Disclaimer: How long do I have to keep saying this? I don't own anything.
With all the mayhem happening within the new Japanese Lostbelt, it was easy to forget the side characters of this story. Granted, Sion wasn't doing much back in the Wandering Sea. All she could do was keep an eye on the map and how fast the Lostbelt was expanding while running some calculations.
In regards to her first task, it had gotten a bit stale as the Lostbelt's borders had slowed down immensely. Well, compared to how it managed to eat up the entire Japanese archipelago within the first 48 hours since it appeared, anything less would obviously be slow. At the moment, the Lostbelt was only shy of touching the mainland and by her calculations, would only reach it in roughly three days (it was that slow now.)
As for her other calculations, they ranged from the mundane like who was most likely to cause trouble while Fujimaru is gone to the important ones like what was the best way to enter the British Lostbelt. Currently, however, her primary focus was mainly centered around the Rider Servant who had been recently summoned. There were only a few things that she can list that were 100% correct; Decade was from a parallel world, that much was a given. He also, somehow, can access not only their Reverse Side of the World but several other versions as well. While it wasn't exactly impossible, that sort of feat was far from easy to do.
There was just one thing that confused her. Namely, Decade seems to be aware of what Chaldea is and its mission. Neither Fujimaru nor Kyrielight recognized him, so they've never met before. Was Decade another silent observer of them like Merlin is? There was another theory she had but it was a bit too out there.
Assuming that Decade was somehow with them, she couldn't investigate any further until the main team returns from the Lostbelt.
Section 6: Justice/Surprise
It was endless. For every Magia that they destroyed, two more immediately took its place. It was a miracle that they had lasted this long, Ophelia thought. Admittedly, it was less "them" who were destroying the Magias and more "the people who may or may not be historical and mythological figures from the past." It wasn't very clear to her. Why did Merlin call the girl who was definitely younger than her his king?
Regardless, the (maybe) reincarnated warriors from another world were having a hard time keeping up with the constant stream of robots too. Destroying simple Magias was easy to them, but having to deal with one after another for so long takes a toll on anybody.
"Captain-! Ahh!" Ophelia heard someone call out for her but they were cut off. She didn't need much to know what was happening now; the leaders of the Magia army are finally joining in. The sliver-blue blur that just burst out from the gate and stabbed one of their people proved it.
"Ah… You've finally decided to join us." The absurdly long-haired wizard that was helping them said, unconcerned at the fact that someone was still impaled on the silver-white armored robot's claws.
At the arrival of their commander, the Magias stopped in their tracks and retreated somewhat, just going back to the gate for some reason.
"You people," A voice familiar to Ophelia spoke from underneath the helmet, "Are you Chaldea?"
"And if we are?" Merlin's 'king' asked in return, gripping her invisible sword tightly.
"Then you are the ones prophesized to destroy this world alongside Decade," The HumaGear, Naki, stated before looking up and shouting, "Jin!"
"Jin?" "Ja-Jan!" "Ahh!" A playful cry was all the warning any of them had before a pink Kamen Rider flew in from the sky at high speeds, wrapped his legs around Merlin, and flew off just as quickly without being slowed down by the added weight.
"Merlin!"
ZETSUMETSU DYSTOPIA!
Taking advantage of the distraction caused by Jin, Naki quickly pushed the lever in their belt back in and pulled out again, closing and reopening the Japanese Wolf ZetsumeriseKey. Rushing towards the king with their super speed, Naki tried to open up with a flurry of kicks imbued with the wind. Unfortunately for them, most of their attacks were blocked and repelled by the hidden sword although some managed to get through.
"Lancer, chase after the other one!" "Understood!" As one, the three Valkyries took off to catch Jin. Oh, and save Merlin too, apparently. That left only the swordswoman and the archer to fight Naki.
'They're finally here.' A silent voice told Ophelia. For a brief moment, she felt anger rise in her again. Regardless, now that Naki and Jin have appeared, she could finally use her signature weapon (this world's version of her at least).
Quickly taking out the ShotRiser, she aimed the barrel of the gun at Naki and pulled the trigger. As the HumaGear Kamen Rider was preoccupied with fighting their opponent, the bullet managed to hit its target. However, the blow failed to actually harm the A.I.
"That was-" Still, it did manage to make Naki take a step back and look at who attacked them. "...Valkyrie, I'm surprised you didn't rush to protect the humans inside," They said monotonously.
"So that was your plan." She had already suspected as such, that MetsubouJinrai would want them to abandon the people fighting up top. Too bad for the HumaGears that there were more people capable of protecting the camp now.
"Tell me this; why have you allied yourself to Chaldea?" Naki spoke in a more aggressive but still low tone, "They are here to destroy our world. You know that."
"So? The world is already dead. What's wrong for us to get their help?" Ophelia (not literally) shot back. "The reason they're here is because of you HumaGears in the first place!"
