Disclaimer: Don't own anything. You all know that by now.
Previously on Across The Kaleidoscope...
"If the world were to end, what would you do?"
"You will be going on a journey soon."
"We finally found you, Decade."
"If we do not prevent Decade's journey, all of our fates will be sealed."
"As Taurus Ballista had said, if you put on that belt and start your journey, your fate, as well as the worlds', will be sealed. You may try and forget your mission, but it will come back once you've reached the end of your journey."
"Let's go… Henshin!"
KAMEN RIDE: DECADE
"We're here. This is… Kuuga's world."
"Gegeru po bagigi girage!"
"Kuuga's world…" Ritsuka muttered again, his hand still on the backdrop.
"...Was that it?"
"What?"
"Just like that, we're now in a different world?" Tetsuya sounded sceptical. "I thought there would be a bit more pizzazz…"
"Tetsu… Is that really the thing you're complaining about?"
"What? Don't look at me like that…"
"Not everything is like what you see on TV, Tetsuya." Ritsuka rolled his eyes at his friend's embarrassment. "Let's go see what this place is like." 'Maybe it'll help me remember something…"
Taking the lead once again (well, more like those two were waiting for him to make the first move), Ritsuka exited the room and went back towards the entrance of the former cafe. He opened the door and the three teens stepped out into the new world.
Just one glance around and they knew that they were truly a long way from home.
"The city…" There was nothing wrong with it…which was why it was wrong. Every building was no longer damaged in any way. The sky, while a bit cloudy, was no longer black with smoke. There were a few people out in the street, most of whom were on a morning jog, and several cars drove down the wet roads. Finally, on the horizon was a mountain range. It was like the past few hours had not happened at all.
"We really are in another world…" Ryoko muttered in disbelief. Sure, saying that you believe in other universes was one thing but to actually be in one was another thing entirely. Both she and Tetsuya slowly walked forward, mesmerized by their surroundings. It should have been an everyday sight to them but with what they have just experienced not long ago, it was amazing.
Ritsuka, however, was not as entranced by the buildings and people around him. Instead, he was more focused on what needed to be done. "Hey, Tetsuya, Ryoko." He tried to get their attention.
"Hmm? What's up?" Ryoko responded without looking at him.
"Don't forget why we're here."
"And why are we here? All you told us was that we're going on a journey," said Tetsuya, also not turning around.
"I said I was going on a journey. You two are following me because you didn't want to stay behind." Ritsuka reminded them. "And we're here because…" He trailed off, not knowing the answer himself.
"Because what…" Tetsuya pressed him for answers as he finally looked at Ritsuka. However, a bewildered expression appeared on the boy's face when he saw him "...Were you wearing that earlier?"
"What are you talking about, Tet...su…" Ryoko spun to see what he was talking about and stopped when her eyes fell on Ritsuka. "What are you wearing?" She asked him.
Seeing his friends' confusion, Ritsuka looked down at his clothes and realized he was no longer wearing his normal attire. His jacket had been replaced with a long light brown duster that reached his feet. Underneath that was a dark brown suit with blue pinstripes along with a tie. His previously comfy sneakers had been replaced with a pair of trainers that felt a couple sizes too small. His camera, however, was still around his neck.
"When did this happen?" He muttered to himself, spinning around and checking the coat pockets.
"Hey, Tetsu." A grin appeared on Ryoko's face. "Is it just me or does Ritsu look like he's cosplaying someone?"
"Nope, it's not just you," Tetsuya said with an equally wide grin. Ritsuka, meanwhile, was not as amused as the two were.
"I'm a private detective." He went with the first thing in his mind.
"Really? Could've fooled us." Ryoko said, still smirking before asking more seriously. "When did you get into the getup though?"
"Don't know." Ritsuka shrugged. "All I know is that this relates to what I have to do here."
"And what's that? Burn the planet and angst about it for years?"
"Seriously, enough with the references."
"No." Ritsuka grimaced at Tetsuya's reply. However, something about the planet burning struck a chord in him. He didn't know why, but it did.
"So why are we here?" Tetsuya asked again. Just then, sirens filled the air as several police cars drove right past them towards the mountains.
"..."
"You can't be serious." The smile Tetsuya had disappeared and was replaced with a wary one. "I was just kidding-"
"Come on." Ritsuka suddenly took off in a dash, trying to follow the police going to (presumably) a crime scene.
"...This is your fault," Ryoko told Tetsuya before she ran after Ritsuka, with the boy trailing behind her. "It was just a joke!" He shouted as he ran.
Chapter 2: Beginnings
Kurougatake Ruins Excavation Site, 7:31 am...
"Ow! Tree branch!" Tetsuya yelped as said branch smacked him in the face. The three were, in a single word, lost. "Damn it, Ritsuka! Why did we take that shortcut!"
"So we could get to the ruins faster," Ritsuka said like it was obvious as he carefully dropped down a small ledge. While chasing after the police cars, he thought it would be easier to cut through a hillside forest. "That's why it's called a shortcut."
"When you mean ruins, you're talking about the ruins on that backdrop, right?"
"Yes… I think." "You think?!"
"Ruins, you say?" Ryoko said, an excited grin appearing on her face. "Oh… This will be fun!"
"Easy for you to say, you haven't stepped in animal shi-" "We're here." Finally, they managed to break through the treeline and come to a valley. The police had already arrived and were cordoning off the area around a stone entrance that led into the mountain. A few policemen were going into and out of the ruin, carrying broken pieces of equipment out in bags, while most were gathering other types of evidence that were outside of it. There were also some rescue officers combing through the debris.
"Come on," Ritsuka said again as he and Ryoko approached the scene, much to Tetsuya's protests, "Hey, slow down!"
Predictably, they were stopped by one of the policemen on duty. "You three, stop right there." The man in uniform ordered them. "This is a restricted area. I have to ask that you three turn back."
"What happened here, officer?" Ryoko politely asked, tiptoeing to try and peek over the man's shoulders.
"An accident with the archaeologists that were excavating the site," The officer told them. "Who are you three? You don't seem to be hikers."
Since they had not gotten the chance to change their clothes, both Tetsuya and Ryoko were still wearing what they had worn during the apocalypse a few hours earlier. "Umm… You see, we're…" Tetsuya tried to think up something to explain their predicament. Saying, 'we're from another dimension that just got destroyed,' was probably not the right call.
Ritsuka, however, was already one step ahead of them. "Private investigator, Fujimaru Ritsuka," he confidently introduced himself. "Your boss had requested that I come down here and take a look."
"The commissioner?" The officer chuckled lightly. "Is this some kind of joke, boy?"
"Not at all, I got the call an hour ago and rushed here as fast as I could," Ritsuka replied with a very strong poker face.
"Show me your I.D. then." The older man narrowed his eyes at him, obviously not believing a word he was saying. "You-"
"Fujimaru Ritsuka?" Before the officer could speak any further, another man approached them, having overheard their conversation.
The man had an attire similar to Ritsuka's except his were a shade of grey and obviously was not wearing sandshoes. In addition to that, he had a pair of dark shades on.
