AN: Chapter revisions are updated. Sorry for the mixup.

Episode 15: The Next Stage

To say that the atmosphere at Atori Café this evening was tense would be an understatement. It was only a few minutes after Shinji had dropped by after work to inform his friends of the current situation at his workplace and the Rider War. Of how Kamen Rider Gai, aka Jun Shibaura, had usurped Shinji's old boss as the new head of ORE Journal and how he was using his position to keep Shinji from fighting Mirror Monsters. If Jun's behavior at the workplace wasn't bad enough, his attitude towards the Rider War was downright infuriating to the whole group. Yui had one of her hands clasped over her mouth in shock while Ren and Tezuka were scowling as Shinji told them about how carefree Jun was towards the Rider War and those unfortunate enough to be made meals for the Mirror Monsters.

"And there you have it." Shinji sighed. "The situation's already bad enough with Jun holding my coworkers hostage and trying to keep me from fighting so he can starve Dragreder. But it's made even worse because of the cards in his Advent Deck."

Tezuka raised an eyebrow in concern. "How so?"

"When I was fighting him, he inserted a card into his visor. Confine Vent." Shinji began. "I don't know what the image on the card is, but when he activated it the weapon in my hand vanished!"

"A card that can lock out Advent Cards that are already in use." Ren frowned. "Talk about annoying. And we've got no idea how many copies of it he has in his deck."

"That last part might not be an issue." Tezuka interjected. "If we use our decks as a basis, each Kamen Rider should hold at least one unique Advent Card."

Shinji slowly nodded his head. "You might be onto something there, Tezuka. I know that Kitaoka's got two Shoot Vents, and Abyss had a spare Contract card. I know my unique card is my Strike Vent and Ren's is his Nasty and Trick Vent cards. But then again, the unique cards are probably in our decks solely because of the monsters we're contracted to. For all we know, Jun could have more than one copy of Confine Vent in his deck."

"Then perhaps we can use that to our advantage." Tezuka smiled.

Shinji's eyes lit up and Ren smirked at Tezuka's implied strategy, the two of them quickly catching on to Tezuka's implied strategy.

"Good thing we've got a game plan going ahead." Shinji sighed in relief before a thoughtful expression crept onto his face. "Say, all this talk of cards has got me thinking: What's the maximum capacity for the Advent Decks?"

"That's… actually a good question, Kido." Ren furrowed his brow in thought. "Your deck and mine both have five cards, Tezuka's has four, and Kitaoka's has six. And with Abyss's updated arsenal, he's got seven cards."

"I believe three cards might be the absolute minimum." Tezuka stated. "Advent and Final Vent are standard for every Kamen Rider."

Shinji nodded. "Plus a single, dinky weapon card if my time as Blank Rider was anything to go by."

"We can speculate the max capacity of our Advent Decks another day." Ren sighed. "Right now, the most important thing is getting some rest. Fighting while exhausted is a surefire way for us to get taken out."

Tezuka nodded in agreement. "True. Besides, we've put our strategy together. Let's hope it serves us well in the coming battle."

"Yeah." Shinji yawned. "Well, g'night guys. See you all on the other side of the mirrors soon."

Each Rider went their separate ways, but they all had the same common thoughts as they turned in for the night. How would they be able to stop Gai without any of ORE Journal's staff being caught in the crossfire? As he drove back to his apartment, Shinji saw Dragreder flying in the Mirror World via the windows he passed. The dragon periodically glancing back at Shinji as he journeyed home.

'I wonder if he follows me to work, too.' Shinji thought with a smile. 'He must have been worried since I didn't get home at my usual time. Tezuka wasn't kidding when he said Riders and their Contract Monsters could form bonds. Just how much closer is Dragreder going to come to being a pet as opposed to an attack dog? Well, in any case, I'm happy to know he's got my back. And I've got his too.'

Before long, Shinji had arrived at his apartment. He was so tired from the day's events that he didn't even bother brushing his teeth before heading to bed.

