Chapter 3: D on the Horizon/Omens of the Impact
Within the official medical ward of the Neo-Deava complex, various examiners had crowded around the apparatus that housed the still-sleeping Amata Sora. As both a precautionary measure for his unique abilities and an attempt to probe his memories for information about Aquarion, they had him set up in an X-ray chamber to keep him down for the procedure. Overlooking all of this were the three leaders of Neo-Deava – Donar Dantes, Suomi Konepi, and the Principal himself, all anxious to find out more about this new Wild Card. From an outside observation deck, though, were the few people that were too curious – or close to Amata – to leave the situation as it was. That same crowd happened to be Zessica, Cayenne, Mikono, Andy, and MIX.
Thoroughly annoyed at the comatose kid that he saw as the reason his little sister was here to begin with, Cayenne just snorted in disgust before he turned to Mikono. "Alright, what the Hell did that kid do?"
"I-I don't know, actually" Mikono admitted, "but I feel like no matter what, we can trust Amata-kun!"
"You don't even KNOW the bastard, Mikono!" her brother admonished at once. "Hell, there's no telling what he could really be! The fact that he tampered with the Aquaria proves it!"
"Oi!" Zessica stopped him, "I, for one, think that we should thank him for helping us at all!" Turning away slightly, she quietly added "Especially with that cool armor and heroic attitude of his…kya~!" with a dreamy sigh. If anyone noticed, they didn't outwardly voice it.
"Even so!" MIX continued the conversation, "Cayenne-san does have a point. That boy has the power to actually reformat Aquaria – I mean, Aquarion, so this is the only way we can all confirm a lack of hostility on his part. Until that time, we must all consider him an Element to be detained at once!" she concluded. Despite knowing Amata better – even IF they met just yesterday – Mikono chose to hold her tongue.
Letting the silent anticipation take control of the atmosphere, she just looked at Amata with the utmost apprehension. She knew, on a level that transcended logic and common sense, that he needed more than just more probing.
The Gattai was able to tell her this much: Amata, for all of his confident smiles and wily actions in battle, still had a lot to hide.
'Amata-kun…please be okay, and…don't be afraid to tell me the truth.'
As if to answer her, the equipment housing Amata was suddenly bathed in green light. Simultaneously, warning signs about the Vectors started blaring, everyone in an uproar about the freak occurrence. Looking on, clad in a new disguise, was probably the only person who actually understood what was going on. Smirking slightly, Zen Fudo silently clapped his hands, reciting this:
"And thus, the first step of the journey begins…"
Black oblivion. As far as he could tell, that was all there was around him. And just after a few seconds, Amata was already going stir-crazy.
'Come on…' he pleaded something, ANYTHING, to end the monotony of his surroundings. 'Let me do something…let me do what I need to already…!'
Patience is not something to waste, young one.
The strange echo managed to snap Amata awake in surprise. Getting focused, he saw himself drifting down onto something as though he were dropping through water. Righting his body into a standing position, Amata was surprised to see what he assumed to be the floor vanish in a flock of doves, until light spilled out from beneath him. Daring to take a peek, he saw something that really put his nerves into high-gear.
Underneath him was a circular, stained-glass platform that depicted him, asleep, against a background that had two different entities – Aquarion and that strange enemy mecha, only far more armor-like and organic in appearance – staring each other down in that same valley of swords from his visions. It didn't take long for Amata to draw a conclusion as to where he was. "This…this is an Awakening!" he realized. "But…what does this all mean? Why am I even here!"
This means that it is time for the Truth to be set free.
Again, Amata jumped at the voice casually appearing. To his further shock, the black expanse around him was suddenly filled to the brim with ancient tomes of all shapes and sizes, all of them bearing the same insignia: A heart surrounding a representation of the World Arcana. Despite the new look, he immediately drew another conclusion – "The Gaia Library!?" No voice answered him, which did Amata a favor by proving his suspicions. However, it also brought up another dilemma he might face:
"If I have access to the Library...doesn't that mean-?!"
To truly begin the journey, you must first understand the real power that sleeps within you.
