The sound of gunfire echoed through and miniature explosions lit the testing chambers as the three members of Metsuboujinrai watched their fourth use their new upgrade. Despite only being obtained the previous night, Naki was already an expert in using the new Progrise Key.

"Pretty amazing, isn't it?" Raiden was in awe at the firepower Naki was carrying. "Those cannons sure pack a punch. It just ripped apart the training droids like nothing."

"Yeah… pretty cool…" The monotonous response from the most childish member of their group made Raiden grumble under his breath.

"Stop being a spoilsport, Jin. It makes you look immature."

"But whyyyy?!" Jin sulked. "Why does Naki get all the cool stuff? Horobi and I put in way more effort in helping the Ark yet they're the one with the upgrade?!"

"Hey, I've been helpful too!" retorted Raiden before he quickly corrected himself. "I mean, killing humans is not the only way we could help HumaGears. Naki has been busting their ass off with helping with infrastructure and security for years now."

"Raiden is correct, Jin. However, this is not a matter of "reward." Naki has the highest compatibility with the Assault Wolf ProgriseKey; it is only natural they are the one to use it," Horobi explained to his son.

Raiden then jokingly suggested, "Go beg the big guy if you want an upgrade too. Maybe you'll catch the Ark on a good day and it'll make you one."

"Hmm… Not a bad idea actually." Jin seriously considered, making Raiden facepalm. "What's better than a falcon… oh got it! A flaming falcon! …No, that doesn't sound quite right…"

"Sometimes I really worry about your programming, Jin…"

"Leave him be," Horobi stepped in again before returning his focus towards Naki's training session. "Naki! Finish it!"

"Affirmative."

MAGNETIC STORM UTOPIA!

Section 14: Airing Things Out

Ritsuka exited the Shadow Border and stretched his arms and legs out. His mind was still stuck on what Tsukasa had said but he tried to file those thoughts for later; right now he had other matters that required his attention. Namely, Takumi and Hiden. The latter should be in his basement while the former…

"Finally awake? You sleep just as much as that guy." The gruff, sharp tone could only belong to Kadoc as he came up to Ritsuka.

"Good morning Kadoc."

"It's already noon."

"Oh… Good afternoon then," Ritsuka quietly laughed to himself as Kadoc rolled his eyes. "How are things now?"

"Could be worse. At least we don't have anything trying to bust down our doors at the moment," Kadoc stated.

"You're quite the optimist, aren't you?" The other man's only response was to roll his eyes again. "Have you seen where Takumi is? I want to talk to him."

"I saw him skulking around the laundry room out back. Maybe he's decided to clean some clothes we had lying around," guessed Kadoc before giving him directions towards the laundry room.

Ritsuka thanked him and went off to look for Takumi while Kadoc resumed doing whatever he was doing. It was only a short walk from their garage to the "laundry room." In reality, it was just a semi-decently large room without a roof where dirty rags and clothes were hung on loose wires. There was a sizable washbasin in the corner, next to a large hole in the wall, where Ritsuka saw Takumi crouching.

"…get it's an apocalypse but come…" he faintly heard his muttering over the splashing of water as he approached. Before Ritsuka could say anything though, Takumi was already a step ahead. "Fujimaru, right?" The Rider somehow identified him without even glancing back. "If you wanna talk, make yourself useful first and hang that pile up."

Ritsuka absentmindedly nodded and did as told; he was reeling slightly from the sight of the somewhat rude man rolling up his sleeves and manually cleaning each piece of dirty clothing himself to come up with a coherent thought. It was only after hanging up about a quarter of the wet pile that he finally said anything. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" He rhetorically retorted. "These people don't really have the time or energy to keep good hygiene. Might as well help out and clean their laundry since I've got nothing better to do."

That was reasonable; it was much better than simply freeloading until something happens.

"So? What did you want to talk about?" Takumi asked as he finished washing the next shirt and tossing it to the pile of wet clothes. "If it's about that pink bastard, there's not much else I can tell you about him. He's a dick, but a reasonable one and a great ally to have… most of the time."

