"Anne!"

"Anne!"

"Anne!"

"Anne!"

"Anne!"

"Anne!"

"Anne!"

"ANNE!"

Anne gasped as she opened her eyes. The Thai teen found herself staring up into vast sky filled with colorful shooting stars, and twinkling, distant, stars. She didn't really understand what was happening, because the last thing she remembered was seeing the crying faces of those she loved before she closed her eyes and went to sleep. No, she died, that was death. Anne had heard that it was like going to sleep, and strangely, it felt just like that. There wasn't any fear in her heart, nor anxiousness, just peace. But now…why was she alive?

Anne managed to sit up and saw that she was lying on a small piece of land that was floating in this vast space. It had a tree that looked as if it was in the middle of autumn, a cute little cottage, part of a fence line, a pond, a small bench, a little vegetable garden, the mailbox from her house, and for some reason she saw the Plantar family sign sticking up out of the ground at the edge of the floating island.

The Thai teen glanced to her right just as a huge comet flew past the floating island. She felt like she should be scared, but there was something about this place. It didn't feel like a place that would invoke fear, but it did pique her curiosity.

Carefully, Anne arose and walked towards the small cottage, not sure what she was going to find or who she might find inside of it. She got down on her knees and opened the door. Inside of the cottage was homey. The wallpaper had leaf decorations on it, and the pink curtains on both windows had a lotus pattern similar to the one on her shirt back home. There were some tree roots growing through the inside the room, creating a small canopy of branches and leaves near the ceiling. Speaking of the ceiling, it was decorated with dozens of glowing-in-the-dark star stickers.

On the left side of the room, Anne saw a stand with the homemade figurine of Anne that Sprig made for her. On the right side of the window was a picture of Sasha in a pink heart shaped frame, and on the left side of the window was a picture of Marcy in a green heart shaped frame. Towards the back wall was a wood burning stove that had a few logs burning inside of it, along with a teakettle sitting on top of it. The wall had more pictures hanging from it. There was a framed picture of her parents, one of Sprig, another of Domino, and the last one was of Hop Pop and Polly. On a shelf between the two Plantar photos were the action figures from Sprig's room.

At the center of the room was a table and a collection of pillows laid out for people to sit on. To the right of the table was the stuffed toy version of Domino 2 when she was in her caterpillar state before she became a kill-a-moth. Sitting on the table was an old-looking computer.

On the computer, a chat window opened that read, "3_Stones_Deity would like to chat", and under it was an "Accept" button.

Still curious, Anne entered the cottage, closed the door behind her, and walked over to the table. She sat down on the cushion across from the computer and maneuvered the mouse's cursor to click on the "Accept" button, opening the chat window.

[Hello Anne O.o]

"Uh…okay." Anne began typing her response.

[Hi, who are you?
What's going on?]

Anne waited for a couple of seconds, and 3_Stones_Deity responded.

[I am the cosmic guardian who has watched over countless worlds for countless eons…:)]

Anne blinked.

Cosmic guardian? Like a god or something? Anne thought.

"Okay…"

[What's up with this old-timey computer?]

[Old? Are you human teens using something else these days?]

Anne chuckled as she typed, "You're off by a couple of decades."

[Huh. Well, perhaps we should try a different form…]

Suddenly, the computer started to glow with blinding light. Anne turned away for a moment, but slowly opened her eyes as the light started to fade and take form. After, the light stopped shining and sitting in place of the computer was her pet cat Domino. Although, unlike Domino, this one had a shimmering light glowing from the center of its eyes.

"How's this? Better?"

Anne gasped as her eyes widened and began to sparkle with joy.

"So much better! Come here, you!" Anne exclaimed as she immediately grabbed the lookalike of her pet and began to hug it.

"Hey, hey! None of that now," said the cat as they used their right paw to push Anne's face away.

Anne came back to her senses and gently placed the cat back on the table.

"Sorry, sorry. Got a little carried away there," Anne apologized.

The cat sat back down and stared up at Anne as they said, "I figured your response would be something like this. I am very cute. Well, Anne, I'm sure you have a few questions."

"Well more than a few…But I guess the most pressing one is…" Anne rubbed her right arm, both afraid to hear the answer, and at the same time eager to know. "Am I…Did I really die?"

