Chapter 30: The Final Game
Strangely for today, Emu was invited over to the Kirigaya household with the gang. They were still wondering about how to best deal with Genmu's newly established "ultimate game", Kamen Rider Chronicle. They were currently in their living room, sitting on the couches quietly.
"If he finishes it, a lot of people's lives would be in danger…" Kirito muttered. "This is Sword Art Online all over again…"
"Yeah…" Emu agreed.
Meanwhile, Hiro was in a meeting room of some kind. It was in another hospital too.
'How can we fight Genmu if he's immortal…?' He thought.
Just then, a man walked in with a box, holding several belongings of some kind.
"Thank you for waiting." He said. "This is everything from Kujo's desk."
"Thank you." Hiro replied, beginning to take stuff out.
"And… if you don't mind me asking…" said the man. "Have you heard from Kujo lately?"
Hiro looked at the man. He knew what he meant. They were never able to tell everybody about Kiriya's death.
"He hasn't been responding lately, so…" The man explained.
"Sorry, but we haven't heard from him either." Hiro responded.
He then pulled out what appeared to be Kiriya's laptop. He opened up and sat down.
"Just let me know once you're done." The man finished.
"Of course, sir." Hiro replied.
Once the man left, Hiro turned the laptop on, and clicked on a document of some kind. It was labeled as "Bugster". He saw that it had some deep notes of some kind of procedure treating game disease. The title of the document was "Reprogramming".
"Impossible…" He uttered.
Elsewhere, Nico was playing in a playground. Taiga was leaning on a swingset next to Shino, who was sitting on the said swingset.
"I wonder what kind of Gashat that old man is going to make?" Nico shouted from the slide.
"It should be something like a zombie survival game, right?" Shino replied.
"Yeah." Taiga seconded. He then scowled at the sky.
"I'm going to pummel Genmu's face into the pavement…" He said.
Genmu was sitting on a bench in one of the parks of ALO. He saw several players, some couples, some just a group of friends. But he wasn't paing attention to them. He was staring at his BugVisor. It was displaying all of the 10 games that are currently Gashats. So far, all of them have been blacked out other than DoReMiFa Beat, Shakariki Sports, and Drago Knight Hunter Z.
"Only three more Bugsters remain until my ultimate game is complete…" He muttered.
Just then, a pair of legs stopped moving right in front of him. Genmu looked up to see an Undine with a huge staff.
"Dan Kuroto, right?" The Undine said.
"Chrystheight…?" Genmu said quietly.
"You are under suspicion of of spreading the Bugster virus." Chrystheight went on. "My men are approaching your location. You had better come along quiety."
And with that, Chrystheight had began to slowly approach Genmu. Genmu realized he had no way to go, so he quickly ran away into an alley.
"Stop!" Chrystheight shouted, going after him.
Emu and the others were still pondering about Kamen Rider Chronicle, but Emu's phone buzzed. He looked at it and saw an alarm for a Bugster. He quickly stood up and began to run to the door.
"Emu!" Rika called. "What is it?"
"A Bugster!" Emu called back. "Everyone go to your places!"
And with that, everyone filed out of the house. Kazuto and Suguha ran up to their rooms, while everyone else ran back to their homes.
Meanwhile, Hiro had just finished reading and studying the notes that Kiriya had made.
"Well, coroner…" He said. "You really outdid yourself."
He then got a buzz from his phone. He knew what that meant. He quickly put everything back into the box and ran out.
Elsewhere, Taiga also got the buzz.
"Really?" Nico whined. "And everything was just going our way…!"
"Nico." Shino said. "You should go ahead to GENM Corp."
"Don't tell me what to do!" Nico pouted.
"No, she's right." Taiga retorted. "Go on ahead. We'll catch up."
Nico nodded and then walked towards the GENM Corp. building.
"Why did she listen to you but not me?" Shino asked.
"Don't ask me." Taiga said.
Ex-Aid, and the entire SAO gang ran down the streets of ALO.
"Poppy!" Ex-Aid called.
"It's this way!" She shouted.
They stopped when they entered an open field. There were several rock formations that would be great for skateboarders if this game had such a feature. Then, they saw the Bugster. He was riding… a BMX? And he appeared to be doing tricks and whatnot. He was also slapping players with the bike too.
"It broke out already?!" Liz groaned.
"That's Charlie from Shakariki Sports!" Ex-Aid called out, putting on his Gamer Driver.
