Calm down!
Yuuya's voice played at the back of my head.
CALM DOWN!
My own voice screamed out, but every time I tried to, there just seems to be one thought that will shoot that plea down.
CALM DOWN!
My sister might be dead!
Calm down!
Mamika is dead!
Calm down!
Meteora killed her!
My feet acted on their own as I flew to Meteora. Alicetaria was right next to me as we threw our attacks at her, only for a blue barrier to block it.
"HANGAKU!" As Yuuya shouted that, the ghost appeared right out of the barrier and slashed at me. Sparks flew from my armor as I fell down, though I quickly got up
"Souta, get out of here! Contact Kikuchihara!" Meteora instructed Souta. Souta just looked to me as I stared back at him.
What did you do to Setsuna?!
I tried very hard to ask that question, though all I could mutter was a growl. As I approached Souta, Hangaku went in my way.
"Souta! Go!" Yuuya shouted. I merely glared at the ghost as Yuuya leaped over me and tried to hit Alicetaria. I blocked Kuronagimaru with my own sword, which lit up into flames. Alicetaria backed away a bit.
"Why are you helping me!? We're supposed to be enemies!" Alicetaria shouted. I breathed in enough to speak.
"Did you kill your Creator?" As I said that, Alicetaria snarled.
"Of course not! I still need him to save my world!" I smiled…
"Good… I'm glad you didn't kill him… Alicetaria, you saved my life so it should be no surprise," I pushed Yuuya away from me as I turned to her, "that I'm willing to return the favor."
CINDER ROAD
I handled Hangaku while Alicetaria took on Yuuya. It was much easier when Yuuya wasn't using Hangaku to double team people, especially considering how Hangaku only defaults to striking someone when Yuuya's too distracted to give her instructions. I threw a punch at Hangaku who just swung her yari at me. Her movement was so predictable. I blocked the strike with my sword and landed a punch on her gut. The flames did nothing to damage her body, though that was predictable considering her being a ghost.
"SWITCH!" I said to Alicetaria as we turned around. Yuuya was about to hit Alicetaria when we did so. I responded with a slash that ripped through his clothes.
"GAAH!" Yuuya shouted as he skidded back a few inches. "Hoshi! Stop this!" Yuuya swung Kuronagimaru as it created currents. I slashed as it created a wave of fire. The two clashed right in the middle.
"What's wrong? I thought you wanted a fight from me!" My comment flew out of my mouth without me ever thinking about it. Just as Yuuya tried to speak, someone whistled. Alicetaria, Yuuya, and I looked to Magane.
"You guys want my help?" Magane asked.
"Yeah. You can start by explaining-"
No! Shut up! This is Magane you're talking to!
"I don't need any of your help… Or yours!" She glared to me as she said that.
"Aaaaw, why not? You and the literally hot guy have unsettled business with the geek, right? Let me handle the bad boy and you two can focus on your true enemy!" Magane smirked.
Meteora isn't my enemy though!
I gripped my fists as I saw Magane still having her gloved hands on Honoka's phone.
It's Magane that's the true threat! She's manipulating everything…
As I thought that, another thought came into my head.
"You killed Mamika, didn't you!?" I shouted out. Alicetaria just turned around.
"She had nothing to do with her death. In fact, she's the one who listened to her dying words." She said.
What!? You're trusting this liar!? N-no wait, don't say that!
My mind began to tangle itself as I looked to Magane, preventing me from doing the brash decision of calling her lies out. Magane just gave me a smirk, complete with her sharp shark-like teeth. She knows I'm trapped. I stood still as Magane charged to fight Yuuya while Alicetaria hurdled towards Meteora, leaving me to be stuck in the middle, the fire inside my body burning hotter.
There's nothing I can do… I can't do anything right…
I need to seek revenge for Mamika!
But you're jumping to conclusions!
There's nothing else I can do!
Please! You need to calm down!
I need to help Alicetaria! I owe my life to her!
I turned to see Meteora hovering in the air as she summoned six missile launchers. Each of them fired towards Alicetaria. Without thinking, I ran towards her, stepped in front, and took all six missiles to the chest. The missiles exploded as I was caught in the inferno. However, the belt's fan hummed and sucked up all the flames like a vacuum.
