again, but more shocked with what he was about to say. "Your face… it's… green?"
Drive realized what he just did as he pulled himself away from Gen, leaving the officer behind as he soon fainted.
He undid the transformation as William shook his head, feeling a little sore with the fight as he looked in the direction Gunman fled.
"So he got away…"
"Yeah…"
Unaware to either of them, the blonde boy from before was just around the corner, peeking around it for a second as he grinned.
"Wthout a question, Todagawa Naoki is definitely one of those monsters the Doc told me about." Gen had recovered at some point and was now in the middle of the Special Cases unit's officer. "He is, without a doubt, a Hemorrhoido!"
…
…
…
Everyone silently turned and looked at each other, their facial expressions saying everything the others needed as they slowly turned to face Gen.
"That… isn't close."
"It's Roidmude!" Rinna corrected him as she even pointed at the board with the proper spelling of it. "And try to remember."
"There have been a lot of reports of the monsters calling themselves Roidmudes, so that is definitely their name." Kyo spoke out as he began typing away at his computer again. "It's either their race, or the name of whatever organization their from."
"W-Well! I finally saw the Kamen Rider's face!" Gen said, trying to make everyone jealous for what he's seen.
Kyo was the only who fell for it, releasing a barrage of questions about the Kamen Rider's appearance on Gen.
Rinna looked down at William as she pointed at him, making him shake his head and shake his hand in an iffy manner.
Kyo had asked Gen to draw a picture of the Kamen Rider, one that Gen quickly jumped on for the opportunity to prove. He grabbed a piece of paper and some color pencils, drawing a hastily drawn picture that consisted of a poorly drawn Type Technic helmet, Type Speed arms, and Type Wild legs.
"… What is that?"
William and Rinna snickered and giggled respectively, the scientist looking at the teenage officer as she made the iffy hand motion with her hand as he gave her a thumbs up. She smiled as she responded with her own thumb up.
"Now! If we investigate Todagawa, we'll find the monster impersonating him. Now doc!" Gen quickly turned around to face Rinna, a very eager look plastered on his face. "Is that new gizmo of yours finally ready?"
"Of course!" Rinna replied with a confident tone. "Come on, Genpachi!" She said with partial English, moving for the door as she left with Gen following her.
'… Come… on… that… sounds catchy to some extent.' William thought to himself as he then thought of Krim saying 'come on' in English like that. With how often he did speak English for the phrases of nearly everything in their arsenal, it wouldn't be too odd to add that one to the list. 'Maybe I can convince him to add it to one of Drive's forms. New ones or old.'
Kyo and William were left alone in the office, the computer expert turning to look at the teenage officer.
"You're pretty silent right now… and you don't look like you're stuck on the case. Is there something you know?"
"… It's something small, but… I don't think Todagawa is the Roidmude."
"Really? Why?"
"… When me and Gen chased him earlier, he grabbed a pipe with his right hand. I saw the Roidmude, and he had a gun, but he was shooting with his left. Unless he's ambidextrous, or he used his right hand to throw us off, I don't think he's the Roidmude." He paused for a few seconds before he thought of something, turning around in the chair to face his fellow officer. "Hey Kyo… can you look into something real quick?"
At home, both Hisui and her mother were cleaning the mess they made last night in celebration of her brother and her son coming home after years of distance between them.
"Hisui, did your brother tell you anything about where he was going today? He's been gone a while now."
"I wish I knew. I just hope he doesn't have that knack of getting into trouble like he always does."
As if answering their curiosity, the elder Haruna's phone rang as she pulled it out, seeing that it was her son calling. "Where are you? … There? … You want your sister?"
"It's a list of internet posts." Kyo said as he handed William the tablet, his onyx eyes darting across the posts as he read them quickly. "When Todagawa first moved into the city, he worked for Hanamura who screwed him and left him homeless."
Behind, the blonde boy had appeared again, smiling as he began sneaking around both officers.
"Still… this is actually proving my theory. He's just too… normal for a Roidmude to imitate him. I mean, a disguise is a disguise, but one of higher authority like Hanamura himself would have been better."
The blonde boy smiled at hearing his words as he stepped forward, then jumping onto the bench right beside them. "I guess you're on the right track. You're doing better than I thought you would be, Will-iam Qui-nn." He purposely put spaces between the pronunciation of his name, causing the onyx eyed teen to sigh.
"You again…" William looked at the boy for a second before an idea came to his mind. "So… who are you? A fan? A stalker?"
The boy let his smile grow a little bit bigger as he shook his head. "Nope. Neither of those. I'm just someone who gets around…" He paused as he reached into his jacket's pocket, bringing out a piece of paper he unfolded to reveal a picture of the Gunman Roidmude. "Who also has a gift of very good photography skills.
