When Ratatoskr had first approached Shidou about the idea of a bodyguard, he had initially been hesitant. His goal was to save the spirits, and a bodyguard implied the idea of someone who was constantly ready to fight or defend him, violently if need be. However, he had less say about it than he had thought, as Kotori had dragged him nonetheless to meet his new "bodyguard".
Inside the waiting room, sat a young man. Standing up, he was slightly shorter than Shidou himself and had a scrawny build. His black hair was style short and spikey, and his grey eyes were shielded behind glasses. His outfit was compromised of many dark colors, save his magenta t-shirt and the magenta undertones to his sneakers.
"Shidou, this is Karaat Utsutsukowashi. He is also known under the alias Kamen Rider Decade. From now on, he will be your bodyguard." Kotori gestured to the man while giving Shidou a slight push towards him.
The young man did not appear to be bodyguard material. He read as a man with a good heart but could not take most things seriously. His time as a teacher at Shidou's school cemented this in his eyes, as he was just too outgoing and outrageous to actually
Oh, how wrong he was.
He remembered the first time seeing Kamen Rider Decade in action. The pink armor could be a blur on the battlefield, blipping in and out as he pleased. Karaat, though a bit confusing and a bit in his own world, was a force to be reckoned with against their enemies due to his abilities and his strategic mind that he used to his full advantage.
Shidou grew to put his trust into Karaat, a decision that turned vital for each new threat that came their way. It wasn't long before Karaat began advocating for Shidou to receive his own driver. He had presented him with a cyan gun-looking contraption, and called it the 'Neo Dienddriver'.
"I want you to have this because I'm not always going to be there. And the world needs you, Shidou."
Since that day, Shidou had taken on the title as Kamen Rider Diend and had begun learning the ways of the Kamen Riders. He fought side by side with Decade, taking on their enemies with the power of those that came before them. Shidou grew to trust Karaat, even when his ideas didn't seem to hold much merit at first.
Maybe that's why, despite his personal judgment, he heard his friend out that day.
"Come on, Shidou! In and out, 20 minutes max! We'll just take a quick look around for anything of note, then we'll come back, no harm no foul." The man had said, hand over his heart. Such genuineness could not be ignored.
Thus, Shidou found himself side by side with the man as the shimmering Aurora Curtain fell before them, splitting between their reality and another. It was not the first time they had done this, but previous experiences had taught Shidou to take these adventures with caution and to let the experiences roll off him.
He was proven correct when he came face to face with ruins upon ruins, with no life insight. A dead world.
"Damnit!" Karaat exclaimed, lightly kicking a rock, "This is, what, the fifth world where you've died and everything has gone to shit? I'm positive I used the new coordinates this time!"
Shidou didn't respond. He felt if he said anything he would become ill. He had been one of the lucky Shidou, but the price of living weighed heavily in his mind.
—-
The incident had occurred months previously. It had been a bright, sunny day, but the air surrounding had been one marked with Dread.
The lot had been scared by battle, all other signs of life had long since evacuated, except for four figures, three standing opposed to one.
Shidou had achieved Kamen Rider Diend's complete form, his armor grand and shining. Karaat was close by, standing proud in Decade's 21st form. He too was presenting several Rider cards and had been using them to continually support Shidou throughout the battle.
His other ally had been his long-lost sister, a girl named Mana Takamiya. She had been DEM's puppet for decades, but now was using the Driver given to her against her cruel master. She was the proud Kamen Rider Ichi-Gata, and she had shared the same cyan-colored armor as her brother. Though now in her Hellrising hopper form, she looked more intimidating as red spiked protrude from her armor.
However, even she paled in comparison to the man standing before them. Issac Westcott, a man hellbent on the annihilation of the human race, was the man responsible for millions of deaths, the creation of spirits, and Shidou's death in his previous life. That man had also been a perfect match for his driver's name, Kamen Rider Lucifer.
He looked downright demonic as sunlight sunk into his dark armor. It seemed they were seeing Issac's true face for the first time, instead of the mask he wore for decades.
Shidou couldn't remember what was spoken, the blood pounding loudly in his ears. The price of losing now would not only be his life, Decade's, and Ichi-Gata's as well if she wasn't taken back and brainwashed, but the rest of humanity would pay for his failure in their blood.
Then the spirits . . . he felt sick thinking of what Issac desired to do to them. The man had been blunt in his goals, and his perverse desire towards suffering. If he got his hands on the spirits, on Tohka, then . . .
