Episode 3: Scissors Strikes, Raia Revealed!
Barely a week had passed since Shinji stumbled into the Rider War, and he couldn't help but feel like he was barely making any progress with his goal of uniting the Kamen Riders to defend humanity. It probably didn't help that his goal was the polar opposite of the Rider War's purpose, but that would hardly stop Shinji from trying. Unfortunately, despite all of his battles against Mirror Monsters as Kamen Rider Ryuki, Shinji had yet to encounter any other Kamen Riders besides Ren. The fact that Ren was still determined to see the Rider War through made Shinji feel a bit dejected. Despite the cold and stoic attitude Ren displayed, he was still a good man that Shinji could say he would proudly fight alongside.
"Too bad I'm way behind in terms of skill." Shinji muttered to himself. "I know what my advent cards do now, but I've just been swinging around with my sword and punching with my gauntlet. As far as I can tell, the only card I don't need to master is my Final Vent. Ren could probably give me some training since his visor is a sword. But if I asked him for help he'd probably say 'How much of a fool are you to ask for my help? Especially since I've said I'm going to defeat you?' With how Ren acts, I can't help but wonder if the other riders are going to be as difficult or worse. Especially since Ren told me that my suspicions about him would help me survive when encountering the other Kamen Riders. Maybe he's right, but I don't know if it's something I could do."
"Something on your mind Shinji?" A familiar voice called out.
"Tezuka!" Shinji's face brightened up a bit when he spotted the fortune teller he'd met just the other day. "I didn't expect to run into you again. Hey! Maybe this is one of those fated encounters you said I'd have!"
"I wouldn't doubt it." Tezuka chuckled.
"Oh man!" Shinji exclaimed! "I totally forgot to pay you for my telling my fortune the other day! How much do I owe you?!"
"Relax Shinji." Tezuka said as he waved off Shinji's concern. "I'd made more than enough money that day. One free fortune wouldn't lead me to ruin."
"That's a relief." Shinji said with a relieved smile.
"So. Care to tell me what's weighing on your mind?" Tezuka asked. "I promise I won't probe into the specifics."
"Well, I guess you could say it's because I've already had one of the fated encounters you mentioned before I met you." Shinji began. "But I don't feel like I've grown much after it happened. All I know is what I could do better on, but that's about it. Nothing's really changed beyond that."
"Believe me Shinji, you're worrying about nothing." Tezuka said with a reassuring smile. "You recognize your faults and shortcomings, and you're working to improve them. That means you're growing at a fine pace right now. The growth that I foresaw you undergoing isn't instantaneous, rather it will accumulate with the passage of time and your own efforts to improve. And don't worry about wondering when those fated encounters will happen. Half the fun in life is unexpected."
"Thanks Tezuka." Shinji chuckled. "See you around!"
"Until next time Shinji." Tezuka nodded as the two went their separate ways.
'Well, now my mind's going to be at ease when I report in at ORE tomorrow.' Shinji thought to himself. 'Reiko would probably scold me if she saw how much of a funk I was in today!'
Speaking of Reiko, she was out on assignment that night. Chief Okubo had instructed her to investigate an antique store where some strange activity had been occurring recently. Not one to shy away from a potential story, Reiko took up the task without hesitation. While it was a bit risky investigating alone, Reiko stuck with her assignment dutifully.
'The shop owner, Tomoyuki Kaga, is suspected of illegal activities.' Reiko thought as she peered through the shop's windows. 'Some witnesses reported detectives scouting the place. Kaga should be out, so now is a good time to snoop around and see if there's any dirt I can dig up.'
Reiko discretely pulled out a set of lock picks from her pocket and used them while keeping a look out for prying eyes. While she spotted no one from the outside paying her any mind, she did notice someone or something moving inside the shop. Once the door's lock was picked, Reiko instantly began snooping around the shop, more specifically where she'd seen the shadow move. But when she reached the spot, there was nothing there. Reiko turned to leave, but was blindsided by a mysterious figure! Letting out a scream of surprise before falling unconscious. The next morning, Shinji bolted into ORE's office after he was called about last night's incident!