"A-A-A picture of a Roidmude?!" Kyo was shocked and excited at the same time to see an actually Roidmude, real or printed.
The boy hummed to himself as he jumped to the ground and sat himself down normally on the bench, proceeding to then fold the picture like a paper airplane.
"H-Hey… what are you…"
The boy smiled once more, at this point making him believe that smile was attached to his face as he held the picture in its paper plane form. With a quick flick of his wrist, he sent the picture flying into the air.
Kyo scrambled to his feet to go after the picture, chasing after the airborne photo.
William blinked slightly as he looked at the boy, a questioning look taking over for his expression. "I somehow doubt you were the one that took that photo."
"You're right. It was a nice guy that took it for me. Free of charge too." The boy looked up from him and towards Kyo as the computer specialist still chased after the photo. "You're slow, but not too slow. That's actually pretty ironic for the Kamen Rider that drives a car…"
William raised his eyebrow at the boy's statement before smirking slightly. "Funny to hear such a thing coming from Hisui's brother of all people."
The boy flinched slightly as he looked up at William to see that smirk turn into a grin. "… I guess you are faster than you look. But… are you fast enough to help your friend?"
He felt the urge to question that statement before he heard a loud splashing sound. He turned towards its direction to hear the sounds of Kyo struggling to stay afloat, then remembering the computer specialist was not that adept at swimming.
"You can stay here and have fun with your friend while I go to the finish of this case. Later." The boy bid farewell as he began walking away, his hands behind his head as it looked as though he had all the confidence in the world.
"… I want to say something about staying out of this because it's dangerous… but I just have a feeling you'll ignore my warning." William turned to get Kyo as the boy paused for a second, turning around to look at him start pulling Kyo out of the water.
"Danger?" He repeated, his smile slowly reforming before he chuckled. "That's right up my alley." He said before leaving.
William sighed as he helped Kyo out of the water.
"He tricked me…" Kyo said, spitting some water out as he held the crumpled paper to reveal not a picture on it, but the kanji for 'psyche.' "He didn't throw the real one at all…"
William looked up to see the boy gone as he then felt his phone ring. He quickly pulled Kyo up and out of the water before pulling it out and answering. "Quinn here… really? Alright, I'm on my way." He then hung up as he pulled Kyo away from the water should he fall over. "Gen found Todagawa's hideout. I'm going to go meet up with him and try to get to the bottom of this case."
"Please… get a picture… of the Roidmude!" Kyo asked him as he looked confused for a second. "If you can…"
"I'll… try. I'm not the best with photography." William replied before he broke off into a sprint. "And go home! Get a change of clothes before you catch a cold!"
Kyo nodded as he wanted to do just that, holding onto himself to stay warm as he sneezed.
William ran through the park as he came to the exit. However, just as he came around the corner to leave, he then ran into someone, causing both of them to fall down.
"Jeez… Sorry about tha-"
"Watch where you're going!" A female voice yelled at him followed by a swift kick to the ankle. He recoiled by bringing his leg close to himself, holding the attacked spot to try and soothe the pain.
"I was just saying sorry. You didn't have to kick me…" He groaned slightly as he looked at the person he bumped into.
The person was a girl around his age if not the same. She had a pair of purple eyes which almost matched her lavender hair that went all the way down to her knees while being separated into twintails that somehow split into three curly strands, along with a piece of her hair sticking up on top. She was wearing a maroon dress with a translucent cut-out on some of her upper half, mainly her back along with detached sleeves that went past her wrists. She had black stockings that were connected to the dress by maroon garters and matching pumps. She also had some sort of pendent around her neck that he felt like he's seen before, but he couldn't remember where.
"You're not the only one in a hurry, jerk! Watch where you're going next time!" The girl was yelling at him as she got to her feet and began running past him.
He was confused to what just happened before he shook his head, focusing on the task at hand. Something about that girl gave him a strange feeling. It felt like the first time he saw Chaser. The feeling that made him feel like he was going to see him numerous times after that first encounter.
Whatever that feeling was for the girl, it wasn't relevant right now. He needed to get a move on.
Meanwhile, the boy was walking down a bridge as he was humming to himself.
"Almost at the finish line. It looks like we're neck-to-neck." He said as he turned to look at a motorcycle. The vehicle had the very same shape and design as Chase's, only instead of black and purple, his was mainly white with red lines with some blue spots across its surface. There was no skull on the front, instead he had a while panel with red lines and blue on the front with a short black beam that looked somewhat similar to a mounted gun.
The boy grabbed his helmet and put it on, smiling every second as he hopped on his vehicle, turning it on shortly after. Once he heard the sound of the engine roar to life, smiled as he took the kickstand up and began riding away, speeding down the road.