Before him, Amata saw three pedestals rise from the ground in a triangular formation. On those same pedestals lay a sword, a shield, and a staff. All of these, as Amata remembered, were representative of the paths one could take to manifest their hearts' strengths – the Warrior, the Guardian, and the Mystic.
Choose your new beginning, Amata Sora. Your journey towards this world's ultimate fate – and any chance towards finding the truth – begins at the dawn.
Smirking in spite of himself, Alex calmly walked towards the center of the Station of his Awakening. Now that he was facing this in reality, he could do things well out of the boundaries the original Kingdom Hearts game had set for the heroes of the Keyblade. Deep in his heart, he knew what he already desired. Collecting himself, he raised his hand to the heavens and cried,
"I forsake no power here! Invincible courage, All-embracing kindness, Inner strength…I cannot, I will never leave anything behind! THAT…is my only way!"
In response, the three weapons flew into the air above him and started spinning together into a new form. After the whining pitch of the twister ended and the lights dimmed out, Amata saw a new weapon in their place. Forming from the trinity, an entire arm's worth of Joker-esque armor and chainmail presented itself to him. Following this, the voice announced to him the nature and possibilities of his new weapon:
A hand of the Wild Card….
The only tool capable of both creation and destruction…
Cast between light and dark…
With chains linked to the keys…
Slowly, Amata mumbled the words "So this is…the Chain…gauntlet?" Gathering his wits, Amata called to his new weapon – by instinct, he already knew the name of this particular weapon: the Trump Card, much like the form it was based off of.
Now bearing the arm-only pieces of armor, Alex took a few steps forward before he encountered some enemies at last. Rising up from the floor, a small squad of Neoshadows – the far more humanoid of the natural Heartless enemies – stood between him and the pathway toward the next station. Despite his nervousness, Amata didn't let himself slip up as the pitch-black demons attacked. With speed and instincts he didn't know he had, he had already slashed one quarter of the enemies into oblivion before he spun around, knocking down several more with his feet outstretched in a move Amata remembered from his many hours of movies and other martial arts. More confident than before, he dashed through with concentrated winds slicing them apart, immensely glad that he was closer to the goal.
Going further into his Awakening, Amata noticed a trend amongst the enemies he faced – instead of looking as cartoonish as the Kingdom Hearts games made them out to be, the blackened Heartless, ghostly Nobodies, and even chaotic Unversed seemed…more primal, malevolent, and definitely darker than he'd like to admit. In fact, they all reminded him uncomfortably of things straight out of Tim Burton movies – except they didn't have even a shred of humor within them. It certainly didn't help his nerves any when intangible liquids spilled out every time he slew one of the various creatures.
'I'm really getting deep into this,' Amata worried, 'if the bad guys start suggesting even a remote trace of having blood…' Shaking his head to rid himself of that dark thought, he pushed himself onward, knowing well enough that the final challenge was about to commence.
Reaching what he assumed to be his own Station of Awakening, Amata set himself in a ready stance. Not a moment too soon, the whole platform started quaking, with the Chaingauntlet-wielder nearly losing his footing as a dark hand clutched the edges. Pulling itself onto the platform was a pitch-black giant with a heart-shaped hole in its stomach area, the only lights on it being its yellow eyes. Amata panicked then and there – it was the major Heartless boss, the Darkside! Having to fight it was a challenge in and of itself!
Without warning, the Darkside plowed its fist towards where Amata was just scant seconds ago, the boy rushing onto its hand and leaping with as much strength as he could muster. With a vicious combo of several slashes from his gauntlet and wind-blades ending with powerful snap-kick, Amata managed to damage the Heartless boss well enough. Flipping onto its head and gripping one of the monster's locks of hair with all his might, he landed a few more punches before the Darkside had had enough. With a leap Amata didn't think was possible for the behemoth, the Darkside punched the Station hard enough to send it spinning in place – and Amata with it, since he lost his grasp when the punch landed.
Falling in the space above the pillar of his Awakening, Amata was treated to the sight of even more enemies – the white, armored titan known as the Twilight Thorn, and the smaller, Devil-like, hammer-swinging beast known as the Iron Imprisoner.
