Disclaimer:...Nope, still don't own anything.
It started when I first put on the belt. Ever since that moment, I kept having dreams of an impossible world. A world where my dream, while not quite a reality, was possible.
Those dreams were hazy and I couldn't remember what happened but I knew that they were about one thing, one person: the CEO of Hiden Intelligence, Kamen Rider Zero-One. No name, just Zero-One.
I dreamt of his life, the friends he made, and the battles he fought to protect his dream. A dream we both shared. A dream only he could achieve.
He wasn't me. He was just a figment of my imagination, an ideal. Someone I wished I could be. He wasn't real… until Decade came along.
When we met and he learned my name, he laughed. He couldn't believe that I was Hiden, that I was Zero-One.
Decade didn't call me 001, but Zero-One. He called me someone who didn't exist.
Then the other me came back, and he called me Zero-One too.
He is just a dream, but he is real.
Section 9: The Morning Off
"Zero…One?" Since he saw Hiden fight as 001 (which, granted, wasn't too long ago), Ritsuka had assumed that he was Zero-One. Now that Hiden was referring to someone else as Zero-One… that changes things. "Who's Zero-One?"
Hiden raised an eyebrow at his question, "I thought you knew already? You called me that earlier."
"I...did, but aren't you Zero-One?" He asked back.
"No." Hiden firmly denied.
"..." "I'm not making much sense, am I?" "Not at all." Ritsuka shook his head. "If you're not Zero-One, then who is?"
"He's… someone else." Ritsuka could tell Hiden wasn't sure himself.
*snap*
Before he could ask him any more, the soft clicking of a camera shutter alerted the two to someone's presence.
"What do we have here?" The cool voice of everyone's favorite Rider sarcastically asked as he approached the two Ritsukas. "Shouldn't you be in bed or something?"
"I wanted to clear my head." "And taking a walk in a derelict warehouse was a good idea?" Decade shook his head in false disapproval before turning to Hiden and extending out his hand. "Hand them to me. Your shift's over."
"Eh?" Hiden was confused for a moment before he understood what Decade was talking about. "Oh, here." He said as he handed the binoculars.
"Isn't he on lookout as punishment?" "He is." Decade confirmed, "Now it's time for mine. We're switching places for the night."
"Right, because you blew up a huge hole in the wall." Ritsuka assumed that was the case. Something his Servant didn't quite confirm. Instead, Decade just turned to Hiden again.
"Go get some shut-eye, I'll wake you up for your next shift." "Thanks." "You better get some sleep too. Who knows what might happen tomorrow."
"I get it." Ritsuka was starting to get tired himself. "Anyway, it was nice talking to you."
"Likewise," Hiden replied, smiling. "See you tomorrow, me. Good night." He said before leaving to get some rest.
Ritsuka, however, lingered for a moment.
"You're not leaving?" Decade asked.
"No, there's something I need to ask you," Ritsuka told him. "It's about this Lostbelt… and you."
"What about it?"
"Well…" Ritsuka hesitated to speak. He didn't quite know how to approach the subject. "Right after you left the cafeteria, we detected this Lostbelt forming."
"And you think I've got something to do with it?" For the first time since he summoned him, Decade expressed an emotion other than mild indifference. In this case, he sounded annoyed. Very annoyed. "Just because you picked Zero-One's card, doesn't mean I made this happen."
Wait, what?
"What do you mean 'Zero-One's card'?" Ritsuka remembered clear as day that the card was blank. Moreover, what did Zero-One have to do with this?
"Did you not check who was on the card?" "I did, but there wasn't anything on it," He replied.
"It was blank?" Decade stared at him with a blank expression. "Not even a greyed Rider?"
"No."
*slap!*
That wasn't the sound of him hitting Ritsuka, but Decade facepalming in frustration. "It's just my luck, isn't it?" He groaned before whispering, "That will make my job harder."
"Huh? What did you say?" "Hey, we're going to have to delay destroying this world for a while." Decade told Ritsuka, expecting that he would follow what he said. "At least till I unlock that power again."
"O...Kay?" Ritsuka hesitantly said. "But who exactly is Zero-One?"
"Who else?" Decade asked rhetorically. "There's only one person in this world that can be Zero-One."
"...Hiden?" "Yes. But until he starts believing in his dream, then this world's future will stay the same." He cryptically said.
"His dream?" asked Ritsuka.
"He hasn't told you, huh?" Decade muttered to himself. "I'm not against telling you that, but it would be better if he told you himself. Until then, go to sleep. You can talk to him again tomorrow."