"You are Fujimaru Ritsuka?" The man asked to which Ritsuka nodded. "I see… Come along," He gestured for the teen to follow.
"What?" "Really?!" Needless to say, it had caught Tetsuya, Ryoko, and even the officer by surprise. "Sir, are you sure?"
"I got the call on my way here," The man said. "Although I was expecting somebody older."
"Experienced does not mean old," Ritsuka smirked. "I'm just as bit as experienced as you are, Detective-san."
"Are you calling me old?"
"Maybe."
"Cheeky, aren't you?" The man smirked back before walking towards the ruin. "Hurry, we don't have all day."
"Wait, how about us?" Ryoko asked. She wanted to get closer to the excavation site, having a massive interest in it.
"Nakagawa."
"Sir?"
"Escort them to my car."
"Yes, sir!" The man bowed his head before addressing the two other teens. "Please follow me. Oh, and I'm an inspector, not a detective."
"Aw…" Ryoko whined as she followed the officer while Tetsuya told Ritsuka, "Be careful."
With that, Ritsuka followed the inspector in charge up to the entrance of the ruins.
"So, Detective-san, what happened here?" Ritsuka asked, surveying the area in detail. There were broken tents near the opening and several rock piles were up nearby. Whether or not the rocks had always been there was a mystery but the tents had obviously been destroyed by something. Additionally, there were small craters scattered around the valley.
"The working theory was a lightning strike." The detective told him, taking out a notepad from his pocket and began writing in it. "As you might have realized, there was a strong thunderstorm last night. We assumed that the site had been struck by lightning bolts several times. That's what we thought caused the smoking craters."
"I can't help but notice you keep referring to this in past tense," Ritsuka remarked, snapping a photo of the ruin.
"Sharp too," The man smiled again as he closed his notepad. "While there is a chance that lightning did strike the area, that would not explain what happened inside."
"Inside?"
"...How old are you?" The man asked. Even though he wore shades, Ritsuka could tell that the man was staring into his eyes.
"19," answered Ritsuka. "At least that's what I've been told. Why?"
"Regardless, you're too young to see the bodies. We have not finished bagging all of them yet." The inspector firmly told him. "All I can tell you is that a bolt of lightning would not result in what happened to the archaeologists. What's left of them, anyway."
"That bad, huh?" Ritsuka, for some reason, was not surprised at that. He did not know why either. "So what do you think happened?"
"I'm not sure," The inspector admitted. "All we can say for certain is that the archaeologists that worked here did not all die at the same time. Their bodies were all throughout the ruins; some of them were right at this entrance too." Ritsuka looked into the opening and sure enough, there were some blood splatters there.
"Hmm…" He hummed. After a moment, a light bulb flashed over his head. "Were they running into or out of the ruins?"
"From the positioning of the bodies, most likely out." The inspector agreed with Ritsuka's assessment. "You've realized the same thing I have."
"Whatever killed them came from inside the ruins, right?" It was a rhetorical question. Ritsuka knew the answer already.
Before they could continue talking, however, another policeman came up to them. "Sir, there's someone here who needs to speak to you." He told Ritsuka's new inspector friend, pointing towards the mountain trail near the site.
"What?" He uttered. Both he and Ritsuka glanced over to where the officer was pointing and saw a young man leaning on a motorcycle on the road next to some police vans where the pieces of evidence were being loaded. From a distance, they were not able to see the man's features but Ritsuka felt something odd when he spotted him.
"That is…" The teen muttered, taking out a card from his pocket. It was a KamenRide card but the Rider it depicted was grayed out. What could be identified were the large bug eyes and the beetle horns he had. Ritsuka flipped the card and stared at the symbol that was in the centre of it. He then looked back towards the ruined entrance, specifically at the symbol etched into the stone above it. The same symbol that was on the card.
The young man felt uncomfortable waiting. Tapping his foot impatiently on the gravel, he watched as the policeman he talked to approached, who he assumed to be the officer in charge of the operation, along with a boy who looked slightly younger than himself. He saw them turn in his direction. The younger of the two then looked back at the ruins, and unconsciously, he too looked at the entrance.
The second his eyes met with the black abyss that was the doorway, a stinging sensation hit his head, and flashes of a distant memory appeared in his mind; a warrior in red armour lying in a sarcophagus.
"Ah!" He yelped in shock, stepping back and hitting his bike. "What was that?" The young man asked himself. He recognized the sarcophagus. He had seen photos of it in the lab when the professor was trying to decipher the runes on it.
"Hi, say 'cheese'."
"Huh?" The clicking of a camera snapped him out of his thoughts as now, the two he was looking at were right in front of him. The boy in sandshoes had taken a photo of his distressed face while he was distracted.
"So, who are you?" asked the boy, closing the flap on his camera.
"Be more respectful, Fujimaru," The older man reprimanded his younger companion before turning to him. "I apologize for him, he's a bit new. May I ask for your name?"
"Ah, sorry." The young man bowed down slightly. "I am Toshigami Yuusuke. I'm a student at Johnan University's Archeology Department."
"Johnan? They're the ones who funded this excavation, correct?"
"Yes, sir." He nodded. "We tried to call the professors that were here. Sakurako-senpai managed to translate some of the runes but…" Yuusuke glanced at the rescue workers that were outside the ruins.
"I see. Who was the one in charge of the site?"
"That would be Professor Natsume, Detective-san."
"I'm an inspector, not a detective," The man huffed. "So what did these runes say?"
"According to Sakurako-senpai, they mean 'death' and 'warning'," Yuusuke grimly revealed. "When we tried to call them, the excavation team got cut off by something. I rushed here as fast as I could."
"Death and warning, you say?" The boy smirked. "Guess our theory is correct."
"Theory?" asked Yuusuke. "What happened here?"
"At the moment, we cannot say anything yet," The inspector told him. "We have discovered a few cameras within the ruins. They've been sent to the crime lab for processing."
"I see, I'll call the Sakurako-senpai and…" Yuusuke trailed off when one of the policemen rushed past them to reach the evidence vans. In his hands was a stone belt that had been excavated from the ruins.
Once again, memories that Yuusuke had never experienced flashed in his head. It was of the same warrior as earlier. This time though the warrior was fighting something, several somethings actually. Not only that, his armour changed colours; blue, green, and purple. Each armour set wielded different types of weapons. The blue, a rod; the green, a bow/gun hybrid; and the purple, a sword.
"Again…? Why…?" Yuusuke unconsciously tried to follow the police officer, his eyes locked on the symbol on the sides of the belt, only to be stopped by the inspector.
"Wait," He requested. "We'll need more details on the phone call your professor made. Can you follow us back to the station?"
"Of course, sir." Yuusuke nodded, getting back on his bike.
"Actually, I would like for you to come along in my car," The inspector requested. "I'll have one of my men bring it back for you."
"Of course, Detective-san." "Inspector." Besides, he doubted that there was enough fuel in the tank anyway...
