Chapter 23: Here Comes A New Challenger!

Ex-Aid Online

Taiga walked into his office with a cup of coffee in hand. He sat down and looked at the screen. IT still showed the results of the test he did on Emu's blood.

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'He must've transformed too many times…' He thought. 'The side effects must be getting to him…"

Then, there was a knock on his door. He looked out and saw the girl. She had a small traveling bag by her side.

"Hey~!" She smiled.

Taiga clambered out of his office just to see the girl skip to another room.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked.

"Well, I'm staying here!" The girl replied, setting her stuff down.

Taiga observed what she was doing carefully. She had set down her clothes and all of her other essentials on the table next to her.

"Don't sweat it though." She assured. "I'll leave once you beat M."

Taiga sneered angrily as he walked up to her.

"And since when did we agree on that?" He asked.

The girl looked and then got ticked off herself.

"Hey now…" She began. "I told you who I actually was, and you're not going to help?!"

She then shoved Taiga. Taiga took a couple steps back, but he didn't react much.

"Leave." He said. "I'll tell you this once. Otherwise, I'm getting the cops to escort you out."

He then turned around and stormed off. The girl went after him, but Taiga was gone by the time she reached the hallway. She pouted and angrily kicked a janitor's cart. She then noticed something. Taiga's AmuSphere was sitting by his computer, in plain sight. A plan quickly formed in her head. She then sat in front of one of the free computers and plugged in the AmuSphere. She then began typing furiously on the keyboard.

Emu stumbled out of the operating room. He collapsed onto the wall, and the other nurses came out behind him.

"Are you okay?" One of them asked.

"Yes…" Emu said. "I'm fine."

Hiro walked out soon after, with a rather disappointed look on his face.

"I can't believe you had an anemic attack during surgery." He stated.

"Sorry about that…" Emu replied weakly. "I'll be more careful in the future."

As the two nurses began to walk away, Hiro then turned as well.

"You should quit while you have the chance." He suggested. "Surgeries aren't your style."

Emu watched as Hiro began to walk away. But then, Hiro stopped and spoke.

"Game diseases are more of your element." He added.

"Really?" Poppy squealed. "Brave gave you a compliment?"

In ALO, Ex-Aid was sitting inside the dining hall of Brave's mansion, and was helping himself to a slice of cake as well. Poppy was floating by Ex-Aid's face.

"Well…" He began. "I guess it was a compliment… but then again… it might not be…"

"It's okay!" Poppy assured. "Deep down, Brave is a good person!"

"I guess so." Ex-Aid replied.

Poppy was about to reach over a chunk of cake, but then a message popped up on Ex-Aid's board.

"Bugster!" He called.

He then stormed out of the dining hall with Poppy in hot pursuit behind him.

"Contact everyone else!" He told her.

"Already on it!" Poppy replied.

Taiga came back to his office in a hurry. He was holding his phone as he had received a text from Poppy.

"Gotta hurry." He told himself.

When he walked into his office, he found his AmuSphere. He reached out to it, but then he noticed something. A plug was inside one of the ports of the AmuSphere and the wire that the plug was associated with was plugged into one of the free computers. The screen also had a webste open. It was an ALO website.

He looked to the other room and found the girl, lying down, with her AmuSphere on.

Taiga sighed angrily and just put on his AmuSphere.

Ex-Aid and Poppy flew for a few minutes before ending up in some kind of pathway in a forest. They landed gently and began to look around. Just then, Kirito, Sinon, Silica, Leafa, Lisbeth, and Klein landed behind them. Ex-Aid and Poppy greeted them quickly.

"Is this where the message said it was?" Kirito asked.

"Well, yeah…" Ex-Aid replied.

Yui then pointed in a direction. There was a small Sylph girl leaning on a tree, sharpening her dagger. She was dressed in a short skirt, and a green jacket with a white shirt. She also had strapped high heels.

"Are you the one that called?" Silica asked.

"Man…" The girl groaned. "You sure took your sweet time coming here, didn't ya?"

The party was confused by this statement, but Poppy quickly examined her anyway. Once she was done, she shook her head at Ex-Aid.

"Um… excuse me?" He spoke up. "You have no symptoms… why did you call us?"

Just then, without looking, she slashed right across Ex-Aid's stomach, sending him back.

"Hey!" Klein shouted. "What was that for?!"

He approached her slowly, but the girl just kicked him. Liz and Silica also walked up, but she blocked them with a spell. Kirito, Leafa and Sinon didn't make a move.

"I'm gonna beat you!" She shouted.

Then, she pulled out a Gamer Driver. She put it on her waist, and then pulled out a Gashat. The Bang Bang Shooting Gashat at that.

"Wait…" Sinon started. "Where did you get that?"

"God damn it…" growled a voice.

