You know… the original opening statement for this had me hoping that Hero would have gotten an update before the end of 2018. Yes, the end of 2018, not 2019… I have a marvelous amount of luck jinxing things. *sighs*
Before we continue on with the story, I have to quickly address what cause this to take a while. Part of it was the wait for art and then… well… some violent events happened in North America. I was hesitant about doing this chapter owing to Neo-Hero's weapon being… y'know… a gun, but KKD convinced me to not worry about it too much. And then school kept piling on and on and on… and now we're in the midst of a pandemic. Words fail me.
Now then... I need to quickly address a few things that I forgot to mention in the previous chapter due to me forgetting about them. The first thing I need to mention is the altered version of Lost in Thoughts All Alone that Azura sung during the previous chapter. The lyrics are lifted from the AmaLee cover of the song. I highly recommend both that and the Lizz Robinett cover. They're both really great renditions of the song that made for good mood music while working on these chapters. Seriously… if Azura's official VA was ever not available to record for a future game… I say get either AmaLee or Lizz Robinett as a replacement since their singing voices are both amazing.
Sakura's fascination with ninjas is because the two ships with her that I found to be most adorable with her in them are both with ninjas. The people in question are Saizo and Hayato. Honestly really stuck on which I should ship her with because both the supports with them and with their kids are both adorable.
Next is stuff related to Zi-O. KKD has drawn the image of a Hero Ride Watch and I will say that the crossover between the two will feature a Hero Armor. Can't say what it'll look like yet though. Also… something that I find funny is this. Geiz, Woz, and Tsukuyomi all use their real names for their Rider names… just like the Riders native to the Rider Emblem Worlds do. I predicted the future of Rider names! *laughs a bit*
Alright… now for one of the big ones. Ohma's Day… for those who don't know, Ohma's Day is the day this year where Sougo becomes Ohma Zi-O and conquers the world. During that day, he kills every other Kamen Rider in existence and destroys any power source that can create new Kamen Riders to make sure no other Rider will ever oppose him. ...so… where does this leave the Kamen Rider Hero related stuff? Honestly… I don't know yet. I've got some ideas for the answer to that, but nothing solid just yet. Even with how the Zi-O finale ended (and I'll be discussing more about that in the future), I'm still figuring things out.
Also, to quickly address the arrival of Kamen Rider Tsukuyomi in the penultimate episode… it's so cool! I'm happy that she finally got to be a Kamen Rider after so long. Shame it was only onscreen for… less than five minutes.
Now we go away from Zi-O… to the first Rider of the Reiwa Era, in Kamen Rider Zero-One. ...for the record, I originally made this file back during September of last year when Zi-O was in its first few episodes. ...this is getting uploaded after the end of Zi-O's and Zero-One's run. *simply shrugs* I have nothing to say other than my apologies for the wait. So… onto quick opinions on the suits. Zero-One's is fine. Something about the helmet reminds me of Ichigou's… think it may be the eyes. I like the colors on Kamen Rider Vulcan's suit. Not totally sure about his helmet just yet. If I can say one thing about Kamen Rider Valkyrie right off the bat… I'm glad we're getting a female Rider right out of the gate. Nice change of pace. Character may not be the best, but we have a step in the right direction if nothing else.
And do note those were my earliest impressions of Zero-One… back before we even knew the character's name. I'll be doing a bit more coherent overall thoughts on the season in the future. As for Saber? Uh… all I can really say off of the top of my head is that Oren and Jonouichi appearing in one episode just throw continuity into question… again.
I don't have much else to say. Just… enjoy.
Fire Emblem belongs to Nintendo, Intelligent Systems, etc. Kamen Rider belongs to Toei, Bandai, etc. All OCs belong to their owners.
Previously on Kamen Rider Hero…
Takeshi: So… how do I go about fixing this mess?
Mystery Woman: Very simple. You need to kill that world's main Kamen Rider.
Tiki-chan: ...she expects you to kill the last three Riders… that's… horrible.
Takeshi: Killing is completely out of the question… *looks over his phone at some notes about Fire Emblem Fates before he slipped it back into his pocket*
Tiki-chan: You have an idea?
Takeshi: ...it's a stupid idea, but I got nothing better…
Tiki-chan: What are you doing?
Hero: The only idea that I can honestly think of that would avert so many problems… get rid of this guy and the Ganglari before it can kill Kamui's mother…
Tiki-chan: Why do you think this is a good idea?!
Hero: Cause I don't have any better ideas that would stop Kamui from being a Rider and help stop so much pain and suffering from happening!
Tiki-chan: Look… I know that you want Kamui to be happy, but think about the long term problems that would happen if you stop this.
Hero: ...you're right. This was a stupid idea. *sniffles a bit* Kamui… I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect your wonderful smile and that I couldn't keep your mom safe.
The individual with the Ganglari stood with a wicked smirk as he looked at Queen Mikoto simply smiling and waving towards the crowd. He then struck the blade to the ground, causing a massive explosion, before the balde shattered and flew towards Kamui. Queen Mikoto then shoved Kamui out of the way of the shards of the blade before she fell to the ground with a sickening thud.
"No… no… please no…" Kamui whimpered as she got up and over to the queen, "Queen Mikoto… please get back up… please…"
"You were not hurt? ...tell me you're ok…" Queen Mikoto weakly asked.
"I… I… I'm ok…" Kamui responded as tears dripped from her eyes.
"I'm so glad… you're safe…" Queen Mikoto told her before her eyes closed for the final time.
Hero, watching from a distance, looked towards the princess, "...I'm sorry…"
"No… no… no… mom…? Mom…? Mom…? Mother?!" Kamui pleaded futility before reality settled on her and tears streamed from her eyes, "OKAA-SAN!"
Kowashitai daijisou ni kakaeta watashi o zenbu (I'm breaking down all the walls I've built up around my lonely heart now) *Takeshi held his phone in his hand before he was seemingly absorbed into it.*
Kimi ga kono kodoku o itami o iyasu no (You're the one that takes it all away, my solitude and all my pain) *His phone was now attached onto his wrist and his Driver was in position.*
Reincarnation Realization *The Kamen Ride Hero card slipped out and into the phone insertion.*
Reincarnation kiete shimaitai (I want to disappear…) *Takeshi now stood on the ground as Kamen Rider Hero.*
Kamen Rider Hero
Nemuranai machi no zawameki aisouwarai no yuutsu (I walk alone through the city of lights, I see the same fake smiles every night) *Takeshi was now back in the real world and had his phone in his hand, playing Fire Emblem Heroes.*
Honne nante itsuka doko ka mienai furi (Cause everyone hides...they run and they hide from their real feelings.) *The game then had all of the characters seemingly vanish. Takeshi then took his phone and put it into position*
Dare datte fuan nante sonna (And everyone's got their stresses too, yeah I know) *Hero was seen punching and kicking various Risen foes, knocking them away, before he turned to see the fractured stained glassed windows of the nine worlds.*
Iwarenakutemo wakatteru (But I already get that's the status quo. I'm breaking down…) *Kamen Rider Marth, Ike, Robin, Micaiah, Roy and Lucina all stood and seemed fractured as well. Hero stood in the center of the six, glancing towards the three without representation.*
Kowashitai daijisou ni kakaeta tsuyogari nante (All the masks that I wear to hide my lonely heart now) *He took the six cards and loaded them into his card scanner, now being armed with the Fire Emblem itself. The cloaked woman walked over to him and simply smiled.*
Demo sunao ni narenai (But what if I'm just lying to myself?) *Takeshi stared at his phone for a moment before he was joined by Tiki-chan, who was initially in her distance form then in her normal form, who then smiled at him*
Mayottemo nayan demo kimi ga motomeru nara (If even now, you still want me when I am hurt, wandering lost in the rain) *Takeshi and the green orb both stood between the worlds, looking towards the six Riders and three silhouetted figures.
