"You may have changed forms, but you are still human! Nothing compared to fallen angel! Die!" Kalawarner snarled as she fired three light spears on the three of them. However…
"Un! Deux! Trois!"
Bravo used his twin weapon, the Duri Noko, to destroy all of her light spears spectacularly.
"What!? This is impossible! How!?"
"Hohohohohohohoho! That's not as good as it sounds! For someone who talks so much, you're no good at all! I can tell you are an amateur who relies on your powers too much and doesn't understand anything about fighting! You think that kind of attack will work on us?"
"Silence!"
Kalawarner summoned two more light spears, this time aiming directly at Bravo.
"It's also easy to get over your head!"
"What!?"
"This is the proof you're an amateur!"
"AAAAAAAAHHH!"
Bravo grabbed Kalawarner's arm and threw her backwards.
"Here! Boys!"
"Yosh! Here I come!"
"Brace yourselves!"
Come On! Donguri Squash!
"UOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAHH!"
"AAAAAUGH!"
First, Gridon pushed his Cutting Blade and spun around swinging his Donkachi, blasting the flying Kalawarner high into the air.
"I'm next!"
Soiya! Matsubokkuri Squash!
"ORAAAA!"
"AAAAAAHH!"
Next, Kurokage activated the finisher and jumped high into the air, knocking Kalawarner down with his Kagematsu. And finally…
"And now, for the final touch."
Durian Squash!
Bravo used his finisher, the Durian Danger, which shoots a beam from the comb of his helmet, to hit the falling Kalawarner.
"AAAAAAAAHH! T-this is ridiculous…"
BOOOOOOOOOOMM!
And with that, Kalawarner exploded.
"Yeah! We did it!"
"That was good team work, Oren-san!"
"Yeah, it wasn't bad." Oren said to the two who undone their transformation, but…
"THAT'S NOT ENOUGH!" He shrieked (for some reason, an electric guitar riff echoed when he shouted those words.) "Far from it! There's still a lot of rough edges, including the sharpness of the techniques! That's why! Continue running!"
"B-but we had an unexpected battle this time, and today…" Jonouchi tried to argue.
"SILENCE! The road to becoming a real soldier is tough! You can't be so naïve as to stop training after just one battle! Come! Let's get moving!"
""Y-yes, sir~""
With that, the three of them started running again. Forgetting the two fainted boys nearby…
The next day
Zawame City, Yggdrasill Tower
A car arrived at the underground parking lot, and the four of them were greeted by Takatora's subordinate, Yoko.
"Welcome, CR doctors, and President Zaizen. I am Yoko Minato, President Kureshima has asked me to welcome you all."
"Thank you for the welcome, I am Hiiro Kagami, coming here on behalf of Haima Kagami, Director of the Seito University Hospital."
"Doctor Kiriya Kujo, examiner at Seito University Hospital."
"Nico Hanaya, today here as the Kamen Rider Snipe."
"I am Masamune Zaizen, President of Genm Corporation, pleased to meet you."
The reason why Hiiro, Kiriya, Nico and Masamune left Seito, which was their main area of activity, and came to this Yggdrasill-controlled Zawame City was because of the alliance, which Masamune had proposed on before. After that talk, the establishment of an alliance was approved by the board of directors of Genm, Yggdrasill, and the faculty of the Seito University Hospital, which is in charge of managing the CR. It was also decided that the first task of the alliance would be to divide the group and hold a strategy meeting regarding the elimination of the two stray devils that had been discovered in Kuoh today at Yggdrasill Corporation's headquarters, Yggdrasill Tower.
"I'll show you to the conference room on the top floor."
The four of them followed Minato's lead and headed for the top floor.
Elevator
"Whoa… how exciting, I get to visit Yggdrasill Tower…"
"It's not every day that we get to see inside Yggdrasill's headquarters, a place where the most advanced medical technology is being introduced to the world… but I'm curious about one thing, why is the Schoolgirl here?" Hiiro asked Kiriya.