He placed his mind back in the present, as he selected his hosen cards. A chime of 'Final Kamen Rider Diend!' rang across the field, as his armor shifted to accommodate the eight rider cards of his choosing
Lucifer's sudden charge triggered Diend into action. It did or die, and Shidou would not die a second time. Kamen Rider G-3 X, Kamen Rider Exceed Gills, Kamen Rider Knight Survive, Kamen Rider Garren Jack Form, Kamen Rider Wild Chalice, Kamen Rider Gatack Hyper Form, Kamen Rider Zeronos Zero Form, and Kamen Rider Rising Ixa all stood upon his chest.
Lucifer seemed to have had realized his plan, and choose to act first, charging across the battlefield.
Diend took out the Gekijoban card, inserting it into his driver. His first shot in the sky shimmered brightly as the forms of his eight Kamen Rider allies materialized into existence. The playing field now became eleven vs one, yet even with Diend's driver calling out 'Final AttackRide: 11 R-R-Riders!', Lucifer persisted in his charge.
His allies had powered their final attacks, rider kicks charged above, and those charging their power beams waiting beside Diend. It was up to him now, to pull the trigger to end Lucifer's life.
Ironic, wasn't it. Thirty years prior, Westcott had pulled the trigger on him and ended his life, and here Shidou stood, ready to do the same. For a moment, time stood still, and Shidou felt his finger tremble as it rested on the trigger. In the next moment, he would become Lucifer's executioner, and his blood would be on his hands for the rest of his life.
Yet, it had to be done. Swallowing his doubt, Diend aimed his gun at Lucifer and pulled the trigger.
—-
He had won the battle of survival back in his world, but even now he sometimes felt sick, knowing he had been the one to choose if a man lived or died. He supposed looking to the destruction his death could have caused should have been a comfort, but instead, he felt like an indescribable weight was crushing him. The entire world relied on his success, and could not survive a single failure. Even with Westcott gone, his influence lived on, and thus, the weight had never gone away.
He was brought back from his ruminations by Karaat firmly grabbed his shoulder. "Hey," The man calmly spoke, "This was a bust, let's head back and I'll find a better world next time."
Shidou didn't even have a chance to respond before a loud, tortuous roar echoed across the ruin, and in a split second, he was pushed away by Karaat as a sword pierced the ground between them. As the floor beneath him began to warm and boil, Shidou saw the glimmering of the Aurora curtain and quickly threw himself through. Karaat was already waiting for him, and the two watched as flames consumed the land on the other side of the curtain, before dying suddenly.
As they died down, a figure appeared amongst the flames. The fire's light shimmered off of her pale skin, contrasting the fluttering dark cloths that surrounded her. Her white hair obscured her face, hiding any emotions, but her deadly intent could be sensed even from beyond the curtain.
However, something about her was so familiar that Shidou was tempted to reach out and-
"Shidou! Grab your driver and transform, now!" Shidou fumbled, between reaching out and hearing Karaat, but he followed his better judgment, pulling out his Neo Diendriver. Karaat unveiled his Decadriver that had been tucked under his shirt.
"You better have your actual driver card this time," Shidou snarked at the man. Karaat grunted, "I told you I took care of it, and besides there was a fifty percent chance I would've turned into a Blue-eyes White Dragon." Shidou gave him a long, suffering look, before turning back towards the approaching enemy and readying his Rider card. Karaat, while Shidou wasn't paying attention. quickly double-checked that he had the correct card, and was relieved to see the pink armor on the front this time.
Simultaneously, the drivers were opened, and quick insertion of the cards activated the robotic voice calling out "KAMEN RIDER: DECADE! KAMEN RIDER: DIEND!".
"Henshin!" The duo's voices rang across the Aurora curtain, as their armor materialized around their forms. Now, the beast was no longer against Karaat Utsutsukowashi and Shidou Itsuka, but instead faced Kamen Rider Decade and Kamen Rider Diend.
"Diend, that girl there," Decade mused, "She looks familiar, doesn't she? She almost looks like an Albino Tohka."
Those words sent shockwaves down Diend's spine. No, this couldn't be Tohka, not this bloodthirsty, feral . . . beast. There had to be an explanation or even a misunderstanding.
But any further discussion was ended as, in an instant, the Beast appeared before the curtain, and brought her hand down across it. Long strips of the translucent material fell, and the Aurora curtain began to fizzle.