"..." Her response was enough to make Naki freeze for a couple seconds as they tried to process that information.
With Naki sufficiently distracted, Ophelia pulled out the ShotRiser's buckle and fastened it around her waist. After sliding the ShotRiser into place, she took out her own ProgriseKey, an orange one with the image of a cheetah on it, in a rather over-the-top fashion, spinning it in her hand.
DASH!
Inserting the key into the ShotRiser, it started its standby music along with its looping announcement.
AUTHORIZE! Kamen. Rider. Kamen. Rider.
Opening the Key, she yelled the magic words-
"Henshin!"
-and pulled the trigger.
SHOTRISE! RUSHING CHEETAH! Try to outrun this demon to get left in the dust.
As expected when they have the same Driver, her transformation was nearly identical to Kadoc's. A speeding bullet shot out of the Driver and flew around her before breaking apart into armor pieces that latched themselves to her.
Her transformed state was similar to Vulcan's; a white undersuit with mostly symmetrical armor. Their difference was that it was her right side that was her image color (orange) as well as their faceplates, hers being sculpted to look like, of course, a cheetah.
Removing her ShotRiser out of her buckle, Ophelia or this A.R. World's Kamen Rider Valkyrie ran into battle guns blazing.
Meanwhile…
Merlin, famous Kingmaker and court wizard to King Arthur, was currently having the time soaring through the sky and feeling the strong breeze hit his face.
...Oh, what's that? He's not enjoying the flying however fast he was, being manhandled by Jin while also being occasionally hit by the Valkyries' spears? Who would've thought?
"Hey, watch where you're aiming at!" Either the Lancers couldn't hear him over the wind or they were purposefully ignoring him. Whichever it was, it still led to him getting hit by one of the Valkyries' beams of light.
As it turned out, his earlier antagonizing of the three sisters had made them less inclined to not hurt him while flying after their target. Not surprising really.
"What do you people have against me?!" He wasn't referring to the Valkyries (he gets why they dislike him) but rather people like Decade. First, it was that Saber/Assassin that kept stabbing him in the foot, and now this pink guy snatched him away from the others because… because.
"Stop struggling, human!" His captor shouted right in his ear as Merlin tried to pry himself out of the pink Rider's grasp. "Do you want both of us to crash?!"
"I'm only half human, robot!" If the robot's going to be misnaming him, then he might as well too. However, before either of them can continue bantering while flying away from the camp, numerous large golden holographic cards appeared below them.
Merlin, upon seeing them, immediately knew who was at the other end of the cards. "You bastard! I'm right here!" He doubted Decade knew that he was kidnapped, but still.
Jin, meanwhile, also recognized what the cards were and who was behind them. "Why is he-!?"
FINAL ATTACK RIDE: DE-DE-DECADE
He tried to say but was forced to make a quick dodge as a golden blast flew through the cards at him. Even though Jin had an incredibly quick reaction time, one of his wings was hit by the blast and was ripped off, sending the Rider falling through the sky and into the desert below along with a cursing Merlin.
Learning in progress…
Back at the camp…
While at first glance, it looked like the HumaGears would win due to outnumbering the humans, that was only half true. In terms of power, it was more leaning towards the human's side. However, there was still one problem that their side was facing; energy conservation. While it was true that the remaining two Servants can out the standard Trilobite Magia with very little trouble, taking out roughly 200 of them would just end with them out of energy. Worse, seeing as Fujimaru Ritsuka had yet to return from wherever he was at that moment. And with the small area they were in, neither of them could use their Noble Phantasms.
Now that Naki was here, who was much faster than them and could easily dodge all of their attacks, it was much harder than it was earlier.
Luckily for them (kinda), Naki wasn't focusing on either of them but rather on Valkyrie. Currently, the two were engaged in a loop where one attacks the other before retreating, only for the other to retaliate and so on and so forth.
"Why did all of you come here together?!" Valkyrie demanded as she dodged Naki's swipe.
"It was the will of the Ark," Naki replied, "Nothing more than that."
"Then why did the Ark change its tactics?" She literally shot back. "It shouldn't think that anything's changed yet."
"..." Naki remained silent at that, unintentionally giving Ophelia the proof she needed for her earlier suspicion.
"So that's it." It was stupid of her to have trusted him; to have believed that just because he was human, he was truly on their side. "He did sell us out."
ZETSUMETSU DYSTOPIA!
Instead of answering, Naki activated their finisher. In return, Valkyrie reinserted the ShotRiser into her belt and pressed the button on the Rushing Cheetah ProgriseKey before pulling the trigger.
DASH! RUSHING BLAST FEVER!
Simultaneously, energy began gathering around their legs before they tried to kick each other.
Data not needed…
Phase 2 initiated…
"Merlin! Get up and help us already!" Merlin could barely hear one of the Valkyries shouting as he tried to get sand out of his ears.
