I lay in my Pre-arms amongst the thick smoke and wreckage of the Suika Arms, I slowly get to my hands and knees; Ears ringing, Vision Blurred, and the Pulp Eye Visor of Suika Arms, cracked and damaged…
Hobbling up to my feet in a dazed stupor, looking up I see the Dirt Golem still there, it pummels into the stone tower, as I remove the Suika Lockseed to change arms, the lockseed falls apart in my hands
"Damn…" I reach for and grab the Budou Lockseed
LoCK On!
The Lock stutters, like the batteries of an expiring toy
"Crap, I don't think any of my Lockseeds are doing too good" I press down on the cutting blade
SOiYa~
As my driver stutters the same, The grape armor falls down onto me
B-Budu Arns
The Budou Ryuhou appears in my hand and the grape armor begins to form
RYou-H-HA-hA!
The moment it stabilizes, Purple sparks erupt from the armor parts forcing me to my knees
"Is my driver busted too?!" I look up to the golem and notice a green thing sticking out or standing on the head of the golem, it looks kinda like a woman, I struggle to a kneeling position and take aim "Damn this armor is heavy all of a sudden…?" I feel a tingling sensation on my left hand, I switch the Ryuhou from my right to my left "lets test these runes" I push down on the cutting blade
Buuuou Sq-Sq-SqASH
Pulling back on the hammer I pull the trigger, a rapid fire of grapes blast and hit the green thing dead on, causing said to fall and the golem to crumble, my Budou Arms disappear as the residual shock knocks me back, I grasp the Lockseed and it falls to pieces in my hand
"Ugh…" I groan as a sound reaches to me through my daze that fills me with worry
KAMEN RIDE
DiEnd walks in through the smoke
"If you'd not get in the way, there's treasure in this tower that I want" I pull the Orange Lock seed from the Lockseed holder
"I've already toppled your Golem" I wobble to my feet "A-And… you're next"
Oreeenge~
"I See, well then, I won't deny you your dying moment, you should find this choice amusing, all things considered" He fires his DiEnd Driver
ZANGETSU
A set of Red, Blue and Green silhouettes shuffle around before converging together, and a white samurai in Melon Arms, wielding the Melon Defender and a Musou Saber appears, attaching the Orange Lockseed, I pull up the cutting blade, Rather than the usual 'Soiya~' instead the driver plays a sound reminiscent of a Gameboy that just froze
O-O-Onge Arrrrs
The Orange arms fall and form, the usual phrase is replaced by white noise, I draw Derf and shake him a bit
"Oi-Oi! Careful… I think my Cross-guard is broken…" preparing Derf and the Daidaimaru, I charge at Zangetsu, he bashes me with the Melon Defender, then striking cleanly across my torso with his saber, swinging the saber above his head he goes for a down slash, I block with both swords, pulling on the hammer of Derfsou, I quickly aim and unleash four blasts at Zangetsu's visor, he raises his Musou Saber again and brings it down onto the Daidaimaru knocking it out of my hand and cutting into my right shoulder, causing sparks to fly, we both stagger backwards, regaining his posture first, the White Rider charges, bashing my head upwards with his Defender, he slashes my neck, temporarily blinded by sparks the Would-be Takatora kicks me onto my back, going with the momentum I roll back a few more feet the Shielded rider would of liked
"So, this is what it's like to be on the receiving end of a Musou Saber" I get to my feet, I need to get to my Daidaimaru, if I can combine it into the Naginata Mode I might have a chance of finishing off this Faux-Rider, i run at the White Rider, taking advantage of my rider jumping abilities, I leap over him and grab my Daidaimaru, I combine Derf with it, switching the Naginata to my left hand I charge forward, swinging straight ahead I cut into Zangetsu, as he moves to block, I grab the Melon Defender with my free hand… ugh… I'm still weary…
N-No, I just need to let the adrenaline take over...!
The runes begin to glow through the suit, then as if automatically, I cut into his wrist, stealing the shield from him, slashing again across the White Rider's chest makes him stagger backwards, I throw the shield to the side, carefully I remove the orange lock and attach it to Derfsou
ICHI, JUU, HYAKU, SEN; ORANGE CHARGE!