"I'm well aware of that already," Ritsuka chuckled before a more grim expression covered his face. "You see, one of the 'benefits,' quote-unquote I have is that I can see some of my Servants' memories and I saw something about you in Tsukasa's last night."

To Ritsuka's surprise, the mention of dream-watching wasn't what got Takumi's attention. "Servants? Tsukasa's one now?"

"You know what they are?" They've never mentioned it in his presence before yet but Takumi was already well-informed.

"To an extent, something about people fighting to the death for a wish," Takumi shrugged. "I heard Tsukasa and another Rider stumbled into one some time back. Don't know much beyond that. It just sounds like the Rider Fight to me. So what did you see?"

"Well… I know you said you were already dead and all but…" Ritsuka hesitated for a moment but decided to be out with it. "Tsukasa was visiting your gravestone."

To his surprise again, Takumi was still nonchalant about it. "Oh, that thing? Don't think too hard about it. That's just a large can of worms you don't want to open."

"It can't be that complic—"

"Alternate timelines and time loops."

"…Never mind then."

"The gist of it was that I died— again. But I'm alive again… maybe," sighed Takumi before resuming his task. "Was that all you wanted to ask me about?"

"Basically, yeah." That was the most pressing topic on Ritsuka's mind regarding Takumi. He was more than willing to continue doing chores with him though and hang up more of the clothes to dry.

After a couple of minutes, Takumi suddenly remembered something. "Oh, by the way, do you know any cloaked cryptic men?"

"Uh… several?" Some of the Hassans could qualify, they sometimes wore cloaks and cryptic. There was also Merlin and the Count. "You'll have to be more specific."

"Some ginger with glowing eyes."

"…Oh, him." Ritsuka didn't mean it in a derogatory way or anything but he instantly knew who Takumi was talking about. "He's… sort of an ally? It's hard to say to be honest. When did you run into him?"

"Not too long before my hideout got discovered. Doesn't really matter but he said that the person I'm looking for would soon appear and lo and behold…"

"You were looking for me?"

"No, I was looking for Tsukasa," Takumi bluntly answered, making Ritsuka sulk a bit. "But that cloaked guy called you similar to Tsukasa. A destroyer."

"A destroyer?" Ritsuka parroted on instinct, prompting Takumi to explain a bit more.

"A destroyer of Worlds. Someone who just appears one day, turning the order of the World upside down before finally, destroying everything and everyone that exists in that World," he explained in a casual manner, as if it was a normal job a regular person tends to have. "It's what Tsukasa does but as you've already seen, he slacks on it whenever he can. Had he not decided to give the people here another shot, this World would have been gone before either of us had the chance to come here."

Giving what Takumi said even a second of thought, Ritsuka understood why that person would call him and his Servant similar. "I see… I suppose I am like him in that way." Sure, the Lostbelts were always meant to be destroyed but even so…

Whether it was because he sensed Ritsuka feeling down or just the way he was, Takumi continued talking. "Never thought I'd see the day someone would say they're like that pink bastard. They'd usually consider him below or way above themselves."

"And you?"

"I would like to say I'm one of his many equals as a Rider…"

"But?"

"Don't tell him I said this but he can kick my ass all day long if he feels like it," Takumi grumbled. "Not just mine, he's already proven himself capable of beating any Rider and those Sentai guys. You can count on one hand how many people can defeat him if he's serious."

Well, as a Servant, he's certainly proven himself to be in the upper echelon in terms of strength among those in Chaldea. He was also considered stronger than every other Kamen Rider here. "He really is dead set on keeping up his reputation, huh?"

"Basically," scoffed Takumi. "But enough about that guy, let me hear about you."

"What about me?"

"You know, how did you end up where you are? Not that I really care if you tell me or not."

"There's not much to say about myself, really," answered Ritsuka. "I was just your average teen… then I got recruited by Chaldea and things happened. Now I'm here."

"Sounds like you skipped out on a lot of details." Takumi was as brusque as ever. "Then again, it's not like I could talk either. Things happened and now I'm here. Lost a lot of people on the way but all I can really do is soldier on. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah… unfortunately… But that's just life, isn't it?" At least that was one of the many things he told himself to help ease his mind. Sometimes he feels like there were too many people lost but it wasn't like there was anyone to complain to, was there?