"Jun's going to be difficult to handle on both sides of the mirrors." Shinji muttered to himself as he slipped on his sleeping clothes. "Maybe I should give Kitaoaka a call tomorrow before leaving. Ren'll probably give me grief about it, but something tells me our resident super-lawyer will be willing to lend a hand."

A low purr made Shinji turn his head towards the nearest window. In it, he saw Dragreder's head poking out, looking at him expectantly. Shinji gave his dragon a tired smile and patted him on the head.

"Don't worry. I'll be alright, buddy." Shinji chuckled. "You get some rest too. The battles ahead of us are going to be pretty tough."

As Shinji drifted off to sleep, Dragreder retreated into the Mirror World. Landing at the top of the building which held Shinji's apartment, Dragreder scanned for any Mirror Monsters that were on the prowl. Much to his pleasure, all seemed quiet. Pleased that his master and territory were safe, Dragreder coiled himself up and joined his master in peaceful slumber.

Inevitably, morning arrived and Shinji faced the day with determination. While there might not have been anything special about his morning routine, the monotony of it was a small comfort to Shinji. Since joining the Rider War, moments of calm, mundane, routine life were looked upon with greater appreciation.

"There's no telling how much things will escalate in the future." Shinji thought to himself as he got dressed. "But those are worries for later. The best thing to do is focus on the battle in front of me. Speaking of which,"

Shinji grabbed his phone and was about to open his contacts section, but was surprised when his phone began ringing. Curious as to who could be calling him right now, Shinji answered. The voice at the other end of the call surprised him.

"Glad to see you're a morning person, Shinji. Though with our job, that's a requirement."

"Reiko?!" Shinji sputtered. "N-Not that it isn't nice to hear from you, but what's got you calling me right after I wake up?"

"I've got some important news for you concerning the change of ownership at ORE." Reiko answered. "And I brought in someone who just might be able to help us. They're willing to discuss things over breakfast today, and they wanted you to be present. I asked if you'd be welcome to join, and they were quite agreeable to that request. In fact, I'd say they were looking forward to it."

"Looks like I don't have to worry about breakfast, then." Shinji smiled. "So where's the address? I'll be right over."

"I'll send it to you once we end this call." Reiko said. "And Shinji? You standing up for the chief and Nanako the other day was really something."

"That was nothing special." Shinji chuckled. "I just don't like bullies. See you soon."

Shinji hung up and immediately threw on the last of his outfit for the day.

'Whoever Reiko got to help us, I hope they're good.' Shinji thought as he exited his apartment and mounted his bike. 'Looks like I won't have to make a call to Kitaoka. He'd probably ask for a date with Reiko as payment for his services. I know he's not a bad guy, but I wouldn't want to put Reiko through something that she wouldn't want to be a part of.'

Upon his arrival to the restaurant, Shinji soon realized his call would have been futile. The minute he was inside, Shinji spotted Reiko's table. And sitting right next to her was Kitaoka. Noticing Shinji's arrival, the super-lawyer smiled.

"Shinji!" Kitoaka greeted warmly. "So glad you could make it!"

"When Reiko said she got us help, I didn't know she'd gotten us one of the best in the business." Shinji said with a shaky smile. It wasn't that he was unhappy to see Kitaoka, but he never expected Reiko to call the lawyer for help. "But, isn't our case not something in your skillset?"

"Ah. I suppose I should bring you up to speed on how lawyers of my position work." Kitaoka nodded in understanding. "I work for my own firm, Shinji. So I'll be free to take up your case. And I can promise you, you'll receive the same stellar service I provide for my most high-caliber clients."

"Even when you accept his help, he can't resist advertising himself." Reiko sighed. But the smile on her face betrayed her annoyance. "But at least he's honest about his skill. That's the whole reason I called him. Because he should be able to us oust Jun for ORE."

"Not 'should', Reiko." Kitaoka said with a level of sincerity that surprised Shinji and Reiko. "I will help you get your news site back. You have my word."

