[Author's Note: Okay, I'm gonna preface this now as a warning… This is by far the darkest chapter I've written for this fic]


My eyes were fixed on the Malefik Driver as it dug into my yukata.

"Don't worry. I just want to talk." Souta… No… Yudai said.

"What did you-" I tried to speak up before Yudai held my mouth.

"Sshh sshhh sssshhh… Don't disturb the others… Would be a shame," he revealed a silver Essen Crystal in his hand, "if someone were to get in our way." I eyed the crystal, then to him.

"What did you do to Souta?" I harshly whispered.

"Relax, dad. You really think I'm that cruel to kill him in front of you?" There was a pause as he smirked. "No, no, I am, but I had to restrain myself."


KICKING BURST!

Yudai saw Hoshi leap into the air and go into a Rider Kick without even transforming into Dante.

"ORIYAAAAH!" Hoshi screamed out as Yudai loaded a bullet into the Malefik Driver.

TELEBULLET!

He pressed it up against Souta's head and fired just as he felt Hoshi's kick on his chest. The smoke shot out of the gun just as the kick exploded into an inferno. The last thing Yudai saw before the flames blocked out his vision was Souta successfully going into the smoke.


"Don't fret, father. Souta is fine. A good friend of mine is keeping a close eye on him as we speak. She's very fun when you get to know her." As Yudai said that, I began to tremble, not just because I knew exactly who Yudai was talking about, but the fact that he had been working with her this whole time…


Souta slowly stirred awake. To his surprise, he had been resting on a bed. A high quality, soft bed at that. As he got out of bed, he looked at his surroundings. It appeared to be the penthouse of a five-star hotel. He went to the large window that encompassed the whole of Shibuya and saw the now broken Shibuya Crossing, illuminated by the lights of construction vehicles.

"The night's lovely, huh?" Souta immediately tensed up as he heard the perky yet haunting voice of someone he thought he'd never see again. What didn't help were the soft jingles of bells. "You were out like a light!" Souta looked over and jumped as he saw Magane's face. "It's been a while since I got to talk to the actual you face-to-face." And yet, Magane simply talked and ate a churro as though she was an old friend of his.

"W-wait… The actual me?" Souta immediately knew what she meant considering how the last time he was conscious, he was facing his fabricated self. Magane giggled before handing Souta a churro.

"Want some?"


CINDER FALL


"How the hell did you and Magane become partners?" I asked Yudai.

"Simple… She's attached to the boy I'm forced to imitate and mistook me for him. Surprisingly, we share something in common," Yudai pressed the Malefik Driver into my stomach, "we find it quite entertaining when you explode." As he said that, I remembered what Shimashima said…

"If anything, you should thank Souta. He's the one who suggested it."

"No… This vacation…" I muttered as Yudai turned me around to see my friends and family at the dinner.

"Precisely! It's all just to get us front row seats to the slow and inevitable destruction of everyone you held dear. Just between you and me," Yudai leaned in to whisper, "this isn't the only Essen Crystal I have… I slipped another one into one of their drinks… I wonder who will be unlucky enough to ingest it…" I began to tremble uncontrollably as I watched with trepidation, the pit in my stomach making the rice I ate feel like lead.


"Huh, it looks like Souta and Hoshi are hitting it off." Marine said as she observed the two looking at the table from the balcony.

"I've been meaning to ask… How does Souta know Hoshi? Never really got a chance to know him at the university." Honoka asked.

"Well, they met over at that mobile game convention we went to." Akagi said.

"Oh yeah!" Honoka smiled as she looked at Souta and Hoshi seemingly talking. "It's good to know Hoshi has friends here. That said… How come he hasn't talked about him? I know about his friendship with Setsuna but…"

"… That's because Souta knew Setsuna as well and…" Marine wasn't sure how exactly to talk to her about what Souta shared with her and the others. Honoka, as well as most of the people at this table, were out of the loop in regards to his involvement.

On one hand, it might be better for Souta to explain it, but on the other hand, considering how heartbroken he was regaling the tale to them all, as well as just how devastating it was when he repeated it to Hoshi, it might have been better to spare him the burden.

"He did something to Setsuna that he regretted and he distanced himself from her and Hoshi as a result. It wasn't until recently that they've begun talking to each other." Marine said.

"He seemed rather important enough for Hoshi to go out of his way just to save though," Honoka frowned, "I guess that's because he's Hoshi's only other friend…" Honoka took a sip from her cup. "I guess this whole Kamen Rider thing has one good thing about it…" She looked around to see everyone at the table. "He has all of you guys now, so that doesn't seem to be the case anymore…" Honoka gave a smile. Though, there was a long pause.

"Maybe…" Dan was the one who broke the awkward silence. "But look at us… We're either celebrities or Creations. Meeting us like this would be a dream come true, right?" Honoka nodded as she looked to Marine, who fretted. "But eventually, that dream will end. I don't really know a lot about what's going on outside of the fact that we're writing stories to counter this massive threat but… Once that threat's dealt with, what happens next?" Dan asked.

Marine wasn't sure of this herself, and she was one of the initial Creators brought into Special Disaster Case 105. What will happen to the group once Altair was defeated? What will happen to the Creations? Will they all just… leave? Marine decided not to think any further and drink from her cup, unaware of a sparkling blue crystal inside the drink. Though, once it was inside her throat…

She began to choke.

"Marine, are you okay?" Honoka asked as she noticed Marine coughing.


"You know something funny?" Yudai asked me as I saw Marine seemingly choking on something she drank… No… It was the Essen Crystal…

I tried to get to her, but Yudai grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

"In all my time spent being an enforcer to Vega and recruiting Kaizo-Majin, I've never seen what happens to someone when they ingest an Essen Crystal. Would they just transform into a Kaizo-Majin like normal or would something more sinister happen? I don't think you've thought of what would happen either. You never really thought about any of us outside of just being faceless mobs. But that's the wonderful thing about this worthless yoke you're protecting… It will fill in the holes for you… So… Let's watch together, shall we?"

I could see Marine try her hardest to get the Essen Crystal out of her throat, with Shindou attempting the Heimlich maneuver. It's clear that they didn't know it was an Essen Crystal. Even the people who had experience seeing someone turn into a Kaizo-Majin, like Yuichi or Dan, wouldn't have realized Marine was transforming into one…

"Holopsicon: Drowning Cry of the Aether... Beyond the Sea." Once the voice of Vega called out the identity of the Essen Crystal, though, they immediately realized what happened…

But it was too late.

Water began to flow out of Marine's body until it completely engulfed her. The water then exploded, knocking everyone away as Marine was replaced by a large bumblebee outfitted in heavy duty navy metal, almost akin to a submarine. The bee's head cutely stuck out of the heavy, yellow lined armor as though it was trying to squeeze out of it. The bee-themed Kaizo-Majin's right arm was a large harpoon-like stinger. I could hear Marine's screams inside the monster as it aimed its harpoon at Kotoha. As she fired, Yuichi leaped into the way.