Meanwhile…
While Ritsuka was busy playing P.I., Tetsuya and Ryoko were stuck in the backseats of the inspector's car with a police officer outside to make sure they did not sneak out. Silence filled the air and, now that they had the time to think about it, memories of what had happened came back in full force.
"...Hey, Tetsu?" Ryoko slowly said, reflecting on the events of the last few hours.
"Yes…?" The boy replied, just as deep in thought.
"Our world… was destroyed, right?" She tentatively asked, closing her eyes as she remembered the monsters falling out of the sky.
"Well… Destroyed might be a bit too much." Tetsuya had a small smile and tried to cheer her up. "Lots of buildings were still standing and I'm pretty sure there were some survivors."
"..."
"Hey, I'm just trying to lighten the mood," Tetsuya nervously laughed. "I don't think our world is completely destroyed, and we don't know if the entire planet was caught up with the whole thing."
"You got a point…" Ryoko sighed, "Maybe I'm just overthinking it." How exactly do you overthink the (maybe) death of your world?
"You know… Ritsuka doesn't seem to care about it," Tetsuya quietly remarked. "The entire time the world was collapsing around us, he didn't make a single comment about it."
"Yeah, but he was distracted with protecting us, wasn't he?"
"You know why I mean. The second we got here, he threw himself into this entire mess."
"Couldn't that just be him wanting to get his mind off of the apocalypse?" Ryoko pointed out. "Why do you think I wanted to check out those ruins?"
"..." "But there was something odd about Ritsu," She admitted. "Ritsu somehow knew all about those monsters. You know, the Lords, Mirror Monster, and Inves guys. He knew their names."
"That's true… What did he say when we came here? Kuuga's world?"
"I think so."
"How did he know that already?"
"Only he can answer that." While the two had resolute in following their amnesiac friend on his journey, they could not help but wonder about the mysteries that surrounded Ritsuka.
"...I'm starting to think what you said yesterday was not as farfetched as it seems now," Tetsuya mumbled thoughtlessly.
"About him being an alien, right?" Ryoko rhetorically asked. "Well, not an alien really. Technically, he'd still be from Earth."
Suddenly, before Tetsuya could respond, the front doors opened and Ritsuka and the inspector entered the car.
"Sorry for taking too long," The inspector apologized to the two teens as he put on his seatbelt.
"It's fine, Detective-san."
"Again, I'm an inspector, not a detective," He grumbled as he started up his car. "We're going to the Nagano Headquarters. That's where we're coordinating this investigation."
"Scoot over you two; we have company," Ritsuka said, looking over the headrest of the passenger seat. A knock on the window caught Tetsuya's and Ryoko's attention. Outside was a dark-haired man that looked slightly older than them waving at them, smiling.
"Hello." His voice was slightly muffled. "Can I come in?"
"Ah… Yeah." Tetsuya thoughtlessly nodded, moving over to the centre of the seat so that the young man could enter the car too. The door opened and the young man came in. He wore a simple red sweater and blue jeans.
"Nice to meet you," he said as he got in, extending a hand to them. "My name is Yuusuke."
"Uh… Nice to meet you too." Tetsuya replied, shaking his name before introducing himself. "I am Tetsuya and this is Ryoko." "Hi." She waved at him.
"All ready?"
"Not yet, Fujimaru. Put on your seatbelt."
"Fine, fine," Ritsuka said, doing as he was told.
"Good, let's set out." And so, they drove off, right behind the evidence van that also was going back.
Unbeknownst to them, two monstrous figures were watching them from within the forest.
"Gose pa basesazegu jo be?" One asked the other in an unknown language.
"Zagi." The other nodded. "Padagidaji pa basesa bi gidagagu jizujo ga gashiragu. Desudo go zabagi gusu bi pa Kuuga." It said before the two moved as fast as the wind, chasing after the vehicles.
On the road…
"So, Yuu-su-ke." Ritsuka drew out the young man's name. "You came all the way out to Nagano from Tokyo?"
"Yes," He answered, nodding. "When we deciphered the glyphs that were inscribed on the sarcophagus found inside the ruins, we tried to call Professor Natsume."
"Well, it came a bit too late, didn't i-Ow! Ryoko!" Ritsuka's remark was interrupted by the girl kicking the back of his seat.
"Try being a bit more compassionate, Ritsu!" She scolded him before turning to Yuusuke, "Sorry about him, he can be a bit disassociated from people."
"He's right though…" Yuusuke muttered. "If only we figured it out sooner…"
"Ritsu…" The fake investigator could feel the glare Ryoko was giving him. "So, what was in those ruins? How old were they? What-?"
"Ryoko, breath. One question at a time." Tetsuya cut her off before the girl could rattle on too much.
"I don't mind answering. All of us at the archaeology lab have a vested interest in the ruins." Yuusuke's jovial nature returned as he laughed at Ryoko's excitement. "From what we can tell, the ruins date back to the Joumon period, early human civilization."
"How early are we talking about here?" Ritsuka asked, also interested.
"Umm… Approximately 3000 B.C., give or take a couple centuries." Yuusuke said.
"That old?!" "Approximately, Ryoko-san," he said again.
"But that would make those ruins as old as Mesopotamia!" exclaimed Ryoko.
"Exactly, that's why the historical society is so interested in it. We even got backing from some organization in the U.K." Yuusuke elaborated more. "Though they took basically all of the relics we found there."
"Ah… Good old Britain, stealing historical and cultural items and sticking them in a museum," Ritsuka snarked.
"Yet you're dressed as one of their greatest heroes."
"I'm a private investigator!"
"Oh, that's why you looked familiar, Ritsuka-san," remarked Yuusuke. "Anyway, as I said, most of the artifacts from the ruins were taken by that organization once they're done being processed. They said they want to 'preserve the mystery' or something along those lines. Shame, really."
"So there was nothing left?" Tetsuya asked.
"No, there was still a lot of stuff. Those ruins go deep."
"Yes, some of my men recovered some while searching the tunnels," the inspector commented. "If they have no bearings on the case, then we will return to your university."
"Thank you, Detective-san." "Inspector."
"So what did the Brits not plunder from the tombs?" Ritsuka asked.
"Well, there's the weird beetle thing we found in pieces," Yuusuke told them. "Jean-senpai is in charge of those and is still trying to assemble them back together."
"And the Brits didn't take them?"
"No, we sort of… have not reported it yet. The contract explicitly said any and all intact relics are to be sent to their… place." He hasn't fully read the contract, just heard it from the others.
"Regardless, once it's fully assembled, they'll be taking it."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Yuusuke sighed. He had always felt a strong connection to the ruins so seeing those relics getting taken hurt him. "Other than that, the most important thing we found was the mummified remains of an ancient warrior," he added. "At least we assumed he was an ancient warrior."
"Assumed?" Ryoko questioned him.
"Well, we didn't find any artifacts that would point to him being a warrior. He wasn't even dressed like one from what we could tell from the photos anyway," he clarified. "The only reason we think he was one is due to the glyphs that were on his coffin."
"Photos? So you've never actually seen the guy?" asked Ritsuka.
