Kamen Rider Drive Battle Network

by Kamen Rider ZER0

The Global Freeze a day the earth stalled. Only saved by the legendary Kamen Rider, but the evil lives in the virtual world. Waiting to strike back at the real world and the humans. From across the virtual worlds uncanny valley rise the Roidmudes! A new brand of heroes must rise in both worlds. To move fast enough to save both worlds from destruction, Start your Engine!

11. Who can prevent the Dark Eve

GT: *wearing military helmet and hiding in a bunker* Hello, folks. …If you're asking why I'm wearing this hat? It's because of what goes down in this chapter.

Z0: Well yeah it's a big one for sure.

GT: I do know one big thing, however. *pauses for a moment* Megaman's gonna be terrified because we're dealing with something he doesn't like.

Z0: Things are about to get weird folks…just enjoy the ride. We sure will.

GT: Yep! As always, we don't own Kamen Rider nor Megaman. *looks down to see a Minibomb at our feet* …Oh, he didn't like the joke, did he?

Z0: No…no he did not…use the Intern *random intern is tossed over the minibomb as it exploded* Enjoy folks!

Intern: MY LEGS!

---

"Hah?!" Lan gawked as the SIU all looked at an indifferent Shinnosuke reclining at his desk, all of their desks decorated for the holidays.

"R-Really, Tomari-san?" Maylu blinked a few times, sitting at a desk similar to Lan's.

"No way! No way!" Jun exclaimed in disbelief, "Christmas Eve is…"

"...Your Birthday?!" everyone aside from Kiriko asked in unison.

"Hai," Kiriko calmly replied as she stood up and pulled out her small black book.

"What's that?" Maylu whispered to Lan.

"Oh, that's Kiriko-nee's book on Shinnosuke-nii," Lan quietly replied, "It's really neat!"

"The coming December 24th is Tomari-san's 24th Birthday," Kiriko informed, opening her book to a page showing a drawing of Santa Claus with a big sack and a smile, a Christmas tree, and a cake with 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' written on it in a variety of colors.

"Ah…She even wrote his BWH…" Roll whispered, the four NetNavis of the team all able to look over her shoulder at the opposite page from Kyu's computer camera.

"Oh…it's so nicely drawn," Maylu nodded, looking over Kiriko's little drawings and the notes, but honestly mostly the drawings.

"Eh~? Really now, Shinnosuke-kun? Christmas Eve is your birthday?" Rinna asked as she put down her coat and bounced over to him, "How lucky!"

"Ano…Rinna-nee? I don't think Tomari-san is feeling all that lucky," Roll noted, seeing how Shinnosuke wasn't reacting to them and just nudging along Max Flare on a tiny paper road on his desk.

"The pink usagi's right. He looks more displeased than lucky," Gen added.

"Oh…'Tomari-san shows displeasure with his date of birth,'" Maylu read a small piece on the page.

"Eh? Why's that? Wouldn't it mean he gets two days of presents?" Lan asked, tilting his head.

"Ugh…" Shinnosuke groaned, slumping at that, "Yeah…two days of presents…but I only get one each day!"

"...Eh?!" Lan exclaimed, "J-Just two presents?! What kinda birthday and Christmas is that!?"

"Uso! That's horrible!" Maylu gawked as Gen cracked up laughing.

"You're acting like our two reps!" Gen pointed out as he tossed a gold gift bag over to Shinnosuke, "You're a little kiddo today!"

"Little?" Megaman repeated, "...I don't see it."

"Uhn," Roll nodded, holding Rush as he licked a candy cane, "..." she pouted, "Can't he share some height with others?"

"Eh?" Megaman looked at Roll in confusion.

"Well!" Shinnosuke got up and shoved the bag into Gen's face and shook it, "I'm soooo sorry for being childish!"

"Yare yare…" Kyu noted as Shinnosuke left, "What an immature guy."

"...Ah! He must have been on the Naughty List," Lan recognized.

"Hm?" everyone looked at Lan.

"Well…If he only got two presents, does that mean he didn't get anything from Santa?" Lan asked.

"Lan-kun…I-I think Santa was the only reason why he got a present on Christmas," Maylu noted, a drop of sweat going down the back of her head.

"...Oh! That makes a lot more sense!" Lan agreed.

"Ah…To be a kid again…" Gen sighed.

"You're showing your age there aren't ya, Gen-san?" Shinnosuke asked with a slight smirk.

"Eh? What do you mean by that, Gen-san?" Megaman asked.

"It is just Gen-ken being himself, de gozaru. Do not worry about what he said," Yamatoman assured.

"Quiet from the peanut gallery!" Gen barked, pointing at the computer screen.

"Well at least I was good enough to get a gift from Santa-san as a kid. Judging by your cliche bully style, I bet you got skipped a few years, huh?" Shinnosuke continued, "At least it wasn't the Krampus~"

"The what?" Gen blinked.

"A dark boogey man who is the bad to Santa-san's good. He takes bad kids and beats them with a broom," Shinnosuke explained.

"...A broom?" Lan and Kiriko looked at Maylu.

"...Eh?" Maylu blinked a few times as she noticed the looks.

"Nothing…" both replied as they looked away.

"Eh? Nani?" she blinked at that again, "That's not funny! Tell me~ Mou!"

"I don't get it either," Shinnosuke assured.

"Oh please…if Krampus is real, then I'll eat a boot," Gen huffed.

"You really shouldn't tempt fate, Gen-kun…It tends to have favorites it likes to bite," Jun warned while checking his phone for his daily color horoscope.

"Often in the form of a robotic kitty," Roll giggled.

"You told!" Gen barked at Shinnosuke.

"Wha~?" Shinnosuke asked in shock, "How dare you besmirch my honor?"

"It was the boy," Jun smiled, "You can't touch him. He's still just a boy."

"Eh?!" Gen gawked, spinning around to a snickering Lan.

"I had to trade so many BattleChips for the photos Gutsman got of you and Dex in the hospital as room buddies," Lan admitted.

"He shared them with the whole class," Megaman added.

"That was your idea, too, wasn't it?!"

"You both looked lonely!" Lan replied as Shinnosuke took it as an opportunity to escape the room before anyone could pull it back to the original topic.

"Hmm…Oh! Idea~!" Rinna exclaimed, "Why don't we all get him presents? It's just not right only getting a present for a birthday and just one Christmas present!"

"We gotta get him another gift, Megaman," Lan noted, "I don't think the ones we got him will be enough."

"Eh?"

"We found some old comics from America for him!" Lan explained.

"It wasn't easy, either. We had to take exams to upgrade our NetBattle License to let us access international networks," Megaman added, "And I'm gonna have to go back to the USA one again…I keep getting lost, too…"

"Oh! Do you need help navigating there?" Roll asked.

"Eh?"

"I have a Passport to let me travel between Japan and the USA Networks," Roll explained, "It's how I tend to get new music sheets you can't get in Japan for Maylu-chan's piano lessons."

"Uso…He's already ahead of us," Rinna gawked.

"Boys understand each other better," Maylu noted.

"Still…the only issue with that guy is…" Gen frowned.

"Ah…The only things he likes are…" Kyu looked over at Kiriko.

"Comics, candy, and cars," Kriko supplied.

"No matter how you look at it, there is a pretty nuts price jump in there!" Gen gawked.

"Actually…good comics cost a pretty penny, too. Unlike manga tankobon, American Comics change in price depending on the cover," Kyu added.

"Even more with the Zenny currency NetNavis use," Megaman admitted, holding up a small green purse upside-down and shaking it, letting several gold coins with a green stylized 'Z' on them fall into his open palm, "Lan-kun and I had to spend over two weeks getting the funds for overnight shipping for the ones we found for him. Mostly for the fact the series we thought he'd like has been canceled for years…"

"The Kid even has us beat in that, too!" Gen gawked.

"Hmm…Why don't we combine the other two then? Get him an ame car?" Jun suggested.

"Ame…Like a Ford?" Maylu asked after a moment of silence.

"I can't afford American Muscle…" Gen muttered, "I can barely afford local muscle…"

"I think he meant a car made of candy," Lan noted.

"Iie, iie, iie! Not an American car! And not ame as in candy! A rain car!" Jun corrected, "A rain car like an ameotoko~! When the car comes, it brings the rain with it!" he looked at everyone, "So a soaking-wet car then?" he tilted his head, "Dame?"

"Jun-Jiichan…I, uh…I think he'd like a car made of candy more than one that makes it rain…" Lan noted, a drop of sweat going down the back of his head.

"Oh~! A car that makes it rain candy then!" Jun declared, "...Hope it's gummies. It'd be horrible if it rained hard candies!"

"Oi…" Kyu sighed before the lights began to flicker before shutting off, "Ah!"

"A blackout?!" Gen panicked.

"Ah! Megaman!" Lan panicked.

"Roll!" Maylu yelped as the two looked at their PeTs.

"We're okay! We got booted out of Kyu-san's computer," Roll assured, the NetNavis and Rush in Megaman's PeT.

"Your PeT is rather spacious, de gozaru," Yamatoman complimented.

"It's really dark in here, though…" Megaman admitted.

"Awooo~"

"EEK! Y-YUREI?!"

"Mega, that was just Rush-chan," Roll pointed out.

"Eh? Oh…right…g-gomen, Rush…" Megaman muttered sheepishly.

"May I have my naginata back, de gozaru?" Yamatoman asked in a deadpan tone before Kyu screamed.

"I'VE LOST ALL MY DATA~!" Kyu panicked.

"All of it?!" Jun gasped before Lan, Gen, and Maylu yelped as the PeTs shut off along with Jun's phone, "Ah! My fortune came true!" he slumped as he wagged his tie sadly, "Plaid in blue leads to the blues today…"

"Ah! B-Belt-san!" Lan whispered, looking at Maylu.

"M-Maybe he can help?" Maylu guessed, earning a nod.

---

Sure enough, the blackout was not centered to one localized spot. It was in fact spreading all across town at an alarming rate. Though at the moment, it was just a moderate inconvenience, as offices and workplaces were now dark. People even noticed things like vehicles were also somehow affected by this as they all seemed to turn on by themselves for a moment…before dying and shutting down. On the stairway down to the Drive Pit, Shinnosuke managed to grab the railing before he could fall down.

"Ah mou~! I can't see anything!" Shinnosuke noted.

"Shinnosuke-nii! Tatsuke-WHOA!"

"EEK!"

"Hm?" Shinnosuke blinked before grunting as he felt something hit his back and looked over his shoulder to see Lan and Maylu, "Daijobu?"

"I forgot a step was there…" Lan groaned.

"Tomari-san, our PeTs lost power!" Maylu held hers up.

"We can't talk to Megaman or Roll!" Lan added.

"Ah!" he gasped, understanding their concern, "Okay, hang on. We just gotta get down to the Drive Pit. I'm sure Belt-san has something to charge them up. Just…getting down is…a hazard…" he trailed off before they all flinched as a bright light shone on the steps below, "Oh! Solar!" he saw the Shift Car, "Gotta love renewable energy!" He picked the car up and began leading the kids down at a rushed, but cautious, pace.

"Arigatou, Solar-chan!" Lan thanked.

"Yosh, bottom! Come on, kids!" he hurried them in as he opened the door and was greeted to more darkness, "Belt-san? You okay in here?"

"No Problem!" he replied in English from his stand, "Activating Core Driviar engine," at that, Tridoron roared to life before lights in the Drive Pit began turning on, "The glovebox should have two outlets for you to charge the PeTs with, so go on ahead, kids."

"Arigatou, Belt-san!" Maylu thanked.

"Thanks!" Lan beamed as they ran over to the Tridoron.

"It appears there's an issue with the voltage in the region, an instability of sorts."

"One that even drains things not connected like a PeT?" Shinnosuke pondered.

"Indeed. It's strange how it did that along with draining the emergency power supply," Belt-san concurred, adopting a worried expression.

"It's like all the energy got stolen…" Shinnosuke noted.

"This is most concerning for many reasons…this is a lot of energy being taken, but for what reason? Furthermore, it might be dangerous if this goes on. I'll have to develop a Core Driviar Battery for the PeTs to prevent this problem again. But for now, let's focus on helping fix the problem. The Kamen Rider shall need to moonlight as an emergency mechanic tonight, Shinnosuke."

"I'm gonna need a lot of instruction booklets, won't I?" Shinnosuke sighed.

"Exactly~!"

"Hah…Kids! Scoot out of the driver's seat! We need to go fix the city!" Shinnosuke called out.

"Hai~!" both replied.

---

Outside of SciLab, electricity crackled before several bolts shot out and down into the small fountain outside of it and struck the submerged device Volt Roidmude had originally held. The water hissed as it underwent a flash vaporization from the amperage…before the Volt Roidmude in his human disguise appeared, now donned in a white suit and fedora. He looked around before looking down at the device in the now empty fountain. He smirked, remembering his final words from his supposed demise against Drive here several days ago. Thankfully he dropped the device here in the fountain during their battle, the Rider none the wiser to its surviving the battle. Even with the delayed activation from being submerged, it worked perfectly. Volt laughed to himself as he picked it up…and walked off into the night.

---

"Ah…You let them stay up so late…" Rinna noted, looking over at the smaller desks to see the two kids were slumped on them and resting their heads on their arms.

"So many things to get fixed and we had to go get more materials to have Tomari-san and Maylu-chan to read to figure out…" Megaman explained.

"Guess the kid was lazy, huh?" Gen chuckled, looking over at Lan.

"Actually, the stuff he fixed he did without reading anything," Roll noted, "They even worked better than the ones Tomari-san and Maylu-chan repaired. He even did twice as much as Tomari-san and Maylu-chan."

"Definitely like his papa and grandpapa," Rinna nodded.

"The odd thing is…" Megaman began.

"Eh? Didn't you close the case involving the atmospheric discharge-caused fires?" Jun asked, looking at Shinnosuke in surprise.

"Ah…well I actually have more on that," Shinnosuke sighed, "Not long after we finished did I get a good number of tips…" he pulled out a composite image of Volt's human face, "...that this man has been sighted walking around town."

"This man…what on earth does this mean?" Jun blinked.

"This is a composite photograph of the man that the monster from the previous case imitated based on testimony from Mega-chan and Lan-kun," Rinna explained, Lan snorting himself awake on hearing his name.

"Eh? But didn't the Kamen Rider destroy that monster?"

"That…" Shinnosuke and Lan slowly muttered, "Is…what…happened…"

"Hmm…how mysterious. A Monster that was taken care of…returning?" Jun nodded, "So who's the donor for his mug?"

"Oh!" Gen spoke up, "Kyu-boy handled that already! He turned up some good intel."

"Accursed Blackout…make me lose all my precious Data will you…hahahaha…I don't mind! I'll rebuild it all…I'll do it from scratch!" Kyu cackled as he typed away rapidly, two of his dolls 'clinging' to his shoulders.

"I'm kinda scared to tell him I made a backup just before the blackout…" Roll whispered, peeking out from the side of Maylu's PeT screen.

"After he crashes from exhaustion…it will comfort him when he falls to sleep." Kiriko whispered, earning a nod from the pink NetNavi.

"Anyway, this mug belongs to one Minami Goro," Gen went on, putting a photo of the same face next to the composite image, "He was a famous crime researcher who went on to write Sci-Fi novels about societal revolution."

"Wah…heavy stuff…" Lan muttered.

"Papa was a fan of those…" Maylu mumbled in a half-awake state before dropping her head onto her arms again.

"Wait… 'Was?'" Megaman repeated, looking at Maylu in confusion.

"Hai. Minami Goro-san passed away an estimated three months ago due to a disease, de gozaru," Yamatoman informed.

"Oi…I was gonna say that!" Gen frowned.

"Wait…he's already deceased?" Shinnosuke blinked.

"Ah…" Gen sighed, deciding to continue, "Both him and this monster are supposed to be dead….but now he's walking the streets. Frankly this gives me the creeps…it's like…"

"A…A…A ghost?" Megaman realized as his eyes widened.

"Eeyup," Gen nodded as Megaman began to turn pale, "Boy, what a creepy conversation."

"I wonder if a different monster is imitating the same man…" Rinna pondered.

"Yes, that! I agree with Sawagami-hakase!" Megaman quickly agreed, "G-Ghosts aren't real after all! Eheheheh…"

"Regardless…any clues will be with that novelist," Shinnosuke declared.

"...Should I get an ouija board?" Jun asked.

"Please don't, sir!" Megaman panicked.

"No, no…just directions to the library," Shinnosuke replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head as nearly everyone fell over at the implied admittance.

"His work is probably our only lead…" Kiriko nodded in agreement, she then looked at the kids, "I'm sure they have a place for kids." she picked both up as Shinnosuke grabbed their PeTs.

"Now we're reading the cursed works of a deadman?" Megaman gulped.

"N-No no libra-zzz…" Lan protested in his sleep.

"Sshhh…mmm…five minutes…" Maylu shushed him in her sleep.

"Too cute…" many of them muttered.

