Shinji had a checklist, he had written down every Rider he could reasonably visit. But first, he wanted to grab a few things from ORE Journal's offices.
"Hello, again Shinji," Tatsuya said sitting in the same spot.
"Oh..hi! I have some spare change for you this time!" Shinji said.
"I actually have something for you instead," Tatsuya said as he reached into his torn coat pocket.
"Oh really? Thank you..! What could it be?" Shinji said smiling.
Maybe he found a winning lottery ticket and wants to split it!
But Tatsuya instead pulled out something much more surprising than a lottery ticket, it was instead a blank Advent Deck.
"An Advent Deck? You shouldn't have that, it could be dangerous!" Shinji said.
"Ah, you don't understand Ryuki. I'm here to help you. I'm a Rider too, or was." Tatsuya explained.
"A Rider? I don't remember you in the Rider War." Shinji said.
"I was able to escape my fate, I was meant to be Ryuki. Kanzaki or Odin originally gave me the deck, but being the coward I was, I gave it to my friend Koichi Sakakibara."
It was hard for Shinji to remember the Rider War, but he did remember how mysteriously he had found his Deck in Sakaibara's apartment.
"I never found out what happened to Sakakibara, Ren told me he was eaten," Shinji said.
"He was. And then it was passed onto you. I've lived with that guilt for years." Tatsuya said as he stood up bowing, "I'm sorry Shinji."
"But why do you have a blank deck?" Shinji asked.
"Shinji have you ever considered that your deck is actually quite weak compared to the others? You have no special ability cards." Tatsuya said.
"Well.." Shinji looked at the cards in his deck, "They're all good but outside of a fireball there's not much."
"You see the Ryuki deck was originally going to be the most powerful. Kanzaki assumed that being a homeless man I would fight more viciously to win so there were several extra cards created for the deck. However, I ran away from Odin and dropped these special cards." Tatsuya said.
Tatsuya took out the cards from the blank deck. They were Copy, Freeze, Clear, and Confine.
"But those are other Riders' cards! I remember them." Shinji said.
"They were then found by Odin and redistributed to other Riders as ways for Kanzaki to tip the scales. It was only since a new timeline being formed I have been able to collect them. I thought that it would help me bury my guilt, but I can't shake it. I want you to take the cards Ryuki and I hope you can forgive me." Tatsuya said.
Shinji rubbed the back of his neck, "It's alright. I made it out alive and stopped the Rider War. I don't remember all of the details, but that's what Ren told me. Really everything's fine."
"Stopped the war?" Tatsuya said with confusion in his voice, "Why.. Yes! You're a great hero. Please take the cards. They'll change to be part of your Contract once you use them."
"Thanks! You know.. I was just thinking that I might be under-classed compared to the other Riders. These cards will surely help me with that! Thanks again, but I should be going!" Shinji said.
Shinji then emptied out his wallet to Tatsuya and waved goodbye. Tatsuya smiled back.
—
Kabuto and Gatack fired their shots at a former foe. Mysteriously, the Bellcricetus Worm had reappeared. Kabuto wasn't in the least bit surprised though, his Grandmother had taught him to expect things like this. They had gotten word of the creature and tracked it towards a stadium.
No matter how hard one tries, you cannot block out the Sun.
The sun of course referring to himself. Kabuto made a mental note to chronicle that quote down. While anyone who met him would know that he quoted the wise musings of his Grandmother, few heard the musing of Kabuto himself. So he opted to write his quotes down. They would work well in his latest cookbook.
Nevermind all of that, the Worm needs attention.
"Stop." He told Kagami.
Kagami stopped firing as Kabuto lowered his gun. They had just spent a minute firing into the Worm and it seemed to make little difference. Clearly, this one was stronger than the previous incarnation. Kabuto suspected a greater work was at play, but they couldn't be much of a problem if this was what they sent to block out the Sun.
"Tendou? What's wrong?" Kagami asked.
"Someone else is here," Kabuto said.