He jumped down to the field with the gang behind him. He pulled out his Gashat and pressed it, getting the attention of the Bugster.
MIGHTY BROTHERS XX!
"Henshin!" He shouted, inserting the Gashat.
DOUBLE GASHATTO!
He then opened up the Driver.
GACHANN! LEVEL UP!
MIGHTY BROTHERS! FUTARI DE HITORI! MIGHTY BROTHERS! FUTARI DE VICTORY! X!
Ex-Aid turned into his chibi Level 10 form. He looked around to see the injured players.
"Guys. Get everyone clear." He said.
They nodded, and they began to move players to safety. Ex-Aid closed the Driver back up.
GACHANN!
He then flailed his arms around and then opened the Driver back up.
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai…" He started. "Henshin!"
GACHANN! DOUBLE UP!
ORE GA OMAE DE! OMAE GA ORE DE! WE ARE! MIGHTY MIGHTY BROTHERS! HEY! DOUBLE X!
Ex-Aid then split into the two Ex-Aids of Mighty Brothers of XXR and XXL.
"Let's clear this game with super co-op!" The two cheered.
"Alright! Let's rock!" Charlie cried.
The two Ex-Aids began to run towards him, but Charlie did a wheelie and tore past them. He got up onto a ramp, and slapped the two Ex-Aids in the face. Then, he bunny-hopped behind them and rode back towards them.
Behind them, Snipe and Sinon came into being.
"Genmu's not here, huh?" Snipe noticed.
Sinon's cat ears twitched, and then she quickly turned around and fired an arrow. A figure jumped up and landed a bit closer behind them.
"That's quite a sharp eye you've got." Brave said, who had just walked up.
The three looked at the figure. It was Pallad, watching the Charlie fight with the Ex-Aids.
"Para-DX…" Snipe said. "I guess you also wish to play Kamen Rider Chronicle?"
"You could say that." Pallad smiled.
He then pulled out his Gashat. He turned the knob downward.
PERFECT PUZZLE!
WHAT'S THE NEXT STAGE?
"Let's warm up." He smiled, pressing the Gashat.
DUAL UP!
GET THE GLORY IN THE CHAIN! PERFECT PUZZLE!
Pallad quickly turned into Para-DX Perfect Puzzle form. Brave and Snipe put on their Gamer Drivers and pulled out their Gashats.
Brave moved first. He pressed his Gashat.
TADDLE QUEST!
"Proceeding to Level 2." He said. "Henshin."
He inserted the Gashat and then opened up the Gamer Driver.
GASHATTO! GACHANN! LEVEL UP!
TADORU MEGURU! TADORU MEGURU! TADDLE QUEST!
Brave turned into his Level 2 Rider form.
Snipe also pulled out his Gashat. He then flipped the knob upward.
BANG BANG SIMULATION!
I'M READY! FOR BATTLESHIP!
"Phase 50." He said. "Henshin."
He inserted the Gashat into his Driver and opened it up.
DUAL GASHATTO!
GACHANN! DUAL UP!
SCRAMBLE DA! SHUTSUGEKI! HASSHIN! BANG BANG SIMULATION! HASSHIN!
Snipe turned into his Level 2 Rider form, and then the battleship attached itself onto him. He then fired a cannon blast at Para-DX. Luckily, Para-DX jumped up and then began to attack Brave first. He tripped him up, and then Sinon grabbed his attention with a scatter arrow. Para-DX flipped over to her, but Snipe intercepted him before he could get to her.
Meanwhile, the two Ex-Aids were still having trouble dealing with Charlie. Then, they had an idea.
"Hey! Leafa!" XXR called.
Leafa strangely walked over to them.
"What's up?" She asked.
"You have to distract him!" XXR ordered. "We're going to set up for the win!"
"I see where you're going!" XXL agreed, grabbing the Shakariki Sports Gashat.
XXL then gave the Gashat to Leafa, who was kind of hesitant on doing so.
"Um… guys?" She spoke. "Can we talk about this?"
"Nope!" XXR chuckled, pushing her.
"Get in there!" XXL shouted, also pushing her.
Leafa stumbled on her feet, right into an Energy Item.
PROVOKE!
Leafa looked at herself. There's no way of backing out now.
"Ah, mou!" She cried, pressing the Gashat.
SHAKARIKI SPORTS!
Then, the Shakariki Sports BMX bike materialized next to her. She then got on it. Charlie was diving towards the Ex-Aids, but then a STOP sign appeared in front of him. The STOP sign then became a directional sign that points towards Leafa.
