I expected myself to wake up at the hospital, but my eyes instead opened on the familiar ceiling of Honoka's living room. Even so, I gave a slightly annoyed grunt. Even after upgrading my powers, I still get this kind of fatigue. I got up and saw Hikayu by my side. With her was Meteora and Tachibana.
"Hoshi, what happened? We expected you to be hurt or worse and yet, you were just passed out in the alley." Hikayu asked.
"Well… That's not exactly true. I was injured but… Someone…" My eyes then lit up. "That's right! There's another Kamen Rider!" I exclaimed.
"Wait, really?" Hikayu asked. I noticed Tachibana and Meteora weren't as surprised. Though, I guess it's because it might have been inevitable for another Rider to arrive.
"Yeah! And the best part is that he has the power of ice! A perfect counter for me!" I said. Meteora closed her eyes and sighed as Tachibana's eyes widened, unsure what to say for a few moments.
"… Wait, you're glad about that?" He asked.
"Yeah. If I ever go berserk again, he could cool me off with ease." I said.
"That was the intent." Meteora said.
"… Wait… what?" I asked her.
"… You went AWOL and we feared the worst. At the behest of Kikuchihara, I was tasked to create another Rider to counter Dante in case his powers were in the wrong hands." Tachibana said.
"That's… actually clever. I wouldn't have thought of that." I said. Tachibana then grabbed me by the shoulders.
"Don't you get it!? I made that Rider specifically to defeat Dante! How… How are you okay with that!?" Tachibana asked.
"… You didn't see what I had become, didn't you?" I stood up, then took out the Tigermander Shell to show him. "This bullet… It was made when I almost lost Honoka and I was consumed by hatred and rage. I became a Kaizo-Majin, Tachibana… And were it not for Souta, I would have been stuck as one…" I put it away. "I'm fine with what you created. If I ever lost myself again, I don't know how I would be stopped."
"There's still something to be considered…" Meteora said. We turned to her as she opened her eyes. "This new Kamen Rider… Altair would most likely have reached out to him by now…"
"Let me guess," Yudai sat on a crate in the warehouse as he looked at Vegan staring him down, "I have failed you for the last time, right?"
"No. Far from it, really. If anything, your choice of Malebranche had failed you. A shame, but nothing for me to punish you over. Many talented people have made decisions that backfire." Vega, meanwhile, was sitting with Altair on the velvet couch, though they both sat one cushion apart.
"Yoshi's time as a Malebranche helped disturb the world's yoke, though." Altair added with a smirk, summoning several blue, holographic screens showing tweets related to the attack from both Yoshi and Goro yesterday. Not only that, but there were tweets talking about how the government was removing posts related to the attack and similar attacks made from Kaizo-Majin.
"And that I can't fault you for." Vega got up and walked to Yudai, patting him on the shoulder. "You have come a long way since I first laid eyes on you. You remember? The night you made your first kill and became worthy of inheriting the Plague Belt…" As Vega smiled, Yudai hid a scowl underneath his own smile.
"Yeah. I do." The dry, annoyed tone in his voice went unnoticed as Vega gave Yudai a brief, fatherly hug.
"And when that belt was destroyed, I knew you had potential to grow. Rather than tossing you out like trash, I made you a Malebranche by gifting you the powers of hellfire and the Malefik Driver. You have made me so proud as Malacoda. Do you remember what I said to you when you transformed for the first time?" Vega asked.
"… I had become your guard dog of hell." Yudai said.
"Yes. In spite of the animal base of your hellfire powers being a lion, you are as fierce and loyal as a Doberman… Nay… Cerberus himself! These past few battles have proven that to me… I had my doubts when you made the Yakuza into Kaizo-Majin, but like all those other times, you surpassed my expectations. You cracked the code to unleashing father's rage, you upset this world's balance, and most important of all, you have caused Dante's powers to grow even more! I am proud of you…" As Vega looked at Yudai, he gave a wide smile. "God gave his only son to save humanity… And so, I give onto this world you, the only person I can consider to be like a son, so that you may progress humanity to the next stage of evolution! All I have to do was erase the mistakes you make…"
"Erase?" Yudai muttered. Just then, a cloud of dry ice filled the area. Yudai knew this was to signal the arrival of their ace in the hole: Kamen Rider Verge.
"I followed Strike Cobra like you requested, Lord Vega. He targeted the Empress." As Verge said that, Vega's smile faded to a frown briefly before he lifted Yudai by the neck.
"Ooooh, you did make more than one mistake, didn't you, son? You let your impatience cloud our goal…" Despite the violent action, Vega's face still contorted to have a grin.
"W-what difference does it make? Kill Hikayu and he explodes, right!?" Yudai forced the words out of his mouth as he felt his windpipe being crushed.
"It needs to be done at the right moment… There's a battle planned for us, to be broadcast over Japan, perhaps the world. We kill her there and Hoshi will become a monster in front of everyone's eyes. They'll no longer accept him as a Kamen Rider and instead make him the monster that the hero must defeat…" Altair said before glancing at Verge.
"Speaking of, Strike Cobra managed to poison Hoshi… I quickly disposed of him and healed the poison, but my cover is blown, Princess." Verge knelt on his knee to Altair.