"Hey! You could have gotten yourself killed!" Alicetaria shouted to me. I looked back at her.
"Like I said, you saved my life, I'm repaying the favor." I then glared to Meteora. "Now… You'll pay for what you did to Mamika and Nobuyuki!" As I said that, Meteora just frowned as I exploded into Yellowstone Endeavor. I leaped up in the air as Alicetaria held up her gauntlet.
"Gotz von Berlichingen! Answer my call and reveal the knights of dawn!" As she said that, portals surrounding Meteora and me opened as knights came out of them. Each of them looked identical, even with the same winged horses. They pointed their lances at Meteora and fired purple lasers out of the tips. As Meteora dodged them, I swam through the lasers and used the heat to rise myself up to her level.
"FACE JUSTICE, YOU FIEND! RIDER KICK!" I shouted. My back exploded out with liquid fire as I propelled into a side kick and hit her. She blocked it with her barrier, though I decided to borrow a page from a fellow vengeful rider. The Rider I thought I based Dante off of. "V3 KIRIMORI KAITEN KICK!" I used the barrier as a springboard, did a backflip, and kicked again. The kick created an explosion that broke the barrier and knocked Meteora right into a steel box, creating a dent. Meteora looked roughed up, but not burned. I landed next to Alicetaria. She just glanced at me before shrugging me off.
"Let me be the one to execute her… Mamika was my dear friend…" Alicetaria stepped towards Meteora.
"STOP!" I turned to see Souta. He took a moment to breathe. "Sorry, Meteora but I… I'm done running away." He stepped forward. "Alicetaria… I know who you are."
"Of course, you do." Alicetaria turned to face him. "My world and the suffering of my people are nothing more than entertainment for you. Tell me, was it fun to watch them be ripped limb from limb?" Alicetaria gave a wistful smile as she said that.
"NO! IT WASN'T!" Souta shouted, something that caught me and Alicetaria by surprise. "Watching the village of Magratz burn… It made me sad. I was hoping you'd be there in time!" As he continued, Alicetaria just scoffed.
"Your hot-headed friend already tried tell me that. The problem is that you two are outsiders. To you, our problems were just a story." As she said that, Souta stepped forward.
"No! Everything I saw… it wasn't 'just a story'! It didn't matter whether the story was real or not! Many people have read your fights and support you because you-" He walked towards Meteora, trying to defend her with his body.
"Bring inspiration? Hope? The only thing I managed to achieve seemed to be stopping this Devil from taking his own life!" As she glared at me upon calling me that, Souta stopped.
"… Hoshi… w-what's she talking about?" As Souta said that, my body felt… cold. "Y-you're trembling…" I looked at my left arm. The lava on the arm started to cool down into rock again. "Hoshi… were you…"
"… Yes." I turned to face Souta as I unclipped my helmet. I let it drop to the ground as I looked to him. We both saw tears in each other's eyes.
"Really?" Alicetaria looked to me, not with anger, but apathy. "Tears?" Souta stood firm and spoke sternly.
"They're not for him." It took Alicetaria a moment to realize what he implied. It took me longer.
"What does this Devil have to mourn?" Alicetaria gripped her fists.
"It's Setsuna, isn't it?" Souta said.
Snap.
Suddenly, I no longer heard the buzzing sound and the yells of calming down hit my eardrums. I soon remembered a man who stood by a river. A flame softly burned behind him. He held a grip key, just like I had. And yet, he was calm. I had no idea who he was, or if I even knew him on a personal level. All I knew was that he was calm… and so was I. I sighed and let out some tears.
"Yes… I… I failed to save her. I failed to prevent her death." I said. Alicetaria just looked at me. "It's… It's been a dream of mine to be a hero, and yet, when I had the chance to do so… I couldn't. So I created this," I pointed to my belt, "nothing more than a scarecrow, all for the purpose of venting my anger." As I said that, Alicetaria placed her hand on my shoulder.
"You're right in saying you based Hotaro off me… I'm just a scarecrow myself. Even so…" She gently pushed me out of the way. "I'm still a knight so… stand aside, boy." She said to Souta.