"I'm… happy to see you're taking this seriously." Reiko said with a slight blush on her face. "Anyway, Shinji, I know you, Chief Okubo and Nanako are all conducting your own efforts to try and bring down Jun. Why else would he bring you all to a private place to talk away from prying eyes? ORE Journal's dear to me, too, and I felt that I had to do my part to help. To tell you the truth, you standing up to Jun inspired me a bit."

"Good to know I'm a positive influence." Shinji smiled. "But, quick question, how much is Kitaoka's help going to bankrupt us?"

Kitaoka chuckled. "You misunderstand, Shinji. I've already been paid. The time with Reiko this morning is more than I could ask for."

"No bleeding of wallets. Good." Shinji sighed in relief. "Reiko. We're all grateful for your sacrifice."

Reiko smirked. "Oh, it wasn't that bad. Kitaoka can hold a pleasant conversation when he's not flirting obnoxiously."

"Oooh!" Kitaoka clutched his heart in mock pain. "Truly, the tongue is mightier than the sword!"

"You'll live. Especially since people talk bad about you on a daily basis." Reiko giggled. "By the way, Shinji, is there a connection between Jun and those masked figures fighting death matches? I mean, the chief sends you to investigate those sightings, and the day after Jun usurps him as the owner of ORE Journal? There's got to be some kind of connection."

"Trust me, there is." Shinji sighed in frustration. "Jun's the mastermind behind the whole thing. He said so the night I investigated those sightings."

Reiko almost bolted up from her seat. "He is?! Shinji, this is great!"

"Not as great as you might think." Shinji sadly mentioned. "Jun could easily just dismiss it."

Kitaoka sighed. "As much as I hate to take the wind out of your sails, he's right, Reiko. In order for us to have a good chance of locking up Mr. Shibaura, we need something more concrete. Not to mention, a charge like that is an entirely different matter. One they would need another lawyer's services for as I'm only assisting you to either sue Jun, or defend you if he tries to drag you all down."

"Nanako might be able to help with the latter bit." Shinji interjected. "She's scrubbing through ORE's database every chance she gets. Hopefully she can find something big. People like Jun tend to have egos that overshadow what sense they have. Especially if his bragging that he's behind the deathmatches is anything to go by."

"Well, it's good to know we're not completely up the creek without a paddle." Reiko slumped her shoulders slightly. "I need to use the restroom. Would you two excuse me for a bit?" A nod from both Shinji and Kitaoka was all the answer Reiko needed. With her gone, it was just the two Riders at the table.

"It's funny." Shinji mused. "I was about to call you this morning to see if you could help me out. I was even prepared to talk Reiko into spending some time for you as compensation for your assistance. But it looks like she thought ahead of me."

"Or you just learned really well from her example." Kitaoka chuckled before adopted a serious expression. "And it's easy to see why you're taking this situation so hard. It's all too similar to the Rider War, isn't it?" Shinji was silent, but the look on his face spoke volumes.

"I thought as much. You can rest assured that ORE Journal will still be standing with me on the job. And I have many connections in the legal world, so I'll be sure to get someone who will put Jun away for a good while."

"You sound so serious, Kitaoka." Shinji asked with a puzzled look on his face. "Jun's a rich guy, your favorite type of client. One who'd pay through the nose to win a case. I thought for certain you'd be more than willing to take up his side in all this. Especially if we were to get him arrested."

Kitaoka let out a heavy sigh before looking at Shinji with a determined look in his eyes. The intensity coming from the lawyer almost made Shinji stumble out of his chair.

"It's no secret that I've defended some shady people in the past." Kitaoka began. "That's something I'll never try to hide. However, no matter how much money they have, I refuse to represent people like Jun. The core reason for that is my morals, Shinji. Loose as they are, I do have them. What Jun is doing? It's sick and it needs to be stopped. Death isn't something you can just walk off or fix by making back money you lost."

"I thought you loved human desire?" Shinji questioned.