At an abandoned building, Todagawa was seen walking up the stairs on the side to the second floor with a bag in it. Hee entered the room on the top floor, revealing the location he stashed all his stolen goods as he sat down in front of them, opening his bag as he began eating.
"We've got you now, monster!" A loud voice resounded through the building, causing Todagawa to spit out what bits of food he managed to chew as he shot up to his feet.
From the distance and in the dark corridor, he could hear the sound of something beeping rapidly, soon numerous lights flashing came into view before he saw one of the officers from earlier in the room with a large and bulky looking device on his back.
Fearing for his safety, he quickly pulled the sleeve of his jacket up to reveal an armband on his wrist, twisting it and activating it as a wave of Density Shift flooded the area.
He expected the officer to start moving slowly, but instead he kept moving at a normal speed.
"Uh oh! Looks like your Density Shift isn't working anymore! That's because…" Gen said, confidence lacing his voice as it almost sounded as if he was cocky right now. "I've got a Blinky Gizmo Mark 2! And this baby lets me move during a Density Shift!" Gen got to the center of the room as he turned around, looking at Todagawa as he reached for his weapon. "It's too late to say your prayers, Hemorrhoido!"
Gen raised his gun above him as he fired a single bullet, the bullet hitting the ceiling and causing one of the panels above to fall down and hit him on the head. "Yow!"
Todagawa was shaking in fear at the moment as the armband on his wrist suddenly sparked, causing him to yelp as it flew off his wrist and landed on the ground with smoke rising up from it.
"Hey, hey, hey! The Density Shift's gone!" Gen ran forward, spinning around as he was confused to why the Density Shift disappeared. "I can't show off how cool I am without a Density Shift to counter!"
"Gen, short story is…" William stepped into the room, his scarf tightened around his neck as he stared at Todagawa while raising his hand and pointing at the suspect. "He's human. Not a Roidmude- and it's ROID-MUDE. Not a Hemorrhoido! … Whatever that is…"
"What?! No! He attacked us, remember!?"
"Yes, I do remember, and you should too. Remember that he was swinging that pipe with his right hand." To emphasize what he was saying, William raised his right hand held it like he was holding an imaginary pipe. "But the Roidmude was shooting with his left." He then held his left hand forward with an imaginary gun in it. "Now, one would find it extremely difficult to shoot a gun with the hand that isn't dominant. Because of this, he can't be the Roidmude."
"B-But… how did he create Density Shifts?!"
"That… all lies with that little armband on the ground." He replied while pointing at the armband that flew off Todagawa arm. "Back at the industry, he turned around and moved his right hand for that device that was on his left arm at the time. He can somehow create Density Shifts by activating that little device." He walked over to the armband and reached to pick it up, but pulled his hand back when his hand made contact with burning hot metal. "But it looks like the device ahs a limit to how long it can last…"
"T-Then… why did he attack Hanamura?!"
William had intended to speak, but the sound of footsteps behind him caught his attention.
"That's because our friend Todagawa here decided to turn down Hanamura's offer to do some dirty work…" The blonde boy from before came in again, his smile still as large as before. "So, in retaliation… his home was burned to the ground."
"H-Hey! Who are you?!" Gen asked.
"Someone annoying." William answered.
The blonde boy turned to look at William with shock, holding his hand over his chest while releasing a gasp as the onyx eyed teen sighed again. "You can stop that. It wasn't funny the first time."
The boy dropped the act and then shrugged, proceeding to cough to clear his throat before continuing. "You see, dear officer, Todagawa here is after revenge." He then reached down and pulled out his phone, revealing the internet post with the title of 'Apartment Badly Burned. Arson?'
Gen waited for a second to let those words sink in as he turned to look at Todagawa.
"I… I… I hated him… so much!" Todagawa shouted as Gen seemed to lose all the confidence he was holding earlier.
"So… it was just a personal grudge this whole time…" He reached up to his chest as he began undoing the device on his back, removing it and placing it on the ground as he took a seat next to it. "Son of a…"
William watched the boy before turning his attention back to the armband, touching it again as the metal cooled enough for him to pick it up with a burn. "So… are we just going to skip over the face a human was able to cause a Density Shift?"
"Nope. I can see why your friend there was able to skip over that fact. Because, like you said, he was using that band to cause Density Shift, which happened to be given to him by…" The boy pulled out two pictures this time. One was of the Roidmude, and the other was of a dark skinned man dressed like a cowboy leaning against a window in a dark room.
'So that's his human disguise…'
He brought his attention from the picture to the band. It just occurred to him that with the band, there was no reason for Gunman to be near Todagawa back at the industry, yet he was there after he activated the band. This left just one question in his head.
Why give a band like this to someone so ordinary like Todagawa? In fact… why make a band like that at all?