Semete kono kodoku o itami o kowashite (The at least help me destroy it all… My solitude, and all my pain) *Takeshi now stood as Kamen Rider Hero and reached out to them, trying to save them.*
Reincarnation Realization *Takeshi was now back in his base and held out the Kamen Rider Hero card.*
Reincarnation umarekawaritai (I want to be reborn) *He then turned towards the reader and gave a simple smile, showing off the Hero card.*
Emblem 15: Ryu no Hoko
Ryoma and Takumi charged after the attacker, Hinoka and the guards began to search for survivors, Sakura desperately attempted to heal the queen, and Kamui was simply sobbing wildly at what just happened.
"...I know you wanted to stop this, but this is a wheel of fate that needed to turn. There was no stopping this from happening…" Tiki-chan told Hero.
"...I'm going to go talk to her and try to make sure she's okay…" Hero stated. He began to walk forward, but some sort of gun-shot stopped him from getting closer, "Oh, now what?"
He looked to see Neo-Hero leaning against a large tower, the Rider standing with a cool, stoic vibe, tapping the top of his gun's barrel against the back of his other hand. The tapping echoed a bit, yet Hero seemed to be the only one who noticed the other Rider before he stopped and turned towards him.
"Oh great… you again…" Hero complained in agitation.
"You are going to leave this world…" Neo-Hero stated as he jumped down to Hero's level, "And you are going to leave it now!"
"Says you…" Hero retorted.
"I won't let you hurt these worlds… I won't let you hurt the Riders… and most of all…" Neo-Hero began as he took aim, "I won't let you hurt her!"
Neo-Hero then opened fire on Hero, but the other Rider simply ran through the fire, jumped up, and punched Neo-Hero upside the head.
"I could really do without you and the riot act right now! I mean, I know that nobody's going to be going 'iwae' when I show up, but I can really do without you coming in to bother me or tell people that I'm an akuma like Decade!" Hero proclaimed.
Ryoma and Takumi soon returned to the area where the attack had happened
"That man managed to escape…" Ryoma growled.
"It has to be somebody from Nohr. ...there's just no other explanation…" Takumi added, disgust evident in his tone.
"Sakura-nee, how is our mother?" Ryoma questioned as he got to his youngest sister's side.
"...I couldn't do anything…" Sakura whimpered.
Ryoma then kneeled down to Sakura's level and pulled her into a hug to try to calm her down. Takumi headed over to Hinoka to help her get people out of the rubble. Some people were, miracuously, not heavily injured from the attack.
"Okaa-san…" Kamui said as tears dripped down from her eyes.
"You have no right to call the queen that!" one civilian shouted to Kamui.
"...eh?"
"If a Norhian truly caused this attack, then you probably led them here!" the civilian shouted.
"Yeah! This is your fault!" another shouted.
"Get out of this kingdom!" a third yelled.
"ENOUGH!" Ryoma angrily declared, "She had NOTHING to do with this attack!"
"...my… fault…?" Kamui muttered as she looked around at the devastation around her, "...if I… hadn't come here…?"
A stone then flew by her hair and she looked to see some civilians had stones in their hands. The civilians continued to throw them at her, but none of them actually hit her.
"WILL YOU STOP?!" Hinoka shouted to the people in question.
"...stop…" Kamui muttered as her expression turned into one of barely contained anger, "Subete yo… tomare… (Everything… stop…)"
"Kamui-nee-chan?" Hinoka questioned as the siblings all turned towards her.
The haori began to fall off of Kamui's body as water-like energy began to surge around her.
=ATTACK RIDE: ...SWORD!=
=ATTACK RIDE: ...BLAST!=
Hero's horn popped off of his head, transformed into a sword, and he used the sword to reflect the barrage of blasts from Neo-Hero's gun. Hero closed the gap between them and began to slash at Neo-Hero as quickly as he could.
"You will not hurt her… as long as I am in this world… you will do nothing that will harm her!" Neo-Hero shouted as he blocked a slash with his gun.
"I'm not TRYING to harm her!" Hero responded as he kicked Neo-Hero back.
Neo-Hero stood back up and he simply dusted off his arms a bit, "Omae o tome rareru no wa tada hitori… ore da!"
The two were about to charge at each-other again, but the loud roar of what sounded like a dragon interrupted them.
Kamui's body was slowly transforming into a more monstrous form as scales started to appear over her arms and legs, horns spawned atop her head, and she was starting to gain what looked to be wings and a tail.
"Nee-chan!" Sakura fearfully gasped.
"Kamui… you're…" Azura whispered.
"White scales… horns… wings… there's no mistaking it… she's turning into a dragon!" Takumi shouted.
"Everything… everyone… needs to die…" Kamui growled before her body completed transforming into a dragon. She let out a mighty roar in anger as people began to run as fast as they could.
Hero looked over to see the dragon and simply exhaled, "Well… didn't account on what to do if she turned into a dragon…"
"When she turned into a dragon would be more fitting…" Tiki-chan corrected.
"I won't let you hurt her…" Neo-Hero growled as he got up and got out another card.
"Oh, be quiet you. If you think you're The One, then think again!" Hero frustratedly stated.
"...what does that even mean?" Neo-Hero responded with a tilt of his head.
"You're making it sound like you're the hero and I'm not. So, 'The One'. Plus, your name is 'Neo-Hero'," Hero retorted before he loaded in another card.
=ATTACK RIDE: ...SUPER SPEED!=
Hero then quickly moved away from Neo-Hero and the other Rider simply stared at where he once stood.
"...whoa…" he muttered.
Debris was then knocked right into Neo-Hero due to dragon Kamui's tail striking a nearby building. Hero skidded to a stop at a higher building and he looked towards Neo-Hero.
"He really should've tried to bullet time it. Ok, focus. I gotta help Kamui…" Hero commented before he refocused on the dragon on a rampage, "Azura's song is what'll help… just gotta make sure Kamui hears it…"
Ryoma, Hinoka, and Takumi all watched as Kamui let out another angered roar.
"We can't hurt her…" Hinoka muttered.
"What should we do then?" Takumi added.
"She's kind of rampaging like a child…" Hero explained as he walked over to the three.
"What the…? Who are you?!" Ryoma shouted.
"Wait… you're Kamui's friend, aren't you?" Takumi asked.
"Torisugari no Kamen Rider da. Oboetoke."
Takumi blinked a bit as he stared at Hero, "...that… doesn't really answer my question…"
"...yes, I am her friend," Hero informed, '...maybe I should stop using Tsukasa's catchphrase and think of my own.'
"What was it you were saying?" Hinoka questioned.
"Right. She's ramping like a child in a way. What's something that can calm down a child?" Hero told them before he pointed over to Azura, "What does she like to do?"
"Singing!" Hinoka and Takumi said in realization.
"I'll keep Kamui from hurting anybody. You guys get Azura up to speed," Hero told them before he ran over to the dragon. He quickly got out another card and got it ready.
=ATTACK RIDE: ...ILLUSION!=
Two duplicates of Hero then spawned next to him. Kamui stared down towards him before she tried to attack, but her attacks simply phased right through the duplicates. The dragon Kamui simply roared even louder as she tried to attack the two duplicates, yet the attacks simply continued to pass harmlessly through them.