"What-what the hell?" Decade stepped back, "That's not possible! The Aurora Curtain is already a dimensional rift you can't just-"
The girl cared little for laws of dimensional travel, as she brought her claws down once again. Before she continued fraying their means of returning home, both riders lept back out to the ruined world. The beast's attention had followed them, but her eyes stayed locked on Diend.
Diend knew he only had a moment to defend himself and to come up with a distraction at the same time.
As his mind settled on his best possible choices, a feral roar signaled his time was up. As the beast lunged towards him, claws raised high above her head, Diend quickly summoned two of his rider cards. He inserted them in his driver in quick succession, before having to quickly roll out of the way of the beast's claws. The robotic "Kamen rider" from his driver triggered him to immediately raise it and shoot it at the beast. Though she tried to dodge it, it did little to help as the light shot split into two.
The particles of light took human forms, before solidifying as two powerful suits of armor. There stood Kamen Rider Vulcan and Kamen Rider Garren, mere duplicates of the great men they once were, but their fighting spirits had lived on.
"Prepare yourself, girl," Garren called, "And prepare to face the justice of Kamen Riders!"
The beast seemed almost shocked at the sudden appearance, but as both figures dashed towards her, she gained her senses and roared, charging back with equal ferocity.
Meanwhile, as the clones and Diend distracted the Beast, Decade had found the card he wanted. With the enemy distracted, Decade quickly slid his new card into his driver.
"OPEN THE GRIMOIRE! THE END OF THE STORY! KAMEN RIDER: STORUIOUS! FUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Sudden darkness completely covered the battlegrounds. Black ooze bubbled up from the ground, centered on the form of Decade, who had sprouted black wings from his back. As the darkness in the area seemed to rise and then consume him, Diend bit back a horrified scream. A part of him, the rational part, knew that this was only a transformation, but he still couldn't help but fear the possibility he would be alone on the battlefield.
As the darkness burst, instead of Decade standing there, it was instead a large, dark suit of armor, with horns protruding from its head like antlers. But the Decadriver at his waist and Decade's rider book was proof enough that the villain Storious hadn't risen, and Decade was still in control.
The Beast, who had originally been distracted by Decade's newest transformation, once again found herself set upon by the copies of Vulcan and Garren. Diend focused on allowing Decade as much preparation time as he could get. As the Beast fended off her attackers, it gave her little time to react as Decade appeared behind her, his rider booker in sword form, ready to strike.
A winged sword manifested in a blink of the eye, blocking Decade's strike as the Beast knocked the other two assailants back. Taking the sword in hand, Beast propelled herself up above the battlefield. As she fell, she summoned the blade's power and swung down. Beams of light scattered over the Riders, each one attempting to dodge the cutting light. Out of the four, Vulcan was the unluckiest as he was pierced through the chest by a beam. His form evaporated as his Rider card was ejected from Diend's Driver.
Meanwhile, Decade had his own problems to deal with. As he escaped the destruction zone, he immediately had to block as the Beast swung upon him with the sword in hand. Once again, she raised her claws above her head as she pushed back against him, but the form of Storious mixed with Decade's speed allowed him to grab her clawed hand's wrist. Like a tango of death, the two struggled against each other, the Beast attempting to pierce the armor, while Decade attempted to hold her back.
A sudden yelp from her caused her to falter, as Decade utilized her sudden discombobulation to knock the sword out of her hand. However, her now free hand curled in on itself and drove into Decade's torso. Her strength had not only knocked the wind out of him but sent him flying as well.
She turned towards the assailant who had shot her in the back to give his comrade the upper hand. "Come down here and fight me!" Garren called, firing another shot towards her, but this time she made sure it missed. She evaded the next few shots effortlessly before a burst of speed brought her before Garren, and she embedded her claws into its chest.
Diend cursed as Garren's card was ejected as well, but he had no time to dwell on it as he quickly threw himself to the side as a piece of shrapnel embedded itself into the wall where he had stood. As he looked at The Beast, he saw what appeared to be her weapon arsenal. Surrounding her were ten swords, and she took her pick of the eighth one. As she raised the familiar, spiral sword, something finally clicked within Diend's mind.
Diend felt his eyes widen for just a moment before she swung the sword down. The powerful blast of wind almost felt like a bullet train hitting him. Diend fought against it for a moment, before letting the wind carry him. As he was thrown to the ground, he used his low position to start moving between debris, trying to look for his teammate without alerting the Beast.