He was forced out of his thoughts when he then felt a Density Shift wave pass over them, affecting everyone immediately before he, and strangely the boy, began moving at a normal pace again.
The windows were suddenly blown to pieces of gunshots began flying into the room and hitting everything they could. William and the boy looked at each other for a second as they both booked it to get out, leaving Gen and Todagawa on the ground as it looked as though the bullets should miss them.
'Again…? Man… losing consciousness in slow motion is so nasty…' That was Gen's last thought before everything went black for him, Todagawa succumbing to the same fate shortly after.
William and the boy crashed through the door to the room, both then splitting apart as William went towards the shooter as the boy went for the back entrance.
Outside, Gunman was in his human disguise as he was firing into the building without taking the time to aim at all. He could see movement heading towards the door that lead towards him, changing the direction of his gun to fire upon the door.
William slammed into the door with his shoulder, causing it to break off from the handle as he was met with a barrage of bullets. He grabbed the rail in front of him and jumped off the side of the building, landing on the ground and somehow avoiding behind shot at all.
He got up to his feet to see Gunman laughing to himself before red energy covered his form and turned him into his Roidmude form. Once he had transformed, he then aimed his firearm towards William and pulling the trigger, causing another barrage of bullets to fly out of the barrel and towards the young officer.
He got up to his feet quickly and began running away, somehow finding himself to be lucky enough that no-
Wait, no. A bullet just grazed his leg. Nevermind.
Despite that, he still managed to run without difficulty as he made his way towards cover.
"William!" Krim's voice resounded through the area as the Tridoron came around the corner, covering William from the Roidmude as the belt was ejected from his perch into William's hands.
"Krim, you always seem to have great timing." William grabbed Shift Speed and put it into the Shift Brace, turning the ignition on the Drive Driver before lifting the Shift Car. "Henshin!"
"Drive: Type Speed!" "Upbeat jazz music played as the armor latched onto his body, the tire soon after. He then began running towards Gunman, giving two quick and nearly identical whistles as Door-Ju and Handle-Ken flew into his hands.
Gunman fired at Drive, who responded by blocking the attack with Door-Ju. Drive was closing the distance between he and the Roidmude, but Gunman didn't panic as he began firing rapidly at Drive.
The Rider used Door-Ju's holographic shield to protect himself for his approach, finally getting close enough to drop the shield and swing Handle-Ken at the Roidmude.
Gunman stepped back as he raised his leg to kick Drive, the Rider blocking the attacking with his arm as he pushed back against the leg in hopes of taking Gunman down.
Instead, Gunman used the force he was given to spin on his other leg and strike Drive's head with the bottom of his gun.
Drive shook his head to try and get rid of the pain- despite how well the armor absorbed pain. He swung again with his sword, the Roidmude jumping back to dodge as he let his momentum carry him to swing again, this time grazing Gunman's abdomen.
The Roidmude sounded as though he clicked his tongue- or whatever circuitry or whatever item he had in place for it. He held his gun by his hip as he fired while pulling back on the hammer, fanning the hammer as his bullets began firing faster than before.
Drive raised Door-Ju and let its shield come out again to protect him, watching as an onslaught of bullets was what awaited him the moment he drops the shield.
"Come on! Surely Japan's Kamen Rider amounts to more than this!" Gunman taunted Drive as the Rider kept the shield up to protect himself.
"… Japan's?"
"Quinn?"
Drive looked up when he heard someone call his last name, seeing Hisui on the other side of Gunman.
Gunman turned around and saw her, seeing an opportunity he would take. He stopped the attacks on Drive and instead aimed his weapon for Hisui, firing once.
"Crud!"
"Spe-Spe-Speed!" The tire on his torso began spinning rapidly like it always does as he ran around Gunman and towards Hisui. He moved fast, jumping between Hisui and the bullet as it struck his back.
Drive grunted at the feeling of being shot in the back, a feeling he did not want to feel again as he got back up to his feet.
"Hisui? Why are you here?"
"I was called here."
"Really? By who?"
Before she could answer his question, the sound of a drum roll overpowered all other sounds in the area. Drive and Hisui began frantically looking for the source, turning their heads to and fro as their gazes eventually ended upwards.
There, on the top of a building with a small tower on top of it, was the blonde boy yet again with his smile. As if marking their discovery, the drums stopped with a symbol finish as the boy held his hand out towards the sky.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" The boy called out in English, causing Drive to tilt his head slightly as Hisui seemed to gasp.
The boy let go of the tower as he proceeded to jump on the rail beside him, then jumping from it too as he managed to jump to the roof of a different building.
"It's time for superstar action!" He then proceeded to jump off the roof once more, this time landing on his bike a short distance away. He immediately revved the engine, causing flames to shoot out from the exhaust for a second before he began driving forward.
For some reason, a white and red Shift Car with a clown face on the front was right behind him.
