"Next time, let's fight fair and square..."
Somehow... life never seemed to want to give him some break. Just when he thought that he was able to get himself out of a situation where he and Keiwa would end up fighting to the death, he managed to get thrown into another one. And this time, he doubted that he could use the same strategy to get Keiwa back to join his side. Keiwa would really try to kill him this time and he might end up killing Keiwa in response!
He didn't want that to happen at all! He didn't want... to lose Keiwa like this. Not like this!
Ace jumped to the side as he barely avoided being hit by a barrage of attacks from Kamen Rider Tycoon. In response, Ace pulled out his Magnum Shooter to counter the attacks that Tycoon launched against him.
But even then, Ace found himself hesitating to really attack Keiwa with his full force. Even if it's unlikely for any of his attacks to cause enough damage to Keiwa to the point that it'll crack their core ID, Keiwa's body should already be weakened from being chained and tortured for so long. He didn't want to hurt Keiwa even more than what's already done to the man.
xxx
As soon as Neon and Michinaga arrived at the mansion, almost half of the mansion was in ruins. As the two of them searched for the whereabouts of their allies, they came across the epicentre of the battle. To their surprise, the ones caught in an intense battle with each other were none other than Ace in his Geats Boost MK II form and Keiwa in his Tycoon Command Form Jet Mode.
"Wha—what's going on?", exclaimed Michinaga as his eyes kept track of the battle. He couldn't understand it, wasn't their purpose of coming here to save Keiwa from the DGP Management system? Why was Geats fighting with Tycoon instead? And he thought earlier... he and Na-go had been able to free Tycoon from the chains that had bound him in place. Why were those two in battle right now? Did Tycoon turn back to side with the management again?
.
"It's Jitt—"
Both Neon and Michinaga turned around towards the speaker as Win sauntered over towards them.
"That guy used some kind of device to control Tycoon's movements... so unless that Jitt take back the orders he gave to Tycoon to kill Geats, that fight's not gonna end anytime soon."
Michinaga made a face at Win as a curse slipped out from his lips. "That Jitt guy could do something like that?"
"Yeah—" Win admitted. "Both of the game master's and producer's Rider forms had the ability to take control of a player's movements with their drones."
Win let out another sigh. "But then again, in Tycoon's case... Jitt was controlling him using some other means. While that fact might be a blessing in disguise in some way, I'm not sure how to snap that guy out of Jitt's control of him."
Neon placed a hand on Win's arm. "Is there really no other way to break Keiwa from the game master's control?"
Win just shook his head. "No. If the method of control was similar to the drones, Tycoon wouldn't stand a chance at fighting it!"
Neon immediately frowned in response. She still remembered the time when Girori had taken control of PunkJack during the foxhunt. But Win was right, since Keiwa wasn't controlled by those helmet-like drones... it's unlikely that Jitt would do something that Girori had done to Win in the past.
.
Michinaga bit his lips as he took out Keiwa's Bujin Sword buckle from inside of his jacket... before staring at it intently.
"So I suppose it's good that Tycoon didn't have this with him right now—"
Before either Win or Neon could say anything about that, a burst of evil laughter greeted the trio from nearby. The three turned around immediately to see Jitt approaching them lithely.
"How convenient of you to bring back Bujin Sword buckle back to us?"
xxx
Tsumuri gasped anxiously as she continued staring at the two holographic screens in front of her. One screen showed Win, Michinaga and Neon fighting Jitt while the other was showing Ace's battle with Keiwa.
"Win-san! Neon-sama, Michinaga-sama!" she cried out. Tsumuri turned her attention towards the second screen as she watched Ace and Keiwa continue to battle intensely.
She still hadn't forgotten... the last thing Keiwa had said to her before leaving to confront Ace the other day...
"What's the point of world peace... if my heart wasn't at peace?"
She still... hadn't been able to make Keiwa happy, after failing to help that person the last two times. And because of the wish she had granted, she had caused even more hurt to that man whose only desire was to be with their cherished family member. And because of her, Keiwa continued to be suffering by himself.
Tsumuri clenched her hands resolutely before turning around towards the exit. Jitt was doing all this to Keiwa and the others because he wanted to get her back and turn her into the second Goddess. So if she surrendered herself now, Jitt should release Keiwa from his control—!
.
Before Tsumuri could get too far, another hand grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving. She turned around as Ganaha Sae stared back at her sternly.
"You can't give yourself up!" reminded the other woman again.
"But—!" Tsumuri exclaimed before turning back towards the screens. "At this rate, Keiwa-sama—" she bit her lips before resuming,"—Keiwa-sama could DIE!"
"It won't come to that—!" barked Sae again as Tsumuri was startled into silence. Sae cocked her head towards the screens.
"Let's believe in our friends to be able to bring Sakurai-san back," she reassured her before shrugging. "Also, about that guy... I don't think he's the kind of person to give up so easily..."