---

"Zzzz…" Lan and Maylu softly snored as they were left in a daycare-like area for little children at the local Library. Maylu was contently curled up…while Lan was…thrashing about in his sleep to the point he was rolling across the ground towards some bored children with coloring supplies.

"I really hope this doesn't mess with their sleep schedule…" Roll noted, the PeTs connected to the library's network to let the two NetNavis read the works Goro wrote while propped up at the table Shinnosuke and Kiriko were at…reading physical copies.

"Lan-kun will be fine. This is pretty much the normal for him during breaks from school," Megaman sighed.

"This looks like the book Kyu-chan suggested," Kiriko noted as she held up a novel with the title The Dark Eve on it.

"Oh! I just finished that one," Roll noted, "It's about an insane young revolutionary who tried to cause a large-scale blackout in a large city on Christmas Eve." she pouted as she tugged on an antennae in annoyance, "I looked all over the Library's Network for the second part, but it's not in the systems at all! Ending on a cliffhanger is the worst!"

"That's because Goro died not long after finishing the first volume," Shinnosuke looked at the publishing date, "That must mean it will go on forever unended."

"Mmm…" Megaman skimmed through the digital copy he had, "...Ah! The cliffhanger at the end…when the revolutionary made the device…" he gulped as he looked at the two officers, "It matches what Volt Roidmude put Lan-kun into at the Power Plant."

"The Volt Roidmude was copying the story?" Roll pondered, tilting her head.

"So its goal was to reproduce the Dark Eve?" Shinnosuke questioned.

"The biggest issue we have is that no one knows how the story ends," Belt-san noted, occupying Shift Speed, "By copying Minami Goro, Volt may have likely figured it out on his own, but for us…"

"Mmm…" Rush sighed before sniffing the air, "Awoo?"

"What is it, boy?" Kiriko asked as Rush kept sniffing on Lan's PeT screen before yelping and started to pantomime, quickly holding his right paw up like it was holding something before pushing the 'object' into the palm of his other paw and swung it out, making a yipping sound akin to a transformation tune, "...Roll-chan, you made sure Rush-chan's been on a walk, right?"

"Ah!" Roll and Megaman nearly fell over.

"Mou~! Kiriko-san, are you bad at charades?" Roll asked.

"..." Kiriko frowned.

"He's saying he smells…" Megaman began.

"Chaser," Shinnosuke finished.

"Yes. How did you know that, Tomari-san?" Megaman asked.

"No," Shinnosuke pointed ahead…at Chase as he slowly approached from down the shelves, "Chaser!"

"?!" Kiriko tensed before she and Shinnosuke quickly stood up as Chase paused in the middle of the aisle.

"...Isn't it a human rule that one must read books in silence?" Chase asked.

"...Eh?" Shinnosuke blinked a few times.

"Perhaps a change of scenery would suffice so we do not break that human rule like the Kamen Rider just did…" Zero advised.

"Maji…" Shinnosuke muttered as Chase just walked off, "Kiriko, keep an eye on the Jr. Detectives."

"Eh…" Kiriko muttered, turning towards the area they had put them at…before gawking upon seeing Lan covered in scribbles, "Ack! Ah, c-chotto matte…"

"Not going to try to demand a NetBattle?" Roll asked.

"Neither of your partners are aware enough to fully unleash your capabilities. If my mission is to succeed properly, you must be at optimal efficiency," Zero stated.

"Eh?" Roll blinked a few times.

"...Arigatou, Zero-san," Megaman thanked as Shinnosuke quickly followed the Shinigami.

---

"Another riverside, huh?" Shinnosuke noted, the two standing underneath a bridge, "If you were a lady, I'd be a bit nervous on your choice of local."

"There are no humans to get in our way here," Chase replied, "This way we can fight without holding back. Now…hurry and transform."

"Y'know…This is weird, but that coming-at-you-head-on thing you've got going, I just can't hate it," Shinnosuke noted, "Just as much as I think Lan-kun and Megaman like the honor code your NetNavi partner has. You're pretty much birds of a feather, huh?"

"I do not appreciate your mindless chatter." Chase replied slamming his palm onto the Break Gunner's barrel.

=BREAK UP!=

"No running away this time," Shinnosuke spoke as Mashin Chaser waited for him to transform, "Belt-san!" With that, Belt-san flew in being carried by Wrecker before latching onto Shinnosuke.

"Ah! We'll strike full force from the start. Start Your Engine!" Belt-san ordered as Shinnosuke twisted the ignition key.

"Henshin!" Shinnosuke called out.

=DRIVE TYPE: SPEED!=

Mashin Chaser spun around, delivering a roundhouse kick to Drive's Type Speed Shift Tire before it could hit him from behind. The wheel bounced before snapping into place on Drive's chest as he charged at the Shinigami. Mashin Chaser swung a right hook at Drive, who moved to the side to avoid the blow and swung a kick at his foe. The purple and silver fighter caught the kick and attempted to throw Drive only for the Rider to use his free leg to jump and follow the throw, letting him land on a wall and jump back at Mashin Chaser. He rolled out of the way to avoid the flying side-kick and slammed his Break Gunner on the ground during the roll.

=GUN!=

'Come!' Mashin Chaser thought, firing several shots at Drive as the Rider used the steel beams of the underpass to avoid getting hit, 'Come, Kamen Rider…I can only feel like my true self when I battle with you!' Mashin Chaser leapt out of the way of several shots fired from Drive's summoned Door-Ju, 'That's what my heart tells me!'

=BREAK!=

Mashin Chaser slammed his Break Gunner on a steel barrel that sent it flying at Drive's hiding spot, forcing the Rider to jump out into the open to avoid the barrel's impact that bent in the beams. In his landing, Mashin Chaser got in close and swung an uppercut, sending sparks flying as Drive was knocked away from the bridge and into the empty canal. Drive managed to flip up to his feet before jumping back from a swing of Mashin Chaser's punch.

"Koi, Handle-Ken!" Drive called.

The Kamen Rider spun away from Mashin Chaser before swinging his hand to grab the Handle-Ken before using its momentum to move its blade in the path of Mashin Chaser's next punch. He swung and slashed the Shinigami forcing him back a step. Drive pressed on as he swung once, only for Mashin Chaser to dodge by stepping back, but the Rider kept swinging his blade around with flair. This kept Mashin Chaser at a distance, but likewise this kept Drive away, the two decided to go in as Drive spun around for a wide swing only for Mashin Chaser to stop just short of the tip, before using this slim opening to land a punch with his Break Gunner to Drive's chest making sparks fly. The Shinigami grunted swinging his leg for a kick but his attack was blocked as Drive lifted his leg and used his knee to block the attack, using the same leg Drive swung his foot forward for a kick to Mashin Chaser's abdomen making him grunt, and allow the Rider to swing his sword down and slash in from shoulder to hip. The Shinigami stumbled back as he grunted in pain.

The two grunted as they regained their footing and began slowly circling one another, both fighters trying to outthink the other now. Mashin Chaser held up his Break Gunner as Drive got low and held his Handle-Ken defensively. Mashin Chaser growled as he rushed in with an overhead swing only for Drive to block with his free hand, the Rider pulled and spun the Shinigami around before he swung the Handle-Ken while falling over, using this to add more momentum to his swing as the resulting slash knocked Mashin Chaser off his feet. The two rolled along the ground with Mashin Chaser getting up first as he slammed the Break Gunner into his palm to change modes.

=GUN!=

He quickly took aim and fired, but Drive swung the Handle-Ken up and placed it in the right spot as the hand-guard and blade blocked all the bullets…but they still pushed him back several steps. Mashin Chaser grunted, realizing Drive used the tight aim of his weapon to predict where to guard with his weapon.

"You really are good…" Drive grunted as he swapped hands he held his blade in, "But I still got more tricks than you these days." he twisted the key of his Driver before inserting Shift Technic.

=DRIVE: TYPE TECHNIC!=

With that, the Red armor of Type Speed came apart as the Green armor of Type Technic rapidly formed over his suit. The Door-Ju flew into his hand at the same time the tire locked into place.

"The form you took on last time," Mashin Chaser recognized.

"Aw~You remembered!" Drive jokingly swooned.

Mashin Chaser answered by firing several shots. Drive's 'headlights' and visor glowed as data proceeded to flow into his HUD. With almost relative ease, Drive aimed and began to fire, shooting each shot before it could reach him. He opened the Door-Ju and closed it after taking down the last shot.

=CHARGE!=

The two began shooting again, but this time Drive fired more shots as they passed through the smoke and struck Mashin Chaser, making him grunt and fall to one knee. He raised his arm to his shoulder before looking at Drive. It was odd how this feeling of excitement made him remember their first battle, how different things have changed from then to now.

"You've grown strong since we first met…" Mashin Chaser spoke.

"Lucky for me," Drive shrugged nonchalantly.

"How you fight changes from time to time…when you are laughing and mocking me, you are calm…but your strength rises when you are angry…last time you did not show restraint," Mashin Chaser noted.

"I was stressed and upset," Drive explained simply, "Those kids are important to me, so endangering them just brings out more anger. It's a human concept to protect others who are smaller and weaker."

"So you claim your strength comes from protecting the small and fragile…" Mashin Chaser nodded.

"Unlike Roidmudes…not all humans have the ability to defend themselves from all dangers…" Drive sighed, "I don't think it's something so simple to explain."

"Ah…" Mashin Chaser nodded, "The time for words is over…" he got into a pose for battle as he held his Break Gunner up and aimed at him.

"I was starting to feel awkward, too. Let's just get back to hitting each other 'till we feel better. It's the Male thing to do…" Drive chuckled, aiming at Mashin Chaser.

The two prepared to shoot but were stopped by a sudden wave of heat hitting the area, making the two tense as it was clearly not natural. The sight of what was coming made Belt-san gasp.

"This looks like fun, Chase!" the two turned to see Heart walking towards them, "Can I play, too?"

At this same time, Kiriko was making her way over with Megaman and Roll inside the former's PeT. They stopped upon spotting Heart making his way towards the fighting Armored Warriors.

"Who is that?" Kiriko asked as the two NetNavi took a good look at Heart.

"Heart?" Mashin Chaser blinked in confusion.

"Heart? Another Member of their higher ups?" Drive asked.

"H-He's…He…" Belt-San rambled, his voice shaky and raspy as if his emotions overwhelmed him. Drive looked down in concern as he'd never seen this reaction from his sentient Belt partner before.

"It's time we stopped tormenting the dearly departed," Heart looked at Drive, "Kamen Rider, Volt is gone, he's dead." he spoke slowly as he shook his head, "Chasing his remnant will do no good. But I also know your ego as the Protector of Humanity won't allow it."

"Ego?" Drive blinked.

"He was a good guy," Heart continued.

"Good guy!? He was a crook! He tried to murder a child, two if you count his NetNavi! That's why I had to take him down!" Drive declared as he pointed to himself, this made Heart's expression sour.

"He might have seemed like a villain to humans, but to me he was a dear friend," Heart replied as his voice got angrier as he spoke, his brown eyes slowly turning Red as his anger rose, he crossed his arms and began taking a deep breath as the air began growing hotter and hotter. He slowly brought his arms apart as red sparks of data began forming around him.

"T-Tridoron!" Belt-San shouted as Tridoron's engine roared to life, the car drove itself before unleashing a large barrage of energy beams at the ground, causing both Roidmudes to grunt as they were forced to jump away.

"What's wrong with Belt-san?" Roll pondered.

"He's terrified," Megaman noticed, "The moment that one appeared, he started panicking."

"Everyone inside Tridoron this instant!" Belt-san ordered.

"Eh?" Drive looked down at his partner.

"No arguing! Everyone inside! Pronto!"

"Just what's with you?"

"HURRY!" Belt-san pleaded.

"Better to do what he says now and get the answers later," Megaman advised.

"Ah fine, come on, Kiriko," Drive sighed as the female officer nodded and jumped in with him. The supercar proceeded with peeling out as it began driving in reverse…while also unleashing another onslaught of rapid fire laser blasts that caused the two Roidmudes to flinch. The Tridoron made a sharp stop…and flipped itself up…and around to drive away at top speed, the audible thump of the people inside and two children yelping in pain being the last thing the Roidmudes heard as it left.

Heart chuckled as he walked up next to Mashin Chaser, "I guess they are scared of me~" he smirked, "Well fortunately that kept me out of the Dead Zone…" he mused.

"Please do not, Lord Heart," Zero advised as Mashin Chaser dropped his transformation, "Brain complains when you do enter it because he has to be the one who does repairs that Lord Wily cannot do on his own."

"Yeah, yeah…" Heart chuckled.

"Heart," Chase spoke, earning Heart's attention.

"...Do you remember our promise?" Heart asked, "I'm counting on you if that ever happens, Chase."

---

"Ow…" Lan and Maylu groaned, rubbing their heads once back in the Drive Pit.

"Hah…" Rinna sighed, "Really? No seatbelts…and a vehicular backflip?"

"I wasn't driving…" Kiriko pouted.

"Neither was I…" Shinnosuke spoke up as he paced about, "Never thought I'd have to run from a duel…I bet the Shinigami wasn't pleased about it either…"

"Mmmm…" Belt-san muttered as his screen was totally blank this time around.

"Did…Did his screen glitch?" Roll asked.

"I…don't think that's the case. He may be feeling too many things at once," Megaman noted.

"Eh?" Maylu looked at the computer Megaman and Roll were on, Rush held by the pink NetNavi.

"From what I've come to understand…Belt-san's 'face' changes based on his mood. But if he's feeling too many at once, it may be overwhelming the system that detects his mood and it can't display anything," Megaman guessed.

"It only makes sense." Rinna sighed, "How is someone supposed to react let alone feel when confronting their own Murderer."

"...Murderer?" Megaman repeated.

"That man was the Roidmude that killed Krim?" Kiriko asked.

"Krim?" Everyone but Rinna, Kiriko, and Belt-san repeated. The stand for Belt-San turned to face Shinnosuke for what he wanted to say, his normal expression returning.

"Krim Steinbelt…that was my name." he revealed as his expression changed to sad, "At least it was back when I was still a human man." everyone just stared as those who did not know this just froze up, all this time many of them assumed he was merely a highly advanced NetNavi designed to control the Drive Driver, that he was so human-like due to being so advanced and maybe his human level of emotion, and wisdom was based upon someone…but never did they think he was in fact an actual man trapped in a digital facsimile of life.

"Y…You were a human?" Roll asked, his eyes wide in surprise.

"Yes."

"...Stein…belt-san, huh?" Shinnosuke pondered, "Huh…So naming you 'Belt-san' wasn't necessarily wrong."

"I…suppose so."

"But…how?" Lan asked.

"Years ago, SciLab made a device, allowing a human's mind to enter the Network through the process known as 'Pulse Transmission,'" Belt-san explained, "What I did was essentially digitize my mind with the device while I was dying."

"Turning a human into a NetNavi by digitizing them…" Megaman whispered, a troubled look forming on his face, hiding the lower half of his face behind a hand.

"That's…but…that's just…" Lan was still rather shocked by all this.

"The story is long…" he sighed, "There are so many things to explain…questions I'm sure you have asked…about how Drive and the Roidmudes are so similar…all of this is connected to a mistake I made…which led to all of this…"

"It sounds like a real long story," Shinnosuke spoke, "I find they are easier to tell while driving somewhere."

"Ah…you are right, Shinnosuke," Krim chuckled, "Would you please go for a drive with me?"

"You kids want to come with? Maybe some air will help with the story?" Shinnosuke offered, "Kiriko and Rinna already know the story, so it will be just us."

"I really wanna understand what's going on, so yeah!" Lan agreed.

"I'm still on the part that he's a human who turned into a NetNavi," Roll admitted, Maylu nodding in agreement with her NetNavi.

"I'll do my best to make it understandable for you kids…and Shinnosuke."

"Yeah, that's a good id…oi!" Shinnosuke frowned.

Eventually, they were soon on the highway, leaving the larger part of the town. Shinnosuke kept focused on the road, following the directions being displayed on Lan's propped up PeT that Belt-san had sent while Lan sat in the passenger's seat and Maylu in the back.

"I was once a scientist, doing private projects at my home instead of working directly with the Ministry of Science at SciLab," Belt-san explained.

"Was one of them the Roidmudes?" Roll asked.

"No. I invented what powers them and the Drive System: the Core Driviar," Belt-san explained, "My best friend, Professor Tenjuro Banno, was the man who created the Roidmudes. He created them to be mechanical lifeforms that could understand and display emotions like any human being can."

"A robot that can feel emotions?" Lan tilted his head.

"He was inspired by a presentation of a man known as Albert who had once presented his prototype of a machine with that capability," Belt-san explained, "It was the deciding presentation on where SciLab would focus its projects on: Robotics or Networking. Your grandfather, Tadashi, presented after him with the first NetNavi. His speech when he presented the NetNavi always fills me with a sense of joy and excitement, wanting to create more to help others. But we're sidetracking."

"Sorry," Lan and Roll apologized.

"Banno had hit a snag in his project, so I decided to lend a hand and gave him some of the Core Driviars that I had already created for my project after he pleaded to me for some assistance," Belt-san went on, "The power that the Drive System and Shift Cars use and the power that the Roidmudes run on, the power that allows them to evolve, is the same thing."