Back with Merlin and the gang, they were having a slightly easier time fighting Jin. Even with a clipped wing, he's somehow able to dodge and weave through the all-out assault of the Valkyries and the half-hearted assault from Decade, who was the one that shot him and Merlin down (but was that really a surprise?).
"Decade!" Jin shouted in anger, "What are you after?!"
"I already told you and the others, haven't I?" Decade calmly responded as he slashed Jin away, "I do whatever I want. Side with whoever I want. And as of five minutes ago, I'm siding with Hiden again."
"You bas-!" "Watch your tongue. You're only 12 years old, aren't you?" Decade retorted as he took out a card from his sword.
KAMEN RIDE: FAIZ Complete!
Red lines glowed as they made their way across Decade's body before enveloping him in bright light. When the light disappeared, his magenta-and-black armor was replaced by a silver-and-black one. There was very little armor and his mask was shaped like the phi symbol, with two massive yellow visors. However, Decade proceeded to take out a second card and inserted it into his Driver.
FORM RIDE FAIZ: ACCEL
The red lines that ran over his body turned silver as the two pieces of armor on his chest swung open, revealing the wires underneath. Finally, his yellow visor turned red.
"This will be over in 10 seconds… or less," Decade added as an afterthought before pressing a button on his new watch.
Start Up!
Before anyone can react, least of all Jin, Decade could best be accurate to have turned into a blur that turned Jin into a ping pong ball as the pink Kamen Rider was thrown around by him.
3!
Decade took out a golden card from his sometimes-a-sword and inserted it into his belt.
FINAL ATTACK RIDE: FA-FA-FAIZ
2!
Jin, who was stuck in the air, couldn't do anything as multiple holographic red drills appeared around him-
1!
-that Decade kicked into and through him all in 1 second.
0! Time Out!
As all robots should, Kamen Rider Jin exploded in a blaze of glory, leaving behind his Flying Falcon ProgriseKey.
"Phew." Decade sighed as he opened up his Driver, causing the card in it to shoot out and disappear. At the same time, his armor pixelated and turned back into his normal magenta-with-a-X-on-the-chest armor.
Walking over to the small crater left behind by Jin's explosion, Decade grabbed the pink ProgriseKey that remained of his opponent.
"Rider." Decade heard one of the Valkyries call him as he (somehow) pocketed the ProgriseKey. Turning around, he saw the blonde one softly landed on the sand in front of him.
"What is it?"
"Our foe called you a traitor. Explain." Technically, Jin didn't call him that but it was obvious Decade was regarded as such.
"Does it really need an explanation?" Decade smugly retorted as he opened one of his trademarked dimensional walls. "See ya." He lazily waved before walking through the wall, which then disappeared.
"Sister, we should return at once," Hildr said as she and Ortlinde hovered towards Thrud, who nodded in agreement. Together, the three Valkyries took flight to return to the camp.
…
…
"Hey, wait for me!" Poor Merlin shouted as he was left behind by everyone. "...Looks like I'm walking again…" At least the desert will be covered in pretty flowers.
Learning in progress…
5/20 recorded…
THUNDER!
Meanwhile, Kamen Rider Valkyrie continued her duel with Naki. This time, she took out a yellow ProgriseKey that had the image of a hornet on it. Quickly replacing the Key that was already in her ShotRiser with it, Ophelia flipped open the Key before pulling the trigger.
AUTHORISE! SHOTRISE! LIGHTNING HORNET! Piercing needles with incredible force.
Another speeding bullet zoomed around her before breaking up and replacing her cheetah-themed armor with a hornet-themed one. Her chestplate was replaced with a blue-and-yellow one with honeycomb-shaped ridges on it. Additionally, her faceplate changed to one more similar to the rest of her armor, complete with bugs' antennas.
Naki, meanwhile, pointed something out. "Valkyrie, you're just wasting energy at this point." "Shut up!" "I still don't understand." Every time they come here, Valkyrie always makes a beeline for them. Obviously, she had a vendetta against the HumaGear Rider but they're still unsure why. Regardless, Naki came here to fulfill the Ark's will and that's what they'll do.
Granted, what exactly was the Ark's will was still a mystery even to the members of MetsubouJinrai. All they were instructed to do was to go to the human camp and wreak havoc. Nothing about the human Riders or even Decade. Just… go there.
FINAL ATTACK RIDE: DE-DE-DECADE
Speak of the devil and he shall appear, and in a rather impressive (read: annoying) fashion. While Naki was preoccupied with fighting Valkyrie, several golden cards appeared behind the HumaGear before a magenta Kamen Rider came flying through them. Had it not been for the loud announcement beforehand, chances are they would have been killed by the kick. Instead, Naki swiftly evaded the finisher.