"I'm over here!" Leafa teased.
Charlie flipped his bike around, and then began to pedal furiously towards Leafa. She took off, with Charlie behind her. She rode around for a while. And, surprisingly, she was doing tricks as well, such as bunny-hopping, and even an occasional wheelie.
As they went on, the Ex-Aids grabbed an Energy Item to get ready.
MUSCLE UP!
The two also pressed the blue button on each of their KeySlashers, and got ready.
JA-JA-JA-KIIN!
Leafa noticed that, and began to pedal towards the two Ex-Aids, who got into a batter's stance.
"Batter at the plate!" XXL called.
And with a simple bunny hop, Leafa jumped over the two Ex-Aids as Charlie just went right into their slash.
"And it's out of the park!" XXR cheered.
Charlie fell off of his bike, and tumbled down the field.
"Yeah!" Leafa cheered.
Charlie got up, breating heavily. He was damaged hard. He had to retreat.
"See you…" He groaned.
Charlie was consumed by orange blobs again. He then retreated back into his host's body, who was… Genmu?!
The Ex-Aids cancelled out of their transformations and slowly approached him.
GACHANN! GASHUNN!
As Ex-Aid and the others approached them, Brave, Sinon, Snipe, and Para-DX stopped to see what happened.
"Genmu?" Sinon uttered.
Para-DX, who currently had Snipe in an arm-lock, just threw him off.
"Man…" He groaned. "Now, I'm just not feeling it."
And with that Para-DX just disappeared. Brave and Snipe, cancelling out of their transformations, with Sinon, also approached Genmu, who was just on the ground, battered.
"How do you, of all people, have game disease…?" Brave asked.
"I don't know…" Genmu spluttered, trying to hold in his pain. "How I'm… infected…!"
Just the, Chrystheight emerged out of nowhere and approached them.
"Chrystheight…?" Asuna asked.
"The Ministry will be taking him in." Chrystheight explained.
Just then, Genmu just suddenly disappeared.
"Wait, where did he go?" Kirito asked.
"It appears that my men have finally got him." Chrystheight smiled.
He then also logged off. Everyone was baffled by this.
"Great, now what?" Liz said.
Then, all three of the Riders just logged off. The SAO gang were just left behind. But before they did, Ex-Aid told them to wait inside Brave's mansion with Poppy. And they did. Well, most of them did. Leafa, Lis, Klein, and Silica went back, while Sinon, Asuna, and Kirito agreed to follow.
The location was a government building. And by the entrance, was guarded by several men in suits. A man stepped out of the entrance and checked his watch.
"Right on cue." He whispered.
Then, a black van rolled up to the entrance. The van opened to have several men step out and reach for the passenger side. They reached inside and pulled out Dan Kuroto.
"Please! Let me go!" He pleaded. "I don't want to die!"
"Oh, just come along quietly!" ordered a man that was dragging him.
As that was all happening, Emu, Hiro, and Taiga came into the scene.
"What's going on here?" Hiro asked.
"This man is accused of bioterrorism." A man told him. "The Ministry will be taking him in."
Just then, Kazuto, Asuna, and Shino rolled in. Kazuto immediately recognized what was going on.
"Kikuoka…" He said. "He must've ordered the arrest!"
"Why should we bother?" Asuna asked. "They're arresting a dangerous man!"
But when she said that, Emu stepped up and grabbed one of the man's arm.
"This man is infected with game disease." He stated. "CR will be taking him in."
"What?" Taiga uttered.
That's when Kikuoka stepped forward.
"You know why we are arresting him, don't you?" He said.
"As doctors, we have a responsibility towards patients." Emu retorted.
"And besides." Hiro chimed in. "If the Bugster were to break out, it will be dangerous not only to you, but also to the public."
"Will you be taking that risk?" He finished.
"Hiro…" Asuna whispered from afar.
Kikuoka took that information in. Hiro was right. They neither have the people, nor the equipment to handle this situation, should it go south. He also didn't want to risk the Bugsters spreading, so he had to make a call. He waved his hand, and all of the men around Dan pulled back and went inside the building.
"We'll report this to our superiors." He said. "In the worst-case scenario, all of you would receive federal punishment."
And with that, Kikuoka entered the building, leaving Dan in the care of the Riders.
"Thank you…!" Dan said. "Thank you…!"