Decade had been posted behind a large pile of rubble, still recovering from having the wind knocked out of him. He had been laying low, as to keep his tall antlers out of view.
"Are you okay?"
Decade gave him a thumbs up, "Well, I only got punched in the stomach instead of stabbed, so that's a point to me."
Decade reached down to his driver and removed his Storious card, reverting to his more heroic-appearing pink armor. "So about those swords, look familiar?'
"Without a doubt," Diend shook his head, "I should've noticed sooner, but those are all the spirits' angels, without a doubt. At this rate, we'll end up overwhelmed and she'll kill us."
Decade subtly sneaked a look at the Beast using a shard of glass he had found. "Then we have no choice but to go American on her."
" . . . But neither of us are American-"
"We're gonna nuke her." Decade interrupted him, paying no mind to the logical fallacy.
Diend stiffened. "Nuke her? How? And what about collateral damage?"
Decade gave him what could be described as a look from behind the mask. "Diend, one, look around us and tell me what is left for us to destroy. As for how . . . " Decade flipped out a card, and presented it to him. "Kuuga can."
Though hesitant for a moment, Diend still asked "What do you need me to do?"
—-
The Beast lurked the wreckage of her rage. Her prey had hidden, but there was little doubt that they would not have left.
Those doubts were erased as she heard a loud "Hey! Over here!", from behind her. There, standing on a tall pile of rubble, was the cyan armored Diend.
A furious roar erupted from the girl, charging to finish off what she had started. Diend took this chance to fire a round at her, which she deflected easily. She jumped up high once again, claw raised, ready to tear the cyan armor to ribbons.
Fate had other plans it seemed as she was met with a barrage of shots to her side, sending her careening off of her mark. Once on solid ground, she turned towards the green armored newcomer.
"I'm Kamen Rider Amazon Neo Alpha, Beast! Stand your ground or die!" Amazon called out, firing shots off at her. She flipped out of the way and worked to block Diend's shots from her other side. A sudden thunderous noise made her falter, before she quickly swung herself around, using her claws to catch Amazon's serrated blade. It screeched furiously against her claws, the sound forcing her to turn her head away.
The key-shaped sword came to her hand, but a sudden pang against its blade forced her to raise it. Diend was firing round after round, forcing her to stay on defense.
"Give in!" Amazon pushed against the Beast, her feet digging into the ground, "You're nothing against the Kamen Riders!"
She growled at him, but there was some truth to the copies' words. Her focus was severely split, leaving her unaware of the Red armor man lurking in the background.
"Diend, Now!"
The figure blocking her sword dissipated, causing her to stumble forward. Swinging around toward where Diend had been, she was shocked to see that he had also disappeared.
"Over here!" The same voice as earlier called out. She turned to see Decade approach, but he was wearing the red armor of Kuuga Rising Mighty. Around him, the air crackled with electricity, with it being mostly focused on his foot. Once it subsided, he began to run at her.
The Beast roared and summoned her swords. As the fool jumped up, he had already marked himself for death. She would slash him to pieces and then do the same to the other after she was done. As he fell towards her, foot aflame as it stretched out to her, she too took off the ground towards him, claws and swords ready to tear him apart.
What she did not expect was the sudden appearance of the glittery veil she had ripped apart just moments earlier. It appeared for a second, before disappearing, along with Kuuga.
The Beast tumbled to the ground, hands outstretched to catch herself. She barely had time to register the shimmering field appearing behind her, as Kuuga's momentum carried him through. She had no time to stop him as his foot connected harshly with her ass.
She yelped as she was thrown off balance, spiraling to the ground. The sudden pain in her ass increased as the world flashed white.
—-
The Aurora curtain was a powerful item, Dien noted to himself as he stepped onto the now flattened land. Withstanding proximity to a nuke could be useful in the future, though Diend hoped it wouldn't come to that in the future.
The newly flat terrain made it easier to pick out the smoking figures and weapons left strewn about the battlefield. He easily spotted the smoking pink armor of Decade, and approached him first.
"Hey man, are you still alive?" Diend lightly kicked Decade's hand, and took his light groan as a good sign, even if it seemed to increase the smoke output from his body.
"My body is tingling." Before Diend could ask if that was a good or bad thing, Decade continued, "But what about Albino Tohka? Is she okay?"