"H-Hey!" Drive ran after the boy as Hisui followed him.
"Amazing Circus?" Krim questioned. "He should still be in America."
The boy rode through the streets, leading Drive and Hisui on a chase as he kept turning onto new streets. He sped through the streets that were oddly very open as an abandoned stage was at the end of the latest one.
Amazing Circus sped ahead for a second before the clown face on the front somehow… 'smiled,' if one would call it that, and released numerous items that all attached themselves onto the stage, decorating it with various lights, confetti, and even changing the back to had what looked like a flag that was white with red lines, a yellow circle with the stylish R in black in the center.
The boy then pulled back on his vehicle as he jumped with it, landing perfectly on the stage just as Drive and Hisui turned around the corner.
He smiled once more as confetti exploded into the air, somehow fireworks shooting into a dark sky and exploding with brilliance as nearly blinding lights covered the stage.
The boy brought his hands together with a loud clap as he looked at Drive and Hisui with the most content and confident smile either of them have ever seen.
"Looks like neither of us won this race, Kamen Rider Drive."
"Race? What race?"
Hisui was dumbfounded at what she was looking at as she slowly tilted her head to the side.
"Not only did you find the difference in hands, but you also figured out that he was making Density Shifts with the band! Sadly, it takes you way too long to get into gear."
"… What?"
"Unfortunately for you… it's time for me to start this show."
The boy's grin turned into a smile as he pulled out a large device. The device was shaped like a muffler, a mix of blue and black making the plating around the silver exhaust, a slot carved out in the center for something small as a single white button was on top.
The boy placed the device on his waist, a silver belt shooting out and wrapping around his waist before fastening itself to him.
Five motorcycles, each the size of the Shift Car, drove forward and onto the stage before flying into the air in front of the boy. One yellow, one green, one red, one purple, and one white.
The boy smiled as he grabbed the white motorcycle in front of him, letting the other four fly to the side before lifting part of the belt up to put it in.
"Signal Bike!" His belt announced as his smile seemed to grow ever so slightly.
"Let's… Henshin!" The boy pushed the panel back down into the belt, causing the white circle with the red R to pop out temporarily in response.
"Rider: Mach!" Groovy music played in response to the belt, a blue holographic cylinder appearing around him with two sets of tires that combined on him, encasing his body in armor that was somewhat similar to Drive.
He wore a bodysuit that was white in majority, some black on the suit with a touch of blue on his legs as he had white armor plating on his shins, knees, and his boots. His torso was covered with white armor, a red line going up from his abdomen and past his chest with a second red line on the chest underneath the familiar icon of Drive that was black and surrounded by yellow. Oddly, on the right side of his chest was also a small black tire attached to him, the rim completely white with a thin red line going around it, the word 'Mach' on it too. His left arm had little armor, a brace around his wrist and the back of his black gloved hand with a white shoulder plate protecting his limb. His right arm was similar, but had a larger gauntlet on his forearm that was a mix of white and black.
His helmet was white in majority, a visor attached to the front as it covered a pair of large blue eyes surrounded by black armor underneath as two red lines went up the center of his face and to the top of his head, two antennae coming from his forehead and a dark blue gem embedded in the middle of his forehead as a white scarf was hanging behind, a red line going down the center.
"Damn… it!" Gunman finally caught up to them after running for so long, sounding as though he was also running out of breath. "You… you're…!"
"A Kamen…"
"…Rider?"
"Tracking!" He announced, bringing his hands together before spreading them apart. "Terminating! Both done at Mach speed!" He even seemed to then turn his body, spinning his arm around in front of him. "Kamen Rider… Mach!" He finished his pose as sparklers rained down from above, making the sight incredibly bright.
"… I… I can't stand this anymore. I'll go blind if he keeps this up." Drive raised Door-Ju and fired multiple times, each projectiles finding their paths straight to one of the many sources of sparklers and the lights around the stage, destroying each one and dimming the stage quickly.
"H-Hey!" Mach yelled with annoyance at Drive, moving his arms around to the destroyed stage pieces. "You can't destroy these! I need my grand entrance!"
"Yes, and I need my sight."
"… Fair point." Mach jumped from the stage and landed on the road, now standing in front of Gunman. "Now… time for the theme song!"
…
…
…
"Is… is he serious right now?" Drive turned to look at Hisui as she looked defeated at this point.
"I… wish…" Hisui admitted as they both looked up to see Amazing Circus 'smile' again as a radio came out this time.
Mach reached behind him and pulled out his phone, hooking it up to the radio and selecting a song.
All while everyone else just stared at him in bewilderment.
"He's… he is your brother… right?"
"… Yes…" Her head sank slightly.
"He's… got personality…"
"… Unfortunately…" Her head sank even further.