Everyone turned and saw Snipe land right beside him.

"Snipe." Sinon asked. "What's going on?"

Snipe just ignored her and just walked up to the girl.

"You better hand me that back now." He ordered.

"Stay back!" The girl shouted. She looked at Ex-Aid.

"M!" She called. "I challenge you to battle!"

Ex-Aid struggled back up, more confused.

"Uh… how do you know my name?" He asked.

The girl winced, but she had to ignore it. She raised the Gashat in the air.

"Henshin!" She called.

She pressed the Gashat, but nothing happened. A silence enduced.

"H-hey!" The girl said, hitting the Gashat. "Why isn't this thing working?"

Just then, the girl collapsed onto the ground. She was holding herself as if she was cold and shivering. Snipe quickly rushed over to her and began to prop her up.

"Let me go!" She whined.

"Just shut up!" Snipe shouted back.

Then, Poppy just shouted.

"Bugster found!" She said.

Everyone looked at Poppy, and then back at the Sylph girl.

"She's right." Snipe scowled. "She's infected."

"But… Poppy didn't find anything before." Silica mentioned.

Brave and Asuna flew in from above just then. The walked over and looked at the girl.

"The virus must've been dormant inside her." Brave explained. "And it was active when she tried to use that Gashat."

"Wait, how is that possible?" Liz asked.

"The surgery that we all went through makes us immune to them." Asuna explained. "The Gashat contains a small amount of the virus so we could build up antibodies."

Snipe removed the Gamer Driver and his Gashat from the girl's grasp. He was furious.

"Okay!" He shouted. "This is crossing the line, kid! Why didn't you listen?!"

The girl then began to slap Snipe weakly.

"It's your fault!" She whined. "I waited all this time, and you never pummeled him!"

The girl then yelled very painfully. She then fell over, unconscientious. Orange blobs began to flow out of her system and took form next to a nearby tree. The Bugster who had appeared had a gatling gun for an arm, and was covered in metal plating.

"Revol…" Snipe muttered, putting on his Gamer Driver.

"Silica, Liz." Ex-Aid asked, putting on his Gamer Driver as well. "Take her to safety."

Brave said nothing, but he also put on his Gamer Driver.

And as they pulled out their respective Gashats, Revol began his offensive.

"Beginning Mission." He said robotically.

Bugster mooks then appeared behind him. They were all dressed in military camouflage and were holding guns.

The Riders pressed all of their Gashats.

MIGHTY BROTHERS XX!

TADDLE QUEST!

BANG BANG SHOOTING!

Each game's respective game areas spread through the area. Each Rider then posed and inserted their Gashats into the Gamer Driver. Ex-Aid had one more step, as he opened the Driver.

"Henshin!" They all said.

GASHATTO!

LET'S GAME! MECCHA GAME! MUCCHA GAME! WHATCHA NAME?!

I'M A KAMEN RIDER!

DOUBLE GASHATTO!

GACHANN! LEVEL UP!

MIGHTY BROTHERS! FUTARI DE HITORI! MIGHTY BROTHERS! FUTARI DE VICTORY! X!

All of the Riders turned into their Level 1 chibi forms, while Ex-Aid went into his Level 10 chibi form. The latter moved in to engage first. But when he threw a punch, it would just slide off of the Bugsters with a giant "MISS!" appearing above him. He continued on with this, but he kept on missing. The Bugster then approached Brave and Snipe.

"Proceeing to Level 2." Brave said.

"Phase 2." Snipe said.

GACHANN! LEVEL UP!

TADORU MEGURU! TADORU MEGURU! TADDLE QUEST!

BABABANG! BANGBABANG! YOW! BANG BANG SHOOTING!

Brave and Snipe turned into their Level 2 bodies and began to attack. Sinon, Asuna, Kirito, Leafa, and Klein also began attacking.

The Bugsters mooks were using the quantity over quality strategy on them. But, there was only a finite amount of them. Brave and Asuna were back to back, slashing and stabbing their way through the mooks. On the other hand, Snipe and Sinon were exchanging firing. Snipe would shoot down several books, and then Sinon would fire a scatter arrow.

Ex-Aid was still trying to punch Revol, but something was wrong. Revol didn't move. In fact, every time Ex-Aid landed a punch on any part of him, there were giant words that said "MISS!".

"Opposition: Ineffective." Revol stated.

With one final punch, Ex-Aid then gave up.

"What's going on here?" He asked.

"Ex-Aid!" called a voice.

Ex-Aid turned around and saw Genmu standing a few feet away from him. He had the BugVisor on and was holding the Dangerous Zombie Gashat.

"I will delete that bootleg game of yours." He declared.

He raised his arm and pressed the Gashat.

DANGEROUS ZOMBIE!