'Azura… you may want to hurry up…' Hero thought.
Both duplicates then disappeared after another blow phased through them. However, before Kamui could turn her attention to the real Hero, somebody began to walk over to where the two were.
"You are an ocean of waves…" Azura began to sing as she approached the two.
"Be careful!" Ryoma shouted.
Azura briefly looked towards him before turning her attention back to Kamui, watery energy flowing and her pendant now glowing, "You are an ocean of waves… weaving a dream, like thoughts become a river stream…"
Kamui then, fearfully, moved away from Azura.
"Yet the waters ever change…" Azura continued before she got struck by one of Kamui's claws.
"No!" Sakura fearfully yelled as she looked away and the other Hoshidan siblings held their weapons cautiously.
Kamui let out an angered roar, but then noticed more water energy flowing near her.
"Flowing like time… the path is… yours to climb…" Azura continued to sing. She cautiously looked towards Kamui before she got pinned down by a claw. Tears began to flow from Azura's eyes as she reached over to the claw pinning her down, "...kill me if you want, but… do it as yourself…"
"...A… zu… ra?" Kamui muttered before she let go of her, making Azura smile, and she began to glow with energy, "I… I… I…"
Watery energy surrounded Kamui's entire body, soon subsiding, but the group of people could see that Kamui hadn't fully reverted back to a human. Kamui still retained her dragon horns, scales along her arms and legs, and the dragon tail.
"She didn't completely turn back?!" Tiki-chan gasped, "Crud! What now?!"
Hero quickly pulled out his cards, reverting back to normal, and ran over to embrace the half-dragon girl, "Kamui, don't!"
The others all gasped at Takeshi's action, but Azura simply smiled a little at what she saw.
"At this rate… you'll kill everybody who did survive… please… you musn't let yourself turn into a monster…" Takeshi pleaded, "No one would want that for you. Not me, not Azura, not Mikoto, not the others… even your family in Nohr wouldn't want this…"
"Release… me… I…" Kamui weakly spoke as she tried to attack.
"Everyone's bodies have the potential to do terrible things…" Takeshi continued.
"That's why we all have hearts," Azura added as she walked over.
"Come back…" Takeshi told Kamui.
Azura resumed singing as Takeshi continued to embrace Kamui. Finally, the last parts of her dragon form disappeared and Kamui was back to her normal self. Kamui fell to her knees, clearly exhausted, and Takeshi simply continued to embrace her.
"She's alright…" Hinoka smiled.
"I'm… I'm glad… she's returned to her former self…" Sakura added.
Kamui exhaled before she looked at her two friends, "Takeshi… Azura…? What just happened…?"
"Please calm down…" Azura said as she kneeled to Kamui's level, "That wasn't you. It was the blood of the ancient dragon that runs in your veins."
"...I thought… only the Nohrian royal family had dragon blood…"
"Yes, the blood of the Dusk Dragon runs in the Nohrian royal family. However, the blood of the Dawn Dragon runs in the Hoshidan royal family…" Azura explained, "It's why… those who inherit the blood of both royals can change their appearance into that of a dragon. Though, it's also my first time seeing anything like this though…"
"...is anybody hurt… because of me…?" Kamui asked as she looked around.
"If they are, it isn't your doing. Rather, it's the fault of the dragon's blood you have inherited…" Azura assured.
Kamui was silent as she looked around the devastated area and began to cry into Takeshi's chest about the amount of destruction that had happened…
"Hmm… that's unexpected. She didn't die when she should have… hehe. How interesting. At this rate, I'll end up having to kill her the next time we meet…" a mysterious figure noted as he was observing the events from some sort of crystal ball, "Both her… and that akuma Rider…"
The figure then held on tightly to the crystal ball, dark energy now flowing into it, and he smirked as the energy then came off of the item. The dark energy then formed into what seemed to be a creature with a dragon-like head before settling.
"What better to kill a dragon… then another?" the figure smirked.
Said monster had a top half that heavily resembled Another Ryuki, though with the coloring more so like Another Ryuga, the chest region lacked the text that was on Another Ryuki, and the lower half looked like Another Decade with colors that also seemed like Another Ryuga. The monster then bowed before its creator.
"Show me your other form…" the figure commanded. He then smirked as he saw the monster transform into a dragon-like form for a moment before it reverted back, "Now then… Shadow Eyes Warrior… go attack both nations and stir up more conflict between them…"
The newly dubbed Shadow Eyes Warrior then turned into shadows and headed out to do as it was told…
Two days had passed without event before Queen Mikoto was laid to rest in the Hoshidan capital. The evening it occurred had been filled with rain, but nobody bothered to keep themselves dry out of a sense of sadness. Everybody within the capital could only be filled with sorrow at the loss of the queen, yet none more so than her children as they watched her be buried.
"It's a shame that you did not get to know her as well as the rest of us," Ryoma sorrowfully commented to Kamui.
"Even though that happened… I still felt like I got to know her like she was my mother the whole time…" Kamui responded.
Ryoma simply nodded a little before he walked away to rejoin his siblings to discuss what they would be doing next. Kamui, however, simply remained nearby Takeshi and Azura with a look of sadness coloring her.
"Are you going to be ok?" Takeshi asked.
"I hope…" Kamui said before she walked over to join Ryoma and her Hoshidan siblings.
"Takeshi?" Azura quietly spoke.
"Yeah?"
"Give this to her when you can…" Azura told him as she handed him what looked to be a necklace, "It can control her powers. You two seem close, so I think it's best if you hand it to her."
With that, Azura then walked off to speak with somebody that Takeshi couldn't see due to the weather.
"Of course you get to give her something…" Tiki-chan muttered, "But… it is important for her to not have another emotional rampage. Go on and give it to her."
However, Takeshi did not move from where he was standing.
"...Take-kun?"
"I don't know what to do anymore…" Takeshi admitted.
"...you hand her the item a-"
"Not with this. Just… what to do about this world. The cloaked woman said I have to end a life, but I can't do that whatsoever," Takeshi elaborated, "I just… don't know anymore…"
Tiki-chan simply floated next to him for a moment before she tried to say something, but stopped herself before she said whatever she was thinking. She tried to talk again before stopping herself.
"Guess we're at an impasse."
"...maybe an idea will come to us after we get some rest? It is getting late…" Tiki-chan suggested.
"Yeah…" Takeshi shrugged as he walked off and eventually appeared within Kamui's hidden reality, "Glad she will let me rest here… doubt I'll get a room in the castle…"
"Hopefully we'll sleep well…" Tiki-chan responded as she curled up underneath a leaf.
Takeshi soon shut his own eyes and drifted off into sleep…
Takeshi slowly opened his eyes and sat up. He gave a look around , but gave a soft gasp as he saw that he was in what looked to be just a dark area without any sign of other people or other life forms of any kind, "...what did I get myself into this time…?"
"...are you Narukami Tadashi?" a voice asked Takeshi.
"...it's Narumi Takeshi…." he corrected…
Kamui eventually slipped into her hidden base before she quickly saw that Takeshi was fast asleep. She then just wordlessly sat down on the grass before sleep quickly got a grasp on her as well. After a while, Takeshi slowly opened his eyes to see he was back in Kamui's hidden base. He then saw that it was still evening, Kamui sleeping nearby, before he then wordlessly went back to sleep without bothering her.
Back over within the Nohrian capital, Xander approached his siblings with a message in hand. He took a seat at the head of a table before his other siblings joined him.