Just then Kamen Rider Ryuki appeared seemingly out of nowhere slashing the Worm with his Sword.
"Bet you didn't see that coming!" Ryuki said.
The Worm offered no communicative response as Kabuto activated his Cast Off mechanisms.
"Cast Off." He said.
"CAST OFF STAG BEETLE!" his belt said.
By then the Worm had activated Clock Up.
"Get out of the way!" Kagami shouted.
Too late. The Worm moving at super speeds smacked Ryuki sending him flying forward, fortunately, Gatack caught him.
"Clock Up," Kabuto said.
"CLOCK UP!" his belt said.
The Worm ran off in the opposite direction as Kabuto chased after it.
—
"Ryuki? What are you doing here? Didn't Den-O teach you guys that we fight Worms?" Gatack asked as he put down Ryuki.
"A monster is a monster and I fight monsters. What do they do?" Ryuki asked, looking a little dizzy.
"They're able to run at supersonic speeds! You can't keep up!" Gatack said.
"Keep up? Sure I can! Watch me!" Ryuki said.
He then pulled out one of the cards from his belt. Gatack couldn't see it and had no idea what was going to happen.
Ryuki is the guy with the Castle Dragon right? Gatack thought
"Freeze Bento!" said Ryuki's Visor.
Gatack had no idea what was supposed to happen, but in the next instance, Tendou suddenly appeared flying towards them. Before a crash could occur, Tendou gracefully landed on his feet in front of them. Gatack then noticed that the Worm had been frozen solid.
"Tendou did you just trip?" he asked.
"No. I nearly tripped. There is a difference." Tendou said.
"Hello Kabuto, I'm glad to help," Ryuki said, holding out his hand.
Tendou ignored the gesture and pulled Gatack aside.
"Did you invite him to our city?" Tendou asked.
"No. I don't know what he's doing here. Maybe he just wanted to help out?" Gatack said.
"He's ill-advised." Tendou said.
"He froze the Worm, maybe he can be of some help?" Kagami asked.
"Fine, but I will be the one to defeat it." Tendou said.
They turned and noticed the ice was crumbling very quickly. The Worm then rushed forward, however, the ice had made it slower.
"Final Bento!" Ryuki's visor said.
Ryuki's dragon then flew around him juggling the worm into the air, Ryuki jumped up and was propelled forward by a fireball towards the Worm. The resulting kick exploded the Worm as Ryuki landed on the ground.
"Ugh." Tendou groaned.
"Did you see that? I used DragRedder to protect myself from its dash!" Ryuki said.
"Yeah! Good job Ryuki!" Gatack said.
"I don't like him," Tendou muttered.
—
This is going great! These new cards really give me an edge. Shinji thought
He was driving down the street of his moped hoping to find Faiz. Some roads appeared to be blocked off with policemen guarding the area. Shinji considered this unusual since this was supposed to be the main highway. Then suddenly, he felt the ground shake. This was followed by a loud thumping sound with increased larger shakes. Shinji quickly got off of his moped.
I think something's about to happen..
And something did happen as Kamen Rider Faiz flew down the street being chased by a massive, four-legged, grey beast.
"What the..!" Shinji said.
I shouldn't be surprised. I've worked with the other riders to fight off much larger monsters but it's still a shock to see something that big.
He immediately raced down an alleyway finding a cracked mirror.
"Henshin!" he said.
After transforming he then ran towards where they went, while pulling out his Survive card.
"Survive!" his visor said.
Changing into Survive mode, he hopped on DragRanzer as they flew towards Faiz. Faiz was ahead of the monster chasing him in his Blaster form.
"Hey, Faiz!" Ryuki said.
Faiz slightly turned his attention to an unexpected flying Ryuki allowing the monster he was fighting to headbutt him into the ground. Ryuki flew down as DragRanzer fired three fireballs at the monster. Like the other monsters, the gigantic creature was silent and did not seem to wince in pain. It turned its attention to Ryuki as it fired a horde of needles towards him. The needles knocked him off of DragRanzer, but the dragon swooped under him, breaking the fall. Ryuki jumped towards Faiz who fired his gun into the monster's mouth.