"… Does he… do this often?"
Hisui gave no verbal response this time as her head sank as far as it could go this time.
"… Krim… can I retire? And move away? Preferably to another country?"
"… Sadly… no."
"And there we go!" Mach finished setting up the radio as he turned to face Gunman. "Now, it's time for-"
"Are you mocking me?!" Gunman shouted as he raised his gun and shot the radio, causing sparks to fly from the exposed wires.
"Ah! Come on! I just did the whole thing!" Mach sounded as though he was whining slightly before sighing, pocketing his phone as the radio fell to pieces. "Fine… I already memorized the lyrics anyways." Mach brought his hands together once more as he popped his knuckles, stretching his shoulders afterwards.
Mach coughed to clear his throat right after as then began… singing.
Mataseta ne Hey, Ladies and Gentlemen junbi wa ii?
Mada mitaiken no Shock kimi ni misete ageru
Mach ran forward, pressing down on the button on his Driver repetitively until a weapon materialized in front of him.
"Zutto Mach!" The Driver announced as Mach grabbed his weapon. His weapon was shaped somewhat like a handgun, being white in majority with a few touches of black here and there, the most prominent of which was at the top in similar fashion to the slots for Shift Cars with Drive's weapons as the most prominent feature of the weapon was the tire on the front.
Mach raised the weapon as he aimed it towards Gunman, but didn't actually fire.
Tatoereba It's an Amazing Circus! totsuzen ni
Machi ni arawareta magic dare mo toriko ni naru
Mach jumped as he landed a kick on Gunman's knee, causing the Roidmude to flinch as Mach took the chance to hit him with the tire on his weapon, causing sparks to fly off Gunman's body. The Roidmude tried to retaliate by striking at Mach's chest, but the white Rider easily avoid the attack while punching Gunman in his chest, proceeding to then grab Gunman by his head and slam him into his knee.
Mach held his weapon towards Gunman, holding his other hand to the side as he seemed to grab an imaginary handle, twisting it like a handle as the sound of a motorcycle engine revving came from it. He then pulled the trigger on his weapon, firing multiple blasts of energy that caused sparks to fly off Gunman's body again.
Mokuteki hataseru nara Eye-for-Eye Justice
Piero wa chotto kowai sa
Sou iu mono seija double face?
Mach picked up a thin black rope that he tossed into the air, the rope somehow sticking to something in the air as Mach began going up with the rope despite no weight or anything pulling him up.
Once he saw Mach in the air, Gunman raised his gun and began shooting at the Rider, somehow missing as Mach was causing the rope to spin with him on it like a circus performer. Gunman kept shooting at Mach, wanting to land at least one shot as every bullet seemed to miss despite how many he was firing.
Tobase tobase
Signal ga ore no spotlight
Tobase tobase
Oitsukasenai mahha no supiido
Warui kedo michi wa yuzurenai
Break wa nai Full throttle
Mach landed on the ground as he raised his weapon in front of him, running forward while placing his hand at the bottom of the weapon and sliding upwards, causing the tire on the weapon to begin spinning with blue energy along the tire.
"Zenrin!" The weapon announced in the same fashion Krim would make announcements for the various attacks/finishers, only with a different voice.
Mach brought his weapon down and then swung upwards, slamming it into Gunman to cause a small but strong enough blast to send the Roidmude into the air for a few seconds.
Kokorogoto Hey, Ladies and Gentlemen zutto mahha
Saishin Next System ima taibou no debut
"Damn you…" Gunman cursed as he brought his gun up and began channeling his energy again, charging his next few bullets as they were all aimed directly at Mach.
Mach feigned innocence by raising his hands in the air before he suddenly broke off into a sprint. Mach then jumped, steam emitting from whatever exhausts he had that somehow managed to keep him in the air.
Gunman began firing wildly at Mach, somehow his bullets not landing no matter where they flew. It was as if some magical force or an irrational one was granting Mach a form of god mode that made all attacks miss him and granted him increased attack.
Joushiki hamidashite mo ore no ryuugi
Hihan wa uketsukenai
Sukoshi naraba ochite mo ii
Mach landed on the tower he was on earlier, holding his left arm in front of him while tapping his wrist as if saying there was a time limit to the fight.
"You…" Gunman seethed with anger now as he began pouring almost all his remaining power into the next shot. "Go to hell…" He shouted before firing, the massive projectile darting across the open space.
Mach calmly jumped down from the tower again, just narrowly missing the projectile as he began releasing a barrage of bullets on Gunman, causing more sparks to fly off his body than before as he landed. Mach then grabbed the wheel on his weapon again and spun it.