"Nope, all we got was some images that the crew took and e-mailed last night." 'And then a few hours later…' Yuusuke silently thought. "Sakurako-senpai said that the belt he had would probably shed some light on him and what he did."
"The belt?" Tetsuya perked up. He was not as interested in the topic as his friends had been but the mention of a belt caught his attention. "The mummy had a belt?"
"Yeah, there was a belt. I saw Detective-san's-" "Inspector." "-men recover it." Yuusuke ignored the inspector's comment.
"A belt…" Ritsuka muttered, staring out the window at the passing-by buildings. A memory flashed in his mind, one similar to Yuusuke's, that of a red warrior. However, he knew who the warrior was. He did not know why he knew, but he did. 'Kuuga…'
Nagano Prefectural Police Headquarters, 11:13 a.m.…
"Ow, legs…" Both Yuusuke and Tetsuya groaned upon exiting the car outside the police department. Ahead of them were the evidence vans and several police officers exited the building to help unload them.
"Hehe… Wimps." Meanwhile, Ryoko was not as in pain as they were. Similarly, the two detectives on the case were also completely fine with the near four-hour trip.
"Yuusuke-kun!" Someone called out to the stretching man, who immediately recognized the voice.
"Sakurako-senpai?" Yuusuke said as he raised his head up to see a young woman run up to him. She had a white coat on top of a black shirt along with black pants. She also had a large bag with her. "You're here already?"
"Yes, I got on the first train here when I got your call," The woman, Shirasawa Sakurako, informed him before addressing the inspector, "Ahh, Detective-san-" "You too…?" "-thank you for bringing him here."
"It's no bother, ma'am." The inspector told her before he noticed a rookie policeman come out of the station. "Oh, Tomozane-san! Come here for a second."
"Of course, Hayakawa-san," The officer walked towards the group of six. He wore a standard blue police uniform complete with a hat on his neatly combed hair.
"Can you please escort these five to the waiting room? I have other business I need to attend to," the inspector, now named Hayakawa, requested the officer, to which he responded with a salute.
"Go with Officer Tomozane, he'll take you to the waiting room. You all can stay there while we analyze the evidence," Hayakawa told the five.
"And me?" asked Ritsuka.
"You too. You're a private investigator, not a scientist."
"Now, whoever said that?"
"Please just go with Tomozane. We will speak again later."
"If you would please follow me," Officer Tomozane said, leading them into the building.
The waiting room was serviceable. There were two low wooden tables on opposite sides of the room, both surrounded by a set of couches and seats and a water dispenser in between them. Several potted plants were placed around the room and one wall was lined with windows.
"Here it is," Officer Tomozane said as they entered the room. "As you've heard from Inspector Hayakawa, you are to stay here until he requests your presence."
"And how long will we have to wait?" Tetsuya asked.
"A few hours at least," the officer answered. "If you need to use the restrooms, they are just down the hall to the right. If you would excuse me, I have to return to my post." He then bowed before exiting the room.
"Well, nothing to do now but wait," Ritsuka said as he stretched his arms into the air. "I'm going to take a nap." He told them, claiming a couch for himself. With the chaotic few hours he just had, and knowing that the next few hours will be just as eventful, he might as well rest up. While it was a sentiment shared by his friends, they had too many questions for him before they could get some shut-eye.
"Hey, Ritsu," Ryoko whispered to the teen detective, sitting in the chair by his head and eyeing Yuusuke and Shirasawa as they claimed the other table. "We have something we want to ask you."
"Need. Need to ask you," corrected Tetsuya.
"Sure, ask whatever." Ritsuka waved his head, giving them the go-ahead.
"Ritsuka… I'm sure you know what we're about to ask, don't you?" Tetsuya quietly asked so that the other two would not overhear them.
"Tetsuya, my mind's been a bit of a mess for a while now," Ritsuka told him. From the nightmares he has not been having, to the unexplainable memories he has, and the fact that the destruction of their world was apparently his fault, he probably was not thinking straight.
"Could it be… you came from another world?" asked Tetsuya cautiously.
"..." Ritsuka remained silent. "...Probably." Obviously, he had already thought about it earlier. That would explain how he inexplicably knew of things he really should not; the names, both the monsters and Riders, that kept popping in his head, how to travel to other worlds, and most importantly, being Kamen Rider Decade. But that still left him just as confused as he was before, if not more so.
"If you came from another world, how did you end up in ours?" Ryoko gently asked him. "Sumida-san found you behind the dorm in the trash piles, right?"
"Yeah," Ritsuka confirmed, reminiscing about his first memory…
Two and a half years ago…
It was an early spring morning and was raining heavily. His mind was completely blank, his entire body was in pain, and there was a burning sensation in his chest. He felt absolutely exhausted and had a hard time keeping his eyes open as the rain fell on his face. He could barely lift his hands, let alone get up and walk away.
"Huh?!" He heard someone gasping followed by something loud at the end of the alleyway. He dazedly turned his head towards the direction of the noise and faintly saw the silhouette of a woman with an umbrella and trash bag at her feet. "Are you okay?!" The woman rushed to his side.
"You…" He barely managed to say. "Who are…?"
"Here, give me your hand!" The woman dropped her umbrella and quickly grabbed his hand. She helped him up, letting him lean on her shoulders, and brought him into the building.
"Rest here for a bit. I'll get you something else to wear," she said as she went up the staircase leaving him on one of the couches. Looking down at his clothes, he realized they were tattered and wet. The only thing that seemed intact was a weird-looking camera that was around his neck.
He faintly heard stomping sounds above him before, a few moments later, the woman came back down the stairs carrying some clothes. Following closely behind her was a teenage boy with some towels.
"Ah!" The boy gasped in surprise upon seeing him.
"Hold this." The woman handed the boy the clothes and took the towels. "Here." The woman smiled at him as she gently wiped the water off of his face.
"Hey…" The boy hesitated to speak. "What's your name?"
"My…name?" He muttered in confusion.
"I am Sumida Takara and this is Tetsuya," The woman introduced herself and the boy.
"My name… It's…" Despite how he could not recall anything else, there was something in his mind. "It's… Fujimaru Ritsuka."
"Hey, Ritsuka." Tetsuya shook him out of his daze. "You in there?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah…" Ritsuka shook his head to shake the thoughts out. "What were we talking about?"
"How did you end up in our world?" Ryoko asked again. "And with no memories?"
"Not sure either, I don't remember. That's what amnesia is, Ryoko," replied Ritsuka. "And I don't think just talking about it is going to bring my memories back."
"Yeah, if it did, you would've gotten them back a long time ago," Tetsuya remarked, flashing Ryoko a smirk.
"Hey, how can someone not be curious about their friend's missing memories?" She tried to defend her unrelenting prodding over the last two years. "At least I never did anything drastic like hit you in the back of the head with a frying pan like on TV."
"Does that make it any less annoying?" Ritsuka snarked back.
"...Sorry."
"Well, I need to use the toilet for a sec," he said, getting up. "I'll be back." Ritsuka then walked out of the waiting room.