"It's what lets them make Slowdowns, right?" Maylu asked.

"Indeed. Even though I knew that they would be able to cause them…I let my friendship with Banno blind me," Belt-san sighed as they entered a forest, "Pull over up ahead, Shinnosuke."

"Gotcha," Shinnosuke replied, eventually pulling over before some moss-ridden stones that looked to have been the gate for something, plantlife having grown over the bent and twisted gates that had been ripped out of the stone…all leading to the rubble and remains of what seemed to have been a small mansion.

"Where are we?" Maylu asked as they all got out.

"This was my former residence," Belt-san replied, "Fifteen years ago, Roidmudes 001, 002, and 003 rebelled. They executed Banno first, having been their creator and the one that could've stopped all of this had he lived. And then…"

"They came after you, because you were the one who knew how their source of power worked and could likely make a way to destroy it," Shinnosuke stated.

"Correct. I had died here, in this very place," Belt-san spoke, "I managed to pretend to have fully perished and they left, but…I had enough strength to get to a device that my mentor had left me when he left SciLab due to his personal project being deleted under false pretenses. It should be over under that bigger piece of rubble."

"Eh?" Shinnosuke looked around before a flash went off and CF Megaman grabbed a large chunk of rubble and, with a grunt, pulled it up and dropped it to the side, exposing a burnt and mangled metal throne of sorts, a shattered dome on the top that looked as if it could've lowered down onto someone's head if they sat in it, "Ah!"

"Is this it?" CF Megaman asked, dropping CrossFusion while Maylu ran over to him and pulled out a protein bar for him to snack on.

"It is. That is the Pulse Transmission Device. With it, I was able to send my mind into the Network and, through that, my consciousness was downloaded into this very belt you see me in now," Belt-san explained, "Using the resources still at my disposal, I began building the Tridoron, and a warrior to use it. Sadly, I could only complete Proto-Drive before the Global Freeze, but thankfully together he and I fought and stood against the Roidmudes. That was the beginning of the battle to eradicate the Roidmude." he took a moment, "But again…Heart was at the epicenter of this sordid ordeal. First, as he murdered me and Banno…and again when he destroyed Proto-Drive upon unlocking his evolved power. But the truth is I had a hand in creating such a terrible Monster. It is that fear that will haunt me for the rest of my life…or rather in reality…my life is already over…"

"Belt-san…" Shinnosuke looked down at the Belt in his hand.

"Don't be stupid!" Megaman snapped, making everyone jump, "Your life is already over…? That's stupid! You….You may not be able to be human again…but it doesn't mean that you can think your life is done while you're still here! If it was, then…" he squeezed his hands tightly into fists, "…then why did you do all of this? Why make Drive and the Tridoron and everything to help fight the Roidmudes? If you're saying your life is already over…then why are you still here?!"

"Ah! M-Megaman?!" Lan gawked.

"Megaman-kun…" Belt-San spoke as he was lost for words.

"Not everyone has a chance for a second chance at life, even if it's not as they were before…" Megaman spoke, tears forming in his eyes, "You lived one long life as a human, but you have a new chance at life as a NetNavi now, too! Don't say stupid things like your life is already over when this new one is just starting!"

'I've never seen him like this…' Shinnosuke thought, 'Why is he getting all worked up over Belt-san's statement?'

'Mega…' Roll thought in concern.

---

"Are you sure this is the place?" Kiriko asked on her phone as she walked through a junkyard.

"Ah. It's the place Rush-chan sniffed out as the epicenter of the first fires. If there's any chance for clues, this may be the best place to start," Kyu replied on the line.

"Right. Beginning investigations," Kiriko replied as she hung up as she entered a warehouse.

As she looked around, she grimaced as she saw signs of it having been used by the Volt Roidmude's experiments. Several clusters of cables put together on what looked to have been prototypes of the device Lan had been put into were scattered about. She paused upon stepping on something…soft like paper. She looked down to see an old and dirt covered magazine with a picture of Volt's human guise: Minami Goro.

"So is this how the Roidmude found his face of choice?" Kiriko blinked as she picked it up, "Weird to think about, given both should be…deceased…" she muttered to herself to try and calm her nerves a little as she turned to continue looking…before yelping as a Slowdown went off, 'Slowdown?!' Dream Vegas quickly snapped into place on the holder on her hip, letting her start to move normally and she quickly pulled out her gun while taking cover behind a crate, 'Of course there'd be a Roidmude here…Likely covering the tracks of the Volt Roidmude and…' her thoughts were cut off by the ringing of a telephone, "!?"

She slowly looked around and found a very old rotary phone left in a pile of junk, neatly nested inside an old rusty wheel. The oddest part was its wire was disconnected…and frayed into a disaster of unwound metal threads. But…yet it was ringing somehow. Deciding this would probably be better if she played along with the Roidmude, she made her way closer and picked the phone up to answer.

=I don't know who this is…But if you're hearing this, you must be one of the Kamen Rider's allies!=

"Volt? Is…this prerecorded?" Kiriko realized.

=I'm actually rather delighted someone was clever enough to trace my steps. I was certain that my life would culminate into one grand hoorah at SciLabs, either I would succeed to see my greatest victory…or I would go down as a martyr for my kind's ultimate survival!=

"Where are you?" Kiriko demanded, looking around.

=The Dark Eve will happen! Look forward to it~! Denkikikikikiki~!= Volt laughed before hanging up as the Slowdown ended, letting the magazine fall to the ground.

"...hah…." Kiriko let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, on one hand that was probably the single creepiest thing she has ever heard; on the other, at the very least she was not attacked by what she can only call a…Ghost Roidmude.

---

"Bolt's voice?" Shinnosuke asked.

=Volt. And yes. It was his voice= Kiriko confirmed.

"Got it. We'll be back to the Drive Pit soon," Shinnosuke confirmed, hanging up and turning to the two kids as they were looking over the broken throne-like machine, "Kids, back to Tridoron! Got a lead from Kiriko about the case!"

"Hai!" both replied.

However, before the group could get far, they were cut off by a figure walking out of the forest that was overtaking the area. It was however…not the Shinigami this time. Standing before them was none other than Heart.

"Konbanwa, Kamen Rider." Heart smiled, "I do believe you and I have…had a long overdue meeting." he moved aside, "Children, please do leave." he motioned with his arm.

"Eh?" they blinked.

"The battle with Megaman is not mine. I would hate to take that from Zero. Like I don't want to take Chase's battle…but as the leader of the Roidmude, I must make harsh choices for the better of our lives." Heart explained simply, "So I am here to attend to the matter of the Kamen Rider myself."

"You're going to stop me from interfering with the Dark Eve?" Shinnosuke asked.

"Exactly," Heart smiled, "I shall ensure the Dark Eve occurs…it will be Volt's final heroic act. To let his final mission be stopped…as his friend, I must put my foot down." he held up a hand and clenched it into a fist, "So…the Kamen Rider must die again."

"Again?" Shinnosuke repeated.

"...ah! The one who wore Belt-san during the Global Freeze!" Maylu realized.

"Indeed," Belt-san spoke, "At the end of the Global Freeze…Heart evolved and went on to kill Proto-Drive. Hooking Wrecker was able to get me away before he could destroy me as well."

"Oh thanks for reminding me about you, Krim…" Heart noted, "When you die here, those little Shift Cars are going to be completely disorganized, now won't they?"

"Hey, you leave Belt-san alone! Isn't it bad enough you're making him cry when you use his invention to hurt others?" Lan demanded.

"Cry?" Heart asked.

"Belt-san made the Core Driviar to help people…he just wanted something that would give people endless energy…but he helped his friend…and now something he wanted to be used for peace is used every day to hurt people!" Lan declared, "You call Volt a Hero…but he was just a monster who didn't care who got hurt! Because of him…Megaman almost…" he stopped when Shinnosuke put a hand on his shoulder.

"I suppose in this war of superiority…cruel actions from both sides are to be expected…" Heart spoke, earning their attention, "But if I must burden cruelty for the sake of my people…it shall be the burden I carry," he paused, "Kamen Rider! Let the battle for the fate of our kind be between you and me! If I destroy you, humanity is doomed…if you destroy me, the Roidmudes shall be doomed! Let us battle Kamen Rider!"

"Kids…" Shinnosuke began as he crouched down to their eye level, "...I'll be back, okay." he assured, "This is adults only…okay?" he looked at Lan, "Do you hear me?"

"Hai…" Lan nodded, sniffling a little from his own outburst.

"..." Heart said nothing as he stepped aside and let them walk towards Tridoron, once they were far enough away he turned to Shinnosuke, "If it will let you fight with your all, rest easy Kamen Rider, you have my word as the Leader of the Roidmude…no harm will come to them. Not from I…or any other of my kin. This battle will be between you and I!"

"...I'm not sure why…but I do gain some comfort that you seem to have a sense of honor," Shinnosuke spoke.

"I am no human filth! I will never rely on tricks or falsehoods…I am Heart! The one thing that knows no falsehoods!" he declared, "I am the man who will lead the Roidmudes…" his eyes began glowing red. The red lines of data crackled off his body before he began morphing into his true Roidmude form, the demonic visage of the Heart Roidmude now stood before Shinnosuke and Belt-san.

"So this is your evolved form," Shinnosuke noted, "No wonder you're called 'Heart.'"

"It strikes a more handsome profile than you'd think~" Heart laughed, his skeletal jaw actually moving as he spoke, "Now…face me, Kamen Rider."

"Shinnosuke…this is impossible…Heart killed Proto-Drive…we can't fight him."

"...maybe…but we have worse odds if we don't…" Shinnosuke sighed as he took a deep breath, "Besides…he's waiting. So let's take him for a spin, Belt-san!" he slung the sentient Driver around himself before twisting the key and doing the same to Shift Speed before slotting it, "Henshin!"

=DRIVE: TYPE SPEED!=

In a red flash, Kamen Rider Drive replaced Shinnosuke as he spread his legs and took a stance to prepare. Heart took a deep breath as he did the same. It felt like forever to the two…but it was but a mere second before the two rushed one another and punched at each other. Neither focused on defense. They just swung and the two Red armored fighters struck the other, making sparks fly.

Drive grunted, pushing with his leg, as he swung and punched Heart again, making him take a step back. The Leader of the Roidmudes just laughed as he swung his head forward and slammed it into Drive's mask, making the Rider grunt in pain as he stumbled back. Heart cackled in joy before grunting as Drive swung his leg up and kicked his chin, forcing his jaw closed and making his head lurch back. The two Crimson clad warriors stumbled back a step before planting their feet to the ground, and with a roar of effort both charged as they punched once again. Their fists crossed paths before both began trying to push on the others arm to lock it in place, Drive spun his arm around Heart's before grabbing it with the other…and used this to force the Roidmude to run with him.

The two grunted as they ran through the forest and towards an old abandoned compound not far from the ruins of the Stienbelt manor. Drive tried to throw Heart, but the Roidmude leader proved stronger and turned it around by throwing Drive to the ground. The Kamen Rider gasped while slamming into some old rusty barrels. He quickly got up and rolled out of the way as Heart stomped the ground where he had just been. The Roidmude growled as he turned around, only to lose track of the Kamen Rider. He rapidly looked around, only catching a glimpse of a red blur dashing around. It got faster and faster before a kick struck Heart from the side, the speed making it hit harder. He growled, swinging, only to miss as Drive ducked under it…and pushed with his legs to land a rising uppercut to Heart's face.

Heart stumbled back; and, once he regained his sight, he saw only a blur dashing around randomly. The Roidmude roared as he swung at the blur that was Drive when he got close only to miss and be struck by a kick to his back. Once again, Drive vanished as a faint blur. Heart began swinging wildly each time he thought Drive was close, but he missed each and every time. He grunted as he was punched from the right before a kick hit the back of his head, making him lean into a punch from the left. Heart grunted as Drive slammed shoulder first into his chest and slammed him into a stone wall. Heart grunted as Drive jumped away, the Rider going back to his speed, but Heart just stood his ground…before swinging his fist and hitting the Kamen Rider mid-run and sending him flipping backwards through the air before slamming into and sliding along the ground.

"Hahaha…Haha! Ah…you are good Kamen Rider…much…Much Better then Proto-Drive!" Heart complimented as he wiped his arm along his jaw as if wiping away blood that was not even there, "Haven't felt blows like that since my trip to the Undernet."

"Gh…no wonder you're the boss…only the Shinigami has reacted to me that fast…" Drive groaned, forcing himself up to his feet.

"The drawback to extreme speed, you hit harder due to the momentum…but likewise…if you get hit…all that momentum translates into damage for you!" Heart pointed out.

"I got more tricks than just speed…" Drive spoke, "So I'm going to bust out my whole playbook…" he pulled out Midnight Shadow before slotting it.

=TIRE KOUKAN: MIDNIGHT SHADOW=

Drive waited as the new Shift tire flew in, his old Type Speed tire bouncing off before he kicked it like a soccer ball right at Heart who caught it in his hand. The Roidmude grunted before slamming it into a wall and letting it shatter and explode. He then grunted as Drive rushed him again, but this time Heart's punch went right through him, letting the Rider disperse into a purple cloud. He grunted before turning around to see Drive behind him as he lifted his Shift Car lever three times.

=SH-SH-SHADOW!=

Heart looked around as he was suddenly surrounded by dozens of duplicates of Drive. He growled as he moved to hit the one he saw originally…but the Drives all began running around him in a circle, each one forming a large shuriken of purple hardlight. They began tossing them as their classical ninja throwing weapons began impacting and slicing Heart, keeping him trapped in place as he swung to try and hit them, but missed before a new Shuriken struck him. Heart growled, swinging wildly, as he tried to hit something while shuriken after shuriken exploded against him. Heart growled as he flashed and swung a punch which went through a Drive…only for it to poof into purple smoke again. Heart grunted as he swung at another only for the same, but this time he was pelted by shuriken from the other Drives. The Roidmude Leader growled as he swung around and charged at another before punching through the hologram. As he attacked clone after clone, the real Kamen Rider jumped and climbed the stone wall before holding his hand out and grabbing the Door-Ju.

Heart roared, punching through the last clone, only to be pelted by a barrage of energy bullets from above. He turned to see Drive in his higher position, the Roidmude Leader roared as he ran forward to leap at him, but mid-leap he was pelted by more energy bullets, knocking him down to the ground. Heart growled as he slammed his hand into the ground, making the area tremble from his power. Drive grunted as his balance was disturbed and his aim ruined. He quickly took aim again only for Heart to be gone. The Kamen Rider gasped as he turned around to see Heart already looming behind him. He moved to aim, only for the Roidmude to punch Drive and knock him back down to where they started their battle. Drive groaned, only to yelp when Heart leaped down and grabbed him by the leg.

"HAH!" Heart swung Drive up into the air, before slamming him into the wall with great force, he loosened his grip just enough to twist the Rider around by his ankle…before he swung him around again and into the ground. Heart swung his arm up, letting go of Drive's leg for a moment, before twisting his arm around and grabbing it again as he whipped his arm…and Drive around before leaning himself back and throwing the Rider with all he had sending him skipping across the ground before slamming into more barrels and moveable fencing. Heart growled as he bashed his fists together before raising his now glowing fists…and slamming them into the ground sending a series of explosive shockwaves across the ground before they hit Drive and sent him flying up into the air once more. Heart chuckled as he just watched Drive slam into the ground.

Drive groaned as he slowly began pushing himself up, his armor sparking and cracked, but regardless he rose to his feet and turned to face Heart. The Roidmude took a moment before chuckling as he leaned forward and accepted the Rider's silent message to continue their battle. Drive grunted as he stomped his leg and with a crack of pushing a dislocated joint back into place he rushed forward toward the Roidmude. Heart laughed as he did the same and the two swung at the other only for Drive to lean under Heart's punch and land a strike to the Roidmude's chest that knocked him back a couple steps. Heart looked down just as Drive pushed on a new Shift Car already in his brace.

=DRIVE: TYPE WILD!=

Heart grunted as he was suddenly sent skidding back as Drive's punching power increased. The Red Roidmude grunted as he was slugged across the face making him stumble back. Heart raised his arm to block another punch, but again he was pushed back by the new power. But this just made the Roidmude Leader cackle with laughter as he raised his fist back the same time Drive did. The two swung as their fists clashed dead on creating a shockwave that cleared dust and dirt away in a large ring around them. The two grunted, rearing back their free arms…and punching again. Then again, and again, their fists swinging back and forth as the two just began slugging each other relentlessly. The Kamen Rider roared as he let adrenaline and rage power his swings. While the Heart Roidmude just cackled in joy as they slugged one another across the jaw. Heart laughed as he caught the Kamen Rider's next punch, he swung with his other arm only for the Rider to do the same. The two growled as they tried to overpower the other, the ground around them cracking from their power, as the ground began to give way before their own bodies would allow. Heart laughed as he leaned his head back and swung it forward landing a headbut to Drive…but the Rider swung his head back and slammed it into Heart's face making sparks fly. The two grunted slamming their foreheads together making sparks fly as they both growled.