And as this went on, Taiga was still concerned.
"Are you people seriously going to treat him?" He asked.
"If we don't, he won't be able to pay for his crimes." Hiro replied. "Right?"
Emu nodded. He was happy that Hiro was finally giving him some support.
"Oh, cut that doctor crap out already!" Taiga shouted.
He then turned his attention towards Dan.
"Hey, Genmu. You better be ready." He said. "I'm going to put you in your grave with my own hands."
And with that, Taiga walked away. With him gone, Emu turned back to Hiro.
"I'm surprised that you would get behind me…" He said.
"You said you would avenge all those who had lost their lives to this plague, right?" Hiro asked.
"I just feel the same way." He finished, walking away.
Emu nodded, and lifted Dan over his shoulder and carried him off. Kazuto, Asuna, and Shino watched as this all went on.
"Well, we should get back." Kazuto suggested.
"Right." Asuna replied.
Then, the two began to head back. But Shino stayed.
"Shino!" Kirito called. "You coming?"
"I have something I need to do!" Shino called back.
And with that, Asuna and Kazuto just rolled away, while Shino ran towards GENM Corp.
Some time later, Genmu found himself in Brave's mansion, in the free room. He was leaning on a wall, and breathing heavily.
"Looks like you got your just deserts…" Klein chuckled. "I don't care how talented you are, but sickness is invincible."
"I know…" Genmu moaned.
"And…" Asuna began. "Do you realize how many lives are lost because of y-"
"Asuna!" Kirito interrupted.
Asuna stepped back and held her arm. Ex-Aid then stepped forward with Poppy slowly cowering on his head.
"What made you to become like this?" He asked. "What happened to you?"
"My plans are falling apart…" Genmu breathed. "I will tell you the truth…"
He slowly looked up at Ex-Aid.
"Emu… you were the beginning point in all of this…" He stated.
Everyone was shocked when they heard that.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kirito asked.
"Sixteen years ago…" Genmu began. "I was a simple developer at GENM Corp., when my father was still CEO…"
"I was still in high school, but I developed the best-selling games the company had ever made." He continued. "But that's when I received a letter."
"It was Emu Hojo." He said. "He had sent in ideas for several games, games that our company wanted to make."
"It was on that day that I realized that I wasn't the only one with immeasurable talent." Genmu finished.
"Now that you mention it…" Ex-Aid said. "I do remember writing it…"
"It was also the moment that changed both of our fates…" Genmu continued.
Taiga, Nico, and Shino were in the GENM Corp. meeting room, where a projector was showing them the new Gashat. It was very thick, and it had some kind of gimmick on the end.
"So…" Taiga said. "That's the new Gashat?"
"What kind of game is it?" Nico asked.
"I had the best idea in mind!" Koutarou replied, grabbing a folder.
He reached into it and pulled out some papers. He flipped a page and revealed to them the game.
"Ta-da!" He announced. "Monks of the Dead Temple!"
Then, anime-like, the screen just shatters with Taiga, Nico, and Shino getting black and white. After a bit, they recovered.
"I made a mistake by tasking you with this…" Taiga groaned.
"Wait, is this not goo enough?" Koutarou asked. "Well, we have another game called Prayer Beats…"
"I think what Taiga meant to say is that, we could properly do without the monks…" Shino added with a sweat drop.
Just then, the doors of the meeting room swung open. Hiro then entered with Kiriya's laptop in his hand.
"Figured I'd find you here." He said
"Why are you here?" Taiga asked.
"I'll be using that Gashat." Hiro stated.
"May we ask why?" Shino asked.
"Yeah!" Nico added. "We're not just going to give it to you, y'know!"
He then placed Kiriya's laptop on the table.
"I have the data that you may want to install on it." He added. "Or rather, the data the coroner left behind…"
Back to ALO, Genmu was still explaining everything that happened up until now.
"I thought I could use the Bugster virus to create games like no other…" He said. "So… to test it, I sent a beta copy of the game."
"Oh yeah!" Ex-Aid perked up. "I got a game still in development as a thanks for sending that letter! I was so happy!"
"And when you played that game…" Genmu went on. "You were infected by the virus."
Everyone stopped when they heard that. So Genmu was the one who infected Ex-Aid all those years ago?
Back at GENM Corp, they were in Koutarou's office, Hiro had plugged in Kiriya's laptop with Koutarou's, so the data in Kiriya's laptop could be transferred.