"Yes, and no. You see, I made a copy of you right before you expired. A backup if you will. For all intents and purposes, you are the same Anne Boonchuy."

Anne's eyes grew wider upon hearing that answer.

"W-W-Wait a minute! Are…Are you saying I'm like…a clone?" Anne questioned.

The cat tilted their head curiously and asked, "I don't believe we have the same definition. You are Anne Boonchuy, nothing more and nothing less."

Anne wasn't sure how to take that answer, but she supposed a godlike being like the 3_Stones_Deity might not see it as a problem, or that there was a difference.

"Okay, well, that is going to cause some major existential dread for me later. So, you really are a…what? A god? Or…?"

The cat stretched and yawned, as if they really were a cat.

"Oh, just a watcher, a viewer. I'm not in the demographic though. I have been called other things, a god, the god, the Guardian, and so many others that I could spend countless years listing them all to you. But for simplicity's sake, call me whatever you'd like," said the cat.

"Okay, Guardian, why did you look like a computer earlier and why do you look like my cat now?" she asked.

"My true form would make your human mind explode."

Anne scoffed at the insinuation that whatever form the Guardian had would literally blow her mind.

"Dude, I've fought monsters on Amphibia, a Phantom who brought the dead to life, helped fight an evil version of Luz, and not too long ago fought a monster that looked like a sleep paralysis demon on steroids. I think I can handle whatever you really look–"

Suddenly, the cat was replaced by a being of incomprehensible shape and form, energy, power, thought, matter, time and space were all represented in this one cosmic force that floated before the human, her mind worked to try and comprehend this entity, but her mind could only perceive it as a mass of energy tinted in the three colors of the Calamity gems, and even that was too much, too overwhelming as Anne screamed in horror that her brain was literally about to explode inside of her skull.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

And in the next moment, the Guardian was back to looking like Domino and licking their paw.

"Okay, that's enough. I'd rather not have to bring you back a second time," said the Guardian.

Anne panted, it seemed as if the memory of that moment was wiped from her mind, but she knew it happened, which was fine because that feeling alone was enough to tell her to never question what the Guardian really looked like.

"Now, I think it's time we got down to 'brass tacks' as you humans say. Namely, the power of the gems and what their purpose is."

Anne's expression became serious, that was a burning question in her mind.

"What are the Calamity Stones."

"Calamity? That's what they were calling them?" The Guardian shrugged. "Oh, well. Mortals. Anyway, the 'Calamity Stones' are actually fragments of my power. Little pieces of it."

Anne's eyes widened when she heard that. No wonder the power she wielded felt so godlike, it was because it literally came from a god.

"And why did you send them to Amphibia of all places?" Anne asked.

"Oh, it wasn't just Amphibia." The Guardian waved their right paw and created multiple marble shaped spheres that glowed within the room. "I sent many stones across my section of the multiverse. It was completely random, some landed in human or human-like worlds, others landed in universes inhabited by nonhuman beings, like the Amphibians. Each of these universes has their own set of gemstones, and each civilization has used them in various ways."

Anne put her hand to her head as she tried to contemplate what they were telling her.

"Hold on, our section? You mean there are others?"

The guardian waved their right paw again and created odd shapes in the room.

"Each section of the multiverse has its own Guardian Deity. Our duty is to watch over, keep safe, and protect our section of the multiverse as a whole. I will say, out of the hundreds of thousands of universes I sent the gems to, yours is the only one that developed the power in such a way as it connected to another section of the multiverse."

The Guardian demonstrated this by showing a white line that connected to another odd shape in the air.

"There are times when one section of the multiverse will create connections to another. These connections can influence events in one or both sections. Somehow a connection was established with my section and the section that contains the multiverse of the Kamen Riders. I didn't really think much of it, not at first. But then I started to see some Riders appear. The first were the ones you know as the Pines twins."

"Mabel and Dipper, Kamen Rider Gemini," said Anne.

"Then came the girl you know as Luz Noceda, Kamen Rider Witch, and then you three. I thought this was going to be a one-off kind of event, that only one universe might be affected, but it seems it might be affecting more universes. More individuals. I was approached by an envoy of the Rider Multiverse, and he proposed a 'collaboration' if you will. That we would continue to allow this phenomenon to happen and see what new possibilities arise from it."

