This world had a dark path, you know?
Hmm?
It usually does anyway. I've seen it a couple of times but have never actually been there, and I have no intention of ever finding a world like that again.
What happened? In this other path, I mean.
Ah. Well, this world's future was set in stone by what happened all those years ago. You saw the aftermath; it still scars this world to this day. However, that day could have gone a lot worse had someone not intervened.
You don't mean yourself, do you?
Haha… No, not me. Not this time. But that future that was erased was infinitely a lot worse than anything I've seen on this journey so far.
…Ritsuka, is it worse than what you saw before?
…I can't really say, to be honest.
Chapter 37: Dual Fates (Part 2)
"Hmm… Hey Takagi, you sure this is the right place?!" Momotaros shouted across the large, mostly empty, hall. There was nothing to be seen as proof that there were time-hopping interdimensional monsters hanging about.
"Firstly, it's Takaragi. Secondly, do not doubt my abilities," the thief scoffed at Momo's question. "This is the right place, you're just not looking hard enough." His snide retort naturally ticked off the Imagin who shot up and winded his arm, ready to duke it out.
Of course, he was stopped by Ryotaro grabbing him by the arm, "Now, now. Starting a fight will get us nowhere."
"You sure about that? I'm pretty a good knock or two to the head will help jog Ritsuka-kun's memories."
"Leave me out of this," Ritsuka grumbled as he looked into a gap in the floor. "And stop calling me that."
"Stop calling you what, Ritsuka-kun?" Ritsuka didn't humour him with a reply this time. "Say, does evil you have an idea what Swartz is up to?"
"Evil him?" Ryotaro questioned. Now that he thought about it, Ritsuka realised Ryotaro had yet to encounter his mirror self. Before he could say anything though, Takaragi took it upon himself to lay out Ritsuka's dirty laundry.
"Yup, Ritsuka-kun over there has an evil doppelganger from the Mirror World. Of course, that would mean he is actually evil under that facade of aloofness he has."
"And what do you know about the Mirror World?" The second those words left his lips, he knew he was going to regret it.
"Well enough, actually." Takaragi's smug grin returned. "The Mirror World is less of a World in its own right; not like say… the World of Den-O. A version exists within each World. It's basically another plane of existence like Reverse Side of the World."
"The… what?"
"Don't worry about it, Ryo-kun. It's not really important to a normal—" he glanced at Momotaros. "—well, normal-ish human like you."
"Get to the point already."
"Alright, alright. Geez, you really should learn to be nice, Ritsuka-kun." It took all of Ritsuka's willpower not to just whip out the RideBooker and shoot Takaragi. The latter soon continued, "Mirror selves like the one you have is actually pretty rare, especially one with as much autonomy as he does. That means the divide between truth and reality is vast enough that you could be considered two different people."
Truth and reality. That's what Fujimaru used to describe himself and Ritsuka…
"Wait, so this Ritsuka is not the true one?"
"I'm standing right, you know."
"Sorry."
While Ryotaro apologised, Takaragi continued talking like he was not even there. "Oh, he is far from the true Ritsuka. The one running around doing his own things should be closer to Fujimaru Ritsuka as he truly is. The one over there crawling around in the dirt is more so Ritsuka in name only."
"Hey!"
"What? I'm just telling the truth here," snickered Takaragi. "Your true self being able to utilise Decade's powers to its full potential while you're still stuck with not even half a powerset is further proof of that. Unlike you, he could still use the powers of the Riders you can't and is already a master at it. From what I heard, didn't he murder Saber and nearly put that Emiya guy six feet under?"
BANG!
Despite the new smouldering hole in the wall behind him, Takaragi's grin remained on his face. Ritsuka, on the other hand, was glowering at the thief; the RideBooker was in his hand and aimed at Takaragi. "I thought you were a better shot than that."
Before Ritsuka could pull the trigger again, Ryotaro immediately stepped in— "That's enough!" He shouted, his usual timidness gone. "I know the two of you aren't really friends—"
"We are." "Far from it."
" —but if what you say is true and Another Den-O is truly after the first Rider, then we can't afford to be arguing with each other. Can you please put aside whatever problem you have with each other? Just for the time being?"
"I'm okay if he does," Takaragi said first, letting Ritsuka be the one to settle things.
After several seconds of silence… "…Fine."
"Alright, then we can put our heads together and solve this." Takaragi pulled out a strange device from his pocket.
"What's that?"
"Dunno, found it on the ground like ten minutes ago."
"AND YOU DIDN'T MENTION IT?! COME HERE!"
"Momo, don't!"
As Ryotaro tried to stop Momo from strangling Takaragi, elsewhere across the city, Spriggan was on the prowl. Hiding in the crowds in his human form, he searched for his target. Every now and then, he would ask someone if they recognise the young girl in his photo under the pretence of her having run away from home. Most of them would be unhelpful (not helped by how regular the girl looked) and it took all of Spriggan's will not to kill them to relieve some stress but he had a job to do and needed to prove himself.
Fortunately for him, he soon got a lead. "Hmm… Actually, I think I saw her earlier," the young boy, at about 14 years of age, told the disguised Phantom, having—politely—taken the photo to take a closer look. He pointed in a direction, saying, "She was by a park over that way an hour ago. I'm not sure if she's still there."
