Disclaimer: I still don't own anything. Also, any reference to video games in the real world is just a coincidence, you hear me? a coincidence.
Previously on Across the Kaleidoscope
"Please, let their voices reach you."
"But you're a useless amnesiac. How do you know who you truly are?"
"I can't leave them to rampage as they please and bring tears to everyone's eyes. I… want to protect everybody's smiles!"
"This is…Our… Transformation!"
"This is too easy for them. This story can't end just like that…"
"Yes, we're on a journey after all. We shouldn't stay in one place for too long."
"...Ex-Aid."
The three extra-dimensional travelers stepped outside their new home to see where they had landed up in. It was a bit odd.
"Where are we?" Tetsuya remarked as he looked around what seemed to be the square. Wooden houses with thatch roofs lined the square and the dirt roads that led away from the centerpiece of the area, a large intricate stone statue of a warrior pointing his sword to the sky, below it was a carving of a dead dragon. The two largest buildings seemed to be a chapel and a small castle on the hill overlooking the village.
The city itself seemed to be surrounded by a very tall stone wall. Wandering around were people in medieval clothing going about their lives with some guards in steel armor patrolling the city.
"Why is everything so… fantasy?" asked Ryoko, her eyes darting between the castle, the statue, and the guards. "Did we end up in the past somehow?"
"I'm…not sure," Ritsuka admitted as one of the city's residents walked up to him.
"Hello," the man greeted him.
"Er… Hello?" Ritsuka hesitantly replied
"Have you heard the news from the capital?" he asked.
"No?"
"Goodbye," the man abruptly ended the conversation before walking off, leaving three very confused teens.
"...That was odd."
"That's putting it lightly," Ryoko commented before noticing Ritsuka's attire. "Hey, Ritsu, your clothes changed again."
"Huh? Again?" Ritsuka looked down at what he was now wearing; he had a simple, long-sleeved shirt made out of comfy wool under a brown, short-sleeved, leather jacket. He also had a cloth belt which had a couple of pouches hanging from it. His pants were a light shade of brown and reached down to his leather boots.
"Why did that happen again?"
"I have no clue," he sighed. At least he blended in this time. "C'mon, we should look around for… something."
"You're just reeking with confidence, you know that?" Ryoko snarked at him.
"Why don't we split up?" suggested Tetsuya. "We'll cover more ground that way."
"Do whatever you want," Ritsuka told them. "I want to check if there's a way out of this place."
"While you do that, I'll explore the city. Maybe I'll find… something." Something told Tetsuya that talking to the villagers would be a lost cause.
"And I'll… I'll… Um…" What else was left for her to do? "I know! I'll try and find this world's Rider!"
"Isn't that what I'm already doing?" Tetsuya asked.
"You're just going to explore the city. I'm going to look for the guy we're here for," Ryoko huffed. "Besides, it would be better for one of us to do it instead of him."
"What's wrong if I went looking for this world's Kamen Rider?" Ritsuka looked offended at her remark.
"You really don't remember what happened last time you?"
"...You win this round," he grumbled. "We'll meet up back here in… 30 minutes?"
"That's okay with me." "Alright. See you guys later." With all of them in agreement, the three split up and went to do their selected tasks.
Chapter 4: The Simulated Game World!
"Good day." "Well met." Tetsuya could not help but stop and watch two of the residents converse with each other. Especially since he noticed the two had the same voice.
"How have you been?" One said to the other.
"Good, you?" "Good, you?" 'This seems familiar…' Tetsuya thought.
"My friend in Beachmarch told me of the-" "Good day." A third man walked up to the two and greeted them, also having the same voice.
"Good day," the first two men said at the same time.
"Well met," the third man replied. "Have you heard what happened in Beachmarch?"
"My friend in Beachmarch told me of the-"
"The scholars in the Zainaz capital believe the volcano will erupt any day now. I heard the Zainazian King is thinking about evacuating the city." One of the men interrupted the other.
"...This really, really can't be heading where I think it's heading." Tetsuya's eyes widened as he understood what was going on."
"Halt!" All Ritsuka did was walk in front of one of the armored guards. "State your business, peasant." The guard frowned at him.
"I'm… peasanting?" What is it that peasants do? Regardless, that answer did not seem to be accepted by the guard.
"State your business, peasant," he repeated.
"I'm looking for the gate." Ritsuka assumed that there was a gate out.
"The gate is in the southeast wall," the guard informed him, smiling briefly before frowning again. "However, without a permit from the Count, you will not be allowed to leave the safety of the village. It's just not safe to travel these days."
"And how do I get a permit?"
"Speak with the Count and see what he has to say."
'Well, that was easy.' Why did he think the people of this world would be useless?
"Now get out of my sight! I have more important matters than humoring someone like you." The guard scowled at him in disgust.
'Oh wait, never mind.' Both of them frowned at each other before Ritsuka left to look for the gate. As he walked away, he heard the guard call out to him. "Have a nice day."
'...Is this really going where I think this is going?'
"Excuse me, sir." In front of the chapel, Ryoko respectfully spoke with another resident.
"What can I do for you, miss?" The man jovially responded.