"HENSHIN!" Yuichi encased himself in ice, which tanked the blow and caused the harpoon to be stuck into the ice. It broke apart as Yuichi, now as Verge, grabbed the stinger and pulled Marine towards him.

"Hmph… You have quite a collection of heroes…" Yudai muttered as Hikayu and Melt transformed into their Magical Slayer costumes as Akagi got out his figurine. "They're going to ruin the big moment…" Yudai turned to one of the capybaras that still hadn't moved from the springs and tossed the crystal he had at them. It hit the capybara's side and slowly inserted itself into the creature.

"Holopsicon, Scraping Steel of the Aether: Heavy Metal." The capybara squealed as blades came out of its body. It then grew to about six and a half feet and began to stand on its hind legs. Its fur grew and became almost like the pelt of a sabretooth tiger's, its buck teeth even changing to that of the titular tiger's fang-like teeth.

"Isn't this exciting, father?! You never wrote about an animal becoming a Kaizo-Majin before!" Yudai said as the capybara's squeals soon became human-like screams of pain as several more blades began to grow out of its shoulders and arms. I couldn't help but watch as the monster was born right in front of me, looking at me with bloodthirst.

"Party's at the table, go there." Yudai told it as he snapped his fingers. Its attention was now on the submarine bee as it rushed forward. At that same time, Durants busted in through the door. "There, that shall give us plenty of time to ourselves while I sort out some issues with you."

"Why… Why are you doing this?" I asked Yudai.

"You need to be more specific…" Yudai chortled.

"Marine and that capybara have nothing to do with this! Why turn them into monsters?!" I wailed.

"It's like I said. You never put a lot of thought into the creation of a Kaizo-Majin. You just create them so that you can beat them up. Though, this just left me curious as to what these crystals would do in different scenarios. Vega would never let me do this on my own, but Magane? She gave me a blank cheque for the suffering you'd endure." Yudai said as I could see Marine attempting to fire at Honoka now, only for Melt and Hikayu to shoot her with hearts. That was when the sabertoothed capybara came in and cut into Hikayu with its arm blades.

"There's something I managed to figure out with these transformations. If a person willingly takes an Essen Crystal, they have a better chance of retaining their sanity. And one who is turned into one without their knowhow? Well, as you can see, she can't even see that the people she's firing at are her friends." Yudai continued to speak as Akagi, now transformed into Akiba Red, battled Saber Serval by keeping his distance away and continually firing at it to draw its attention. Meanwhile, Marine Hachi took on Melt and Hikayu. Honoka was busy getting Shindou up before she looked to me.

"I think I know why this is the way the Kaizo-Majin act. So you don't have to feel bad when you're beating up a Kaizo-Majin. Either they consented to being a monster and embraced the evils they could commit, or they're just a victim of circumstance who you must put out of their misery. Either way, you ensure that, after you defeat the Kaizo-Majin, there'd be no blood on your hands." Yudai said.

"W-what!? What are you talking about? I don't kill the Kaizo-Majin!" I told him. Honoka wanted to get to me, but Marine Hachi knocked Hikayu into her, both falling onto the ground.

"But you did. All those Kaizo-Majin back in my world... They had no lives outside of the flimsy backstory you gave them just before you executed them." Yudai said. He seemed to have noticed Honoka too. As Honoka got up, she screamed out my name. I was afraid of responding, since Yudai could easily shoot her.

"Executed… No! That wasn't me! I'm not Hotaro!" I told him.

"Hotaro? No, I am talking to Hotaro. The real Hotaro, not the idealized version who spouts nonsense about justice. The Hotaro who could have saved Yuna but chose not to. The Hotaro who decided to create a punching bag out of somebody he hated just because of how they hurt Yuna, exaggerating all their worst qualities in the process…" Yudai tossed me across the floor right into the dining room. Honoka got to me and looked at Yudai. "Do you get it yet, dad? You made me this way… YOU MADE ME THIS WAAAAY!" Yudai screamed as he loaded the Malefik Driver into his belt.

RE… SHOCKER!

"Wait… That's not…" Honoka muttered.

"NOW IT'S YOUR TURN TO DIE!" Yudai shouted as he pulled the Malefik Driver off of his belt. "SINFUL CHANGE!" He didn't bother to spin the revolver like a guitar, rather he quickly spun it with the back of his hand and pointed at us, pulling the trigger. "FIRE!"

ENERGIZING THE HATE! UNLEASH THE POWERS OF HELL! DARK FIRE! MALACODA!

I shielded Honoka as the flaming lion head exploded from the barrel. It went close to me as I could feel its scorching radiance, though it flew right back to Yudai and devoured him to create his armor. The scorpion crawled down his helmet before slamming its crystalline claws on the helmet to make its eyes and antenna.

"Hoshi…" Honoka quickly took the Volcannik Driver out of her purse and handed it to me.

"Thanks." I slapped it on my waist as the belt wrapped around me. I then pulled out the gun and, taking a bullet out of a side container that materialized with the belt, loaded it in.

FIREFLY SHELL!

"I thank you for providing father the means to fight me on even footing… But alas, you're no longer needed." Yudai held up his hand and flicked it. I didn't realize until it was too late that it was yet another Essen Crystal. I watched it zip past me as I saw Honoka stand up right in its path. It struck her right at her throat, sinking right into her skin.

"HONOKA!" I shouted as she backed away, clutching her own body in pain before I could feel wind emanate from her body.

"Holopsicon, Airy Flight of the Aether… Blue Sky." Vega's voice once more echoed as Honoka's body broke apart, revealing a dark green cheetah with currents of golden wind swirling around her wrists and ankles. Yudai pointed to the battle going on behind her as Honoka rushed over to attack Hikayu. I trembled, my skin growing cold. This was supposed to be a moment for me to relax but now… It was hell.

I tried to run in to help the others, but then flaming bullets struck my shoulder.

"Don't you run from me, father! I have waited far too long to get my revenge!" Yudai said. I gritted my teeth and turned to Yudai.

"I won't forgive you for this… SONODA YUDAI! HENSHIN!" I pointed my gun at him and fired.

PASSION FIRE!

The bullet I fired split apart as a bright red light representing a firefly came out and flew towards me. As it hit me, it became my armor as the casings became my vents, completing my transformation into Dante.

"So long as the flames of passion burn inside me… I'll crush you! Kamen Rider… Dante!" I said before I fired at him.


"What did you just call me?" Shimashima asked Tachibana. He didn't sound angry, but rather curious.

"…" Tachibana quickly went in front of the door to block a possible escape. "This whole time… You're…" Tachibana glared at Shimashima. It had been 10 years since he last saw his father, so his memory of what he looked like was fuzzy. He didn't remember what he sounded like.