"Worry not. Another one of our allies exposed himself to an enemy as well. However, I'm not too worried about it… Let them know… It won't stop us in the long run now… And besides," Altair smirked, "I'd rather see Hoshi destroy himself in the battlefield than die to a random monster. Release the Manticore, Vega." As Altair said that, Vega dropped Yudai, who fell flat on his ass.
"… Thank you. Though, I feel as though the time has come for your end of this bargain… You promised me that if I joined you, I will have what I wanted. I have waited and waited, but nothing… After this, I deserve something." Verge said.
"Mother, a dog should be given his treat when he does something good, right?" Vega asked as Yudai massaged his throat.
"I suppose so… I feel guilty leaving you in the dark for so long when everyone else knows the authors to their pain…" She paused before she continued to speak. "Very well… I shall help you in your quest."
"Good… Now, tell me who my God is so that I may give them retribution for the pain they've caused my world." Verge stood up and glared at Altair.
Cinder Fall
"Hmm? Yes. I understand. Keep me posted." Kikuchihara got off the phone as she entered the office. "I have news. We managed to identify two of the Creations."
"Good. We were getting worried about inserting them at the last minute." Matsubara said.
"Fortunately, we already have their respective Creators involved. The two are Magical Slayer Melt and the Ice Kamen Rider that Tachibana created." Kikuchihara said.
"Well, that's easy. We already included a means for Melt to be involved." Marine said.
"Though, it'll be hard to figure out where this new Kamen Rider will fit in. We never gave him a story. Just a purpose." Suruga said.
"Eh, we'll figure something out. Kamen Riders work together, right?" Ohnishi asked. There was a brief silence in the room.
"Not necessarily." Suruga spoke up. "Kamen Riders nowadays are motivated by their ambitions. Sure, the main Rider will usually still be the boy scout who does the right thing, but then you'll have the Riders who are out for themselves. Usually they'll team up to fight a common foe, but if something that they want is within their grasp, the Riders will turn against each other." Souta wanted to jump in, but then recalled the recent Riders…
How some like Brave, Specter, and Ryugen were motivated by a loved one and their drive to keep them happy or even revive them. Then there were some like Genm, Gold Drive, and Baron, who abandoned their humanity in pursuit of selfish desires. He began to imagine both outcomes happening with Hoshi, even sweating when he thought about how close he was to either one.
"Hmm… Well, that's stupid. Kamen Riders should fight for the betterment of mankind, right? That's what I was told when I was a kid." Ohnishi said. Just then, his phone buzzed. As he pulled it out, he gave a rare yet slight frown. "Speaking of… Hey, I'm gonna retire for the day. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Ohnishi said.
"Eh? Where are you going? We haven't even worked in your fan disk idea!" Nakanogane said.
"I promised an old friend I'd drop by. Don't worry, I included a story in there for you guys to weave in. Text me if there's any inconsistencies." Ohnishi said before he left.
"I envy a man like him sometimes… Not being bound by a strict work schedule…" Yatoji weakly said as his head weighed heavily onto his desk.
"Eehehehe! They wringed you out good, didn't they?" Magane laid down on a couch in her apartment as she began to chuckle incessantly. Yudai stood by the door, hands in pockets as he kept a pout.
"They had one of their men kill Yoshi… Even though he was doing so good…" Yudai sighed and sat in front of a piano near the door. "The world's yoke needs to be further disrupted for us to get what we truly want."
"And what do you want?" Magane asked as she got up. She glanced at Yudai, eyes shut tight but having that shark-line smile to her face.
"… To make Vega pay. Yuna was my sister… I agreed to become a Kaizo-Majin so that Re:Shocker could fund the medical bills, maybe even a cure for her condition… Whenever a new Kaizo-Majin is made, they're given a test to show how powerful they are and if they're worth our investment and maybe even take a shot at one of the Belts… Back in my world, this was done through underground fights. My test was to fight another Kaizo-Majin to the death to see who would inherit the Plague Belt… They had me face Yuna… Without even telling me…" Yudai said.
"Talk about tragic… So, you make this Vega guy pay… Then what?" Magane asked.
"…" Yudai stared at the ivory keys.
"I have an idea! Why even listen to their commands in the first place? The Yakuza managed to rile up the community really good." Magane shifted her body so that her knees were on the cushion and her elbows were on the top of the couch. "Do what you think is fun! It seems to be working."
"… That's why I came here… You have a knack for finding the right people to become Kaizo-Majin… Even better than what Vega is asking of me…" Yudai got up and walked over. He took out a wooden box and opened it, revealing eight Essen Crystals. "Do what you think is fun." Vega said as Magane smiled. She picked up a cyan-colored Essen Crystal, the gloves she wore protecting her from the Crystal's transformative nature.
"Oooh, I think I will…" Magane smirked.
"The only way for Verge to work with Altair is if she promised him something, right?" I asked Meteora. She nodded.
"She makes her offer to all of us. The chance to meet our god and get them to rewrite our stories." Meteora said.
"That's gonna be a problem. I didn't write a story for Verge. I just sketched out a Kamen Rider. The only person who would know a story is Shimashima. He's the one who took the design and ran it through with Bandai and PLEX to make an official version." Tachibana said.
"Well, Altair herself has no story to follow, right? Maybe she got him to join her side by promising him a story." I said.
"You may be right… Even so, this is speculation. I've informed Kikuchihara either way, so if he has no story, he'll end up having one by the time the Festival begins." Meteora said.