"Our father has given us an important message…" Xander informed the others as he put the message on the table, "Queen Mikoto has been murdered and he wants us to mount an assault on the capital."
"Really?" Elise said in an almost disgusted tone.
"He says it would be a strategic advantage given the current power vacuum…"
"It would be so wrong to attack at a time like this…" Camilla added.
"I know and I agree. However, he says that if we don't do something, then he'll disown all of us…" Xander explained.
"Can he really do that?" Elise innocently asked.
"I honestly don't know…" Xander informed.
"Regardless of such… we're going to have to go to Hoshido. I recently went to Kamui's room and I saw that she's gone…" Leo told the others.
"What?!" Elise and Xander gawked.
"I suspect that it was done in retaliation for their mother's death…"
"Why would they blame us?" Camilla questioned. She then blinked before she spoke again, "Nevermind. Somebody from Nohr killing Queen Mikoto makes the most amount of sense…"
Xander looked down at the message, then back to his siblings, before he spoke, "Prepare no more than about… a hundred soldiers. Also prepare a message to Hoshido. I wish to resolve this as peacefully as we possibly can…"
"Alright," Leo nodded as he headed off to make preparations.
Morning eventually arrived. Kamui walked out of her secret base, into her room, and then out of her room to see Hinoka rushing around.
"What's going on?" Kamui asked.
"There's an attack going on at a village to the south-west. We're mobilizing right now," Hinoka quickly explained as she grabbed a quiver, "You and your friend willing to help?"
"I can help at least," Kamui stated.
"Alright. Follow me then," Hinoka told her before she headed off.
Kamui looked over towards her room, contemplating getting Takeshi, but she eventually shrugged her shoulders and tailed after Hinoka.
Not too long later, Kamui, Hinoka, and a squad of Hoshidan soldiers arrived at the village that had been attacked. The village had been torched to the ground and there were swarms of Faceless roaming around.
"The Faceless…" Hinoka muttered as she tightened her grip on her naginata, "Of course Nohr choses now to attack us…"
"...wait… what?" Kamui blinked, "We thought… you sent those monsters…"
"Why would we create a swarm of monsters to attack anything?" Hinoka honestly questioned. She then motioned for the soldiers to move forward, herself leading the charge, to attack the Faceless.
Kamui, meanwhile, just looked confused. She took out her transformation crystal as the soldiers attacked the hordes of monsters, but she couldn't focus as she saw the soldiers fighting, "...but… I… I thought that…"
She just stood there before her crystal began to spark. Kamui let the crystal fall to the ground, the energy continuing to spark, when the crystal then split in two from the energy. She then stared at the broken crystal in shock, "My… crystal…"
Suddenly, Kamui then heard somebody whimpering in fear nearby her. She quickly headed over to the source of the sound and saw that it was a young woman that had black hair, brown eyes, wearing a dress that was white and black, and she had what looked to be a staff of some kind.
"Hey… are you ok?" Kamui asked her.
The young woman looked up to her with tears in her eyes, "...I'm not. My mother… and my friends… I couldn't help them..."
Kamui then offered her hand to the young woman, "I'm here to help. I'm sorry to hear about what happened, but there isn't time to grieve right now. I'll keep you safe for as long as I can, ok?"
The young woman then accepted Kamui's hand and got up, "...I'm Mozu."
"I'm Kamui, now stay close."
Mozu simply nodded her head in response as Kamui got out her sword and stood ready for battle. A rather large Faceless noticed the two and ran towards them, but Kamui managed to strike it down with her sword. She watched as the monster fell to the ground with a loud 'thud' before dissolving into shadows. Another Faceless made a charge towards her, yet was easily stopped by a dragon charged claw strike from the princess. The hordes of Faceless continued to roam around the smoldering remains of the village, but the soldiers were able to fend some of them off while Hinoka took care of the ones that had gotten into the air.
Kamui herself remained calm as she charged towards another Faceless and struck at it with her sword. However, the Faceless wasn't dead yet. It let out a mighty roar before another slash managed to strike it down. Kamui looked up to see some of the knights had finished the job.
"Thank you," she quickly told them.
Another Faceless charged towards her, but Kamui slashed through it at one angle while Hinoka jumped off of her pegasus to do the same from another.
The last of the Faceless had been defeated and the soldiers were going back towards the capital to recuperate. Kamui looked at the broken remains of her transformation crystal, which was currently in her hands, as she walked alongside the others.
"Um… thank you for allowing me to travel with you, Kamui-hime…" Mozu thanked, "I promise that, whatever comes your way, I'll help you keep your family safe."
"Thank you," Kamui responded.
Takeshi let out a heavy sigh as he stared at his phone, still having no good ideas, before he heard Kamui reenter the area. He quickly gathered himself, now with a smile on his face, when Kamui had arrived nearby him.
"Hey," he greeted.
"Hello," Kamui responded as she motioned for Mozu to follow, "I have somebody to introduce you to. Takeshi, this is Mozu."
"Hi," he told her.
"Mozu, this is Takeshi," Kamui continued.
She simply gave a polite bow in response to this introduction before her attention turned back to Kamui, "So… if what you told me while we were on our way over here is accurate, then you're part of two families."
"More or less…" Kamui stated.
"Then… what would your last name be?"
Kamui was about to say something in response, but stopped herself with her mouth open. She closed her mouth and then entered a bit of a thinking pose as she mulled over Mozu's question. Kamui continued to think over it for a bit before she just exhaled, "...I don't know."
"Maybe I could help you come up with something?" Mozu offered.
"Alright, let's hear it," Kamui smiled.
Mozu simply looked over Kamui for a bit, thinking a bit back to what she had witnessed earlier while Kamui was fighting, and then spoke, "How about Kiryuin? It starts with the same letter as your first name and the characters that make it up contain 'dragon'."
"Sounds cool…" Kamui admitted.
"Nothing good comes from that last name…" Takeshi stated in a simple tone.
"Huh?" Kamui blinked, turning to Takeshi, "What do you mean?"
"From my travels… I saw some people with that last name. They were pretty bad news…" Takeshi explained.
"Oh… ok..." Kamui nodded.
"How about 'Junketsu'? It means purity," Mozu offered next.
"Does sound pretty…" Kamui admitted.
"...somebody already has that name and they're also bad news…" Takeshi stated.
"Then what do you suggest…?" Kamui inquired.
"Honestly… I wouldn't know…" Takeshi admitted as he got up, "Maybe something to do with how much heart and love you put into doing things… but that's the only thing I could suggest…"
The princess simply gave a nod of her head in response to that statement. She then nervously approached Takeshi and proceeded to show the damaged remains of her transformation crystal.
"...is that…?" Takeshi began to ask.
"Yeah… my crystal…"
"How'd it break?!"
All Kamui could do in response was simply shrug her shoulders. Takeshi simply buried his face into his palms, giving out a heavy sigh, as he tried to think of anything to do about this problem. Without another word, Kamui and Mozu left the pocket dimension and Takeshi ended up falling onto his back.
"ARGH! What do I do?!" he yelled, "I have no idea what to do!"
"Well… your best bet right now is to hope she'll get up to the part where she chooses a side and hope things resolve themselves…" Tiki-chan advised.
Takeshi just gave a simple nod of his head before he and Tiki-chan proceeded to follow Kamui and Mozu out of the pocket dimension.
Kamui put the broken shards of her transformation crystal onto a nightstand in her room, then she simply walked out of it without saying a single thing. Takeshi soon followed after her in order to keep an eye on the now powerless Rider.