"Henshin…" He growled.

He then inserted the Gashat into the BugVisor and pressed the button.

GASHATTO! BUCKLE UP!

DANGER! DANGER! GENOCIDE! DEATH THE CRISIS! DANGEROUS ZOMBIE!

Genmu's figure was then replaced by his Zombie Gamer form. Soon after that, the Sparrow appeared in his hand.

GASHACON SPARROW!

"Well, if that's how we're playing it…" Ex-Aid smiled, closing his Driver back up.

He then jumped down to even ground to face Genmu. He then twirled his arms around before opening the Driver back up.

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai…" He began. "Henshin!"

ORE GA OMAE DE! OMAE GA ORE DE! WE ARE! MIGHTY, MIGHTY BROTHERS! HEY! DOUBLE X!

The chibi Level 10 Ex-Aid split off into the two Ex-Aids of XXL and XXR. After their brief pose, their weapon appeared in their hands.

GASHACON KEYSLASHER!

"We'll beat you with super co-op!" Both Ex-Aids said.

Then, with XXR holing the Keyslasher, they attacked Genmu.

"I'll get him from the right!" XXR called.

"Then I'll go for the left!" XXL shouted.

Revol just watched on as the Ex-Aids attacked Genmu. He then turned to his mooks fighting everyone else.

"Battlefield status: Chaos." He said. "Unable to calculate counter."

Soon, it was a free-for-all fight. The Ex-Aids were fighting Genmu only a few feet away from where everyone else was fighting the Bugster mooks.

Brave slashed some more mooks before noticing Asuna and Leafa getting a bit overwhelmed. Asuna was still holding her ground, but he noticed that Leafa still had some bullet wounds on her sides. He jumped over and quickly sliced a mook that was about to shoot her in the back. He then pulled out his DoReMiFa Beat Gashat.

"You should look take better care of yourselves." He told them as he inserted the Gashat into his Sword.

GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

Sinon were still shooting her arrows from afar. Klein and Kirito were slashing and slicing their way through to her. But by the time they did, the Bugster mooks had already thrown her off from her position. She was on the ground but Kirito and Klein got to her just in time before any Bugster mooks overwhelmed her.

"There's too many of them!" Klein shouted.

But then, every mook in front of them all fell down with bullet marks on their bodies. Snipe jumped down and landed in front of them.

"You can't go a full second without someone saving your hide, huh, Sinon?" He asked condescendingly.

Sinon took the insult, but didn't say anything. Snipe scoffed and just inserted the Jet Combat Gashat into his Magnum.

"Time we end this." He said.

GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA!

Then, both Riders got into their stances and then did their finishing attacks.

DOREMIFA JET CRITICAL FINISH!

Brave twirled his sword around, and slashed from left to right. The blade summonded the image of a treble clef, and then several music notes landed on the mooks, blowing them up. In contrast to Snipe, he just fired his Magnum upward. The bullet then turned into several missile rockets and then flew straight down onto the heads of the Bugster mooks.

Liz and Silica were still looking after the Sylph girl, who was still unconscientious.

Genmu was getting handed over to the Ex-Aids. The Ex-Aids were superbly exchanging and switching between each blow they delivered. For example, XXR would slash with the Keyslasher, and then he would twirl around and gave XXL an opening to land a kick.

Revol then jumped down and watched the battle. He was unable to deduce what to do, so he just decided to leave.

"Initiating temporary retreat." He said. "All forces: Pull back."

At the moment, XXR slashed down Genmu. Genmu's black aura oozed out of him again, eliminating the damage he had taken.

"You're a tough nut to crack…" He scowled. "No need. I got what I came for."

And with several arrows from the Sparrow, he used the smoke to disappear. Once he had gone, the Riders cancelled out of their transformations.

GACHANN! GASHUNN!

While Brave and Snipe returned to their ALO Avatars, the Ex-Aids pixelated back into one Ex-Aid, the ALO Avatar Ex-Aid. But, Ex-Aid winced and held his head tightly. Snipe noticed this, and quickly walked away. Leafa quickly rushed over to help.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Ex-Aid replied.

Brave crossed his arms, and then saw Snipe going away in one direction. He walked in that same way. Leafa and Ex-Aid, followed by Klein, Asuna and Sinon, they found Liz and Silica holding the Sylph girl.

"Let's take her back." Klein suggested.

"Yeah." Liz replied.

Liz and Leafa carefully lifted the girl up, and began to fly away. As they were departing, Asuna noticed something.

"Hey, where's Kirito?" She asked.

Klein and Sinon looked around. The black Spriggan was nowhere to be seen.

"Huh." Klein replied. "He was just here a minute ago."

"Where did you go?" Sinon sighed, doing a face palm.

But they had to go, so they flew away.