The mention of her name flooded Diend with panic, his heart beginning to race as he quickly looked to the other figure. She was lying face down on the ground, the only movement from her was the smoke rising from her derrière. Her swords had all been scattered by the explosion, and Diend's blood ran cold.
Thankfully, the girl began to move slightly, along with emitting a light whine. Diend was so focused on her, he failed to notice as shadows pooled around the sword with the four clock gears at its hilt, before consuming it and dispersing.
"Owowowowowowwowwww," The girl whined as she stood up, rubbing her now bruised posterior. She slowly turned toward the Riders, but no longer was her bloodlust present. Instead, Diend could see traces of the sweet girl he knew approaching, tears welling in her eyes.
The silence was thick between the trio, the girl's eyes watering fiercely while the other two watched with caution. Diend gently raised his hand to her. "Tohka, is that you?"
Her eyes widened as tears began to fall, and with a sob, she threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around Diend's neck. He stiffened, but relaxed after a lack of an attack, and gave her a gentle pat on the back.
"Shidou!" Those words sounded foreign on her tongue, "Shidou, it's you! Why are you here? Why are you alive? Why are you wearing that cyan armor?"
Diend stuttered the words lost to him not only due to how close she was but also because she was unintentionally holding on very tight to his neck.
"Heh," Decade chuckled from below, reminding the two he was still present, "Can't believe all it took to get you to behave was to nuke your ass."
Tohka looked taken aback and released Shidou as she looked towards the pink armored man. His words made her face flush beet red, her sore ass a testament to his words.
However, before she could say anything, she was interrupted by a voice.
"Ara~ Ara~! I never expected things to turn out like this!"
The shadows around them began to converge and rise, a familiar 'Kihihihihihi' emitting from the dark form.
"Don't tell me . . ." Diend murmured, not even bothering to finish his sentence as the shadows dispersed, revealing the newest arrival.
The woman wore a sweeping red ball gown and had decorated it with black undertones. Her sweet smile was offset by the mischievous gleam in her mismatched eyes, though it seemed to only enhance the beauty of her mature features. She had folded her hands above her chest, her black sleeves helping to accentuate her petite physique. Her long black hair flowed with the wind, tightly held into thick ponytails.
The woman was none other than Kurumi Tokisaki, her demeanor and clock eye giving her away. For a moment, Diend couldn't believe how beautiful she had become, barely able to understand how she was the same person as the cute girl from his universe. He ignored how his face grew hot in his helmet as he looked to Decade, who couldn't tear his eyes away from her. Seems the both of them had been entranced by her.
"Congratulations, dimensional travelers!" She chirped, "You've brought Tohka back to her senses, and ended the Beast's rampage." The last part was said a bit snidely and directed at Tohka, who looked down in shame.
"Hold up," Decade groaned, pushing himself off the ground, "hold up, hold up, hold up! Just, can you tell us what the hell happened to your world?"
Kurumi smiled at the man, "I think that's the least I can do for the heroes that spared us any more grief."
—-
The tale Kurumi told confirmed Decade's suspicions. She explained that, in this world, Shidou had died and Tohka had fallen into despair. Losing herself, the girl lost her humanity and began to destroy civilization. In her feral state, she had attacked and killed her fellow spirits, taking their angels to fuel her destruction. Kurumi had barely escaped after using a clone to fake her death and had been in hiding ever since. She was unable to stop Tohka from driving humanity to the edge of extinction, as Tohka had become incredibly powerful.
Tohka let out a broken whimper, reeling in the sheer severity of the destruction and death she had caused. She seemed to shrink in on herself, her already broken heart crumbling over the lives she had ended. Diend, for his part, had reached over and took her hand into his, gently squeezing it.
Kurumi was little affected by the display and instead turned to Decade, who had been listening to her intently.
"I'm sorry, I just realized I have no idea who you are. Who are you, and how are you related to Shidou and the spirits?" She rested her cheek on her hand, looking up and down Decade's armored body.
A sudden air of smugness surrounded Decade, and he gave a light chuckle as he crossed his arms. "That's understandable, I'm normally just passing by." Diend didn't need to see under his mask to know Kaarat had a shit-eating grin, "But if you must know."
Despite still lightly smoking, Decade dramatically threw himself back, widening his legs to strike a pose. "I am the Magenta apocalypse!", he spun around to point at Kurumu, "The spirit molester D-D-D-Decade!"