"Forgot already? I'm one of the Kamen Riders."
"I told you before, for immature Rider like you, no thank you."
"What did you say!?"
"Hush, Nico-chan, Prodigy, calm down."
The two glared at each other, while Kiriya admonished them.
"Prodigy, I understand your view of life, but she's the one who decided to fight, so please respect Nico-chan's wishes."
"But…"
Hiiro still hard to accept a girl who isn't even not old enough to fight alongside him.
"Well, Hiiro-sensei, we need her help now, how about we just wait and see?" Masamune suggested to Hiiro.
"…Hmpf, then as soon as I subjectively determine that it's even a little bit dangerous, confiscate the Gashat and Gamer Driver, okay?"
"I don't mind, what do you think?" Masamune asked Nico and Kiriya.
"Fine by me, what about you, Nico-chan?"
"Hm, it's fine, but there's no way in hell I'm making a mistake."
Meanwhile, the elevator arrived at the top floor. They walked for a while down a wide corridor with Minato, and stopped in front of a room. Minato knocked on the door and called to the room.
"President Kureshima, I've brought the CR doctors and President Masamune of Genm Corporation."
"I see, let them in."
"Excuse me."
After receiving permission to enter from Takatora inside, Hiiro and the others entered the room. Inside, there were Takatora, Mitsuzane, Ryoma, and Sid.
"I've been waiting for you, lady and gentlemen from CR, and President Masamune."
"Thank you for your invitation, President Takatora."
Ever since Masamune proposed the idea of forming an alliance at CR headquarters, Takatora and Masamune had met several times for technology exchange and had become good friends. Therefore, they greeted each other with a friendly air.
"Long time no see, President Kureshima."
"It's been a while, Mr. President."
"Hello, President Kureshima."
Hiiro, Kiriya, and Nico took turns in their greeting.
"Ooh, long time no see, Hiiro-sensei, Kiriya-sensei, and I believe we've met for the first time, Nico Hanaya-san, right?"
"Yes, pleasure to meet you, President Kureshima." Nico said in greeting.
"All right, before we sign anything, let's introduce ourselves to each other, since some of us are meeting for the first time."
"Right."
"I agree."
Hiiro and Kiriya agreed to Takatora's words.
"Let's start from Yggdrasill. The one who guided you earlier is Yoko Minato, my subordinate and an Armored Rider like me."
"Nice to meet you."
"And this is Sid, who is working as an operative to gather information in Zawame City. He's also an Armored Rider."
"Please bear with me, doctors."
Minato and Sid were introduced by Takatora to the CR doctors and Masamune, who greeted them.
"And this is my friend and head of the R&D department of Yggdrasill Corporation, Ryoma Sengoku, whom everyone except Nico Hanaya-san has met before, but just in case."
"Long time no see, everyone." He's still as cheery as ever.
"And last but not the least, my brother…"
"I'm Mitsuzane Kureshima, an Armored Rider as well, so please take care of me."
"…He's a Kamen Rider too?" Hiiro asked Takatora.
"Don't worry, Hiiro-sensei, the decision to take up arms is mine."
"…I see." Hiiro only said a few words. "Well, now it's our turn. I am Hiiro Kagami, a surgeon and CR doctor at the Seito University Hospital."
"I am Kiriya Kujo, the university's medical examiner and CR doctor."
"I am Nico Hanaya, gamer and Kamen Rider Snipe."
"I am Masamune Zaizen, President of Genm Corporation, pleased to meet you."
They finished their introductions.
"Then, let's sign the alliance."
"Yes…"
At Takatora's words, Masamune, the representative of Genm Corporation, and Hiiro, representing CR, sat down on the chairs nearby and took a quick look at the documents distributed by Minato regarding the alliance.
The contents were:
1. The three parties of CR, Genm and Yggdrasill will take each other as allies and will not attack or take hostile action.