The boy was helpful enough and after begrudgingly thanking the human, Spriggan ran off, determined to find and complete his task.
"You could have helped me too…" The boy crossed his arms in frustration before glancing at the picture in his hand. He wondered if the girl in the photo could have something to do with his own goals but quickly perished the thought. That would have been unlikely. "Now then… where did you go…?"
He was sure he saw them walking around somewhere. 'Better start looking too…'
"What is it?" Ryotaro asked after managing to calm Momo down. He along with the other two gathered around Takaragi to see what he had found: a small metal cube with a lens on top.
Takaragi answered, "I am not too familiar with it but it's definitely not from this era." The metalwork was way too clean and advanced to be from 1999. There was nary a scratch, stain, or dent in the device's frame. There was no button or anything that could activate the device, further confusing the quartet of time travellers.
"Try pushing the lens down," Ritsuka suggested only to take the device out of Takaragi's hand and do so himself. However, it did nothing.
"Got any other bright— ow!" Takaragi tried to ruffle Ritsuka's feathers only to be flicked in the head by Ryotaro. "Was that really necessary?"
"Yes."
Ritsuka actually did have an idea though and tried twisting the lens next. This time, something did happen— "Fujimaru Ritsuka, Kihara Ryotaro, allow me to applaud you two for making it this far." —a miniature hologram of a certain Time Jacker appeared.
"That's… Swartz?" Ryotaro was initially taken aback by the sudden projection. Meanwhile, Momotaros was much more vocal in his reaction.
"You purple jackass! Where are you?!"
"Don't get your panties twisted, Peachy—"
"Peachy?!"
"—This could just be a recording," finished Takaragi without missing a beat. "Let's listen to what he has to say."
What Swartz said next took everyone by surprise, "Thank you, Takaragi Yuu."
"So you're not a recording!?"
"Oh, this is just a recording," Swartz chuckled, casting doubt in his words. "I simply know what you are going to say. And no, I am not leering behind a nearby pillar so do not bother."
"As if I'm going to believe that!" Before anyone could stop him, Momotaros took off.
"Ah… Momo…"
"Now that the eyesore is gone, we can get down to business," Swartz's hologram chuckled again.
The first question was the most logical one. "Are you really not around here?" Ritsuka asked.
"I am not. I just know what all of you are going to say."
"How?"
"I will keep my cards close to my chest for now, but you already know, don't you? You will soon find out."
Ritsuka frowned at Swartz's answer as Ryotaro asked next, "What are you after?"
"You've figured out my goal already, did you not? Another Den-O's task is to reach 1971 and kill the first Rider and erase all of you from history. As you, Kamen Rider Den-O, are the only person who could truly defeat him, it will be a simple task. The true hurdle is for him to reach 1971." Now they've got confirmation of what Swartz is planning straight from his mouth. That led to the next question hanging over their heads.
"Why didn't you just send him there from the very start? Why go to these lengths just to challenge us?" Ritsuka asked. "What is the point of this challenge in the first place? We're enemies, why would you want us to get stronger?"
"Fufufu…" Swartz laughed again. "Is it so much to understand that you getting stronger will benefit me in the end? In the eyes of the Worlds, we are one and the same."
One… and the same? "What are you talking about?"
"The thief knows, but will he tell you?" Swartz answered with a small chuckle. "But let's not get distracted, what you truly want to know is…" All three leaned closer. "…is where Spriggan is."
"…What?" The Phantom? What does he have to do with anything?
"You can find him in Shibuya, but you best be quick. This day will only take a turn for the worse—" the Time Jacker continued. "As for what you really want to know, if you continue to follow the path set for you, this leg in your journey will end soon. But if you exceed my expectations… well, things might turn out differently than what I've seen. If that happens, I can only thank you all."
He was really full of himself, wasn't he? The more he speaks, the more apparent how he reeked of self-confidence. Way too much in Ritsuka's opinion.
"Whatever the results of this test will be, you two will come out the better for it. Towards that end, let me tell you a clue for where you are to go next." Swartz cleared his throat, most likely for the dramatic, before saying, "The moment when the sky fell— the moment the World's path is reforged anew —is the moment where the crossroads will be seen. Take that path to reach the time before the half-breed scion. Now then, will you survive till the appointed moment?"
The device shut itself down as soon as the last words escaped his lips, leaving Ritsuka and Ryotaro with more questions than answered. Takaragi, meanwhile, understood the message and groaned. "He wants us to stay here until then? That's a terrible idea."
"Stop beating around the bush already. What's going to happen today?" Ritsuka questioned him but only got a dismissive wave. "It's not nothing. You keep playing it up as something big."
Takaragi didn't reply to him and turned to Ryotaro and asked, "Hmm… what do think, Ryo-kun?"
After taking a moment to consider their choices, he concluded they had little choice but to follow the road Swartz paved for them however stupid it may be. He told Takaragi his opinion which made the thief groan in frustration. "…Fine, let's just stay away from that place. So long we're out of the blast zone, it should be alright."
"Wait, blast zone? What do you—?"