"… That reminds me." I stood up, then knelt before Meteora. "I'm going to partake in the Elimination Chamber Festival. I can't let Altair and the others inflict pain onto everyone." Meteora softly smiled.
"I knew you would come around. I told you so long ago that, even if you are fire, you're able to use those destructive powers to protect." She said.
"I know the first thing I'm going to do… I'm going to get Verge to work with us!" I said.
"What!?" Tachibana asked.
"He's the perfect counter to my powers. He's much more of a valuable asset on our side than he is on Altair's." I said.
"But how are you going to find him?" Hikayu asked.
"Hmm… Good question. One we'll discover together. Come on, Hikayu!" I then got up and rushed out as Hikayu blushed and ran behind me.
"W-wait!" She cried out.
Souta left the office to sit outside on the rooftop. There, he remembered what Shimashima said to him yesterday.
"Of course not. I shouldn't have asked you… You've never been in that position before, right?" He remembered how he said something similar to Setsuna… The last ever message he sent her. He kept his face hidden in his arms.
"Oi, Souta, some of the folks and I are going out for lunch. You wanna…" Matsubara came outside, only to see Souta curled up, back against the wall. He sighed and sat next to Souta. "You're still upset over that day, aren't you?"
"This is all my fault… If I had just listened to Setsuna and not shut her out…" Souta said.
"The fact that you're already making amends shows you're willing to learn… That said, looking at all the chaos unfolding, I can see why you'd feel that way." Matsubara said.
"But I should be making more amends." Souta said.
"Hmm? You're already doing more than enough with that pitch you made the other day. What more can you…" Matsubara then thought for a bit, then adjusted his glasses while trying not to turn his hand into a complete facepalm. "You're not thinking about…"
"I should have been Dante, not Hoshi. That way, I'd be able to be out there on the battlefield and-"
"Die." Matsubara took out a cigarette and lit it. "Hoshi landed himself in the hospital about what… five times? I appreciate your enthusiasm, but be real here. You'd be putting yourself in constant, mortal peril. Part of the reason we tried to get the belt away from Hoshi was because we worry that, if he kept fighting, his next trip to the hospital would be his last."
"He shouldn't be out there risking his life to fix my screw up though…" Souta said.
"But it isn't just your screw up… Or even his. What happened to Setsuna was bad, yeah, but you two can't just beat yourselves up over it. It happened and the best thing to do is figure out how to move on…" Matsubara sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Eeeh… Marine's probably better at this whole mentoring thing than I am." He muttered.
"I know… but how can I move on when so much chaos was caused by me?" Souta asked.
"You're not the one who told her to die. You're not the one who decided to enter our world and try to blow it up out of spite. And you're definitely not the only person who thinks that they're the ones who caused all this to happen. If it weren't for this Altair crap, you and Hoshi would probably have a much healthier time coping with this… Hell, if you didn't encounter Celesia like you had, I'm not sure if we'd even be here talking about this. It's… kinda funny like that… Almost like it's…" As Matsubara tried to find the right word…
"Fate." Celesia finished his sentence. "It's like how Charon managed to come across me out of all people when he ended up in my world."
"… You realize that happened because I wrote it to happen like that, right?" Matsubara said.
"Even so, it's still a god's work, right? And what better work than fate?" Celesia said.
"So… How come it's fate for Hoshi to become Dante and get himself hurt while I sit by the sidelines and watch?" Souta said. There was a silence before Matsubara spoke up.
"Well, it's not clear who the protagonists are in this story. All that mattered is getting you two involved… Maybe it's fate that you could come to terms with Setsuna's death in a healthier way than what you had originally planned." Matsubara said.
"Maybe… Still… I want to help Hoshi… Even if I know he wouldn't want it." Souta said.
"Well, if you're still thinking of atoning… I can't really stop you. Maybe ask Tachibana about making you a belt. Not sure how he'll respond, but it's better than nothing." Matsubara shrugged.
"Okay…" Souta got up and walked off. Matsubara looked at the sky as Celesia sat next to him.
"Sometimes I wonder how things would go if you weren't the one that Souta met…" Matsubara muttered.
"I don't. I'm kinda glad I had Souta to help me. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have met you or Marine." Celesia said.
"… Do you… hate me for the pain I caused?" Matsubara asked.
"No. You don't seem the kind of person who would do that maliciously. That said…" Celesia kept silent, though Matsubara knew what she was thinking about, or rather, who.
"Yeah… If Charon were here, it'd be a hard time convincing him to join our side, even with you reasoning with him. … I originally wrote your story without Charon… I had to involve him in the war somehow and…" He shook his head.
"If he's here… I will try to get him to help us… No matter what." Celesia looked to Matsubara and smiled. Matsubara gave a light chuckle.
"Let's hope so… Let's hope so…" Matsubara said.
Knock knock.
The door opened as a woman with long black hair and a long-sleeved sweater wound up seeing the rat-like face of Ohnishi. Instead of freaking out, she gave a solemn nod.
"It's that day today, isn't it?" She asked.
"Yeah. I assume your husband's ready?" Ohnishi said. The woman only needed to move out of the way for Ohnishi to see a man with a patchy beard, sunken eyes, and greasy brown hair.
"Oi…" His voice was silent, barely a whisper.
"Good afternoon, Dan." Ohnishi said, any joy that was once in his voice was now gone. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah… I prepared last night. Let's… go." Dan said as he walked with Ohnishi.