"Hahaha…I…will give you this, Kamen Rider…you are strong!" Heart reared his head back and slammed it into Drive's helmet.

"Ghh…" Drive grunted as he lifted his knee and slammed it into Heart's abdomen making the Roidmude cough in surprise, "DOMO!" He pulled Heart in for another headbut making the Roidmude grunt in pain.

"I can see…why Chase struggled with you…you who are just human…can challenge us with that power!" Heart began pushing Drive back as they continued their struggle of power.

"Proto-Drive didn't have the power to destroy cores…but I do." Drive grunted as he pushed back, making Heart's movement stop, "I am the one who will stop you!"

"That's why I must kill you! There were merely 108 of us…How many of my friends have you killed with this power, Kamen Rider?!" Heart growled as his body began glowing, "I will ensure we rule over humanity! We will grow stronger, day by day, moment by moment…until we evolve beyond you humans! That is our destiny!"

"And my Destiny…is to stop you!" Drive growled.

---

"It sounds really dangerous," Meilu noted, hearing the fighting going on near Tridoron, "Are you sure we shouldn't get into Tridoron?"

"I have a bad feeling we'd get hurt if we did this time," Lan replied, looking out in the direction of the fighting before an engine made the two look to see Chase driving towards them, "?! Mashin Chaser!"

"The children that accompany the officer and the Kamen Rider," Chase noted as he pulled over near Tridoron.

"No spot to battle Megaman," Zero muttered.

"Shows what you know," Lan frowned as he pulled out five BattleChips and inserted them into his PeT.

"Lan, what are you…?" Maylu began to ask.

"Go hide," Lan advised, "I'm not letting him double team Shinnosuke-nii with that Heart jerk."

"Of course he'd go straight to fighting," Chase spoke, "I don't have time to deal with you sending Shift Cars after me, child."

"Who said anything about sending the Shift Cars?" Lan asked, "They're all ready to help Shinnosuke-nii with that Heart guy." he pulled out the SynchroChip, "You're facing me and Megaman. Let's go!"

"Right!" Megaman agreed.

"SynchroChip, Slot In!" Lan declared as he inserted the chip into his PeT.

"CROSSFUSION!" the two declared as, in a flash of light, CF Megaman took Lan's place.

"Nani?" Zero pondered as Chase pulled his Break Gunner out.

"Your threat to the Roidmudes…has escalated," Chase noted, slamming the front of his gun into his palm before transforming into Mashin Chaser.

"Glad to hear!" CF Megaman replied.

=BREAK!=

"GoldFist, Download!" CF Megaman declared as his right glove enlarged and turned gold.

Mashin Chaser raised his hand as he blocked CF Megaman's punch, grunting a bit from the impact. He pushed the punch away before taking a step back just as he swung again. He grunted as he swung his Break Gunner and used it to block the next punch. He pushed the arm down before spinning around and smacking CF Megaman in the back, knocking him down. The young and inexperienced fighter grunted before groaning as Mashin Chaser just pinned him down with his leg.

"Ghh…wha…?"

"You're very green, aren't you?" Mashin Chaser sighed, "You can punch better than I expected…but it seems the Kamen Rider has not trained you in combat like he and I engage in."

"You're right…" CF Megaman grunted before chuckling as he turned transparent and Mashin Chaser's leg went through him as he rolled away…exposing a green football-shaped bomb.

"Nani?" Mashin Chaser pondered before the 'football' exploded and vines erupted from the ground, ensnaring the Shinigami, "Gh!?"

"I don't fight like Drive…I can't really," CF Megaman noted, forming his MegaBuster and charging up his weapon, "But I know how to NetBattle and Megaman's helping me while we're united!"

Mashin Chaser growled as he managed to pull out a Viral Core and slot it into his Break Gunner.

=TUNE: CHASER BAT! EXECUTION=

"CHARGED SHOT!" CF Megaman shouted before yelping as he was knocked back from the recoil of his buster firing its blast at the same time Mashin Chaser fired a purple blast from his weapon, colliding with the attack and causing both to explode.

The smoke suddenly dispersed as Mashin Chaser rushed out and grabbed the MegaBuster with his free hand. CF Megaman blinked in confusion before flinching as a creeping cold began racing up his arm, making him look down to see frost forming along it. He tried to shoot…but the energy of the blast just faded away into icy mist.

"Ah mou…I forgot you could do that!" CF Megaman grunted.

"My battle is with the Kamen Rider. I feel nothing from you, boy," Mashin Chaser replied, "But more than that, I have another goal here."

"...Another goal?" CF Megaman repeated before Tridoron suddenly roared to life and drove off, smacking the two in its turning to go towards the other fight, "AH! Tridoron, why?!"

"Seems the Kamen Rider called it," Mashin Chaser noted as the two got up.

"Aibou…this energy I'm sensing…is that…?" Zero began to ask.

"He's getting to that state," Mashin Chaser replied.

"That state?" CF Megaman repeated before looking out at where Tridoron ran off…and shuddered, "Gh?! Wh-What is that?"

"It feels like something's overclocking and only getting stronger instead of breaking down," Roll gulped from behind the rubble Maylu had ducked behind.

"The Dead Zone…" Mashin Chaser spoke, "Heart's power…the Dead Zone, a power that goes beyond limits at the cost of their own body…At this point, it is Heart's to command…at the cost of making him the most dangerous force alive…if he lets it reach critical mass…an explosion unlike any will detonate."

"Explosion?!" CF Megaman gasped, glancing over to the now-worried Maylu, "...That other goal…is it to stop him from exploding?"

"..."

"...How do we keep him from blowing up?" CF Megaman asked.

"Hm?"

"I still have two BattleChips left," CF Megaman explained, "DrillArm and AreaSteal. One that makes a drill that can break through guards and one to dodge."

"..."

"You don't want him to go kaboom and I sure as heck don't want him to, either. So…what do we do to keep him from blowing up?"

"My power…" he revealed, holding out his hand again as an icy mist began to rise from it, "...has a purpose beyond combat against others. Only by negating the rising temperature Heart outputs can we prevent critical mass explosion. However, that doesn't mean there still won't be an explosion, just on a lesser scale."

"...So the best plan is to get you there as fast as possible," CF Megaman nodded, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked around, "...Got it."

"Hm?"

---

=TIRE KOUKAN: SPIN MIXER!=

"Let's cement this fight in the history books," Drive spoke as the Shift Wild Tire popped off and Spin Mixer's snapped into place.

Drive quickly punched the removed Shift Tire at Heart, who caught it with his hand and sending out sparks from making it grind to a halt in its spinning. Heart laughed as he swung his hand up before swinging down and slamming the tire into the ground, shattering it apart. He looked up only to flinch as he was bombarded with concrete bullets. He growled as they began hardening around his body until he was encased in a giant mass of solid concrete. Drive grunted as he thought he had a moment…but the concrete began cracking as steam escaped. Laughter filtered out before it suddenly exploded into a massive wall of pulverized concrete dust, and from within Heart rushed out suddenly as he slammed into Drive.

"GAH!" Drive cried out as he was slammed into…and dragged through the rock wall before being tossed up and punched into the sky by the Roidmude Leader.

Heart laughed as he stomped his foot, causing the ground to crack, before he jumped up and caught up with Drive in the air. The Red Roidmude cackled happily as he swung his fist and slammed it into Drive's abdomen, sending him rocketing back down like a spiked ball. Drive coughed in pain as he bounced off the ground before Heart landed knees first on him, once more slamming Drive into the dirt as a small crater formed. Drive gasped for air as Heart got up…and dragged him back to his feet.

Heart cackled as he began punching Drive in the chest with his free hand, each strike making sparks fly off. The Kamen Rider gasped in pain as he could feel the force…going through the armor to his human body within. Drive cried in pain as he could feel it, bruises, breaking, and bleeding all within his body. Heart reared his arm back only to flinch when multiple Shift Cars began flying into his face, making him grunt in surprise. Heart swung his arms around, breaking the little roads trying to entrap him and knocking Shift Cars out of the air. The Roidmude groaned as he felt lasers pelt his back, making him turn as Tridoron was driving at him with intent to ram him, but the Roidmude Leader just stopped the supercar with his hands…before he lifted and flipped it away. Heart grunted before roaring as more steam burst from his body, his metallic skin glowing with heat as sparks of electrical energy came off him from time to time, his voice growing slightly more raspy as sparks of fire escaped from his open jaw.

"His power is rapidly growing…so this is why he chose the name 'Heart.' His power is pulsing through him like a heartbeat!" Belt-San declared in surprise, "He is amplifying his initial power beyond his limits!"

"H-Heartbeat?" Drive grunted as the golden heart within the Roidmude's chest could be seen beating as red veins spread across him. He then grunted and rolled out of the way of a punch that dug into the ground where he had been, but the Rider had little time to get up before Heart was upon him, the Roidmue's hand going around his neck…and lifting him off the ground and into the air.

"I won't humor any plea for mercy!" Heart laughed before grunting slightly as his body kept sparking, "You see, I'm the kind of person who once his blood gets flowing…is really hard to stop!"

"Gh…It's like you could call this some kind of Dead Heat race…" Drive gagged as he gripped Heart's wrist to try and get free, he then looked at the glowing organ of the same name as it was beating faster, "Bingo…there's an idea for the ages…and I'm dragging you along for the ride…"

Heart blinked before noting Drive swing his right arm over to the Shift Technic car in his brace. Heart gasped as the Rider lifted it up, sending the Spin Mixter Tire into his face.

=DRIVE: TYPE TECHNIC!=

"Hah!" Drive grunted as he swung his arm…right into Heart's chest, breaking into his inner workings and grabbing a metallic facsimile of the actual organ he was named after, the Rider's hand grasping it despite the hiss of smoke as it burned his glove, "GRRR!" he began squeezing on it, making Heart gasp in pain as his body began sparking.

"Gah…" Heart gagged as he lowered Drive down as the green Kamen Rider kept squeezing his metallic namesake.

"What are you doing, Shinnosuke!?" Belt-san panicked as the heat grew more intense.

"He's willing to burn himself out to kill me…" Drive growled as he struggled against the burning and pain from all those blows before, "...So I'm going to let him!"

"Don't be foolish!"

"You're going to really let it happen?!" Heart asked in disbelief.

"Belt-san, get out of here in Tridoron, grab the kids and get as far away from here as you can before the explosion happens! As long as you survive…you can find someone else to carry on as Drive!"

"What a truly dreadful human, Krim!" Heart grunted out, "He is most impressive! Very well, to destroy one as horrible as you Kamen Rider…I will gladly join you on this ride to hell! Let's see who can take more pain!"

"Bring it on!" Drive growled as he leaned forward to glare at Heart.

"Koi, Kamen Rider! Join me!" Heart did the same as he laughed while glaring back, as if in this moment he was so excited not even the looming prospect of death made him back down.

"Yamero, Shinnosuke! Don't!" Belt-san hollered.

Neither either heard or paid attention to the sentient belt as they continued to glare at one another, grunting as the heat continued rising as Heart's burning aura grew stronger. Nearby, a pile of rubble that had been a wall exploded as Mashin Chaser drove his bike through it, CF Megaman holding onto the front of it with his right glove replaced with a bulky drill with an orange casing over where his glove would've been.

"Told you to keep going straight!" CF Megaman smirked behind his mask.

"No wonder the Kamen Rider likes you, child…you think alike!" Zero noted in bewilderment.

"YAMERO, SHINNOSUKE!" Belt-san shouted.

"Heart/Drive!" Mashin Chaser and CF Megaman called out, the former running towards Heart as he inserted his Spider Viral Core into the Break Gunner while the latter ran towards Drive.

=EXECUTION! FULL BREAK: SPIDER!=

"AREASTEAL!" CF Megaman shouted as he grabbed onto Drive as Mashin Chaser pulled up his summoned weapon to act as a shield while he grabbed Heart with his free hand.

---

"EEK!" Maylu yelped, ducking behind the rubble once more as a loud explosion went off.

"Ah mou~! Why does everything have to explode?! Can't we go somewhere and not have explosions!?" Roll complained before the area beside them rippled and CF Megaman and Drive appeared, the latter groaning.

"Lan! Tomari-san!" Maylu gasped as she was about to run over.

"Yamette!" CF Megaman called, cringing a bit as he pointed down at the ground…where the grass around the two was catching fire, "Too hot still! Fire Braver!" a siren went off from Maylu's purse before Fire Braver poked out and drove over, blasting at the two with his foam and letting steam come off them, "Eh? Still too hot?!"

"So hot…what kind of explosion was that?" Maylu asked.

=Ah-choo!= at that, a wave of frigid air swept over them and cooled the area to the point that both CF Megaman and Drive were now covered in snow.

"Ah! What was that?!" CF Megaman asked.

"A friend," Belt-san replied as an ice-colored Shift Car based on an ice resurfacer drove over, "Road Winter."

"Road Winter?" Roll repeated.

"Ah, his abilities are based on the cold. Partner him with Braver and no fire will ever burn in their presence," Belt-san replied, "And you being here means Deco Traveller and Colorful Commercial are in the area as well."

=Ah-Choo!=

"...I think Road Winter has the cutest honk," Roll giggled before Drive went slack against CF Megaman, "Ah!"

"Mad Doctor!" CF Megaman called.

"Hurry, children," Belt-san spoke as Tridoron drove over to them, "Shinnosuke has just fought the strongest Roidmude of them all. The fact we survived is our victory today."

"Hai, hai," CF Megaman replied, getting Drive into the driver's seat before getting into the back.

"Eh?" Maylu pondered.

"That last second save was not fun…" he admitted as he laid in the back…before losing CrossFusion as he passed out, his PeT bouncing off his chest and barely caught by Maylu.

"We need more training before we do this again," Megaman groaned as Tridoron drove off.

---

"Aibou! Aibou! Heart-dono!" Zero's shouts were what the two first heard as they slowly came back to consciousness amidst the burning rubble from Heart's explosion, both having been knocked back into their human disguises, "Don't move too much! I sent a message to Lord Wily to send someone to pick you both up."

"Zero…" Chase grunted, managing to pull the PeT out of his jacket.

"What did I just say about moving too much?!" Zero scolded, "You were in the epicenter of a large explosion and one of you made it!"

"Sorry…" Heart spoke as he stared at the sky, "It seems…I have caused nothing but trouble for you both." he weakly chuckled.

"...If you enter Dead Zone, I will stop you," Chase spoke after a moment, "That is…what we promised."

"Heh…" Heart chuckled as he held his side in pain, slowly moving his hand up to his chest, "No wonder…you struggle so much, Chase…that Human…no…that Rider…he is scary. He willingly plunged his hand into my core to cause me to self-destruct…no hesitation, no fear, just conviction and resolve."

"He's influenced that boy with him as well," Zero sighed, "Actually tried to fight Aibou…by turning into his NetNavi."

"Well…son of a bitch…It wasn't nonsense…" Heart weakly chuckled, "Hah…" he sighed as he looked at the sky, "Our evolution was meant to prove superiority to humans…but…some of them caught up…" he paused, "Chase…Zero…have you ever taken time to just be happy to be alive?"

"...?"

"The simple joy of living…to see a new day with the friends you love dearly?" Heart replied, "Humans don't…They run from day to day…waiting for their next moment for grandstanding…to knock the other down…They never just stop to look at the wonderful blue sky of this planet." Heart grunted as his body sparked a bit, "...I often find myself just looking at these insignificant things…the sky, the forest, rivers…seeing them makes me smile…it's a shame humans stopped being able to enjoy them." he paused, "Well I'm sure you don't get it…you have your own way of seeing things." he sighed out as small bits of steam escaped his body as he began to relax, "Lemme know when they come…to pick us up…"

"Hai, Heart-dono," Zero replied as Chase let his arm drop, letting Zero's screen face the sky, 'The simple joy of living…'

"When the Dark Eve ends…I want to show her these things…" Heart whispered as he closed his eyes.

---

"Ah…It's already Christmas Eve," Jun sighed in frustration before standing up and looking at the gathered members of the SIU minus Lan, Maylu, Kiriko, and Shinnosuke, "If your theory is correct, there'll be a citywide blackout today!"

"I'm sorta sure it will be correct," Rinna replied.

"Transportation and medical facilities will cease to function!" Kyu spoke up, "And not just those…but likely anything else connected to the internet may be affected as well given how it also drained the batteries of PeTs and other battery-powered vehicles!" he ran over to Gen, "There's going to be a mass panic breaking out! Can't you release some kind of statement!? A warning or something?!"

"If we could, we would have done so already, de gozaru," Yamatoman spoke up.

"What do you mean?! Aren't you two part of the main department and the liaison for them to us?" Kyu asked before jumping as Gen slammed his hands on the table.

"I tried telling them…Even Oda tried speaking up…but…" Gen sighed, shaking his head.

"The higher ups refused to believe any of the warnings we gave them, de gozaru," Yamatoman somberly shook his head.

