Things sure were crowded aboard the Den-Liner. Mainly because Decade had left the battle early and didn't teleport anyone back to their own homes. This forced the Den-Liner to become a glorified bus stop service. Riders were spread out into train cars, Ryuki was with his fellow Heisei Riders. Taking out his Advent Deck, he laid his head back on the window behind him. That last battle was pretty tiring. He tried to close his eyes but sleep was difficult given the other riders.
"I was manipulated by a space alien to become Kamen Rider Build." Said a proud but arrogant voice.
"Kuuga's powers come from an ancient source," Godai said.
"Agito's powers are ancient as well, but was given to me by the Overlord of Light to combat the darkness!" Shouichi said.
"I fought against despair inside of me and gained magical powers," Wizard said.
"I saved Philip from a laboratory and united our minds became the two in one Kamen Rider!" W said.
"I'm an Orphenoch and after finding the Faiz belt I was able to transform. It didn't stop me from having to do laundry though." Faiz said.
"I am simply the sun." Said another voice.
Shinji thought it was interesting how other Riders got their powers.
"Sounds awesome everyone!" Shinji exclaimed.
The other Riders turned their attention to Shinji.
"What about you Ryuki? How did you get your belt?" Wizard asked.
"W-well it appears on me when I take out my card deck! I didn't really get it any special way!" Shinji said.
"Okay but surely it was a story on how you got the card deck?" Godai asked smiling.
Shinji took a moment to decide how to explain his story in the coolest way possible.
"I found it." He said.
He got nervous.
"You just found it?" W asked.
"Yes," Shinji said.
The Riders paused for a moment and then laughed.
"I guess some of us just have to be normal people wearing a suit. That's okay too!" Shouichi said.
"Wait." Faiz asked, "Did you get your strongest form in the mail too?"
"No, it was given to me," Shinji said.
The other Riders laughed again, Build slapped Faiz's back, "Good one 555!"
"This isn't funny. I got my strongest form in the mail." Faiz said as he looked away.
"This is my stop. Gotta go! I'd love to study your Advent Cards though sometime Ryuki!" Build waved goodbye as he got off the train.
Shinji laid his head back again.
Am I really just a normal guy who found a card deck? He thought to himself.
One by one the other Riders left. He assumed he would be last. He would talk to the Taros for a while, even though he found them very weird.
"So you're not a real dragon?" Ryutaros asked.
"No, just a guy," Shinji said.
"We're going to ORE Sanjou Journal?" Momotaros asked.
"Yes, ORE Journal. My workplace. I'm running late!" Shinji said.
"You know this is a time travel train right?" Momotaros asked.
"I heard that there's a beautiful woman at ORE Journal, perhaps you would care to introduce us Ryuki?" Urataros asked.
Loud snoring prevented Shinji from answering as he sighed, he then walked over to Naomi's drinks. She was mixing some coffee as she turned and saw him from the corner of her eye and smiled.
"You're Kamen Rider Ryuki right?" Naomi asked.
"Yes, that's me the dragon knight. I'd like a coffee or at least a break from them." Shinji said.
"They're a handful, but they're like sweet kids at the end of the day." Naomi said as she gave him a cup, "What's it like having a pet dragon?"
Shinji took a drink and his face turned sour, he forced himself to swallow down the coffee. It tasted quite terrible.
Naomi's eyes widened with glee, "Oh that means you like it!"
"Y-you make this for them?" Shinji said pointing at the Imagin.
Naomi nodded.
That explains this awful taste! He thought.
"What's it taste like?" she asked.
I can't tell her that though!. Shinji thought.
"It sure tastes like something they would like," Shinji said as he coughed.
"Aw thank you!" Naomi said as she walked around the counter to serve the Imagin.
However, suddenly the train came to an abrupt stop, "Uwaaaaa!" Naomi shouted as she fell over.
Shinji saw her falling and reached out his arms to catch her, but lost his own balance and fell on top of her back. The coffee spilled everywhere. Shinji felt embarrassed.
"S-sorry I wasn't fast enough." He said.
He and Naomi stood up and grabbed some napkins to clean up the mess.
"Silly Shinji, if the train's stopped it's probably time for you to get off." She said helping him clean.
But to their surprise, the door opened and a man wearing a brown tunic-like cloth and a long scarf. He also carried a weird book.
"Ah, Kamen Rider Ryuki. Though not quite 2020." The man said walking by.
"I remember you! The scarf-jerk!" Momotaros said pointing.
"I'd prefer to be called Woz. Servant of ZI-O the King of time." Woz said.
"There's a king of time?" Shinji asked.
"Get off my train!" Momotaros said.
"This isn't your train, it's the Owner's," Urataros said.
"Dummy Momotaros!" Ryutaros said.
Momotaros leaned in and whispered, "But he doesn't know that."
Woz smiled and said, "Of course, I would know that."
Momotaros held in his anger, "What are you doing here?"
"It seems that puppets of previous Kamen Rider foes are reappearing. What are you doing to solve this.. Problem? Should we have to intervene?" Woz said.
"NO!" Momotaros said, "We were the time police before you came along, we can figure this out ourselves! I thought that clock kid wasn't a jerk!"
"Oh Waga Maou didn't send me himself, I noticed the time distortion. He's too busy studying right now. It's very important to the time stream." Woz said.
"STUDYING?!" Momotaros said.
"I'm a reporter, I'm sure I could help you guys solve this," Shinji said extending his hand.
Woz and Momotaros stared at him.
The next moment Shinji was at the front of ORE Journal's offices. He sighed as the Den-Liner began to take off.
"Bye.. Shinji!" shouted Naomi as she waved.
Shinji waved back as he walked towards the front door.
They didn't outright say it, but the other Riders think I'm outclassed for these sort of things. I may not remember how the Rider War ended, but I survived it. I'll prove to the other Riders somehow that I'm capable.
"Excuse me..?" asked a voice.
Shinji turned to his right and sitting right outside his building was a homeless man. Shinji was startled for a moment.
"Do you have any food? Spare change?" the man asked.
Shinji instinctively took out his wallet, "Please wait a moment!"
He held his wallet upside down and then realized it was empty.
"Oh, so we're both poor." The man said, "Doesn't the EIC pay you?"
"Sometimes wait..how do you know I work here?" Shinji asked suspiciously.
"I'm quite observant because it's not like I have a job or anything. Maybe hunting for rats is a job." The homeless man said.
"You know you shouldn't turn your back to a mirror in this town," Shinji said.
The man smiled, "Scared of the old rumors about the 2002 disappearances in this city?"
"Y-yes," Shinji said.
"You're a reporter. Believe in facts, not superstition. I'll still be here later. Go to work." He said.
Shinji nodded and went to the door before realizing he forgot something, "Wait! What's your name?"
"My name? I'm Tatsuya Kano." He said.
"Goodbye, Tatsuya." Shinji then went inside to ORE Journal's office.
If Shinji had better ears he would have heard Tatsuya say, "Goodbye Ryuki."