"Ryuki..!I heard you might be making a visit.." Faiz said.
"You did?" he asked.
Faiz then ran down an alleyway as the giant monster kicked Ryuki towards him. Faiz then caught him.
"I'm not sure why you're here, but you need to settle whatever's going on with you," Faiz said.
"I'm just trying to help!" Ryuki said.
"I don't need help," Faiz said.
"You don't need help? You're fighting a giant monster!" Ryuki said.
Faiz pressed a sequence of buttons on his gun, "I don't want to see anyone else die."
"Exceed charge." The device said.
Faiz jumped in the air kicking towards the monster's face. A powerful shockwave of blasts spiraled around him. Then the monster lunged forward knocking Faiz off onto the ground. Just then DragRanzer and Ryuki flew in front of Faiz. DragRanzer blew fire at the monster forcing it to step back.
"I don't want to see anyone else die either," Ryuki said.
Faiz contemplated and then pressed a different sequence of buttons.
"Exceed charge." It said again.
"Then get ready..!" he said.
DragRanzer flew behind Faiz as Ryuki took out his Final Vent Card.
"Final Vent!" his visor said.
Dragranzer transformed into a bike as Ryuki drove towards the giant monster. Fireballs flew out from DragRanzer's mouth, keeping it away from Faiz. Faiz fired his gun and the blast began piercing the monster's skin.
KABOOM!
It then turned into ash.
Faiz then deactivated his transformation as Ryuki stood before him looking at the ash.
"I transform to fight monsters you know?" he said.
"You're alright, but don't throw away your life recklessly. Someone once told me, that we only have one life." Faiz said.
Faiz removed his belt to turn his attention towards Ryuki.
"Lives are precious. That's why I spend mine saving people." Ryuki said as he removed his card deck.
Takumi walked away, "Good answer." He smiled and walked off.
—
Shotaro was typing out a case.
"And so W and the Kamen Riders thwarted another army of mooks. The battle was long but relatively easy. However, I can't help but think there's something more afoot, but with no clues or evidence, I'm out of luck. Philip and I should stay in Futo anyway, the other Kamen Riders can handle the other parts of the world. We Riders stick to our own corners unless we're truly needed to unite."
Just then a young man wearing a bike helmet and blue jacket walked in clumsily knocking over a coat rack.
"Oh..sorry!" he said picking up the coat rack.
That voice..! I've heard it before.
Philip lifted his eyes from a book as Akiko got up from the couch to welcome their new customer.
"Narumi Detective Agency! How can we help?" she said.
"Yes..yes.. Yes." The man said digging out something from his pocket.
He's one of the riders I'm sure, but which?
Shotaro went through a list of Riders in his head remembering their voices.
No, not Zeronos. Definitely not Hibiki. He kind of looks like that Faiz guy, but his voice is too high.
The man then pulled out a card deck and shoved it into Shotaro's face.
"Greetings, I'm Kamen Rider Ryuki!" he said and then bowed.
Shotaro reeled in surprise.
"Ah yes.. Well Mister Kamen Rider are you here for a case..?" Shotaro asked, taking a drink of coffee.
"No, I'm here to meet up with you guys.. Kamen Rider W!" Ryuki said.
Shotaro unnaturally swallowed his coffee to prevent doing a spit take.
"H-how did you know?" Shotaro asked.
"I read newspaper articles and compared locations to sort of guess where you would most be! Also, that bike outside is a dead giveaway!" Ryuki said.
"I told you we should hide that bike Shotaro!" Akiko said.
"But it looks so hardboiled," Shotaro muttered.
"H-hardboiled?" Ryuki asked, raising an eyebrow.
Philip and Akiko walked towards them.
"It means he thinks he's cool," Akiko said.
"But we all know he's really half-boiled," Philip said.
Shotaro frowned.
"Ryuki.. Is there some sort of crisis again?" Shotaro asked.