"Then we have no choice but to find this man and stop him on our own," Rinna declared firmly, slapping the artist's rendition of the Volt Roidmude's human guise that was still hanging up on the markerboard.

"I've updated as many people as I could. He was seen in a white hat and suit with a metal attache case," Gen spoke, "So he should stick out some, so we should find at least one person out there who has spotted someone dressed so outlandishly."

"I got Rush to sniff about online and put up a post on all the BBSs in town," Kyu spoke up before adopting a worried expression, "But…are you sure we can find him by tonight with just the clues we currently have?"

"I'll have Yamatoman talk to some NetNavis that he knows while I check with the local police," Gen replied before running out, "I'll chase this criminal to the ends of the world!"

"Don't give up, Saijou-kun," Rinna assured Kyu as she looked over at Shinnosuke and Lan's desks with a small smile, "Hopefully…our best are giving it their all."

---

"Ite…" Lan groaned, slowly opening his eyes to see the ceiling of the Drive Pit, "...I think I need to order a bed for this place with how often I wake up here…" he grunted as he felt something embrace him, making him look down to see a mop of familiar red hair, "M-Maylu…?"

"You were out for a good twelve hours," Roll explained, "It's already Christmas Eve."

"Thankfully you were just exhausted from the heat and the shockwave of that explosion. It seems in the end, Tomari-san shielded us instinctually…" Megaman added.

"And here we were trying to shield him while getting us out with an AreaSteal," Lan sighed, scratching the back of his head, "I really need to invest in a dojo or something…"

"Maybe…" Megaman chuckled.

"How is Shinnosuke-nii?" he asked.

"He's still asleep," Megaman explained.

"Multiple fractured bones in his arms and torso, bruising all over his torso and left leg, and burns around his skin," Roll listed what Mad Doctor had reported, "The Roidmude named Heart…he really is a scary monster…"

"His power alone was chilling to feel," Megaman noted.

"I could feel the heat from him all the way where I was hiding," Maylu noted, "No wonder Belt-san is afraid of him…"

"Mmmm…He had his hand shoved into Heart's chest…"

"That's where most of his burns are," Roll noted, "Or…were in this case thanks to Mad Doctor healing the burns."

Lan managed to get into a sitting position on the cot he had been sleeping on and spotted Shinnosuke in another, his shirt gone and bandages wrapped around his torso and right arm/hand. He smiled, seeing Kiriko staying vigilant over him…before seeing Belt-san on another monitor, his back towards Shinnosuke as he was looking over data on it while looking like Type Technic.

"...Megaman…" Lan whispered.

"He's just been looking at data or staying in his belt this whole time," Megaman quietly explained.

"I don't think he wants to talk to anyone until Tomari-san wakes up," Roll added.

"Things looked intense back there…" Lan spoke, "I also think Megaman's words got to him a little…"

"It really surprised me, too," Roll admitted, turning to look at Megaman, "What was with that, anyway? I haven't seen you that upset since the first time you and Lan went FullSynchro."

"I…um…w-well…" Megaman looked at his feet, "I…I just…eto…"

"Mega?" Roll tilted her head.

"Ite…" Shinnosuke mumbled.

"Tomari-san's waking up!" Megaman quickly exclaimed.

'Mega?' Roll pondered as Shinnosuke slowly opened his eyes to see the ceiling.

Shinnosuke knew he shouldn't be getting used to waking up after a fight to see the ceiling of the Drive Pit, he really shouldn't. Yet… His thoughts were cut off by feeling something wet land on his cheek. He looked away from the ceiling and spotted Kiriko, the woman looking down at him with relief and tears in her eyes…and a smile on her lips. He couldn't help the smile that formed on his lips.

"You're smiling right now," Shinnosuke pointed out.

"Hah…" Kiriko couldn't help but laugh as she wiped away the tears in her eyes, "What's wrong with smiling right now?"

"Nothing…" Shinnosuke chuckled weakly as he began sitting up, "Just that if it takes me almost dying to get a smile…I almost wouldn't mind~"

"Please don't be funny right now. I don't know if I'm happy you're okay to joke, or mad you did something so stupid in that fight…" Kiriko giggled slightly.

"I made a difficult choice…I'm sorry for scaring you…but I had to protect the kids, the town…everyone..." Shinnosuke explained, "I won't say sorry for what I did…but I am sorry I worried all of you." he turned to the stand for Belt-san, "I guess Belt-san is really mad…" he sheepishly chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

"Do not ever do that again!" Belt-san scolded, moving to his stand, "No one could ever replace you." he then spun it to Lan, "And you two! Going after Mashin Chaser when you only got this power recently! Lessons with Shinnosuke and myself are mandatory now!"

"Ah! Y-Yes, sir," Lan replied, flinching.

"I swear, kids these days…" Belt-san grumbled before his display showed his normal expression, "However…thanks to you two, I remember now…" he turned to face both males of the team, ending up with Tridoron behind him, "...I remember just why I built Tridoron. After losing Proto-Drive, I wished to have the strength to protect both myself and the warrior."

"Soka…so it acts like a strong body for you in a way," Shinnosuke realized.

"So you made Tridoron after Proto-Drive?" Roll pondered.

"I did," Belt-san confirmed.

"Oh! Rinna-san must have been your hands for it then," Roll guessed.

"Well I did a lot of final touches…" Rinna admitted, "But I'm not a…car type of girl…I don't do motor oil and heavy wrenches…" she cringed at the thought, "No, that was another brilliant older man who has a deep love for auto vehicles."

"Another Older man?" the kids blinked.

"Another secret," Shinnosuke sighed, shaking his head.

"Shinnosuke…" Belt-san spoke, turning to him with a determined expression on his namesake's screen, "If you say you're going to Hell, I'll follow right after you with Tridoron." he then turned to face Lan, "Now thank the idiot boy here who is in trouble for his antics while you were fighting by working with Mashin Chaser after trying to fight them."

"Should've gone for a Program Advance instead of the other BattleChips, but the ones I did install helped get to you before the explosion," Lan noted.

"You tried fighting Mashin Chaser?" Shinnosuke asked.

"His weekends and normal afternoons are forfeit to train himself on how to fight in CrossFusion."

"Aw man…" Lan groaned.

"We did learn something from our encounter," Megaman noted, "Mashin Chaser's ice ability…was made to stop Heart from exploding by overheating himself."

"And with how big the explosion was supposed to be and Tridoron going off to help you, no way could we get out of the range of the explosion in time," Lan added, "Though…I don't want to hold onto the front of a motorcycle while my free hand is using a BattleChip to drill through debris to get to you faster ever again unless I have to."

"That is a highly specific thing, Lan-kun…I doubt that will happen again…or that I would even let you." Kiriko spoke, "You're lucky you're not harmed…otherwise I'd have words with your mother…"

"Ack!" Lan paled.

"I'm just glad that that new Shift Car came to help Fire Braver cool you both down," Maylu noted.

"New Shift Car?" Shinnosuke repeated.

"Of course," Belt-san replied as Road Winter drove over with two others, one being a dekotora with the front of it looking like a purple-faced intimidating face in sunglasses and the other a red and yellow mobile billboard, "Shinnosuke, these are Road Winter, Deco Traveller, and Colorful Commercial. They just arrived back to Japan today from their travels around the world. Had Lan-kun not used AreaSteal to get you away, they were all set to pull you out of the way, chill the area, and pretend we were destroyed through holographic illusions."

"Soka…new faces from abroad. Thanks for being there just in case~" Shinnosuke saluted.

"Roidmude activity across the globe has gone silent since the ElecCode was stolen from SciLab," Belt-san informed, "All the commanders appear to have gathered here in this country."

"...Do you think they're going to use the TetraCodes to try to trigger another Global Freeze?" Roll asked in concern.

"I was thinking the same thing," Shinnosuke noted, nodding at the pink NetNavi on the nearby monitor.

"Before all that, however, we need to stop the blackout meant to happen today," Kiriko advised.

"Ah," Lan nodded before looking to Maylu and whispered, "Maylu-chan, did the…"

"Megaman told me which was which for which day and which person," Maylu replied quietly.

"I could go for a sandwich maybe made by a witch," Roll giggled as Lan smiled and nodded.

"Really wish we had something to go on…like a key clue we're not seeing," Megaman sighed.

"If only we knew what the story's ending would be…" Shinnosuke sighed, "This is clearly the inspiration for the scheme here…"

"We'd need a ouija board for the straight answer and I don't think Mega-chan would be happy with the method, either," Rinna noted as Megaman shuddered.

"P-Please don't joke about that…Those are almost as terrifying as when we got caught by Volt in the power plant…" Megaman pleaded.

'Power Plant? …Wait a second…' Shinnosuke thought, "Ah!" everyone looked to him, "That's it! That special device that he removed from what Lan-kun was put into and Megaman was spliced with through the PeT! That must be the key for the blackouts."

"Oh! Just like in the book!" Roll realized.

"But it still leads back to us not having a clue on finding out what the other issue would've been," Maylu noted, biting her thumbnail in worried thought.

"The only possible chance left is if Goro knew anyone close enough to tell them, or said person knew him well enough to think like him…" Shinnosuke spoke, "But who could know him so well…"

"...When did Goro-san pass away?" Maylu asked.

"A few weeks ago," Kiriko replied.

"Do you think his home is still filled with his stuff then?" Maylu asked, earning everyone's attention, "Ah…um…w-well, it's just that…wouldn't it be a good idea to look at his belongings to see if anything like photos could show a connection to people he knew that may know?"

"Well it beats contacting the dead. Come on kids, we're investigating an old man's apartment he died in," Shinnosuke sighed with a bit of a chuckle.

"Can we not and say we did?" Megaman pleaded.

"Nope…" Lan picked him up and followed Shinnosuke who was putting on a new non-battle damaged shirt and tie.

Shinnosuke finished putting on his tie when Kiriko offered a folded paper to him. He blinked before looking at her in confusion.

"You have an appointment today," Kiriko explained.

"Huh?" Shinnosuke pondered as Kiriko lightly shook the paper so he'd grab it, letting him take it and unfold it to reveal an advertisement for a Christmas dinner, "A dinner?"

"Today's your birthday," Kiriko reminded, "If there's no electricity, I don't think they'll be open."

"A dinner?" Maylu pondered, seeing the ad.

"Oh! I forgot!" Lan noted before looking to her, "Mama told me yesterday before I came to the office to ask if you'd like to come over for Christmas Eve tonight."

"Oh! Megaman told us already and I accepted," Maylu explained.

"Aw what? Megaman…" Lan frowned at his NetNavi.

"You were asleep and Mama sent a message asking for an answer from her," Megaman defended.

"Well I guess that's fair…I just wanted to ask…" Lan sighed.

"That's just a bit of masculine pride is all," Shinnosuke chuckled, "We got work to do. Tonight is supposed to be a Holy Night of good times for people all around the world. And if we don't get this solved, citizens who are ignorant to all this will have their happy moments destroyed."

"So let's not think about it anymore and do all we can!" Lan beamed.

"Excellent! Let's get going then!" Belt-san declared.

"Kiriko…thanks," Shinnosuke thanked, giving her a smile, "So…let's dress up for tonight, okay?"

"?!" Kiriko blinked a few times…before she gave an actual smile and nodded.

"I don't get it," Lan whispered, "Why is she smiling when he asked that?"

"Ah to be a preteen again," Rinna softly giggled at the innocent Lan had.

---

"Alright, easy now," Raijin noted as he helped Heart sit down on a bench covered in blankets, a manta ray swimming above them in the man-made tunnel they were underneath.

"Can't believe the effort it took to get this all set up," Count Zap muttered, helping with putting Chase on another cloth-covered bench.

"Easy with that, 015," Wily advised, the Roidmude in question gently placing the small piece removed from Volt's device on top of a large white sheet that hid something beneath it.

"My Lords, forgive the question, but…why is the operation occurring here in this aquarium and not back at our home?" 015 asked.

"...Hmm…" Heart muttered as he leaned back, "This place…has special importance. It's not strategic…honestly, maybe even silly given all the electrical energy that's going to be involved…Raijin, you may wanna bundle up with some non-conductive material to keep from getting drained." he chuckled as Raijin paled, "Also your batteries will be rather tasteless afterward…sorry~"

"Not the batteries~" Raijin whined.

"Oh don't worry, partner," Zap chuckled, giving the RoidNavi an assuring pat on the shoulder, "We'll grab you a ton more before New Years!"

"But…I guess it's just a little bit of…self indulgence, 015. Nothing else. So it's not some deeper meaning you're not seeing, so don't overthink it," Heart continued, "If anything, tonight might get crazy. Tell the others to stay low. I'm not sure how badly the Kamen Rider is hurt…but given what he tried to do to me…don't be surprised even if his body is broken and he's half dead…he will be there…and he will fight…" he smirked happily/sinisterly.

"Yes, Lord Heart," 015 replied with a bow as Brain approached.

"Oh my. What reckless, hard-headed, violent men," Brain noted, looking over the two on the benches, "Heart, I can understand the damage he has; but you, Chase?"

"That BattleChip Raijin brought…it allows a human to fuse with their NetNavi," Chase informed.

"See? See?! I told ya what I saw and no one believed me!" Raijin beamed.

"There are some limitations. He does not have Megaman's experience in battle nor could he use more than five BattleChips he had to install into his PeT before using the BattleChip he called a 'SynchroChip,'" Zero added.

"You have to be kidding me," Brain frowned as Heart chuckled.

"And to think…your goof-up with the pink NetNavi gave way to this thing," Heart noted.

"Oi!" Brain complained.

"Honestly…after today…you're lucky you never fought the Kamen Rider, Brain…" Heart kept a snicker, "After fighting me…I can assure you…he would have defeated you…even if he had to do it while half-dead himself."

"Poisoning after I weakened him doesn't count…" Chase grunted.

"Nor doing so while controlling another," Zero added.

"Why did you give him such a ridiculous command like 'protecting children' anyway?" Brain huffed, "That messed up everything in that operation."

"Are the Roidmudes not children?" Wily asked, "You're all still learning, growing, evolving. While some of you have become 'adults' from your experiences, the majority of those left and several who have sadly passed on are still nothing more than children that need to be guided once the Endgame comes for humanity." he looked to the sheet as 015 scratched his cheek while looking away from the elderly leader, "What happens tonight signals what will come for those children who look up to you and those others who have evolved."

"Tch," Brain frowned, "I supposed I'll have to observe the situation outside then."

"Brain…" Heart spoke, "Are we not superior? …We have no need to stoop to the levels of humans. That is why I agreed to the good doctor's directives…I felt it even then during the Global Freeze…I was annoyed at how petty many of our friends acted…it is why we have Chase…to correct them. Do not forget we are superior, Brain…"

"Hmm…you're almost too positive for your own good…" Brain replied, "I think I feel a cavity…"

"Eh…we can get those?" Heart asked honestly, ruining the mood ever slightly, "What a horrible design flaw…Doctor…we need to replace our teeth with material that can't corrode."

"Oh you'll be just fine…" Brain growled as Wily couldn't hide the amused smile on his lips.

"We shall accompany Brain," Chase grunted, getting up.

"Nonsense. You're just as damaged, Chase…" Brain sighed.

"But my damage is mostly external, unlike Heart who has extensive internal damage from the Kamen Rider trying to rip his namesake out…" Chase argued as a few of the Roidmudes present froze in terror from the visual.

"If that enough does not assuage you of allowing Aibou to accompany you, I will provide assistance through any way I may," Zero added.

'These two…' Brain thought in annoyance, "Fine. But do your jobs properly this time. You especially, Zero."

"Then don't get in our paths this time," Chase defended Zero, "Far as I see it, we would have had more chances if we didn't need to cover for you."

"Aw…they're growing closer…" Heart chuckled, "I won't have to stop Chase from trying to kill you while your back is turned."

"He what…" Brain blinked, turning to see Chase just barely hide his Break Gunner behind his back.

"Aibou isn't doing anything," Zero assured.

"...I blame you…" Brain pointed at Heart as they walked off.

"Hmm…you seem most shaken up, Heart," Willy noted a slight change in Heart.

"Heh…" he chuckled, "I can't explain it, Doctor…when I see humanity, I see the worst…but for some reason with this new Rider…I can't help but respect a man willing to die to take me down for the sake of them…what can I say but…I don't think they deserve such a terrifying defender."

"Hmm…I suppose anyone who would willingly take on such hardship for humanity…might actually be a man worth some form of respect," Willy nodded in understanding of what Heart really meant.

"It's rare for me to say…I don't hate a human…" Heart added, "Hakase, you are among those few, however I am not smart enough to connect with you, ironic for a mechanical life form to say I know…but I prefer to run on a very low level up here…" he pointed to his head, "I already have overheating problems as is."

"That's alright, Heart," Wily assured, tapping Heart over his namesake, "What you have here more than makes up for it. Your name holds more meaning than what's on the surface, after all." he then used the cane to strike Zap's foot.

"GAH!"

"What are you standing around here for? Get the attire for Raijin so tonight's events don't cause harm to him!" Wily scolded.

"Ah! Y-yes, Lord Wily!" Zap replied.