"Is Reiko alright?!" Shinji asked as he marched into Okubo's office.
"Reiko will be fine." Okubo answered with a sigh of relief. "The hospital called earlier and informed us that she wasn't seriously hurt. However, Reiko's hospitalization leaves us stuck on the story. Last night's attack may help to confirm suspicions of the antique store owner being connected to illegal activities, but the fact that the attacker's identity is unknown renders that speculation moot. What further complicates things is that Reiko found a possible link between the missing people cases and the antique shop."
"If it's alright with you chief, I'd like to pay Reiko a visit in the hospital." Shinji requested. "If nothing else, I could get the notes she's taken and see if we can put anything on the site."
"I think it would do Reiko some good to see a friendly face." Okubo said with a chuckle. "Tell her 'get well' from all of us. And good thinking with gathering up her notes Shinji. You might become a fully-fledged member yet!"
"Thanks chief." Shinji said with a nod as he exited the office and mounted his bike. Zooming off towards the hospital where Reiko was being treated.
"Hey Reiko!" Shinji greeted as he was let into Reiko's room. "You feeling any better?"
"Just a bit sore." Reiko replied with a small smile. "But honestly? I'm a bit ticked that I can't follow through with my investigation. It was such a good lead too!"
"I'm sorry about that." Shinji sighed. "I can take what you have so far and see if we can make anything out of it for the site."
"No, it just wouldn't feel right putting something that flimsy out." Reiko shook her head. "And as long as I'm stuck here, no headway will be made." For a moment, Reiko deflated and resigned herself to the abrupt end to her investigation. That is, until she looked upon Shinji once again.
"Actually," Reiko mused. "Maybe the investigation won't come to a screeching halt after all Shinji!"
"You're not thinking of busting out of the hospital are you?!" Shinji asked in shock!
"What?! No!" Reiko protested, waving her hands in front of her for emphasis! Once she composed herself, she handed over her investigation notes to Shinji. "That's not it at all. Shinji, I'm assigning you to my investigation!"
"A-Are you sure?" Shinji sputtered. "I mean, given my track record, I kinda figured you'd want anyone else to pick up where you left off."
"You might be a bit of a goofball at times Shinji." Reiko began. "But you're also the most passionate and dedicated person I've met. You really want to do all you can for ORE Journal, and that's something we all applaud. That's why I feel that I can trust you with this. Not to mention, you also brought up that interesting little detail about the mirrors in that apartment being all covered up."
"Thanks Reiko." Shinji said with a slight bow. "I'll do my best to get to the bottom of this."
"Excuse me?" A voice called out. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
The voice belonged to a man with short brown hair wearing a grey coat, grey pants, and brown shoes. He bowed upon entering Reiko's room.
"I'm pleased to see that you're recovering." The man stated before addressing Shinji. "I see one of your associates has decided to pay a visit too. My name is Masashi Sudo, I'm a detective for the police who's been investigating the same antique store Ms. Momoi was attacked at. We believe there might be a connection between it and the missing person cases. I was staking the shop out last night when I saw Ms. Momoi unconscious. I'd stationed myself near the back entrance to keep track of any exits made by Kaga, but no such luck. That's when I heard a scream come from the shop. I'm certain you can piece together what happened next."
"Thank you for getting Reiko to safety." Shinji said with a sigh of relief, skimming through the notes. "The shop owner's name is Tomoyuki Kaga. Some strange disappearances have occurred in or around his shop and they're eerily similar to the missing people cases. No traces or struggles."
"And these disappearances have been happening quite often too." Sudo added. "With the attack on Ms. Momoi last night, Kaga is becoming a prime suspect for the disappearances."