We spent the next 30 minutes pounding the pavement to find any information on any sudden freezes or icy patches. Outside of what was reported in the alley last night, nothing. It was as though Verge came and went in an instance.
"… Hmm… This Rider doesn't like to fight much…" I muttered. Then again, if Meteora's hypothesis is true, then he doesn't need to fight the Kaizo-Majin. I can easily assume why he killed that one Kaizo-Majin though.
"Found you." I turned to see Alicetaria in what seemed to be baggy civilian clothes. A ragged sweater and yoga pants.
"Fujioka, is that your grandma?" Hikayu asked.
"N-no… It's Alicetaria. She's an ally to us." I said before turning to her. "What's up?" I asked.
"I came across one of Altair's newer recruits." She said.
"First, why report to me and not Kikuchihara? Second, is it an ice themed Rider?" I asked her.
"I found that working alone is always the easier route to take… Though, it wasn't an ice Rider… He said his name was Syo. He doesn't seem intent on fighting anyone but that punk." Alicetaria said.
"… I figured he'd be here." I muttered. "Well, what do you want me to do about this information? Like you said, he won't pick a fight with me."
"Tell the others. You have a stronger connection to them than I do anyways." Alicetaria said.
"… Alright… Though, I think you can be of assistance. Altair might have access to someone who could very well defeat me. If we get him to our side, we can not only deny her that asset, but also make him our asset." I said.
"Very well." She then turned to Hikayu. "And you are?" She asked.
"M-my name is Hoshikawa… S-sorry… I haven't met someone so… tall before." Hikayu blushed as she offered her hand Alicetaria took it and lightly shook it.
"A pleasure to meet you… Now, any ideas of where he could be?" Alicetaria asked.
"That's the problem… The guy likes to cover his footprints. The only way we can find where he could be is if he is to activate his powers again… The last time I saw him, he was saving me from a Kaizo-Majin." I said. I began to think…
This was gonna be hard if Verge doesn't show himself.
"How have you been doing?" Ohnishi asked Dan as they sat in a train.
"Been living." Dan said.
"Still figuring out an idea for your next Visual Novel?" Ohnishi asked.
"Eh… I just stopped bothering. All the ideas I had just can't top Kazoku." Dan said.
"It's been about twelve years since that game came out, right?" Ohnishi asked.
"Yeah. I could make a sequel, but…" Dan sighed as the train came to a stop. "We're here." Dan got up and left the train, with Ohnishi following.
"A sequel would be great! You left the best ending at a rather ambiguous note. You could capitalize on that and give it closure!" Ohnishi said.
"Closure?" Dan chuckled. "You're always one about closure. Everything you write, you try to neatly wrap everything up into a little bow… But a story is never actually finished. It just stops moving." Dan said.
"Ah, that's the old Izumi I know…" Ohnishi frowned. As they got to the sidewalk, they managed to get to the entrance gate of a cemetery. Ohnishi decided not to say anything else for the time being.
"I heard you're a part of the Festival planning. Surprised they wanted to involve Starry Sky." Dan said.
"Heh, yeah, it surprised me as well. But, seems there's a demand for Hikayu and I gotta cater to it." Ohnishi said. As Dan entered the cemetery and Ohnishi followed, their movements slowed and their postures began to slouch a bit. They freeze in place as they looked to the series of headstones. Dan's eyes began to glance, counting each of the headstone before stopping at the fifth one, then moved forward in an almost forced manner. He stopped and looked at the headstone of the Sakura family.
Ohnishi soon followed. He only gave a brief frown as he glanced at the headstone. Dan knelt and lit a small stick of incense, glancing at one of the names, Sayuri, and noting the year of her death being sixteen years and some change after her birth year. He clasped his hands together in a prayer for a moment before he took out a slip of paper. He opened it up and glanced at the small poem he wrote before setting it down next to the incense.
"I hope you enjoy it, Sayuri… I wrote it just for you." Dan shed a few tears.
"… Dan… I…" Ohnishi struggled to find the right words. He then thought about what was said moments ago. "I wrote Hikayu's story to inspire you." That's when Dan turned to him. "… She… She too lost a childhood friend. I was thinking about how… one day, you'd read it and realize how…" Dan then spoke up.
"I could move on?" Dan began to chuckle but instead of a laugh, he just gave out a cry. "How could I? How can I let go… when it's all my fault?"
"It wasn't your fault, though! We… just didn't know the signs." Ohnishi said.
"I should have, though… And I…" Dan sank to his knees and broke into tears.
"… Izumi… It's… been twenty years since then… I managed to turn my life around since then. You can too." Ohnishi said.
"What's the point? How can I live with myself when I know the only reason she's dead was because I wasn't there for her when she needed me most." Dan stood up. "Instead, I pushed her over the edge."
"Those feelings are what inspired me to write Hikayu's story. This… This is why I write visual novels… So that I can help you cope with this…" As Ohnishi said that, Dan glared at Ohnishi.
"Cope? How are a bunch of drawings going to help me cope with regret?" Dan asked.
"… For one, it's a lot better than torturing your characters and placing them in no-win scenarios." Ohnishi glared back, giving Dan a brief pause, if only because such a look on his face was so rare.
"I'm not giving them a fairy tale ending… That'd be lying to their face… I'm instead giving them a taste of reality. That sometimes, people just die and their loved ones have to pick up the pieces…" Dan said.