From afar, Genmu cancelled out of his transformation.

GASHUNN!

Reverting back to his ALO Undine Avatar, he then walked off deeper into the forest. He walked on for several minutes before coming across the exit out of that forest. He walked out but was stopped by a voice.

"You killed Lazer in order to keep him shut about Ex-Aid's game disease, didn't you?" asked a voice.

Genmu turned around and saw Snipe leaning on a tree, arms crossed. He was looking at him coldly. Genmu chuckled at the sight.

"Looks like your skills from your radiologist days are just as sharp as ever." He chuckled.

Snipe stood up and slowly approached him.

"When did you find out?" He asked.

Genmu sighed and sat down on a tree stump.

"Hojo Emu was the first human to contract the game disease." He explained. "Patient zero, to be exact."

"The first?!" Snipe spluttered. Then, he also realized something.

"Is this before Zero Day five years ago?" He asked again.

"I'm sure Brave had already told the kids about Zero Day." Genmu continued. "But there was another leg of the story that I left out."

Snipe crossed his arms again, and Genmu began his talk.

"Six years ago, a particular doctor used his for an experiment." He explained. "His name was Zaizen Michihiko. He tried to birth the Bugsters by injecting the first sample of it into Hojo Emu."

"But, the experiment had failed." Genmu continued. "The virus infected everyone within range, and the people disappeared. Hojo Emu was later rescued and returned to his normal life."

"Thankfully, he has no memory of it." Genmu finished.

Snipe took the whole story in. But, he found something rather amusing.

"Y'know, for someone who tried to shut someone else up, you sure run your mouth a lot." He remarked.

Genmu then scowled and began to walk away.

"He tried to eradicate the virus, so he had to go." He said. "Anyone who tries to pull a stunt like that, no matter who, will be eliminated."

And with that, Genmu walked away and disappeared. Snipe scoffed and began to trek out as well. But, he was stopped by Brave.

"What was all that about?" He asked.

Snipe laughed.

"If you're here…" He said. "I'm sure one of those kids are here too."

Coincidentally, Kirito also dropped down from a tree. He had a very serious look on his face.

"Yeah, you're right." He replied. "I'd like to know what that was about too."

The Sylph girl woke up slowly. She looked around her surroundings. She was on a large bed, and was also wrapped up in warm blankets. To her side, was a dresser with some of her stuff on it, and the other side showed Ex-Aid and Poppy, in her human size, sitting. Leafa and Liz too, but they were standing.

"Where am I…?" She asked.

"You're in our care now." Ex-Aid said.

The girl looked at Ex-Aid scornfully, and then began to stand up.

"I'm leaving." She said.

"Wait, please don't!" Ex-Aid told her.

"Stay away!" The girl shouted. "I don't want you treating me!"

But then she fell off the bed and landed on the floor with a thud. When Ex-Aid came to pick her up, she kicked him off of her. The girl had a very angry look on her face. They were all stunned by what just went down.

"Well?" Liz spoke up. "Say something!"

Ex-Aid spoke slowly.

"Uh…" He began. "I believe this is our first meeting, but… did I do something to you?"

"Great…" The girl sighed. "This dick doesn't even remember me…"

Leafa and Liz then tugged Ex-Aid. They slowly went outside, and Poppy helped her back on the bed. Once that was done, Poppy also left the room.

"You sure you don't remember her?" Leafa asked.

"I think I do… but at the same time I don't…" Ex-Aid groaned.

"You have to remember!" Liz chimed in. "You couldn't attack Revol, so the stress has to be related somehow."

"I guess…" Ex-Aid shrugged.

They made their way over to the living room, where Klein was sharpening his sword. Sinon and Asuna had cups of tea in their hands. Silica was playing with Pina on the floor.

"How is she doing?" Sinon asked.

"Honestly…" Ex-Aid replied. "Better."

Yui popped out of Asuna's pocket, and then leapt. She turned into her normal size and walked over to Ex-Aid.

"All I found was her name." She replied. "Nico."

"Yeah, cause that's going to help a lot." Klein remarked.

That received a glare from Sinon, and Klein quickly returned to sharpening his sword. Just then, Kirito and Brave walked.

"Brave! Kirito!" Asuna called, walking over to Kirito.

Brave sat down on one of the chairs, and looked at Ex-Aid.

"Kid." He called. "I want to ask you something."

"Um, sure." Ex-Aid replied.

"Why did you decide to become a doctor?" He asked.

The question silenced everyone in the room. They all looked at him carefully.

"Why are you asking that?" Silica asked. "The Secretary Hinata saved him 16 years ago. Isn't that why he wanted to be a doctor?"

"With that said, you still played video games." Brave went on. "You even got a job as a writer and editor of a video game magazine. Why choose this line of work?"