"Can we get some batteries before they're spoiled?" Raijin asked, following Zap.

"Wouldn't it make sense to eat your current stash before tonight?" Heart chuckled.

"Genius!" Raijin cheered.

'If this is what raising children is like…I can see why you chose to do so…' Wily thought.

---

"So this is Minami Gorou's private writing space," Belt-san observed, Shinnosuke and Lan standing in a room amidst clutter.

"This is creepy…" Megaman gulped, seeing a skeleton statue on a dresser and a blue book with the title Ways to Summon a Devil on the small table.

"Hmm…" Lan looked around before picking up a book, "Chronicles of Unusual Crimes from around the World. Oh! Shinnosuke-nii, look! Look!" Lan quickly held it up to him, "Minami-san co-authored it! Maybe the guy he wrote it with will know!"

"Who wrote it with him?" Shinnosuke asked.

"Some guy named Nishihori Kouya," Lan replied, not seeing Shinnosuke pause on hearing that name while he looked in the book…and not seeing Shinnosuke start to think.

"Nishihori Kouya? Oh…" Belt-san cringed.

"What's wrong?" Megaman asked.

"My brain cells are in top gear," Shinnosuke declared, tightening his tie, "We're heading back to the office."

"Eh?" Lan pondered as Shinnosuke went off, "Ah! Wait up!"

---

"Nishihori Kouya? Hmm…That name sounds so familiar," Kyu frowned in thought.

"Well, he wrote a book with Minami-san," Lan noted, showing the book to the man in glasses.

"Nishihori Kouya is a copycat criminal whom my partner and I arrested before I joined the SIU," Shinnosuke explained, "As a former criminal psychologist, he co-authored this book with Minami Gorou!"

"So you believe that Nishihori-san will likely know what the story's ending is?" Kyu guessed.

"Indeed," Shinnosuke replied.

"That may be trouble, then," Megaman noted, "If he was arrested, then won't it be difficult to make contact with him?"

"Getting permission to meet him will take a good deal of time to process, especially if it's for a case," Shinnosuke nodded.

"Time we don't have," Lan sighed.

"Oh~? Isn't that right?" Jun asked, earning their attention as he cracked up on the phone.

"Jun-Jiisan?" Lan pondered quietly.

"Remember last time? I was pretty good to you," Jun reminded as he adopted a teasing smile, "You still remember that favor, right~? ….What-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t?! Eh?! Honto?! Indeed~! If you say~ so~! That's right! A fellow named 'Tomari' will be coming on over! Much appreciated~! Arigatou~!" he calmly hung up, put his hands together, and smiled at Shinnosuke, "Hai. Your meeting with Nishihori-san has been arranged."

"Eh!?" they all gawked.

"H-how? That was so fast…" Megaman gawked.

"Sugei, Jun-jiisan!" Lan awed.

"Hehe, one day you boys will learn the amazing power of making friends at work. Connections and contacts are very important in the field of networking, and I don't mean the computer kind~" Jun smirked, "Now go on ahead, Tomari-san is best left to going to the prison, Lan-kun you and Mega-kun should be on standby here, you can cover more ground searching for this mystery culprit."

"Also his mother might not approve of taking him to a prison filled with scum bag criminals." Kyu pointed out.

"I love her…but…yeah…" Lan nodded slowly.

"We would be so grounded it wouldn't be funny," Megaman agreed.

"Thank you so much, Chief!" Shinnosuke thanked, giving a bow before patting Lan on the shoulder and raced out, "Good luck on the search, Lan."

"Bye, Shinnosuke-nii!" Lan waved.

"The Chief…" Megaman muttered, trading looks with Kyu.

"Ah…He is mysterious," Kyu agreed as Jun pulled out a notebook and pen, licking the tip of the latter before writing in the former.

"Tomari-chan…Favor: 1," Jun spoke aloud as he wrote in it.

"Eh?" Lan tilted his head.

"Nothing you need to worry about just yet," Jun chuckled, "Go on, go on. Your energy is needed for finding that culprit!"

"You got it, Jun-jiisan!" Lan saluted before running out.

"And don't wear purple today! It's a very unlucky color if you wear it at night!" Jun warned, "That kiddo…"

---

"Well now…It's you."

Shinnosuke remained stoic on his side of the interview room, keeping focused on the figure on the other side of the reinforced glass.

"You really brought in Lupin?" he asked.

"I'm the one here to ask questions," Shinnosuke replied stoically, "You were acquainted with Minami Goro, right?"

"Heh…I'm impressed you know of my connection to Minami-sensei," the man chuckled, leaning back in his folding chair.

"Did he ever tell you about the second volume of The Dark Eve?" Shinnosuke asked.

"Oh-hoh~! You've read the first volume? Quite the read, wasn't it?" Nishihori asked, leaning closer to the glass with a look of utter glee, "As for the second volume…" he chuckled while slowly tilting his head, "...I may very well be the sole person alive that knows of that."

"Knows what?" Shinnosuke demanded.

"Before you locked me up, me and Sensei would chat over drinks, hehehe…He always told me what he was thinking of, so that means…I am the only man who knows the finale to the most controversial work of the century~ And it's all mine to horde!"

He flinched and stumbled back when Shinnosuke slammed his hands onto the little podium that supported the glass. Nishihori just gulped at the intense glare the officer gave him. It was very different from the goofy and cocky detective who bested him. The former criminal psychologist was left wondering…what horrible things has this man seen in the months since his arrest? What things has this young Detective seen that gave him this burning glare that made him, a certified criminal lunatic, back away?

"You're going to tell me that ending. And I won't ask a second time…got it…" Shinnosuke frowned.

Nishihori couldn't stop the gulp that escaped from him.

---

"Anything?" Maylu asked, looking at her PeT.

"Awoo…" Rush whimpered as he shook his head.

"That Roidmude is smart. He hasn't come into the Network at all, so Rush-kun can find his scent," Roll noted.

"Ah mou…Why does it feel like the Roidmudes come in either really stupid…or annoyingly clever…?" Maylu groaned.

"I've asked that myself several times now," Kiriko admitted before looking at the PeT screen, "Any word on the BBSs?"

"I got back from my latest check-in. No results," Roll replied before the PeT and Kiriko's phone went off, "EMail from Lan!"

"Moshi-moshi?" Kiriko answered, "...Tomari-san?"

"An EMail?" Maylu pondered as she opened it.

"...EH?!" the two gasped in unison.

---

"It's the Electro Mall," Shinnosuke explained, all four in Tridoron and racing down a road.

"Megaman and I spoke with some of our schoolmates at ACDC," Lan noted, "They said that the Roidmude was last spotted near there."

"Why would he go to a mall?" Maylu asked.

"That's because of the design of the device that Lan-kun was caught inside of," Shinnosuke explained, "In the second volume, the scientist that was doing these experiments chose to do so at a building resembling his invention."

"I looked up photos of the mall and it does look like the machine Lan-kun was tied up in," Megaman confirmed.

"Then we just need to get there," Kiriko nodded.

"Already here," Shinnosuke spoke, "Kiriko," he pointed out the window to a man in a white suit, he quickly took a sharp turn and cut the man's path to the Electro Mall off.

"Mmm…" Volt growled.

"AH!" Lan gawked, "He's really back! Volt's back from the dead!"

"No, Volt is dead," 'Volt' spoke, able to hear him.

"EH!?" Lan and Megaman shouted as the former backed away from the window and slightly into Maylu.

"I'm what you might call…a ghost~" Ghost Volt smiled

"GYAHAHAHA~!"

"Megaman?" Maylu blinked, hearing a small thud from Lan's PeT.

"What's wrong?" Lan pondered as he looked at the screen, seeing just Megaman's legs sticking up and twitching, "EH!? He passed out!?"

"Mega really can't handle ghost stuff…" Roll whispered in surprise.

"Kids, stay in Tridoron," Shinnosuke ordered as he closed the door.

'Volt' chuckled as he opened up his briefcase…revealing the small metal device. He threw the case as the police officers ducked out of the way, the device began rapidly absorbing electricity from the area and suddenly the Ghostly Volt was changed into his Roidmude form.

"Soka…that device absorbs electrical energy and builds a physical form for him based on memory of the original," Belt-san realized.

"That let him draw in all the electrical energy…even from cars and PeTs," Lan added.

"Really glad Rinna-nee put the new ones so they can't drain ours," Roll noted, giving a small shudder, "I hate when they get shut off. Feels like I can't see or hear anything…"

"Tonight, the Dark Eve will become reality!" Volt declared.

"You're kidding me! I've got an appointment tonight!" Shinnosuke argued as Belt-san snapped into place on his waist, "You're getting sent back to the afterlife!" he grunted as he ducked out of the way of a swing from the ghostly Volt Roidmude, he spun around as he pulled out his shift car and twisted it, he used his left arm to block a kick from Volt before slotting the car in to form the lever, "Henshin!" he declared as he jumped back letting the armor form around him.

=DRIVE: TYPE SPEED!=

Drive blocked another swing from Volt before kicking him away, letting the Shift Tire finally slam onto his chest. He then held his hand out as the Handle-Ken followed and right into his grasp. Drive grunted, swinging and slashing Volt across the chest making the Roidmude cry out in pain as he stumbled back, only for the scratch to his body…to fill in with an electrical buzz.

"It hurts…ah…not really~?" Volt laughed, "I'm a ghost~ A Phantom~ Specter~! You can't hurt what's already perished!"

"Maybe…but it looks like I can still beat you 'till I find out how to save the day," Drive argued, "So let's see what gives out first, your ghost nonsense or my passion for beating up monsters!" he rushed forward and began unleashing slash after slash to Volt's chest, making sparks fly as he pushed the Roidmude away from the Tridoron.

Drive grunted, twirling his Handle-Ken around to block and twist it around Volt's arm to confuse him. The Rider swung his blad down on Volt's right arm and slammed it to the ground, the act dragging the spectral Roidmude down to one knee. Drive shouted as he pulled his Handle-Ken back before thrusting it and piercing Volt's body, the Roidmude crying out in surprise as he was lifted back to his feet and pushed away and slammed into a wall. Drive pulled his blade out of Volt before spinning around to land a hook kick to the monster's face and knocking him away.

"Mmm…That surge…" Lan noted, narrowing his eyes before groaning as the fight moved out of the sight of Tridoron's windows, "Ah!" he shook his PeT, "Megaman, wake up!"

"Gwah! What's happening?! Did a young priest and an old priest arrive?!"

"Oh my he's really out of it this time…" Roll noted.

"Well, I mean…this is technically…an…actual Ghost…" Maylu mumbled.

"Megaman, snap outta it! We need footage!" Lan groaned.

"Footage?" Maylu repeated.

"That camera," Lan replied, pointing at a street camera nearby, "I need to double check something I noticed when the Roidmude got damaged and repaired itself."

"Roll, can you help?" Maylu asked, "We really need to see if there's anything we can do to help."

"We need to try, Megaman. Shinnosuke-nii is doing all he can even after that fight with Heart. If Volt gets away, lots of people can get hurt if the power all goes out," Lan spoke, hoping that some conviction could overpower Megaman's fears.

"This could end horribly. People could end up in traffic accidents before the car batteries run out, navigational systems crashing," Roll noted, "The worst would likely be in the hospital for people on life support or are in the middle of an urgent operation…."

"Hospital? …A-Alright. I…I can do this," Megaman replied.

"Alright!" Lan nodded, "And you won't have to fight the guy. We just need the feed, I promise." he quickly aimed his PeT at the camera and sent Megaman into it, the screen on his PeT changing to show Drive and Volt fighting, "...Got it! Look at his right hand whenever he gets damaged."

"Eh?" Maylu leaned a bit closer to look at the smaller screen in time for Drive to deliver a slash that cut into Volt's neck…before an electrical pulse went off in Volt's right hand before the injury vanished, "Ah! What was that?"

"I think it's the device he took off his invention. If it's what lets him have a body out here on Earth, then it must be what makes him like Deadpool," Lan guessed, "That has to be damaged first, if not destroyed, before Volt can."

"...Deadpool?" Maylu repeated, looking at her own PeT.

"Gaijin manga character that's immortal and breaks the fourth wall a ton," Roll summed up.

"Hmm?" Maylu blinked and tilted her head.

"Not important. We know how to hurt Volt!" Lan cheered before he jumped forward to lean towards the window and began furiously tapping it to get Kiriko's attention, making her jump in surprise as she may have momentarily forgotten the children within the super car, "Kiriko-nee! The device in Volt's hand! Tell Shinnosuke-nii to attack that!"

"Eh? Devi-Oh! Good thinking!" Kiriko nodded as she ran towards the fight, "Tomari-san! Break the device!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" Drive demanded, having a hold on Volt's arm only to grunt as Volt used his free one to blast Drive away from him with a blast of electricity, "Oh, a real shocker, huh? Well here's a shock for you! Me catching you!" he pulled out Justice Hunter and twisted it, "Let's go, Hunter!"

=TIRE KOUKAN! JUSTICE HUNTER!=

Drive grabbed the Justice Cage before swinging it around and letting the new Shift Tire knock the Type Speed tire into Volt knocking the Roidmude off his feet. Drive spun around and tossed the Justice Cage as it grew and began shooting bars down to trap Volt in place. Volt gasped as he got up and tried to break free, but he was repelled from the bars instantly.

"Sorry, those things don't like to be touched. I guess this is the perfect trap for a ghost," Drive chuckled, "I always wanted to be a Ghostbuster, minus the slime part~" he flipped around the Handle-Ken between his hands to hold it in his left, he moved to grab Justice Hunder to slot it into the weapon; but he was suddenly shot in the back, making sparks fly, "Gah!"

"What was…?" Maylu began before Megaman screamed as Lan grunted, grabbing his shoulder.

"Megaman!" Lan exclaimed, the feed switching from the camera feed to the Network, showing Megaman getting up as Zero rose up from a jumping slash, "Zero!"

"And with him there, that means…" Roll grimaced.

"Seriously, Volt?" Brain sighed as he stood before the cage.

"I can't phase through between the bars…" Volt muttered, earning an eye roll from Brain before Chaser swung his Break Gunner and broke parts of the bars off, "FREEDOM~!"

"Get going and cause the Dark Eve, already," Brain ordered.

"Hai-hai~" Volt cheered as he ran off.

"That stupid ghost is degrading to crazier and crazier…" Brain groaned before grunting when a random rock beaned him upside the head, "Gah!"

"It seems the girl known as Maylu and owner of the NetNavi named Roll…still dislikes you…" Mashin Chaser noted, "I imagine this is usual of human women when they meet you…"

"Did you just…" Brain growled.

"Yeah, he strikes me as the type girls don't like…" Drive sighed as he was lying on his side with his head propped up on his hand, "Something about him just screams…girls don't like me." he shook his head before flipping up to avoid another bullet barrage from Mashin Chaser; upon landing on his feet, he rushed and begun swinging his sword at the Shinigami before spinning around him and kicking at Brain, making the Roidmude panic and scream while jumping away, "Oi…ain't he fighting?"

"His powers are still gone," Mashin Chaser explained.

"Nice job, Roll-chan!" Drive gave a thumbs up.

"Your calm state will not fool us, Rider!" Brain shouted, "You won't stop us! This will be our grand victory at long last!"

"Honestly…it's the only thing stopping me from doing to you what I did to Heart, 'cause with all that at stake…I'm kinda ticked off…" Drive explained as his jovial tone diminished some, "I need to stay strong…but you guys are really putting a damper on my joint Birthday/Christmas plans."

"While your plans for this day are in chaos, so shall ours be should Volt not complete what he was meant to fulfill in life," Zero noted, raising his Z Saber at Megaman and narrowing his eyes, "You will not use that power of yours to aide the Kamen Rider today nor any other."

"Kiriko, go after that guy!" Drive ordered, "Destroy the device!"

"Hai!" Kiriko replied as she got into Tridoron, "Buckle up, kids. Doctor, keep on standby for Lan-kun."

"I'm really glad there's no more cable so I don't need to plug it into the device to send Megaman BattleChips," Lan muttered, pulling out an AreaSteal and barely getting it to Megaman to avoid a strike.

"So long as I don't have to fight the ghost, I am okay with NetBattling Zero-san," Megaman stated.

"I beg your pardon?" Zero asked, pausing his next attack from the statement, letting Megaman nail him with a GoldFist BattleChip.

"Good luck!" Drive called before grunting as he parried Chaser's Break Gunner hook with the steering wheel of the Handle-Ken.

"Gh!" Mashin Chaser grunted as they pushed against one another.

"A battle out here…and a battle in there…" Brain noted as he looked between the fighting Rider and a feed on his tablet showing the battle in the Network, "Either way, it's good data for later…"

"Shift Cars, gather!" Belt-san called out.

At that, all the Shift Cars drove in, purposely driving under Brain's legs and knocking him over before they all began attacking Mashin Chaser, making him grunt in surprise.

"Don't even think of touching our little buddies, Shinigami!" Drive shouted as he swapped Shift Cars and rushed his rival.