'Disappearances without any trace of the victims and no signs of struggle.' Shinji thought as he pieced together the information. 'The Mirror World's involved without question. But what connection does the shop owner have? Could he. . . be a Kamen Rider?'
"Is something wrong?" Sudo asked.
"Hm?" Shinji blinked. "No, nothing's wrong. Just putting the facts together. Hopefully this case gets blown wide open."
"I wouldn't worry about that." Sudo chuckled. "I've been assigned as the lead on the case concerning the antique shop, and I have the contact info for ORE Journal. If anything develops, you'll be the first to know. I owe Ms. Momoi here that much."
"Thank you." Shinji said with a bow. "We appreciate whatever you can find."
With that, Shinji took his leave and thoroughly went over Reiko's notes as he travelled to Kaga's antique store. From what he'd read so far, things were indeed lining up with the actions of the Mirror Monsters. Frequent disappearances with no traces of the victims and no signs of a struggle, and they occurred quite quickly. But what troubled Shinji was that the shop owner's connection to the disappearances was still quite unclear.
'There's only a few possibilities I can think of.' Shinji thought. 'It could just be bad luck that a Mirror Monster is using Kaga's store as a feeding ground, but the fact that he hasn't been seen that much means he could be a victim of the monster that's been lurking in the mirrors of his store. I've also considered the possibility he's a Kamen Rider, but it wouldn't make sense to just let a Mirror Monster frequently snatch people in the same location.'
Shinji's mind flashed back to when he'd defeated the giant spider and the Zelle. During both instances, orbs of energy had been released from the destroyed monsters that Dragreder had happily gobbled up. From there it was quite obvious that the Contract Monsters of Kamen Riders had to be fed, and Shinji didn't want to picture what might happen if a rider neglected to keep their Contract Monster full. Or even worse, if a Kamen Rider intentionally let their Contract Monster loose to feed on whatever it pleased be it Mirror Monsters or people.
Shinji couldn't help but sigh in frustration. 'Right now the most I can do is speculate.' He noticed that the antique shop of interest was in his sights, and would have headed straight for it if not for one thing.
*EEEEEEeeeeeeEEEEEEEeeeee!*
Shinji winced as he heard the familiar ringing of mirror noise, and immediately broke into a run to find the site of the Mirror Monster attack. However, he had another aid in locating the Mirror Monster: The screams of a distressed woman.
"AAAAHHHH!"
Shinji bolted towards the scream's direction, and saw a woman struggling against the grip of a pair of pincers as she was being dragged towards a nearby window. Not wasting any time, Shinji dashed towards the scene and grabbed onto the woman, pulling with all his might until she was freed from the monster's pincers!
"Get somewhere safe!" Shinji ordered the woman as he ushered her away from the mirror.
Once the woman was out of harm's way, Shinji turned to the window and faced the monster. It was humanoid in shape like the Zelles he and Ren fought, but instead of resembling a gazelle this new Mirror Monster was a humanoid crab. The monster was orange in color and its skin appeared to be armor-like with leg-like engravings on the thigh portions. Each of the monster's two arms ended with two mechanical claws that looked ready to cut through anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths. And right where a human's head would be was the crab portion really came into play. It looked like a crab had perched itself atop a human's head and taken over the whole body. Its green eyes were atop two short, stubby stocks. Its mandibles clicking and claws snapping angrily as it hissed at Shinji for interrupting its hunt. This was Volcancer
Shinji response to the monster's anger was thrusting out his advent deck and summoning the v-buckle to his waist before throwing his right arm across his chest.
"HENSHIN!" Shinji cried out as he slotted his advent deck into the v-buckle. Greyscale phantom images of the Ryuki armor spun towards Shinji before colliding into him and forming the armor, transforming him into Kamen Rider Ryuki!
