Hello everyone. You know, I'm reeling from the positive feedback this fic has been getting as of late, even though it's really only in its beginning stages and not much action has happened... It will come, I promise!

But for now, it's time to go back to the World of Riders.

Ch. 3 - The Club, the Foundation, the Portal, and the Deal - part 1

The Club

"So how is it, Ryuusei?"

Ryuusei looked up from his laptop to see the worried face of the Club President Miu. The usually kempt and beautiful features of the aspiring model were haggard and distraught. He could see hints of drying, mascara-filled tears were on her cheeks. Ryuusei sighed and rubbed his strained eyes.

"Nothing. I've had the M-BUS scanning Japan for any traces of the Fourze Belt's Cosmic Energy all night. The process is only about halfway done, but there's no sign of him."

Miu bit her lip. "Can you configure the search to scanning the entire globe? There's a chance that portal took him out of Japan and into another country."

The transfer student gave her an unsure look. "I could, but I don't know how long that would take. I would have to first unlock the M-BUS's master controls and then I'd have to get it to move over the planet while avoiding interfering with other satellites and surveillance systems. The M-BUS technically doesn't exist so there'd be trouble if any government found out about it."

Miu nodded her head in understanding. "And how long will all of that take?"

The reply was quick and sure, but not what she wanted to hear; "Months. Maybe a year."

Miu grimaced. "I see... do what you can, then."

Ryuusei nodded and went back to his work as the club president turned to another person.

"JK, how are things on your end?"

The flashily dressed teen didn't look up from one of the many cellphones on his desk, his fingers almost blurs as he texted wildly. "Sorry, Miu, I'm sending out messages to everyone I know and everyone they know all over Japan. Everyone looking's been giving me texts on their progress too." He shook his head. "None of them have seen Gentarou at all."

The club president clicked her tongue before taking a seat on one of the empty desks in the classroom, rubbing her temples with one hand and hitting speed dial on her cell phone with the other. It didn't take long for the call to be received.

"Miu."

"Shun. Please, tell me you have some good news."

The deep, frustrated sigh on the other end did nothing for her mood. "I'm sorry. I've driven to every place I could think of. No sign of him." There was a short pause as the sound of a car being started was heard on the other end. "I've just filled up on gas, so I'm gonna keep looking."

"Alright... thank you."

"No problem. We'll find him, Miu."

"We will."

She clicked her phone shut and ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "Gentarou..." she whispered, her voice cracking slightly. Why did this have to happen? Just when they were so close to finally putting this whole nightmare to an end, their luck had to take another turn for the worse and take away another one of their friends away. It hurt so much when Kengo died, but now Gentarou? That guy who brought them all together in the first place? The guy who made friends with them despite all their flaws? Honestly, it felt like someone had stabbed her in the heart. It showed in the others too, with the way they all reacted in the hours after the event.

Shun had gotten into his car and drove off to look for Gentarou the second she finished giving him his task. She offered to go with the college football player, but he told her that she needed to stay and lead the Club. He never passed up a chance to be with her.

JK had been unnaturally silent as he texted all night, several phones hooked up to chargers and his thumbs burning an angry red from constant texting and calling. The party animal Miu knew had a serious look that seemed so strange on his usually smiling face.

Tomoko had drawn an ominous, multi-layered ritual circle in the middle of the room and back at the gymnasium where the portal appeared. It was to find any residual energy left off from the portal, she said. A black aura could almost be seen around her, dripping with despair but also angry determination. Not one of them, except maybe Ryuusei, could approach within ten feet of her without being affected with an onslaught of despair.

As for the transfer/martial arts student, he was composed, like normal. He was always the best of them all at hiding his emotions. However, Miu would notice the way his face and arms tensed at times or how his hands would clench into a hard fist until his knuckles went white and his fingernails dug into his skin.

Yuki... The space lover had taken command of the Foodroids via the Astroswitch Kaban, pushing them to their limit to find any trace of Gentarou. Every so often, the club president would see the girl choke back a sob or wipe her eyes. She'd known Kengo since they started school together and Gentarou since she was a kid. Losing both of them in such a short time... the president couldn't even imagine what she must be going through right now.

And herself... The club president sighed wearily. She was well aware how horrid and tired she looked. The old her would have gagged if she went an hour without adjusting her make-up, but look at her now; black mascara on her cheeks, blush foundation a mess, her lipstick gone from all the cups of coffee she had to keep herself energized...

Gentarou would hate to see them all like this... she could imagine him running up to them all and giving each of them some pep talk and a nice big hug.

He would after they find him, that is. If they find him. And if he was still...

No! She would not dare think that! Gentarou was alive. Miu felt it in her heart, and she was sure the others had the same feeling too. He came back from the dead, for heaven's sake! They will find him, no matter how long it takes!

