Disclaimer: Still don't own anything; let's move on.
Analysis nearing conclusion…
Constructing countermeasures…
Diverting powers to preparations for new ProgriseKeys…
Redirecting powers to completing A-W ProgriseKey…
Section 12: The Great Escape (A)
"Yo, Takumi." Decade, or rather, Tsukasa replied rather calmly like he was addressing an old friend… which he was.
"What did you do this time, Tsukasa?" Kamen Rider Faiz, Takumi Inui, grumbled as he used his jetpack to close the distance between them quickly. "You're the reason I'm here, aren't you?"
"Hey, don't go blaming me for something I didn't do," Tsukasa retorted, "Or do you want to get turned into a card or Lockseed again, ashhead?"
"Um… Decade? Who's he?" Ritsuka said, taking in the crimson-red form of the new Rider.
"This is Takumi Inui, the zombie ash wolfman who I thought was still dead again. Also known as Kamen Rider Faiz," Tsukasa introduced his old friend to the others. "What are you doing here anyway? Weren't you dead again?"
"I… have no idea either."
"So he's the guy we're here for?"
"What do you think, Gorilla?"
"Stop calling me that!"
"Is this really the time to be talking?" Ophelia grumbled, finding it a tad bit frustrating that they were taking the time to shout at each other instead of fighting or making their escape. Jin was nowhere in sight but that doesn't mean he wasn't around.
"She's got a point. Takumi, go kill," Tsukasa ordered the red Rider. "We'll run away, don't take too long."
"Tsukasa, it's your job to kill other Riders; why don't you do it?" Faiz argued.
"I can't fly. You can."
"..."
Seeing as he didn't retort, Tsukasa took it as him winning the argument. "Our ride is parked southeast of here, just keep going there and you'll find it as we run from more HumaGears."
"Don't jinx it," Ophelia chastised him.
"Meh, everyone knows that's what's gonna happen," the older man snarkily retorted before turning towards Takumi again, "We'll catch up later. Don't die again."
"Fantastic advice; I'll try to follow it, smartass."
"At least we know you're the real thing, Takumi. Nobody could beat you in—"
"Do we really have time for this?!" Kadoc, already ticked off by Tsukasa, shouted in exasperation.
The Rider Servant did not respond to the Polish man and just turned toward his Master. "Call for our taxi; tell them to meet us halfway."
That was a sound enough idea to Ritsuka that he agreed to it. It should be a smart idea… right?
Meanwhile…
"Gun it! Push it to the very limit!"
"Don't push it to the very limit!" Holo-Da Vinci shouted back at Meuniere. "You want us to take out an entire city block or something?!"
"Well, how else are we supposed to outrun them?!" The only employee of Chaldea that's not a main character screamed, panickingly pointing at the monitors. On the screens showing the exterior of the Shadow Border, hoards of rabid HumaGears could be seen chasing after them as they drove around the city streets.
How exactly did they end up attracting boatloads of killer robots?
Well… Let's just say it turned out that the garage they were hiding had a very late opening time.
"*bzzt* —inci! Can you hear—*bzzt*" Static came through the comms as they came to life, Ritsuka's voice barely being heard through it. "We foun— *bzzt* —der! Mee— *bzzt* —fway!"
"What's he saying?!" Goredolf shouted as he drove the Shadow Border.
"They found who they're looking for and want to meet us halfway," Holmes calmly answered, somehow deciphering the broken message. "Da Vinci, where are they?"
"I'm a bit busy at the moment!" Holo-Da Vinci shouted back, "Somebody has to make sure the engine doesn't explode on us!"
"Alright, I'll do it myself then." Acting as if a hoard of killer robots was not chasing them, Holmes walked towards the console and pressed several buttons. Almost immediately, the holographic map in the cockpit's centre fizzled on and showed a city map where a red dot could be seen. "Hmmm… We can take this road to reach them…."
"If you have a plan, then just say it!"
"Alright, alright. Follow my directions to the letter, Director."
"This way," Ophelia led the group as they ran through the back alleys and quickly made their way through the city. "Are you sure they got the message? If not, this is going to take a while."
"They did get it, I'm sure of it."
"Yeah, I'd hate to walk all the way back too," Tsukasa added his opinion.
"If that's so, why don't you open a portal to take us all back?" Kadoc questioned him. "It'll save us a whole lot of time."
"That'll make it too easy and this is the apocalypse. Nothing should be easy."
"Dick."
"Ape."
"Stop it," Ophelia grumbled as she gave them a harsh glare.
