Shinji had arrived back at ORE Journal's front building, he looked and found Tatsuya in the same spot, even towards the evening.
"Shinji you're back, how did things go with the Riders?" Tatsuya asked.
"Amazing! I may have screwed up a little bit, but I was much stronger!" Shinji said.
"Splendid, I'm glad I could be of some help," Tatsuya said.
"I want to thank you! Come with me!" Shinji said.
"Come with you?" Tatsuya said his eyes widened.
"I'm going to take you to a cafe. A way to repay my debt." Shinji said.
"If you insist," Tatsuya said.
—
The waiter had scoffed at Shinji, presumably for bringing in a homeless man, but he did not care. Repaying your debts was important. He had ordered soup while Tatsuya had steak. He wanted to find out more about him, he had his fair share of money problems but he had never been homeless.
"Tatsuya? If it isn't a rude question to ask, why are you homeless?" Shinji asked taking a bite.
Shinji noticed that Tatsuya took large bites and was quick to ask their waiter for more drink.
He then swallowed and said, "You see that's the problem Shinji, when you're homeless people ALWAYS take advantage of you."
A swell of anger ignited within Tatsuya as he clenched his fist slamming it on the table. Shinji held his mouth open, not putting his food in his mouth. The other participants in the restaurant turned to stare.
"My father used to be the owner of a start-up computer company, however, his life was cut short," Tatsuya said.
"Cut short how?" Shinji asked.
"He was killed by a Mirror Monster," Tatsuya said.
"A Mirror Monster? But they're all gone after I stopped the Rider War which forced Kanzaki to reset time! That's what Ren told me." Shinji said.
"Your friend Ren is correct, but that doesn't change anything! My father was mysteriously murdered and I was a prime suspect. There was no real proof, but accusations and suspicions arose. I couldn't run my father's company, I wasn't ready. Everything fell apart. And then Kanzaki found me and took away my life." Tatsuya said.
"He killed you? Just for not taking the Ryuki deck?" Shinji asked.
"Not just kill me, he sent Mirror Monsters after me. A bat monster I'll never forget… I'll never forgive him. It wasn't enough for him to just kill me, no the puppeteer reversed time to bring back only to torment me again. These memories, I cannot shake them even in this new world." Tatsuya said.
"T-that's awful, but we were all given a new life. We should do our best to move past it all right?" Shinji said.
"Never. I won't forget. " Tatsuya said as his face was burning red.
Shinji closed his mouth and quietly took a bite of his food.
"Let's just eat our food.." Shinji suggested keeping his head down.
Tatsuya calmed down and quickly waved down the waitress for more food and then turned to Shinji.
"But isn't it funny?" he asked.
Shinji's mouth was full, "What is?"
"I complain about being taken advantage of and misfortune of life, yet here I am taking advantage of your generosity. I complain about dying, while outside the cafe there appears to be a group of Shocker soldiers in the street. Yet here I am eating steak as a man is about to die." Tatsuya said smiling.
"What?!" Shinji said as he turned around.
Tatsuya's rant distracted him from the other parts of the room and he noticed the crowds weren't looking at them anymore and instead were beginning to rush out the door. He looked out the window to his right to see an older man being taken, hostage.
"You should have told me..!" Shinji said as he stood up.
However, Tatsuya grabbed his arm, "No. Don't go. What purpose would it serve? You've shown the riders how strong you are, let us watch the harshness of life."
Shinji felt his emotions shatter within as he pushed Tatsuya's hand off of him, "Listen. I'm a Rider to protect people, first and foremost. Everything else is secondary. I wanted to believe you were a well-meaning man, but you're really just a bitter man who can't let go of his past…even when his past is erased!"
Shinji then ran forward to the glass taking out his Advent Deck, "HENSHIN!"
He felt his armor land on his body as he jumped through the window kicking the Shocker grunt and freeing the older man. The older man quickly ran away as Ryuki turned to face the other group.
"Sha!" he said before taking out his Guard Vent card.
"Guardo Bento!"
Catching the sword in the air, Ryuki observed his surroundings. There were a group of eight Shocker Grunts walking down the street.
Everything was normal a minute ago, when did these guys get here?
"Eeeee!" they shouted as they ran towards Ryuki.
Clutching his shields, he waited for them to come towards him, the second one of them got close he swung his shield to bash them. The Shocker grunts were never smart, they were a break compared to his previous battles. In a matter of minutes, Ryuki had made a pile of unconscious bodies. He crossed his arms in confidence.
I'm pretty cool eh? He thought to himself.
"So you defeated my Combatmen…" said a voice.
Ryuki looked up to see a cockroach-looking monster standing above the cafe. Interestingly enough, the monster had a cape. The monster jumped down from the cafe and stood away from a short distance from Ryuki. Ryuki kept cautious as he waited for the monster to make his move.
"I am Gokiburijin of Neo-Shocker, once again you Riders have gotten in Shocker's way!" he said pointing at Ryuki.
"That's what we Riders do, protect the peace," Ryuki said.
"Hmph! Then die!" Gokiburijin said.
Suddenly he moved at extremely quick speeds circling around Ryuki.