Volcancer swung its pincers up and down in anger as it retreated farther into the Mirror World, and Ryuki immediately set after it by jumping through the window. Mounting the Rideshooter, Ryuki was rocketed into the Mirror World. Dismounting from the Rideshooter, Ryuki scanned the area for any signs of Volcancer. He didn't have to look very hard as the beast hopped up and down in agitation at Ryuki's arrival!
"Guess Dragreder's having seafood today." Ryuki noted as he shifted his left leg back and lightly crouched, pushing down the brow of the Dragvisor in preparation for slotting in an advent card
However, Volcancer had no intention of waiting for Ryuk to do so, and charged forward with one of his claws raised to clamp down on the arm where Ryuki's visor was attached! Ryuki's eyes widened behind his helmet, and he immediately sidestepped to avoid Volcancer's swing before promptly drawing a card from his deck and slotting it into the Dragvisor.
"SWORD VENT!"
The Dragsaber materialized in Ryuki's hand, and the rider charged at the Volcancer with his blade poised to slash into the beast. Volcancer noticed Ryuki's charge and immediately turned its back to the rider before crouching down, confusing Ryuki as he didn't expect a Mirror Monster to act this way. Normally Mirror Monsters didn't hesitate to attack their targets or those who interfered with their hunts, so why would Volcancer hunker down instead of meeting Ryuki with a charge of his own? The answer was made all too clear when Ryuki's Dragsaber hit against Volcancer's back with a loud clang and Ryuki found himself jolted by the impact!
Ryuki stumbled back as his attack was repelled. 'Now it makes sense! It's back is heavily armored!'
Capitalizing on Ryuki's slight disorientation, Volcancer sprang to his feet and whipped around to face the Kamen Rider, assaulting Ryuki with vicious swipes from his pincers and causing sparks to erupt as he hammered away at the rider and forced Ryuki to his knees. Volcancer raised his right pincer with the intent of slashing Ryuki across the chest, but Ryuki flipped the Dragsaber into a reverse grip and slashed Volcancer across the chest, the Mirror Monster squealing in pain as sparks erupted from where it had been cut! While Volcancer was staggered, Ryuki sprang to his feet and continued to slash away at the crab monster, forcing it back little by little. However, out of the corner of his eye, Ryuki noticed something approaching him and Volcancer quite fast. It was a Rideshooter.
Not wanting to get run over, Ryuki broke away from Volcancer as the pod-like vehicle came to a stop, the canopy opening to reveal the Rideshooter's occupant.
'Wasn't expecting another Kamen Rider to show up.' Ryuki thought with a sigh of relief as he watched the rider dismount from the Rideshooter. Volcancer seemed to back up slightly as the rider approached. "Great timing! The two of us should be able to-GAH!" Ryuki soon found himself smacked to the ground by the new Kamen Rider, Volcancer chittered excitedly on the sidelines.
As Ryuki got to his feet, he took the chance to get a good look at the new rider's appearance. The undersuit of the new rider was black while the boots were silver and silver enclaves were present on the rider's knees, but what drew Ryuki's attention most was the advent deck held within the new rider's v-buckle and the rider's armor. While the deck had the symbol of a crab on it, the rider's armor was orange and top-heavy, especially with the pauldrons that looked like the legs of a crab were latched on to the rider's shoulders. The new rider's visor was located on his left forearm looked like a pair of scissors attached to a gauntlet, giving the impression of a crab claw. Cementing the crab motif was the rider's helmet which sported two eyestalks at the top of the helmet with what looked like crab claws clasping around the helmet's eyes. And when Volcancer stepped up to the new rider, Ryuki came to an all too clear realization: Volcancer was the new rider's Contract Monster. This was Kamen Rider Scissors.
Beneath his helmet, Ryuki frowned. 'This confirms it. Kaga is definitely a Kamen Rider, and he's out to make a meal out of me for his Contract Monster!'