"...I guess you're right," Ritsuka admitted. "Good night." He said goodbye to his Servant before returning to the Border…
The next morning…
For the first time since he summoned Decade (which wasn't saying much), Ritsuka finally got a good night's sleep. No dreams, no flashback, no vision of watching the horizon. Just a restful sleep.
Lazily opening his eyes, he wasn't able to see anything, his vision being obscured by white fur.
"Fou, please move your tail." Ritsuka tiredly pleaded the fox-cat thing. A second later, he could see the ceiling of his room. "Thank you."
"Good morning, everyone." "Fou, fou!" The fluffball of a familiar cried as the two entered the command room.
"Good morning, Senpai." Mash greeted him before Fou leaped onto her shoulder. "And good morning to you too, Fou." She said as she scratched his chin.
"Hmm? Where are the others?" Getting a good look around, Ritsuka noticed that Da Vinci and Goredolf were not around.
"The Director is currently enjoying his breakfast in his room," Holmes informed him. "Da Vinci is currently outside repairing the Shadow Border. Once she returns, we should plan our next move."
"Our next move?" Ritsuka parroted.
"Remember, we came here to find out how and why this Lostbelt formed." The detective Servant reminded him. "There is also the mystery of what is currently keeping it anchored onto our world."
"Right." Ritsuka nodded before remembering something. "Why don't we ask Decade? He's been here for two weeks. Maybe he learned a few things about this place." He suggested.
"Hopefully, you are right," Holmes said. "Why don't you step out and bring him here?" He requested again.
"Sure." Ritsuka agreed. Besides, he was hoping to run into his alternate self again.
"Do you want me to accompany you, Senpai?" "No need. I won't be gone for long."
"-teresting." As soon as the door opened, Ritsuka heard the familiar voice of Chaldea's resident genius talking to somebody. Stepping out, he noticed, right next to the giant robot hand that was definitely not there last night, Da Vinci and Ophelia discussing.
"That's- Oh, Fujimaru!" Da Vinci also noticed him as he exited the Border. "Hey, did you know? Apparently, Ophelia's codename here is Valkyrie. Pretty big coincidence, right?" She told him as he came to them.
"Really? Was that why you ran out when Hildr talked to you?" That incident was still fresh in Ritsuka's mind. Granted, that happened yesterday but the image of Ophelia panicking and running out will stay with him for a long time.
"Ahem, can you please forget about that?" No.
"So how did you manage to move this thing?" Ritsuka asked as he banged the arm to make sure that it was made of metal. Sure enough, it was.
"Hmm, hmm." A large grin appeared on Da Vinci's face before she suddenly flashed a pose. "Don't underestimate the abilities of a genius!" She proclaimed.
"She asked Vulcan for help," Ophelia told Ritsuka.
"Hey…" Da Vinci pouted. "Anyway, I better head back in and do a diagnostic check."
"Yeah, Holmes wanted us to discuss…" Ritsuka glanced at Ophelia from the corner of his eye, "...about some things. I'm just out here to bring Decade back."
"Let me accompany you then." Ophelia offered. "I was just going to check on him."
"Thanks." "See you guys later!" Da Vinci waved goodbye as she went back into her Shadow Border.
"Come on. This way. Decade is helping rebuild the fence." The alternate version of the Crypter informed Ritsuka as the two made their way to the hole-in-the-wall made by Decade's giant explosion.
It was not a long walk, but there was enough time for him to ask her something. "So how has Decade been behaving while he was here?"
"He's helpful… for the most part," Ophelia added after a moment. "There's just been one problem?" "What?" "How trustworthy is he?" She asked, giving Ritsuka an odd look as she did.
"I… can't really say. He usually does his own thing and he also sort of tried to kill me when he came to Chaldea." Ritsuka embarrassedly admitted, "But he's good. I mean, besides trying to kill me."
"I see." Ophelia had a thoughtful look as she listened to what he said.
The two eventually reached their destination, a group of people repairing the fence. However, a certain two Riders were arguing while the others went on with the job. Well, it was mainly just Kadoc shouting at Decade while he just snarked back.
"You bastard, I'm-" "A gorilla with anger issues. We all know." Decade finished Kadoc's sentence for him.
"Stop calling me that! If you're going to call me something, call me Wolf or something!" "Too on the nose. Oh, you're here." Decade said, noticing the two.
"Decade, play nice." Ritsuka sighed as his Servant was stirring up trouble. If what happened with Mordred was of any indication, he should keep a close eye on Decade.