While the three were arguing at the front of the group, Ritsuka, Hiden, and Mash were engaged in their own debate slightly behind.
"Should we really leave that guy behind?" Hiden asked, worry in his voice. "He seemed strong but I don't feel right letting him fight on his own."
"Me neither but we just have to trust…." The man's name came to Ritsuka after a second of thought, "We just have to trust that Takumi will catch up to us later."
He has to mention though, that he was not expecting the Rider to be so… distrustful. Ritsuka (and the others) were under the impression that he and his new Servant would be on good terms, not insulting each other near-immediately upon seeing each other.
"They didn't really seem to be friendly with each other…." While he understood why since… Well, this was Decade they were talking about; the way he had talked up about their (potential) rescue target implied he respected them.
"Don't think too hard about it."
"Huh?" Apparently, Decade had overheard them.
"Takumi is always abrasive with people so that's nothing new," he told them. "He'll come around in the end and help us when the time comes."
Ophelia glanced back at the rest of the group and said, "Well, that time better come soon. I don't know how long we'll last—"
"Move!"
Despite the suddenness of Decade's warning, everyone cleared a path, ducking toward the alley's wall. Less than a second later, a purple energy arrow shot through the alley.
The residents of this post-apocalyptic world already realised who it was as it was his signature weapon— "Horobi!"
Now standing at the end of the back alley, having just come out from the corner, was the already transformed Horobi.
"Hmm… I missed," they heard the purple Rider say to himself before pulling on his Attache Arrow.
Without speaking a word to each other, the group already began moving— taking cover behind the sides of dumpsters and around the adjoining alley corners.
However, it was obvious that they were already split up as they couldn't cross to the other side of the alley without getting shot down by Horobi. On one side were Ritsuka, Hiden, and Mash, while on the other were the remaining three Riders.
"Shielder," Decade calmly called over to Mash, "Get those two to safety. We'll keep Horobi distracted."
"Understood, leave it to me," Mash confidently nodded before turning to the two doppelgangers. "Senpai, please stay close."
As the shootout between the humans and single HumaGear began, the three escaped through one of the alleys' exits.
"This way." Now that they were found out, there was little point in stealthy travelling through the back alleys. Luckily, the streets were still void of life, artificial or otherwise.
"How far is the van?" Hiden asked as he ran behind the Demi-Servant.
"Not far but it'll still take some time for them to reach us." Until then, they had to pray there wasn't a giant hoard of killer machines waiting around the corner for them, or worse—
ZETSUMETSU DYSTOPIA!
—that!
Mash barely managed to raise her shield to block the out-of-nowhere Rider Kick. After failing to break through her defences, Naki used Mash's shield as a launching pad to put some distance between them.
"Master, Hiden! Stay behind me!" Mash shouted, getting ready to battle the wolf-themed Rider. Despite there being only one enemy, she knew better than to underestimate what Naki could do if her fight with their allies taught her anything.
ZETSUMETSU DYSTOPIA!
Unfortunately, things would never be easy for any of them. Two slashes made of red lightning came from behind Naki, heading straight for Mash. She, again, barely blocked the attack. The finisher still exploded, making Mash slide back slightly. However, she bravely stood her ground as Ikazuchi appeared next to Naki while twirling his twin swords.
"Oh, how lucky for us," Ikazuchi laughed as he stared at Mash and the two she was protecting. "Chaldea—" he pointed one of his swords at Mash, "—and Hiden too." He pointed at him next, "That's real convenient for us."
"Ikazuchi, enough talking," Naki scolded her ally. "Let's finish this quickly."
"Yeah, yea—" Before Ikazuchi could even finish talking, Naki already disappeared into a burst of wind. Less than a second later, a strong force smashed into Mash's shield.
The Demi-Servant was already prepared for the speedy attack and barely flinched. She then expertly swung her massive shield around and smashed it into Naki. While the blow sent them flying back, they landed on their feet gracefully as Ikazuchi ran past them at Mash.
The dodo Rider's heavy sword swings bounced off Mash's shield too but the red lightning still hurt her. Pushing past the pain, Mash bashed her shield against Ikazuchi. He stumbled back slightly and recovered quickly— swinging his swords again, Ikazuchi managed to land a solid blow on her.
The brief opening made by Mash recoiling was capitalised by Naki, who used their speed to close the distance again.
"Ah!" "Mash!"
Mash cried in pain as she was forced backwards. However, she pushed herself to keep standing to protect the two Ritsukas.