"If a character of yours came to life and asked you why you made them suffer, is that what you want to say to them!?" Ohnishi yelled.
"Yes! This pain in my chest is something I held onto for so long… I can't see any reason to give my characters a happy ending when I know they'll never exist!" Dan said. Just then, the two could hear someone approach them.
"S-sorry for the noise, we were getting emotional…" Ohnishi said. He then opened his eyes and saw a man in a winter coat.
"So… That's your reason for my pain?" Yuichi said. Dan's anger melted for a moment as he saw Yuichi's face.
"Y-you're… W-what the hell kind of prank is this, Nishio?" Dan asked.
"… Izumi… I… There's something I need to tell you. About the Elimination Chamber Festival…" Ohnishi felt a cold breeze… That was odd… The weather isn't supposed to have any winds today…
"You know who I am, right? Then you know what you've done to me and everyone I loved… Answer for your crimes, Dan Izumi… No… Mr. Creator!" Yuichi shouted. Ohnishi took out a phone and began to text Kikuchihara before he pulled Dan by the arm.
"Quick! This way!" He ran, then jumped through a gap in between tombstones as Yuichi calmly walked, the ground beneath him beginning to freeze.
Almost as soon as I had thought about where to find Verge, I got a phone call.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Hoshi, Ohnishi has encountered a Creation who's attacking their Creator…" Meteora said over the phone.
"Shit! Where is he?" I asked.
"At the Aoyama Cemetery…" The same place where I went to pay my respects to Setsuna… I took a deep breath.
"Alright, I'm going." I then hung up and turned to Alicetaria. "Get Weisspherd ready now, we have a rogue Creation to fight!" I said to her. She nodded, then summoned the horse by her side. I turned to see a kid and his father walking down the street as the kid pointed at the horse. The father didn't seem to pay any attention. I got onto the horse, as did Hikayu.
"I… don't think this horse can carry three people… Besides, it's too risky… We don't know how powerful this Creation is." I said to her.
"But… I…" Hikayu muttered.
"… Very well. Alice, the cemetery is not far from here." I said as I squeezed in to allow Hikayu more space.
"Just tell where to go…" Alice said before she got Weisspherd to fly up.
Ohnishi and Dan managed to leave the cemetery as Dan turned to see Yuichi still approaching them. He turned to Ohnishi and shook his head before he came forward.
"Yuichi… Shirayuki Yuichi… You've taken great lengths to get him down pat." Dan said.
"Izumi… That's not a cosplayer! He's the real Yuichi Shirayuki from Kazoku!" Ohnishi said. Yuichi flinched as he heard that.
"Kazoku… That name…" Yuichi said. Dan noticed this, then took another step closer.
"It means family. Though, you'd probably know that… right?" Dan asked.
"What are you doing!?" Ohnishi asked.
"I need to know if it is him…" Dan turned to Ohnishi before looking at Yuichi. "What does family mean to you?"
"… It means close, tightly knit… That, should the worst ever happen, you should be by their side, no matter what…" Yuichi trembled as Dan went closer.
"And you failed that vow… Correct?" Dan asked.
"Yes, but… You should know that already… You're the one that killed her!" As Yuichi tried to punch Dan, a horse whinnied as a lance fell down like an orbital rod, knocking the two away.
I got off of Weisspherd and looked for the Creation, though, I only saw Yuichi along with Ohnishi and another person.
"Yuichi? What are you doing here?" I asked him.
"Hmph…" Yuichi glanced at Alicetaria. "The Military Uniform Princess warned me about you, traitor."
"The only traitor around here is her." Alicetaria glared. As she got off, I held my hand out.
"Wait! You know Altair?" I asked him.
"Yes. I have. She's the one who offered me vengeance against my cruel god." Yuichi said.
"… You're the Creation then…" I said. Hikayu then got off as well.
"… Wait, that's…" Dan muttered as Ohnishi nodded.
"I wanted to tell you, but…" Ohnishi shrugged.
"Please! Don't hurt him! They… may be odd…" As Hikayu said that, Ohnishi gave a bemused look. "But they're good people!"
"Good people?" Yuichi laughed before he tossed me aside. "What kind of god would force a person to watch their little sister waste away on a hospital bed? How do you look at a person who can decide the fate of any innocent person and say they're good? No… Someone who lives only to make others suffer is neither good, a god, or even a person… That man… Dan Izumi… He's a monster!" Dan then began to laugh.
"So… You really are him… No fan would be that obsessed to replicate that pain he has… Very well then…" Dan then walked to Yuichi, arms splayed out. "I grant you permission… Punish me…"
"Dan!" Ohnishi shouted and tried to run to him. I also got up and rushed to get Dan.
"Very well… This… This is for Yuzusa!" Yuichi held out his fist as I noticed it freeze up into a chunk of ice. Just as he was about to punch, though, Hikayu shoved Dan out of the way.
"Look out!" She shouted.
"HIKAYU!" I yelled. Just as the fist was about to hit her, though, her body flashed a bright pink.
"What the hell!?" Yuichi asked as he shielded his eyes.
"I don't believe it…" Ohnishi muttered.