"The Nohrian royals wish to meet with us…" Ryoma muttered as he looked at the letter sent from the Nohr royalty.
"What shall we do?" Azura inquired.
"...prepare some soldiers for battle in case things go south," Ryoma told one of his advisors, "I wish to see what the kingdom has to say for themselves. And allow Kamui and Takeshi to show up. If we have need of their unique abilities, then they should both be on hand."
A few hours passed before the Hoshidan royals were on their way to the meeting area. Takeshi and Kamui were within a rickshaw, yet neither really had anything to say to the other. After about an hour of neither saying anything, Kamui decided to speak up.
"Are you… alright?" Kamui asked Takeshi.
"I think I should be asking you that given… you don't have your powers…" Takeshi stated.
"Don't treat me like I'm helpless without them. I can still fight," Kamui quickly responded.
"I'm not implying anything… I think…" Takeshi weakly told her.
Thus, silence ended up returning to the two.
"Wow, watching you two is like reading a stuffy romance book…" Tiki-chan snarkily remarked.
"Not helping, Tiki-chan…" Takeshi told her, having a slight blush on his face.
All the small fairy could do in response to this was give an annoyed 'hmph', and turn away from him. The rickshaw soon stopped, causing both Takeshi and Kamui to look outside to see they arrived at the meeting point.
Ryoma, alongside a servant, approached a designated spot and saw Xander, also alongside a servant, approaching as well. The two servants proceeded to place blankets along the ground for the two to sit upon, then backed away for the two to begin their conversation.
"I cannot tell you how sorry I am for the loss of your mother…" Xander began, "I myself have lost my own mother and many step-mothers, so I can relate to what you are going through… but you must know, that was not an attack orchestrated by Nohr."
"What evidence do you have to this?" Ryoma questioned.
"None of our soldiers had been deployed anywhere near Hoshido's borders," Xander explained, "And I have proof to ensure that you believe me…"
Before Ryoma could say anything, there was a loud explosion nearby. Both of them turned to see the Shadow Eyes Warrior approaching, fire generating in its hands. The two gave an annoyed glare at each-other, but turned back to the monster upon hearing various screams. The monster was attacking both ends of the field.
"Temporary truce?" Ryoma quickly offered.
"Temporary truce."
Both Hoshidan and Nohrian troops took towards the monster as fast as they could, but the monster was effortlessly able to block their attacks.
Kamui looked out of the window of the rickshaw and looked to see the people trying to fight off the monster. She looked down for a moment, but then ran out as fast as she could. Takeshi then quickly followed after her. They both watched as members of both nations did their best to hold off the monster, before Kamui was about to charge in, only for Takeshi to grab her hand.
(Insert Song: Ghost OST Inoyachi Moyasuze, Theater Version)
"Let go!" Kamui yelled.
"You can't go in! You can't transform into a Rider!" Takeshi yelled back.
She then smacked away his hand and turned towards him with an angered look, "It doesn't matter if I can transform or not!"
Takeshi could only stare at her a bit, stunned, "...Kamui…"
"Yeah… it's risky without my powers, but… I'm not going to let any more of my family be hurt!" Kamui explained, nearly yelling. She then looked with a bit of passion in her eyes, "I'm going to fight. I can't hesitate when there's so much at risk right now. ...and I'm going to save my family. Atashi wa… atashi wa shinjiru!"
The broken remains of Kamui's crystal then disappeared in a brief flash of light.
Takeshi and Kamui exchanged a look at each-other before they saw the shards of Kamui's transformation crystal float over towards her, with her quickly grabbing them. She watched as the crystal reformed itself and her belt appeared around her waist, stunning both Takeshi and Kamui.
"My… powers are back…" Kamui muttered. She then looked towards the monster, held her crystal at the ready, and slotted it into her belt, "Henshin!"
Her body was then covered in watery magic before she transformed into her Rider form. Armed with her weapon, she charged towards the Shadow Eyes Warrior and slashed at it like there was no tomorrow. Takeshi, meanwhile, just stood there and watched her fight. Several thoughts were going through his head as he watched her…
"Very simple. You need to kill that world's main Kamen Rider."
"Are you just gonna blindly listen to the woman or listen to your own gut?"
Takeshi looked down for a moment before he looked at his belt and phone.
"It doesn't matter if I can transform or not!"
His eyes fell to his devices and then towards the battlefield before him…
"I can't hesitate when there's so much at risk right now. Atashi wa… atashi wa shinjiru!"
Takeshi then let out a loud, frustrated, and echoing scream towards the sky. He then looked towards what was in front of him, put on both items, and got out his card, "Henshin!"
=KAMEN RIDE: ...HERO!=
His suit quickly formed around him and he looked towards Kamen Rider Kamui and the Shadow Eyes Warrior. Hero then charged forward, just as the female Rider rolled along the ground, and he jumped over her, nailing a clean punch at the monster.
"Takeshi…?"
Hero then offered her a hand up, which she accepted.
"...you're right. I can't hesitate when there's something at risk that's important. I just have to act…" Hero told her, helping her up. He then turned towards the monster, "...and I can tell you this now. A Rider… a Rider never yields!"
Kamen Rider Kamui giggled a little as she walked towards his side, "Rider wa kussezu."
"Yeah," Hero nodded.
(End Insert Song)
The Shadow Eyes Warrior let out an angered growl as it fired off magic blasts at them, but the two Riders charged right past the resulting explosions. Hero then quickly punched the monster back, giving Kamen Rider Kamui an opening to slash at it, then she fired off a blast of water magic that stunned it and allowed Hero to kick it right upside the head. The two Riders quickly exchanged a nod at each-other before Hero charged forward to punch the monster, but the Shadow-Eyes Warrior managed to catch the punch and fling him backwards. Kamen Rider Kamui quickly summoned forth giant wings and let them blow off a huge gust of wind that sent Hero sailing right back towards the monster, letting him kick it again.
"We're not done yet!" Hero declared, quickly loading in a card.
=ATTACK RIDE: ...ILLUSION!=
Multiple copies of Hero then spawned, which quickly surrounded the monster. The monster then tried to strike the copies, but the attacks just phased through them. Hero let out a chuckle before the copies vanished and Kamen Rider Kamui charged forward.
"Suiryu no…" she declared, summoning forth a spear like form along her left arm, "STRIKE!"
She then stabbed the monster, knocking it back a fair bit.
"You're not going to beat us. Not when I have my loved ones around me. As long as I have them… there's nothing I can't do!" the silver Rider declared.
Hero smiled under his helmet before he turned towards the monster, "And as long as I am able to fight, then I won't let harm befall any of these heroes. Because… their lives deserve to keep going!"
Kamen Rider Kamui charged forward and continued to attack the monster as rapidly as she could. Before Hero could join, though, he saw a faint glowing by his belt and pulled out the cards. However, he noticed that there was more than just Kamui's Kamen Ride, Final Form Ride, and Final Attack Ride Cards. There were two cards that seemed to more closely resemble his own form, yet looked different enough from it that it made him quirk his head.
"Is this…?" he muttered, looking at a Form Ride Card. He then inserted it into his phone.
=FORM RIDE: …=
"It's gotta be…" he whispered, activating it.
=DRACONIC ARMOR!=
Elsewhere, within the main Fire Emblem world, a figure in a white cloak was simply sitting around. He then heard something starting to rev up and headed towards another room, seeing Neo-Hero's motorcycle… and a more dragon-themed motorcycle as well. The latter one was revving up. The figure was about to move over to make it stop, but the motorcycle zoomed off towards another location.