"Ah… Just make this easier for all of us and give up," Ikazuchi taunted her. "I promise we'll make your deaths quick and painless if you do. Isn't that right, Naki?"
The other Rider stayed silent, posed to continue attacking.
"Naki says yes," Ikazuchi answered for them, "So, what's your answer?"
Mash, of course, answered by planting her shield into the road with a determined look that was somewhat covered by her visor. Regardless, she got her point across; she was not going to give up anytime soon.
"In that case, try making things a bit more fun, will you?" Ikazuchi huffed but was happy that Mash chose to fight back.
A loud breeze blew through the street and the three fighters. Mash was waiting for her opponents— mostly Naki —to make the first move while the HumaGear Riders waited for the perfect opportunity to strike.
The silence continued for several moments until— "...aaaAHHHH!"
"OW!" Before anyone could react, something— or someone —crashed into the Ikazuchi. Naki, on the other hand, managed to sidestep the large crash without a word.
It only took a couple of moments before they all realised what happened: Jin was once again sent crashing into the ground in his aerial battle.
"Jin?! Get off me!" "Ow ow ow! Stop pushing me!"
Seeing the two Riders slowly get to their feet, the humans also realised that Jin's reappearance meant that he was here too.
Sure enough, Kamen Rider Faiz touched down next to Mash; his large weapon was now missing its blade from earlier, revealing the gun barrel. The crimson-red Rider glanced at the three and quickly noted the others' absence.
"Let me guess, you got separated from the others?" He asked despite knowing the answer.
"Y-Yes, they—"
"Then it falls to me to protect you in the meantime," Faiz interrupted Ritsuka, turning to face the three other Riders. "Just leave the fighting to me, kid."
"..Got it," Ritsuka nodded after a moment. "Mash, support him as best you can but let him do the fighting."
"Understood!" Mash stood determined, ready to help however she can.
Meanwhile, the three robot Riders finally regrouped and were now standing before them.
"So you're him then?" Ikazuchi kept his eye on Faiz. "The Rider we're supposed to hunt down."
"Apparently so," replied the crimson-red Rider before muttering, "Even though I have no idea what's going on and haven't done anything yet… In any case, I'll do everything in my power to protect these three. So come at me if you dare!"
"…Ikazuchi, pincer manoeuvre. Jin, go from above." Naki took charge and didn't wait for their answers before dashing forward. Fortunately for them, neither took issue with Naki taking charge and followed their commands— Ikazuchi going around while Jin took off again.
"Engaging!" Mash announced right before she deflected Naki's attack. Her new ally, meanwhile, tried to shoot them at close range but Naki was too quick for him. Just as they leapt away again, Ikazuchi came in wildly swinging his swords.
This time, it was Faiz who intercepted him— using his large blaster to block the swings. He then landed a kick on the dodo Kamen Rider, forcing Ikazuchi to stumble back.
"Ja-Jaaaan!" "Above us!"
Mash didn't actually need to warn him since Jin was doing that just fine. However, as his name implied, he was fast enough to land a single blow… that barely made Faiz stagger. "…Uh oh."
Jin's realisation came a second too late as he was now in point-blank distance of Faiz. Once again, he was blasted away and sent crashing into the ground with a single, powerful shot.
"Jin!" Ikazuchi shouted as he rushed to his side. Meanwhile, Naki put themselves between their allies and their enemies.
Unfortunately for them, this made it easy for Faiz's next attack. Raising his Blaster, he punched in a code— 5214 —using the number pad around the circular grip and hit Enter.
Faiz Blaster, Discharge!
On his back, Faiz's jetpack split from the central unit and flipped over his shoulders— the exhaust now turning into cannon barrels. He didn't give the three HumaGears Riders a second to react before he started shooting red energy shots from his shoulder cannons.
Half of his shots missed their target as he was mostly shooting aimlessly. However, enough landed that they were left open to one more attack.
Once again raising his oversized weapon, Faiz hit the Enter button again to initiate his finisher.
Exceed Charge!
Red energy began charging around the barrel of the Faiz Blaster as its wielder aimed it at the three Riders. After a few seconds, Faiz pulled the trigger and unleashed a powerful cross of crimson photon energy at them.
Naki, seeing the finisher coming, quickly moved out of the way of the beam. However, this meant that their allies were directly in its path. He exploded in a massive but short-lived blaze.
"Ikazuchi!" Jin cried in despair at the (temporary) death of his close friend and turned towards Ikazuchi's murderer. Despite his helmet obscuring his face, it was clear Jin was pissed and ready to continue battling despite his condition.