"Don't worry too much, they've been arguing every day about Vulcan's nickname," Ophelia told him.
"Or that! Call me Vulcan! We call you Decade so that should be the least you can do!" "You call me that because you don't know my real name." Decade retorted. "And even if you did, I won't call you Kodac." "It's Kadoc!"
At this point, Ritsuka knew he should step in. Grabbing his Servant's arm, he quickly dragged him away shouting, "Sorry but I need him for a moment! I'll bring him back later."
"Good! Take him away!" Kadoc shouted at them as they retreated.
"Why do you keep doing that…?" "It's fun." Decade said it like it was obvious. "In a place like this, you have to do something to keep yourself busy."
The Master-and-Servant duo was currently walking the halls of the Border on their way to the front.
"I get you… kinda, but antagonizing the people giving you food and shelter isn't a good idea." "Are you talking about them or Chaldea?"
"Both," Ritsuka answered.
"How about… no." "You really are an ass." He insulted him as the two reached the door to the command room. "We're back!" Ritsuka announced their return.
"Welcome back, Senpai." "Good, we can get started," Holmes said as they gathered around the Paper Moon. "The Director can be told later."
"As you all know, our mission here is to investigate this Lostbelt. So far, all we've learned is why this place is a Lostbelt, not how or why it appeared in the first place," Da Vinci started to speak. "There's also the Tree of Emptiness and its King or rather, the lack thereof."
"Decade, in the two weeks you've been here-" "No, there's no Tree here." Decade answered Holmes' question.
"Well, that makes it easier for us then. We don't need to travel all over Japan to look for it." Da Vinci can be grateful for that at least.
"That takes us to another issue. What is sustaining this Lostbelt?" Holmes said to the others. "This Lostbelt was expanding quite rapidly when we left the Wandering Sea. There's no doubt that something was responsible for that."
"Before any of you say anything, I am not the one responsible for this place appearing in your world." Decade quickly denied before anyone could point the finger at him. "If it looks like I'm the one who caused this, that's just a coincidence."
"We… weren't even suspecting you." Da Vinci told her fellow Rider. "I mean, it is weird that you got here before we did but that's-" "A coincidence."
"But do you know who's responsible, Decade?" Mash asked.
"Who do you think I am? Of course, I do."
"Oh really? Then who is it?" Holmes raised an eyebrow at Decade's proclamation.
"The answer is… hidden in plain sight." Decade smirked as he answered Holmes' question.
"Uh… I'm not saying I doubt you, but I don't think Hiden created this world." Da Vinci expressed her doubts, easily figuring out what Decade meant. "He didn't exist before this Lostbelt appeared."
"Hmm…" On the other hand, Holmes was deep in thoughts about the Rider's words. "Decade." "What?" "When did you leave for this Lostbelt?"
"I came here right after I left the cafeteria," He answered, gesturing to Ritsuka. "He can vouch for me."
"All I can say is you left the cafeteria. I don't know when you came here." Ritsuka interjected.
"So right as the Lostbelt was forming. You somehow knew that this was here at the same time we did." "Like I said, just a coincidence." "That's not what I'm doubting here," Holmes replied. "Yesterday, Hiden mentioned that he was warned by Narutaki about what you plan to do it."
"Yeah, so?"
As he listened to what Holmes was saying, Ritsuka slowly realized what the detective was suspecting. "Oh, he said that he and the others knew that all of us were coming." He remembered what his alternate self told him the previous night. "They attacked you when you appeared, right?"
"He told you about that?" Decade silently grumbled before saying, "Yeah, they knew about us before I got here."
"Wait, let me get this straight." Da Vinci said, "Before they existed, they knew about us?"
"Precisely. Quite peculiar, isn't it?" Holmes said. "Just to be sure, was the Narutaki that warned them native to this Lostbelt or not?" He asked Decade.
"If there was more than one of him running around, then I'm killing myself." It was hard to tell if Decade was joking or not. Regardless, that meant only one thing.
"If what you're saying is true, this Lostbelt and the people that lived here existed before it appeared in our world."
Meanwhile, in the city…
"Aaaaaaahhhhh…" Jin let out a long sigh as he stretched on the couch of their rented room. After a long night's search, the four members of MetsubouJinrai (plus Izu) decided that they should take a quick break. "Hey, Ikazuchi… What was that you said yesterday? 'It's not like that guy would find a place to stay for the night.'"