"Go get that genie of yours and let's get out of here. Ritsuka-kun, don't you go slowing down on us." Takaragi pushed them to move, much to their confusion and Ritsuka's annoyance. He was still avoiding the question and Ritsuka doubted he would be willing to answer what Swartz meant by being "one and the same". Unfortunately (for him), the only thing he could do was go with the flow and follow Takaragi's league…
"You can find him in Shibuya, but you best be quick. This day will only take a turn for the worse—"
"Tch, that man…" As useful as that tip was, it still was frustrating to hear since it proved just how much Swartz knew and planned in advance. Yet, he only had one thing he could do— be a puppet and go along to Swartz's play. That meant he had to go to Shibuya and look for Spriggan there.
"But why is he there in the first place?" It clearly wasn't to protect Another Den-O, not anymore. Either way, killing him would mean one less Phantom running around and that was always a positive. "Then again, I could just leave him be and let fate deal with him."
To be prowling in this specific time and place was a stroke of terrible— no, abysmal luck. Didn't he check the history books to make sure he wouldn't run into a disaster or something? "Actually, checking the history book might not matter…" Phantoms like him were from Kamen Rider Wizard's World while this one…
Regardless, he couldn't let Spriggan run wild. It'd be less risky for everyone to end the Phantom by his hand rather than let the World deal with it for him. Whatever he was doing in Shibuya was not good anyway so might as well stop and investigate him at the same time.
As Swartz said, he better make it quick; there was not much time left.
Shibuya district…
The occasional fluttering of wings soothed her tired mind as she fed the flying rodents— uh, pigeons in the park. She needed to clear her head after a failed experiment. It wasn't catastrophic or anything, she still had both her mind and body intact (well, most definitely the latter), but the bruise to her ego needed some mending. Going for a small walk was just the medicine she needed.
"Hey, girl. What are you doing?"
Her face dipped into a frown as she heard the gruff voice question her. A moment later, the flock of pigeons took off, having been frightened by the man who suddenly appeared and confronted her. At least they left some feathers for her to pick up later.
"I was feeding the birds but not anymore," she shot the man a glare before getting up from the bench. "Can I help you?" Her annoyance was clear in her tone.
"Say… what's the thing giving you hope? That makes you keep going?"
'What kind of question is that?' was her initial thought. Although she had no zero intentions of actually answering, the question still made her pause and think. She couldn't think of one immediately which seemingly frustrated the man.
"Please don't make things difficult, I want to help my comrade as soon as possible."
"Comrade?" She couldn't help but ask to which the man had a sadistic smile on his face.
"Yes, my comrade. The one buried deep inside you."
"Wha—"
"No matter, we can do this the hard way too. Ghouls!"
Before she had time to react, the girl was grabbed by the arms by golems with cracked skins. 'This is—!' The man before her must be a magus too, no doubt about it, and intended to do something to her. Probably experiment on her for his own research, whatever it may be. She, naturally, wasn't itching to find out. "Let go of me!" She demanded while struggling to get out of the familiars' grip.
"Struggle all you want, girl. It'll all be over soon," the man jeered as they dragged her off. She did not know if he had set up some sort of ward but surely someone would notice them, especially if they were to take her through such a crowded district. To her surprise, however, the man then called out into thin air. "Time Jacker! I know you are watching me! Bring me back to base!"
Only silence answered his demands.
"Time Jacker!" The man shouted again and still, nothing happened. "Hey! Where are you?! Get me out of here already!" Whoever this person was that was trying to kidnap her, he was pathetic at his job. The only thing he had going for him was his golems that were good at their task of restraining her.
The man cried out once again but this time, someone did reply— "Yahoo~!"
"Huh— ack!" From out of nowhere, a young man around her age jump-kicked her (attempted) kidnapper, sending him rolling away. The mysterious person continued to move quickly, attacking the golems holding her, and successfully managed to get them to release her. Her rescuer grabbed her hand and pulled her away from them, putting some distance between themselves and the magus.
"You okay? They didn't hurt you, right?" The concerned question made the girl look at her saviour and saw a youthful face with a wide, relieved smile. "Hang on… Do I know you from somewhere?" Before she got the chance to answer, he had already dropped the topic. "Oh well, doesn't matter. There are more important matters at hand."
He let go of her hand and turned his attention towards the magus. "Trying to capture an innocent maiden like her? Do you Phantoms know no shame?" Her rescuer gave a tut of disappointment at the magus's actions… before leaning back and quietly whispering to her, "You are innocent, right? You're not actually a serial killer or something?"
"Of course not!" She snapped back at him. What kind of person would ask that at a first meeting?
"Just to be sure." Her rescuer cleared his throat to regain his previous bravado. "Now then Spriggan, you have two choices before you. You either, A, get out of here and survive, or B, stay and die."
"Decade…" She heard the man named Spriggan seeth. She recognised the name from old folklore of the British Isles but wondered if it was an alias or not. Decade certainly was, she assumed. "Stay out of this! You have no business here!"
"Ayayay, butting into everyone's business is my business. Especially if it's related to Dai, Space, Neo, or whatever-Shocker." The meaning behind those words completely went over the girl's head. "Lemme guess, your new mission is to turn this maybe-not-innocent maiden here—" "Hey!" "—into a Phantom too. Did I hit the nail on the head?"