"No… It… can't be…" Alicetaria began to shed tears… something I couldn't believe I'd see…
"Hikayu?" I asked… As the light faded, I noticed Hikayu began to float a few inches in the air. She was now adorned in a rather familiar pink sailor uniform with winged gloves, baby blue bows adorned along the dress, a heart-shaped jewel brooch, and all while she held a small staff with that same heart-shaped jewel. Her hair was even a brighter shade of pink.
"W-what the?! W-w-what am I!?" Hikayu blushed as she noticed the uniform she was in. "W-why did I become a magical girl!?"
"Not just a magical girl…" I muttered.
"A Magical Slayer!" Ohnishi exclaimed.
"… Mamika…" Alicetaria bit the side of her finger as Hikayu landed.
"H-how did this…" I couldn't find the right words to say…
"I can't believe that preview I made for the fan disc actually worked! I made Hikayu a Magical Slayer!" Ohnishi said.
"I… don't understand…" Hikayu muttered. She then gripped her fist. "But… If this is those powers you talked about giving me… Then… I'll use them to protect this world! Magical Slayer Hikayu!" She struck a pose, then felt a breeze between her calves. "P-please don't tell anyone about this…" She closed her legs together and blushed.
"So… You can transform too? In that case…" Yuichi pulled his jacket as I noticed a silver belt. There were a series of white metal sheets that piled onto the center, almost making it look like a mountain… Almost like…
"Wait… You don't mean… You're…" I muttered.
"Altair gave me a divine tool for me to deliver my justice… This belt… it contains the very blizzard you created to destroy my life!" Yuichi said to Dan.
"A blizzard… So… that means…" Dan muttered as Yuichi held out his right hand to the upper left side of his body as a gust of wind blew to the left. He then lowered it and held out his left hand to the upper right side. Another gust of wind blew, this time to the right. He proceeded to alternate these poses about three more times, all while he rasped out:
"Rider… HENSHIN!" With a shout, the metal sheets on the belt collapsed and covered the belt, all while revealing a cyan colored fan that was already spinning extremely fast. The winds began to feel as though we were on the summit of a mountain as Yuichi's body froze into a solid iceberg. Six desaturated red dots, arranged in a snowflake, lit up as the iceberg shattered, revealing the icy Kamen Rider that rescued me yesterday.
"Meteora was right…" I muttered.
"I am the White Darkness at the End of the World… As such, you may call me Kamen Rider Verge!" Without hesitation, he attacked Hikayu. She managed to learn well from Shindou as she managed to bob through the punch before responding with one of her own.
"Hero Punch!" Hikayu shouted as her fist slammed right into the icy armor of Verge. Alicetaria readied her lance and tried to join in, when suddenly a large polar bear-themed Kaizo-Majin with an icy jaw and claws made of ice jumped in and slashed Alicetaria. I turned to see Souta… No… Yudai, sitting on one of the tombstones, tapping his gun against his wrist.
"I was told to back you up, but I'm not gonna bother, ya oversized popsicle." Yudai said. Clearly, he was talking to Verge.
"Come here and face me!" I ran to Yudai and loaded my weapon.
FIREFLY SHELL!
"As much as I love to… I can't be bothered. Enjoy the Kaizo-Majin, though." Yudai loaded a bullet and fired it.
TELEBULLET!
He fell over the tombstone, smoke emanating from behind as he seemingly vanished. I gave an annoyed groan before aiming by gun at Verge.
"Rider… Henshin!" I shouted.
PASSION FIRE!
A firefly shot out of my gun as it struck Verge. Verge turned to face me as the firefly returned to form my armor, with a larger version engulfing my head and forming my helmet.
"So long as the flames of passion burn inside me, I'll protect the Land of Gods. Kamen Rider… Dante!"
I announced before firing at him… I had expected my bullets to melt through his icy armor, but they bounced right off. Verge turned his attention towards me, then took out a dagger that seemed to be made of ice, though, it looked more plastic than actual ice.
"So, you'll protect these monsters too?" Yuichi spun the dagger around and clicked it to the side of his belt where a scabbard containing six slots was.
GRUMPY BLADE!
"You have no idea what my god has done to me!" Yuichi then pulled out a red sword that glowed bright. He ran to me and slashed, each blow dealing a considerable amount of damage to me as it knocked me to the ground, writhing in pain. I pulled my gun up and fired, but he managed to deflect them all with his sword. Suddenly, the blade broke into ice upon the last strike. Unfazed, he attached the knife back onto the scabbard.
BASHFUL BLADE!
Pulling out a teal blade this time, Verge struck me… Though it didn't hurt. He then turned around. I tried to aim my gun, but my hand trembled… For whatever reason, I couldn't open fire on him…
Wait… Bashful…
Did… Did he just make me shy of hitting him!?
He walked towards Hikayu, who looked intently at her magical staff.
"So… It can work like… this?" She then held it out as several pink hearts as they made cute popping noises. Verge slashed through the hearts, shattering the blade before he loaded the blade right back into the scabbard.
HAPPY BLADE!
He then pulled out a golden blade and slashed once across Hikayu. As it did, the sword began to glow brighter and another slash was made across her body. This one severely damaged her and even cut a bit into her uniform as she was knocked away.
"Your joy was your downfall…" As he held his sword over Hikayu, I noticed I was no longer under the enthrall of the Bashful Blade. Immediately, I loaded two bullets.
PENGUIN SHELL! MAMMOTH SHELL!
I ran, spun the revolver, and fired.
SLIDING BURST!