"No," Souta just gripped his fists.
"I don't want to involve you or the Devil into this fight. Leave." Alicetaria said.
"I will not! The Alicetaria I know… The Hotaro I know," my head turned to him as he said that, "they would do what I'm doing right now!" I saw Meteora stand.
"Souta… please…" I saw her weakly step in front of Souta. "I… must talk to these two until we reach an understanding." Her calm voice despite me trying to hurt or even kill her caused me to jerk my arm.
"You want me to reach an understanding? Then tell me… What happened to your Creator?" As I said that, the belt's fan roared a bit. Souta tried to get to me, but Meteora just stopped him with her hand.
"With what you've seen the past few days, I can't blame you for thinking I killed him. Truth be told… he died before I even came here."
"… Souta… I'm not sure if you're my friend or not, but… you know Meteora more than I do… So please, tell me: is this true?" I asked.
"Y-yes…" I glance to Souta.
"And what about Setsuna?" We both knew what I'd ask.
"Hoshi… I… I did something horrible to Setsuna," Before I could react, he continued under his breath, "but I didn't start the plagiarism accusations! I… I was on the same boat as you… but I couldn't do anything but watch-" That's when I held up my hand as I saw it shift from Yellowstone Form back to Fuji Form.
"That's enough. I understand. Thanks… I'm… sorry I assumed the worst out of you two." Despite me saying that, Souta just frowned.
"So, if you're being honest, Meteora, then admit your sin!" Alicetaria shouted.
"… I would never hurt Mamika. That is the truth." Meteora said without any tone in her voice. I wasn't sure if she was telling the truth… And yet Alicetaria beat me to the punch when calling her out.
"LIAR! You think you can get away with your sophistry? Mamika tried to reconcile with you, and when that fell through, you murdered her! Admit it!" My heart began to pound as I looked to Meteora. My hands began to light on fire.
"No! It's one of Magane's lies! Hoshi, we both know who truly killed her!" As Souta said that, the gears in my head finally began to whir.
"SILENCE!" Alicetaria screamed. She then spoke again. "Silence…" I could see her shed tears. "I don't know what's the truth anymore… however… if I may still be granted a knight's honor… then I must avenge Mamika! That's the only purpose I have now!" As Alicetaria ran to Meteora, the gears clicked and, by sheer instinct alone, I grabbed my helmet and went in front of Meteora. The lance hit my side as sparks flew, though I stood firm and just glared at Alicetaria.
"Alicetaria… If you truly wish to fight someone… then face me." I then put my helmet on as it changed into Fuji Form. Alicetaria could only look at me with shock.
"Why?" She asked me.
"Because I'm a weapon. A ticking time bomb. If you have to kill anyone tonight… kill me before I explode and take everyone with me." I said.
"Hoshi!" Souta tried to get to me, but I shook my head.
"I modeled Hotaro after you because… I wanted to be like you." Alicetaria gave another wistful smile.
"No, you should be better than me." As she said that, I shed tears inside my helmet.
"No… I'm not better. I let my anger get the better of me and because of that, I hurt Meteora and assumed the worst out of my friend. So please, if you're going to lash out, lash out at me, Alice…" As I said that, she gritted her teeth.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" As she tried to punch me, I saw a red light burst from between us. I was knocked away as I saw Celesia stand up from the red column of light. She turned to me and smiled.
"Hoshi… thank you, but you've done enough. I'll take it from here." As she said that, she faced Alicetaria and attacked her with her sword. As I saw the two clash weapons, Souta ran to me and tried to grab me.
"Come on, let's- aaah!" He flicked his hand away as he touched my armor. Meteora ran to me as well, then looked at my belt.
"His armor… his belt… they're overheating." She muttered. I heard a buzz as Souta took out his phone. I could hear the caller, albeit the voice was distant.
"I sent Celesia and Kanoya. We're on our way too. Are you okay? How's Fujioka?" I could recognize Kikuchihara's voice on the other end.
"Y-yes, I managed to calm down Hoshi but..." Souta looked to me. That's when we heard a painful sound.
The sound of steel piercing through flesh. We looked over to see Alicetaria impale Celesia with her spear. Souta took a moment before he looked at me. He could see my Exhaust Flares begin to sputter out flames.