"There he goes…" sighed Tetsuya, watching the door close. "So, Ryoko. What do you-? Huh?" He wanted to know his friend's thoughts about all this but when he turned to look at her, she was gone. "Ryoko?"
"So what does that one mean?"
"It roughly translates to 'Warrior'." He heard Ryoko conversing with someone. Turning to the other side of the room, Tetsuya saw her leaning over the armrest of the chair Yuusuke's senior was sitting in. The latter had a laptop on her… lap.
Yuusuke, meanwhile, did what Ritsuka was not able to do and fell asleep on the couch on his side.
"How did you manage to decipher the runes in the first place?" Ryoko asked, her interest in ancient history showing again. "Was there something like the Rosetta Stone for them?"
"Actually-"
"I apologize for my friend's behaviour, miss!"
"Hey!" Before Sakurako could finish answering her question, Tetsuya rushed over and quickly apologized to the woman.
Sakurako, however, just giggled at him. "It's alright," she told him. "It's nice to have someone so interested in the ruins. Helps me keep my mind off…"
"Thank you!" Ryoko smiled at the compliment, not hearing the woman's muttering. "You can ignore my history-ignorant friend here."
"Hey!"
"So what were you going to say before we were rudely interrupted?"
"Well…"
As the two plus one were discussing the ruins nearby, Yuusuke was twitching in his sleep.
"Your fate will soon change…" At the edge of consciousness, the young man heard someone whisper in his ear. "The path ahead will be one filled with pain and suffering…"
"Pain… Suffering…" Yuusuke muttered in his sleep.
"Yes, there will be many who will face you on this path." The voice continued to whisper. "You will have to stand against them with nothing more than your wits and your skills alone."
"Alone…?" No, that was wrong. Yuusuke did not know why it was wrong; it just was.
"Still, will you continue on this path to protect what needs protecting? To renew the legend?"
"To protect… To renew…"
The voice did not speak again and Yuusuke fell asleep once more…
Meanwhile…
"Baze padagidajiza radede gisu bozegu ba?" Outside the police headquarters, on top of one of the buildings adjacent to it were the two monsters from earlier. One of them looked like it was getting impatient while the other looked calmer.
"Garan gide," The calm one scolded the other in their tongue. "Bose bi po jigugi gide doshibura jizujogo ga gashiragu."
"Gosezepa, gabada bo begibabu po babizegu ba?" The first monster asked in a quizzical and irritated tone. "Zajabu gegeru bi ganba gidagizegu."
"Razu. Padagi pa raza bangagede girage…"
Back in the building…
The sound of a toilet flushing filled the men's restroom before one of the stall doors opened and out stepped a humming Fujimaru Ritsuka, still garbed in clothes resembling one of Britain's greatest heroes.
"Hello!" Ritsuka's slightly cheerful hum immediately stopped when he heard his voice. By the sinks was the black-cloaked man leaning against the wall. "Sorry I couldn't formally greet you when you arrived but now I have the chance," he said. "Welcome to the world of the first Heisei Rider. I'm sure you know what that means in that amnesiac head of yours."
Ritsuka responded by not responding, walking past the man and washing his hands without a word. He even refused to look at him, closing his eyes and letting his instincts drive him.
"Hey, you can't just ignore me!" The man cried, obviously ticked off by being ignored. "I'm not attention-seeking but it hurts to be rejected like that, you know!"
"So? If you could make yourself helpful, then I'll listen to you." Ritsuka said.
"I'm not helpful because you won't let me help, " the cloaked man retorted.
"Then help me with this: leave me alone."
"What do you have against me? I'm just trying to help."
"Simple, your very existence grated on my nerves." Finally, Ritsuka turned to glare at the man. "For two years, all you do is whisper into my ear at night and torment me in my sleep."
"What? You think I'm the one making you have those dreams?" The man incredulously asked. "Nice to know you think I'm that good but no, you're wrong."
"Then who or what are you? You keep acting like you know me." Ritsuka glanced away from the man.
"That's because I do, Decade. Your life and journey are important to me," the man replied. "Guess what, there are people who care about you. Crazy, right?"
"You care about me? That's weird. I'm pretty sure it was you who said my mind wouldn't be intact by the end of all this," Ritsuka frowned.
"That was a warning. And I warned you because I care," the man snarked. "But of course you don't know that. Whenever someone tells you that what you're doing is dangerous, you push them away and tell them that it's something you must do."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You know precisely what I mean." The man narrowed his eyes at him. "Even before, you were like this."
"Before? You're talking about my past, aren't you?" Ritsuka asked more seriously. The man then shrugged.
"Maybe?" He sounded unsure of himself, though whether he was just acting, Ritsuka did not know. "All I can say is that you would always charge into danger if it meant saving someone."
"And this journey I'm going on is to save someone?" Ritsuka still did not know why he was going on this journey in the first place. Everybody, including the Buffalo Lord, said he was about to go on a journey but never told him what the journey was about.
"Of course it is. Why else would you allow yourself to walk down this path if not to protect somebody?" The man asked. "Even before, your life was filled with horror, trauma, and despair. But you persevered because you knew that your goal was well worth the pain."
Ritsuka, however, was getting even more irritated with the man. "Before this, before that. Stop being so cryptic and just tell me about my past! Who was I?!"
"Oh, would you look at the time? I better get going."
"Hey, wait!" The man in black hastily took off, entering one of the stalls and closing the door behind him.
"Don't you run away!" Ritsuka chased him and threw the door open. However, the man was gone and the stall was empty. "Damn it…" Ritsuka growled before stomping out of the restroom, very much annoyed by the man.
Ritsuka sighed as he reentered the waiting room and returned to lying on the couch, burying his face into the cushion.
"Welcome back! Oh, and what was this stone beetle thing I heard from Yuusuke-kun?" Ryoko barely acknowledged him coming back and instead was talking to the archaeology teacher or something.
"Hey, Ritsuka."
"What? I'm tired." He grumbled, not really in the mood to answer any questions, even for someone he has known for as long as he can remember. It was something Tetsuya noticed.
"Right, not feeling it right now. I'll just ask later then." Tetsuya backed off and let his friend rest. He too was also starting to feel tired. He had just as much of an eventful day as Ritsuka did.
A few hours later, 2:13 p.m….
"Gabada po gobo begibabu go shibagi gide giragu ba?" Outside the police headquarters, the two monsters finished formalizing their plans.
"Zagi." The previously impatient one nodded. "Padagi pa Rinto bo gengi go jibizabagu dare bi gogozozo go jibigogiragu."
"Gogide, padagi pa gin'njuju gide desudo Kuuga go gagagiragu." The other said. The two gave each other one last nod before the impatient one leapt away to do his part of the plan.
"Hey, Ritsu, Tetsu, wake up!" Ryoko's shouting woke the two boys up. "Before I splash cold water in your faces! There is a water dispenser here!"
"I'm up, I'm up..." Tetsuya yawned as he rubbed his eyes. "What are you doing up here, Ryoko?" He groggily asked her. "Sumida-san doesn't let you up- Oh, right…"
"You're not in the dorms anymore, Tetsu." Ryoko frowned at the boy's confusion. She was not angry, how could she be? Just a bit upset.