"Well…" Ex-Aid replied. "I was unsure that I had what it takes to be a doctor. So I ended up spending time with getting better at games I liked."

"I only started to become serious about this six years ago." He went on.

Brave then looked at him curiously.

"Six years ago?" He repeated.

"Well, yes." Ex-Aid replied. "There was a global tournament for Overwatch back then. The team I was contracted with really wanted to get first place, so I trained with them for several nights in a row."

"Oh yeah…" Sinon spoke up. "Weren't you with Japan's team?

"Yeah." Ex-Aid replied. "But after we won, the fatigue got the best of me and I fainted."

"And that's when I had a dream." Ex-Aid went on. "I don't really remember what it exactly was, but I think it was the surgery I had 16 years ago."

"Surgery?" Brave repeated quietly.

"I think there was meaning in that dream though." Ex-Aid continued. "I might fail my exam if I kept this up… so I quit the team and focused entirely on my entrance exam."

"And to be fair, I did have my writing job." Ex-Aid finished. "But it was only a few months ago I lost the will to keep writing."

"Hey, at least you made it." Klein chuckled, patting Ex-Aid's shoulder.

"Was it actually a dream?" Kirito spoke up.

Everyone turned their attention to Kirito. He had been quiet the whole time, and him speaking startled everyone. But before Ex-Aid can reply, a message appeared on his board.

"A message?" Sinon asked.

"It's from Snipe." Poppy said. "It says: 'Nico left some of her stuff with me. They're just taking up space in my items list, so you better pick them up. Come to this location.' And there's also a picture."

The picture looked to be an abandoned village.

"Let's go." Ex-Aid said.

He then stood up and walked away. Sinon also came along, since Snipe is a very cunning man, so if this is a trap, she'd be there to pull him right out.

Snipe was actually doing some browsing in a nearby shop. While he was buying for his own needs, he had something on his mind.

'I'll have to deal with Ex-Aid myself…' He thought.

Dan was looking at his screen carefully. It showed the Mighty Brothers XX Gashat, and the Ex-Aid that came with it.

"Just as I thought." He said, looking at the screen. "The two Ex-Aids individually are Level 10."

"You don't say?" Pallad smiled, messing with a Guitar Hero guitar. "So they're Level 20 together!"

Dan began to type something more as Pallad moved on to a keyboard.

"Trying to retreive that Gashat would be a waste of our time." He admitted.

He pressed the "Enter" key and looked at Pallad with a smile.

"You're up." He said.

Pallad then quickly slid over to Dan, eyeing the screen like Golem with the ring.

"You sure about this?" He asked.

"With my game still in development…" Dan replied. "This is necessary."

"Besides." He added. "You could use the beta-testing."

Pallad smiled gleefully. The screen showed a Gashat. But a different kind. It was thick like the Mighty Brothers XX, but the slot was black, while the bottom was blue. And there was a strange yellow knob on the bottom.

Ex-Aid, Poppy, and Sinon landed on the ground gently. They were in the abandoned village that Snipe had sent the picture of.

"This feels… ominous…" Poppy said in a scared voice.

"All the more reason it could be a trap." Sinon replied, drawing her bow.

"C'mon, think positively, guys." Ex-Aid retorted.

They walked a bit longer and eventually wounded up in the village's central plaza. There, they found Snipe sitting by the defunct water fountain.

"Took you long enough." He said. "Here."

He opened up his menu and unloaded all of Nico's items on the ground.

"Thanks." Ex-Aid replied, walking over to the items. "We'll take care of her."

He quickly took them all into his items list. But just as he was done, Snipe stood up and kicked him right in his chest and off his feet.

"I told you…" Sinon groaned, walking over to him.

"You can take her stuff, but I'll take the Gashats." Snipe said, putting his Driver on.

He then pulled out his Gashat and pressed it.

BANG BANG SHOOTING!

As the game area spread, Sinon and Poppy quickly tried to get away, but it was no dice as Snipe inserted the Gashat into his Driver.

"Henshin." He said.

GASHATTO!

LET'S GAME! MECCHA GAME! MUCCHA GAME! WHATCHA NAME?!

I'M A KAMEN RIDER!

Snipe was replaced by his chibi figure and then his Magnum appeared in his hands. But Snipe wasn't going to hold back. He leveled up immediately.

"Mission start." He said, opening his Driver.

GACHANN! LEVEL UP!

BABABANG! BANGBABANG! YOW! BANG BANG SHOOTING!

He then began to fire. Sinon got hit on the leg while Poppy quickly turned into her pixie form and hid with Sinon. After giving them cover, Ex-Aid faced Snipe and put on his Gamer Driver. He then pulled out his Gashat and pressed it.

MIGHTY ACTION X!

"Henshin!" He called as he inserted the Gashat into the Driver.