Twirling the naginata in my hands I slash twice, causing an orange shaped energy field to hold Zangetsu, dashing forward with a slash the Faux-Rider explodes, leaving a rider card on the ground that I pick up, i turn and point the Daidaimaru end at DiEnd
"This card is mine now" DiEnd sighs
"Fine, not like you can use it anyways" Fading to invisible, giving a sigh of relief I slouch against the tower wall, a large spark erupts from my driver causing a small explosion, the back of my head bounces against the stone brick wall rendering me unconscious
I stand in my living room, everything a faded white… I notice the Woman of Beginning before me… a bit blurry though
"You, Mai!" a curious glance covers her face
"That is not my name…" as she comes into focus I realize it isn't Mai… in fact, I don't know who it is, I guess I shouldn't assume, huh?
"Why are you here? What do you want from me?"
"I don't know, I'm but an outsider"
"Outsider? Of what?!"
"I'm unsure" she looks down at the ground… "It's only a feeling" she walks over to me and puts a Lockseed in my hand, a Matsubokkuri Energy Lockseed… "And, I have a feeling you'll need this" Everything fades to black
My eyes crack open and I see a somewhat familiar stone roof above me, I realize I'm in the infirmary again
"It's about time!" I turn my head to see Louise at my bed side with an impatient look on her face "You becoming unconscious wasn't part of the performance!"
"Y'know, at this point I'd expect a tad more concern…" I say, feeling the Energy Lockseed in my hand and slowly pocket it, Louise sighs
"Fair enough, but this is your fault" Louise says
"What is my fault?"
"Where you crashed there was a hole in the tower, which caused an important magic item to be stolen"
"What item?" I ask Louise
"The Staff of Destruction, a weapon so powerful it can smite a dragon with a single blast"
"Why are you telling me this? to make me feel guilty?" I question
"No, because WE are going to go FIND it!" she says scolding me, I sit up
"I understand" I check my body "Hey master, where's my driver?" Louise opens a drawer and hands it to me, I guess it wasn't broken after all, pretty nasty scratch on it though, and if the driver was fine, then my Suika, Orange, and Budou Lockseeds are definitely out of commission…
Of course, two of them crumbled in my hand and I'm pretty sure the Orange Lockseed exploded so…
I head back to Louise's room and grab Matsubokkuri and Donguri (Acorn), Louise then rushes me into a cart with Kirche and Tabitha, Louise forces me to sit next to her, a little bit into the ride, Kirche moves from her seat next to Tabitha to sit next to me, namely between me and Louise
"Oh, my darling, are you ok?" she mewls teasingly, pressing her breasts against my arm…
Her large, soft breasts…
"I-I'm fine" I look over at Louise who's glaring at me with intent to kill "S-So, how did something as powerful as this Staff of Destruction get stolen?" Kirche gets off me, leaning back
"I heard that they were blaming the Princess for the affair"
"Really?" I ask
"But of course, the whole reason Fouquet was able to steal it in the first place was because they took what little guards they had from protecting it to help keep her majesty safe"
"Foo-kay?"
"Yes, Fouquet" The coach, who I now realize is the green haired woman from the other night, speaks up "She is a famous thief, Fouquet can turn walls and doors into dirt and steals valuables from nobles' homes, however she leaves messages whenever she completes a robbery" I sigh
"No wonder DiEnd was there, using tricks to steal and leaving a letter, they sound like twins" I remark which grabs Longe… Longvelli… Our coach's attention
"So then, DiEnd is your world's Fouquet?" How does she…
Ehh, it's not like humans fall from the sky everyday, she probably put two and two together…
At least I hope humans falling from the sky isn't a regular thing!