2. The three parties will share their technology as much as possible.
3. The three parties should provide aid on each other's battles as much as possible.
When they had finished reading the document, the three of them wrote their names on it.
"I'm done signing."
"Now that we're all fighting together, I'll be counting on you."
"Of course."
The three said as they shook hands.
After that…
CR and Masamune were accompanied by Takatora and Ryoma on a tour of the Yggdrasill Tower.
"This is the plant where Helheim fruits are cultivated, and you can see the employees with Drivers over there picking up the fruits, these Drivers has the ability to process Helheim fruits into Lockseed…"
"Very interesting."
Masamune and Ryoma discussed with each other as inventors.
"Man, that's really amazing…" Kiriya muttered as he looked at the latest tech in Yggdrasill Tower.
And Nico…
"What is this?"
"Mighty Action X, you don't know?"
"I've never really played games before."
"Seriously? Okay, how about I teach you?"
"Is it alright?"
She was playing with Mitsuzane, who was close to her age.
"You're a good brother, President Takatora." Hiiro said as he looked at them.
"Yeah, he is too good a brother for me."
"What are you talking about, President Takatora? Don't downplay yourself."
"No, I'm not at all. I'm on good terms with Mitsuzane now, but until about a year ago I didn't know anything about him…"
"What do you mean…?"
"If you want, you can listen to my woes as a terrible brother."
"Alright."
Takatora began to reflect on his life up to now.
As the eldest son of the prestigious Kureshima family, he was expected to have a strict upbringing. Of course, he was proud to be the heir of the Kureshima family, so he did not consider it a hardship. However, his mother passed away when he was 14 and Mitsuzane was 3. His father was the president of Yggdrasill Corporation and rarely came home, so Takatora took over the role as Mitsuzane's parent.
But at the time, he was too overprotective. He told Mitsuzane to concentrate on his studies and work for Yggdrasill Corporation as a man who would eventually be responsible for the Kureshima family, and told him to cut out useless things and fulfill his own purpose. He was completely oblivious to Mitsuzane's true self. After his father died in an accident four years ago, and he took over the Kureshima family and Yggdrasill Corporation, his overprotectiveness intensified, and at the same time, Mitsuzane and Takatora steadily drifted apart.
However, one year ago, an incident changed both of their lives.
Mai Takatsukasa, the leader of Team Gaim, the dance team to which Mitsuzane secretly belonged to at the time, was kidnapped by a devil. But he didn't want to be exposed as a member of the dance team, so he secretly took the Sengoku Driver from Takatora's office and defeated the devil alone. However, he happened to run into Takatora, who was on his way to track the same devil, and he found out that he was a Rider and a member of the dance team. Naturally, Takatora told Mitsuzane to return he Sengoku Driver and stop dancing.
However…
"I'm not your puppet! Don't meddle in my life!"
He then transformed into Ryugen, attacked Takatora, and disappeared.
"It was then that I finally realized that I didn't understand anything about Mitsuzane…"
"You thought you were doing for his best interests, but to him, it only causes him pain…" Hiiro summarized.
"Yeah…"
Four days later, Takatora and Mitsuzane reunited at the place where the stray devil had appeared, and from now on, he faced Mitsuzane in the true sense of the word, reconciled with him by respecting his wishes, and allowed him to continue with the dance team to which he belonged on the condition that he did not neglect his studies.
"That's what I'm saying… that I didn't understand my own brother… and that's why I…"
"Doctors are not gods…" Hiiro muttered. "The meaning of these words is that doctors who save lives are human beings, not gods, and as such, they sometimes make mistakes, which is why they must seek out the causes of those mistakes, learn from them, and never make the same mistakes again… President Takatora, you can't change the past, but you know your mistakes and as a result, you have made peace with Mitsuzane-kun. The past is important, but the present and the future are even more valuable, so you should not be weighed by your past."
"…I see…"
At the same time, Hiiro's words made him feel a little more at ease.