GASHATTO!

LET'S GAME! MECCHA GAME! MUCCHA GAME! WHATCHA NAME?!

I'M A KAMEN RIDER!

After turning into his Level 1 chibi form, he then began to dodge all of Snipe's attacks. Snipe triedto hit him, but the chibi form was just too agile for him to keep up. But, when Ex-Aid got close, he grabbed his arm. Snipe just kicked him off and shot him a couple times.

"I told him, but did anyone listen?" Sinon remarked.

Then, Brave, Asuna, Leafa, and Kirito walked up behind them. Brave had his Gamer Driver on and his Gashat on hand. He pressed it.

TADDLE QUEST!

"Henshin." He said, inserting the Gashat into his Driver.

GASHATTO!

LET'S GAME! MECCHA GAME! MUCCHA GAME! WHATCHA NAME?!

I'M A KAMEN RIDER!

Brave was replaced by his chibi body, but he quickly opened up his Driver.

GACHANN! LEVEL UP!

TADORU MEGURU! TADORU MEGURU! TADDLE QUEST!

Turning to Level 2, he grabbed his Sword and then slowly walked forward.

"Sinon!" Leafa cried, running over to her.

She helped her up and sat her down on a nearby bench.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine." Sinon replied. "But why are you here?"

"Brave told us to come with him." Asuna said. "Don't worry. He'll be able to bring an end to this."

Asuna spoke too soon. Once Brave got close, he slashed. He slashed Ex-Aid. Ex-Aid arched back in pain, but that gave him opening to land three strikes on Ex-Aid's torso.

"Eh?" Leafa muttered.

To confuse them even more, when Ex-Aid began to take a few steps back, Kirito jumped in and grabbed Ex-Aid. He turned him around and slashed down his body.

"Kirito?!" Asuna cried.

Ex-Aid tumbled down, but quickly got back up.

"Hey!" He called. "What's going on!"

Brave then raised his sword.

"Don't take it personally." Kirito assured, getting into his stance.

"Stay out of this! He's mine!" Snipe told them.

"Said the licenseless doctor. I'll handle this." Brave retorted.

Ex-Aid grunted in frustration, and he decided just to level up. He opened up his Driver.

"Dai Henshin!" He called.

GACHANN! LEVEL UP!

MIGHTY JUMP! MIGHTY KICK! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION X!

Meanwhile, Revol saw the battle taking place. He was slowly moving towards them.

"Moving to intercept." He said. "Priority: Protect Ex-Aid."

"Hold it." Called a voice.

Revol looked up and saw Pallad. Pallad smiled and quickly wrapped him around with chains. Then he used the other end of the chain to tied him up to a tree.

"You just sit here and watch, okay?" He asked.

And then he walked away with Revol repeating the words "Recalculating."

Ex-Aid was now running all over the area. Snipe, Brave, and Kirito were in hot pursuit. Ex-Aid would often use the instability of the nearby structures to his advantage, such as using the wood and metal pillars to swerve around, but Kirito was able to grab hold of him. And with that, Brave landed a strike on to his chest. Kirito then threw Ex-Aid off of him. He jumped for another strike, but he collided into something. Kirito stumbled on the ground and saw Asuna. She had her rapier in her hand.

"Asuna!" He shouted. "What are you doing!"

"I could ask you the same thing!" Asuna shouted back.

Kirito slowly stood up and raised his swords.

"You're not involved in this. Move." He said.

"Make me." Asuna replied coldly, going into her stance.

Kirito realized that Asuna wasn't going to move any time soon, so he had no choice. He darted forward and began clashing blades with Asuna.

Ex-Aid saw this, and tried to get over to them to help, but Brave got a hold of him, pinning him into a wall.

"Why are you attacking me?" He demanded.

"Shut up." Brave replied.

Snipe than looked at Ex-Aid's Gashat holder. He fired a shot and bounced a Gashat off. Landing on the ground, it was the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat. Snipe walked over and picked it up.

"Thank you for the Gashat." He said.

Ex-Aid saw that Snipe had the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat.

"Give it back!" He called.

But Brave picked him up and slashed Ex-Aid right across his chest.

"How about the competition?" Snipe asked, pressing the Gashat. "Let's see who can hunt him faster."

DRAGO KNIGHT HUNTER Z!

"Very well." Brave replied.

Another Gashat appeared in his hand. Then, both Riders pressed their respective Gashats.

BLADE!

GUN!

Then, both Riders inserted their Gashats into the Driver after closing the Drivers back up.

GACHANN! GASHATTO!

Then they quickly opened them back up.

"Proceeding to Level 5." Brave said.

"Phase 5." Snipe said.

GACHANN! LEVEL UP!

TADORU MEGURU! TADORU MEGURU! TADDLE QUEST!

