Disclaimer: I own nothing about Super Heroine Chronicle, any of the represented series or Kamen Rider. Oda Nagata belongs to Kamen Rider Chrome.

Thirteenth Show – Recovery Stage

The aroma of fresh tea was the first thing Nagata's nose picked up as he regained awareness. He could feel himself lying on a bed and for a moment, thought he was back in Shoku after experiencing a weird dream of being involved in a situation that would be right at home with a game entry in one of those massive crossover RPGs. But when his eyes saw the unfamiliar ceiling of the room, he realized that he was certainly not in Ancient China. It looked like he was in a guest bedroom for two people with himself occupying one bed and another young Japanese man he didn't recognize occupying the other.

"Nagata-sama? Are you awake?"

His eyes darted to the left and saw Kan'u come into the room carrying a tray which had two warm tea cups. She wasn't in her usual outfit and instead wore a green cheongsam. "Yeah, I'm up. How long was I out? And what's with the outfit?"

"You were unconscious for about three hours. The property owner was kind enough to provide me with this while my normal outfit got washed." She placed one cup down at the small table near his bed.

"I see. And your injuries?"

"Mostly healed thanks to Claude-san. As long as I take it easy, I can be up on my feet and make myself useful around here. He also helped heal you and the others."

Well, at least he knew who fixed him up but the name Claude didn't ring a bell. "Who's Claude? And how did this guy get healing powers?"

"He's the boy with the white hair. He calls himself Kamen Rider Sorcerer," answered Kan'u. "Yuri, the girl with the golden hair, was able to create a stone of magic and the man named Nara Shunpei crafted a ring from it for Claude-san. I think they called it a Recovery Ring."

'Nara Shunpei?! Then we really are in that Antique Shop…!' While Nagata's mind was occupied, the young Chinese lady moved over to the other bed and delivered the second cup of tea.

"Here you go, Sasaki-san. I hope your injuries have healed up."

"That bed rest did me quite a lot of good. Claude really helped out as well." The other young man reached for his glasses on the nightstand and placed them on. "Thanks for the tea. Can you do me a small favour and tell Nara-san to run a test on Claude to check his corrosion rate? He'll know what I mean."

"Very well." With that, she left the room to seek out Nara Shunpei while Nagata's mind returned to reality.

"Wow… I really am here."

"The novelty will wear off in a bit," replied the other young Japanese man as he sipped his tea. "I mean, as neat as it is looking at the sky to see multiple Earths hovering in the distance, it just reminds you that you're far away from home."

"That's true, Mister…?"

"Sasaki Motoharu, 21 years old. In my own world, I was a new employee of Toei Company working in the finance department. Now, I'm an employee at this dimensionally displaced store until I can go back to my world."

Nagata raised an eyebrow upon hearing the introduction. "You work here now? How did you wind up injured? I can't imagine this being a hazardous work environment."

"It started when I had to fend off a few girls with that Darkness Arms form. It took me a while to convince them that I'm not a super villain although I can't fully blame them for coming to that conclusion since Darkness Arms really gives off that Evil vibe when you look at it."

'Darkness Arms? Never heard of that.'

Motoharu continued his story. "To make up for it, Aria-san decided to cook me a nikujaga but…"

"Aria-san, I'll be perfectly honest. I've eaten plenty of nikujaga throughout my life but what you just put in front of me does not look like a nikujaga." He took a quick whiff. "Doesn't smell like one either."

"Why are you getting so worked up about how it looks or smells? It's all about the taste!" Aria, clad in an apron over her Butei High uniform, grabbed a serving spoon and scooped a helping. "Give it a try!"

"Well, I do appreciate the effort but-" In an instant, Aria shoved the spoon in his mouth while he had been talking.

"How is it?"

His only response was to fall off his chair at the dining table and clutch his stomach in pain. "It burns! MEDIC!"

"Oh, man! That sucks for you!" Nagata tried to contain his laughter out of courtesy.

"To make it worse, Hibiki tried to help…"

"Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron…"

Motoharu managed to spot the young girl transform into her Symphogear armour, even while clutching his stomach on the kitchen floor. "W-what are you doing?!"

Hibiki got into position, lifting the young man up with her arms and making sure she stayed behind him before placing her arms around his abdomen. "Leave it to me, Sasaki-kun! I'll help you with this!"

"Tachibana-san, hold on a sec!"