What threw Tachibana off was how youthful Shimashima looked. His father had graying hair that were at the beginning stages of balding, though Shimashima's hair looked sleek, black, and healthy. There was also the fact that Shimashima looked clean shaven compared to the memory he had of his father having a mustache and a few dimples. It almost seemed like Yuusuke and Shimashima were two different people.

Though… he realized that he might have dropped a lot of money to essentially transform himself into a new person. Namely some form of hair treatment and a good shave. Maybe even a bit of plastic surgery to nip and tuck any wrinkles? The only thing he would have to go with is how Shimashima acted.

However, a lot of things began to make sense now…

"That's how you were able to get the Volcannik Driver…" Tachibana muttered.

"Hmmm?" Shimashima asked.

"You summoned the belts with whatever method you used to summon Altair…" Shimashima soon began to realize what Tachibana was theorizing. Before he could say anything, he heard the sound of gunfire, slashes, and magic. Tachibana immediately opened the door to see Yuichi, Akagi, Melt, and Hikayu all transformed and fighting three Kaizo-Majin, with Marine and Honoka nowhere to be found. "Oh shit…" Tachibana quickly took out his phone to call for help, but…

"Now you're the one forgetting what these mountains do to cell phone reception." Shimashima smirked as Tachibana saw the 'unable to connect your call' message on his phone followed by an irritatingly high-pitched dial tone. "And don't think anyone in the staff will come… This is the Private Twin, after all."

"… Wait… This whole place…" Tachibana turned to see Shimashima smiling. He remembered the bribe that Shimashima gave the innkeeper and realized just what was going on.


Yuichi clashed blades with Saber Serval, locking both its arm blades with his Icipicle. What once was a simple dinner turned into a clash with three Kaizo-Majin and some Durants. Yuichi couldn't hold off the monster for long, though, as Saber Serval screamed and bit into Yuichi with its sharp saber teeth. As Yuichi yelped, Saber Serval took its time to cut into Yuichi's icy armor and knock him away. It was now free to attack Yuichi and finish him off…

"Oh no, you don't!" Akagi ran in and fired at Saber Serval, who instinctively blocked the shots with its arm blades. "Time to pull out the big guns!" Akagi took out another figurine of the same anime girl he was using as a gun, though this one had its hair and legs modeled more akin to a blade. "CHOU-"

Only for Zephyr Cheetah to knock him onto the ground and pummel him with several fast punches. Akagi grunted in pain before he placed the barrel of his gun at Zephyr Cheetah's stomach and fired, knocking the monster off him.

"Damn, they just keep coming!" Akagi shouted as he noticed some Durants rushing at the GO Princess duo.

"Shining Shower!" Hikayu shouted as she unleashed a volley of hearts that exploded at the Durants, knocking them around until they blew up.

"Flaming Shower!" Melt did the same with her own flaming hearts at another squad of Durants, incinerating them before they too exploded. "There! That took the majority of them out!"

"I'll get Dan and the others out of here!" Hikayu flew over to pick up Dan, only for Marine Hachi to leap in and slash at Hikayu, cutting deep into her arm. "AH!" She backed away, holding up her staff. "Marine, snap out of it!"

"It's no use! When I was transformed into one of those monsters, I was stuck in a constant train of thought! Marine's most likely going through the same thing!" Dan said.

"Still, I have to try!" Hikayu said as she held up her staff.

"Hikayu! Get the others out of here!" Shindou said to Hikayu. The force from Marine's transformation knocked the wind out of him as he began to cough. He felt the pain return to his chest before he began to stagger.

"Shindou, you have to get out too! You haven't fully recovered!" Dan shouted.

"I know, but we can't get out of here with these people blocking us! That's why I'll clear a path!" Shindou ran over to Marine Hachi and gave her a left body hook, bracing for the impact of his bare knuckles on hard steel. It only managed to surprise the Kaizo-Majin as Yuichi ran over to Dan and helped him up.

"Hikayu, you handle the girls, I'll take my dad!" Yuichi said before he briefly noticed what he said. He looked to Dan, who gave him a small smile. Hikayu took the GO Princess duo and flew out of there and, with Yuichi helping Dan, carried the three out of there.

"Big Bro Shin! Let me help!" Kotoha shouted as she placed the Plague Belt on her waist. "HENSHIN!" She shouted as she ran into the fray, transforming into Kamen Rider Docro. The two of them began to double team Marine Hachi, with Shindou throwing trick blows to throw her off and Kotoha delivering the stronger strikes.

While Marine Hachi couldn't keep up with the two of them, she managed to hold her left fist as it turned into a black and yellow striped missile that launched from her elbow and exploded point blank at the siblings, knocking them down.

Kotoha was the first to get up, though she noticed the plum purple spandex on her body was beginning to desaturate. She also felt weaker than when she first fought.

"W-what the?" Kotoha looked at herself as Shindou got up. As he saw the armor of Docro turn gray, he remembered the conversation with Tachibana about how the Plague Belt used her tumor as a fuel source… And now with it being so small, it made sense what was going on.

Melt and Akagi were busy with the other two Kaizo-Majin and the remaining Durants, which meant it was only him and Kotoha against Marine Hachi.

Shindou stood up, though staggering quite a bit as blood began to seep out of his shirt.

"Damn… My wound opened up… This… is gonna be painful…" Shindou muttered as he got up into a boxing pose.


"Come on! Live a little!" Magane pranced around her penthouse as she set some drinks for both her and Souta.

"What is going on? Why are you here?!" Souta asked her.

"Mmm? What do you mean? I live here!" Magane shrugged.

"You know what I mean. Where's Yudai?" Souta continued to sternly ask. Magane just handed him a can of Coke.

"You have to try this! It is the best~!" Magane opened up a can of her own and drank. Once she noticed Souta refused to have any, she sighed. "The other you and I have set up a wonderful prank that he's currently pulling on Hoshi and his friends."

"A prank… Magane, Yudai wants to kill Hoshi! How is that a prank!?" Souta shouted at her, only for her to laugh in his face.

"Wai-wai-wait…" She couldn't even breathe as she began to choke on her cola. Once she was able to get some breath in, she asked Souta. "Do you actually think that I'm gonna let the other you kill Hoshi? And ruin the fun I want to have with him? Come on, you know me, Souta!" Magane pointed to herself.

"Then… Why exactly are you doing this!?" Souta asked her. Magane gave a pause before she continued to drink her cola.

"The cola here tastes better in this world. In fact, everything is better in this world. The people, the conflicts, the reactions… The most I can muster back in my world was Sakagami and his friends getting in my way." Magane said.

"So that's it? You're doing this because it's fun?" Souta asked.

"Hmmhmm…" Magane chipperly nodded. "Though, now I wonder… Why are you doing what you're doing?" Magane smirked.

"What? What do you mean?" Souta asked her.

"Working with the others, helping Hoshi, even letting yourself get captured by your other self. Are you laying your life down to protect the world? Is it for great justice?" Magane mockingly said those two sentences in a way a tokusatsu hero would announce it, complete with henshin poses. "Or…" Her tone soon shifted to something a lot darker, complete with her opening up her eyes and showing off her golden irises. "Is this for the sake of the people you've killed?"