Without saying a word, Scissors reared his arm with his visor and thrust it forward, intent on using the shear blades of the visor to cut into Ryuki. Ryuki side-stepped Scissors' swing and attempted to put some distance between them, but Scissors was relentless in his pursuit and kept taking swings at Ryuki! Fortunately for Ryuki, the Dragsaber made an excellent defense as he used it to block the vicious swings Scissors sent his way with the Scissorvisor, the sword parrying every swing that Scissors dished out while Ryuki weaved around the punches and kicks Scissors dealt when his swings with the visor were interrupted! However, Ryuki couldn't dodge forever and the earlier scrap with Volcancer was starting to wear on him, the dragon rider barely managed to block the strike Scissors aimed towards his head!
"I'm sorry I attacked your Contract Monster, but you need to get a better handle on him!" Ryuki grunted as the Dragsaber was locked in a clash against the Scissorvisor. "He was feeding on innocent people! The only thing they should be feasting on is the energy from destroyed Mirror Monsters!"
Scissors said nothing, but responded by continuing their blade lock. Ryuki grunting in frustration as he tried to reason with the crab rider.
"I don't want to fight you!" Ryuki declared as he managed to shove Scissors away from him with a mighty push! "We should be using the advent decks to protect humanity! There's no reason why we have to play by Kanzaki's rules! How do you even know if the wish even-!"
Ryuki was suddenly blindsided by Volcancer, the crab monster charging into Ryuki and knocking the Dragsaber free from his hand! Volcancer had much anger towards Ryuki for interrupting his would-be meal, and wasted no time taking a swing at Ryuki, prompting the Kamen Rider to go on the defensive once more by blocking each of Volcancer's angry swings with his arms. As Volcancer unleashed his anger upon Ryuki, Scissors reached down towards his advent deck and drew another card, slotting it into the Scissors Visor. The card depicting a pincer that looked eerily similar to Volcancer's.
"STRIKE VENT!" The Scissorvisor announced as the claw depicted on the card, the Scissors Pincer, attached to Scissors' right arm.
Scissors made a snapping motion with his newly attached pincer before rushing at Ryuki and swinging the Scissors Pincer, sparks erupting as the claw gauntlet slashed across Ryuki's chest! Though the armor lessened the damage, Ryuki still fell to one knee in pain from the savage assault from both rider and Contract Monster. But he had no time to breathe as Scissors kept up his relentless attacks, forcing the exhausted Ryuki to move more and more with each attack. Things seemed pretty bad until a familiar face charged forward to block Scissors strike.
Ryuki had already braced for the end, but was shocked to see Kamen Rider Knight standing in front of him and holding back Scissors' claw with the Darkvisor! "Ren!"
"Figures you'd land trouble Kido." Knight stated plainly as he shoved Scissors back and took note of Volcancer bobbing up and down in frustration. "Two on two. I'd say the odds are even now."
"Four if we bring out our own monsters." Ryuki added as he got to his feet.
Knight turned his head to face Ryuki. "You should bail now. From what I saw, that giant enemy crab was laying a beating on you."
Beneath his helmet, Ryuki frowned. "Just needed some breathing room after the two of them ganged up on me. You know what this guy's called?"
"Kamen Rider Scissors." Knight answered as he pointed the Darkvisor at the enemy rider. "I've been following the disappearances in this area, and you managed to reveal the source. Maybe I'll take a thousand off your debt for your help."
"So you were out playing detective huh?" Ryuki asked as he got to his feet. "Well, you do kinda look like Batman."
Knight sighed. "If you can make dumb jokes, you're definitely in fighting shape. Now let's go Kido!"
Ryuki nodded, drew a card from his deck, and slotted it into his visor! "STRIKE VENT!"