Anne raised an eyebrow and asked, "Who was the envoy?"

"Someone you've met. His name is Tsukasa Kadoya, Kamen Rider Decade."

"Tsukasa?! You met with him?!" Anne exclaimed.

"Yes, and his counterpart. The King of Kamen Riders, you've also met him as well. Briefly though, during your unexpected trip to the dark universe that contained Oscura. His name is Sougo Tokiwa, Kamen Rider Zi-O."

Anne thought back, remembering two Riders who came to help herself and Luz when they were storming Oscura's castle. She remembered one Rider being donned in golden armor and who could summon multiple Riders to become his own personal army. The other man with him had announced him as the King of all Kamen Riders past, present, and future.

"So, are Tsukasa and this Sougo guy…are they gods too?" Anne asked.

"In a sense, yes. From my understanding, Sougo rules the Rider Multiverse, keeping time and space balanced and maintaining order within their multiverse, protecting it from outside threats."

"Whoa…" Anne took a moment to let all that sink in, after she did, she asked, "Wait a second, you said all three gems contain fragments of your power. Which means there are hundreds of thousands of universes out there who could potentially obtain the same kind of power I did?"

"That is correct."

"So, what? Were you just going to sit and watch while The Core got the gems and went to commit multiversal conquest? That thing was dangerous to everyone and everything! Why didn't you or Tsukasa step in and do something?!" Anne accused.

The Guardian licked their paw for a moment and said, "Please calm down, Anne. The reason why I did not interfere is because I sent the gems out as a test."

"A test? What kind of test?"

"I wanted to see how mortals handled absolute power. Turns out, a lot of them can't. I've seen many universes where entire civilizations were brought to ruin in wars over the gems. I've witnessed as individuals fought and killed to gain the power of all three. And I've seen others, much like the ancient Amphibians, that sought to use the gems as a means of conquering other universes. All of these universes failed my test and brought their universes to ruin. Those that did present a threat to the multiverse were erased and reset."

"Wait, what?"

"What?"

"What did you just say you did to those universes that failed your tests?"

"I erased them and reset them."

"…"

"…"

"YOU CAN ERASE UNIVERSES AND RESET THEM?!" Anne yelled.

The Guardian nodded.

"Yes. It's actually really simple to do. Much in the same way I made a copy of you. I made copies of each universe before I inserted the stones into their lives. If their universe became too corrupt or threatened the stability of my section of the multiverse. I would simply erase them and replace them with the saved copy. I think you humans would call it a 'save point' in a video game."

Anne felt a little scared.

"So…you're saying if I failed to stop The Core…you would've erased Amphibia's universe?" Anne inquired.

"Either Tsukasa or I would've done so. But given the severity of what that monster could've become with the stones, I would've erred on the side of caution and had the both us use our power to erase the universe."

"Hold up! Tsukasa can erase universes?!" Anne exclaimed in shock.

"I guess he did not mention it. In the Rider Multiverse, he is also known as 'The Destroyer of Worlds'. The duties that I normally have are split between Sougo and Tsukasa. Because of his power to seamlessly slip into other universes that contain Kamen Riders, he's in a unique position to gather information and knowledge of that universe. And if he decides that it's too corrupt or too dangerous to exist, he erases them, and resets them. Giving that universe a chance to be reborn anew. But it would be that universe's choice whether it would repeat its mistakes or not. As I said, given the severity of the situation, had you failed to defeat The Core, both of us would've erased and reset everything."

"And Tsukasa would've been fine with that?" Anne asked.

"Not really. Despite his mannerisms, he very much wishes for you and other Riders to succeed in your Rider Journeys to become full-fledged Kamen Riders."

Anne let the gravity of that bear down on her. If she hadn't won her fight against The Core, Amphibia's universe, heck, possibly Earth's, and the Demon Realm's universes would've been erased and reset. There was no way they could just erase Amphibia and reset just that universe on its own, too much happened on Earth to just leave it like that.

"Well, I guess we failed your test, huh? And probably disappointed Tsukasa too?" Anne asked.

"Actually, no, you didn't."

"But…I destroyed the stones, and…I died," said Anne.