Motoharu's protests came too late as the young girl behind him began applying pressure. "Tachibana Hibiki's special technique! Heimlich maneuver, Symphogear version!"

"Tachibana-san, that maneuver's supposed to be used for choking, not-!"

*CRACK*

"AAAARRRGGGHHH! My ribs!"

In a flash, Hibiki released the young man and began bowing repeatedly in apology. "Uwaaaah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Nice going. You broke him," flatly remarked Aria from the side while properly disposing what's left of her food in the garbage.

The young Symphogear user timidly tapped her index fingers together. "I think I'm cursed…"

"IF YOU CALL YOURSELF CURSED, DOES THAT MAKE ME THE COSMIC CHEW TOY?!" Despite his injuries, Motoharu still had the strength to pull off a response worthy of a tsukkomi.

This time, Nagata howled in laughter. "Good grief! I can't imagine how much worse it can get!"

Motoharu managed to grin a little. "Well, the icing on the cake came from Meru's attempt to sing me a lullaby to sleep. You can guess how well that ended."

"Oh, dear… she can't carry a tune?"

"Let me put it this way: if my eardrums were sentient beings, they would have committed suicide upon experiencing her singing. I'm just glad that Mato-chan put a stop to them and knocked it into their heads that I need some time alone to rest and recover once Claude healed me."

Nagata reached for his tea and took a sip. "So you're a Rider as well?"

"I guess you can say that. I have a working Sengoku Driver and a few different components to use with it but I haven't figured out which one to stick with." The Toei employee took a sip of his own tea. "Anyways, that's pretty much my story. What about you?"

"Ah, right. I'm Oda Nagata-"

"Oda? Any relation to Nobunaga?"

Nagata chuckled. "I get asked that a lot. I never really cared too much about it to dig into my family history to see if I'm a descendent or not."

"I see." Another slurping noise came from Motoharu as he took another sip. "Sorry for interrupting."

"Anyways, in the world I was born in, I'm just a normal teenager. Normal school, normal life and a strong love of Kamen Rider along with a fascination about Chinese history, especially Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In the world I call home, I'm Kamen Rider Gaim and currently the leader of the Shoku Province."

There was a bit silence before Motoharu tried to clarify things. "How is it that you are the head of the Shoku Kingdom? I admit that Chinese history isn't exactly a strong subject of mine but I'm pretty sure that the Shoku Kingdom is led by Ryuubi."

"Technically, it's just a province right now in my time," replied Nagata. "The Kingdom is still more or less in its infancy but when it does rise to power, Ryuubi will be the one to lead it. She just needs time to learn how to run a Kingdom so right now, I'm pinch hitting until that day comes."

"Ryuubi's… a female?" That was rather mind boggling and Nagata could sympathize with how Motoharu felt right now.

"I know it's crazy but a lot of the people that I met in Ancient China are rather different from their portrayal in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. For starters, all of the characters I know are female instead of male and I really can't remember any one character actually matching the gender as written in that story. Another is how Ryofu is portrayed as a legendary traitor but she's far from that."

"Seriously, you're not kidding on this stuff?"

The Japanese teenager shook his head. "I swear to whatever God is out there that everything I'm saying is true."

"Uh huh…"

Seeing that Motoharu was quiet for now, Nagata continued his story. "During my time in Ancient China, I met a lot of other guys from my world that became Riders as well and aligned themselves with other Kingdoms. I've also had my hands full dealing with the RinJyuKen Akugata, the New Generation Riders who use the Genesis Driver and all the other events in the time period. There's still a lot to do back home and it's essential that me and Kan'u return."

"Kan'u?"

"My loyal vassal. She's the one who served us tea a bit earlier," replied the young teenager.

Motoharu nodded. "Oh, her… to be honest, she really looks familiar for some reason. I can't place my finger on it."

"The Kan'u Unchou in your world is portrayed as female?"

"No, it's not that."

"Okay then…" While the Toei Employee kept thinking about it, Nagata brought his cup to his lips again to finish the last bit of tea. But just as he began to swallow it, Motoharu snapped his fingers as he finally recovered that memory.

"Now I remember! That girl is on the cover of that hentai game!"

And that statement was more than enough to send Armoured War God Gaim into a colossal coughing fit.

"I see. So Tsubasa-san used the Swan Song," muttered Hibiki quietly as Noel finally finished her story.

"It was such a frightful power. But if Tsubasa-san didn't use it, we likely would have been killed by the enemy," replied Noel who had recovered from her injuries thanks to Claude.