Faiz and Mash, meanwhile, were also ready to continue fighting but clearly in a better state than Jin— a fact Naki realised. Before the pink Rider could take a step, Naki was already standing before him, an arm stretched in front of Jin to stop him.
It was clear to them that they stood no chance in winning the battle— their target was simply on another level than them.
"Jin, we're retreating," they said with no leeway for arguing. Still, Jin tried to argue anyway and was quickly shot down. "We already lost, there is no point in continuing."
"Wait—!" Naki didn't listen and grabbed Jin by the waist. They both then took off, Jin protesting and trying to get out of Naki's grip.
Once they both disappeared and a few seconds passed, Mash stated with full confidence, "The enemy has retreated; we've won this battle." And with minimal injuries too.
"Well, that's one of them taken care of…" Faiz mumbled before he raised his weapon. Instead of putting in another code, he pulled out the flip phone that was inserted on one end of the Blaster.
The others sans Mash (who had her goggles on) were forced to shield their eyes as a short flash of light came from Faiz. A moment later, the Rider's suit was gone and standing there now was a man with brown hair and dark clothes. He dusted off his hands before turning towards them.
"So, can any of you tell me what the hell Tsukasa did?" He asked them with slight irritation in his voice. "He says he's done nothing but I'm sure there's something he isn't telling."
"Tsuka…" It took a second for Ritsuka to realise who he was referring to. "Honestly, we have no idea either."
"Hmph, typical Tsukasa," Takumi, Ritsuka called his name, grumbled. "Not telling anyone anything until the last second. Things usually work out in the end but it's still annoying!"
"Um… Can you—"
"Senpai, Hiden," Mash interrupted the former, "We should continue making our way back to the Shadow Border before more HumaGears appear."
"Right!" Nodded Ritsuka. Turning back to Takumi, he asked, "Can you accompany us a bit longer?"
"I already said that I'll keep you guys safe in Tsukasa's stead, didn't I?" Despite the rather rude retort, Ritsuka mentally sighed in relief that they got another ally.
"Alright, let's get going then!"
Meanwhile…
As Ritsuka's group ran into Takumi, Ophelia's group was trying their best to fight Horobi.
…Actually, it'd be more accurate to say only Vulcan and Valkyrie were putting any effort— Decade, on the other hand, was only lazily swinging his sword at Horobi to get his attention off them. The magenta Rider saw no need to use any of his stronger cards other than Slash in this fight.
BULLET!
DASH!
SHOOTING/RUSHING BLAST!
"Take this!"
Both Riders sent their finishers flying at Horobi, who was held in place by Decade. However, he heard the attack announcements and quickly kicked his opponent back before facing the two attacks.
Right before the hits connected, a metal scorpion tail extended from Horobi's gauntlet and quickly made a protective sphere around him. The blue and orange energy blasts exploded, completely enveloping Horobi's sphere.
STRONG!
ProgriseKey confirmed. Ready to utilise HERCULES's ability!
The flames cleared to reveal the sphere without a single scratch on it. As quickly as it formed, it quickly uncoiled, revealing Horobi with his weapon drawn and aimed at Vulcan and Valkyrie.
"Disappear."
AMAZING! KABAN SHOT!
A golden arrow with horns like a beetle flew through the air at the two Riders. Before it could hit either of its targets— "Move!" —Vulcan pushed his partner out of the way. The arrow struck true, hitting him straight in the chest and sending him flying through the air. With a loud crack, he crashed into the wall of the building some distance behind them.
"Vulcan!"
"Hmph."
STING UTOPIA!
Horobi immediately followed up by activating another finisher. After pulling the lever in his ForceRiser twice, he leapt into the air—aiming for the distracted Valkyrie. Another scorpion tail appeared around his leg, the stinger positioned on his foot.
"Tsk, fine…" Decade quietly grumbled and rushed to get between the two Riders.
FINAL ATTACKRIDE: DE-DE-DECADE
The magenta Rider inserted a card into his Driver upon reaching Valkyrie before Horobi. He spun around, charging his blade, and managed to knock Horobi out of the air. The HumaGear Rider crashed to the ground but quickly got back to his feet although he had to take a short breather.
Taking advantage of the brief opening, Decade glanced back at Valkyrie and said, "Let's go." Before she could even say anything, he raised his hand to summon an Aurora Curtain. The wall quickly washed over and whisked them and Vulcan away, leaving Horobi alone in the streets.