The Guardian disappeared and then reappeared atop Anne's afro hair and began to do the typical cat thing of running their paws through and circling.

"Yes, and yes. But Anne, you did something with the power I released that no one in hundreds of thousands of universes has been done. And the fact that you did it, is what makes what you did so amazing," said the Guardian.

The Guardian looked at Anne, albeit upside down.

"Would you believe, after about ten-thousand years, you are the only one among all the universes that used the stones for good?"

That was a bombshell, out of all those universes, over so many years, only one person used the stones' powers for good.

"But…I'm not the only one who used them! Sasha, Marcy, and I used the stones to save Amphibia! And Marcy became a Rider before me or Sasha, why don't you count her?" Anne asked, a little perturbed.

The Guardian nodded their head and jumped off Anne's head before dismissing the constructs in the room.

"Marcy Wu did fight to protect the people of Newtopia, but at the center of that, she was doing so as a means of escapism. Her intentions for delving into the fantasy role of a Kamen Rider wasn't solely out of a selfless need to protect people, but to also indulge in her fantasy life," the Guardian explained.

Anne really couldn't deny that. Marcy wanted them to never be apart, and she flourished in Amphibia, but only because she was so focused on living the fantasy life she had always dreamt of with the three of them. While her actions of defending others from the Fallen were noble, her reasons, technically, weren't as noble.

"And Sasha Waybright. Her intentions for her powers were selfish at the start. She only sought to use her power to rule Amphibia, bring you and Marcy together, and keep you two close to her side. Now, her intentions and reasons did change when she decided to protect the citizens of Wartwood and become the leader of the Resistance. But it was out of a need to atone for her selfish misdeeds in the past."

Again, Anne couldn't deny that. Sasha's view on her power was to just use it to take whatever she wanted, the throne of Amphibia, herself and Marcy, that was her goal. But Sasha did change, she wanted to become a better person, and Anne saw that she had. Although, that was later, initially, that wasn't the case.

"However, from the start, you didn't know if you wanted your powers. You were scared of them. But when you saw the monsters coming to attack you and the Plantars, you pushed those fears aside and embraced your powers to protect them. You could've done what Sasha did, you could've used your powers to rule Amphibia. But along the way, you only used them when you needed to, to protect others and yourself. You never set out to be a hero, Anne, but by your own actions had risen to the status of a hero. And these were reflected the most in two instances."

"W-When?" Anne asked.

"The first was when you and your friends decided to fight instead of run. You could've easily saved all the Amphibian citizens who were gathered close by, and taken the music box to Earth, out of the reach of The Core. But in the process, you would've lost the planet and every living being on it. But you all didn't. And the second was when you gave your life to save not just your world, but also a world that was not your own, inhabited by a people who looked nothing like you, but had become dear to you. You sacrificed your life out of love for them, even though you knew that you would no longer be with them. So, Anne, no, you did not fail my test, and I have no doubts that Tsukasa and the King of Kamen Riders would applaud you for your heroics."

Anne smiled upon hearing this, she never set out to gain the approval of a god and two Kamen Rider gods, but it felt nice knowing that she had it.

"Okay, but what was the test for? What was it meant to do?"

"Oh, yes, that. Ahem. Anne Savisa Boonchuy. Being the only mortal to have passed my test after ten thousand years, I would like to appoint you as my successor. I would like you to become the next Guardian of the Multiverse."

Anne's eyes practically bulged out of her skull as her jaw dropped.

"I'm sorry…but did you just ask me TO BECOME A GOD?!" Anne yelled.

"Well, yes. I did."

"B-B-B-B-B-BUT WHY ME?!" Anne asked.

"I literally just told you why a moment ago. Do you need me to rewind time? I can if you need me to," said the Guardian.

Anne shook her head.

"N-N-N-N-N-NO! Dude, I am not goddess material! I mean, look at me?!"

The Guardian looked at Anne up and down.

"I fail to see your point. If you're trying to denote an aesthetic reason for ineligibility, then it's lost on me. After living for countless years, you tend to not really care so much about appearances. Well, at least when doesn't come to accidentally melting your mortal brain."

Anne pressed her hand to her head as she said, "Okay, okay. J-Just give me a second, this is a way more than I was expecting to hear – scratch that, I didn't know what to expect when you said this was a test! This was the furthest thing from what I could've imagined this test was about…"

A couple of minutes passed as Anne calmed down and gathered her thoughts.