"It's the entire friggin' Boss Squad!" Amata exclaimed angrily, just as the two bosses let loose a combined orb of destructive energy. Before he could do anything, though, Amata felt a strange tingling in his nerves – an impulse waiting to awaken. Letting it take over, Amata found himself flipping in the air, gathering emerald energy within his right hand, and flinging a gigantic wheel of wind shaped oddly like a chakram right into the blast! The explosion was enough to send all three combatants back onto the platform, Amata having a crunching sensation far less extensive than that of the bosses. As he rose, Amata then realized what he had just done – he used a Reaction Command! The concept was certainly awe-inspiring in reality.
Following his rising, Amata now found himself staring down the Darkside, Twilight Thorn, and the Iron Imprisoner all at once. Letting his breaths pump out the fear in his system, Amata just took one look at all of them – and flashed forward, feeling another Reaction forming in his systems. As the Iron Imprisoner swung its burning hammer, Amata grabbed it and immediately went into a furious twister, bashing the Darkside and Twilight Thorn several times in the frenzy. Taking the hammer one last time, Amata channeled the full power of his Trump Card Chaingauntlet, a gust of wind and a ghostly image of Kamen Rider Joker forming on either ends of the hammerhead.
With a cry of "Bring all to the Light!", Amata slammed the hammer down, taking all three of the bosses in one blow. As soon as they had gone, multiple thoughts raced through Amata's mind: One, he had actually managed to beat ALL of the major boss-class enemies, even the Iron Imprisoner! Two, he then soberly realized, their defeat usually meant one thing – a VERY rude push back into reality. No sooner than he thought it, the Darkside, Twilight Thorn, and Iron Imprisoner all perished in haze of light and dark flame, enveloping everything in the Twilight – including Amata.
Remember, Amata Sora…
Amata started falling asleep, and back into the real world.
You have the hands that can build – and unlock – the paths towards the Truth of this new legend.
Scrambling to take the convulsing boy out of the X-ray apparatus, the staff then rushed to take Amata to the emergency room. Seeing this, Mikono made a mad dash to follow them, ignoring her brother's cries for her to wait. With no other choice, the others pursued the trauma team close behind.
Not too long after, everyone short of Mikono and Zessica had situated themselves outside of the room where Amata was currently recuperating at, with the two girls in question looking over the young man as he slept. All he needed was some tranquilizer, apparently, and he'd be able to sleep his pain off until the next day. Kindly dismissing the others, the doctors and teachers at hand then nodded knowingly to the two girls before they left.
Thus, for quite some time, Mikono and Zessica could only keep a careful, worried watch over the new Kamen Rider Double as he slept, occasionally groaning and twisting in his sleep. For Mikono, she felt nothing but the utmost concern for Amata, considering just how hard he must have pushed himself to push that Abductor as far back as he did. And despite her being more curious about the powers displayed earlier, Zessica felt the same about the boy that had pretty much saved all of their lives by himself. Let anything be said about her unique habits and styles, but Zessica Wong was not one that left debts and thanks go unpaid.
For a while, the two females were in an awkward quit until Zessica started asking Mikono questions.
"So...what's your story with Golden Rookie here?"
Looking at the green-haired girl Element, Mikono just responded with "We just met a few hours ago, actually...I was just trying to push out my thoughts about Suzushiro business when I found that movie theater Amata-kun was working in. Then I met him, and...well, you saw what happened, right?" She finished with an embarrassed smile.
Answering with an 'ah' of acknowledgment, Zessica then turned back to the sleeping young man between them, noting how he was now laying rather peacefully in his slumber. This image of him was certainly interesting - back then, he was a dynamo of fighting prowess and energy, almost like a hurricane actually. But now...now he seemed just like someone no different than anyone else around here, somebody dropped headfirst into an incredible set of circumstances and ultimately scared and desperate.
Being an Element User also meant that you had to have a strong understanding of the human mind and heart, and Zessica made sure not to disappoint. But here? She was certain that nobody could have really prepared for something like this.
Beyond that, though, the green-haired bombshell then noticed that Mikono had then taken Amata's right hand in both of hers, setting her face with steely determination.
"Amata-kun...just stay strong! I...I know that I might not be strong enough, but I want to help you! You're already fighting hard - so please, let me protect you!" With this, she brought his hand to her forehead, leaning down as well. "You're not alone!"