=DRIVE: TYPE WILD!=

Mashin Chaser grunted as he was shoulder checked and sent stumbling back as the Shift Cars pulled back…before all turning towards Brain. They all honked before remembering he was, for some reason, depowered.

"No…no no…" Brain shook his head as their headlights all flashed with what he could somehow describe as malicious intent, "Yabei…"

"Get him, boys!" Drive ordered as they began chasing the depowered Roidmude commander.

"Maji…" Mashin Chaser gawked, "Is Brain really this weak without his true form?"

"I am ashamed of knowing him…" Zero sighed, parrying Megaman's LifeSword with his own blade and actually struggling a little.

"Is he this unliked by his own companions?" Megaman couldn't help but ask as he jumped away from Zero, "Given that Heart guy…we assumed everyone was buddy-buddy…"

"It depends on the Roidmude and their personality," Zero replied before the two swung their blades, letting out shockwaves that collided and caused an explosion from the impact.

"Okay, you see that? That is how you banter in a fight," Drive pointed out before jumping back from a punch swung by Mashin Chaser, "You really gotta talk more in these things, ya know?"

"I'm just glad those simulations we have on Zero have actually been working for those two," Belt-san noted.

"Now if only we could get this one to crack at least a one-liner…" Drive sighed, clashing with Mashin Chaser.

---

The Volt Roidmude approached the mall and gazed upon it. With a chuckle, he spread his arms out before pointing at a large screen set up atop it.

"And with this, my great scheme shall finally be accomplished!"

With a laugh, he reeled his arm back and threw the device. It spun in the air like a frisbee before embedding itself into the screen, causing it to start flickering while the device started to crackle. He laughed with glee as he watched the screen flicker and crackle, watching as electricity began to pour from it into the device. With the Shinigami and his helper there, the Kamen Rider had no chance of preventing the Dark Eve and his scheme's fulfilment! He would…why did he hear a loud engine roaring, growing only louder with each passing moment?

=DORON TRIDORON!=

He spun around in time to see Tridoron coming right at him, "Aw…biscuits."

"Ah! Hold on!" Lan yelped, pressing himself against his seat.

"Eh?" the girls pondered before screaming as Tridoron ejected their part in it before flipping upside down and letting it land in its frame once more, "EEK!"

=TYPE WILD!=

"Can we do that again?" Roll asked excitedly.

"NO!" Maylu and Kiriko barked.

"Because of course they'd use the transforming car…" Volt Roidmude whined before spotting a trio of cars meant to be sold in a raffle, "...Well if they're going to use a car…Then I don't see why I shouldn't myself!"

He reached behind him and pulled out a trio of Viral Cores. He tossed them up and quickly 'ate' all three. Electricity crackled off his body before it struck the three cars, dissolving them and pulling them into his body. With a roar, Volt Roidmude transformed into a familiar state to Lan.

"Aw come on! This guy again?!" Lan gawked before inserting a cannon to let Megaman use the recoil to fully avoid the overhead swipe Zero pulled in an attempt to catch Megaman while he was jumping over the red NetNavi, making sparks fly off Zero from the impact.

"What is that?!" Maylu asked in disbelief.

"Well that's going to be haunting my nightmares now!" Roll complained.

"Well…this is a thing Roidmudes can do when they eat a bunch of their own evil Shift Cars…" Lan explained, "The Cobra one is bigger…"

"How many times have you seen one!?" Kiriko demanded.

"Not important," Lan replied.

"I disagree!" Kiriko snapped before all three yelped as the Spider-based beast grabbed Tridoron.

"Type Technic mode fights best against the Spider type!" Lan explained.

"A little boy should not be telling me how best to fight a giant robotic spider car thing!" Kiriko exclaimed.

"Well, I mean I'm there for more of the fights…" Lan pointed, out inserting another chip as Megaman swung both arms as swords to clash with Zero's one sword.

"I think that's what upsets her…" Maylu muttered.

"How would we know they could turn into mini-kaiju?" Lan argued.

"Are you so focused your default is sarcasm!?" Both female's currently within the Super Car complained at his attitude.

---

"Ah this is bad…" Drive grunted.

"Indeed," Belt-san noted, seeing the electrical surges in the distance, "The blackout has already begun!"

"Well…there is that…" Drive admitted, "But I was referring to the fact that…" he and Mashin Chaser tugged, Hooking Wrecker and Mashin Chaser's Cobra weapon entangled together, "I think I'm losing in this!"

"Focus!" Belt-san barked before Megaman yelped, "Megaman!"

"I'm alright!" Megaman replied, a nearby advertising screen showing him and Zero as they had stopped fighting due to a hole opening up between them, the data from it going into the sky and growing larger with each moment.

"Nani?" Zero pondered, "What is this?"

"Is it…absorbing the Network with the electricity?" Drive pondered.

"I can't say for certain, but that does seem to be what is happening," Belt-san muttered, "This is dangerous. Megaman, return to Lan-kun right now! It's safer if you two are together!"

"Hai!" Megaman replied as more holes started to form, "Zero…We need to go."

"But…"

"If we don't get out of here, we'll both be lost!" Megaman argued, "This isn't the time for us to fight!"

"He's right! Move, Shinigami! Get out of our way!" Drive demanded.

"Are you begging for your lives?" Mashin Chaser demanded.

"Oh now you talk…" Drive mumbled before speaking aloud, "Yeah! That's right! Not just for me, but for the lives in danger from this blackout!" he slammed a kick into Mashin Chaser, causing the tanglement of their cable/cobra to come undone, "If he's not stopped, the blackout will engulf the entire city! Cars will crash and hospitals have people who need power to stay alive!"

"Zero, just look around us! Even the Network is being affected by the Dark Eve! If it gets stronger, it could break apart NetNavis like me and you!" Megaman gestured to the forming holes in the ground and the 'sky' above the two NetNavis, "Do you want Mashin Chaser to lose you?!"

"People will die!" both shouted.

"Gh…" Mashin Chaser's gun-holding hand began to shake as Zero took a step back.

"Megaman and I'll accept a duel with you two anytime! So please! Get out of the way!"

"..." Mashin Chaser's hand kept shaking.

"..." Zero dismissed his blade, turning his back to Megaman, "Go. Stop this."

"!" Mashin Chaser looked at the screen.

"You say you will accept a duel at anytime…then we'll delay this until another day, Megaman."

"Zero…" Megaman whispered before nodding, "Arigatou." he quickly began to log out, "Hurry, Drive-san."

"Hai!" Drive declared as he began to charge at Mashin Chaser…until the purple-armored fighter lowered his weapon, "Eh? Y…You're really…?"

"..." Mashin Chaser looked away from Drive.

"...Arigato," Drive thanked before running past him and off towards the mall.

"Aibou…" Zero spoke, logging out quickly as a hole opened up where he had been.

"...Human…lives?" Mashin Chaser pondered as a frazzled Brain stumbled over, his clothing looking like it had gone through a shredder and an incinerator all at once.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Brain snapped, "Both of you just let them leave again?!" he slapped Mashin Chaser upside the head with his tablet…before it unleashed a blue-tinted pulse that sent Mashin Chaser rolling across the ground, "!"

"?! Aibou!" Zero panicked.

---

"Ah, so this is where you need us if Volt fails…" Heart noted, looking at the map on the table between him and Wily.

"Yes, having everyone set up in this place will keep the fallout from harming any of you," Wily explained.

"Ah! S-Sirs!" 015 yelped, causing the two to turn to see him backing away from the covered object…as the device on top of it crackled and surged with the electricity pouring into it, "I swear, I didn't touch it!"

"No, no, 015, it's alright. We want this to happen," Wily assured as Heart began to smile widely.

"Thank you…Volt," Heart whispered.

---

Kiriko and Maylu screamed as they fell to the grassy part of the ground while Lan screamed as he landed in a dumpster nearby.

"Aw man…" Lan groaned, a banana peel on his head before noticing his PeT was missing, "Ah! Megaman!"

"I'm in here, but I don't know where I am!" Megaman muffled out in the garbage.

"Ah…" Lan groaned as he began to dig around in it.

Meanwhile, the berserk Roidmude kept shaking Tridoron in its limbs before spotting the girls. Kiriko quickly pulled out her gun and started to shoot at it. She pushed Maylu to the right as she rolled away to the left, letting the two barely avoid being crushed by Tridoron being used as a blunt object. The Roidmude looked around as if taking time to decide which one to attack; it stopped on Kiriko who tried to shoot, but sadly was already out of bullets. It revved its engine, almost like it was laughing at her. It swung a leg to knock her weapon away, realizing she was disarmed it turned to Maylu and raised one of its legs and aimed at her first.

It raised its two front legs to stab her before a white plasma bullet struck one as a blade of plasma sliced into the other, forcing it to stumble away. Kiriko and Maylu looked in the direction of the attacks before blinking a few times. In the darkened area around them, they could barely make out a pair of figures, one taller than the other. The shorter of the two looked like they had long hair with a red blade of plasma replacing a hand. The taller one held what appeared to be a gun mixed with a small tire of sorts and had a small scarf around their neck.

"Nan de?" Kiriko whispered, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Eh?" Maylu blinked a few times.

"Who are…?" Roll began before a light caught her attention before a charge shot and several plasma bullets struck the Roidmude, knocking it away and having it land upside down.

"Kiriko! Maylu-chan!" Drive, in Type Technic, shouted as he and CF Megaman ran over.

"Are you girls alright?" CF Megaman asked, helping Maylu up and picking up her PeT.

"Ah…hai…somehow…" Maylu looked around, "Maybe I bumped my head. I thought I just saw…"

"We'll talk later." Kiriko spoke, being helped up by the Kamen Rider, "Right now we need to worry about that machine."

"Right. Where is it?" CF Megaman asked.

"Um…I think it's up there, Lan," Megaman noted as Drive put a hand on his head and moved it to look at the large screen at the top of the mall.

"Oh," CF Megaman blinked a few times.

"You go deal with that," Drive ordered as Tridoron drove over to them, "I'll deal with the big spider."

"Right!" CF Megaman nodded.

"Sides I don't think Megaman could focus on helping if he fought a ghost," Drive laughed.

"You're probably right~" CF Megaman shrugged.

"Hey…No, you're right…" Megaman sighed in defeat.

"How are you scared of ghosts?!" Roll gawked.

"They shouldn't be a thing that exists!"

"I may need to ask your maker about this," Belt-san noted, his image on the belt showing his neutral expression.

"Please don't~!" Megaman whined before the Roidmude's engine roared.

"Right! That's our cue!" CF Megaman exclaimed as he picked up the girls and ran off towards the mall, "Ganbatte, Drive-nii!"

"Ah…time for a demolition derby!" Drive nodded, "Ike Tridoron!" he called out as his Super Car drove over and drifted around before scooping the Rider up in one motion. As it came to a stop, the cabin ejected up once more as the car followed its Rider's steps and turned into its Technic Formation. Tridoron bashed its manipulator arms together like fists before rushing and crashing into the Berserk Roidmude.

"Hold on tight," CF Megaman advised before both girls yelped as he started to jump up onto the building and then onto the fire escape near the top of it.

"Lan…what if it comes after us?" Maylu asked, looking over his shoulder to see Tridoron spinning around while having one of its legs in its arms.

"Ah, don't worry! I'll protect ya both!" CF Megaman assured, pumping a fist once he let the two down, "I haven't used a single BattleChip yet and I got a big surprise for him if he comes!"

"Just stay close to Shijima-san," Megaman advised.

"First thing's first…how to get that thing…do I blast it?" CF Megaman tilted his head.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Roll advised, "Your shots are really strong and you'd likely break the building in the process."

"I managed to pick up your gun before we got brought up here," Maylu noted as she offered the gun to Kiriko.

"That would probably be safer," Kiriko admitted as she pulled out a new clip for the gun and began swapping the empty clip for it, "The only thing that would get damaged would be the screen."

"Oh…I think Tridoron's being extra mean to the Roidmude," CF Megaman noted, looking over the side at the fight below, "Kinda makes sense since it was throwing us and Tridoron about earlier."

"Are you planning to shoot it from up here?" Maylu asked.

"Nah. I've already used a BattleChip," CF Megaman replied.

"Eh?" Maylu pondered.

"You'll see," he replied simply.

Tridoron slammed a right hook into the Roidmude, severing another limb from its body. It tried to back away from Tridoron, only for the car to grab it by the front bumper and pull it back in for an uppercut. Tridoron grabbed the Roidmude and spun it around until its front bumper was facing away from the vehicle. The Berserk Roidmude struggled with trying to get out of Tridoron's grip only for the vehicle to start repeatedly smashing it front first into the ground, each impact breaking off another leg. Once the final leg flew off, the next impact caused the Berserk Roidmude to explode and the Volt Roidmude screamed, sailing out of the explosion with a trail of smoke coming off him, before crashing face-first into the mall's wall.

"Ugh…For the love of Tesla…" the Volt Roidmude groaned, pulling his face off the wall and looking up to see CF Megaman, "Hm?" he opened his mask, pulled down an eyelid, and blew a raspberry at the Roidmude, "Hah?! Oh, you little brat! …Wait…Ah! You get down from there!"

"I knew the motif was more spider than anything," Drive noted, seeing the Volt Roidmude start scaling the building like a spider, as several Shift Cars loaded themselves into Tridoron.

=ALL TIRE ATTACK!=

Volt Roidmude grumbled under his breath before yelping as he barely avoided being grazed by Max Flare's tire. He looked down to see the Shift Tires for nearly all of the Shift Cars coming up at him. He screamed in shock before he started to scurry about on the wall, either dodging or batting away at the different tires flying at him in an attempt to knock him off. Several moments passed until he wheezed as he managed to climb up to the top, sporting a few new burn marks, a dent from a weight on his left arm, several green spikes on his rear, and bits of cement crumbling off him.

"Having fun?" CF Megaman asked.

"Gah! You little brat…FRY!" Volt Roidmude roared, pointing his arms at CF Megaman…only for nothing to happen, "...Eh?"

"Yeah…I may be really strong now, but…I'm kinda pants at fighting myself right now," CF Megaman sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "But I do have a lot of BattleChips now thanks to working with the CID…including the one I activated the moment I CrossFused."

"BattleChip? What BattleChip?" Volt Roidmude demanded.

"Oh, it's pretty fun!" CF Megaman replied…before pointing up, "It's called AntiElec."

"AntiElec? An…Anti as in 'against' and 'Elec' is short for e…lec…tric…ity…" Volt Roidmude trailed off as he slowly looked up…at the stormcloud above them, rumbling ominously, "..." he looked back at the grinning CF Megaman, "I hate children."

"I think kids hate you, too!" Drive shouted, ejecting from Tridoron as he aimed and fired with the Door-Ju, making Volt cry in pain from the energy bullets pelting him, "Have you met kids these days? You take their technology away, you're looking at Lord of the Flies on a global scale!"

"Oh shaddup!" Volt Roidmude snapped, raising a fist at Drive…before a blue bolt of lightning shot out from the cloud and struck him, "BLRBLRBLLRLRBLRLLBRLBLRRBBB!-!-!"

"Oh, I really love these trap BattleChips," CF Megaman snickered as Kiriko finished loading her gun and aimed at the device embedded in the board and started shooting at it, causing it to pop off after the third hit to it.

"Ah! You better not have damaged it, you bi…!" Volt Roidmude began before CF Megaman and Drive shot at him, knocking him away and let CF Megaman catch it.

"This thing is a real pain," CF Megaman noted before his free arm and hand glowed before being replaced with a stylized katana of sorts with a neon green plasma edge to it.

"Ah! Don't you do it!" Volt Roidmude panicked.

"...Okay," CF Megaman replied as he tossed the device up and sliced it in two.

"GAH! I SAID DON'T!"

"Sorry~" CF Megaman apologized, not sounding the least sorry about his actions.

"This is the end of the line." Drive spoke, "Your machine is busted, and you're out of time in the living world." he slotted Type Speed, "Tridoron!" with that, his Super Car grabbed Volt and began spinning him around, picking up speed rapidly.

=DRIVE: TYPE SPEED!=

Drive jumped up into the air as he changed to his default Red form. As he rose into the air, he flipped forward while going through the motions of twisting the key and pushing the Hissatsu Button. He grunted as he began spinning around, forming a faint red tire outline with his body before aiming forward.

"Quake 1! Quake 2! Quake 3! Download!" CF Megaman declared as he jumped up into the air.

=HISSATSU! FULL THROTTLE!=

Tridoron stopped and tossed Volt up in the air directly at the two Heroic fighters as they aimed right at the tossed Roidmude Phantom. CF Megaman's right boot shined brightly before a blue weight as big as him formed over it.

"Program Advance: Heavy Stamp!"

Drive growled as his left leg was now covered in bright red energy as he aimed it at Volt. Hearing his buddy say something before his attack made him quickly try and think of literally anything to say to sound cool. Sadly, the Detective turned Kamen Rider was drawing blanks…so he just shouted the first idea.

"Rider Kick!" he roared out.