"Oh… no…"
Hero stood still as he awaited something to happen, only to then see what looked to be a ring of fire spawn nearby him. Out of that ring of fire came a motorcycle that was highly dragon-themed and resembled his own colors.
"Finally!" Hero smiled. Suddenly, the horn atop his head fell off and landed in his free hand. Then, just as suddenly, the dragon head on the motorcycle spewed out a fire towards the Rider. He was about to wince in pain, but there was no pain from the fire, "...whoa…"
(Insert Song: Believe in Myself by EDGE of LIFE)
Energy then shot up from the back end of the motorcycle as Hero's hood then vanished within the flames. The armor then slotted over his body, the chest being a split open version of Ryuki's Survive form, a more flowing cloak like Wizard's Dragon styles, gauntlets that similar to Cross-Z's, a dragon emblem appearing in place of where the horn on his base form was, and the former horn now transformed into a sword. It highly resembled the Beat Crosser, but the slot for the Full Bottles was covered up by a version of Hero's symbol, there was a claw like part towards the bottom of the sword, and there were dragon-like wings at the side of the sword. Hero looked himself over a bit, simply amazed.
"This… is amazing…" he gawked. His eyes then noticed that even the HeroPhone had changed shape somewhat, now having various dragon decals. He couldn't help but chuckle before he held the sword and charged forward, the sword becoming covered in flames as he swung it.
"Sugee…" Kamen Rider Kamui gawked, seeing the new form.
"Thanks," Hero responded.
Both Riders then swung at the monster as rapidly as they could, managing to knock it back a fair bit. Hero then looked towards his hands and could feel a faint amount of magic generating in them, then saw a faint glow on his belt. He then took out cards and saw there were elemental magics in them.
"Hey, Kamui-hime. Spread some water around and get into the air," Hero told her.
"Alright," she nodded, quickly using her dragon powers to do so before summoning wings and getting airborne.
"Here goes," Hero muttered, loading in a new card.
=ATTACK RIDE: ...DRACONIC THUNDER!=
Electricity quickly spread into his hands and he struck at the water, which quickly managed to shock the Shadow Eyes Warrior. Hero then quickly shook off the energy and loaded in another card.
=ATTACK RIDE: ...DRACONIC BLIZZARD!=
He charged up some icey magic in both hands and then sent it along the water, managing to freeze part of the monster's legs.
"Heh, the cold never bothers me. Anyway…" Hero declared, loading in another card.
=ATTACK RIDE: ...DRACONIC TORNADO!=
Hero then sent forward wind magic that knocked the monster into the air, alongside the ice shards to cause more damage.
"I get it!" Kamen Rider Kamui realized, quickly flying in and slashing at the monster. She quickly landed nearby Hero as he readied another card.
=ATTACK RIDE: ...DRACONIC AGI!=
"...eh? Why'd it say…?" Hero began to question, but he quickly shrugged it off and launched a few fireballs at the monster as it crashed onto the ground, "Had enough yet?!"
(End Insert Song)
The Shadow-Eyes Warrior gave an angered growl as it slowly pulled itself out of the crater.
"How is it still alive?!" a Hoshidan soldier yelled.
As the monster pulled itself out of the ground, though, it began to change shape. It slowly lost the humanoid shape… and turned into a full on dragon. It let out an angered roar as it took into the air, with Hero recognizing the shape.
"...where's something to cause obliteration when you need it…?" he muttered.
"I'd be able to fly us up there, but I don't know how long I could do that for…" Kamen Rider Kamui admitted, trying to think of a plan.
Hero then looked to the cards he had and noticed one of them, "I got a plan. You trust me?"
"More than anyone…"
Hero quickly loaded in the card.
=FINAL FORM RIDE: ...K-K-K-KAMUI!=
"This might sting a bit," he quickly warned before tapping her shoulder.
The silver Rider's body then gained some new armoring around it before her body began to morph into a shape that Hero knew well, Kamui's dragon form. However, differently, there was a pair of reins nearby, indicating somebody was supposed to ride.
"Let's do this!" Hero declared, getting onto the dragon.
"Hold on!" the Rider dragon responded, taking off into the sky.
The Shadow-Eyes Dragon gave off an angered roar before it soon heard that it was being followed…
"Suiryu no Taiatari!"
The silver dragon then rammed right into the dark dragon, making it wince in pain, while Hero held onto the reins as tightly as he could. The Shadow-Eyes Dragon growled as it charged up a blast of power, but the silver dragon was far faster.
"Suiryu no Kagizume!" the silver dragon called out, slashing right at the Shadow-Eyes Dragon's neck, making the energy stop charging.
"No burst stream for you!" Hero shouted out, jumping off of the silver dragon in order to strike at the Shadow-Eyes Dragon's wings.
The Shadow-Eyes Dragon let out a cry of pain as it tried to attack the two in response, but both were able to get out of its range quickly enough, with Hero grabbing into the reins to get back onto the other dragon.
"It's still flying…" he muttered.
"Not for much longer. Brace yourself," the silver dragon responded, flying underneath the Shadow-Eyes Dragon as water magic began to generate in her wings, "Suiryu no Tsubasa de Utsu!"
This attack knocked the dragon down, causing it to start falling a little bit, but the silver dragon quickly closed the gap between them once more for another move.
"Suiryu no Shippo!" she shouted out, knocking the enemy dragon higher into the air, but it was out of it.
"Let's end this!" Hero declared, readying the final card.
The dragon nodded, quickly bringing the two back to the ground, before Hero set the finisher.
=FINAL ATTACK RIDE: ...K-K-K-KAMUI!=
A vast amount of water magic gathered around the dragon as she looked towards the enemy dragon as it was falling out of the sky.
"Suiryu no…" she began, as the magic charged up at her mouth before she shouted out one word, "HOKO~~~!"
Hero then jumped forward, the energy of the water magic shooting him towards the sky as well as he quickly loaded in another card.
=FINAL ATTACK RIDE: ...D-D-D-DRACONIC ARMOR!=
Hero's sword charged up with energy and he slashed clean through the monster, with the silver dragon's attack finishing off what remained of the monster. Hero simply smiled a bit before gravity began to catch up with him, only for the silver dragon Rider to quickly get him back onto her back and land back on the ground.
"...thank you, Kamui-hime…" he told her.
"You're welcome. ...I couldn't have done it without you…" she responded.
The two simply smiled at each-other before the Final Form Ride ended up giving out. The duo then realized they were about to fall onto each-other and exchanged a look before that happened, the duo's transformation giving out following the fall. Takeshi and Kamui exchanged a look at each-other before they happily laughed together.
"You're amazing, Kamui-hime…" Takeshi told her as he got off of her.
"You're the amazing one, Takeshi," she responded, getting up and brushing some grass off of herself. She giggled a little before she smiled at him, "...what you and I have… I think it's deeper than a normal bond."
"...what are you getting at…?" Takeshi hesitantly asked, a blush starting to form on his face.
"I think there's dragalia between us," she smiled.
"...what?"
"You haven't heard of it?"
"...I've traveled a lot."
"Dragalia is the bond of trust between people and dragons. And, even if we're separated, the dragalia will always keep us tied together," Kamui explained, taking Takeshi's hand into her own.
"...sounds poetic…" he nervously responded.
Kamui just smiled at him a bit, with both being unaware that Tiki-chan was practically fuming with anger.
Ryoma and Xander, soon enough, returned to their meeting locations and simply looked at their armies to see that, while there were some injuries, nobody had died.
"I must commend you for leading your armies," Xander complimented.