Spriggan only glowered at him before taking out stones and tossing them around. Upon hitting the ground, the scattered stones grew and morphed into more of his golems, increasing their numbers from two to twenty. Despite being way outnumbered now, the confident smirk didn't leave her rescuer's face. "I'll take that as a yes then," he snickered. "Hey, whatever-your-name-is, stay back for a bit."
"Can you really fight all of them on your own?" She naturally asked, glancing at the menacing group of golems. While they did not look like much, there were still a lot of them.
"Of course! Who do you think I am?"
"An irritating jerk who likes to kill strangers murderers."
"…In my defence, basically everyone I know has a few kills under their belt," he sounded embarrassed with himself but she couldn't tell if it was genuine or not. "Anyway, get out of here while I deal with them— hey!" It looked like the golems got tired of them running their mouths and attacked them before he could finish his sentence. The girl found herself pulled around by the hand again; she still had to duck her head here and there to avoid getting hit in the head but, for the most, was still led on by the young man who expertly weaved through the crowd of golems.
They (or really, he while dragging her along) made it through to the other side of the stone creations— right where the magus was. Her rescuer didn't stop and wait to say anything, already pulling out a strange sword from nowhere and trying to cut through his neck in one fell swoop.
Instead of a spurt of blood erupting, the magus proved himself to be just as fast and avoided the would-be killing blow.
"You pest…" the magus growled as he stepped away and joined his creations. "I will not let you get in the way this time," he swore before an illusionary face appeared over his own. The magus's body changed and turned into a blue-and-white monster split down the middle. His new appearance was not easy to look at to normal people but neither of them was evidently normal people.
The girl safely assumed he was planning to turn her into something similar had she been successfully captured. Seems like she had even more reason to thank her rescuer who was also taking the change without so much as a blink. It wasn't really that odd, admittedly; it was already obvious that Decade and Spriggan knew each other to some extent.
"Hey, whatever-your-name-is."
"Stop calling me that. My name's—" She tried to tell him her name but the man named Decade didn't let her.
"I don't need to know. We won't be seeing each other again after this… probably," he added after a moment. "But there is something I need you to do."
"And that's?"
"Watch me. Etch everything I do in your mind. A once-in-a-lifetime moment like this… should become your strongest memory." After stating his request, he stepped forth to fight Spriggan and his Ghouls. He stabbed his sword into the ground before reaching into his jacket and taking out a black buckle which he swiftly strapped onto his waist. "Stay back, and watch a master at work." He reached for the case on the side of his belt and slid out a card.
Whatever it was he planned to do with it clearly frightened the magus as he immediately ordered his golems to attack them. The young man, however, only smirked at their futile attempt to stop him. "Henshin."
"This should be a good place to wait." Takaragi calmly took a sip of his drink as he and the other sat together on a rooftop cafe. It was an odd sight to the rest of the patrons since one of them was still in a mascot costume but since they weren't causing trouble, no one paid them any mind.
'If it doesn't bother them, why do anything…?' Ritsuka mused, glancing at the still-disguised and sulking Momotaro. The Imagin was being consulted by his contract holder over not being able to find Swartz. 'Even if he really was around, it's not like you could do anything. You and Ryotaro can't transform thanks to Another Den-O."
They still needed to solve that important issue. Without the powers of Den-O, they can't defeat the Another Rider. The only other option they have is for himself to unlock and use Den-O's powers but how?
"Ritsuka-kun~ Your face is twisting up. What're you thinking of?" Takaragi teasingly asked. His face must've been funny as the thief snickered next. "Ah, I got it. You were talking to your true self, right?"
Ritsuka's reply was short and blunt—"Shut up."
"What did I say, you two?" Ryotaro sighed. "Why can't you two stand each other?"
"I just don't like him." That was short and sweet of it; ever since he ran into Takaragi in Faiz's World, Ritsuka couldn't stand him. Repeated encounters following that cemented Takaragi as a pain in the ass to him.
"Probably because I'm DiEnd," Takaragi said before drinking again. Letting out a sigh, he continued, "But I've not really endeared myself to him that much, right, Ritsuka-kun?"
"Shut up."
"So aggressive," he tutted. "In any case, all we have to do now is sit tight and wait until the path to whatever World Swartz wants us to go to opens up. You have any idea which one it is?"
What sort of question was that? The second he heard its description, Ritsuka already knew which one. "The World of Kiva..'s past." Take that path to reach the time before the half-breed scion— the scion was obviously Hakuno so the time before would be before he was born so… Kishinami Otoya's era? Recalling Hakuno's story, his father had fought and defeated the King, putting him in a deep sleep before dying shortly after. But why do they have to go there? Was there something important to be found back a couple of years earlier than where they were now?
'Wait, no… if Haku's time had been moved to 2008, then his father's time should be moved back too.' Hakuno and Hakunon were 18 when they first met. Assuming that he and his sister had been born in '90, their father should die at the very latest in 1989. That was a whole decade— heh —before where they were now. Then that led to the question of why are they needed in 1989. Was there something special about that year? 33 years before the present…
33 years… Where did he hear that recently?