Souta glared at Magane, unsure of how to even answer her…


Our bullets collided in the air as we ran at each other. Once we were in melee range, I tried to pistol whip Yudai, who blocked it and fired pointblank at my chest. He grabbed me and continued to unload his bullets into my chest, all while I began to cough from all the impacts they were causing.

"What's wrong, father!? Can't fight back!?" Yudai taunted as I clobbered the side of his helmet with the butt of my gun, then made clear and concise shots to his head to get him to back off.

"I should be asking you that. You lost to me three times now, what makes you think this will be any different?" I asked him, only for the noises of combat behind me to distract me long enough for Yudai to punch me in the chest and into the fray at the main lobby.

"Because of that. Those other times we fought, you aimed to avoid casualties by bringing our battle to isolated locales. This is different. I'm not going to let you run away from the slaughter." Yudai picked up my head and immediately slammed it against the wooden floor. He took a moment to survey the arena and fired at Akagi just as he was about to execute the Moe Magnum finisher on Zephyr Cheetah.

As he somersaulted backwards, Zephyr Cheetah rushed in and pummeled Akagi just before he hit the floor, keeping him in the air as she used him as a punching bag.

BREEZY BLADE!

A current of wind knocked Zephyr Cheetah aside, though she was able to use the currents on her wrists to counteract the gust. Yuichi, the creator of that initial windy slash, stiffened as ice built up on his armor. The winds barely budged him, leaving enough time for Akagi to blast Zephyr Cheetah with some well-placed blows.

Hikayu swooped in and kicked Yudai in the head before blasting a magical heart right in his face, knocking him backwards.

"Thanks for the save…" I said to Hikayu. Though, as I saw Yudai get up, I realized what he was gonna do next.

GREED BULLET!

"Get down!" I shouted at her as I ran in front of her, taking the brunt of the bullets that Yudai fired.

"Heh, you're a smart cookie, father." He got up and began to scan the area. "Too bad I can simply just find a new targe-" I immediately loaded a bullet and fired.

MAMMOTH SHELL! BREAKING BURST!

A large stream of fire erupted from my barrel, creating a makeshift flamethrower. I had no worry about setting the inn on fire since the wood was conditioned be resistant. Once he was distracted with the flames, I ran in and loaded two more bullets before firing.

EAGLE SHELL! OCTOPUS SHELL! SWEEPING BURST!

Flaming wings spewed from my back as I grabbed Yudai. I wanted Yudai as far from the inn as I could. If I'm able to defeat him quickly, I'd be able to go back to the inn and help the others.

"No, I want to stay and savor this…" Yudai chuckled before he loaded in a bullet of his own.

DESPAIR BULLET!

I was taken by surprise by the new bullet that I didn't realize the large, almost bat-like wings that erupted from his back. There were purplish cracks on his armor where the wings came from as he flapped the wings and pushed me back to the inn. He was then able to clobber me and knock me back to the Private Twin.

"Look around you, Hoshi! All this chaos, all this destruction… It was made all possible because of you!" Yudai splayed his arms out as he cackled. I could hear everyone battling around me, not helped with Marine Hachi spotting me and propelling herself to attack me. Yudai grabbed her by the throat just as she was about to hit me. "Hey! He's mine!" Yudai shouted before he choke slammed her to the ground.

"Stop…" I muttered. I watched as Yudai stomped on Marine. "I said STOP!" I ran at Yudai and threw a punch. Before I knew it, my fist exploded into flames as I had pierced Yudai's armor with familiar tiger claws. "What the…" My entire hand became that of a tiger's… No… Flaming Tigermander, my Kaizo-Majin form.

"Heh, seems I'm going in the right direction…" Yudai didn't even seem to mind that my claw was in his shoulder, though as he pulled it out, I noticed it was simply caught in between his shoulder armor and the spandex. "Did you really think the monster inside you was gone? All that gun did was restrain it, but… given enough stress… it can emerge once more…" As Yudai said that, I remembered being tempted at the concert.

"So… that's what you're after…" I muttered, struggling to keep a cool head.

"Exactly! I won't rest until you've become just like all the other monsters you've made. All of them created just to be killed by your hands." Yudai loaded two bullets into his gun.

SCORPION BULLET! LION BULLET!

He spun the revolver before pressing the barrel up to his wrist and pulling the trigger. Suddenly, his gloves burst into hot flames before settling on a large set of lion claws, all while a scorpion's stinger erupted from the end of his tailbone.

Yudai came in hard as his lion claws began to ignite with the black flames of Hellfire. As he threw his punches at me, I was cautious enough to dodge his blows, though I was not prepared for the stinger. The tip of the stinger struck across my chest like a sword, knocking me across the table.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to poison you and rob you of the chance of watching this world crumble around you…" Yudai said.

"I won't let you!" Hikayu held up her staff. "Magical Splash… FLA-" Only for Yudai's stinger to pierce right where the jewel heart was. "GHH!" She stumbled backwards before she fell onto her back, her Magical Slayer uniform reverting back to her normal school uniform.

"Doh, I missed…" Yudai muttered. "But this next one… I won't" He readied his stinger for another blow before I ran in.

"Don't you dare!" I shouted before my other fist erupted into the second Tigermander's claw, managing to block the stinger. I was unable to use the Volcannik Driver now as my large claws made it difficult to hold it. As my Volcannik Driver dropped onto the ground, Yudai cackled.

"Now… BURN IN THE HELL YOU'VE MADE FOR YOURSELF!" He slammed both of his fiery fists down onto the ground.

While the wood was fire resistant, it wasn't immune to the flames, especially one as supercharged as Yudai's Hellfire. His fists exploded as flames began to break out and spread across the main hall.


"What the hell are you planning?!" Tachibana turned to ask Shimashima.

"Nothing. This was all Souta's idea." Shimashima gave a quaint little smirk.

"Souta… But why…" Tachibana looked out to see Malacoda knock Hoshi into the lobby. As Malacoda told Hoshi that he wouldn't run from the slaughter, he turned to Shimashima. "No… He's not Souta…"

"It was surprising to me too." Shimashima's smirk grew into a smile.


Shimashima stood outside of the hospital, taking a deep breath now as he was surprised his proposal actually got approved.

Moments later, Souta came out of the hospital too, taking off his glasses.

"Uuugh, these glasses are giving me a freaking migraine!" Souta sounded a lot crasser than what Shimashima was used to… This made him chuckle.

"Ooooh, so you must be the imitation that Altair talked about." Shimashima said.

"Altair… You mean that mutated mop?" Yudai groaned.

"Yes. You must be Yudai Sonoda." Shimashima said before Yudai pointed the Malefik Driver at him.

"And what if I am? You gonna rat me out?" Yudai asked.