He looks to be going at a similar speed to Clock Up…!
Ryuki could hear the echo of laughing as he wasn't sure what to do. He slotted in one of his cards.
If it worked on a Worm, why not this him?
"Freeze Bento!"
A blast of ice appeared in the afterimages of the monster, but it seemed to not have any effect.
"What?!" Ryuki asked.
The laughing continued, "My turn!" Gokiburijin said.
The cockroach jumped forward with several swirling kicks towards Ryuki's face. Ryuki stepped backward as he sent a punch forward only to miss due to the monster's remarkable speed. He then felt a punch towards his back as he fell to the ground. He groaned and forced himself up headbutting into Gokiburijin as he then pushed him down. He then took out another card.
"Final Bento!"
DragRedder circled around Ryuki as he jumped up and was propelled by a fireball directly towards Gokiburijin. The monster swung his cape in front of him and Ryuki was deflected off and instead was launched through a window.
My kick is ineffective? But that's impossible..!
"I shall be the first to defeat.. A Kamen Rider..!" Gokiburijin said.
The sound of lightning then crackled followed by sounds of rushing wind and a loud primal-like screech.
"The heavens cry out!" shouted a voice.
Gokiburijin turned around and said, "No! Not now!"
"The earth cries out!" the voice continued.
Ryuki couldn't tell where the voice was coming from, but Gokiburijin seemed annoyed.
"All calling us to defeat evil! Listen up villains, we are the warriors of justice Kamen Rider!"
Ryuki saw three Riders jump down from the room he had fallen in. Getting up he took a look outside to see Showa Riders, Stronger, Skyrider, and Amazon.
"His strength relies in the cape..steal that and he'll be defenseless!" Skyrider said.
"Ah yes, Skyrider.. My predecessor fought you before, but you won't be able to catch me.." Gokiburijin said.
"GIGIGIGI!" Amazon screamed as he jumped forward claws first.
"What..?!" Gokiburijin said.
Amazon jumped on his back digging his claws onto the monster's back. Gokiburijin roared in pain as Amazon ripped off the cape in one swift pull.
"Electro Fire..!" Stronger shouted as his left fist was charged in electricity. He slammed his fist on the ground as an electric current traveled towards Gokiburijin shocking him in place.
Skyrider then clutched his belt, "Sailing Jump!"
He flew upward then launched forward with a kick, "Sky-Kick!"
What happened next was an explosion as Ryuki hopped down to his fellow Riders followed by more laughing.
"But cockroaches adapt!" shouted Gokiburijin among the smoke.
There were four of him now, the center one with the ripped cape and the other three each having their own capes.
"Riders go for the capes, Ryuki..finish your fight!" Stronger said as Skyrider and Amazon immediately split off from the group.
"Yosha!" Ryuki said as he took out one of his cards.
"Strike Bento!"
"You needed to be saved by your seniors…pathetic!" Gokiburijin said.
"Don't let him stir doubt within you Ryuki!" Stronger said.
"Ryuki… friend!" Amazon said.
"I needed help from my seniors too. Riders are comrades!" Skyrider said.
"Thanks, everyone!" Ryuki said as he shot a fireball towards the Shocker cyborg.
Gokiburijin rolled forward under the fireball and sped up close and personal with Ryuki. He swung his arm forward and Ryuki blocked it with his DragClaw.
"Ouch!" shouted the Gokuburijin as he retracted his arm.
Ryuki then shot a spew of fire underneath them knowing he was at least immune to fire thanks to his dragon powers. However, the fire spread to Gokuburijin's legs as he reeled in pain. Ryuki slotted another card.
"Adobento!"
DragRedder flew forward teeth first knocking over the cyborg, Ryuki shot another fireball. It flew forward as he was distracted resulting in a direct hit. Gokuburijin exploded for good this time.
He then turned his attention towards Amazon whose claw strikes were not able to pierce through the cape. DragRedder flew forward as Ryuki grabbed onto one of DragRedder's legs.
"Amazon!" he shouted.
Amazon jumped back and saw Ryuki. He hopped onto the side of DragRedder crawling like a lizard unseen. DragRedder flew around their opponent. Ryuki saw that the clone of Gokuburijin could not run fast enough to escape DragRedder's long body. Amazon remained unseen. Suddenly Ryuki heard, "GIGIGIGGI!" as he saw Amazon suddenly jump from above clutching himself onto the back of the copy.
"Arghhh! Infernal riders!" he cried.
Amazon was able to slice parts of his cape to shreds as Ryuki lifted himself forward into the air and launched his own kick. Amazon bounced himself off lining up the copy for his kick. Another explosion occurred.
Both Amazon and Ryuki rushed to Stronger's aid. Ryuki slotted in another card.
"Sword Bento!"
"Electric punch! Electric kick!" shouted Stronger as he sent a flurry of kicks and punches towards his opponent.
Like Amazon, his attacks were useless against Gokuburijin's cape. An idea popped into Ryuki's head as he motioned Amazon to line up behind them, Ryuki ran further back and waved towards Stronger.
"Electro Fire!" Stronger said as he slammed his fist on the ground.