"Hey, don't go blaming me! How was I supposed to know he did find a place to hide?!" Ikazuchi shouted, sitting on the floor against the end of Jin's couch.
"Still, you jinxed us," Jin complained. "By the way, where did Izu go?" He noticed that the Secretary-Type HumaGear wasn't with them when they entered the room earlier.
"She stepped out to contact President Will," Naki informed him.
"Why do I get the feeling that we're going to be in trouble…?" "What are you talking about? It's not like he can punish us for failing." Ikazuchi reminded the (slightly) younger HumaGear. "We directly serve the Ark. Anything he wants to do to us must get past it first."
"But apparently, getting sent to look for a Kamen Rider rather than kill the last of humanity is fine." Jin's complaint made the latter option sound normal.
"That is because the Ark knows finding and eliminating that Rider is more important," Naki stated. "If that Rider manages to get in touch with the other humans, then it will be more troublesome for us."
"Then why didn't the Ark ordered us itself? Why did that President do it instead?"
"..." "You don't know either, huh? Well then," Jin sighed as he laid back on the couch.
"Horobi, what do you think about this?" Ikazuchi asked his leader.
"Naki is right. That Rider will be trouble for us." "That's not what I meant." "The Ark has its reasons. We should not question it," Horobi stated, his loyalty to the Ark showing.
"If you say so."
"...What's taking Izu so long? Shouldn't she be back by now? A simple call shouldn't take this much time." "How would you know? You don't have a job." "Why does everyone keep bringing that up?!"
The Shadow Border…
"So this Lostbelt isn't actually a Lostbelt?" That was a bit hard to believe.
"It appears so." Holmes nodded. "Assuming that Decade arrived in this Lostbelt just as it formed, there shouldn't be any time that someone could warn Hiden and the others."
"Decade? What do you think?" Ritsuka asked for his Servant for his opinion.
"All I can say is that I am not involved with the creation of this world." "Alright, we get it already!" Da Vinci groaned. "But really, you've been here the longest. You must have some idea about this world."
"...If a Kamen Rider existed in the past, then their world existed." Decade cryptically answered. "And if other Riders followed them, then their world will continue to exist. That's all I want to say."
"Kamen Rider. That's what those seven are called, correct?" It didn't take a genius to figure out who Holmes was referring to. "That's what you and your summons are called."
"Yes, and?"
"Even though you are aiming to destroy this world, you are helping Hiden and the others because they are the same as you. Why is that?"
"Because I feel like it. Because that's what I'm supposed to do." Decade replied. "Isn't it the same for all of you too? None of you helped them just because some of the people here resembled your friends."
"That's true…" Mash admitted.
"'What I'm supposed to do…'" Ritsuka repeated those words to himself.
"When the time comes for you to destroy this world, would you be able to do it?"
"Of course, this isn't the first time I've done this." Decade smirked. "How about you guys? Especially you, Master? Can you destroy this world without any hesitation?"
"...I can. This isn't the first time I've done this either." Ritsuka didn't know who he was lying to the most. Decade, or himself…
"Good morning…" Hiden Ritsuka feigned a yawn as he greeted Kadoc and Ophelia. They, along with the others, were currently taking a break from building the new fence. Currently, the two were sitting next to a broken Giger.
"You're finally awake, huh? It's later than usual. Here." Kadoc tossed a small bag over to him. "Your rations."
"Thanks," Ritsuka said as he opened the bag. Peering inside, he noticed that the food was more luxurious than usual. "Oh, these are from Chaldea, right?"
"Yes." Ophelia nodded before taking a sip from her water bottle.
"Definitely better than those dried beans."
"That reminds me, have they contacted us yet?" Ritsuka asked, sitting down next to them and randomly grabbing something from his bag.
"No, nothing yet," Ophelia replied.
"That's not a surprise. They only contact us once a month." Kadoc said, eating a piece of turkey jerky.
"Yeah…" They also have to be insanely careful not to get caught by any other HumaGear. "So, what do you guys think about Chaldea?"
"They're fine." Kadoc simply stated. "They gave us food so they're not bad."
"...Maybe Dog is a better nickname for you." Ritsuka snickered as he chewed on some
"Hey!" "No, that's not right." "Thank you." "A dog would've learned the right way to open a lock by now." "Hey!" "What's so hard about putting the Key in before opening it?!"
"Both of you stop it." Ritsuka sighed. Whenever the topics of their ProgriseKeys come up, the two could argue about it for hours if nobody steps in. Thankfully, someone else helped Ritsuka stop the argument.