The Dragclaw attached to Ryuki's right hand, and the combatants mounted another charge. Ryuki used the Dragclaw to spray a jet of flame at Scissors, forcing the crab rider to step back so the flames didn't cook him. Meanwhile, Knight was dealing with Volcancer, the crab monster's back shell providing just as much difficulty as it had during Ryuki's clash with the crab monster. Knight raised the Darkvisor to parry one of Volcancer's swings, but the humanoid crab used the swing as a feint to land a fierce strike with its other claw, striking Knight in the stomach and staggering the bat rider! Back with Ryuki and Scissors, the dragon rider appeared to have the advantage as he launched several fireballs from the Dragclaw to keep Scissors on the defensive. For an instant, it seemed like Scissors was going to retreat, Ryuki lowering his guard for a brief moment. But this proved to be a poor decision for Ryuki as Scissors jumped forward and struck Ryuki's left arm with the Scissors Pincer!
Ryuki looked over to Knight's fight against Volcancer and noticed his comrade was faring only slightly better than him. Knight had summoned the Winglancer and was keeping Volcancer back a decent distance. Every time the crab monster swung with its claws, Knight parried the swing with the Winglancer and used it to shove Volcancer back before capitalizing on the opening with a swift thrust of the Winglacer to Volcancer's exposed chest. Unfortunately, Knight couldn't gain much ground as Volcancer turned its back and used his armored shell to absorb the brunt of Knight's thrusts, jolting the bat rider long enough for Volcancer to ram him! Knight managed to recover quickly by using the Winglancer to prop himself up, but found himself on the defensive due to Volcancer's hammering strikes.
Back at Ryuki's fight against Scissors, the two were locked in a slugfest with both riders swinging away with their gauntlets, Scissors brutally swinging the Scissors Pincer in an attempt to clamp down on Ryuki while Ryuki threw fiery punches whenever Scissors got within striking range. Between the two riders, it was clear that Ryuki was faring poorer due to his earlier fight against Volcancer, a fact that Scissors capitalized on when Ryuki swung too hard with the Dragclaw leaving an opening. Scissors immediately kicked Ryuki in the side, sending the dragon rider sprawling to the ground in pain with Scissors looming over him and preparing to strike with the Scissor's Pincer!
Ryuki saw Scissors advancing towards him and braced for the worst, but was shocked when a pink blur rammed into Scissors and knocked the enemy rider into Volcancer, sending the pair sprawling. Both Ryuki and Knight were shocked to see yet another new Kamen Rider arrive on the scene. The new arrival dismounted from his own Contract Monster, a giant pink stingray with green eyes and a whip-like tail that hovered in the air after its partner dismounted. Once again, the new rider's armor shared similarities with his the monster he contract with. The rider's undersuit was black with black boots and pink leg bracers around the calves and forearms, a pink advent deck with the symbol of a stingray rested firmly within the rider's v-buckle. On the rider's left arm, a pink shield in the shape of a stingray was mounted. The armor portion of the rider's suit was pink as well, the chest plate possessing a gold ring around the rider's neck and the pauldrons resembling the fins of a stingray. Completing the armor was a helmet with a silver mouthpiece that had four wavy lines on it, a silver grill that had four wavy slits going over each eyepiece, and a ponytail at the back of the helmet which bore a striking resemblance to the stingray's tail.
Turning to face Ryuki, the new rider walked up to him, Ryuki tensing up as the new rider approached him. But to Ryuki's surprise, the new rider extended his hand, offering it for Ryuki to take.
"Can you stand?" The new rider asked.
Hesitantly, Ryuki nodded, still on-edge from Scissors' attack. "Y-Yeah. But what's stopping you from sucker punching me the second I take you hand?"
"Believe me when I say that I'm not your enemy." The rider said. "In fact, my goals are the same as yours: To change the fate of the Kamen Riders. But we won't be able to do that if we're dead, now will we?"
Ryuki shook his head, and took the new rider's hand before calling out to Knight. "Ren! Do you have anything that can buy us some time?"
"I do." Knight nodded as he drew a card from his advent deck. "Both of you cover your ears!"
