I do not own Xenoblade Chronicles X or Kamen Rider. Those rights belong to Monolith Soft and Toei respectively.


Cross slowly opened his eyes to see that he was floating in some kind of chamber filled with liquid. He quickly recognized where he was: the Mimeosome Repair Center. And he was in one of the healing pods.

He looked around his outer surroundings to find a worker nearby. He tapped on the glass to get her attention. After doing so, she quickly approached his pod and drained the liquid before opening it.

"Are you alright?" the worker asked, helping him up.

"Yeah… I'm fine." Cross responded as he got up…. And realized he was wearing only his underwear.

"I'll inform the staff and your designated acquaintances about your recovery…. I'll get you some new clothes as well." the worker said before running off in a huff.


Cross sat in a meeting room, fully clothed. After answering some questions from the staff about his condition and how he ended up in such a terrible state before, he was told to wait in the room while some of his close acquaintances arrived. Apparently, several of them asked to be notified as soon as he woke up.

After waiting for what felt like forever, he finally saw some familiar faces enter the room: his teammates Elma and Lin along with the team's Nopon, Tatsu.

"Cross! Thank God you're alive!" Lin said as she ran to hug him.

"Indeed." Elma said with relief, before her face turned fierce "Now about your recent escapades…"

"Elma wait, he's still recovering-" Lin said.

"Recovering or not Lin, he needs to hear this." Elma interrupted her. "Based on the reports I've heard, you've nearly gotten yourself killed because you were being reckless. Again. You ran straight into the enemy's trap and nearly paid with your life. How many times do we have to have this conversation, Rook? You cannot afford to rush into everything and think you'll be fine, because numerous instances have shown otherwise. We cannot afford BLADE soldiers to act reckless and undisciplined, knowing that we have limited time and resources in securing the Lifehold Core before we all shutdown when that number reaches zero. You should have known better, yet time and time again, you have shown that you learn absolutely nothing from these near death experiences!"

Cross rubbed the back of his neck, knowing how badly he messed up. Tatsu silently patted him on the back.

Elma rubbed her temples. "I know I'm coming off as stringent right now, but I am frustrated by how you don't seem to take anything I say seriously regarding these kinds of incidents."

"Hey, lay off the guy, Elma. He didn't know he was being set up." an approaching voice said outside the room.

The unknown voice soon made himself known by entering the room. It was Frye. Accompanying him was his brother, Phog.

"Heya Cross. Good to see you still alive." Frye said with a wave.

"Frye? Phog? What are you two doing here?" Cross asked.

"We came to check up on you. We got here as soon as the staff notified us that you were alive and well." Phog responded.

"Why did the staff notify you guys in particular?" Cross said.

"Well, who do you think rescued you from Beasts' Lair?" Frye said, before showing off his Rider Belt.

"Wait, you two are Riders too?" Cross said in shock.

Phog nodded. "Frye and I decided to participate in Dr. Ubara's Masked Rider research to earn some credits. I was given the KickHopper Zecter, while Frye was given the PunchHopper Zecter."

"Speaking of which…" Frye said before Ubara ran into the room, arms full of miscellaneous gear.

"Are we safe?" Ubara asked.

"Sure are, Ubara. This place is secured real well. And I don't think anyone tailed us." Frye responded.

"Good." Ubara sighed in relief. "It is good to see that you are well, Cross."

"Thanks. I can tell you were in a hurry."

"I made sure to bring the appropriate items with me and keep them hidden. Such as your repaired Rider Belt and the Kabuto Zecter itself."

Ubara presented the Zecter. It soon activated on its own and flew across the room before landing on Cross' hand.

"Looks like he missed you." Phog said.

"Yeah…." Cross said as he observed the Zecter before turning his attention back to Ubara, Frye, and Phog. "So, what brings you guys here? I'm guessing there's more things to discuss other than just a personal check up."

"Indeed." Ubara started. "We came here to update you on events while you were knocked out. After you had told me about the antagonistic Rider who attacked you, I sent Frye and Phog to your location to help you. But alas, you were already beaten, so the two had to just retrieve you and the Kabuto Zecter before retreating back to New LA. After some reviewing, it appears that 3 of our Zecters were stolen: TheBee, Drake, and Sasword. The three criminals who attacked you somehow got ahold of these stolen Zecters and are now using them for nefarious means. I suspect there might be a mole in our operations that gave them the Zecters in the first place…"

"Do you have any clue where the three are right now?"

"Nada." Frye said. "Me n' Phog confronted them out in Mira once or twice while you were out, but we couldn't track them down. All we have to go off of are their faces." Frye pulled up his communicator before showing Cross what they look like, with one of them being familiar.

"Gadd…." Cross muttered.

Phog nodded. "We suspect that he's after Ubara's research because one of the devices worked on was collaborated with Professor B. Gadd and his accomplices probably think that by getting ahold of that work, they'll finally be able to use it for time travel purposes."

"He probably attacked you because he thought the Kabuto Zecter was the thing he was looking for. Which, by the way, isn't." Frye said.

"The real piece of hardware that Professor B helped with is locked away somewhere secure. I've made sure of it." Ubara said.

"But wait, if you guys are here, then who's guarding the lab?" Cross said.

"The Murderess is." Phog said bluntly.

"You're joking…" Lin said.

"It's true. Absolutely true. Little Miss Heiress decided to join in on the research project too, for the extra money of course. Right now, she's stationed right in front of the lab. And she's quite the effective guard dog." Frye said.

"I see." Elma said. "And how will you be going about dealing with the miscreants?"

"I received a threatening message from them." Ubara said, shaking. "Telling me that if I don't hand over what they're looking for, then I'll be dead within days."

"We're still trying to come up with a plan on how to take care of this." Phog explained.

Cross thought back to the earlier interaction he had with the man he saw while he was unconscious.

In order to defeat them, you must smoke them out.

"Smoke them out…" Cross muttered.

"Did you say something?" Lin said.

"I think I have an idea on how to smoke Gadd and his goons out of hiding." Cross explained.

"If the plan has you getting involved, then forget it. We can't afford to have you out on the battlefield while you're still recovering." Elma retorted.

"I'm as healthy as can be right now. I gotta redeem myself for this somehow, Elma. Plus, with enough planning, we'll be able to take them down without issue. No reckless moves."

Elma sighed, before continuing. "Fine. What did you have in mind?"

"Well…" Cross started.

For the next few hours, Cross and the others discussed the plan and what needed to be done.