"Captain! The radio!" A man ran up to them, completely out of breath. "The radio *huff* It's-!"
"Take a deep breath first," Ophelia advised him, to which the man complied. "What's wrong with the radio?"
"We've received a message!" The man hastily told them.
"What? Is it from that HumaGear?" And just when they were discussing them… "What did they say?"
"This was useless…" Ritsuka sighed as their discussion continued. Outside of the theory that this Lostbelt existed, they still haven't figured anything out. Decade had been useless for the most part, not revealing anything they wanted to know.
"That leaves Plan B then," Da Vinci, equally exasperated, said. "Should we try getting Hiden back in here? He'll be more helpful than Pinky here." "It's magenta." "Hmm… Magenty doesn't roll off the tongue that well."
Before the two Riders could start arguing, the door opened up and Goredolf entered the room. "Ahh, that was delightful…" He hummed to himself before he noticed the five gathered around the Paper Moon. "What's going on here?"
"We were just discussing what we learned in this Lostbelt." "Maybe a Lostbelt." Da Vinci added to Holmes' comment.
"And?" "If we are to trust Decade's words, we can confirm that there is no Tree of Emptiness here," Holmes replied.
"Would it be too much to say we can leave and let this Lostbelt disappear on its own?" "Yes, it would Director."
"How long will you keep talking?" Decade, who had been secretly messing with the consoles in the room when Da Vinci wasn't looking, wanted to go back out and mess with Kadoc again to alleviate his boredom.
"Until we can all agree on what our next move is." Da Vinci told him.
"How about this? We all just hunker down and wait for something to happen." He suggested. "Maybe you can bond with the people here before they all die."
"At the moment, that's our only option." And with their track record, something will happen, and soon.
"Hey! You guys in there? We've got a problem!" And by soon, it was actually now, as Hiden's panicked voice came from the monitors along with banging sounds.
"That was fast…" Da Vinci silently remarked as she went to check the console, pushing Decade away in the process.
"Open up already!" "Yeah, yeah, hold your horses." She grumbled as Kadoc's impatient voice came through the speakers. "And… open. Let's see what they want."
Less than a minute later, the three (Ophelia included) came charging into the command room. While Hiden and Ophelia seemed to be fine, Kadoc was notably out of breath.
"What's wrong?" Ritsuka asked first. Whatever was going on, it was urgent.
"We got a message from the HumaGear, the one helping us." Hiden quickly told them. "Something big happened while we were fighting yesterday."
"Another Kamen Rider has appeared in Tokyo," Ophelia revealed.
"What?" Suddenly, Decade was much more interested in the conversation.
"A Kamen Rider?" "Yes, MetsubouJinrai is currently trying to find him."
"Who is he?" The magenta Rider asked. "Did that HumaGear of yours tell you the Rider's name?"
"No. Just that it was someone Jin fought." "That narrows it down to… three." Decade whispered.
"So you need help finding this guy first?" Da Vinci asked, to which they nodded. "I'm fine with that, but we have to be careful with the Border. The fixes I made to it are only temporary."
"Hold on just a moment," Goredolf cut in, obviously uncomfortable with the whole affair. "Are we really heading into one of the biggest cities in Japan to search for one person?! A city that, mind you, is also filled with killer robots!"
"Yes." Ritsuka simply said.
"I agree with Senpai. We should hurry and try to rescue this Rider." "It'll be more like a pickup." Decade corrected Mash.
"You don't sound too worried, Decade," Holmes noted the Rider was as indifferent as usual. "Isn't this one of your people we're talking about here?"
"If it's against normal monsters like Magias, then they can handle themselves for a while," Decade said. "They might get tired, but they'll be fine."
"At any rate, it will be better if we get them on our side. Before MetsubouJinrai finds them," Ophelia said. "We managed to get another Rider on our side, then we'll be even in numbers."
"Excuse me?" "You don't count."
"What about the camp?" Ritsuka asked them. "If all of you are coming with us, won't it be undefended?"
"With MetsubouJinrai searching for this Rider, this place won't be attacked anytime soon," Hiden told them.
"And what if this is a trap to lure us away?" Holmes questioned them. "How trustworthy is this HumaGear?"
"Plenty," Hiden affirmed their ally's loyalty.
"..." Holmes stared at Hiden for a few moments before finally relenting, "Alright then, we'll leave as soon as we're ready."
"I'll get the Border ready for travel." Da Vinci said before she left to go to her capsule. "I'll be back soon."