Seeing this, Zessica then went over to the other girl and piled her hands on as well, giving her a reassuring smile before sitting back down again. "Keep showing us what you got, kid!"
And now, all they could do was wait for the new hero in their midst to come back to wakefulness.
As he stirred himself awake, Amata's first thought were, strangely enough, this:
"Never. Drinking. Again!"
Working himself to stand upright, Amata's first sight was of two bodies laying on the bed he was in, their arms forming pillows for their heads as they slept.
"Mikono and that other girl? What are they doing here?"
Trying to wake the two, Amata's movements inadvertently stirred the bed's covers up. With that, both Mikono and Zessica awoke, albeit a bit groggy at first. They then turned to look at the orange-haired young man, who smiled a bit before greeting them.
"Err...good morning to both of you, ladies!"
Blinking the last bits of sleep out of their eyes, Mikono and Zessica both turned to look at Amata. With Mikono, though, she slowly widened her eyes until she launched herself onto Amata.
"AMATA-KUN!"
"BWAUGH!"
Turning to the girl that was now hugging the life out of him, Amata struggled to voice his indignation (as best as he could, at any rate).
"Mikono-san-! The hell're - are you trying to kill me here?!"
She responded with a muffled cry, and though Amata knew - well, could guess - what Mikono was saying based on her actions, he still asked for some clarification. The purple-haired Suzushiro then looked up at him, eyes bleary but bearing a bitter, probably scolding, smirk.
"I-I said" she started, before she hiccuped a bit and continued, " I said that you still have a lot to answer for, you great big dummy!" She then got off of him, although she still gave him a very stern look, which shut any further attempts from Amata to speak.
"Heh," Zessica's voice brought Amata and Mikono to look at her. "Looks like the big bad Guardian Angel is actually a big softy when a girl presses her finger on him, eh Miko-nyan?"
If he didn't know any better (although he was sure it was a trick of his mind, though), Amata could've sworn that he saw the green-haired girl sprout a spaded tail that wiggled in mischief, complimented by its master's rather cat-like smile. At what she insinuated, Mikono started blushing slightly while Amata just applied his hand to his face with a groan of annoyance.
"Do you realize you have about as much subtlety as a brick to the face?" the redhead deadpanned as he looked to the other girl.
Shrugging it off, the green-haired Element simply stated "Meh, I've dealt with worse." But she then straightened out, looking at Amata with an expression that was surprisingly resolute. Closing her eyes, she then smiled before she extended a hand to the Memory User. "All that aside, I want to really thank you for saving our hides back there. So, welcome to Neo-Deava, rookie!"
"Rookie?" Amata repeated incredulously. "I gave that moron the martial arts beatdown of the century, and you call me a rookie?!" Slumping against the bed in depression, he moaned "Why can't the good guys get any respect...?"
Blinking at the boy's reaction, both Mikono and Zessica looked to each other, and then back to him, before they started laughing a bit at how Amata had his feathers ruffled. This, of course, brought the boy to groan even more.
"Even you, Mikono-san?" Amata slumped even more, both of his hands palming his face.
"Aw, come on, Golden Boy!" Zessica then playfully bonked the young Rider's head before she got up. "Here I thought you could handle a little teasing here and there!"
All she got in response was Amata setting his face into a flat look, with an unamused eyebrow raised.
Looking at his expression, though, Mikono once again assumed a rather hard look before she too got up, adding "We're going to need a talk, mister. And no, you are not avoiding it!"
Nervously nodding at the violet-haired girl's tone, Amata scrambled out of the bed and stood about-face, looking to the other two for anything else.
Blinking at how quickly Amata caved in to the other girl's scolding, Zessica just started walking out before she gestured to the both of them to follow her. It seemed like there had been enough laughs for now.
Thus, the trio went on through Neo-Deava's Holy Angel Academy, occasionally striking up some conversations here and there. And, dare Amata say it, the whole thing almost felt...normal.
Hell, if he just ignored the whole futuristic world scenario and the fact that he had become Kamen Rider Double, Amata could have very well lived this whole thing as a normal part of life! Walking through school, living the days with friends...it almost seemed too good to last!