I slid onto the ground, ignoring the friction of the pavement, and fired a long yet thin flaming beam at Verge. This caused a more direct hit and it seared the rear of his armor, to the point where I could see it melt. I decided to press the advantage.
OCTOPUS SHELL! CHAMELEON SHELL! GRASPING BURST!
As Verge turned around, I was nowhere to be found. I used the Chameleon Shell's camouflage to blend in while I fired a flaming tendril that grabbed Verge and bound him.
"So… This is your power, huh? I was made to counter it!" He suddenly dispersed into a thick mist of cold air, causing the flaming tendril to collapse in on itself and let the cold winds extinguish it. I fired wildly at the wind, but all it did was disperse into the wind. It then came onto to me…
BREEZY BLADE!
And I saw the wind keep on blowing as several snowflakes came together and formed Verge once more before he impaled me in the shoulder with a cyan colored blade. He knocked me onto the ground and dug the blade into my shoulder.
"Now… get out of my way… I'm going to deal with my Creator." Yuichi turned around and slowly walked towards Dan. He held out his hand as another ice-plastic knife formed in his hands. I grunted, then loaded four bullets.
TIGERMANDER SHELL! EAGLE SHELL! MANDRILL SHELL! FINAL SHELL!
I spun it a few times, then fired.
SWEEPING BURST! FUJI ENDEAVOR EXPLOSION!
Fiery wings appeared on my back as flames appeared on my leg and dripped to my left foot, transforming into a large drill. I ran towards Verge and leaped into the air, the wings beginning to flap and have me soar up into the air.
"RIDER KICK!" I shouted as I put my foot forward and let the wings propel me down to my opponent. Verge continued to walk.
"Rider… Kick." I saw ice began to form on his leg. Before I had time to react, he quickly spun around and roundhouse kicked my attack, causing a large explosion. As the smoke cleared, I was on my back, transformation cancelled, as I felt the sudden yet brief burst of rain falling down on me. Verge looked at me for a brief moment before he proceeded towards Dan.
Hikayu then stepped in the way and held out her arms.
"No! I won't let you do this…" As Hikayu said that, I saw a flaming red heart land by her feet and exploded, causing her to fall out of the way. I looked up and saw a girl in a red magical girl uniform, almost the exact same as Mamika's, though, instead of baby blue ribbons, they were hot orange ribbons and ruby jeweled flames replaced the rose quartz hearts.
"You liar…" I heard Melt's voice. "You said you didn't know who Mamika was, right? Then… whose outfit are you wearing?" I saw Hikayu struggling to get up, her clothes tattered now.
"Please… Your friend's… going to…" Hikayu then noticed Melt hold a crimson version of her magical staff at her.
"Zip it! You stole her powers, didn't you?!" Melt shouted.
"What? No! They just appeared on me!" Hikayu said.
"QUIT LYING AND TELL ME THE TRUTH ALREADY! WHERE IS SHE AND WHAT DID YOU DO TO MAMIKA!?" Melt shouted as her hair began to light on fire.
"Mamika is-" Alicetaria was in the middle of her fight with the Freezing Bear Kaizo-Majin as she said this, her lance holding off his claws. However, as she was distracted, the bear grabbed Alicetaria and leaped. He slammed Alicetaria onto the ground and dragged her across the pavement, towards Verge. He sighed and attached one more blade.
FINAL BLADE!
He turned to Freezing Bear and held up his sword. It was different from the others. Where as the previous ones seemed like oversized box-cutters, this one had icy spikes on the edge and a pointier tip. As Freezing Bear got to Verge, he pulled a trigger on the hilt and struck Alicetaria.
CRYSTAL BREAK!
His blade exploded, destroying Alicetaria's armor before the two were engulfed in a large explosion of dust and smoke. Alicetaria was knocked out of the smoke cloud without her armor and reduced to her casual clothes. The three of us were all weakened as Verge looked at Dan.
"Finish off anyone who stands in my way… This will be over soon…" Yuichi eyed Dan, who hadn't moved from his spot despite all the chaos unfolding. As he brandished his knife, Melt loomed over Hikayu and held up her staff.
"Magical Splash…" Behind her was a large, flaming, winged heart. "FLARE!" She then sent it careening to Hikayu.
"HIKAYU!" I shouted as the heart struck Hikayu and exploded. I was about to let out a cry of anguish before…
"Oi, oi, oi, oi, oi!" A man stepped out of the smoke, holding a familiar wooden sword, standing in front of Hikayu, who was unharmed in the explosion.
"Yuuya!" I exclaimed.
"You people are becoming more troublesome by the day. Especially you magical punks." Yuuya forcibly tilted his head and cracked his neck before doing the same on the other side. Just then, I saw Celesia and Meteora land on the ground, with the Machine Itasha pulling up to the cemetery alongside a black, unmarked van.
"Shirayuki, we have to leave!" Melt said to Verge.
"… Not until he pays what he owes!" As Yuichi ran in to attack Dan, Celesia stepped in and deflected his blade.
"Not happening today!" She said as Meteora grabbed Dan and flew off. Yuichi growled, then jumped back before he got a new, black colored blade out.
TELEBLADE!
He swung into the air and created a black portal for him and Melt to fly through. Freezing Bear, meanwhile, ran off. Akagi ran towards me alongside Marine as they picked me up.