BABABANG! BANGBABANG! YOW! BANG BANG SHOOTING!

A GACCHA!

D-D-DRAGO! KNI-KNI-KNI-KNI~GHT! DRA! DRA! DRAGO KNIGHT HUNTER!

BRAVE!

SNIPE!

Now, Brave has a dragon sword on his right arm, while Snipe has a dragon cannon on his left arm. They charged. Ex-Aid doged Brave's slash, but took Snipe's blast right into his chest. That gave Brave an opening to land a strike right on his back. Ex-Ad stepped back, but Snipe shot him again, and Brave slashed once more. That sent Ex-Aid stumbling onto the ground. Just then, Asuna was thrown in. Kirito walked over and was panting heavily.

"Looks like you took care of her." Snipe commented.

"Did I have a choice?" Kirito shot back.

Leafa, who was still watching the whole battle, had taken enough. She stood up and walked right in front of them.

"Please! Stop this!" She pleaded. "Why are you doing this?! Aren't we all friends?!"

"Leafa…" Kirito whispered.

"Move it, top-heavy!" Snipe shouted. "You're in the way!"

"No, I won't!" Leafa retorted.

"Wow. That was boring." Commented a voice.

Everyone, even Sinon, who had just limped over with Poppy, turned to the source of the voice. Pallad stepped forward with a very dissatisfying look on his face.

"You…" Ex-Aid panted. "He's a Bugster."

Leafa raised her sword in self-defense. Pallad sighed heavily.

"He clearly doesn't want to fight, so you just decide to gang up on him?" He asked. "Shameful, man. Just shameful."

He looked at Kirito, Brave, and Snipe, the first two raising their swords.

"If you wanna play that badly, I'll play with ya." He smirked, raising a Gashat to his face.

It was the Gashat that he was shown earlier. A blue Gashat, with a black slot and a strange yellow knob.

"What is that Gashat?" Snipe asked.

Pallad smirked and turned the knob. It showed the game that the Gashat had selected.

PERFECT PUZZLE!

WHAT'S THE NEXT STAGE?

Just then, as the game's game area spread, a myriad of Energy item coins scattered across the area.

WHAT'S THE NEXT STAGE?

Pallad then pressed the Gashat.

"Henshin." He said.

DUAL UP!

GET THE GLORY IN THE CHAIN! PERFECT PUZZLE!

Pallad's figure was replaced by another figure. He had golden armor and belt, and his arms and shoulder pads were blue. He also had a golden collar that covered his mouth and blue hair. Yellow eyes were along for the ride. On his breastplate, was a puzzle-like pattern. He inserted the Gashat on a slot holder on his side.

The figure looked at himself for a brief second, and then he announced himself.

"Kamen Rider Para-DX…" He said. "Level 50…"

Everyone was struck with shock when they heard it.

"Kamen Rider…?!" Snipe uttered.

Poppy was also shocked, but then she realized something.

"Fifteen?" She asked. "Did she say fifteen?"

"No, fifty." Sinon replied.

Para-DX twirled around. He was very happy.

"Let me tell you about my games!" He said with a smile in his voice.

He then looked over to Snipe, Kirito, and Brave.

"They should do for beta-testers." He added.

He then ran towards them. He got hold of them all, and then he threw them some distance away. Kirito tried to slash, but he missed and received a knee to his abdomen. Brave was thrown into Snipe, causing the both to fall over.

"Perfect Puzzle is a puzzle game where you control all objects within the game area as you desire." Para-DX explained. "For example, I could merge all of the different items you all kindly spawned for me."

He twirled around, and every item appeared. The 2 by 2 by 2 brown blocks from Mighty Action X, the treasure chests from Taddle Quest, and the oil barrels from Bang Bang Shooting all turned into Energy Item coins.

"Wait, they're all Energy Items now?" Ex-Aid asked.

"I can even combine these Energy Items." Para-DX said.

He then raised both of his hands, and 16 Energy Item coins arranged themselves above him 4 by 4. Para-DX waved his hands around and the coins slid horizontally and vertically like a line puzzle. Once he had found what he was looking for, he selected two coins. Those two coins then landed on Para-DX.

RUBBERIZE! JUMP POWER-UP!

Para-DX then used the abilities and jumped really high into the air. He then pulled out his Gashat. He twisted knob upward, and then back downward.

KIMEWAZA!

He inserted the Gashat back into the slot holder.

DUAL GASHAT!

Once he was above Snipe, Brave, and Kirito, Para-DX unleashed his full attack.

PERFECT CRITICAL COMBO!

He then went Mr. Fantastic here. With the rubberized power, he stretched his legs straight out, landing a kick. He used his right leg on Brave, his left leg on Snipe, and then he used both legs on Kirito. They were launched backward, just missing Ex-Aid and everyone else.