Obviously, this annoyed Decade to no end. "Tsk, it would've been easier for both of us if you stayed still."
"Decade, so you're working with them again," Naki said, not surprised in the slightest.
"I'm doing what I should do." Decade corrected(?) them. "If it means going back to Hiden, then that's what I'll do."
"Decade!" Valkyrie, already angered from the fight, naturally didn't take kindly to the person who admitted to betraying them. "What are you doing here?!"
"So, I'm unwanted again. What else is new?" Decade didn't answer the question. He instead opened up his Driver. "Go help Saber and Archer, Valkyrie. I'll handle Naki."
"Wai-!" "Just go already." He said as he drew another card from the RideBooker. The card depicted the head of a red Kamen Rider with large flashing eyes and a car spoiler on the top of his head, giving them the image of a car. Additionally, a stylized R emblem was in between the Rider's eyes. "Henshin."
KAMEN RIDE: DRIVE
Upbeat jazz played from the Driver as several red rings surrounded him before transparent pieces of armor appeared around him. As the armor attached themselves onto him and replacing his current one, Decade's undersuit was replaced by a similar one that had white lines along its sides before the new pieces solidified. Decade's new eyes glowed as a tire flew in from nowhere and partially through and hanged on him like a sash.
His new armor was sleeker than the last, except for the thick tire hanging on his chest. It was mostly red, with wide shoulder pads and a pair of braces and shin guards.
"For an out-of-control machine, this form is the best one." He said to no one in particular before speeding towards Naki. A high-speed battle occurred as two blurs moved all over the battlefield, with the red blur taking the time to take out some of the remaining Magias. In literally no time, the fight moved outside the confines of the camp and beyond the fence.
"Wait, Decade!" Valkyrie tried to call after the Rider, obviously getting ignored and left behind. However, before she can go and join them, the ground shook as something huge landed in front of her. Three somethings, actually.
"Gi-Gigers?!" The towering mammoth-themed robots looked down at her with their single, glowing eyes before one of them tried to squish Valkyrie like a bug. Quickly dodging the attack, Ophelia was silently cursing her luck to be facing three Gigers at once. Luckily, she won't be fighting them alone. Spears of light shot through the air and pierced one of the Giger's heads. However, the Giger continued to function normally and turned to see what had attacked it…only to get another round of spears to its eye, signaling the return of the Valkyries.
Learning in progress…
6/20 recorded…
Elsewhere…
He had no idea how it happened. He was just enjoying his day…or was he dead? He can't remember at this point.
Regardless of what he was busy doing, he was suddenly whisked away to another world by a dimensional wall…where he immediately thrown into a pinch. He knew what he was fighting; HumaGears from Zero-One's world. Problem is, they all want his head. Not one or two, but every single one that was nearby when he arrived in this world.
And with another world being involved, it led him to the most logical solution he could come up with while he cut down another Magia.
'Damn you, Decade! What did you do this time?!' Inui Takumi, Kamen Rider Faiz, thought, believing that the dimension-hopping, not-pink Kamen Rider to be responsible for him (maybe) coming back from the dead again.
A/N: And done with this chapter. Sorry for the delay, I've just been lazy the past few weeks. Slightly less words than usual but hopefully that's okay with you guys.
Stuff happened in this chapter which is meant to set up differences with main Zero-One timeline. Mainly, this version of Valkyrie/Ophelia has a grudge against Naki. Why? That'll be explained in due time. Also, Faiz appeared. For reasons too.
Anyway, Saber's actual finale aired today and it was satisfying for me. The shot of Touma's shop in Wonder World was more than enough, the eulogy for when the characters assumed Touma was dead was amazing, and the fight with Storius was good in my book. Unfortunately, I was wrong; it's Almighty Wonder and not Almighty Dragon as I said. All in all, the ending made up for the mediocre parts of the journey. Next week will be the epilogue chapter with an appearance of Kamen Rider Revi and Vice, and the week after that will actually be their first episode.
Now that it's been a couple weeks after Lostbelt 6.3, I think it's fine for me to talk about it. First off, I'm all in for the Castoria route...What? Don't look at me like that! In actual news, there's a new Class in the game; Pretender. Apparently, their schtick is, quoting the TV Tropes page here, "the Pretender class is defined as those who would deceive and mislead others to accomplish their deeds with such skill and deception that their guises would be just as powerful as the deceiver or even greater. These Heroic Spirits are those who use a role and are opposed to neither man nor monster, but the World itself with their impersonations." They also can switch and hide their Class, as proven by Oberon-Vortigern.
Okay, then… Does Decade qualify as Pretender? That's for you to decide! Until next time! Also, I keep forgetting to mention, feel free to PM me if you have questions. Peace!
EDIT: To eeeeeeeeeee (Guest) who I can't PM, I raise you the first Super Hero Taisen's second-to-last battle.