Takumi, however, did not like the way he tried brushing it off. "If you say that, then either you haven't lost many people, or you lost a lot more than you should."

"I—"

"It's unfair, but for the sake of everyone who's fallen, you have to keep going, right?" Takumi didn't need an answer; Ritsuka's expression told him all he needed to know. "I won't say you're wrong in thinking that, but try to at least talk to someone, okay? It's unhealthy keeping it all to yourself."

"…"

"Anyway, this is the last of it." With a satisfied hum, Takumi stood up and hung the last piece of clothing himself. He patted Ritsuka on the back as he walked past him on his way out. "Nice talk. See you around, kid."

Ritsuka could only mutter a "See you…" in response.

Meanwhile…

Once again, Hiden found himself staring up at the satellite's "eye" in his basement. Lately, he found himself staring at it more and more. He supposed he just had more things to think about as of late…

However, this time, his thoughts were interrupted by the voice of one Kadoya Tsukasa. "What was supposed to happen with it, anyway?" He asked as he walked up next to Hiden.

"Huh?"

"The satellite," he offhandedly waved his hand at the piece of machinery before them. "What did they plan to do with it?"

"Oh… From the plans left behind, Zea was meant to be a backup in case something goes wrong with the Ark." Hiden did not know what happened to the A.I. that was meant to be uploaded into it but he assumed it was just never completed. "Why are you asking?"

"Zero-One transforms with Zea's help," the older man answered without missing a beat. "It also connects every HumaGear in the better history but that's to be expected when it's supposed to replace the Ark."

"…Talking about him won't change anything," Hiden muttered in a low voice.

Despite speaking quietly, Tsukasa still heard him. "So you're content with just letting things end here? Whatever happened to never giving up? Not that I blame you, but if you give up, you forfeit whatever future this World has."

"Why do you think me becoming Zero-One would magically fix everything?" From his dreams of Zero-One, he was not like some god who can rewrite reality. He was just a normal Rider just like the others.

Tsukasa's reply only made things make less sense. "Whoever said anything about fixing anything?"

"Then why are you so adamant about me becoming Zero-One? Just because I have this Key?" Hiden took out the Rising Hopper ProgriseKey to serve his point. "This Key is not more important than any other one that exists."

"Perhaps, but what went into that Key is much different than any other. After all, your father made it especially for you, didn't he?"

"That's…"

"There was a reason he made it and you know what it is," Tsukasa stated, staring him dead in the eye. "If you give up on that, with no hopes and dreams left, there's no reason for this World to continue." Hiden remained silent as he tried to come up with the right words to refute Tsukasa. "…Here."

Tsukasa took something out of his pocket and carelessly tossed it at Hiden, who caught it with both hands. Even with a passing glance at it, he already knew what it was. "Where did you find this?" He raised the confiscated ForceRiser.

"Don't question me… and that girl is terrible at hiding things," Tsukasa smirked to himself. "In any case, get ready. Metsuboujinrai will be attacking soon; I can feel it." With that last warning, Tsukasa turned around and left again.

Hiden watched him leave before his eyes drifted back towards the ForceRiser. "Another fight… huh…?" He muttered to himself. "Dad… was this what you wanted for me when you gave me that Key…?"

The key to his dreams… but there's no point in having that dream anymore, was there?

'No, there is.' A tiny voice in his head screamed. 'Keep believing… and make it a reality.'

"…But I can't…"

A/N: New chapter! Another confrontation is on the horizon but MBJR has a new power-up ready. But will it be enough to defeat our heroes? That remains to be seen but I'm sure it'll be fun to write. The Ritsukas meanwhile have to deal with some stuff they kept locked up in their chests but I'm sure one of them will be able to resolve things by the end.

I also want to throw Kadoc and Takumi together for a scene since they're both wolves (maybe a training scene?). Maybe I can get that next chapter but now that just leaves Ophelia who doesn't really have anyone besides Mash. Eh, that might be good enough but I still want to give her some important role soon. I sort of have an idea going for that but it remains to be seen whether it can be done.

Anyway, that's all I have to say so please leave a review and see you all next time!