"Just give me a moment, I think my legs are still asleep," Tetsuya said.
Ritsuka, meanwhile, had a stiff neck from his odd sleeping position. It was at this moment he was starting to miss his comfier bed. "Ow," he groaned. "What's going on?" He saw across the room that Sakurako was also trying to wake Yuusuke up from his nap.
"Inspector Hayakawa requested that you all go to the conference room," the officer from earlier spoke from the doorway. What was his name again? Tomozane? "Some of the evidence from the site had been processed and he would like you to see them."
"Yeah, yeah, just give us a moment. Ow."
When they entered the conference room, there was only a police officer on the computer near the corner of the room.
"Where's Detective-san?"
"Inspector Hayakawa will be here momentarily," Officer Tomozane told Ritsuka through gritted teeth. "Until then, please take a seat at the table." He directed them to a few chairs around the large table before he went to wait by the door.
"...I'm getting the feeling he doesn't like me," remarked Ritsuka.
"No, really? I wouldn't have guessed," Ryoko sarcastically said.
A couple of minutes later, Inspector Hayakawa entered the room, carrying a ziplock bag and a moderately-sized briefcase.
"Good, you're all here." He said when he spotted them.
"Sir, if you would please excuse me." Officer Tomozane saluted him before exiting the room now that his task was done.
"So, Detective-san-" "Inspector." "What have the labcoats discovered?" Ritsuka asked, swivelling around in his chair.
"There are several things I must tell you all first," the inspector said, putting the briefcase on the table. "Firstly, the cause of death."
"Wait!" Ryoko objected, raising her hand. "We're civilians. Should we really be hearing this?"
"You two-" The inspector was referring to her and Tetsuya. "-are here because of Fujimaru. As he's been hired to be part of this case, you are allowed to hear details of it."
"Then why couldn't I get past the guard earlier?"
"You're allowed to listen, not touch any potential evidence."
"Aw…" Ryoko pouted in her seat.
"And us?" Sakurako raised her own hand.
"As your university is the one who was excavating the site, we thought it would be best if you learned about the ruins more," Inspector Hayakawa answered.
"More about the ruins? Ow." Yuusuke tilted his head at that only to get a jolt of pain because he also had a stiff neck.
"I'll get to that soon. Please be patient, Toshigami-san," the older man said. "From what our coroner had concluded, the archaeology team had died in… mysterious and gruesome ways." He grimaced.
"What do you mean?"
"This may be a bit disturbing to hear so I'll warn you now," said the inspector. "Several died from blood loss due to deep gashes across their bodies or… from being gored through the chest."
"Gored?"
"Impaled."
"I know what it means, but what exactly happened to them?" Tetsuya asked, having an idea as to what might have killed those poor archaeologists.
"We're still trying to identify what had attacked them. But there is another odd cause of death the coroner discovered."
"And that is?" Why was Ritsuka getting the feeling he should not have asked?
"Some of them had spontaneously combusted. Only two of the archaeologists had, but it was very odd." "Isn't it always?"
"All of them, they're gone…" Sakurako muttered. She had known the people on the excavation team, hung out with them after work, and celebrated when they had gotten funding from that British organization to excavate the ruins. But now…
"And that leads me to this." The inspector held up and showed what was in the bag to them; a memory card for a video recorder. "When the archaeologists were attacked, one of them was recording the thing that killed them," he said before nodding to the police officer on the computer. "Play it."
"Yes, sir," she said, pressing some keys on the computer.
The lights slowly dimmed out as a wooden panel in the wall slid open, revealing a television.
"This is the recording we managed to recover," the inspector informed them as a video started playing on the screen.
"Run!" "Ahh!" "Professor!" Screams came out of the speakers as the slightly static video showed the archaeologists fleeing something that broke through the wall behind a large stone sarcophagus. Because of the condition of the video, not only was it hard to distinguish any features but it was also in the shadows. All they could tell was that it was vaguely human-shaped.
Whatever it was, it was strong and overturned the sarcophagus, the mummy falling out as it landed on its side. The shadowy figure noticed this, and stepped towards the mummy and ripped something off its waist.
"Gabada pa bizodo dajigagasanai, Kuuga!" The figure angrily exclaimed in an unknown language as it ripped the belt the mummy had off, throwing it to the wayside. It then faced the camera and darkly muttered, "Bose pa dabogizegigu."
"What is that…?" Yuusuke mumbled, his eyes locked on the figure. Sakurako, on the other hand, looked away from the video as the figure started to move towards the camera.
"What is it saying?" Ryoko could not help but ask despite knowing everyone else would not know either.
However, Ritsuka did know what it was saying and repeated it in his head. 'Gabada pa bizodo dajigagasanai, Kuuga…' He thought. He did not know how he understood what it meant. 'You shall not rise again, Kuuga… This will be fun…' He clutched his hand and a dark feeling overwhelmed him. He was not scared of it, just cautious. 'That has to be it… The harbinger of the Ultimate Darkness…'
"Wait," Tetsuya noticed something odd about the appearance of the looks of the figure. Not its looks, mind you, but how it emerged from behind the sarcophagus. "That thing was from inside the ruins?"
"It appears so," Inspector Hayakawa nodded as he opened his briefcase. "And there was something that our video analysts noticed about the unknown lifeform. As you all saw, it ripped this belt off of the mummy."
He spun the briefcase around to show the contents to the five and sliding it over. Inside it was the belt recovered from the ruins. It looked like it was made of gray stone, or at least had a layer covering it. There was a large black stone in the center and had four rectangular buttons to the left. Additionally, there were two circles on the sides of the belt engraved with a rune.
"We think it sounded angry from its tone," the inspector informed them as Yuusuke picked up the belt and stared at the rune.
"Our-" "Inspector!" Just then, Officer Tomozane rushed back into the room with an urgent look on his face. "There's trouble!"
"Please wait here for a moment." Inspector Hayakawa requested before going over to him.
Meanwhile, Yuusuke showed the rune to Sakurako. "Hey, what does this mean?" He asked her. She looked at the rune thoughtfully, trying to remember its meaning. Finally, it hit her.
"Power."
"I have to go immediately. If you could, will you please remain here until we have the situation under control?" The inspector told them before he and Officer Tomozane quickly left the room.
"Hey, Ritsu," Ryoko whispered to him with a grave look. "They're-"
"I know. Wait here," Ritsuka told them before he stood up.
"Sir," the female officer that remained behind said. "The inspector-"
"I just need to use the toilet for a sec," Ritsuka told her as he calmly walked towards the door. "I'll be back soon."
Outside, the monster who remained behind watched from above as the Rinto warriors vacated the building to investigate the situation downtown. Once it thought that it was sufficiently empty, it leaped to the room of the police headquarters.
It approached the metal door leading inside and opened it, only to get kicked in the chest by someone who was waiting on the other side.
"Ah!" It grunted as it rolled across the roof. It then looked up at who kicked it and saw a young Rinto boy dressed oddly.