"Destruction can be so beautiful… For creation cannot begin without it… Holopsicon, Third Movement of the Cosmos: Representation Exposition." I looked up to see Altair. She smirked as she looked at us. "Allow this to be my parting gift to you traitors. You two get to see front row seats to ultimate destruction… the death of your idol," she eyed Souta, "and the downfall of your idol…" She looked at me as she said that. Suddenly, armored cars drove by and stopped before dozens of armed men came out and pointed their guns at Altair. She chuckled as she used one of her swords to scrape against a machine gun she was carrying. It created a blue wave that washed over the soldiers and caused their guns to turn into rose petals. "Do you see the futility in facing me?" The soldiers backed away, some even retreating from the battle. Alicetaria pulled her lance out of Celesia. With a gasp, Celesia jumped back towards us. As she did, I saw her Creator and Nakanogane run to her.
"Celesia!" Matsubara cried out. I couldn't stop but look at Alicetaria.
"Are you going to let Celesia die too?" Altair said. I groaned as the belt's fan squealed.
"Hoshi! Stop! She's just aggravating you!" Souta said to me.
"Knight, behead her and let the revolution begin… However, you may wish to stop her, Hoshi," Altair looked to me, "just tap into the inferno that is your wrath and destroy the hero who fell from grace." I looked to Alicetaria. Blood stained her cheek, though I saw her motionless, in shock. Were I already in that inferno, I would have assumed she wounded Celesia, but I was calmed down enough to see the little clues… It was obvious she didn't hurt Celesia on purpose. I shook my head. "… Blitz."
"Guess I have to do the dirty work." I saw Blitz hover down, gun in his hands, and fire at Celesia.
"NO!" I shouted tried to punch the bullet… only to see someone step in front of Celesia and kick me down. He deflected the bullet with Kuronagimaru.
"Hey, kid…" Yuuya chuckled as I saw him tattered. "Just chill and let me handle this…" He then glared at Blitz. "Old man! You're pathetic enough to shoot an injured woman?"
"I prefer the term pragmatic. That said, you look as though you could barely stand." As Blitz said that, Yuuya scoffed.
"I've been through worse…" With that, Yuuya leaped up and attacked Blitz. As the two engaged in melee, I looked around.
"What is it?" Souta asked me.
"Magane, where is she?!" I said.
"Hoshi, you have to calm down! We-"
"My sister's life is at stake!" I shouted and shoved Souta away. As I ran off, I could see Gigas Machina descend from the heavens.
"Perhaps it's time to test the pillar's strength. Holopsicon, Twentieth Movement of the Cosmos," she played the gun like a violin again as she created a portal. A second Gigas Machina emerged from it. "Factor Mimic." The duplicate mecha began to fire a purple beam at Gigas Machina as it flew aside and fired back. I stood still as Meteora approached me.
"Altair's planning on the collapse of the world… Fujioka, run as far as you can! You can't let yourself be a pawn to her scheme!" Meteora said. I saw Celesia force out some words… I soon couldn't help but see Mamika in that same pool of blood, followed by Honoka, and finally Setsuna.
"Meteora… Please… I can't let anyone else die!" I said.
"If you keep up like this, you'll die!" Souta shouted as he caught up to me and Meteora. I backed away as I noticed the steel on my arms began to turn red hot. Meteora nodded and continued from him.
"Your belt wasn't meant to be powered by so much emotion, be it anger or passion. Hoshi, what you said couldn't be closer to the truth. The belt has a limit and you will explode if it hits that limit." As she said that, I began to realize something…
I drew Yellowstone Form without any Exhaust Flares. At first, I thought the flares on Fuji Form would be a cool aesthetic choice, but as I thought about it, it was effectively the fans of a computer preventing it from overheating. Overheating…
I remembered a time when Akagi showed me one of the Super Sentai shows. In it, the blue ranger had a flaw where he would overheat and once he does so, became violent and easily angered, much like how I was after I created Yellowstone. Afterwards, I seemed to snap at anything and everything, being more and more irritable as I continued to use the belt.