"Tsubasa-san must have thought that she had no choice but to use it if your enemy was that powerful."

"Using the Swan Song is tiring right?"

"I would need to know how Tsubasa-san was at that time," replied Hibiki in response to Noel's question. "Worst case scenario, she would have died from using it. But Tsubasa-san should be okay… that's what I think."

"Tsubasa-san was poisoned by another enemy earlier. She didn't look so good the last time I saw her."

"But, Dearche and the others would have taken care of her once they found her body," piped in Yuri, taking a break from transmuting magic stones for Nara to work with and joining the conversation in the den. "If she held on long enough, they could have brought her back to the house and treated her."

"She'll pull through. She won't go down that easily."

"Hibiki-chan's also strong. To have that much faith in your friend, desu," said Meru with a smile.

"No, I still have much to learn. Aria-san has been teaching me a lot."

And speaking of Aria, the small Butei High student approached the group. "Hibiki, do you know these people?"

"Meru-chan's group knows them. They're not enemies, so you don't have to be on guard with them, Aria-san."

Aria frowned and crossed her arms. "Even if they're not enemies, they are a strange bunch of wankers. They stick out like a sore thumb."

"The same thing could be said about us…" It was the first thing that Black Rock Shooter said during that entire discussion. She had been tinkering around with her Rock Cannon in the corner and keeping to herself for the most part. "In any case, we should spend some time exchanging information with each other."

The chamber was dimly lit with the humming of machines being the only source of noise in the room. In the centre, a robotic humanoid body nearly seven feet tall lay on top of the large examination table, being examined by its creator, who resembled a centaur's skeleton but with some armour attached to his upper torso. As he picked up some tweezers to install another chip, the door to his laboratory opened, revealing an annoyed White Rock Shooter.

"Skull Knight, how did the tracking system lose sight of Mato?"

"Please don't interrupt me like this! This is rather delicate work!" Seeing that she would continue to pester him until she got an answer, he at least placed his tweezers down on the workbench beside him. "I'm not familiar enough with the system's design to tell if it was at fault. It's possible that your friend simply went to a world not on the radar."

"Che…!" White Rock Shooter was about to leave until she heard the skeletal centaur call for her.

"Well, since you're here, I don't suppose you can offer any input on what else I should add to my comrade's new body?"

"Robotics never caught my interest. That would be something up XNFE's alley," remarked the white clad woman before leaving, passing by a one-eyed dragon whose body is covered in crystal and had a second human-like face on his abdomen.

As soon as she was out of hearing range, the dragon turned to Skull Knight. "Sheesh, she's a pain. How do you put up with her?"

Skull Knight merely placed the chip in the body before closing the chest cabinet. "As long as she's useful to the master, then I'll do what needs to be done. Anyways, I think I did all I can with this body so you can proceed with your Soul Transfer spell, Crystal Dragon."

"Roger that." There was a slow pause until the creature summoned the Soul that they wished to revive and placed it in the body of the robot. A moment after the speck of light disappeared into the artificial body, it slowly stirred and came to life.

"W-where…?"

"Welcome back, Debudedabide." If the skeletal centaur could have smiled, he would have. "It is good to have your presence in our ranks again."

"Skull Knight? Crystal Dragon? You're both alive!" The robot's voice was full of deep emotion. "I thought we had lost everything at their hands!"

"Our Lord, the great Dark Brain, will never perish. And as long as we are a part of him, we will always return, no matter how many times the Kamen Rider, Gundam and Ultraman Alliance defeat us," reassured the dragon creature.

"What news do you have of our Lord?" asked Debudedabide.

"Fragmented," replied Skull Knight in a glum tone. "The last image I have of our Lord is him fighting a great battle against a unified army comprising of many mighty warriors and soldiers in another realm. I know of at least one active personality who declared independence from the Prime Soul. It has taken the name DIVA and is forcefully recruiting fighters from other worlds to fill her ranks. She is also trying to replicate our Lord's method of travel between universes but in the process, has created a random feedback loop. This has resulted in unaccounted travellers going to other worlds without our knowledge."

"How troubling indeed." The giant robot slowly got up and stood on his own two feet. "Tell me, how can I be of service?"

A bit of a breather episode for now along with a solid intro of some of the story antagonists and an explanation of the phenomenon causing people to jump between worlds. And man, that part with Sasaki and Nagata was seriously fun to write.