"Don't worry! We're here!" Marine said. I winced from the pain in my foot as I was carried to the Machine Itasha. I looked to see that Alicetaria and Hikayu were also being picked up. I exhaled, then coughed.
This was gonna be an odd debriefing for sure…
It had been a few hours since we got back to the office. Kikuchihara had allowed for us to recover for a bit before we got called in for the meeting. There, we had Dan sitting next to Ohnishi.
"So… There were actually three Creations we discovered yesterday… Melt, Kamen Rider Verge… And Yuichi Shirayuki from the visual novel Kazoku…" Meteora said. Immediately, Shimashima fell off his chair.
"W-wait, what!?" Shimashima shouted.
"I don't get it. What's the problem with another visual novel? Hikayu came from one, right?" Akagi said. Shimashima took a bit to compose himself.
"Yes, but Hikayu came from one that was made recently… By contrast, Kazoku came out twelve years ago!" Shimashima said.
"How does age affect this?" Celesia asked.
"Well, he has a point. Up until now, the oldest Creation here was Akagi, and from what he told us, he was summoned the same year his second season ended. As such, we're able to determine that Altair was only able to pull from mediums that had a recent impact in pop culture." Kikuchihara said.
"Which makes Yuichi's presence all the odder… I never heard of Kazoku until now." I said.
"I have… Though, not as a visual novel. It got an anime adaptation that was the talk of the internet back in the day. Were this incident to happen back in 2007 instead of 2017, then we'd have no problem discussing his existence." Tachibana said.
"Celesia also came from an anime adaptation. The fact that they're easier to consume in contrast to novels translates to more popularity than their source material. So, we can confirm that this Yuichi came from the anime adaptation of Kazoku." Meteora said.
"But… Somethings confusing me… I wrote up the Avalanche Belt as a contrast to the Volcano Belt, right down to the power sources. It draws from the cold or, failing to find something cool, requires someone to be cold-blooded. The weather hasn't been freezing or snowing, and from what I heard from Hoshi, Yuichi's way too emotional to activate the belt." Tachibana said.
"… Maybe cold-blooded means something more than just emotionally." That's when we turned to Dan. "I remember that anime… The visual novel had six routes and the anime needed one. Rather than focus on the best ending, the director of the anime took it into a new direction… One that I approved of… A bad ending where everyone was killed in a huge snowstorm… Including the protagonist… Yuichi." As he said that, Marine held her hand to her mouth, Suruga laughed her ass off and Hikayu softly wept.
"…" Dan took a moment of silence before he looked to Tachibana. "I believe that's how he's able to use the belt. If he did come from the anime… Then there'd be no better choice for an icy Kamen Rider than a frozen corpse…"
"Thank you for finding a Kaizo-Majin on such short notice." Yudai was back at Magane's apartment, now sitting on a chair by the dining table.
"Oh, thank you for providing me an opportunity to create more landmines." Magane was on the other side, serving some wine. Yudai took a sip, allowing the twenty-year-old vintage to swim in his mouth before swallowing.
"How did you manage to get one so quickly? About an hour after that chat, there was already a Kaizo-Majin for me to use." As Vega asked that, Magane held out a smartphone and showed some tweets she came across.
"The internet is full of fun people, right?" The tweets, at least the recent ones, were filled with candid shots of a teenage girl going to school and walking to her home, especially taken from a distance that wouldn't arouse suspicion. As Magane scrolled down, there were pictures of this same teenage girl being on stage, in a white dress with a bow on her head. She was next to four other girls, who were also dressed similarly.
"A stalker? Of all people, you made a stalker into a Kaizo-Majin?" Yudai asked.
"He's only a stalker because he never had the chance to do more…" Magane smirked, her eyelids opening up to reveal her golden eyes. "Tell me, what happens to a stalker when they're given the power to do what they want without consequence?" Yudai grinned.
On the streets of Otemachi, at 6:00 PM, a girl with long black hair, the same girl that was featured on the stalker's tweets, carried a classmate through the streets.
"Maki! Maki!" She pleaded with her friend, even trying to keep her awake. She was barely conscious and with the blood that dripped from her wound, might not have that long to live. She began to cry, constantly looking behind her to check if the person who stabbed Maki was close by. She was aware of the stalker, but she didn't realize that not only would he end up at her school, but would also try to kill her.
She figured to lose him by changing streets, only to find that she entered an alleyway with a dead end. The weight of her friend caused her to go onto her knees as she dropped her friend.
"Maki!" She checked to see if she was okay, though her eyes were now fully shut and there was no sign of breathing. She began to cry over her friend's body as she heard footsteps behind her.
"Rin… Rin Tsukimoto… Your beauty is fading…" She saw a man who covered his face with a black facemask and messy brown hair. The most she noticed was how he wore a bulky green jacket and held a bloody boxcutter. Just then, police cars pulled up.
"FREEZE!" Cops rolled out of the car and pointed their guns at him.
"Me? Freeze? Heheh… Very well…" He dropped the boxcutter and held up his hands… only for them to transform into the Freezing Bear's claws. As the cops fired, the rest of the man transformed and sent a powerful blizzard that froze the bullets midair, followed shortly by the cops. The windspeed was so great that one of the frozen cops fell over and fractured. He then turned to Rin, her pupils shrunken as he held out his claw.
"Now… Let your beauty be forever preserved…" Freezing Bear said as he held his claw over Rin.
Her scream echoed through the city.