"Mash, you should go get ready too." Ritsuka requested from the Demi-Servant.
"Yes, Senpai." Other than the unreliable Rider he has (and Merlin who didn't do much yesterday), Mash was the only other Servant that was close to combat-ready.
"You know, this place would be rather cramped once we're on the road." Decade suddenly said. Well, it was already kind of cramped with nine people (and a fox thing). "I'll take my own ride."
"What?"
"I'm in the Rider Class for a reason, you know." He told his Master (and the others for that matter.) "I have my motorcycle."
"Then…" "Then I'll see you all when we get to Tokyo." Decade said before leaving them to their own devices.
"At least that's one less headache…" Kadoc quietly mumbled to himself.
"And… I'm back!" Da Vinci announced as she reappeared within the Command Room as a hologram. "Just let the engine warm up for a bit and then we can set sail."
"In that case, is there a room I can borrow? I need to perform maintenance checks on our weapons." Ophelia asked.
"Of course, you can use the same room as last time." "Thank you," She said before turning to Kadoc, "Give them to me."
"Yeah, yeah." He mumbled, taking out his ShotRiser and two ProgriseKeys and handing them over. "Here."
"Good, I'll see you all later." "Everyone is just leaving one by one, huh?" Ritsuka muttered now that there were five of them left in the room. At least it was getting less crowded.
"Hey, Fujimaru?" "Yeah?" "Can you give me a tour around?" Hiden requested. "I'm interested in this place."
"Sure." Seeing as Ritsuka had nothing better to do anyway, he might as well show himself around. He could go visit his other Servants too. "We'll be back later."
Meanwhile…
As the four members of were recharging their batteries from their search, a couple of soft knocks on the door disturbed their rest.
"I'll get it." Jin quickly got off the couch to open the door. "Oh, Izu. You're back."
"I apologize for taking so long." The secretary HumaGear bowed before stepping into the room. "President Will wanted a very detailed report on our search."
"It's fine." "He also wants to know when are we going to resume our search."
"Soon," Ikazuchi answered, taking a seat on the newly vacated couch. "Don't you need a break too?"
"I have no need to rest." Izu shook her head. "I'm used to working long hours for the President."
"That may be true but at the moment, you are working with us," Naki said. "We are not following the normal work hours of Hiden Intelligence."
"Technically, we're doing more hours…" Jin muttered, seeing as the five of them had been working since sunset the previous day.
"Once we're all ready, we will continue looking for that Kamen Rider," Horobi told Izu. "It is more advantageous of us to be rested when we eventually find him."
"And since that guy's human, he'll be starving since there shouldn't be any food in Tokyo," Ikazuchi claimed.
"...Not yet," Takumi muttered to himself as he patiently waited for his breakfast to cool. At the moment, he can still see steam rising out of both his coffee and his plate of rice and grilled fish.
Tsukasa wouldn't mind if he takes some stuff out of his pantry, right?
A/N: Two chapters in one week. That's good, right? It seems I write chapters faster when there are no fight scenes involved…
GilFest has ended and the promotion for the stageshow or something of the Sixth Singularity has begun. All I care about is the 14 SQs we're getting for it. There's no one I really want on the banner so it's an easy pass for me.
As for Rider, there's no sub for it yet but I watched the Vulcan and Valkyrie movie already…
Spoilers incoming:
First, I have to say the ending is amazing in my eyes. My favorite type of endings is the bittersweet kind. Sure, the threat of Kamen Rider MetsubouJinrai has been stopped but at a very heavy cost. There are only three Riders left in Zero-One's world if you want to include Izu. If not, then only two…
As for myself, I like to believe that Fuwa died at the end because out of the 16 (I might be miscounting here) Riders of Zero-One, the only human ones that actually died were Es and Lyon Arkland, who were the villains of the movies. And Es could technically not count as a human Rider. Meanwhile, all but one of the 8 HumaGears Riders (including Ichi-Gata) are dead. I know it sounds bad of me to believe Fuwa died simply cause no other good human Rider but hey, it's my headcanon. If you disagree, then you do you.
But what we can all agree on is that Frontier is an amazing song. It completely captures the somber and sad ending of the series (Kamen Rider Genms notwithstanding) and playing it in that hallway was simply heartwrenching. And then the montage…
It was a sad ending, but it was also a good ending to Kamen Rider Zero-One to me.
As always, I ask that you leave a review. Maybe even add your thoughts of Zero-One now that it's completely over. Regardless, see you next chapter!