"Pretty much Ms. Longevil"
"It's Longueville" we travel deeper into a forest, by this point Louise and Kirche are bickering so I've moved next to Tabitha, I think of something
"Hey, if Fukki, or whatever her name is, can use magic isn't she a noble?" I ask
"Not exactly" Longue… damnit, I forgot again "There are many reasons and ways a noble can lose their status, and just because one's status changes doesn't mean that their magic just vanishes" She turns back and looks to me "Like me, I too am a commoner whom can cast magic"
"So most just become labors then? With magic that must be easy Ms. Longtongue"
"It's Longueville, and, some do, some become guards, and others turn to lives of crime" huh, I guess if I had decided to go off and fight crime instead of stay with Louise, It would of been more challenging than I thought, huh?
"So, I'm guessing going up in status doesn't raise one's magic powers either?" I ask, Louise groans, while Kirche and Longueville laugh lightly
"Of course not" Longueville says "For example, Ms. Tabitha is a Chevalier Knight" i look at Tabitha to see the first reaction out of her all day…
A light blush
"Yes, I am the Chevalier de Norfatul" and with the longest sentence I've ever heard from her, she looks back to her book, firmly ending the conversation
We reach a shack in a clearing
"It looks like a coal burning shack, an old one too" Kirche says
"It could be camouflage" Louise says
"Well, I'm not staying here much longer; I'm still a bit dizzy, so let's just get this over with!" I say, attaching my Driver
"AND YOU DIDN'T MENTION THAT BECAUSE?" Louise snaps, I put my hands over my ears
"Ow, the ringing…" I rub the sides of my head a bit "Well you seemed hell bent, so I followed suit" I wonder…
Will she even get those euphemisms?
I attach Matsubokkuri and Henshin
SOIYA~ MATSUBOKKURI ARMS! ICHIGEKI, IN THE SHADOWS!
I run towards the house, until I'm lifted up by wind magic, Tabitha shakes her head at me
"Darling, that shack could have magic safeguards and traps" Kirche scolds me, Tabitha drops me and waves her staff in front of the door, for a minute or two
"Clear" She says, Kirche, Tabitha, and I enter
"I'll… keep watch out here" Louise says
"Then I shall scout the surroundings" Longueville says
"You do that Miss Longuevillage"
"It's. Longueville." She corrects me, a bit annoyed, before walking off
"Ugh, this place is dusty" I say, thanking that my armor cleans air…
Atleast I hope it does…
We carefully search the house, Kirche groans
"This sucks; I'm getting covered in dust! Let's go" as Kirche turns to leave
"Found it" Tabitha says, we look back to see her holding a large purple case
"Well, it matches the description but-" Kirche begins
"AAAAHHH!" Louise screams, in that moment the roof is torn from the shack, revealing a golem
"So big ugly is back for a round two?" I shout at the dirt giant, I cringe at my voice, damnit why'd I yell?
Tabitha chants a spell, blasting the golem with a tunnel wind to little effect; Kirche draws her wands from her cleavage blasting it with fire, with the same end, no effect
MATSUBOKKURI AU LAIT!
I throw my Kagematsu at the golem, it smacks it out of the air sending it a couple yards away, whistling Tabitha calls her dragon which swoops us into the air, I scan the ground for Louise to see her behind the golem, she waves her wand, causing a small explosion that ejects soil into the air causing a dust cloud, the golem turns around, Louise seems to be standing her ground… Move Louise, move!
The golem slowly reaches for her
"Damn it!" I smash down on my driver
MATSUBOKKURI SQUASH!
Cuts of Pinecone appear in a column from me to the golem's wrist, I leap off the dragon and extend my leg
"RIDER KICK!" directed by the slices I crash through the golem's arm, destroying the limb entirely, an explosion on impact causes it to stagger back, taking Louise into my arms I leap back up to the dragon as its lowering to pick us up "Why didn't you run?!" I yell
"Because… I'm a noble!" Louise responds fiercely "Just because you can use magic, that doesn't just make a noble…" She looks up to the sky closing her eyes "…A NOBLE IS SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T SHOW THEIR BACK TO THE ENEMY!" she shouts to sky, then she stares me down, as if looking right through my visor into my eyes "I'm a noble! Not Louise the Zero!"