The lightning bolt forced Gokuburijin to moved backward despite him blocking the attack, Amazon stuck out his claws to rip the cape and Ryuki slashed his sword at his back. Another explosion erupted.
Next was to help Skyrider, Ryuki already had an idea. He instructed DragRedder to spew flame at the final Gokuburijin. Distracted by Skyrider, the cyborg was unable to escape the flame, which burnt his cape to shreds. Ryuki then slotted in the last card.
"Final Bento!"
However, when DragRedder circled around him, Ryuki instead pointed towards Skyrider. DragRedder flew around Skyrider, as he activated his sailing jump.
"Sky kick!" he shouted as DragRedder propelled him with another fireball greatly enhancing his sky kick.
This made the biggest explosion out of the four. Ryuki and the other Riders rushed towards Skyrider. Stronger patted Ryuki's back.
"Interesting strategies young rider!" he said.
Ryuki rubbed the back of his head, "Thanks, guys. Were these guys part of the reviving enemies?"
Skyrider shook his head, "No, but we were doing our own investigating when we stumbled upon this Shocker plot."
"Shocker is still around?" Ryuki asked.
"Battle never stops," Amazon said.
The Showa Riders have been fighting for longer than anyone all while their enemies never truly disappear.
"I-I-I admire your strengths." Ryuki said.
"That's the thing with us Kamen Riders, the battle may be long, but we won't rest till we defeat evil!" Stronger said.
The three Riders summoned their bikes as they rode off as the sun began to set.
There's a lot I can learn from those guys. I wonder how I can call my moped to do that.
Ren was riding his bike on the way to see Eri when he heard the distinct tune of the Den-Liner approaching from behind. Ren immediately sighed and decided to speed up instead of slow down. He then turned on his motorcycle radio to drown the train out.
"Hey!…Hey!" Ren pretended to ignore the shouting of Momotaros, "Hey! I'm talking to you! I SAID I'M TALKING TO YOU!"
Ren continued to ignore him, but then suddenly his rock music switched to pop.
"Li jan! Sugee jan! Li Jan! Sugee jan!" the radio sang.
Ren recognized the song as their obnoxious theme music. Realizing they weren't going to leave him alone, he stopped his bike as the Den-Liner accidentally shot past him. Ren sat there unamused, waiting for the Den-Liner to backup. After a minute, he was face to face with Momotaros.
"We need to talk to you," Momotaros said.
Ren took a step inside the train and saw a multitude of Riders. If there was another world-ending crisis, he wished they'd not call him on nights he wanted to spend with Eri.
"What is it this time?" he asked.
He looked around and spotted the Showa and a portion of the Heisei Riders.
"It's about Ryuki. He doesn't listen to me." Momotaros said crossing his arms.
"What's he doing?" Ren asked.
Whatever this is, Kido's going to owe me more money.
"We just want you to talk to him. He's acting kind of strange." Agito said.
"I could tell he was being reckless. He thinks he has something to prove." Faiz said.
"Precisely so, if he thinks he can fights Worms. Worse, he stole my kill." Kabuto said.
"He was a little help, but mostly someone who messed up our flow," Shotaro said, "and worst of all Philip won't shut up about his dragon."
"But what is he doing?" Ren asked.
"He's meddling in their businesses! We can't just have Riders showing up and disturbing our fighting styles." Momotaros said.
"Sorry." Ren said, "We haven't had Mirror Monsters so Shinji does little more than stop purse-snatchers these days. He is kind of a restless guy now that he doesn't have a war to stop. I think he misinterpreted my advice about proving himself in a battle." Ren said.
"Ahem!" said a voice from behind.
Ren turned around to see the Showa Riders. Nigo pushed Ichigo forward, "You know what to say Hongo."
Ichigo pulled himself together, "He's a proud young man. Why can't riders help each other? You should believe in your fellow riders."
"When someone wants to do more, you should let them," Nigo said.
"Says the cyborgs.." Ren said.
"Why don't you believe in him?" Ichigo asked.
"You don't understand," Ren said. "Kido is always in over his head. He doesn't remember this, but he died. He never survived nor stopped the Rider War. He just doesn't remember."
"You never told him?" Momotaros asked.
"No," Ren said. "There was no need. Kido was happy."
"But we should trust in our allies," Ichigo said.
"He's a better man than I, but he's a reporter, not a superhero. I can't let him die again" Ren said.
"Well, tomorrow he's going to try to help ZI-O according to Owner," Momotaros said.
"Give me the location, and I will put a stop to this," Ren said.
"Knight, we've all lost allies," Nigo said.
Ren looked around the room as many of the Riders looked away. Presumably lost in the thoughts of the ones they lost.
"Amazon's friend, Mole Beastman was lost to Geddon," Amazon said.
"Kusaka..Kiba..Mari….so many sacrifices." Faiz said.
"Yukina," Agito said softly.
"Not even the sun can shine on everyone," Kabuto said.
Ren looked down at the ring on his fingers.
"You've all lost someone, but Kido doesn't need to die again. I will make sure of it." Ren said.
"If that's what you really want. We will take you there soon." Momotaros said
"No. I want to settle this now. This is a time machine train, take me to tomorrow. " Ren said.