"Okay, so, why do you want a successor? Are you…dying or something?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that. I just feel that it's time for me to retire. I've been doing this job for an obscenely LONG TIME, it's quite exhausting. And I think it's time the multiverse had a fresh perspective on how things are run."

"I have two questions in regards to this job."

"Shoot."

"…What is the Dark Dimension?"

The Guardian's demeanor shifted some. Whereas before they had a playful air about them, but now, they seemed a little serious.

"The Core, the Fallen, all the monsters they created, it all stemmed when they found the Dark Dimension and harvested the Dark Ichor. What is it? Why does it exist? And why haven't you gotten rid of it if it you can so easily erase universes?" Anne questioned.

"Indeed. You do deserve an answer to that." The Guardian waved their paw again, and in the center of the room, right above Anne and the Guardian, formed a black spot. "The Dark Dimension is a primordial existence. It was here before my appointment, and no doubt will be here long after all Guardians have either retired like I wish to, or have their lives snuffed out."

"But what is it? And why can't you get rid of it?" Anne pressed.

"Truth be told, it's hard to describe, even for me. Some mortals have called it by different names. Purgatory. Hell. The Void. Oblivion. The other Guardians dare not tread inside of it. We can glimpse into it, but going there is out of the question. Specifically, because we aren't immune to the effects of the so called 'Dark Ichor'. There are some who believe that the Dark Dimension is the origin of all evil in the Multiverse, or that it is a place that evil is concentrated at and allowed to fester."

"What do you believe?"

The Guardian lowered their head and thought for a moment.

"I believe it is a place that has existed long before us. As I said, it is a primordial existence, something that predates me and other Guardians. There are primal forces at work in the Multiverse, both of light and dark. And these forces are above us, and therefore, we cannot erase them. Despite some who have tried. I consider it to be the worst kind of evil though."

Anne found it hard to believe that there was a worse kind of evil.

"The Dark Ichor is evil given physical form. It has no consciousness of its own, no will, no desire, only existence. It is what it is, and what it is, creates monstrosities like the Fallen you faced. Harvested correctly, like the ancient Amphibians did, it can create monsters like the Fallen. I must admit, they are the first civilization I've seen that successfully pulled off harvesting it and used it as a weapon. In hindsight, I should've stopped them then, but it was a good chance to see how the Dark Dimension operated, as well as to see what the capabilities of the Dark Ichor were. There's too much that is unknown about it, and I wanted to learn more so that I could better defend the multiverse."

Anne felt like she should be angry at the Guardian for not stopping Andrias's ancestors from using the Dark Ichor. But considering it was a place that a deity like them knew very little about, she couldn't completely fault them for not wanting to learn more about a potential threat to the multiverse.

"On a level I can understand why you did it. When I became one with the power of the stones, I could see everything. The universe was laid out in front of me. I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I know better than a god, considering all I could see was just one universe, when you can see many. You have to protect a lot of lives, I get it," said Anne.

The Guardian bowed their head slightly and said, "Thank you for understanding, Anne."

"And last question. Do I have a choice on whether or not I become a god?"

The Guardian raised their brow and replied, "Well of course you have a choice. I'm not a jerk."

That was a relief to Anne, she thought she was going have no choice but to accept the roll of becoming the next god of the multiverse, and considering who she was talking to, it was a blessing that she was even being given the choice. The Guardian could've just anointed her and that would've been it.

"Okay, well, in that case I'm going to pass," said Anne.

The Guardian, who was adopting the roll of a cat a little too much, paused in its action to lick its undercarriage and shot its gaze up at Anne with shock.

"WHAT?! No! I-I haven't even told you about all the benefits! I didn't even get to mention bagel Fridays yet!" The Guardian exclaimed.

"Sorry, dude. I mean, you do seem cool and all. But I'm just a thirteen-year-old kid," said Anne. "For every 'heroic deed' I did, I made a hundred dumb mistakes before that. Honestly, I'd probably blow up the multiverse on the first day."

The Guardian plopped their face against the table as they pounded their paws against it in frustration.