"…They escaped…" Horobi stated the obvious before closing his Driver and detransforming. However, before he could do anything else, his HumaGear modules lit up as he received a new message from his master. After a few seconds, Horobi's consciousness returned to his body. "I understand. Your will shall be done…"
With Ritsuka and co.
"How much further, Mash?"
"Assuming that they received our message, we should be meeting them soon," Mash answered her Senpai, leading the group in case another ambush came from in front again. The group had managed to continue through the city without running into any more HumaGears, letting them cover ground faster.
Meanwhile, Takumi was in the back of the group with Hiden walking in front of him. "…Hey, you," the former rudely called out to the latter, gaining Hiden's attention.
"Uh… Yes?" The alternate Ritsuka nervously replied. He wondered what Takumi wanted from him.
"That girl called you Hiden, right?"
"Y–yes. I'm Ritsuka Hiden," he confirmed. "Is something wrong?"
"Hiden…" hummed Takumi. "Then that means you are Zero-One, right?"
"Eh?" Hiden loudly voiced his surprise at what Takumi said, which got the attention of the two in the front.
"Zero-One?" Mash overheard that part of their conversation. She remembered that Horobi called Hiden something similar the day before.
Hiden quickly denied his accusation though. "No, I'm not Zero-One," he avoided eye contact with Takumi. He hoped the latter couldn't tell he was not being entirely truthful about the topic.
However, Takumi didn't need to look him in the eyes to know he was hiding something. "Hmm… But you are a Rider, right?" He asked.
"Y-yes. But I don't transform much." Mainly because those two keep confiscating the ForceRiser but that's beside the point. "Why do you ask?"
"Because this is Zero-One's World. The reason Tsukasa's here is to help Zero-One with whatever problem he has. That's how it usually goes for him," Takumi answered. "And from the looks of things, it's obvious what he needs to fix." Even if they weren't regularly getting attacked by killer robots, the desolate street they were in was all they needed to understand what Takumi meant. He then glanced at Ritsuka— "And you are…?"
"Ritsuka Fujimaru," he introduced himself. "I'm—"
"An alternate version of this guy," Takumi somewhat dismissively finished his sentence. "How did you get caught up in Tsukasa's schemes? "
"That's… a long story," Ritsuka laughed quietly. "He… tried to kill me at first but—"
"That sounds like him, alright," the older man rolled his eyes at that piece of information. "You're just the next in a long list of people who Tsukasa nearly killed. Let me guess, he then ate whatever food you had lying around."
"…Did he—?"
"Yes," Takumi blankly stated. At least he got back at the Destroyer this morning and last night. "How much longer till we reach whoever it is we're trying to meet?"
Mash replied, "Any minute now. They should be nearing our locati—"
BOOM!
"COMING THROUGH!" Da Vinci's voice came over the megaphone as the Shadow Border skidded to a halt in front of them, having crashed through a defunct building as a shortcut. A moment later, her hologram appeared in front of them as the hatch on the side opened. "GET IN! THEY'RE RIGHT BEHIND US!"
They didn't need to be told twice and entered the tank in all but name. The hatch closed behind them and they nearly were thrown off their feet as the Shadow Border sped up.
Holo-Vinci appeared before them again. "Hold onto your butts! We're outta here!"
"A bit too late…" Takumi grumbled, which caught the Rider's attention.
"Oh, so you're the guy we're trying to save." She moved closer to him to get a better look. "Hmm… You don't look like much, honestly. What Class are you?"
"Hey!"
"Da Vinci, please don't insult someone you just met," Mash chastised/sighed at her immediate reaction to meeting Takumi.
"Anyway, head up front and get seated. This will be a bumpy ride." Holo-Vinci quickly vanished, annoying Takumi further since he didn't manage to come up with a retort yet.
In any case, they quickly made their way to the cockpit where Meuniere was still frantically yelling at Goredolf to speed up. Sherlock, on the other hand, was calm as ever and the only one who acknowledged them entering.
"Welcome back," he greeted them. "I take it this man is the one we're here for?" The detective didn't wait for a response before continuing, "Where are the others?"
"We got separated," Hiden answered quickly. "We have to find them first before leaving the city."
"Yeah, problem with that!" Meuniere shouted, "We have a whole army on our tail!"
"Stop shouting already!" Holo-Vinci popped back in. She then turned towards the group, saying, "I get that we can't leave anyone behind, but we have to leave now. Even the brief stop we made to let you guys in let those hunks of metal catch up quite a lot."
"But—!"