Kitaoka's face hardened as his mind flashed back to one particular client that he'd turned down. One that, not for all the money in the world, he would ever consider defending. In fact, the current usurper of Shinji's workplace reminded Kitaoka all too much of that rejected client. It might not have been a complete resemblance, but the fact there was resemblance at all was upsetting enough.

"I wouldn't call Jun or his desire human." Kitaoka muttered to himself with a scowl.

Shinji blinked in confusion. "Did you say something Kitaoka?"

"Hm? No, nothing." Kitaoka waved off Shinji's inquiry. "Just figuring out how best to deal with your problem."

Shinji sighed. "Well, I should tell you that my problem's worse than you could think."

"How could it be worse?" Kitaoka asked. "You've got the sick mastermind of a bunch of deathmatches hijacking your news site via blackmail all for his twisted amusement."

"He's also a Kamen Rider." Shinji said flatly. "His name is Gai, and he's had my co-workers held hostage ever since he took over. One wrong move, and they could all be rhino chow. Not to mention, he's got a card that can cancel out any Advent Card already in use. Couple with the fact he's a computer wiz and he's threatening to leak our subscribers' info, I'd say my situation is pretty bad."

Kitaoka was dumbfounded. "God, Shinji… why didn't you tell me about this sooner?!"

"I didn't expect him to be such a sore loser that he'd take it upon himself to try and make my life miserable." Shinji snapped. "Trust me, I feel bad enough about the whole situation already. The fact is, I can't change what's already happened, but at least I can make things right in the here and now."

"Okay, okay." Kitaoka sighed before a small smirk crept onto his face. "You know, maybe this isn't all that bad. I managed to score some time with Reiko, and you've learned some valuable information regarding the enemy."

"Trust me, I know." Shinji chuckled. "Tezuka taught me to take whatever positives I can out of a bad situation. If I'd never met him, I'm pretty sure I'd be floundering my way through the Rider War right now."

Kitaoka nodded. "Well, as nice as this chat is, we'd better order. From what Reiko told me, Jun's made your workplace unbearable."

"I'm just thankful he hasn't had us tear down the site just to rebuild it to suit his tastes." Shinji grumbled as he perused his menu.

"Hope I didn't miss out on anything." Reiko said as she rejoined the table. "Kitaoka didn't ask for any dating advice regarding me, did he?"

Kitaoka chuckled. "If you hadn't come to me Ms. Momoi, I would've made that the price of my assistance had Shinji called me."

"Even then, I couldn't give you any guarantee that my advice would work." Shinji smirked. "Chances are, you'd just get shot down again."

Kitaoka mimed getting shot in the heart, making Reiko giggle.

"The two of you have a friendship no one would expect." Reiko stated with an amused smile.

Shinji rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, well, fighting for your life with someone tends to build a bond pretty fast."

"Too true." Kitaoka nodded. "Enough talk of the past, though. Time to enjoy the moment! Specifically, the food we're about to dine on. My treat!"

'Famous last words, Kitaoka.' Shinji thought with a nervous smile as he noted the gleam in Reiko's eyes at Kitaoka declaration. In that instant, Shinji knew Reiko would be gunning for the most expensive item on the menu. It wouldn't be enough to empty Kitaoka's wallet, but Shinji couldn't help but let out a mental sigh as Reiko took advantage of Kitaoka's offer.

'I wonder if Kitaoka knows what Reiko just did to him.' Shinji thought as he munched on a piece of bacon. 'But even if he did, I doubt he'd care. He's probably happy to just have Reiko's attention.'

Breakfast was a short-lived affair despite Kitaoka's efforts at flirting with Reiko, and before long Shinji and Reiko were headed back to the office. Thankfully, Jun was holed up in his office, probably playing on his phone or one a portable console if Shinji had to guess. But before Shinji could sit down at his desk, he was pulled aside by Nanako.

"Shinji, could I talk to you for a moment?" Nanako whispered as she clutched her personal laptop tightly. Something she did only when she was incredibly nervous.

"Sure." Shinji nodded. "Let's head to the breakroom."