"Oh. Thank you," Ryoma blinked, a bit surprised. He then looked over to the prince and simply exhaled a little, "And you did well yourself."
"I believe that we may have the ability to make good ties going forward…" Xander stated as he and Ryoma stood up, "There is just one thing I would like to request."
"What is that?"
"Simply return Kamui to Nohr," Xander stated, "That is all I ask."
Ryoma's smile instantly faded away, "No way. She is not leaving Hoshido after we finally got her back!"
"She is our sister-"
"Your father kidnapped her!"
All Takeshi and Kamui could do was sigh at this display as they both saw no way that it wouldn't end without some sort of fight.
Xander was now on his horse, but Ryoma was simply on his own two feet.
"Where is your horse?" Xander questioned.
"I don't need it!" Ryoma shouted back, taking a few steps forward.
Thus, the two charged towards each-other and began to clash.
"Well… I guess this is your call," Takeshi remarked to Kamui.
"So… I have to choose where I go?"
"More or less."
Ryoma and Xander continued to clash, not aware that Takeshi and Kamui were talking to each-other.
"...I may not be by your side with whatever you do…" Takeshi spoke up, "But, know that I will always support you no matter what you choose."
Kamui looked to him, both simply smiling, before the princess proceeded to give him a kiss to the cheek. She walked off towards her two older brothers, leaving Takeshi to cover his cheek and blush.
The princess stopped walking and her two older brothers both noticed her. The other family members soon joined up and Kamui could see they were all watching her.
"This way!" Ryoma told her.
"B-big sister..." Sakura muttered.
"She's MY big sister!" Elise shouted.
"We're your family!" Xander added.
Kamui was silent, her gaze briefly going towards where Takeshi was, then forward, "I'm sorry, everyone. But… I'm going to have to choose…"
Takeshi then suddenly fell out of the portal and landed on his side.
"Well… that was abrupt…" Tiki-chan remarked. She then looked down at Takeshi, "You ok?"
"I'll be fine…" he assured her as he got up, "But… do you know what Kamui chose to do?"
Tiki-chan then gave an annoyed exhale and tapped on the HeroPhone, "It says that Aiko Kamui had successfully brought forward a good future for the nations."
"...Aiko?"
"It's the last name she chose upon her taking nobody's side, said it was because of somebody who said she held great love in her heart…" Tiki-chan explained.
Takeshi couldn't help but smile a little, "Well… I'm glad she'll be alright. She-"
"Deserves the best? Yeah, we get it, Romeo…" Tiki-chan irritatedly responded, "You'd have to be blind as a bat to not notice the crush you got on her and how much you ignored me…"
"Wait…" Takeshi spoke, standing up, "You were jealous of her? This entire time?"
Tiki-chan then turned towards him with the angriest expression he'd ever seen on the fairy, "YES, YOU NIMROD! I WAS JEALOUS! I GET IT! I GET THAT YOU THINK SHE'S THE COOLEST DRAGON IN THE UNIVERSE AND THAT I DON'T HOLD A CANDLE TO HER!"
The fairy began to pant in order to catch her breath, with Takeshi simply staring at her for a moment.
"...you done getting that off your chest?" Takeshi asked.
"...yes."
"Good. Because I have to tell you something. She is cool. I have a fondness for dragons. But she's not even in my top five favorite dragons. Heck, she's technically a half-blood with the potential to turn into a dragon. I've seen Manaketes who are full dragon themselves, so even then, Kamui's only on my list by technicality."
"...then who are your top five favorites?"
"Stardust Dragon, Mushu, Toothless, Spyro…" Takeshi spoke, holding up five fingers that went down as he named off each dragon as he reached his index finger, "Tiki."
This made Tiki-chan begin to blush a bit, as well as get a little misty-eyed, as Takeshi looked directly at her.
"Tiki-chan, no matter what happens, you've always been my favorite. You're an amazing little helper and I appreciate having you around…" Takeshi assured her, "I don't know where I'd be without you."
The small fairy just smiled and then happily floated around a bit as Takeshi climbed over to the mattress that was nearby and exhaled.
"So… Echoes and the mirages…" Takeshi remarked, "...what happened to the other Fire Emblem worlds?"
"Everything else is still attached. Though, we were all a little surprised that Fódlan remained attached…" Tiki-chan explained, floating down to his side.
"Wait… you guys know about the world in Three Houses?" Takeshi asked.
"Yeah. B-"
Takeshi then quickly covered his head with the pillow nearby, "Say nothing! The game's not out in my reality yet! I don't want to know anything!"
Tiki-chan was about to speak, but Takeshi just kept his head under the pillow. After a few minutes, she floated down to him, "You done?"
"Yeah… please no spoilers."
"Not like there's much to spoil since we don't really know what happened back then anyway. It's the oldest recorded point in history," Tiki-chan informed.
Takeshi took the pillow off of his head and looked to her.
"Really. We don't have many historical documents from that era now. It's more of a mystery than the era that was before Marth's. We know there's a school, there were three halves, and that the hero of that world was a twin," Tiki-chan explained.
"...huh. Well, I guess since Awakening's lead is a guy and Fates' lead is a girl, then having twins is a good balance," Takeshi figured.
Tiki-chan then simply watched Takeshi get comfortable in his mattress and kept nearby him. After a bit of time, Takeshi got out his phone and simply stared at the most recent texts he had from his family and began to type, just trying to think of anything to say to them, but then he just sighed a little.
"Something the matter?" Tiki-chan asked.
"Just… Kamui being so concerned about her family made me think about mine. They were on some boat trip, but the boat they were on had some issues and they haven't made it back home yet…" Takeshi informed, "I just hope they're doing alright."
"Wait, why weren't you with them?" Tiki-chan inquired.
"Weren't enough tickets for all of us. Somebody had to stay behind and I volunteered. I'm still amazed my middle brother went along for the ride, but knowing him, he's gorging himself until he's sick unless supervised by my parents, the youngest bouncing everywhere like crazy... and my parents... they must be worried sick of me and going stir-crazy with only the two of them watching my bros... hardly any time to themselves. I hope they're able to handle themselves without me…"
Tiki-chan gave a small nod of her head in response before Takeshi set his phone aside.
"I'm sure things will work out," Tiki-chan assured him.
"I hope so…" Takeshi stated, adjusting his position.
The two soon both fell asleep.
Outside of the room, the mysterious woman simply observed stained glass windows of the various heroes from across the many ages. Her eyes fell onto the most abstract one of them all, which was simply of a monastery, with red, blue, and yellow around it. Her attention was then drawn towards one of a blonde male in white and red, alongside a woman in mostly blue, a dark skinned archer, and what looked to be a spellcaster that was a rabbit laguz. The latter one seemed to be the most recently made one, yet the writing on the inscription below it seemed almost completely alien. After she spent some time staring, she simply walked along, not saying anything...
*As the instrumentals slowly began, Takeshi stared at the dark room with the inactive portal.*
Embrace the dark you call a home, *Takeshi held out the Hero card and was joined by Tiki-chan.*
Gaze upon an empty, white throne *They looked to the portal, which was inactive and then slowly showed Kamen Rider Kamui's image*
A legacy of lies, *The two were being watched by something in the shadows*
A familiar disguise *Takeshi turned and then saw the mysterious woman before he was again shoved into the portal.*
Sing with me a song of conquest and fate *Takeshi, now Kamen Rider Hero, was standing in between various worlds and seeing the fractures to all nine of them.*
The black pillar cracks beneath its weight *He could see the nine Riders all facing away from him before they faded as if they weren't even there.*
Night breaks through the day, hard as a stone *Hero and Tiki-chan stood in a dark room in confusion before they slowly walked out of it*
Lost in thoughts all alone *The two simply continued forward.*
"Let's get one thing out of the way right now. We're not doing a Three Houses arc in the main story," Tiki-chan spoke up, "A special? Maybe. We don't know just yet, but there are no intentions of a Three Houses arc in the main story since this was concepted before we even knew the name of the game. Given how long this took to do and the game's release, the author felt the need to include a nod to it in some way. However, we're not having an arc in the main story."