"Um...hey, what was your name again, Miss...?"
"Zessica Wong." the girl in question answered without missing a beat.
"Thank you - and, well, where are we going exactly?"
Turning to him, Zessica gave him the most reassuring face she could muster before she answered with this:
"You're gonna have to talk to the Principal - I mean, Commander about what happened yesterday, especially considering that you pretty much hijacked the Aquaria unit like that. Don't worry" she hastily added, "they're not trying anything drastic!"
"...I wasn't really thinking about it, but thanks for the images anyway." Amata responded, sighing as he prepared himself for what was basically an interrogation.
"Ah, give'em a break, Zess-chan!" a new voice cut in, a hand clapping onto Amata's right shoulder and surprising all three Elements. "This kid practically demolished that Abductor commander! If anything, we all should be thanking him, not terrorizing him!"
Turning around to see who defended him, Amata saw a guy that reminded him a lot of Junpei Iori from the Persona series - his clart-eating grin, brown eyes, and beanie helped the comparison.
"Sup, newbie! I'm Andy W. Hol, or Andy for short. Don't worry about the grouches in charge of Neo-DEAVA - they're pretty much all bark and no bite if you play nice with 'em. So, there's nothing to worry about!"
"I'd love to continue this conversation," an older voice than any of them interrupted, "but it's time Mr. Sora officially discussed the nature of his powers." Appearing was a military man who seemed to have incredibly-advanced robotic arms.
"Donar Dantes. I'll be escorting you to the meeting. You three can come along as well." With his mark, everyone made way towards the council room – at least, that's what Amata assumed. As they went though, the orangette mulled over what he should disclose to the top brass of Neo-DEAVA.
He certainly didn't want to break the news that an even larger war was waiting for them, somehow.
As he stood in what was equal parts interrogation and trial ("I think it is, if the nun means anything," Amata thought aloud as he saw Ms. Suomi, much to her and Mikono's chagrin and Zessica's amusement - which earned him a bop on the head from the younger Suzushiro), Amata found the three officials of Neo-DEAVA and some of the Elements staring at him expectantly. Despite looking calm on the surface, Amata was an entire army of shot nerves on the inside. Here and now he was, right in the middle of a possibly-ongoing war, and now he just happened to turn everything these people knew right on its head! How was he going to explain himself without looking like a lunatic?
"As I'm sure all of those present are aware of," Dantes started, "events in which the Aquaria itself had been altered have struck at the most inopportune of times." Looking at Amata critically, he continued with "And, as of now, the only leads we have regarding this phenomenon lie in your hands, Mr. Sora. So," Dantes stepped up to him, every bit intimidating up close as he appeared to be, "what exactly IS this…"Double"?"
Drawing a breath before he could speak, Amata responded with "Well, to answer that, I'll first have to introduce you to the items that create the power of Double." Taking out the Memories he learned he had, Amata displayed them to the entire room. "These two objects are the core of what Double is and what it can become – Gaia Memories."
"A bunch of USB Drives give Aquarion all that power?" one of the other Elements asked in disbelief. "You can't honestly expect us to believe that, do you?"
"Don't underestimate these things even for a moment!" Amata objected. "Gaia Memories…" he elaborated, "…are basically shards of this entire world's own heart Memories, hence their name and shape. For you see," Alex paused to let his next words sink in, "these objects can literally transform whoever uses them into either a warrior…or a monster."
"EH?" most of the persons present gaped in shock. Something so small could actually be so dangerous as to mutate a human being into a living weapon? These things were surely too dangerous to leave alone!
"S-so…" Zessica worked up the nerve to ask, taking out her own Memory, "does this mean these things bring nothing but trouble?"
Looking at the Heat Memory, Amata was understandably surprised, but he caught himself and stated, "No, no, the Memories can be good to have if you use them responsibly. In fact, Gaia Memories like these" he gestured to both of his Memories and Zessica's own, "can be used only with an external device. That way, they can be even more powerful."
"How so?" Ms. Suomi inquired, now fully curious about the Gaia Memories.