"So what data is it again?" Nico asked.
"Reprogramming." Hiro answered. "A very specialized medical technique."
"Re-… repro-… what?" Nico stuttered.
"To put it simply, it is a mthod to remove or reform a DNA's epigenetics." Taiga explained.
"So basically, it's a way to rewrite a Bugster's power?" Shino simplified.
"In theory." Hiro corrected. "At the very least, we might be able to counter Genmu's immortality."
Just then, a scream could be heard from inside the building. The workers are being attacked. By what exactly? Hiro and Shino quickly left the office to see what was going on, and they were shocked at what they saw. In front of them, were Bugster mooks, attacking civilian workers! And they're acting as if they had been zombified!
"What the hell?!" Hiro shouted.
"Bugsters?! Here?!" Shino added.
Taiga was also surprised at the situation, but he took a more calmer approach to it. He then noticed something over on the side.
"Hey, what's that?" He asked Koutarou.
Koutarou looked over and saw what he was pointing at. It were three Gamer Drivers, and with three Gashats. Those being Mighty Action X, Taddle Quest, and Bang Bang Shooting.
"Those are prototypes for you to use in real life!" Koutarou explained. "We have only managed to produce one fine Gamer Driver however. The other two are corrupted."
Taiga walked over to the items. He grabbed a Driver and the Taddle Quest Gahsat. He then tossed them over to Hiro.
"Hey!" He called.
Hiro turned around and caught them.
"You can handle it, right?" Taiga asked.
"Why aren't you using this yourself?" Hiro asked in return.
"I have to keep watch on the Gashat." Taiga explained. "And isn't it your "code" to save people?"
Hiro winced, and just ran outside. Shino went back inside, and then looked at Taiga.
"You really should at least try to be nice." She said.
Taiga scoffed, and just threw Koutarou out of the room and sat down on his chair.
Back in ALO, Genmu had now curled up into a ball, just trying to hold in the pain from his infection. The SAO players have taken some steps away from him, just to avoid any exposure. However, he managed to prop himself up to the wall and continue his story.
"So… I waited." He went on. "Until the Bugster finally matured within you."
"After learning that in your last Overwatch tournament, I asked Zaizen Michihiko to operate on you…" Genmu continued. "So… I used both you and Zaizen to harvest the mature Bugster virus…"
"Then… the Bugster outbreak…!" Leafa said.
"The virus I took from Emu was the base of it all…" Genmu concluded.
Ex-Aid hadn't said anything as of this point. He had just clentched a fist really hard. Genmu picked himself up and began to make his way over to him, via crawling or stumbling.
"I know what I did was unforgiveable…!" He sobbed. "And I know people would just leave me to rot… but you… you…!"
Ex-Aid had had enough. He let go of his fists, and then stood up from his chair.
"Please… stop." He said calmly. "Stressing you out would only make the situation worse."
Genmu looked up at him, and was just flabbergasted.
"After all I've done…" He sobbed. "You would still save me…?"
"I will never forgive you for what you've done." Ex-Aid admitted.
But then, he slouched Genmu over his shoulder, and then put him back on the bed.
"But as your doctor, I can't hold a grudge to my patient." He said.
Genmu then smiled lightly, and he began to thank him.
"Thank you…" He repeated. "Even with a piece of human I am… you would still shine bright for me…"
Genmu then yelled. He began to pixelate yellow, and the Bugster was beginning to come back.
"Please, in exchange for this…" Ex-Aid went on. "Please pay for you crimes!"
He put on his Gamer Driver, and pulled out the Mighty Brothers XX Gashat. He pressed, and thus summoned the Bugster forward.
MIGHTY BROTHERS! XX!
The game area spread throughtout the area, then he inserted the Gashat in, and opened the Driver.
"Henshin!" He called.
DOUBLE GASHATTO!
GACHANN! LEVEL UP!
MIGHTY BROTHERS! FUTARI DE HITORI! MIGHTY BROTHERS! FUTARI DE VICTORY! X!
Ex-Aid transformed into the chibi form of Level 10, and then he pressed the button on the side.
STAGE SELECT!
The area then became some kind of lakeside, where the water hugged the land. Genmu had finally disappeared, replaced by the figure of Charlie.
"I'm back… baby…" He moaned.
Ex-Aid closed his Driver back up.
GACHANN!
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai…" He began. "Henshin!"
He then opened the Driver.
GACHANN! DOUBLE UP!