"Far from it. Rather, I'm curious why you're here taking the form of your base inspiration." Shimashima calmy stared down the barrel of the gun.

"I'm gonna walk a day in these shoes before I burn down every one of that asshole's friends and family. If you stand in my way, you'll be included in that smoldering pile." Yudai glared at Shimashima.

"You certainly have the determination… But… I'm willing to help you." Shimashima said.

"I don't need help." Yudai muttered.

"Tell me, do you have plans for how you will go about your burning?" As Shimashima asked that, Yudai paused before he shook his gun at him.

"Shut up! I'll find the right moment to strike and…"

"Assuming they don't find you out, that is. If you're going to strike, then strike when they least expect it… When there's not enough watchful eyes…" Shimashima took out his phone and, after a few moments, showed Yudai the website for the Futago Inn. "I can set up the perfect crime. I only request that you spare Hoshi. He is integral to our plans."

"Oh, don't worry. I intend to make him suffer." Yudai put his glasses back on and cleared his throat, his voice returning to that of Souta's before he went back in.


"You set this all up… Just so Yudai can kill us all!?" Tachibana said as he saw Hoshi's hands explode into fiery tiger claws.

"Not all of us… Yuuto, you can escape this fate and come with me. Together, we'll arrange this universe's swan song…" Shimashima patted Tachibana on the back.

"… So, you really are my dad." Tachibana glared at Shimashima… No… Yuusuke. He pulled his father's hand off his shoulder.

"Indeed. I do apologize for the charade. I would have shed this mask earlier had it not been for those monsters that killed Setsuna." Yuusuke said.

"You let that happen…" Tachibana growled.

"I tried to save her, but Watanabe and the higher ups wouldn't let me. You, on the other hand, are just as bad as her so-called friends. Abandoning her when she needed you the most. How can you call yourself her 'big brother' when you didn't even look out for her?" Yuusuke coldly, sickly said to Tachibana.

"If she mattered that much to you, you would have helped clear her name, reputation be damned!" Tachibana shoved his father back, almost causing him to trip over the small table. "Mom was right… You care about yourself more than your own family!"

"Look who's talking. The man who chose his ambitions over his kin." Yuusuke said. Tachibana wanted to respond… That is until he heard a large explosion. He went to see that the entire lobby had now been set ablaze in hellish black and purple flames. "Hell has come for you, son."


Shindou saw Hoshi fall into the lobby followed closely by Yudai. He seemed only focused on Hoshi. It seemed to be a lucky break as Marine Hachi also paid attention to both Hoshi and Yudai. Shindou went over and picked up Kotoha.

"Come on, we have to go!" He said to her.

"I… I can still…" Kotoha weakly said before she coughed.

"There's no time! Hoshi and the others won't hold off these guys for long! You have to-" Was all he could say as Yuichi was knocked into him by Zephyr Cheetah. She purred, ready to strike once more. Shindou saw that Yuichi was dazed as his icy armor began to melt. It was hard to tell the cloth's color since it was covered up by a thick sheet of ice as well as being an almost white shade of cyan, but Shindou couldn't help but notice the graying on his armor too.

"Melt! Get Kotoha and Yuichi out of here! Now!" Shindou shouted as Melt flew towards the two.

"Up you go!" Melt hoisted Kotoha and Yuichi.

"Wait! Big Bro Shin!" Kotoha cried out as Melt flew out of the Private Inn.

Shindou eyed Zephyr Cheetah. Moments ago, she used to be Honoka, a patient who happened to be situated next to his little sister. It seemed almost like a miracle that she happened to be the older sister of the kid he was supposed to replace. Were it not for this simple happenstance, had he not been selected to be the understudy for Hoshi, would Kotoha's days have been numbered?

Whatever the case, this was Kotoha's second chance… And he was not going to let it go to waste.

He charged forward, anticipating Zephyr Cheetah's attack as he was now the only combatant given how Hikayu was helping Hoshi out. He imagined that she'd move as fast as a cheetah, which meant he had to time it… now!

Shindou rolled out of the way of an oncoming punch, followed by several body hooks. Her armor wasn't as bulky, almost looking akin to plastic. He swarmed her with so many punches that it broke through the armor. Once he was done, Zephyr Cheetah tried to run away, only to trip over its own legs and fall over. It wasn't enough to break the Essen Crystal, but it was enough to daze her long enough to go after the real target.

He saw Saber Serval rush in and cut down Akagi, causing him to demorph. As he landed on the ground, Saber Serval gave a few stifled grunts as it raised its bladed arms.

"HEY YOU!" Shindou shouted as he punched right at Saber Serval's face. The force was enough to knock it silly. "Akagi, take the others and go!" Just as he said that, Yudai slammed his fists into the ground and caused a huge explosion of purplish black flames.


"… Because I can't stop myself from creating…" Souta said to Magane.

"… That's your response?" Magane asked.

"To be honest, I don't know why I'm here… Whether it's for myself or the sake of others… But… I can feel it in my heart…" Souta clutched his chest. "It's that drive to create! The same thing that drove Fujioka and Shimazaki!"

"I see. So this is just a bunch of wish fulfillment to you, huh? Can't blame ya. These amazing people you once thought of as fiction are now with you, you're working with big name artists and authors, and your friend's a freakin' superhero! It's like a dream come true for you!" Magane finished her burger before going to the window and carelessly tossing away the wrapper into the city skyline beneath. "And that gives you an invitation to do whatever you want. I like that about you, Souta… You remind me a lot of… Well, me."

"How so?" Souta asked.

"You're only here for the sake of your feelings, but you do not mind if others fight your battles for you or do the things that you're too afraid to do yourself. Do you even see Hoshi as an actual person, or is he some obstacle that prevents you from feeling better about killing that girl?" Magane asked.

"…" Souta's silence only made Magane laugh.

"See!? That other you is pretty spot on in that regard! You are a monster!" Magane said.

"I know that. Why do you think I'm trying to make amends for that?" Souta asked her, not even fazed by how her eyes were only slightly open, watching him intently.

"And what have you done to atone? Hoshi told everyone about Altair, Mamika got herself killed trying to talk her out of destroying the multiverse, your fictional friends are out there getting themselves killed, and everyone else is writing this big narrative to clean up the mess you made! The biggest thing you've done is let yourself get captured by yourself and look how well that ended! Can you really call that atonement?" Magane asked Souta. Again, another question that pierced Souta's armor. Enough to make him hesitate…

But he had an answer.

"I have an idea… For the festival…" He only disclosed it to Matsubara and, by extension, several members of the creation team including Kikuchihara and Meteora. Though, he had no issue sharing it with Magane, who peered at him with great interest.


With the entire Private Twin on fire, I knew I had to finish this battle with Yudai. No…

I had to kill

No, that's just what my inner flames want me to do. I had to breathe. Thankfully, the helmet was basically a bubble of clean air for me. As I breathed through my nose, my tiger claws began to fizzle out, returning to my normal hands. I quickly picked up the Volcannik Driver and fired at Yudai, who blocked the blows with his lion paws.