"Damn you! Stay still!" Spriggan cried in anger as his lasers failed to hit his opponent. All there was a blur of red speeding all around him before— "AH!" —he was sent flying and crashing into the pile of rocky Ghoul remains. The Phantom's soldiers barely lasted ten seconds— no, not even that much —before being reduced to dust by the black Decade using this World's Rider powers, and he would be joining them if he didn't find a way to turn this around.
And fortunately for Spriggan, there was still something that could do that. He looked around and spotted her: the girl he was supposed to destroy the hopes of. She was silently watching from behind a nearby tree. He had to do it; if he didn't or miscalculated, he was dead either way. The Phantom took aim and shot a laser beam at the tree. The look on the girl's face as she realised he was now targeting her was one to remember but thankfully for Spriggan, his calculations were correct—the red blur came between them and took the attack for her.
CLOCK OVER!
The copied form disappeared as the black Decade dropped to his knees in pain. "Well played, Spriggan," the Dark Rider gritted out in astonishment and admiration. Underneath that was also a sense of demented joy at him. "For a Phantom to threaten the life of the Gate they were trying to turn, you must be at the ends of your rope. Nice to know I could still do that."
Decade's attempt to goad a reply from Spriggan did not work; the Phantom immediately fired more lasers at the kneeling Rider. "Tsk, boring."
KAMENRIDE:
"Henshin."
WIZARD
The Dark Rider, however, was still faster. The beams ended up striking a red circle with symbols and writings on it that appeared in front of him upon scanning the Rider Card. The circle moved backwards as Decade got to his feet, changing his form as it swept over his body.
Hi-Hi Hi-Hi-Hi!
"That is…" Spriggan whispered; the shock was clear in his unblinking eyes at the Rider's new yet familiar form.
"Now then—" Decade pulled back the black flaps around his legs and pulled out both the RideBooker in its sword mode and a silver blade that had a black hand with a golden trim moulded into its hilt. "—it's showtime!"
"Wizard!?" Whatever composure Spriggan had popped like a bubble. Even though he knew it was a false copy of the real Wizard that was in his original World, Decade had no doubt the experience and ability to perfectly replicate or even surpass the Ringed Magician Spriggan knew.
Snapping back to the battle, the Phantom shot more lasers at the fake Wizard— "Not good enough~" His swords deflected the beams as he charged forward. Before Spriggan knew it, pain cut across his chest and he stumbled back as sparks flew into the air. A swift follow-up kick then knocked him away, leaving him struggling on the ground. "You know? I pity you, Spriggan."
"Shut up…"
Decade didn't stop talking despite the Phantom's quiet anger. "To be sent by your boss on a suicide mission is just sad. To be honest, it's pretty clear they were never expecting you to come back since they sent you to stop me of all people. Even if it was supposed to be the real me."
"Shut up!"
"You screwed up another mission before, didn't you? Why else would they loan you out to Swartz? He has a reputation of using and sacrificing his allies to further his own goals. The second you joined Dai-Shocker, your fate was sealed," Decade sighed. "On the bright side, the human you were born from could finally rest in peace knowing the monster using his face will be nothing more than specks of dust in the wind."
Now that it was abundantly clear he would not shut his mouth, Spriggan resorted to do so by force. Needless to say, it immediately went wrong. His attempt to literally cut Decade down to size was met with the silver blade blocking his attack. The Phantom quickly raised his shield to protect himself from Decade's other weapon but he instead was swept off his feet again. A second kick then sent him flying through the air again. "Hmm… maybe they just saw how useless you are and just didn't care if you got killed off on a mission? Nah, that can't be right. Phantoms are surprisingly a tightly-knit community," Decade loudly muttered. "Whatever the case is, they do know you won't be coming back. It's time for the finale~"
FINAL ATTACKRIDE:
Spriggan heard the sound of clattering as Decade tossed away his swords. He dusted off his hands before closing his Driver. "Wait…" the Phantom weakly pleaded but either went unheard or ignored.
WI-WI-WIZARD
Decade twirled around, the ends of his trenchcoat loudly flapping in the wind, as a smaller version of the magic circle from earlier appeared below his feet. A burst of flame erupted from it, enveloping the Rider's left leg but not harming him at all. As befitting of a finale, he made a spectacle out of it—he cartwheeled into a backflip through the air. He let out a war cry as his Rider Kick connected before landing gracefully on the ground.
The magic circle appeared on Spriggan's body as the monster burst into flames. As the cold hands of death wrapped its fingers around him, he could only let out one final curse. "Damn you… Decade…" The Rider's only reply was a smug scoff.
As Decade said, the Phantom blew into smithereens, becoming dust in the wind. With the fight now over with his decisive victory, Decade reverted into his real form before his armour disappeared completely. "That was a nice exercise," Fujimaru stretched his arms to cool down from what he saw as a fun way to pass time. "Now then… what do I do with you?" He glanced towards the girl he saved who had been watching the entire time. "You're not just some ordinary girl, are you? You barely batted an eye at what I did."
"And you're clearly not some wandering mage either," she retorted as she stepped out from her not-so-secret hiding spot. "Who are you? What was that person?"