Damn noble charm…
"So what if you're a noble…" I begin speaking in a hushed tone, looking right back into her eyes, not that anyone could tell "What does any of this bravado count for if you die?" she grits her teeth, I pull her into my armored chest "the insults hurt, I know; but you can't let the negatives people say about you drag you down, sure, not everyone has nice things to say, but that's why it's important that you can be your own cheer section; don't try to get people to like you, get YOU to like you" she looks up at me, I chuckle "I guess when a commoner who is supposed to be your assistant shows up out of nowhere and surpasses you, plus you're already picked on for… 'below-average'… magic, that's a bit hard" I say as I let go of her, I stand and take a deep breath
"But enough touchy-feely, I have a golem who needs an ass kicking…" I leap from the dragon and land in front of the earth titan "Derf, how do you feel about prospecting land?" I ask as I draw him from my side
"Oi, it seems laborious"
"Well then, let's make a plot of land, name it 'Ass', and kick it right away!" I rush forward, leaping towards the eyes I cut into the space between, the dirt begins to shift and-
*CRASH!*
A fist raises from between its eyes sending me flying, I land on my back
"I should of figure that'd happen" I kip-up to my feet stumbling a bit; I remember the dream I had, and grab the energy lockseed…
But it won't work in my driver, hmmm, what about Derfsou, If I recall it works on the toy
I attach the Energy Lock to Derf and click the trigger
ICHI, JUU, HYAKU!
Derfsou's blade becomes covered with energy, glowing white
ENERGY MODE!
"Oi-Oi-OI, partner, I feel sharp!" giving it a practice swing, I note how it makes Lightsaber-esqe sounds, the golem reaches for me, with a wide slash I cut through half of its palm, the cut portion losing the life it once had bursts into a dust cloud, I run up its arm, cutting into it as I do, the massive creature's arm crumbles behind me…
"TOH!" I give a showa-era shout as I leap to the golem's head, i drop off the back cutting to the middle of it straight down, I run forward and jump cutting it half completely, landing on half of the collapsing golem as I go to hop on to Tabitha's familiar who's flying directly overhead, the golem grabs me, I look to see it had regenerated "SHIT!" with a thud it chucks me into the ground, leaving a well-size crater, I look up at looming monster "Well… damn…" I look up at Tabitha's familiar flying overhead, Louise jumps down holding the Staff of destruction's case; she takes it out and waves it-
…That's not what I think it is, is it?
The golem detaches and throws it's hand at us, I desperately leap at Louise, grabbing her, I roll out of the way, now that I'm closer I can tell what it is, the staff of destruction isn't a staff at all!
It's Rocket Launcher!
"Let me see that" I take it from her, Sticking Derf into the ground I mess with the 'Staff' until I finally get it in firing mode, I fall to my knees with a splitting headache, this fight having finally catching up with my condition, I drop the Weapon "Agh…" I groan "Master, you have to use it" she picks it up "You… ergh, you just look at what you want to hit through the panel and… argh… and then I think you push the black button on top"
"You think?!" Louise shouts incredulously, the golem lumbers closer "But… I…"
"You have to, I'm to… ugh… dizzy too" This… gah, this headache keeps getting worse
Louise looks down at her pained familiar
I… I am the only one that can…
"I am Louise Françoise le Blanc de La Vallière" She takes aim "AND I AM NOT A ZERO!"
*Click* she presses the button, a bolt of fire erupts from it, upon collision it make a mighty blast, destroying over half of the golem, the damage to severe to recover from, the massive monster fades away into dust
Lowering the Staff, Louise smiles
"I… I did it…" Kirche and Tabitha land and run to Louise
"Impressive" is all Tabitha says
"I have to agree with Tabitha, way to go Louise" Kirche says
"I must agree with them, that was spectacular Ms. Vallière" Ms. Longueville says, coming out of seemingly nowhere "And good job on recovering the Staff of Destruction as well" she looks to Elliot, as she takes the Staff "I'll put this on the wagon, you stay here with him, he seems to not be faring well"
I close my lockseed as the 3 girls loom over me, my suit disappears and I immediately put my hands over my mouth
"I think I'm going to be sick…" I look towards the wagon…
What is Miss Longueville doing?