"Aaaw, where did everyone go? I made this bonfire just for them!" Yudai's voice was getting more unhinged by the minute.

"Just you and me, Yudai. No one else." I growled.

"No. It's you, me, and Marine…" Yudai pointed his gun right at the prone Marine Hachi as I rushed in, senselessly punching him as he laughed. I grabbed him and tried to plunge him into the fires that he made.

"Into the fire… Into the fire…" Flaming Rage of the Aether whispered in my ear. I shrugged it off, right on time as I felt Yudai trying to lean back and almost grabbed me were it not for Hikayu running in and grabbing me. She pulled me out of the way. As we stumbled back, I looked to her.

"Hikayu, are you able to transform?" I asked her. She nodded as she took out her brooch.

"I think so…" She muttered as I saw that the jewel on the brooch had no real damage to it. I breathed a sigh of relief, owing it being unscathed to how kid-friendly Magical Slayer Mamika was. Had this been one of the darker magical girl anime or even a darker installment of the Magical Slayer franchise like Magical Slayer Tsume, I would have been concerned for what'd happen had it break. I kept an eye on Yudai as he gave what felt like a growl mixed with a laugh.

"Who's still here?" I asked as I looked around. The flames have begun to spread and before long, smoke was beginning to billow. However, there was a small clearing as I could see Akagi fighting Zephyr Cheetah and Shindou fighting Saber Serval… Shit! Worse still, Hikayu was beginning to cough. "Take Marine and go!" On my command, she transformed once more. She went over to Marine while I went in to punch Yudai, preventing him from interfering.

"I should have barred these damn doors shut! Then I could have relished in your despair!" Yudai screamed. Hikayu struggled to drag Marine Hachi. Seemed that the large metal hull was not for show. "But I'll have to make due…" Yudai aimed his gun at Hikayu before I grabbed his arm and shoved it upwards.

"So… That explains why that yakuza was sent after her…" I muttered as I recalled the fight that I had with Strike Cobra.

"Yeah, because if there's one thing I know about you, Hoshi, it's how you react to losing your friends…" Yudai smirked, as though looking at something. I then heard Kotoha giving a loud, bloodcurdling scream. As I turned my head around and saw what had happened…

My heart sank.


Tachibana closed the doors so the smoke wouldn't get in. The only other way out would be the window. He'd survive a fall from the second or third story no problem. The problem is whether his dad would let him escape.

"It's not too late… You can still make things right." Yuusuke said to him.

"I should be telling you that! Stop trying to cause the Great Destruction and let Yuna rest in peace!" Tachibana gave him his hand.

"Rest in peace? How can she rest when people are dragging her name through the mud?! When she knows that no one was there to save her?! I have done more for her sake than you! Because of me, her name is in the process of being cleared!" Yuusuke said.

"You caused a war to happen! People are dead because of your pettiness! Some of them were Yuna's supporters!" Tachibana couldn't even keep his voice from breaking apart.

"Noble sacrifices for the cause." Yuusuke calmly said.

"What cause?! All you want to do is fix Yuna's image! What's that going to change, huh?! She's not gonna come back from the dead to give you the pat on the back. In fact, if she did come back, the first person she'd be giving hell to would be you! Yuna told me how she was working with you, not even realizing that you're her father. When were you going to tell her?" Tachibana could feel the door warm up.

"When the time was right… When I left the family, I burnt my bridges with you, her, and my wife… I wanted to mend those bridges, but I was too afraid… Afraid that, if I did step forward and try to reintegrate myself, that I'd just be rejected." Yuusuke shed a small tear, not even bothering to wipe it.

"Yeah, mom's still mad at you for choosing your pride over us…" Tachibana wished the flames wouldn't spread further… Just so he could mend a broken bond with his dad…

"I wasn't sure how to swallow my pride… So… I hid. I hid behind a face. I told myself, 'after World Etude's publication, I'll tell her!'. And, well, you know what happened next." Yuusuke said.

"… Dad, we can end this now… You said it yourself, her name's cleared. Stop this madness and… come home! If you truly want to start fresh, I'm sure mom will accept you back!" Tachibana cried as he felt the wood nearly singe his kimono.

"Her name's cleared… But it's not enough… It will never be enough… They took her from me…" Yuusuke's calm voice soon began to shift into a frothing rage. "Stole her from me!"

"They… You mean her bullies… Dad, it's over now! Let the internet deal with them." Tachibana could feel the door at its limit.

"Do you know how the internet even works?! If I give up now, this incident will be forgotten by the public! It'd be as though Setsuna never existed!" Yuusuke gripped his fists.

"Maybe it's better that way!" As Tachibana said that, he rolled out of the way as the door exploded. The black hellfire then began to spread into the room. "There's better ways to make her be remembered! Dragging her bullies out is only going to make people think of her at her lowest! Is that how you want Yuna to be remembered!?"

"Son, she was remembered as a plagiarist… You can't just scrub that from public memory and make people think of her in a positive light. And so, this Land of Gods is to be punished for their condemnation." Yuusuke calmly looked at the flames. Tachibana couldn't stay in the room any longer. He ran over and smashed the window open.

"Dad! Please! Snap out of it and come with me!" Tachibana could see Yuusuke approaching the flames.

"Do you trust me, Yuuto? I will only offer this one last time. Join me and we can make Setsuna's face the greatest that this world's ever seen…" His voice sounded completely distant. Tachibana could only watch as his father seemingly danced with the flames.

"… Her name was Yuna." Tachibana coldly said before he leaped out of the window. He braced for impact, rolling onto the grass. As he landed on his back, he saw what seemed to be a bird flying right into the Private Twin. Before he could comment on how weird that was, a few moments later, an amorphous blob flew out of the window, breaking through the wall.

He had no time to ponder what the hell that was as he got up.

He saw everyone else was safely outside, save for a few people. The innkeeper ran out of the Public Twin, as did several other people.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!?" The innkeeper shouted as he quickly dialed 110 to call for fire fighters. Tachibana went over to Yuichi, who was heavily panting.

"Is everyone safe?" Tachibana asked Yuichi. Yuichi shook his head.

"Honoka… and Marine… They…" Yuichi couldn't even talk through the pressure he had. Tachibana felt an unsettling cold in his body despite the blazing warmth of the hellfire thirty feet from him.

"My brother's still in there!" Kotoha shouted as she ran into the blaze.

"Kotoha! Wait!" Tachibana shouted, but she couldn't listen…


Akagi watched as Shindou fought against an armed to the teeth sabertoothed monster. He weakly took out his figurine and forced out his call:

"Ju… Mo…" His hand seized up as the figurine slipped through his fingers, clattering onto the ground. He couldn't even reach for it. What made it worse was that Zephyr Cheetah was still around. While she too was badly beaten, she still had some strength left to clobber whoever fell in her path, and that was Akagi.