Tobase tobase
Omota me na kuuki kakimawase
Tobase tobase
Dore mo izure mo mahha no supiido
Nando demo kudaiteku yabou
Break wa nai Full throttle
"Zenrin!" The weapon announced as Mach slammed his weapon into Gunman's chest, sending the Roidmude flying once more as he struck a brick wall, leaving behind an imprint in the shape of his body. Gunman fell to the ground, looking up at Mach before running to the side and finding cover from the Rider's attacks.
Mach made no attempt to follow the Roidmude as he instead pulled out the green motorcycle from earlier, revealing it had a symbol of a curve on its back tire.
He opened his Driver and removed the white motorcycle, replacing it with the new green one.
"Signal Bike!" The belt announced before he pressed the slot down, causing the symbol of the motorcycle to pop out. "Signal Koukan: Magarl!"
Focus amaku nattara chansu wo nogasu
Burenai kokoro no me de kono sekai wo mitsumeteitai Yeah
Mach stood where he was as he raised his weapon up and fired it near the Roidmude. The projectile flew through the air, and it looked as though it wouldn't hit the Roidmude because of the cover. Until Mach pressed down on the button on his Driver, that is.
"Shooter Magarl!" The Driver announced as the bullet suddenly performed a left turn and struck the Roidmude, causing him to fall backwards.
"Damn it… How is he doing this?!" Gunman questioned as he took cover behind another, this one almost guaranteeing Mach would not possibly hit him.
Tobase tobase
Signal ga ore no spotlight
Tobase tobase
Oitsukasenai kono speed
Tobase tobase
Omota me na kuuki kakimawase
Tobase tobase
Dore mo izure mo mahha no supiido
Warui kedo michi wa yuzurenai
Break wa nai Full throttle
Mach still didn't move as he instead fired again, letting the projectile fly a little bit before he pressed down on the button four times.
"Shooter! Kyuni Magarl!"The projectile suddenly turned around as it found Gunman like before, striking at the Roidmude and forcing him out from his cover as a grunt of pain came from him.
"It looks like you managed to survive the whole song…" Mach placed his hand on his hip while looking to the side, sighing for a second before he reached down and pulled the green motorcycle out. "Well, this just means it's time for the finisher."
Gunman stumbled forward until he was in front of Mach, hardly able to keep his balance.
Mach put the white motorcycle back inside the Driver, pressing it back down.
"Signal Bike! Rider: Mach!" The Driver announced once more as Mach then pulled the slot out again, and pressed the button.
"Hissatsu!" The Driver announced another word, one too familiar with Drive as rainbow colored flames began surrounding Mach. Once it looked as though they reached their maximum growth, Mach pushed the slot back down into the Driver. "Full Throttle! Mach!"
Mach knelt down as he prepared himself. Gunman took what looked like the last chance of survival he had, putting all the remaining power he had into his gun to charge what may be his last bullet.
Mach broke off into a sprint once more, signaling Gunman to take the shot as he fired.
The bullet, despite all odds, somehow missed Mach and instead surrounded the Rider with a smokescreen, one he used to leap out of while finding himself high in the air.
Gunman raised his gun to fire again, hearing the sound of only clicking coming from his gun.
"Crap! Out of ammo!" Gunman looked up to see Mach begin spinning rapidly in a circle, various colors of energy gathering around his body as he slowly came closer by the second.
The energy then gathered around his right foot as he angled himself to kick into Gunman, propelling himself forward with enough to strike at the Roidmude, his foot piercing the body before finding the oddly combustible substance within every Roidmude.
Gunman exploded with a large blast that let Mach jump away from as the core, 017, slowly rose into the air.
Mach landed perfectly with the explosion behind him, posing by crossing his legs, placing his hand on his hip while holding his other hand out.
"So… how was it? Picture perfect, right?"
Drive and Hisui were at a loss of words right now, both for different reasons.
Mach let out a confident grunt as he lifted up on the face plate of his helmet, revealing an entirely black surface below that emitted a large cloud of steam.
Behind the flames, 017's core was slowly dropping to the ground, muttering "I'll remember this…" Before his core came in contact with a gloved hand, suddenly being absorbed.
Behind the flames, Medic was spinning gracefully like a ballerina.
Mach was waiting to hear the explosion of the core, and when he realized no such sound appeared, he turned around to see Medic behind the flames as she slowly developed a smile that sent a shiver down his spine.
"Medic?" Krim exclaimed as Drive raised his weapons.
"I guess she's a Roidmude?"
"Yes… An executor with the power to revive her fallen comrades. To think she's returned…"
"I see you've made another Kamen Rider, Krim." Medic spoke with what sounded like a happy tone, continuing to move her body in the same manner as a ballerina during a performance. "You're quiet resilient despite being a belt…"
Somehow, Krim began shaking furiously at Medic because of what she just said.
"Don't worry. I'll be taking care of Gunman. I wish you a happy day." She proceeded to bow towards them all, her body slowly becoming transparent before disappearing completely.