ORE GA OMAE DE! OMAE GA ORE DE! WE ARE! MIGHTY MIGHTY BROTHERS! HEY! DOUBLE X!
The two Ex-Aids then stood together, side by side.
"Let's clear this game… with super co-op!" They announced.
Then, Charlie and the Ex-Aids attacked. The SAO players and Poppy stuck to the sidelines.
The Zombie Bugsters were still attacking the workers. Hiro walked down and saw the main entrance was infested with them. He still had the Gamer Driver and the Gashat in hand. He looked at both items, and realized there was no time to think about this. He put the Gamer Driver on, which wrapped around his waist perfectly. He looked at the Gashat, and then pressed it.
TADDLE QUEST!
The game area of the game spread out all over the open space. He looked at the Gashat, and then put on a serious face.
"Proceeding to Level 2." He said. "Henshin."
He then inserted the Gashat and opened the Driver.
GASHATTO! GACHANN! LEVEL UP!
TADORU MEGURU! TADORU MEGURU! TADDLE QUEST!
Hiro then saw his body, as it was being consumed by pixels. His entire body then turned into Kamen Rider Brave, Level 2. He looked at himself first, and then gathered himself together. As amazing as this is, he still had a job to do. He reached out his hand, and a familiar weapon appeared in his hands.
GASHACON SWORD!
He put the sword in front of him, and he jumped. He first slashed a Zombie mook off a worker. He then kicked another out of the way. One by one, he worked his way outside. But when he reached the door, a figure grabbed him and just threw outside. Brave recovered and saw Genmu, Zombie Gamer.
"Genmu?! How are you here?" He asked.
Genmu didn't reply, as he just continued to attack Brave.
Back in Koutarou's office, Taiga was still waiting for the data to finish transferring. Nico and Shino were begging to grow impatient.
"Ah, mou!" Nico whined. "Is it not done yet?!"
Just as she said that, the transfer reached 100%.
"It's done!" Shino called.
"Hey, transfer that to my ALO account." Taiga ordered.
"Right!" Shino said, taking his seat.
Taiga, meanwhile, grabbed the Bang Bang Shooting Gashat and one of the corrupt Gamer Drivers.
He then ran outside. He found Brave 1v1-ing Genmu. Brave was thrown back.
"Brave!" Taiga called. "You've done enough!"
He put on his Gamer Driver, and then he pressed the Gashat.
BANG BANG SHOOTING!
The game area spread throughout the open space. He then twirled his Gashat.
"Henshin…" He said.
He then inserted the Gashat and opened the Driver.
GASHATTO! GACHANN! LEVEL UP!
BABABANG! BANGBABANG! YOW! BANG BANG SHOOTING!
Taiga then became Kamen Rider Snipe, Level 2.
"Alright, let's get started." He smiled.
But then, he felt something. The suit triggered an error, making it spark and sent electrical surges. Snipe was then thrown out of his transformation, and back to Taiga. Brave noticed this, so he had to jump in and protect Taiga.
Now, the fight in ALO escalated. The SAO gang had joined in on the fight. They were now taking turns at taking on Charlie. First, Liz and Silica. First, Liz would smash him with her mace, and then Silica would slice up his legs. Then, XXR, Klein, and Leafa together jumped and slashed downward. Asuna, Kirito, and XXL all kicked Charlie in the stomach together.
"Alright, time we finish this!" XXL said.
"Yep!" XXR agreed. "Everyone! Stand back!"
The SAO gang pulled back as the Ex-Aid closed their Drivers.
GACHANN! KIMEWAZA!
The two put one foot back, and let the energy charge into their other foot. Then, together, they opened the Driver.
GACHANN!
MIGHTY DOUBLE CRITICAL STRIKE!
Then, the two Ex-Aids jumped into the air. They both shot their feet out and then landed a kick on Charlie. Then, they flipped back, and then they landed another kick, enough to send him back.
"Amazing…" Charlie groaned as he exploded.
"We did it!" Silica shouted.
GAME CLEAR!
Out of the explosion, Genmu stumbled on the floor. But then, he shot his BugVisor out and absorbed the Bugster residue left behind. Charlie was then present on the screen of the BugVisor. Once all of the residue was absorbed, he smiled his signature slasher smile.
"I appreciated the help… Hojo Emu…" He growled.
The Ex-Aids perked up at what he said. Genmu slowly sat up.
"You're the easiest person I've tricked in my entire career…" He said.