ALL CLEAR!

Brave was knocked into the side of a cottage, Snipe was knocked into the water fountain, and Kirito was knocked into a tree. The Riders were sent out of their transformations.

GASHUNN!

"Kirito!" Asuna shouted, quickly running over to him.

Para-DX landed onto the ground and laughed as he slowly walked towards them. Ex-Aid stepped up to confront him.

"Stop!" He ordered.

Para-DX stopped, but confused.

"Why though?" He asked. "They were just kicking your ass a few minutes ago."

Ex-Aid looked back, but then he turned back to Para-DX.

"So what?" He said. "If you're going to give them a game over, I have something to say about it!"

He then pulled out the Shakariki Sports Gashat and pressed it.

SHAKARIKI SPORTS!

The bike appeared and it spun around him. Ex-Aid closed his Driver back up and inserted the Gashat.

GACHANN! GASHATTO!

"Dai Dai Dai Henshin!" He called, opening the Driver.

GACHANN! LEVEL UP!

MIGHTY JUMP! MIGHTY KICK! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION! X!

A GACCHA!

SHAKARIKI, SHAKARIKI, BAD! BAD! SHAKATTO, RIKITTO, SHAKARIKI SPORTS!

The bike then jumped and attached itself onto Ex-Aid's torso. He braced himself for an attack.

"Ex-Aid…" Para-DX growled. "Don't work me up now, man…"

He pulled out his Gashat, and turned the dial upward. Then, he twisted dial upward again, revealing another game.

KNOCK OUT FIGHTER!

THE STRONGEST FIST! ROUND 1! ROCK AND FIRE!

"Two games in one Gashat?" Asuna asked.

"Dai Henshin." Para-DX said, pressing the Gashat and inserting back into the slot holder.

DUAL UP!

EXPLOSION HIT! KNOCK OUT FIGHTER!

The blue shoulder pads became red fist gauntlets, as they detached from the shoulders and attached onto his hands. Also, the face turned into a red fighter with a white headband. Then, the gold breastplate turned the puzzle-like pattern into a flaming fire pattern.

"C'mon, let's play!" Para-DX called.

Ex-Aid braced for himself, but a punch from Para-DX sent him back. Ex-Aid tried to punch, and while landing some good hits, Para-DX didn't even flinch. He just punched him again in the stomach. He then punched upward from his waist, sending a fire blast towards Ex-Aid. Luckily, Ex-Aid rolled out of the way.

"Knock Out Fighter is a fighting game where you beat your opponent until you knock them out." Para-DX explained.

Ex-Aid popped the wheel off his bike, and then launched it towards Para-DX. Para-DX just tossed it off. He then pulled his Gashat back out. He twisted the knob upward, and then downward again.

KIMEWAZA!

He then began running towards Ex-Aid as he inserted the Gashat back in.

DUAL GASHAT!

He dodged a punch from Ex-Aid and placed his fist on his chest, facing upward.

KNOCK OUT CRITICAL SMASH!

The uppercut launched Ex-Aid into the air, and then Ex-Aid fell back down. Para-DX got ready for another punch, and landed that said punch on Ex-Aid's chest. That sent him flying, destroying a cottage in the process.

K.O.!

Ex-Aid stumbled out and was cancelled out of his transformation.

GASHUNN!

"Ex-Aid!" Poppy cried as she flew over to him.

Ex-Aid, panting in pain, looked up as Para-DX cancelled out of his transformation.

"I'll take you on anytime, anywhere." Pallad said. "Let's have more fun next time, M."

(Cue Excite! In the background)

Pallad then dissipated away. Poppy slowly helped Ex-Aid back up, but Ex-Aid grabbed his head and groaned in pain.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Poppy asked.

"My head…" Ex-Aid groaned.

Snipe and Brave stumbled over to them. Kirito was brought with Asuna slugging him over her body. The three of them looked at each other.

(Flashback)

"Yeah, you're right." He replied. "I'd like to know what that was about too."

Snipe, Brave, and Kirito were now by a lake.

"So Ex-Aid has game disease?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah." Snipe replied. "That could be why he can transform into Ex-Aid."

"It could also explain his personality change whenever he plays games…" Brave added.

Then, Brave and Kirito began to walk away.

"You're not thinking of telling him, are you?" Snipe asked. "Imagine the stress he'll get if he finds out."

Brave and Kirito then walked away, and Snipe did the same in another direction.

Ex-Aid then stopped feeling the headache. But he was still too weak to move.

"Here, let me help." Leafa said, pulling his arm over her.

She and Poppy then lifted Ex-Aid and the two began to walk back to Brave's mansion. Asuna did the same with Kirito. Brave and Snipe could only look on, wondering what to do next.