Drive took in a deep breath of air, proceeding to exhale it slowly as the Tridoron came to him, letting him toss the weapons into its storage as he undid the transformation…
Revealing an abnormally calm looking William with his eyes closed.
"… Krim. For everything that it's worth, I trust you. I trust you a lot. I have a lot of faith in you. And I somehow know you're involved with the creation of… Mach." William then proceeded to tilt his face downwards, looking down at the former scientist with a look that made his circuits freeze.
"Dear lord, he inherited that trait from her?"
"I'd like an explanation about everything I just saw. His belt, the Shift Car sized motorcycles, what he just did, how he managed to destroy Gunman without taking a scratch unlike me, and I suppose I can add whatever information about Medic you can give me. And don't worry…" He slowly tilted his head to the side while not breaking his gaze away from the belt, letting his onyx eyes peek out just a little as it felt like his cooling unit suddenly covered everything inside him with ice. "I have all day. And maybe even mom would like to hear."
Krim was now shaking in fear when he learned of his fate that would soon come. There was little he could do to escape, and most involved William.
"Doesn't matter if she can fix them indefinitely… I'll keep breaking them to pieces." Mach said as he lifted the slot up one more time, pulling the motorcycle out and pressing the cloth back down.
"Otsukare!" The Driver announced as his armor disappeared in a similar fashion to Drive's. He smiled once more as he turned to see William getting into the Tridoron with a shaking Krim, and to see his sister walking towards him with her head low to let her own blonde hair obscure her face.
"Hey, sis! Did you like my Japanese debut?" He asked, waiting to get a reply from his sister as he instead heard the sound of knuckles popping.
"H-A-R-U…" Hisui slowly spoke his name in a very cold and threatening tone, emphasizing each letter as she pulled her head up for him to see a look similar to the one William just had.
"H-Hey, sis… come on! Y-You aren't going to hurt your dear little brother… are you?" Haru asked, hoping that the same fate Krim was about to meat would not be one he would share.
"Now, now, Haru… I do wonder how our dear mother will respond to learning the reason you were in America was not for the education you told her about, but instead about you becoming a Kamen Rider."
So many chills went down his spine at that very moment, he was almost convinced his back was right against the south pole.
Inside and abandoned studio, the lights suddenly turned on to reveal Medic on the stage, holding a Bat Viral Core in one hand. She let the Viral Core fly out of her hand and towards 017's core, combining with the bodiless Roidmude as blue energy turned red before revealing Gunman in his human disguise.
Once he was revived, Gunman reached for his hat and tipped it slightly towards Medic. "Much obliged, Medic."
"You're welcome." Medic replied, proceeding to bow towards her fellow Roidmude
"You were able to revive one of our beloved friends." Heart spoke from behind her, the lights in the studio turned on to reveal Heart seated on the couch, Brain in a chair reviewing information, and Chase leaning against a wall. "You truly are a healing goddess." Heart smiled at his comrade and fellow Roidmude executor before turning towards Gunman. "Gunman, I will help you with your plan."
Gunman looked up at his commander as Medic frowned slightly at Heart's words, placing her hand on his chest as blue waves of energy began passing through his body.
"Heart, you are still recovering. You need your rest." Medic scolded Heart as she looked up at the other two Roidmudes on stage with them. "Brain and Chase can assist Gunman."
"…So… Heart's the only one she gives that kind of respect…" Chase noted as Brain glanced at the Reaper for no more than a second.
"It's fine. Her loyalty to Heart is something that is rather… admirable." Brain admitted as he reached into his back pocket to pull out a handkerchief, proceeding to wipe the side of his face.
"I guess introductions are in order…" Gunman said as he then looked off to the side, lifting his arm up and motioning for their gaze to move in that direction. "This… is my little brother."
The lights on the ceiling somehow moved from the stage to the corner, revealing a somewhat plump man in a black suit with a familiar looking hat on their head. "Hello everybody! I'm his little brother!" The man spoke with excitement behind his words, something that caused Brain and Chase to raise their eyebrows. "It's nice to meet you!" He walked forward while clapping, excitement almost radiating off him before he stopped. "Oh, can I also borrow some money?"
I apologize for taking so long to post this chapter, even missing Christmas and New Years. I'm also kind of afraid if this chapter is a little dull in comparison with my past few because of my 4 months of inactivity.
But yes, we finally have Mach, Chris makes a brief appearance, and Medic is... well, she's Medic.
I also kind of hate myself for relying so heavily on the episode this time around, but my creativity has been a little... iffy, for lack of better words.
But, I'm glad you took the time to read the chapter to its full. Unless you skipped straight to the bottom. Cheater.
All I can do now is bid you all farewell, and let us meet next time.