"It's a pretty long story," answered Fujimaru with a laugh. "First things first, we better get out of here. It's almost time."
"Almost time for—" Wiiish "—what? …Huh?" Before she realised, her surroundings changed. The mostly-picturesque park turned into an urban environment of the city skylines. "That was… teleportation?" She muttered. It was most definitely not a Reality Marble at the very least. "Who are you?" She asked again as Fujimaru walked over to the fenced edge of the rooftop.
"I'm just a… nah, not going to say it yet," he laughed at the joke only he understood. "I'm just a wanderer, nothing more." But certainly something less but Fujimaru kept things to himself. "Hey, have you ever thought about how things can just… change? One moment, you think everything is fine but then the next, it's like nothing is the same anymore."
The girl thought about it for several seconds before answering with, "I do."
"Huh, you are really different than I thought," Fujimaru hummed to himself. "You also ever wished for the times before? Ever wanted to just go back to the days you thought you understood everything?"
"Yes…" The girl joined him by the fence. She followed his gaze to try figuring out what he was watching only to see that he was looking up at the sky. "And you?"
"I… don't really know to be honest. Compared to what I do now, my old days were just less complicated but still very eventful if you get what I'm saying. It was always about saving the world here and defeating bad guys there. But now, I can't really say if I'm actually saving anything or in the right anymore."
"Hey, are you saying that helping me was a bad idea?" The girl sounded offended. Whether she actually was or faking it to make him feel better was not totally clear.
His reply, however, only earned him a glare from her blue eyes. "I dunno. You could still be a serial killer for all I know."
"Where do you get off accusing people you just met of being murderers?" She yelled at him only for Fujimaru to let out an amused laugh. "Continue acting like that and I might end up proving you right," she grumbled with crossed arms.
"Eh, I'd be the one winning in that case and you strike me as a sore loser."
"Oh, so now we're going into straight insults," the girl rolled her eyes. Well, two can play at that game. "For someone willing to go out of their way to help a stranger, you're quite the jerk."
"…If that's your idea of a comeback, that's a pretty weak one. Come back in a few years and try again."
"You're lucky this fence is here."
"So not only a potential killer, you're also a pretty ungrateful one at that. I bust my butt off saving you and here you are talking about throwing me off the roof," Fujimaru teased her. At this point, she knew it was better for the sake of her sanity to stay silent and not give him any more ammo. Unfortunately, Fujimaru was not giving her the chance to be quiet. "Do you want to know why I brought you here?" he asked.
"Was it not just out of the kindness of your heart?" She sarcastically replied.
"Not completely, I have ulterior motives for you. It's nothing bad, I promise," Well, at least he's honest about it. "I just need you to remember this day as the most important day in your life."
"Good luck with that, I've been a lot. What happened was not that important." Oh, she'll certainly remember this day for the rest of her life but nothing would beat that day all those years ago.
"Oh, definitely ungrateful," Fujimaru accused her again with a smirk. "But the day is far from over. After all, they've not arrived yet."
"They?" Her confusion was met with a small chuckle before Fujimaru asked another question.
"Do you believe we're alone in the universe? Yes or no, the truth is that there are things out there we could never hope to understand. Why not aliens too? I'm sure you know about that giant spider in South America. Not bragging but I fought and beat that bastard once. Never. Again." Fujimaru shivered as he recalled that time all those years ago.
The girl, meanwhile, just gave him a look of disbelief—as in one where she outright didn't believe him, not of astonishment.
"Don't give me that look, I'm being completely honest here. Cross my heart and hope to die!"
"Yeah, totally believe you." Her voice was absolutely oozing with sarcasm. "And I'm the Queen of Sheba."
"Oh, I met her too," Fujimaru cheerfully replied without missing a beat, earning him another eye roll. "No wonder you spend time feeding pigeons. You probably don't have any friends if you don't believe someone pouring their heart out like me."
"My assessment of you is proving correct," the girl snarkily remarked.
"Then I must be doing something right for you to keep talking to me. Let me guess, you're entranced by my good looks?" He tried to tease her only for the girl to scoff.
"What good looks? You look like you don't bother checking a mirror." The mop of brown hair he had looked like it hadn't been combed in a while… not that she was paying attention.
"Blame that idiot, not me. It's not my fault he can't stand looking at his reflection for long… actually, it sort of is," Fujimaru realised. "In any case, I know that I attract lots of eyes for whatever reason. You just have to give me time."
"…Not interested."
"Ouch. Anyway, back to the topic—" That tangent helped pass the time but now was the moment of truth. "I brought you here so you could see it: the moment a World's fate is decided."
"Hmm?" What did that mean?
"Look up."
"It's time," Takaragi's sudden proclamation disturbed the peace Ritsuka was enjoying.
'Time for whatever big incident he's been going on about…' Ritsuka thought before— "Look up." —Fujimaru's voice rang in his head. Without thinking, he followed his words and stared up into the blue sky to see…
"What's… that?" He heard Ryotaro choke out. He must have noticed him looking up and followed his lead. Their talking must've gotten the attention of the other patrons as everyone else in the café was also staring in shock at the sky.