"So, what's your name, Gurongi?" The Rinto was surprisingly knowledgeable, calling it by its species' name.
"Gabadazazaze?" The Gurongi asked him.
"Me? My name doesn't matter," The Rinto smirked as he took out a white belt buckle.
"Gase pa?!"
"Because I'm just passing through, after all." Fujimaru Ritsuka put on the buckle and a silver belt wrapped around his waist again, the RideBooker materializing on his side. He then pulled the Decadriver open and pulled the KamenRide: Decade card out.
"Henshin!" He exclaimed as he flipped the card before inserting it into the Driver and closing it.
KAMEN RIDE: DECADE
Nine grey translucent silhouettes of the Decade armour appeared around Ritsuka with the symbols that were on his belt floating around them. The silhouettes then converged onto him, with only his visors glowing green, just as nine magenta-glowing bars flew out his belt before implanting themselves on his face. The glow then disappeared and his armour gained its colours as his eyes glowed brightly again.
"Now, shall we begin?" Ritsuka said, taking in the details of the Gurongi. Its body was brownish-grey and had brown lines all over it. It had spiky shoulderpads, linen wraps around its ankles and wrists, and a weird belt around its waist. It also had a long red scarf. Its head was similar to a grasshopper's, with black eyes and long antennas.
"Gabade pa Decade?!" The grasshopper Gurongi shouted at him.
"Hmm? So you know who I am?" Decade tilted his head before turning the RideBooker into its sword mode. "Doesn't matter. You will be destroyed soon," he declared before charging.
Meanwhile, downtown Nagano…
Officer Tomozane, along with other officers that were dispatched to investigate the situation, stared up between some buildings at the giant spider web that had appeared a few minutes prior.
"What is that?" He muttered.
Just then, something jumped down from the web and landed on one of the police cars. "Shoot it!" Instincts guided the policemen as they unholstered their guns and began firing at the monster. However, their bullets failed to pierce it and fell harmlessly onto the smashed-in roof and ground.
"Babi go gorogisogibo," It said mockingly before it started attacking the officers with its claws. Despite how futile it was, the officers continued to shoot the spider monster.
"Retreat!" Eventually, the officers were forced to flee, with one of the policemen taking an undamaged car. However, the spider monster saw this and shot a thick stream of web from its mouth that broke through the rear window and wrapped around the officer's neck.
Nagano Prefectural Police Headquarters…
"Where are we going?" Ryoko asked the policewoman that was leading them down the stairs in the entrance hall. A couple minutes earlier, they were told to leave the conference room. At that moment, Sakurako was carrying the briefcase containing the stone belt.
"I thought Detective-san wanted us to stay where we were."
"There's been a change of plans. We are to evacuate any civilians out of the buildings," the officer told them.
"What's going on?" Yuusuke asked.
"Classified," she simply stated.
As soon as they reached the bottom of the steps, all hell broke loose as a police car crashed through the entrance of the building. "Watch out!" Tetsuya shouted as he grabbed Ryoko and threw both of them to the side to avoid the car. Yuusuke did the same time with Sakurako, accidentally causing her to drop the briefcase and the belt to fly out,
The four turned to look at the crashed car and watched as a brown-skinned monster stepped off and onto the ground. It had linen wraps around its wrists, sharp claws, a strange belt, and a terrifying head. It had multiple pairs of black beady eyes and some sort of head ornament that resembled the legs of a spider.
Like the officers that arrived on the scene earlier, the policemen that were not frozen from the sudden appearance of the monster began shooting at it. The spider monster, like before, was unfazed by the bullets and looked around the hall and spotted what it was looking for.
"Gobo gosobaba dadada," It scoffed, walking towards the stone belt. "Begibabu bo base bo zuzun go gobobagu bodo ga zebiragenzegida."
"Hold it!" As the belt was by the feet of the four civilians, the police officers tried to stop the monster from attacking them. However, their attempts failed as the monster simply threw them away.
Yuusuke, meanwhile, realized what the monster was really after. "Tetsuya-san, please take them and hide."
"What?! Wait, Yuusuke!" He then rushed towards the belt and picked it up before the monster could.
"Daba zabagi bo, Rinto?" The monster mockingly asked before backhanding Yuusuke, sending him rolling.
'Still, will you continue on this path to protect what needs protecting? To renew the legend?' He remembered the voice from earlier. "Yes… I will!" Yuusuke resolutely declared before putting the belt on.
"A...AHH!" Yuusuke screamed in pain as the belt burned through his clothes and seared his skin.
"Again?"
"The belt… It was absorbed into Yuusuke-kun," Sakurako gasped as the belt disappeared into Yuusuke's waist, leaving a red burn.
"Bugo…" the monster muttered before it attacked Yuusuke again more viciously, throwing him outside.
Rolling onto the asphalt road, Yuusuke tried to get back up only to be grabbed by the neck by the spider monster. It then started wailing on him, punching and kicking him before pinning him against a police van. The monster punched him in the face one more time before throwing him onto the asphalt again.
"No, not like this," Yuusuke said through gritted teeth, still in pain from not only the blows but also the belt absorbing into his body. He heard the monster approaching him once more and, without thinking, punched it while screaming a battle cry.
As soon as his fist hit the monster, something happened as the monster was stumbling back, mostly because it was caught off-guard by the blow.
"What…?" Yuusuke looked at his left arm in surprise. It was now covered in a black material with white armour pieces and a golden brace. "I got it!" He steeled himself before continuing his attacks. For every blow he landed, more of his body changed to resemble his hand. Finally, his head was covered by a helmet as he landed one last punch and sent the spider monster flying back.
It was at that moment that Tetsuya, Ryoko, and Sakurako arrived and saw the newly transformed Kamen Rider. "That is…"
Yuusuke now had a black undersuit. His lower body was barely armoured, with only golden kneepads and braces. His upper body was covered with a white chestpiece and shoulderpads. Additionally, a golden ornament was wrapped around his shoulders. His new mask had large red bug eyes and small horns that were similar to a stag beetle. Finally, around his waist was the belt. However, it was now silver and the previously black orb was now red. The buttons from before were also coloured; red and blue to the right, and green and purple to the left.
"Zudadaji gobo badaji?" The monster muttered as Yuusuke dropped to his knees in exhaustion.
"This is…" There was a word appearing in Yuusuke's mind as he checked his new armour. However, he did not understand what it was. "Yosh! Let's do this!" He proclaimed as he charged the monster.
While Yuusuke was struggling against the spider Gurongi down on the ground, Ritsuka was having a much more easier time fighting the grasshopper Gurongi. Well, it was less fighting and more throwing around and slashing the monster.
"So?" Decade said as he slashed it again. "Will you answer me? Why are you attacking this place?"
"Babi go gidede gisu bo?!" It shouted in frustration before leaping over Decade and landing on one of the large ventilation vents.
"Of course, you don't understand…" Decade sighed before speaking again. "Baze bobo dagigo go bobogebe gide gisu bozegu ba?"