However, it pitifully tried to punch Akagi, who replied with a weak block that stopped the speed of her fists. They both panted heavily as the smoke began to billow.

"Honoka… Please…" Akagi pushed Zephyr Cheetah down and pinned her to the ground. "You have… to fight it!" Akagi desperately tried to remember an episode of Super Sentai where one of the rangers turned into a monster. There have been the brainwashing episodes, but those were brainwashing episodes, not turn-into-a-monster episodes. The closest was a two-parter in Magiranger where Magi Pink was turned into a vampire thrall for one of the villains, but even then, that required a whole lot of prep work (and killing a vampire) to even work.

Shindou, meanwhile, kept slamming his fists into Saber Serval, looking no worse for wear save for Shindou's blood smeared over its rodent-feline face. Likewise, he too was fatigued from battling the Kaizo-Majin, not helped with the blazing inferno around them. Shindou actually became dizzy as drops of sweat covered his entire body.

In a normal fight, someone would have thrown in the towel or the referee would outright call the match there… And while this was far from a normal fight for Shindou, in the end, the intent of the fight was still there: he would fight to save his sister's life.

And if that meant trying to beat up this monster to give everyone as much time as needed to escape the inferno, then he would fight

Though, after one too many hooks to the head from Shindou, Saber Serval began to growl. A blade grew out of its shoulder as it ripped it out before chucking it right at Shindou. He barely anticipated it as it pierced his abdomen, causing him to stagger back. Akagi watched this and immediately gave a mortifying scream as images filled his head of a similar thing happening in the very first Sentai, Gorenger.

He didn't think it would actually happen for real… This distraction caused Zephyr Cheetah to knock Akagi off. She then began to pummel Akagi with her fists, though at a much slower rate to where Akagi could respond with his blocks.

Despite the injury he sustained, Shindou stood his ground and gritted his teeth.

"I've survived tougher scrapes…" He chuckled before he coughed up a small bit of blood that trickled down the left corner of his lips. Saber Serval gave another growl as Kotoha ran in.

"Big Bro Shin!" Kotoha shouted. She ran to him, but a piece of burning wood fell in her path and stunned her for a bit, forcing her to watch Shindou battle Saber Serval. Saber Serval bore its teeth as a metal spike grew from its left heel. It leaped into the air, slamming its heel down into Shindou's shoulder where the spike dug in. Saber Serval gave a roar of victory as it kicked Shindou back, causing the spike to break off into his shoulder.

Despite this, Shindou did not once scream in pain. He continued to stand up and struggled despite two knives sticking into his body. Kotoha leaped over the burning wood, giving a scream of her own as she knocked Zephyr Cheetah off of Akagi and charged right for Saber Serval. Purple haze emanated from her fist for a brief moment, but as she landed her punch, it fizzled out…

Worse still, she could feel the fizzling on her hand for only a brief moment before the armor faded away. She clutched her hand and winced in pain, looking up at Saber Serval, realizing she was now at its mercy. Just as it was about to run her through with a bladed hand…

Kotoha found herself getting pushed. When she got up, she could see Shindou was now in her place, having taken a stab to the heart…


"Now that is a hilarious joke!" Magane finally stopped laughing two minutes after she heard Souta's idea. "Does Hoshi know what you had in mind?" She noticed that he didn't even flinch at the suggestion.

"No. As far as I'm concerned, my idea will remain that: an idea. It's not up to me to decide if it will come true…" Souta calmly said.

"Oh, right, because of that law… I know what you mean… The power of Approval, is what you call it?" Magane asked.

"We call it Acceptance, but… yes. We need the approval of the audience to make our stories work." Souta muttered.

"Do you really need it? You have the drive to make it real." Magane pulled out a necklace as Souta noticed the glimmering lump of gold. "It's a lot like this, see?"

Yet, Souta knew better…

"Fool's gold…" He muttered.

"Smart lad, you are! To the naked eye, pyrite is a lot like gold, but it's really just a worthless lump of metal… In essence, that's what your story is. So long as it looks real, people will believe it's real!" Magane said.

"Even if that story is unbelievable?" Souta asked.

"Yep! Because you're just like me… You don't care if you lie so long as you get your kicks! And with this lie, you could create a God among Gods!" As Magane said that, Souta gritted his teeth and lifted Magane by the collar.

"DO YOU REALLY THINK SOMETHING THAT SHALLOW AND DESPARATE WOULD BE ACCEPTED BY PEOPLE!?" Souta shouted. He noticed Magane's unflinching smirk, followed by…

Snap.

"I do now." She said. Souta slowly realized what she just did as he set her down. "Whatever story you weave, it shall be woven. No need for Approval or Acceptance or whatever boring term you call it, right?" Magane gently tugged herself away from the now shocked Souta.

"… Why did you help me?" Souta asked her.

"Because I enjoy fun things! That idea you have… When it does succeed, when Hoshi and Altair see the story you've put for them…" Magane giggled as she covered her mouth. "I can't stop thinking about how they react! Who's gonna blow up first? I'm so excited!"

"And if they blow up the world, what then?" Souta asked.

"That would be great! I honestly don't care who wins or loses, but if this world's gonna go boom, I'd rather have it go boom my way. Your idea is way better than that other you's boneheaded plan to… what was it again? Oh, yeah, kill all his friends in front of him… Like… Really boring there, other you…" Magane said as Souta's eyes widened.

"Wait, he's doing what!?" Souta then raced over to turn on the TV. As he did, he saw a news station reporting on a black fire engulfing one of the two buildings at the Futago Inn. With a helicopter view, he was able to see a majority of people from the team outside, watching the flames in horror. "Oh no…" Souta muttered.


As I watched Shindou get impaled, I couldn't even move. It was only when I saw Saber Serval pulled its bladed hand out did I scream and aim my gun at the monster, only for Yudai to pull me away and punch me in the gut.

"You can look, but you can't touch…" Yudai chuckled.

"YOU BASTARD!" I screamed as I slammed my fist right into Yudai's face, breaking his helmet as I saw his almost blood-red eye staring back at me.

"You are the bastard here…" Yudai smirked, his cold yet barbed voice still emanating from his helmet. "I have thought so much about our previous battle… You say Dante was a hero who would inspire others to protect those who can't protect themselves… But really, if you had not created him, then these people wouldn't need protection from us, would they? If he never existed, then I wouldn't have existed, then Vega wouldn't have existed. Re:Shocker would not even exist for Dante to battle!" He held back a punch, almost stopping it just as it was about to hit my face. "But… You know that, don't you?"

"Yes… I did." I muttered.

"Louder… So that any survivors of this massacre can hear it." Yudai said.

"I did know…" My voice was slightly raised.

"LOUDER!" Yudai shot at my shin. I fell to the ground, clutching onto my shin.

"I KNOW! IF DANTE DIDN'T EXIST, THEN NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!" I shouted.