"You know… HURG… you know those are one shots right?" I say dazedly, to the green haired woman, whose trying desperately to fire the…
Wait…
Green, Female… that sounds familiar…
…!
I stand up to quickly, luckily Kirche holds me up
"You, you're Bouquet!" I point at her
"It's Fouquet you imbecile! I mean…" she grits her teeth at me "Damn you"
"For once I'm glad I'm bad with names, you were so used to correcting me that you had to correct that alias, huh?" I smirk "Ms. Longueville, if that is your real name!" I cringe at my voice again
"It doesn't matter! Now that I have the Staff of Destruction, i-"
*THUMP!*
Fouquet falls face first, pistol-whipped from behind by a certain Cyan Rider
"DiEnd!" Louise shouts
"Don't you yell at me, Half-pint!" DiEnd retorts "You're not the one who was promised a powerful magic artifact and end up with some worthless old weapon!" DiEnd picks up the Staff of Destruction and tosses it to Tabitha, then points at me "Consider that fair trade for that gold sword, I don't want it anyways!"
ATTACK RIDE, INVISIBLE
"Can we just go back now…? I'm seriously disoriented" I whine, we get back on the wagon, Kirche taking the reins we return to the academy with the Staff and Fouquet secured.
I sigh, having taken a Potion that tasted a lot like Pepto-Bismol, lying down on Louise's bed, I look over to my master whom is putting on an elegant dress, her back to me
"So, what's going to happen to Longueville?" I ask
"She was handed over to the Royal Guard, and the Staff was returned to the vault" she turns around "So… you're not coming the banquet this evening?"
"Not really…" I breathe deep "The whole world is still spinning for me" i roll onto my side, facing her "Go enjoy yourself, I'd hate for you to of gotten all dressed up for nothing…" I smile "May I say, you look quite beautiful Master" with a look of reluctance she leaves, I sigh "Merry Christmas…"
"Oi Partner, it's not Christmas" I laugh
"True, but who knows what day it is in my world, it could be Christmas, Easter, hell it could be the dead of summer, maybe not even a minute has passed since I left, I'm just playing it safe"
"Do ya miss your world?"
"I guess" I take the Sengoku Driver from my pocket "A proper hero would claim 'Oh I need to go home, I left a life behind, my friends and family', but…" I toss my driver in the air and catch it "Is it wrong I'm not that keen on going back anytime soon? And it's not for Louise, or Kirche, or even you Derf… it's the power, I love the power"
"Oi-Oi don't-"
"Yes-Yes, don't let it get to my head, but, in my world, I'm so reserved, so afraid that something I say will end with someone beating the shit out of me that I just keep quiet around too many people" I chuckle half-heartedly "With this though, I can practice what I preach… no that's not the right phrase, I can… talk big and back it up, I'm not afraid anymore" I close my eyes "Derf, tell me, what does that make me?"
"Don't take this too personally, but you sound bit… Cowardly" I laugh
"Yeah, that sounds about right"
"Oi… you're perfectly fine aren't you"
"Yeah, that potion did wonders" I roll to face the window, looking out across the field to a lit-up ballroom…
"Then why-"
"I'm not a resident of this world, I'd return home eventually and just end up breaking her heart, I mean, I have a talking sword, am constantly around 3 cute girls, AND I'm living my dream job of being a Kamen Rider? Yeah, this isn't going to be forever, that much I know"
"Oi, what makes you say that?"
"I know my luck, that's why"
"Partner, If your luck is so bad then how do you have all of those things?" I roll towards Derf "You can't be gloomy, if this is destined to end, then enjoy it all you can while you have!" I stare at the runes on my hand
"Your right, I should…" I chuckle "I'll try starting tomorrow…" I stand up and walk over to the window "Happy New Year's, then?"
"Sounds like a good resolution if I've ever heard one" a foreign voice says to me, I turn around to see a balding man in glasses "Good evening, Songflir"
"Songflir?"
*ZIP*
A Zipper drags across the screen, a Fourze Kaban appears, it pops open showing all the new lockseeds displayed in this Chapter
{Matsubokkuri Energy, Zangetsu Kamen Ride Card}
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