"Aside from helping the user cope with the information being fed into their bodies," Alex said, "Memory Drivers can also give enough energy to certain objects - like, say, a robot compatible with them", for some reason, the Mammoth mecha from the Double and Decade Movie came to mind, "to last a pretty long while, up to a decade if I remember."
"And what was that you said about these Memories being able to turn people into monsters?" Sergeant Dantes came in, his mechanical arms tingling with his sense of foreboding.
"Ah - I'm glad you asked that; this is where it gets complicated." Setting the two Memories down, Amata then asked Zessica to lend him her Heat Memory, before continuing his explanation. "Even if they're refined, Gaia Memories can still be used in a more...direct method. Truth is, I'm not even sure if they can still be used that way, but..." He looked at the red Memory in hand, "We'll have to take that risk."
With that, he attempted to place it on his left arm like a syringe, testing to see if the Memory would act on its own. To his half-surprise, the Heat Memory actually burned a USB port-shaped tattoo onto his skin as it got closer - a Living Connector.
"WHOA!" Malloy, the other part of the Type-M Aquaria team alongside Cayenne and Andy, exclaimed, even as the rest joined him with gasps or shouts. "What is that thing on your skin?"
Grimacing as he took the Memory away, Amata then answered with "If I were to touch that Living Connector tattoo with a Gaia Memory, the Memory would've inserted itself right into my DNA, changing my body in the process and leaving behind a kaijin with the full power of an entire word behind it - a Dopant."
Blinking several times in shock, the Commander then reasserted order with a cough before he spoke up. "You may carry on, Mr. Sora."
"Thank you. On the other hand, Gaia Memories can be used with what's called a 'Driver' to either negate their more harmful effects, or form a suit of powered armor over the user. In doing the latter, the user actually becomes a much deadlier opponent able to use more than one function or Memory- a warrior most like to call a 'Kamen Rider'".
"But wait," Andy interrupted, "I noticed one more thing – both of your Memories are based around the words "Cyclone" and "Joker", right?"
Amata nodded, pleasantly surprised that someone caught onto the significance of the words.
"So considering the fact that the Gaia Memories are basically pure physical manifestations of the world's own database, would that mean there's a Memory for every word out there?"
As Amata considered it, he suddenly paled, imagining the graver implications of those words. "Actually, now that we're on that topic, there's something I have to ask all of you." With everyone's attention, he then asked, "Has there been sightings of anything even remotely…unexplainable?"
"So you begin to grasp the greater mysteries, young Amata!" a voice suddenly proclaimed from behind Amata, said boy leaping some impressive distance before everyone saw Zen Fudo.
"High Commander Zen Fudo!" the Commander exclaimed before he saluted. Donar and Suomi, however, didn't follow - this was the first time they had even seen the enigmatic right-hand man of Neo-DEAVA's equally mysterious Chairman.
"Indeed, there have been many strange phenomena unrelated to the Abductors as of late." Fudo stated, reminding Amata a lot of the cryptic – but certainly friendly – Owner from the Kamen Rider Den-O series. "But now that Amata has appeared, this can only mean one thing for all of us, even the Abductors!"
"…A-and what, exactly, is THAT?" Amata blurted out, paranoia growing even stronger in his heart.
Dramatically posing with his hands in their infamous pose, Zen proclaimed "The REAL battle for this world – as well as many others – has only just begun!"
And that was all Amata needed to hear to confirm his deepest fears: He wasn't the only one with powers from the World of Riders on this planet.
Back in Neo-Kowloon, a small detachment of suited men met with their new employer in an alleyway, looking at the suitcase he had handed to them.
"Will this really change the way things work around this place, pal? Doesn't look all that much to me," the first goon surmised skeptically.
"I understand your doubts, gentlemen, but believe me," the mysterious boss assured them, "these babies are certain to redefine both this world and that of Altair. But, I can also expect more skepticism on your part, so," he then took a rib-covered USB out, "I'll be happy to show what this product can do."
And the night's quiet was pierced with a mechanical, sinister cry of "CARD!"
Soon enough, many cries of "MASQUERADE!" followed, finished by "TRIGGER!"
Indeed, the small skirmish between Aquarion and the Abductors…had officially become a whole new war.
Usual Disclaimers apply, and it'll be some time before the next update. So, read and review!