Somewhere outside the blast zone, a piece of rubble crumbled down. It was the only noise after the declaration. Kurumi looked stunned, blinking very slowly, looking to Tohka and Diend to confirm she had just heard what she thought she just heard. Tohka, still thinking about the 'nuke her ass' situation from earlier, once again turned flush as Decade's words, and her hand twitched as if she had tried to summon her claws again.
Diend let out a long sigh, facepalming at the wonderful impression his battle brother was making.
"I'm sorry about him," Diend stepped between Decade and the women, "This is Kamen Rider Decade. In my world, he was assigned to be my bodyguard to protect me from potential spirit attacks. He is also the reason why I can become Kamen Rider Diend."
Diend held up his driver so the girls could see. "Decade gave me the Diendriver so I could be able to protect myself and not die when there's no one else around. And, it was also to my benefit because drivers are also useful when dealing with spirits."
Decade popped his head out from behind Diend. "My real name is Karaat Utsutsukowashi, by the way, but in this form just call Me Decade."
"Interesting," Kurumi mused, approaching Diend and running her fingers up his driver, "During your battle, I saw you two using cards in your 'Drivers', though, obviously, you two utilize these cards differently. But I don't understand how these relate to handling spirits."
"Well," Diend began to remove three cards, "Our rider cards can be used to summon the power of previous riders, whether like summoning their fighting spirit as I do, or taking their form as Decade does. However, we found that we can seal Spirit's angels into their cards."
Diend handed a card to Tohka and turned his two cards around. "Yo Decade, show them your Angel cards." Decade, who was distracted by one of the swords still scattered across the landscape, jumped slightly, "Oh yeah, here." He casually summoned two cards and handed them to Kurumi, "You guys look those over, I'm going to go check the swords out."
Diend sighed as his Teammate wandered off towards some swords strewn about, before turning back to the girls. The cards in his hands were labeled "Camael" and "Metatron". The Camael card reflected a dark, flaming battleax, while Metatron reflected what appeared to be a grand crown.
Tohka was shocked at the card Diend had given her. It was labeled "Sandalphon", and the picture was of her broadsword, her angel. Shidou must have gotten this from . . .
"Impressive," Kurumi mused, eyebrow raised slightly "I can't imagine a Spirit would just let you have their power, have their power willingly."
Diend coughed, "Well, they have to consent to us first before we can seal their angels in Rider Cards."
"Ara~, Ara~, that sounds a bit intimate, don't you think?" Kurumi teased, and she enjoyed seeing Tohka's face burst into flames as well as Diend subtly looking away from her. It was obvious he was turning as red as Tohka was, though.
Still, such a revelation was interesting. She looked down to the cards Decade had given her, "Samael" and "Gabriel". Samael was quite powerful, but Ren was a manipulative girl. Had Decade been using Samuel, and if he had, was Ren feeding off of him. Decade, though a bit insane, was undoubtedly a powerful asset to them, and she should talk to him about it soon.
Speaking of that man . . .
"Where did Decade run off to?"
This quickly snapped Diend and Tohka back to reality, and the trio quickly checked their surroundings. The flat land and Decade's pink armor should have made him easily visible, but he was nowhere to be found.
"He couldn't have gotten far, could he-" Diend was cut off by a sudden ray of light, as two figures appeared. Storious stepped out, and upon his shoulders was a little girl.
A little girl who looked like Tohka, wearing a dark purple bathing suit with an eye patch and pirate hate.
"Look Shidou!" Storious lifted the little girl off his shoulders, and presented her to the group, "I made me another little sister!"
"I'm not your little sister, dummy! And put me down!" She kicked her short legs until she was back on the ground, though she wasn't in a rush to leave Storious side anytime soon.
Storious continued, "I was messing around with the sword that looked most like Tohka's demon king and decided to merge its powers with Storious, then bam, found the version of Tohka that's a pirate loli."
Kurumi and Tohka moths were agape, though Kurumi spoke up. "So . . .you kidnapped a child?"
"Hey, I did not kidnap her! I asked her if she wanted to come!" Storious defended.
"And I'm not a child!" Loli Pirate Tohka added, "And I came with this dummy because he would be a great asset to my crew!"
Kurumi said nothing, turning to Diend and gesturing towards them, but he simply shrugged. "Decade is like Tohka's older brother in my world, and if this Tohka remembers me fondly, then I'm not surprised that there's a Tohka who is inclined to be his 'little sister'.'"