"Noooooo! Don't do this to me kid! Every mortal who got the stones turned into selfish, power-crazed nut jobs! And you became a hero! You are literally perfect!" The Guardian argued.

Anne blew a raspberry when she heard the Guardian call her "perfect".

"Dude, I am the furthest thing from perfect. No one's perfect. My time in Amphibia taught me that we're all changing and improving and learning as we go. Every time I hit an obstacle; I found a way to overcome it. When Sasha betrayed us at Newtopia, I had major trust issues that made me doubt Luz was a good person and I almost ended up hurting her. But it was thanks to that experience that I learned to trust again. Sasha finally understood the consequences of her actions, and as a result, strived to become a better person. Marcy regrets what she did, and when her safety didn't seem certain, she made the choice to give Sasha and made opening to defeat Darcy, instead of just letting herself become one with The Core. And because of this, our bond became stronger, and…so do our love for each other."

Anne chuckled as she remembered something else.

"Oh, and Wartwood, the oldest-fashioned, least accepting place, ended up accepting me as one of their own. Even when the Plantars and I came back after our journey to Newtopia, and I showed them my powers, they weren't afraid of me, they didn't hate me. They still accepted me. Like I said, no one's perfect, and neither am I, but we're all striving to be better than we once were," said Anne.

The Guardian listened to Anne's words, and a thought crossed their mind. They were very intrigued by this notion that Anne put forth, and it made them rethink their notions on the matter.

"So, to be clear, you're saying that you could continue improving? Maybe even one day feel worthy of this post?" The Guardian asked.

"It's possible, I mean, I have my whole life ahead of me to make bad choices and learn good lessons from them." Anne's expression fell into a sad smile. "Well, at least I did."

A very cattish grin formed on the Guardian's mouth as they said, "About that…"

Suddenly, the entire cottage and floating island vanished, and Anne found herself hovering over a swirling vortex of light that seemed to go on forever.

"WHOA, WHOA! W-WHAT'S HAPPENING?! AM I ACTUALLY DYING THIS TIME?!" Anne yelled.

"I'm sending you back to the world of the living."

Anne blinked, she thought she saw the Guardian move, but he was nowhere.

"You've shown me the error in my thinking. And if you can do that at age thirteen…"

Anne suddenly found herself looking a large paws. She craned her neck upwards and gasped upon seeing a divine angelic version of her cat, with majestic white feathered wings. The Guardians right eye had become the azure stone, the left eye the emerald stone, and adoring the center of its forehead was the magenta stone. The fur around its lower jaw had grown out, giving it a bearded appearance, along with its fur becoming silky shiny as it gleamed in the light that shined from the vortex below and the cosmos above.

"…Then imagine the Guardian you'll be after a life fully lived. Go now, and live your life, Anne Savisa Boonchuy."

Suddenly, gravity seemed to take effect as Anne fell towards the swirling vortex of light. Anne watched as the stars turned into streaks of light all around her, as if she was being hurled through time and space and drawing closer to the center of the vortex's light.

"I've waited thousands of years to retire. What's seventy-eight years more?"

"Wait! Are you saying seventy-eight years I'm gonna – AAAAAAH!"

Anne fell into center of swirling light and vanished from the Guardian's space. The angelic feline nodded approvingly and glanced about.

"What say you all? I think she'll be a good candidate," said the Guardian.

At the Guardian's right stood the spirits of Aja, Maurice, and Argus, the last three Amphibian Knights.

"She's definitely got the strength to do it," said Aja.

"Her mind could use some work, but she has great potential," Maurice commented.

"If nothing else, she certainly has the heart of a benevolent Guardian in the making," said Argus.

"And you, Tsukasa?"

The Destroyer of Worlds appeared on the left of the Guardian, hands in his pocket as he looked down at the vortex of light.

"Anne-kun is shaping up to be one of the greats. I also see potential in another as well, but her journey has yet to end," said Tsukasa.

"Another deity in the making?"

Tsukasa turned around and slowly walked away as he waved his hand and said, "Only time will tell."

The Guardian watched as the Silver Veil appeared and engulfed Tsukasa, transporting him back to his own multiverse. The Guardian took one last look at the vortex before the spirits of the Amphibian Knights returned to their resting place. With the Guardian transforming into particles of light.

"Until we meet again…"