"It's like putting an egg into a microwave… Once the egg absorbs enough heat, it… explodes." Souta said. Meteora looked over to Matsubara, as did I, as we saw him take out a laptop. Meteora ran over, as did Souta. I just stood there and began to think.
What the hell am I supposed to do!?
Coward…
I'm going to explode if I continue fighting!
Selfish coward…
I'm going to hurt my friends if I continue like this!
What's the point of power if you can't use it for justice?
This isn't justice! This is vengeance! That isn't what a Kamen Rider is!
Fine. Don't fight.
Just sit there and let Celesia die.
Just like how you let Setsuna die.
Just like how you'll let Honoka die.
Don't think that! Don't jump to that conclusion!
You couldn't even save Mamika.
… I was enraged the last time she saw me… She saw me as a monster…
I shook again. That's when something took my attention. A flash of red light. I turned around and saw Celesia floating, now healed and having both new clothes and a new sword. Did… did she get put under revision too? With a swing of her sword, she ended up causing a large wave of fire that reached fifteen feet high up and scorched a huge path towards Alicetaria, causing her armor to scorch up as well… That's when the flames began to seep into my belt.
"NO! No! No! No!" I shouted as Souta looked at me. There was too much fire for the belt to absorb. When I wrote Dante, I intended for the flames to be miniscule in comparison to the inferno I saw. Too much heat for one body to handle. That's when my thoughts spun into hyperdrive.
You know who killed Mamika…
I looked at Altair, who seemed to have transformed into a translucent blue hologram.
Dante is a tool to avenge the ones you loved…
I could only help but look at her as she spouted some bullshit about how she's departing, with Alicetaria and Blitz beginning to follow her.
You know what to do…
"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!" I exploded, though as I saw from my body, it didn't seem like I was in either Fuji Endeavor or Yellowstone. Rather a fusion of the two. Blackened armor, cracks of red flames on my chest, the Exhaust Flares now looking like sharp fins on my forearms, and I could see the world through a blood red tint. I leaped into the air. "RIDER PUNCH!" As I tried to land a punch, Altair just smirked and flicked her wrist. The duplicate Gigas Machina, which was also translucent blue, got in the way of my punch and exploded into a burst of liquid fire. As the liquid fire rained down onto the pavement, I glared at Altair. She just pointed to behind me as I turned to see Celesia slump to the ground, still bleeding out.
"Hoshi, the potential for your destruction is high… Until we meet again, continue to fuel the flames of vengeance." She then disappeared.
"COME BACK HERE! I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!" I just shouted… That's when I saw Magane just standing on top of a building.
"Hoshi!" I saw Souta call out for me… I breathed in as the fires died down a bit. Not much, but just enough for me to rationalize a solution.
I landed onto the ground and forced my armor to turn into ash. I noticed the Volcano Belt's fan was spinning a dozen revolutions a second, all while fire began to spark out of the belt. I couldn't contain the heat. I needed to explode… But… I need to confirm my fear. I took out my phone and saw a text from Akagi:
"Hey, Hoshi, Honoka lost her phone, so call me if you want to talk to her." I smiled. That was all the evidence I needed. I dialed Akagi's number. Instantly, I heard his voice on the other end.
"Hoshi, what's up?" Akagi asked.
"Hey… Is Honoka with you?"
"Y-yeah, let me pass it to her. Honoka! Hoshi wants to talk!" I waited… And waited… and waited…
"Hey, Hoshi." As soon as I heard Honoka's voice, I smiled.
"Hey, Honoka…" I said.
"What's up?" Honoka asked.
"I found your phone… or rather… I know who has it… I can try and get it back for you." I said.
"Hoshi! Your body!" Souta shouted to me.
"Hoshi, are you okay?" As she said that, I noticed my sweat had begun to heat up. I saw my shoulder slowly begin to light on fire, as did one of my arms and my legs.
"I'm… fine…" I stumbled back and fell down. My phone hit the ground as it created a thud sound.
"Hoshi! What's going on!?" She said to me.
"I'm… glad you're… okay…" As I said that, my eyelids dropped and covered my vision. Every other sense in my body began to fade away, replaced with only the feeling of fire all over. The last thing I heard was Souta and Honoka both crying out my name.