"What else could it be?" Takaragi cooly replied, the only one not bothering to stare at the flaming ball burning through the atmosphere. "It's a meteor, plain and simple."
"Hey, is it just me or is it getting bigger?!"
"Excellent observation, peachy," Takaragi complimented with a sardonic tone. "Did you know? Most meteors that enter the Earth's atmosphere tend to burn up before ever getting close to the ground. Unfortunately, that specific one is too big for that and it's on a literal crash course to—"
Shibuya…
'Where did they go?' He was right behind them but lost them in the crowds. He can't lose them now; not after searching for so long. The young boy scanned the faces around him the best he could before finally— 'There!' —spotting the girl that was with them. It seemed she got separated from her parents and was on the lookout for them too.
"Hey, you!" He tried calling out to her but she could hear him. What was her name? He couldn't just call her "you," the entire time. That was when he noticed everyone's attention being grabbed by something.
"What's that?!" "Is it gonna hit here?!" "Run away!" Various panicked voices cried all around him, necessitating the boy to see what was wrong. He followed their gazes too and understood what everyone was getting worked up about: a burning meteor heading straight for them. At the speed it was going, he estimated just barely a minute before it hits the city—nowhere near enough time to escape.
Panic quickly enveloped the masses as the realisation of death swiftly approaching hit them; the boy found himself thrown around and nearly deafened as frightened screams filled the air. However, he had to steel himself and reach the girl before it was too late. He pushed himself through the fleeing crowd and reached out his hand as a loud crack filled the air before dust enveloped him.
The sound of the meteor striking Shibuya resonated across the city, even sending out a shock wave that sent small objects outside flying and even shattering windows. To the witnesses of the disaster, they were stunned into silence and unable to form any coherent thoughts. Well, most except for a select few.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Fujimaru asked, awe in his eyes as he watched the smoke rising from the district. "Just like that, everyone's lives were turned upside down. From now on, this World will never be the same anymore."
"You…" The girl muttered. She was unable to tear her eyes away from what she was seeing. In the back of her mind, she knew she could have easily been caught in the disaster had she not been teleported away. "…How could you just stand there and look so amazed like that?" There might be some survivors but in the course of a few seconds, hundreds if not thousands of lives were snuffed out.
And the person standing next to her, who witnessed the same thing she did, had the biggest grin on his face. The clear joy in his eye was just as horrifying as the disaster before them. "Simple," he answered still grinning. "What we just witnessed was both the end and beginning of a story. In that rubble, a hero's journey is ending and starting at the same time. What else could bring so much joy?"
"A hero…?"
w
"Walking the path of heaven, ruling over all—the original that is," Fujimaru monologued. "I don't know his name yet but he'd always be the latter at least. The World itself revolves around him; the one fated to protect it from a terrible future just as he had saved it."
To the girl, he made absolutely no sense; it was like a switch has been flipped in his head and he turned into a maniac. His next words further cemented his demented mindset. "What terrible future is in store for you, Kabuto? What will you encounter? What pain will you go through to save those you love? I can't wait to see the destruction this World will experience… Come."
"Hey, wai—" Fujimaru grabbed the girl by the arm before she felt something wash over her again. She suddenly felt her eyes stinging and it was as if something was suffocating her; she quickly raised her hand to her face only to discover there was nothing there. The feeling still continued and as she tried breathing in, her throat felt like it was burning and she devolved into coughing fits.
"Where…" She choked out, trying to see her surroundings through watery eyes. All she could see was black smoke and rubble but that was enough to tell her where she was. Whether she was inside or outside was not completely clear; the hot smoke made it hard to tell but the next question was why were they there?
"You're probably wondering why I brought you back here." She'd say he was a mind reader (if she could stop coughing up dust) but that sort of thinking was a no-brainer. "And the answer to that issss… to leave you here."
"Wha—cough!"
"Sorry about this but if you weren't so casual about everything, I didn't need to do this," Fujimaru sighed, sounding genuinely apologetic… before adding, "Actually, I probably would have done this anyway to cover my bases. Still, sorry." She felt him shove her into a nearby wall—or what remains of one—before the sound of crumbling echoed through the air. Another cloud of dust covered her before part of the ceiling came down on top of her. A pained scream escaped her as her lower body was swiftly buried under the rubble and ashes.
"Why…?"
"Seems this is going to be goodbye, whatever-your-name-is," the girl heard him say. He didn't seem affected by the dust in the air and continued talking without issue. "Believe me when I say I hope you get through this but know that if you don't, I'll mourn you. I remember all the faces I've gotten killed although I'm pretty sure this constitutes as a murder. Still, I won't forget you anytime soon just as you won't be forgetting me for the rest of your life." He let out a short snicker at his own dark humour. "If you do survive this, don't bother looking for me. The earliest you can expect me here is in seven years and I won't be here long. Chances of you seeing me again are as slim as you getting through this alive."
The ceiling started creaking again, signalling that it was going to collapse again.
"And that's my cue to leave," Fujimaru remarked. He crouched down next to her; she tried to raise her arms but couldn't muster the energy to even lift a finger. That gave him the time to take out another card and put it against her head. She heard a strange noise come from it before Fujimaru stepped away with a satisfied "hmph."