He'd never give up on them, and neither will they.

But the situation looked bleak. The only reliable way they had to find Gentarou was by finding the Cosmic Energy produced by the Fourze Belt, a task that Ryuusei said would take up to a year with what they had. She cursed the Chairman and Leo for destroying the Rabbit Hatch.

The chairman... he was also sucked into that portal. There were two events that could happen as a result; he could have ended up with Gentarou and continued the fight or ended up someplace far away, giving him time to lick his wounds and start his whole plan again. It goes without saying that the first option was preferable. If the latter was the case then all the more important that they find Gentarou so they can stop him. Ryuusei was strong but he can't take the Sagittarius Zordiarts alone.

But they were having absolutely no luck. Hell, he may not even be in Japan anymore. Ryuusei said that scanning the globe would take almost a year. By the time they found him, Gamou would have recovered and restarted the Zodiarts. The only bright side to this whole mess was that the former chairman lost eleven of the twelve Horoscope Switches, which were promptly destroyed after Ryuusei collected them from the battle site. Gamou would have to find the Horoscopes in new people now, buying them some precious time.

'But how much? A few months maybe...' Miu thought bitterly. The chairman was nothing if not both resourceful and influential, especially so with his connections to Foundation X. While they were still looking for Gentarou, the chairman could have already contacted them to restart his ambitions. All the more reason for them to hurry. But who else could help them? She already had most of the former Zodiarts helping them out as well as almost half the student body. Perhaps she could get help from those two detectives... She heard that they do great work, so maybe they-

Her train of thought was interrupted by three soft knocks clicking on the door before it slid open.

"Good afternoon."

The club members looked to the direction of the calm, smooth voice. A prim woman stood at the doorway dressed in a white suit jacket, red skirt, and high-heel sandals, all expensive designer labels, Miu noted. She also noted that the woman was astonishingly pretty; a nice, angled face touched up slightly by blush, all framed by long, brown hair. Curiously, the woman held a ribbon-wrapped box in her right hand.

The woman's eyes went to each person in the room before she asked in a monotone, "This is the Kamen Rider Club, yes?"

Slightly unnerved by the cold way of speaking, Miu answered, "... Yes, that's us?"

The woman turned to her. "And you must be Kazashiro Miu?"

'How did she know?' the club thought simultaneously, putting themselves on guard. Miu nodded hesitantly before replying, "Yes, that's me..."

The woman stared at her for a moment before giving a curt bow. "A pleasure. I'm Satonaka Erika. I've come here to deliver these to you." The stepped over to a nearby desk and placed the box on top of it. She then reached into her jacket and pulled out a bright red envelope which she held out to the club president. "Inside the box is a cake. It's vanilla with ice cream filling. Please enjoy it later. As for the letter, I suggest that you read it immediately."

Miu took the letter, staring at it curiously as the others crowded around her. The words 'To the Kamen Rider Club' were written neatly and confidently, in English cursive no less, on the back side. On the front of the letter was a white wax seal depicting a hollow circle with an infinity symbol in the center with a large letter 'K' behind it.

"Who would send us a letter?" Ryuusei asked, eyes suspiciously staring at the letter and at the woman.

"Especially one like that," JK added, still texting away. "Not a lot of people actually write letters anymore."

"It's true," Miu confirmed. "Not many do, but there are some. Fairly wealthy people often write letters by hand, like this one."

JK raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think the person who wrote this was rich?"

"It was hand delivered, for one," she replied, nodding her head to Erika who stood by, watching them with a bored gaze. "There's also the quality of this paper. Shun writes his love letters to me-" she rolled her eyes "- on this kind of high-class paper all the time. And then there's this fancy wax seal. When have you ever seen a wax seal before that wasn't in a live drama?"

"I have." Tomoko replied darkly. "I use it for my... rituals."

The club president sighed, giving the goth a slightly annoyed look. "You know what I mean." She went back to the seal and examined it closely, a feeling of familiarity rising. "Hmm, I think I've seen this symbol somewhere before..."

Ryuusei blinked, giving the symbol another look. "Now that you mentioned it..."

"Me too," Yuki supplied, putting a finger to her lips. "But where?"

"On several products," Erika said aloud, causing the club members to look at her. "Like clothes, computers, home entertainment systems, kitchenware, cars, motorcycles, or vending machines, and on TV commercials and sponsor credits as well. It's a multipurpose type of company."

The club members racked their brains, placing the symbol on the products the woman mentioned.

It took less than a second for the company come into mind.

"The Kougami Foundation!?" the club members shouted with surprise.

Again, apologies for the slow update rate as well as thanks for sticking araound. I would like to thank some of you for helping me with grammar and spelling mistakes! Please, keep it up; I want to make sure there are no hiccups in your reading.

Stay tuned for the next part!