"What are you saying?" XXL asked.
Genmu stood up and turned so that his back is facing the protagonists.
"Getting infected with game disease… was all part of my plan…" He went on. "After all… the Ministry found my hiding spot…"
"I just had to buy some time… knowing that you would come and cure me…" Genmu finished.
"Wait…" Asuna concluded. "Then… you used CR as a hiding spot?!"
"And those tears from before…" Leafa added. "They were nothing but lies?!"
Genmu smiled madly. He then threw off his upper garment, exposing his naked torso.
"For sixteen years… you were so pure…" He whispered.
He then arched his back backwards, like a real zombie.
"And the light you emitted is the stimuli of my genius!" He shouted. "You're… by far… the greatest guinea pig anyone ever controlled!"
He then looked at his hand.
"All this time… and you didn't even know…" He smiled. "You were dancing in the palm of my hands!"
He then laughed out loud, his voice almost slicing the air in half if it were visible. And after that brief moment of joy, he then put on the BugVisor.
GACHANN!
He then pulled out his Gashat, and pressed it.
DANGEROUS ZOMBIE!
"Hen…" Genmu growled. "Shin…"
He then inserted the Gashat and pressed the tab below it.
GASHATTO! BUCKLE UP!
DANGER! DANGER! GENOCIDE! DEATH THE CRISIS! DANGEROUS ZOMBIE!
Genmu then exploded into a cloud of black dust. And as the smoke dissipated, Genmu turned into his Zombie Gamer form. It crackled with energy for a bit before he assumed his stance.
"Now…" He growled. "Feel the power of Genmu X!"
"Screw you power!" XXR shouted.
Then, the two charged at each other. Genmu quickly took the upper hand by getting XXL first, who didn't react in time. He then punched and kicked XXR in the stomach and threw him into XXL. He then kneed the two in their faces, causing the two to be sent back. Genmu slowly approached them, but the SAO gang got in his way.
"You're not getting near them!" Leafa declared.
Genmu growled, and just smashed the two buttons on his BugVisor. They sent a standby noise, before he smashed the B button.
CRITICAL DEAD!
Around the Ex-Aids, a black shadow appeared below their feet. Then, out of the shadows, appeared Genmu. Multiple Genmus. They would grab hold of XXR and XXL, and they would not let go.
"Hey!" XXR ordered. "What's going on?"
"There are so many…" Poppy winced.
"Well, we zombies are quite famous for mass replication, no?" Genmu chuckled.
Then, the Genmus turned into shadows as they finally stuck XXR and XXL back to back. Then, they reverted back to one Ex-Aid, and the Gamer Driver began to corrod and turn into a dark shade of brown. Emu groaned, and then he fell on his knees. The Gamer Driver clacked on the ground, smoking.
"Ex-Aid!" Kirito shouted.
"Are you okay?" Asuna asked.
As they helped Ex-Aid, Genmu chuckled again.
"I fried your Driver." He said. "You can no longer transform…"
Genmu stood up, and chuckled.
"I will let you live though." He admitted. "Consider it a reward for your cooperation."
And with that, Genmu disappeared in a black smoke.
The SAO gang then ignored this for now, and just focused on helping Ex-Aid. From afar, Pallad was watching the whole thing go down.
"Well, well, well…" he admitted. "Your game has finally reached your final level!"
Brave was still fighting the Genmu and the Bugster mooks in front of the GENM Corp building. Shino and Nico also came out to see what was going on. Brave had Genmu on the ropes, but then, he stopped as he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Genmu used that opening to kick him back. Brave was then sent out of his transformation.
GASHUNN!
"Oh no…!" Nico stuttered.
But they were surprised by who approached them. Dan Kuroto slowly walked towards the entrance. The Genmu then just pixelated inside of him and the remaining Bugster mooks followed him inside.
Dan then sat at his desk, back in his office.
"I'm home…" He whispered to no one in particular.
He then raised his hand. It was holding a green Gashat. The artwork was blank. But it only had this title: Kamen Rider Chronicle.
"Soon, my world will be completed…!" He announced.
Back outside, Shino had taken Taiga, Hiro, and Nico a safe distance from the building.
"Looks like this fight just got a lot harder, huh?" Nico commented.
"There's no way we can get to him now…" Taiga groaned.
Then, the heroes looked up to see the GENM Corp. building, standing menacingly as the sun set.
(Special Thanks to dandyalif124 for helping me write this chapter)