Once the two were inside, Nanako immediately locked the door, panic in her eyes.

"You know how Chief Okubo asked me to scrub through ORE's mainframe?" Nanako began. "Well, I found something that definitely doesn't belong there."

Shinji's expression hardened. "Is it the virus Jun's using to hold our site hostage?"

"Sure is." Nanako nodded. "But that's not the worst part. Have a look at this. It's ORE's next edition that's slated to be released."

Shinji leaned forward as Nanako opened up her laptop and pulled up the file in question. At first glance it looked the same, but what caught Shinji's attention was the additional attachment embedded into the edition.

"Jun added an extra file to the edition that's going to be sent out." Nanako explained. "He said it was a little game he created as a gift for all our subscribers." Nanako then clicked on the extra file. "Look familiar to you?"

Shinji's eyes widened in horror. Attached to ORE's next edition was a copy of the game that the members of Matrix Netgame Club had been playing. The same one that had prompted them to participate in deathmatches just for the sake of a brief thrill.

"It's something I wish I'd never seen." Shinji growled as he clenched his fists.

Nanako nodded. "I can't blame you. But that's not the worst of it. This game? It's got the same virus in it that Jun's using to blackmail us. If he orders the next edition to be sent out, he'll compromise the digital safety of all our subscribers!"

"Can you do anything about it?" Shinji asked in a serious tone.

"Leave it to me." Nanako smirked as he pushed up her glasses. "I owe that jerk for disparaging my tech skills. Nothing would make me happier than dismantling his plans with a little virus of my own!"

'Still… ' Shinji gave the screen one last glance. 'Even if we can use the virus as evidence, I don't know how we're going to lock up Jun. Chances are that whatever computer he used to make the virus, he's scrubbed it to eliminate any ties to himself. We need something more concrete, but for now this will have to do.'

"Make sure to left Chief Okubo know about this." Shinji said. "And Nanako? Good work. You've really done your part."

Nanako beamed at the praise. "Thanks, Shinji! I'm sure you've been doing your part, too."

'Oh, trust me.' Shinji thought with a determined look on his face. 'I'm definitely going to get a solid hit on him soon.'

The rest of the workday went by smoothly, save for Jun stopping just to smugly look down on everyone once in a while, and Shinji was soon on his way to Atori Café to inform Ren, Yui, and Tezuka of the situation.

"Too bad the lawyer's not lending a hand in the fight." Ren groaned. "Chances are his firepower could put a good dent in Gai's armor."

Tezuka cupped his chin in thought. "Not if Gai locks up his entire arsenal. We still have no idea how many copies of Confine Vent he has."

"Yeah." Shinji sighed. "It's not like we can just poke at him to see how many he has."

Upon hearing this, Tezuka's eyes lit up. "Actually, maybe we can. Shinji, you just gave me an idea. It might be risky, but that's how every battle in the Rider War is."

"What've you got in mind, Tezuka?"

Tezuka smiled. "A strategy for the upcoming boss battle."

AN: Hey everyone! This chapter took a lot longer to get done simply due to pacing. Initially, I wanted to make this the chapter where Gai got thrashed, but I figured that might be a bit too soon and make for too long of a chapter. I never pay attention to word count. Rather, I focus on the content/plot and whether there's enough of it to consider a chapter complete. I hope that such is the case for this latest episode, so please be sure to tell me in the reviews. Your feedback gives this story life. I thought it'd be more satisfying to see Gai come crashing down when he believes he's untouchable. And let's face it, we all want to see him throw a hissy fit when his sick little game gets its plug pulled. That'll come next chapter. I hope things are moving along at a comfortable pace. A filler chapter or two will be coming up after Gai's defeat, and you just might see another encounter between Shinji and a certain swan rider. Either that, or a chapter on Kitaoka (Tezuka's gotten a good share of screentime. Let the gunslinger have a shot at the spotlight!) Anywho, sorry for being so late, and thank you all for being my followers. I wouldn't be here without all of you.