There was a nervous laughter from behind the camera before the screen then showed Tiki-chan floating by a screen.
"Alright!" she smiled, doing a clap, "We got a lot to talk about today! First, we gotta talk about Kamen Rider Kamui. And I promise that I'll not be jealous."
Thus, the small fairy floated around and the image of the silver Rider appeared.
"First, there's her base form. It's overall a fairly well balanced form with decent speed, decent durability, etc. But, her biggest area of skill is in kicks. Which, given who we're talking about, makes sense," Tiki-chan remarked, then floating around and seeing the Nohr form appear, "Next up is her Nohr form. While much slower than her base form, she gains a ton of durability and her punching strength goes through the roof."
Then, with another twirl, an image of the Hoshido form appeared, "This is her fastest form of the three and she's more easily able to manipulate her dragon blood to use dragon based water magic. 'Suiryu' has a few different translations, hence why it's untranslated. The inspiration for the attacks having that naming theme comes from Fairy Tail and the Dragon Slayer Magics. One of the characters, Wendy, was originally meant to use water magic before being scrapped in favor of wind magic."
After that, she moved along and grinned a bit, "And now for the biggest and coolest thing from today's chapter. A not so wise man can be quoted as saying 'Power comes in response to a need, not desire'. Thus, the need to continue going forward without yielding, Takeshi gained… the Draconic Armor!"
An image of Hero's brand new dragon-themed form appeared, "Armed with the Draconic Slasher, Hero's stats gain an amazing boost as he's faster, stronger, more durable, and he now has the powers of the elements of fire, ice, wind, and electricity via new cards that are only useable while he's in this form. The mixing of elements and strength make Hero able to strike with the power not unlike a certain purple dragon who's second on his favorite dragon list!"
"Which just so happens to be the main four elemental tomes as well…" somebody from behind the camera remarked.
"...wasn't aware of that when I had the idea…"
"We would have Take-kun show off his new form, but… um…" Tiki-chan spoke.
Just outside the studio, Takeshi was chasing after Hero-Build.
"GET BACK HERE WITH MY POWERS, YOU JERK!" Takeshi yelled.
"No!"
"I HATE YOU SO MUCH, KIRYU SENTO!"
"Don't care!"
"YOU ARE THE WORST LEAD IN KAMEN RIDER~!"
"Says you!"
Takeshi gave off an angered yell as he tried to grab the Rider using his powers, but he just narrowly missed. Takeshi gave off an annoyed sigh as he tried to catch his breath.
Hero-Build, meanwhile, got behind an alleyway and chuckled a bit. However, before he could keep going…
=ARMOR TIME!=
"Eh?"
=LEVEL UP! EX-A~ID!=
=FINISH TIME! EX-AID!=
Hero-Build turned around just in time to see that somebody was quickly approaching him.
=CRITICAL TIME BREAK!=
"You?!" Hero-Build shouted before he got knocked upside the head and then smacked away, reverting back to normal as the Full Bottles came spilling out of his Driver.
Takeshi saw the two trinkets fall, rolled over, and quickly grabbed them. He shook them as fast as he could, then turned towards Sento.
"Uh… oh no…" Sento spoke up.
With a flash, Hero now stood in his Draconic Armor. Sento got up and started running away as Hero chased after him.
Zi-O couldn't help but laugh at the actions of his predecessors before he walked off. He continued to walk forward, approaching a black and yellow Rider, before he raised a hand and high-fived the other Rider in a manner similar to the high-five shared between GoseiRed and GokaiRed. Zi-O walked off into the distance as the black and yellow Rider stood there for a moment before he walked off in another direction, giving a remarkably similar high-five to a Rider with a rather bulky sword in his hand.
"Think we should say hi?" the Rider with the sword questioned.
"Nah… wouldn't want to create any paradoxes…" the black and yellow Rider stated, "We'll introduce ourselves when the time is right."
"Should be an interesting story to read…" the Rider with the sword admitted.
"Hey, Saber?" the black and yellow Rider spoke up, "Wish you luck. Hope you'll be a good... savior!"
The Rider with the sword, Saber, couldn't help but snicker a little at the pun.
"Hai, Aruto ja~... naito!" the black and yellow Rider declared.
Jikai, Kamen Rider Hero…
Takeshi: It's time we go forward.
Guard: There she is, get her!
Takeshi: Is she… an outlaw?
?: My name is Celia.
Takeshi: ...this world is so dumb…
Tiki-chan: Whatcha looking at?
Takeshi: Memories with my friends.
Neo-Hero: Hold still!
Hero: Right… you haven't seen my newest power…
Alm: What is happening?!
Kamen Rider Celica: I wish I knew…
Hero: I know who he is...
Emblem 16: Echoes of the Next World
An invasion from beyond the stars…
?: What are you supposed to be?!
?: An EM Being… Omega-Xis.
?: What did I get myself into…?
*A young teen was shown standing with a hexagonally shaped belt*
?: Henshin!
New Story, Kamen Rider Mega
Mid December, 2020
Well… it took… 817 days for me to finally finish this single chapter. I… don't have any words that can say how truly sorry I am for the wait. I will try to speed up since I have most of the month off, but we'll see how it goes with a handful of other things that I want to do. Plus, two new stories. I promise that both Hero and Debo Kyoryuger will eventually have all of their chapters posted. Just… give it time.
Now then, I think we'll go ahead and address the elephant in the room, Kamui mentioning "dragalia" and those four people on the stained glass window. Those are meant to be in nod to the mobile game, Dragalia Lost, which had two crossovers with Fire Emblem Heroes. It's been said that, eventually, they'll "return the favor" which very likely means characters from Dragalia Lost are going to be in Fire Emblem Heroes. We're going to need to wait and see. Having played the game and witnessed both crossovers (which, as an aside, they spoiled a BIG plot twist in the second one), I can see the worlds fitting fine. Additionally, it's said that the two worlds had met in the past. So… I can use that. However, for the time being, there won't be any characters from that game appearing in this story. It's just meant to sort of show they've had an impact on the Fire Emblem world.
I had said the name "Draconic Armor" sometime back and had finished the design sometime ago. I'm glad that it's finally here and you guys get to witness this upgrade to Takeshi's arsenal. And he's also finally gotten his motorcycle. Took a while because I had no idea what it would look like, but now it's finally here. ...have fun, KKD.
I think my favorite part would be when Takeshi and Kamui finish off the evil dragon and then their interactions after they fall. It's cute.
Anyway… as for the next chapter… I can at least hope for sometime in December, or early next year, but I really can't promise you guys anything. I'm sorry. I do have ideas for the story in mind, but it's just finding time to do it has been tricky. We'll see where things go.
Until then, I got other things I want to do and I hope that you'll be along for the ride. One of those things is that, going forward, this will be the very final chapter that I can say that I'm a guy writing a story about Fire Emblem without playing it. I have both Heroes on my new phone and Three Houses. By the time the next chapter is here, I'll have at least started one of them. So, that's big. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this.
Just Live More.