"Wait…" the girl croaked out. "Your name… please…"
"Still on that, huh?" Fujimaru let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, fine. A dying girl's last wish, right? My name is Fujimaru Ritsuka."
"Fujimaru…" She muttered as her vision started to turn black. "I'll find you… and make you pay…"
"Good luck with that. The only place you'll find me is in hell," he answered now with complete seriousness. "See you when I see you, whoever you are."
A final crack in the air and the ceiling fully collapsed, burying the girl completely. As her mind slipped into unconsciousness, there was only one thought repeating itself: "I'll find you, I swear it…"
A tear ran down his cheek much to Ritsuka's own confusion. He felt a melancholic sensation in his chest but he didn't think it was coming from the sight of disaster in the distance. 'Why… do I feel this way?' He questioned himself as his chest tightened.
"Huh, guess you can feel bad for others, Ritsuka-kun," Takaragi commented with some surprise in his voice. Unlike Ryotaro or Momo, he did not care at all about the senseless destruction that just happened.
"…Looks like it," Ritsuka admitted, wiping away the single teardrop. 'But never mind that.' "So? Where's this path Swartz was talking about?" That's why they bore witness to this tragedy—to reach the next World. If they believed in Swartz, the path should have opened now.
"Give it a couple of seconds, a pivotal moment like this—" Takaragi gestured in the direction of the disaster, "—should be seen through to the end. If things remain the same as before here, there's still one more thing that needs to happen."
"And that is?"
"The passing of the torch."
"Mama… papa…" a weak voice cried out in the midst of the ruins of Shibuya, stirring the boy out of his daze. "Save me… I'm right here…"
The boy's head was still spinning but he was vaguely aware of the debris pinning him down in place. His vision soon straightened and his worry that he was blown far away from that girl was for nothing; she was right in front of him, also stuck underneath the remnants of a building. So close but still far out of reach.
"Where are you…? Save me…" she continued to plead, making the boy wonder if she truly realised what had happened. It wouldn't be surprising if she had a concussion. However, that just strengthened his desire to get them both out of there. He grunted as he tried to get out from underneath the concrete on top of him but was not strong enough.
'No, it can't end like this. Not here…' An act of god should have been a perfect ending for him but he wanted— no, needed to get her out of this. She has not done anything to deserve this fate. Her only sin was being born to those two. However, try as he may, he was stuck and unable to do a thing. If they stay here any longer, it wouldn't be long before they're either suffocated by dust, burned alive, or just plain crushed to death by falling debris.
Still, he didn't give up and continued trying. There was little that could be done yet he kept reaching out. 'I'm here. I'll save you…' He tried to say but could only think that. It was a hopeless situation, he knew that, but letting things end was completely out of the question. Not when there was something worth fighting for right in front of him. But at this point, he could only hold out for a miracle.
—"Keep fighting. You can do it."
'…Who?' He mentally asked before a bright light shined on them from above…
The moment was now upon them—the moment a World's future branches off into its own path at the expense of another. One future died out but in exchange, one with more light took its place.
"Then again, I don't think anyone in that future would mind," Swartz mused to himself as he watched the frozen chaos. If anything, it was a beautiful end to a World with no future; all the people in that terrible time could do was wait to die. Not unlike the future he hailed from. And just like his, it came to an end thanks to a Rider doing whatever it took to protect those he cared about. "Walking the path of heaven… but never a king."
But that didn't matter now, that story will have to wait. Swartz should focus on opening the path to Kiva's World. Thanks to this moment in time having been altered, the barriers should be weakened enough; it was time to send them to the day another World was born. The Time Jacker took out a red and yellow RideWatch but instead of activating it, he tightened his grip on it and focused. After a few seconds of concentrated effort, the freshly-procured Kiva RideWatch cracked and lost all its colour.
With his task complete, Swartz toss the RideWatch aside and summoned another portal to leave. 'I entrust you to notice, Takaragi Yuu…' It was now up to the new DiEnd to take them to the last date to stop Another Den-O once and for all. From that day, his creation would be only a single jump away from 1971. It won't be easy, but it was more than possible to find a person who could send him to his intended last stop.
'If only his fate was not already written,' Swartz thought as he departed 1999 for the final date: December 26th, 1989.
Next Time in Across the Kaleidoscope…
"He's a good man but… he's also the worst."
"You really got jealous of your brother that much? I didn't think you'd have it in you, Hakunon."
"Now that we are all here together… someone tell me what the hell's going on!"
"This day… again…"
Chapter 38: Birth
A/N: And finally, we're reaching the end of Den-O's arc. I bet you weren't expecting me to throw in Kabuto, did you? Welp, I'm pretty sure you can now guess what I'm planning for that arc.
And then the Spriggan plotline led into the introduction of a character that'd be pretty important in the future… maybe. If you can guess who it is, I applaud you but you'll also be left wondering why. The answer to that is… my friends somehow managed to convince me to throw her in. So what better chapter to set her up than the one with the same year?
Now that's two important characters set up to return in the future—Shiki and mystery girl. A guy, and a girl… hmm… you can probably guess where I'm going with this, right?
In any case, enjoy the chapter and please leave a review. See you all next time!