"We are not leaving until we rescue them," Ritsuka firmly stated. He was of one mind with his counterpart and was not willing to entertain the idea of leaving those three to fend for themselves. Maybe the fact that he failed to save his versions of Kadoc and Ophelia had something to do with it (although the former was in a coma), but he knew that he'd still try to help anyone that needed help.
Da Vinci let out a resigned sigh. She knew it'd be useless to argue with Ritsuka and now that there were two of them, she might as well give in. "Alright, fine. But we have to try to lose these guys on our tails fir—" "Ah!"
As she was about to finish what she was saying, she was interrupted by one of Decade's portals opening in front of the Shadow Border— which made Goredolf shout in surprise. They were going too fast to stop though and drove right through it. The silver wall washed over the entire cockpit and its inhabitants… but nothing happened to them and they continued driving as fast as they could.
After a moment and realising what just happened, Ritsuka was the first to say something— "Wasn't that…?"
"Tsukasa?" muttered Takumi as he glanced around the cockpit. Since none of them disappeared, something or someone must've appeared instead.
He was proven right nearly instantly as Da Vinci noticed something off with one of the Shadow Border's systems— specifically, the one pertaining to how many lifeforms there are within it. Now, it was registering three more people than it did a few moments earlier inside one of the other rooms. She was already a genius, but it didn't take one to figure out who they were. "Meuniere!" She shouted at said worker, "Open communications with the Medical Bay!"
"Got it!" Meuniere nodded and quickly pressed some buttons. On one of the screens, the video of outside was replaced with live surveillance footage of the Medical Bay where they could see the three they were about to go back and rescue inside, one of whom was now laying on the bed.
"That's—!"
"Hey, you! Pinky!" Da Vinci shouted, getting Tsukasa's attention as her voice played over through the speakers in the Medical Bay. The man calmly went over to one of the nearby terminals and opened communications on their end.
"What?" He sounded annoyed. "Can't you see Gorilla got hurt?"
"How did you—"
"What happened?!" Da Vinci was interrupted this time by Hiden sprinting over to the comms console and shouting into the microphone.
"Oh, Hiden. You and the others are already inside?" Tsukasa hummed. "Good, we can get out of here. Assuming Takumi is with you. As for your question, Gorilla over there got hit by Horobi's arrow. He'll survive as long as we escape the city."
"Way ahead of you," Meuniere added, quite relieved that they no longer have to go deeper into the robot-infested city. "Director! Full steam ahead!"
"No full steam ahead! The engine's already being pushed to its limit!"
"Just get us out of here!" Kadoc shouted loud enough to be picked up.
"In the meantime, Fujimaru—" Holmes turned towards the Master of Chaldea. "—I suggest having the others go up top and defend the Border."
Ritsuka agreed with him completely and nodded. He turned around to face Mash, "Come on!" The two ran out through the back. After a few seconds, Takumi decided to help and followed them out.
As soon as the door closed behind him, Goredolf gave everyone one short warning to hold on before turning hard. Needless to say, the warning didn't do much and even Holmes nearly lost his balance and fell over.
"What's going on out there?!" Kadoc shouted again as he nearly fell off the bed due to the sudden turn.
"Lots of HumaGears are following us," Hiden answered. "Just hold on."
"That's not exactly easy when whoever's driving is driving like that!"
"Hey, don't insult my driving skills! I take immense pride in them!"
"Well, you suck."
"Enough arguing!" Ophelia joined the chorus of shouting, stopping Kadoc and Goredolf from fighting any further. "I'm coming out front. I know these streets better!"
"Hang on, I take everything back! Keep driving like that! Don't let her dri— Ow!"
"Oops, my hand slipped." Ophelia's tone, however, suggested that she might not have hit Kadoc by accident.
In any case, Ophelia quickly exited the Medical Bay, leaving Kadoc and Tsukasa behind. The latter then spoke into the microphone again. "I'm going to stay here and tend to Gorilla's injuries. Don't shake the bus too much; I'll be using a knife."
"Why do you mean you'll be using a knife?! What do you even need one for—?!"
The comms quickly closed on their end, followed by Da Vinci cancelling the video feed so they could focus on the HumaGears. Speaking of which, there were closer and more than them now as Meuniere helpfully called out.
"When will this day end…." Da Vinci sighed exasperatedly.
A/N: Aight, after a lot more months, I finally made another chapter. I realised I reached 5k words which is good enough in my books. More stuff happened, I'm stalling for more time, and hopefully, I get off my procrastinating ass and get back to writing stuff. Look, I'm trying to speed run all four endings of SMT V okay?! Give me more time!