"NASTY VENT!" The Darkvisor called out as Knight slotted in a card depicting Darkwing shrieking. Sure enough, Darkwing arrived and let out a sonic screech that made Volcancer and Scissors grip their heads in agony! Wanting to get in some good last hits, Knight slashed at Scissors with the Winglacer, sending the crab rider sprawling.
Seeing that it was now three against one, Scissors beat a hasty retreat with Volcancer following close behind. Once the enemy rider had departed, Knight made his way over to Ryuki and the new rider, giving a skeptical glare at the new arrival from beneath his helmet.
"Why'd you help us?" Knight demanded. "Almost everyone fighting in the Rider War is out for themselves to get the wish."
"Then I guess Ryuki and I are exceptions." The new rider answered. "But the Mirror World is no place for conversations. The longer we linger here, the greater the chances of Mirror Monsters swarming us. Would you mind continuing this conversation on the other side of the mirror? I can't blame you being suspicious of me, so I'll exit after one of you goes first."
"Fine." Knight nodded. "You go first, Kido."
"Right." With a nod, Ryuki made his way to the nearest mirror, jumping into it and returning to the real world before removing his advent deck from the v-buckle, the armor vanishing in red shards and revealing Shinji.
The next one to return to the real world was the new rider, who remained in his armor until Knight followed suit. Once the party was assembled, the new rider turned his attention to Shinji.
"I believe a reintroduction is on order, Shinji." The new rider said as he removed his advent deck, the armor vanishing in pink shards.
"No way!" Shinji gasped as the new rider revealed himself! "Tezuka?!"
"Miyuki Tezuka. Kamen Rider Raia." Tezuka greeted with a smile. "Pleased to meet you again."
"Guess there's no point in hiding my face either." Knight said as he removed his deck from the v-buckle, turning back into Ren as the armor vanished in dark blue shards.
Shinji shook his head to snap himself out of the shock that Tezuka was a rider, and proceeded to reintroduce himself. "Shinji Kido, Kamen Rider Ryuki. And the guy glaring at you is Ren, Kamen Rider Knight."
"Nice to meet you both." Tezuka nodded politely before returning his attention to Shinji. "I've been observing you since your first fight, Shinji. You've not been a Kamen Rider as long as Ren and I have, and it clearly shows in your latest battle."
"Yeah." Shinji sighed. "I guess I can't stop the fighting if I get knocked around so easily."
Tezuka gave a knowing smile. "Not with my help you won't. I predicted that fated encounters would help you grow Shinji. And I'm certain our meeting today was one such encounter."
"You'll help train me to master my deck?" Shinji asked hopefully.
"Without question." Tezuka smiled. "After all, my predictions aren't wrong."
Ren couldn't help but smirk at the excited expression on Shinji's face. "Looks like you finally made some headway in your goal Kido."
"Do you really think we can stop the fighting Tezuka?" Shinji asked.
"Shinji, there's something you have to understand." Tezuka stated solemnly. "Some riders are so committed to getting their wish granted and won't back out of fighting. But by no means should you stop trying to save them from their fate."
"Why would one wish drive them to that?" Shinji asked.
"Because there are no restrictions on what can be granted." Tezuka answered.
Shinji shook his head. "I don't believe that. It just sounds too good to be true. Besides, there's always some kind of catch to this kind of thing, right?"
"That's just a chance most riders are willing to take." Ren stated. "You saw that when you were fighting Scissors."
"Speaking of him, I think I have a lead on Scissors' identity." Shinji added. "The owner of the antique shop, Tomoyuki Kaga."
"Then it looks like we'll be having words with him soon." Tezuka noted. "But right now, I'd say we've seen enough action for one day. I'll see you both tomorrow."
With that, the trio of Kamen Riders went their separate ways, Shinji reflecting upon the warning Tezuka had given him.
'I wonder,' Shinji thought. 'What wishes do the other riders have that would make them go so far to see them granted?'