"Though", Diend strode over to the pair, with Loli Pirate Tohka hiding behind Storious, "All these Tohkas are getting hard to separate. Maybe we should give her a nickname for now."
"How about Toto?" Storious suggested, but the pout on Loli Pirate Tohka read of displeasure. A familiar look of a certain alternate personality Diend knew.
"How about Tenka?" He offered, and looking at the little girl, she huffed but gave a small nod.
"Tenka it is then!" Storious clapped his hands before he came to a sudden realization. "Sh- I mean, crap, we should round up these swords first."
"Why though?" Tohka asked, remembering what she had done to the Angels' previous owners.
Storious paused for a moment, before laughing a bit nervously. "To keep them safe, of course. I don't need them for their power, so I can hold on to them while we figure out what to even do with them."
Kurumi cleared her voice, "I agree with Decade, but how exactly do you plan to collect them? I don't think you can carry nine swords at once."
"True, I can't do anything," Storious conceded, however, He summoned a card into his hands, "But I know someone who can!"
Storious clicked open his Decade driver and swiped the card he was holding. However, instead of the usual "Kamen Rider" emitting from the belt, it instead chimed "Spirit Ride: Phantom!"
A bright light encapsulated Storious's bulky form, swirling around him before tightening, and dispersing.
A woman stood where Storious had stood, and her sudden appearance even made Tenka shirk back a little. Her long white dress spilled across the ground, the long leg slit allowing her to walk unimpeded by the fabric. Long ribbons connected to her upper body flowed around her and her sweet face was framed by her beautiful hair. Her dress was pure white, saved of the black and pink Neo Decadriver. She looked to be a real-life heavenly angel.
That is, until she ruined the illusion by posing in an overly erotic way, a shit-eating grin on her face. "I'm pretty damn hot right now, ey? Big Momma Reine never fails to disappoint." She gave her eyebrows a lewd wiggle, rocking her hips in a pelvic thrust motion.
Once again, Kurumi was floored by Decade, and not just because of the vulgar display. His eccentrics, connection to Shidou and spirits, kidnapping Tenka, and now here he was in the form of a spirit. But it was a spirit Kurumi recognized too well.
But worst, Decade said it was Reine. That couldn't have been right, it just couldn't. Phantom and Reine couldn't be . . .
Looking at Tohka, Kurumi could see she was equally shocked. The girl was not entirely conscious during her Rampage, but she too had never found out the connection between Reine and Phantom during her time either. The two women locked eyes for a moment, waiting for the other to speak up.
Tenka, however, seemed to become entranced by her 'big sister'. "You're a spirit!" She proclaimed, jumping to Reine's side and hugging on to her dress, "I knew you would be perfect for my crew!"
Reine just gave the little girl a cheeky smile, "Of course, I would! I also have a lot of information that would help out the crew too."
Tanka's eyes sparkled. "Really? Like what?"
Leaning down, Reine whispered into her ear, "You must remember sweetie, licking doorknobs is illegal on other planets."
Tenka look up at her, puzzled, as Reine stood back up and clapped her hands. "Now then! Mama wants to get her hands on these sexy swords."
Reine gave the little girl a head pat, before walking over to one of the fallen swords and reaching for it.
"Wait, De- Rei- Decade, are you sure that's a good idea?" Diend reached out to pause her movements, causing her to huff slightly.
"Positive. Are we supposed to just leave them here?"
"I think," Diend started, "It would be best if we left them here and went back now. I don't think this world's Mio would be too happy if we took them."
Reine scoffed at him. "If Mio wants the angels so bad, she can come here to get them herself."
Tenka had given Reine's dress a tug, "Mio's here."
The group all whipped around to see a woman floating above them, her dress rippling in waves around her. Though she appeared to be a guardian angel, her aura was threatening towards the group.
"My, My, look what I've stumbled upon here." She floated casually down, her eyes scanning each person, before they landed on the Reine-form Decade, "Kamen Rider Decade, you've been stirring up a lot of chaos here, and bringing those here who don't belong." She finished her line by flickering her eyes to Tenka, who glared back at her, but was quickly picked up by Reine, and shielded the girl in her arms.
A look of resentment ran over Mio's face before she schooled it back to serene faux-kindness. "However, you, little Tohka, and Shidou here have caught my interest. I think you should stay a while longer, just so we can get a few things straight."
The group stood frozen as they looked between each other before the eyes turned to Reine. Reine looked to them, then up to Mio, before finally uttering,
"Oh shit."