Hearing the Rinto warrior speak their tongue shocked the Gurongi. "Gabade pa padegideji ba gengo go?!" It exclaimed in surprise.
"Zagi." Decade nodded, resting his blade on his shoulder. "Zabasa padagi bi bodage bagagi."
"Hmph!" The monster huffed before proudly declaring, "Desudo Kuuga go zabagi gusu dare bi bobo bi biragida!"
"Desudo Kuuga?" Another name appeared in Ritsuka's mind. "The Arcle?"
"Zagi!" It confirmed. "Gogogide zajirede, gegeru gi ganba zebizu jojo bi basiragu!"
"Well, hate to be the bearer of bad news but you won't be getting the chance," Ritsuka said as he opened the RideBooker and took out an AttackRide card. It had a picture of Decade shooting with the RideBooker, afterimages around it. "The only person doing any destroying around here will be me."
ATTACK RIDE: BLAST
Before the grasshopper Gurongi could react, the RideBooker turned into its gun mode and Decade began shooting at it. Sparks shot out of the monster's chest as mirages appeared around the RideBooker. The Gurongi fell off the ventilation and dropped back onto the roof of the building as Ritsuka took out the golden FinalAttackRide card that had the symbol of Decade. "This will finish it."
FINAL ATTACK RIDE: DE-DE-DECADE
Large versions of the card materialized between Decade and the dazed Gurongi. Ritsuka then jumped into the air, the cards closest to him flying up with him. With a cry, he pointed his right foot at the Gurongi and flew to the cards. It only barely managed to look up at the cards and saw an image of Decade on the last one before the Rider flew through and kicked him in the head. An explosion rocked the building as the Gurongi blew up.
Once the flames dissipated, Kamen Rider Decade stood alone, dusting off his hands with a loud sigh.
"That ends that…" He mumbled. However, before he could detransform, Ritsuka heard a commotion coming from below. Walking over to the edge, he peered over the edge and saw something. Down below, a spider Gurongi was fighting a white-and-black armored man, a Kamen Rider.
"That is… Kuu-!" His mind blanked out.
Yuusuke, meanwhile, was not having the greatest time fighting against the spider monster. It had gotten wise and now was easily dodging his swings and kicks.
"Zebisu bodo pa gose zabezegu ba?" Yuusuke could not understand what it was saying but he knew the monster was mocking him.
"Hah!" He shouted as he tried to punch the monster again. This time, the monster let itself get hit but stood its ground. That left Yuusuke open to a counterattack and was kicked straight in the chest, sending him flying back.
"Gabada go bosogudo gug bi gegeru bi basu bodo ga zebirasu ba?" It laughed at his downed body. It put its foot on Yuusuke's chest, enjoying the feeling of him squirming to get it off, and raised its clawed hand. "Babubin gite riragigogu! Kuuga!"
Before it could bring down its hand and end his life, however, bullets began hitting its chest. It naturally did nothing but it did save Yuusuke's life by distracting it.
"Rododo Rinto?" It scoffed as it looked up to see a small squad of police officers, including both Hayakawa and Tomozane, shooting at it. It removed its foot off Yuusuke and slowly moved towards them, ignoring the hail of bullets hitting.
"Don't stop!" Hayakawa rallied his officers as they continued to fire at the monster. As the bullets fell off its body, the spider monster had an idea.
It stopped walking and remained in place, letting the Rinto warriors waste their ammunition. Soon, despite replacing their magazines, the police ran out of bullets and the spider monster was completely unharmed.
The monster then began moving again, now content that the Rinto knew that their weapons were completely useless against him and his species. Now they will die in fear and despair that they were unable to do anything. But before it could get closer to them, somebody came from behind and grabbed him, throwing it away from the police officers. Once it finished rolling, it looked up to see Yuusuke flying through the air before he kicked it, sending it further back.
Landing safely, Yuusuke took another deep breath before running towards the spider monster again and leaping into the air. Once again, he landed another strong kick in the chest and sent it flying back.
"Bugo!" It shouted in pain, recovering quicker this time. It knew what would happen if he landed the third kick. Shooting another strand of web into a nearby building, it decided that it would be best to flee and fight another day.
"Wait!" Yuusuke shouted, rushing to catch it. He was too slow though, and the spider monster managed to escape. "Damn it…" he swore as he watched the monster land on the side of the building before vanishing from view. However, it escaping did let him start to catch his breath.
Huffing, he looked back at the squad of police officers that indirectly saved his life. Yuusuke noticed they looked fearful and unsure of him, not knowing whether he was a friend or foe. Some distance behind them, he spotted Sakurako-senpai along with Ritsuka-san's friends. They did not look scared of him which made him happier somewhat.
"Inspector." Yuusuke heard one of the officers whisper to the inspector, wanting to know what they should do. He knew he had to do something to calm them.
Raising his hand, he saw the police officers flinch before they noticed what sign he was giving them.
A thumbs up.
"...Stand down," Inspector Hayakawa ordered his men, knowing that the armoured warrior was not an enemy. Underneath his mask, Yuusuke smiled.
However, that smile was quickly replaced by a look of confusion as the police officers as well as the three behind them spotted something. "Watch out!" he heard them warn him.
Turning around, he was immediately slashed across the chest by something and sent tumbling towards the group of policemen. Looking up from the ground, Yuusuke stared at the one who attacked him.
Standing where he stood was another masked warrior, another Kamen Rider. Yuusuke felt a dark aura around the magenta warrior.
"What are you doing?!" Yuusuke heard Tetsuya shouting.
The Rider did not reply and raised his sword again and charged towards Yuusuke.
Next time on Across the Kaleidoscope...
"What were you doing?!"
"I was…"
"Ritsuka-san… What are you fighting for?"
"To protect what need protecting…"
"Please look at this."
"This is our power."
"Our transformation!"
Chapter 3: Smiles
A/N: And done! Let me tell you this, translating English to Japanese to Gurongi was not fun.
This chapter is a bit shorter than the last one at just 11.1k but I'm sure that's fine. Sorry for bringing it up but as my usual is around 5k, I'm just psyched that I can write chapters this long!
So on the wiki, timeline-wise, apparently Riku was sealed with the Gurongi during "early human civilization". That's it. Only that. So I decided to just put it during the early Joumon period. If I'm wrong, you are free to correct me.
As for Ritsuka's costume in this world, I knew I wanted to add a joke about Britain so what better than make a reference to one of my favorite TV shows. That, and I have not creative nor fashionable so I just went to good old DW (no, not DelightWorks).
Anyway, with all that out of the way, what do you think about this reinterpretation of Kuuga's first episode? Was it good? Was it too much like the original? Regardless, it's done now so time for sleep.
I noticed lots of the reviews from last chapter ask me to make a certain someone a certain Kamen Rider. I already said that this fic was inspired by fanart on r/grandorder, of course that's happening! It'll just take a bit because Kiva will not be the next world, it'll be a Phase 2 Rider.
Now that we've reached the end of this A/N, please leave a review and all that stuff!
EDIT: Did some minor editing pt.2