With that, the two shot forward and slammed their legs into Volt and tore through his body making it explode brightly, any remaining parts quickly broke down into pure electricity and faded into the night air. The two grunted as they slid along the ground, with Drive coming to a stop before holding his arm out to catch CF Megaman who was unable to correct his body in time to stop. CF Megaman sighed, seeing the same Dumpster from before was in his path.

"Really hope our Christmas present from you is fighting lessons, Tomari-san," Megaman noted.

"The flying kick thing is not exactly simple karate…but I've gotten the hang of it," Drive chuckled.

"Seems we've made it in time," Belt-san noted as he saw lights coming back on in the distance.

"Whoa~ That's a lot of lights," CF Megaman awed as Kiriko and Maylu approached them.

"It was so dark and dreary, thanks to that stupid machine…" Drive spoke as he looked around, "If it's Christmas…it really needs to be a festival of lights, right?" he asked the others.

"Uhn!" CF Megaman and Maylu nodded as, away from their sight, Brain looked at them in annoyance and disbelief.

"Inconceivable…" Brain scowled before spinning around to glare at Chase, who was stumbling over while holding an arm, "You two just had to let them pass! This loss is on you both, Shinigami, Zero!"

"Gomen…" Zero apologized, bowing.

"S-Sorry…B-Brain…" Chase gasped out.

"Easy, Aibou," Zero advised.

"...W…Why…Why did I…?" Chase began to ask before he collapsed to his knees, dropping his PeT.

"?! Aibou?!" Zero gasped.

"Nani?" Brain blinked as Chase's form began to spark, the Roidmude commander flinched as Chase's human guise dropped to reveal his true form.

…But this was not like other Roidmudes. No, his form did not look like an animal and he lacked the features that resembled spikes, scales, or a skull like head unit. In fact, his true form's armor was rather smoothed and had features more akin to something like medieval armor such as the shoulder pauldron-like parts, a collar of metal around his neck, and a more human-like face. His chest flashed as the numbers on his core were 000. Chase gasped as he put a hand to his chest, seeing his reflection in the PeT.

"000?" Zero pondered, reading the numbers on his chestplate.

While the others failed to see this, the Shift Cars spotted the scene and sent the image of Chase's true form to Belt-san.

'Masaka…' Belt-san thought, 'That's…Mashin Chaser?' his image shifted to a pensive expression, 'It can't be.'

---

Footsteps echoed in the aquarium, causing Wily, 015, and Heart to look up to see Brain approach.

"So…the night comes to an end?" Heart asked.

"Chase is becoming a liability…" Brain bluntly replied, not wanting to waste time on the obvious.

"...Don't worry about it," Heart smiled, "I still trust him, he's my friend. Besides, given who he is, and what he was originally made to be…We should have known something would become difficult with him one day."

"And then there's Zero! That blasted command on 'protecting children' you programmed into him acted up again!" Brain looked at Wily.

"Brain," Heart spoke up, "Please calm yourself." he smiled as he closed his eyes as if to listen for something.

"But…!" Brain began before flinching as he heard the crackle of electricity, making him turn to see the white cloth the piece from the machine was laid upon. It began sparking electricity rapidly, so much so that it began burning the white cloth to black.

"Even at the end, Volt achieved something truly marvelous," Wily noted as Heart began to smile widely, "With the chip that was removed from his control device, all the electricity it absorbed was downloaded right down here and into who needed it the most."

"It is thanks to you all that this moment has finally arrived." Heart stated happily as the cloth flew off in a sudden motion by an unseen force.

Laying on the makeshift table was a figure. It was a woman. She was incredibly beautiful and dressed in a black attire that seemed to be a cross between a nurse's uniform and a ballerina's attire. She was wearing a black dress, ballet-like slippers, and a nurse cap atop her head holding her hair back, and long black gloves that extended above her elbows.

"Ah…M-My lords…is…is she…?" 015 looked at Heart and Wily and back at the woman repeatedly.

"You never did ask how I met you all," Wily noted, "After the Global Freeze, Heart stumbled upon one of my older bases when I was still plotting here in the city just as I was about to leave for our current one." His visible eye softened as he looked at the woman, "He had come because he knew about my research into robotics and with him…he brought an innocent who took on far too much at the time on her shoulders."

"She will finally return to us…" Heart spoke, "One of our precious and beloved friends, she who will be among the Promised Numbers." he stated firmly with a look of pride, his words seemed to be the final thing needed to make the woman's eyes open.

Brain just rolled his eyes with a sour look on his face.

The woman seemed to float up…before slowly lowering down and landing on the tips of her slippers and then lowering down to her feet fully. She looked up before spotting Heart and just him, her face forming a soft smile, before forming a full happy smile.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Heart-sama!" the woman greeted.

"Ohayo, Medic," Heart smiled, walking closer to her, "It warms my heart to see you once again."

"Let's give them a moment, shall we?" Wily whispered as he turned to leave.

"Ah…H-Hai," 015 nodded as he quickly followed the elderly man.

"I hope they have more time together," Wily noted, "Iie…I will make sure of it." he looked up at a shark as it swam overhead, "In seven days…Humanity ends and the Roidmudes shall inherit the world."

"Hmm…" Brain looked back as Heart and Medic…just continued to stare at one another, as if no more words needed be said. For some reason, this just made the Roidmude commander scowl and leave even faster.

---

"So it came back? Like a Ghost Navi?" Yuichiro pondered, sitting at the table across from Lan in the Hikari household.

"It was creepier than those things…" Megaman shuddered, "It knew it was a ghost and-ugh…"

"Papa, what's with Megaman being afraid of ghosts, anyway?" Lan asked.

"I don't have a problem, you have the problem!" Megaman defended in slight embarrassment.

"Ah…Well…a bit after Megaman was finished, a colleague ended up watching a pretty scary ghost movie from the Americas during his break and Megaman walked right into it during one of the scarier parts," Yucihiro explained, making Megaman squeak and hide his face behind both his mask and his hands, "I can't really do anything about it, either. With how special Megaman is, working on his mental data is extremely difficult and could hurt him more than help."

"Aw…" Lan sighed, "Well…I guess I'll have to make up for it if something like this happens again. We're a team after all!"

"I wonder what movie it was he saw…" Roll pondered from her PeT set up on the island as Maylu helped Haruka with the food.

"I'm more inclined on asking if that coworker of his got enough of a reprimand for it," Haruka frowned, "Honestly, bringing that kind of movie to work…"

"I mean, it was just an accident," Yuichiro muttered, "One with…an unintended downside…"

"Well, I guess the 'nobody's perfect' phrase fits here," Lan added, "But oh well, I'm just glad to be home after a really weird day. And all ghosts are now gone and busted as Shinnosuke-nii put it."

"That young man has a lot of references," Yuichiro noted.

"I've been able to get some of them after reading some comics," Lan noted, "Others keep flying over my head, though."

"Alright, dinner's almost ready to be served. Lan-kun, did you remember to wash your hands?" Haruka asked.

"Ack! O-One moment!" Lan replied as he ran upstairs to the bathroom.

"Oh that boy…" Haruka sighed, shaking her head.

"Um…Th-Thank you for letting me stay here for the holiday," Maylu spoke.

"It's no trouble at all, dear," Haruka assured, placing a hand on her shoulder, "It's your first time…"

"It…It is," Maylu nodded, glancing out towards her house next door.

"Lan can really be oblivious, huh?" Roll noted.

"All boys his age tend to be that way," Haruka shook her head before pulling out a small blue present, "Here."

"E-Eh?" Maylu looked up at her.

"Your Kaa-chan asked me to hold onto it since she wouldn't be sure if she could get home in time," Haruka explained, "She must have been a seer."

Maylu accepted the small present and opened it, her eyes widening on seeing it was a disc, "Is this…?"

"Ah! She remembered what I asked for!" Roll gasped.

"Eh?" Maylu looked at her PeT.

"Ah…Well…it…you were getting older and with how often Mama and Papa were away and they always said I was supposed to act like an older sister…" Roll sheepishly rubbed her arm while glancing away from Maylu, "I thought it'd be a good idea and asked about getting it."

"Roll…" Maylu whispered, "Is…Is it safe?"

"Installing it will be harmless," Yuichiro noted, "She'll need about an hour after installing it to get used to the upgrades, but she'll still be Roll…just different."

"...Alright," Maylu nodded, "Um…C-Could you help with it, Dr. Hikari? I don't want to mess it up."

"Of course," Yuichiro assured.

"I wonder what Mega would look like with this installed," Roll noted.

"Oh, he's incompatible with this upgrade," Yuichiro replied.

"Eh?"

"Eh? What is it now? …Ah mou…That list of things I'm incompatible with keeps growing…" Megaman sighed.

"Well, you are an extremely special NetNavi, Megaman," Yuichiro reminded, "You can't use it because it's naturally in you."

"Wait…it is?" Megaman asked.

"Of course. You really haven't noticed, have you?" Yuichiro asked.

"Noticed? What?"

Yuichiro pulled out his PeT and pulled out the pictures folder in it, "This was you when you were completed." he turned it around and showed the image of a toddler-looking Megaman, sucking his thumb while holding a dog plush.

"Oh my gosh! You're so tiny!" Roll cooed.

"You have a unique version of what Roll will be installed with," Yuichiro explained, "You're not compatible with it because your version actually works at a more advanced level, but also takes longer for things from it to apply."

"Oh…" Megaman nodded.

"Wait…if he progresses like a child ages…does that include Puberty?" Maylu asked.

"Hah?!"

"I suppose so."

"P-Papa?!"

"Oh, that sounds amusing," Roll giggled.

"Roll-chan?!"

"What did I miss?" Lan asked, finally returning.

"Oh, just Megaman realizing a few things about himself that he'll have to deal with as you and him grow older that other NetNavis can skip," Haruka replied.

"This sounds like something everyone wants to laugh about?" Lan muttered.

"It's not funny…" Megaman pouted.

"It is pretty funny," Roll giggled, "I can't wait to tell Rinna-nee about this."

"Can we not?!"

"Of course you can't…but we can," Maylu replied.

"Ah mou~!" Megaman groaned as Lan started to snicker, "Lan?!"

"S-Sorry…Don't know the context, b-but seeing you all flustered…" Lan apologized between snickers.

"I swear, one of you better get at least one lump of coal from Santa…" Megaman grumbled, 'I should've gone to check on the office party the moment they started talking about this…'

---

Kiriko looked down at her hands, neatly laid on her lap with a small present, as she sat in a festive restaurant that was mostly empty. She had managed to have enough time after the case to get changed and ready. Her uniform had been replaced with a slim white dress with black tree-like detailing going up it. Around her neck was a fake fur scarf while her hair had been cleaned, combed, and pulled into a braided bun with two long locks of it going over her shoulders. The door to the restaurant opened and she looked up in time to see Shinnosuke enter, wearing his normal uniform with the only difference being his tie had been switched to resemble a candy cane in terms of pattern.

Shinnosuke smiled, spotting Kiriko, seeing how nice she looked, and the calm atmosphere of the place. It was actually all the makings of an amazing night for the off-duty Kamen Rider. He walked over and moved to take a seat.

"Happy Birthday, Tomari-san." Kiriko smiled.

"Oh," Shinnosuke nodded his thanks.

"To tell the truth, I have one more surprise," Kiriko explained, gaining his interest.

"Eh, nani-nani? You have a surprise for me?" Shinnosuke asked excitedly.

"YOU BET WE DO!" multiple familiar voices shouted…as Shinnosuke swore he heard the sound of a record stopping as the calm and relaxing music in the restaurant just screeched to a halt.

"Eh?" Shinnosuke blinked before turning to the largest tree in the restaurant…to see his coworkers all come out from behind it with Jun dressed as Santa, beard and all, Rinna as a female Santa, and finally Kyu and Gen dressed as reindeer, "Eh?!" he gasped louder as he shot up to his feet, his tie loosening instantly as well.

"Merry Christmas!" they cheered as they approached with several presents, Kyu, Gen, and Jun all pulling out party poppers and setting them off.

"N-Nani kore?!" Shinnosuke gawked.

"Did you think this was a date? You idiot~!" Gen cheered as he shoved a box gift into Shinnosuke's arms.

"We planned to join from the get go. This place is way too fancy to waste on a date for you!" Kyu laughed, "Here. I got you some T-shirts~" he handed a few bags to Shinnosuke.

"Jun-san has the presents from Lan and Maylu. Some are for tonight and the others tomorrow, de gozaru," Yamatoman added, causing Shinnosuke to look at the PeT…and blinked a few times on seeing the colors of the samurai-based NetNavi were changed to make him look like a Santa himself with Rush at his side dressed with a single large antler tied to his head, "My apologies for if you believed this was a date, de gozaru."

"Reheeheehee!" Rush snickered.

"Don't be! This was the surprise from the very start~" Kiriko smiled, happily handing her gift to Shinnosuke.

"Uso~" Shinnosuke groaned, falling into his seat as the mood was fully burst, and now he had to live with the embarrassment of his being tricked by his co-workers…mostly due to his pride as a Detective.

"Anyway~, let's go all out tonight!" Rinna cheered, holding up a bottle.

"Yeah, we got Gen to be the driver!" Kyu cheered.

"Wait, what?!" Gen shouted.

"Surprise!" Kyu and Rinna cheered happily.

"I would offer to be the designated driver, but Rinna-hakase assured me otherwise, de gozaru."

"You were in on it?!" Gen demanded from his NetNavi.

"Hey now, it's an important task and we can't have the birthday boy do the boring job," Jun waved Gen's concerns and complaints off, "Now let me just give my speech and then…"

"Wait, wait a moment!" Shinnosuke put his gifts on the table as he shot up and grabbed Jun by the shoulders, "You mean that this…is my Birthday Party, the Christmas Party, and the office's end of year party all in one?"

"Eh, I'm still debating the last one since we lack our four youngest members, but yes~!" Jun replied.

"Let's party!" Rinna cheered, a glass already in her hand as she popped open the bottle.

"Awoo~!" Rush howled in joy.

"I get to order what I want if I'm driving you idiots home!" Gen called out.

"Yeah!" Kyu cheered as he joined Rinna in the 'throwing all sense of responsibility out the window for this night' group.

"Ah…the kids were extra cheeky," Jun chuckled, patting Shinnosuke's shoulder, "They did send an E-Mail."

"Eh? What did it say?"

"'How's the surprise party?'" Jun laughed.

"Ah…" Shinnosuke sighed before he chuckled.

"See, there's a smile! Come on, let's get ourselves into shenanigans that Gen-chan will have to fix!" Rinna smiled.

"Oh, we're getting banned from here after tonight…" Gen groaned.

"Should I inform the higher ups the police will likely be denied future services here?"

"Quiet from the peanut gallery and just party before we get thrown out," Gen snapped.

As the wild party of the normally responsible adults who defended this town went on, the Shift Cars watched from outside. All of them were perched on an outdoor table currently not in use for the chilly winter night. At the front and center of them all was Shift Speed, sporting a Christmas motif to himself.

"He has good friends indeed. In spite of being our Kamen Rider, he still needs some good times. Enjoy it, Shinnosuke, it is these small human moments that will make the fight worth it," Belt-san laughed as the nonsense was beginning, "Merry Christmas, and Happy Birthday, my friends. For tonight we shall defend the night," Shift Speed turned to all the other Shift Cars, "Let us go, Gentlemen and Ladies." With this command, the Shift Cars all took off and flew into the night sky.

---

Chase, still in his true Roidmude form, looked out at the city. He looked at his hands, seeing them as they truly were. Not the human hands he had been so accustomed to seeing. In so long as he could remember, he never dropped his human guise. Not even once… To finally see his true form… To know what his face really was, to see the number on his chest. His hand moved to the plate and he looked it over.

"T-This…is my Number?" he asked to himself, he was Roidmude 000…what did that mean? There were only the 108…so…what was he? Who was he, who is he supposed to be?

Nearby, Zero looked out from his PeT that had been set up nearby, 'Aibou…'

---

Z0: Okay…so by the time of writing and maybe even posting…it's not even close to this time of year. But…this is how the plot went so…

GT: Eeyup. No regrets on my end. We actually did start this in December, really. Just…not a lot of time was available to write.

Z0: We live in different time zones…and lead rather…different lives during different parts of the day…we really only have weekends as perfect times to do this.

GT: Yep. So…let's give you guys a fun preview, shall we? Tease you on a big event.

Z0: Oh you thought we were done with this arc? HAHAHAHA! Not even! We got one more big event! Drop the screen!

---

Kamen Rider Drive: Battle Network!

Wily: I am pleased to announce that the WWW master plan...is entering the final phase!

Oda: Shimatta…We've got the location, but it's out there of all places?

Yuichiro: Kiriko-san…if something happens to Megaman…

Roll and Belt-san: MEGAMAN!

Case 12: Who Can Stop Cybergeddon?

Shinnosuke: This is…?

---

GT: Yep! We're doing it!

Z0: We had to do 1 more! Just 1 more! Be prepared for next time…but till then…*collapses into sleep mode*

GT: Please Read and Review! *yawns before walking off to bed* Oyasumi…

Z0: *rises up and begins sleep walking while snoring*