"And that… is why you're fighting as Dante now, isn't it? You could have given up at any moment. Let someone else take the belt. Even at the café, you could have just allowed Shindou to keep the belt… But you kept on trucking along. Because you knew, deep down, you were just as guilty for these unfortunate events as Souta was… I've read that post of yours… The guilt of not saving Yuna was enough for you to take your own life… But you didn't go through with it. Perhaps being Dante is your second chance?" As he asked that, I froze…

I remembered all the times I could have given up being Dante, even on the first day… Even when I was so injured that I couldn't walk straight… Even when the belt was taken from my hands and was freed from the burden, I still ended up putting it on my waist anyways…

"Yeah… You're getting it now… You're not a hero… You're not even a god. You're just a glorified death seeker!" Those words hit me all at once… Especially as I remembered my behavior these past few days, how I seemingly trapped myself in the role of hero… How I kept putting myself on the brink of death to save one or two more people…

I then remembered the night I fought Yuuya alongside Blitz. How I stared up at the starry sky after getting wounded by Hangaku and thought about the embrace of death…

"Have I finally broken you, father? Good… Now… Answer for your crimes!" Yudai's paws lit on fire as he clawed me on the right side of my face. The flames erupted and shattered my helmet.

"AAAAAH!" Even though the flames quickly died, I could still feel the lower right side of my jaw feeling its heat. My helmet fell into pieces as Yudai loomed closer to me…

"RAAAAAH!" That's when I heard the mourn filled screams of Kotoha as she ran over and slammed her fists right into Yudai's armor. "HOW COULD YOU!? I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" As she cried louder, I turned my head over to see where Shindou was… Akagi was on his knees, looking over him, yet not doing anything about it…

Though, considering how Shindou was just lying there… motionless… It's not hard to imagine why…

"No…" I weakly said.

"Get out of my way… I still have unfinished business…" Yudai said right before he struck Kotoha with his stinger. I quickly turned around to see the stinger stab Kotoha's shoulder.

"NO!" I screamed. I felt myself die inside… Then I heard the chattering of teeth on the Plague Belt. Its fans whirred to life as Kotoha transformed into Docro. She kept striking Yudai, now with strengthened punches. However, those punches were that of a child's. Clumsy, weak, and easily counterable…

Yudai easily smacked her out of the way. As she rolled over, Hikayu ran over to get her.

"Come on, we have to go." Hikayu said.

"NO! This is all his fault! Those monsters of his…" Kotoha couldn't stop herself from crying as Hikayu lifted her up and flew her away, picking up Akagi and Shindou with her.

Now it was just me, Yudai, and the Kaizo-Majin.

"Alright, forget the show… Let's cut right to the finale!" Yudai knocked me down. "You and I will remain here as this world burns around us! I shall lead you to Hell itself!" He then stomped on me and ripped my belt away from me, snatching the Volcannik Driver along with it. My armor quickly turned into golden ash as I stared at the barrel of my own gun. "And once I'm done with you and every one of your friends… Then I'll be able to live a normal life." He paused, then pulled the two parts of the Malefik Driver apart, cancelling his transformation.

"H-huh?" I asked him.

"No, I won't kill you as Malacoda… I'll kill you as the man you molded me after…" He adjusted his hair and wore Souta's pair of glasses to look almost like him. "Mizushino Souta…" His voice even lightened up to sound like him. Yudai aimed the Volcannik Driver right at me. As much as I had to resist, as much as I had to fight back…

I didn't want to… Everything that had happened these past few months… All the people that died… They were because of me. Because of my own pettiness. Because of my inability to save one person…

I deserved this. And yet…

I was also terrified. To see what would have, could have been my friend, aim a gun at me and ready to end my life in an instant…

I couldn't do anything but await my fate…


"He originally planned to kill you, ya know." Magane said to Souta, though she noticed he was too glued to the screen to even notice. "You can thank me for talking him out of it." That caught Souta's attention. "As much as I like the other you, you will always be the funnier version. I told him to send you my way and pretend he's you. Trust me, as much as I want to see the look on Hoshi's face once the cat was out of the bag, I knew I wouldn't have another chance to pick your brain. I've understood a lot more about you than the last time we met."

Magane took a moment to fully appreciate the carnage on the news.

"People are fun because they're capable of creating and protecting, and yet they choose to fight, live, and die for worthless things. And you interest me because you're choosing to create something that which you have destroyed. That's why… I want you to continue entertaining me, as well as entertaining the audience, your friends, and everyone else you come across." Magane approached Souta, then held him.

"W-what the…" Souta blushed, unsure how to even respond.

"I'll let you in on a secret… When I told him to impersonate you, he asked me why exactly would Hoshi buy it… That's when I told him…You and Yudai… are one in the same." Magane smirked. It took Souta few moments before she realized what she meant…

"No… That's a lie." Souta calmly said, anticipating her next words.

"And that's the fun part… It twists itself inside and out… Revealing its ugly truth…" Magane then snapped her fingers.


I could have sworn I had mere seconds to live, that Yudai was ready to pull the trigger… When… Suddenly, he twitched. He paused. He looked around. As though he had no awareness of his surroundings.

"W-what the…" Yudai then looked at me. "What's going on?"

"…" I wasn't sure if this was some sort of sudden, last-minute ploy to lower my guard, but given how unstable Yudai was, I didn't want to engage in it.

"Come on! We have to leave!" His voice felt so naturally Souta's that as he reached out to me, I jerked away. My survival instinct kicked in… Yudai's hands trembled as he noticed the Volcannik Driver in his hands. "N-no…" He muttered.

I took this time to get up and run out of the blaze, though I could hear him chase after me. I tripped over and fell onto the ground, with Yudai running out of the burning building. I watched as the Private Twin finally collapsed. Out of the flames, the three Kaizo-Majin emerged from the rubble and ran in three separate directions. Yudai looked at me with widened eyes, then at my friends, some of whom stood in a defensive pose.

"W-wait… Guys… It's me… Souta…" Yudai said.

"N-no! You're not him!" I shouted. Yudai dropped the Volcannik Driver by my side.

"But… It is me!" Yudai's eyes glanced between me and my friends. "It's… It's…" Yudai then closed his eyes and broke down into tears, slumping onto the cold grass next to me. I couldn't even move away…

Sirens rang out as fire trucks and ambulances came. I also saw an unmarked van where Kikuchihara and Meteora came out of. They ran over to inspect everyone as the fire fighters went over to put out the blackish purple flames.

I looked up at the sky once more… It was filled with stars… This time, I saw Lyra, the second of the three constellations making up the summer triangle.

"Hoshi, Souta, are you okay?" Meteora asked us.

As I thought once more of the fable of the bridge uniting the two lovers together, I began to cry myself.

To this day, I wasn't sure why I was crying… If it was because I narrowly avoided death and the hell that Yudai planned for me…

Or because I wasn't able to die tonight and was trapped in the hell that I made for myself…