Ryuki rubbed the back of his neck, "No, I was just hoping there would be though."
"Hoping?" Shotaro asked.
Then without warning, Shotaro's bike flew through the window. Akiko screamed as Philip grabbed her to take cover.
"My bike!" Shotaro said as he looked out the window.
It's always bad luck to type out the case before 5:00.
It was an older enemy, the Bird Dopant.
"I was thinking something kind of like that," Ryuki said as he transformed.
Ryuki jumped forward unseen.
"Philip let's go!" Shotaro said taking out his Joker memory.
"Henshin!" they said.
"Cyclone! Joker!" the belt said.
"Last time we fought this Dopant, we had help," Shotaro said.
"We'll have to make due and hope Ryuki doesn't get in the way," Philip said.
Ryuki was holding the Bird Dopant but his grip loosened and It slashed him away. Shotaro took note that the Bird Dopant was in its strengthened form. Running forward, W punched the Dopant with his Cyclone half. The punch created a gust of wind that forced the bird to take flight.
"Shotaro. This bird is just a pale copy. It's not a real person. We can go all out." Philip said.
"Noted!" Shotaro said.
A fireball shot through the air grazing the back of the Bird Dopant. It then fell down feet first onto Ryuki. Shotaro reached out for the Trigger memory.
"Luna Trigger!" the belt said.
The Bird Dopant was knocked over inside the Detective Agency.
"Alright..let me try something!" Ryuki said pulling out a card.
"Confine Bento!" his visor said.
Suddenly W's gun refused to work. As if it was out of bullets, which would be impossible.
"Huh?" Shotaro asked.
Ryuki turned his head towards them, "Uh oh."
"Uh oh? What do you mean uh oh?" Shotaro asked.
"I used a card that nullifies powers. I guess it just sort of defaulted to you..Sorry!" Ryuki said.
"Great.." Shotaro said switching to HeatMetal.
"Heat! Metal!" his belt said.
Standing up the Bird Dopant slashed several strikes forward, the first strike hit Ryuki and W. The second strike W blocked with his staff, as Ryuki was hit a second time. W poked the Bird Dopant as Ryuki took out another one of his cards.
"It better be something useful this time," Shotaro said
"I'd like to look up Advent Cards sometime," Philip said.
"Not now Philip!" Shotaro said.
"Guardo Bento!" Ryuki's visor said.
Arming himself with shields W watched as Ryuki charged forward only for the Bird Dopant to fly above him and kick.
"He's not the brightest Kamen Rider.." Philip said.
"I'm still not even sure why he's here," Shotaro said.
"Yoshhaa! I got it." Ryuki said.
He then took yet another card.
"You know Ryuki, we can handle this perfectly fine.." Shotaro said.
"Adobento!" his visor said.
Suddenly Ryuki's dragon flew down swirling around the Bird Dopant. W watched from down below as the bird attempted to claw and kick its way to freedom, but the dragon's hide was too thick.
"There! Now do something!" Ryuki said.
Shotaro grabbed the Metal memory placing it into the compartment on his staff. Both sides of the staff burned with intense flames as W jumped up forward into the vortex of the dragon.
"Metal Branding!" Philip and Shotaro said.
KABOOM!
W landed gracefully on the ground and returned back to Shotaro.
"Heh. That was pretty cool." Shotaro said.
"Maybe even hardboiled?" Ryuki asked.
"Hardboiled means a bit more than just cool, but sure we'll take that," Shotaro said.
Philip and Akiko walked out of the agency.
"Shotaro get a broom!" Akiko said holding up a slipper menacingly.
Shotaro sighed, "Why can't Philip do it?"
"He's going crazy with curiosity.." Akiko said.
"That was amazing! Ryuki!" said Philip. "Tell me about your dragon! The Mirror World! Your cards! Everything!"
Shotaro watched as Ryuki was bombarded by Philip.
"Listen I actually gotta get going.." Ryuki said rubbing the back of his head.
Shinji left but not without first exchanging contact information with Philip for further study.
Next time…