"I'm looking for someone," she told him. "Is there someone called a Kamen Rider here?"
"The Rider of Goldcrest is important folklore for the people of Goldcrest Town in the Eastern Deldian Empire," the villager informed her. "As the stories go, the Rider of Goldcrest was a dashing young lad who rode a black stallion and led a battalion of Deldian soldiers against the invading forces of the Shattovians of the East over a century ago."
"That's… probably not who I'm looking for." Ryoko laughed nervously. "Just 'Kamen Rider'. Does that ring a bell?"
"The Rider of Goldcrest is important folklore for the people of Goldcrest Town in the Eastern Deldian Empire. As the stories go, the Rider of Goldcrest was a dashing young lad who rode a black stallion and led a battalion of Deldian soldiers against the invading forces of the Shattovians of the East over a century ago," the man repeated himself, much to Ryoko's exasperation.
"Oookay then. I'll… just leave." Ryoko slowly walked back, hesitantly waving to the man.
"Have a nice day." The man was as jovial as ever and simply waved back.
"I'll try asking someone else," she muttered to herself as she approached a woman who was walking the streets. "Excuse me, ma'am. Can I ask you something?"
"Good day, miss," the woman greeted her. "What can I do for you?"
"Do you know anything about a Kamen Rider… Ex-Aid?"
"The Rider of Goldcrest-"
"Please no…"
"-is important folklore for the people of Goldcrest Town in the Eastern-"
"Okay, bye!" Quickly getting out of the conversation, Ryoko ran off in the direction of the castle. She was really not in the mood to hear anything about the Rider of Goldcrest. Maybe she'll find something good in the castle…
While the guard did say that he was not allowed outside the walls without permission, Ritsuka wanted to check it out first. Following the path (he thought was) southeast, Ritsuka eventually spotted the gate just past the market square. Curiously, there were only two guards stationed next to the portcullis. He had thought there would be more seeing as the guard said it was 'not safe', whatever that means.
"Halt!" One of the stationed guards shouted at him when he got close to them. "State your business, peasant."
"I have urgent business outside the gate," Ritsuka confidently answered him. It worked last time so might as well try again.
"In that case, go right ahead." The guard smiled at him. "You don't need to worry about the Count's permit for now."
"Really? Okay then," That took him off guard a bit but hey, he was not complaining. Ritsuka walked towards the portcullis and, before he knew it, was on the other side of the metal gate.
"...What?" Looking back, Ritsuka saw that the gate was still down. "...Well, this will be interesting." Combined with the backdrop for this world, he had a solid idea why the people of this world were so weird.
Putting that thought at the back of his mind for now, Ritsuka walked a bit further away from the gate and surveyed his surroundings. The area around the walled city was mostly grasslands and he saw a large forest in the distance. Over the mountain range to the south of the city, Ritsuka noticed smoke rising from the other side. He also noticed a large farm within walking distance and that there were some workers out on its field. Guess those guys got permits from the Count.
"What to do now?" He muttered to himself. Yes, he should look for the Rider of this 'world' but what Ryoko had said got into his head and was not sure that was the right call. At least, not without anyone around that could snap him out of his rampage. Assuming he will go on a rampage again, that is.
"I should stop doubting myself," Ritsuka sighed to himself.
While he was trying to decide his next move, he heard footsteps and dirt being kicked up alerted him to someone else's presence. "Head towards the forest? No, I'll just get lost without a guide…"
The footsteps stopped and he heard the sound of a sword being raised above his head. "The mountains? Nah, I'm not dressed for it."
He heard the sword being brought down but before it could cut into his head, he managed to sidestep the blow and retaliate with a strong kick that managed to stagger his attacker.
"Eh…" Ritsuka watched as his attacker got back up with the aids of two of its companions. "You guys are… Bugsters." While the group of enemies, about 17 of them, were dressed as knights and wizards, they all had the same head; an orange and white face with a sucker-like mouth. Two tendrils came out of their eyes and were slicked back against their heads.
"Barely ten minutes and I'm already fighting again," Ritsuka smirked as he took out the white Decadriver and placed it on his waist. The belt then wrapped itself on top of his cloth belt and the RideBooker materialized on his side. Opening the Decadriver and taking out his transformation card, Ritsuka made one more remark, "Maybe you'll provide me with a challenge. Henshin!"
KAMEN RIDE: DECADE
Like before, silhouettes of his armor appeared around him before converging as the glowing cards came out of his Driver. A few moments later, Ritsuka had transformed and was ready to fight.
"So…" he said, pointing the blade of the RideBooker at the group of Bugster mooks, "Who wants to go first?"
The loud breeze blew past the Decade and his foes, 'eyes' locked on each other. The soles of their feet sunk into the ground as they waited for the other to make the first move. And eventually, it was the Bugsters who made it. With strange battlecries, two of the orange-head knights charged head-first at Ritsuka.
It went as well as you would expect.
Both of their attacks were easily dodged by the magenta Kamen Rider and, with a swing of the RideBooker, were quickly dispatched. The two Bugster knights fell to the ground and exploded like any other monster he fought.
He then ran his hand on the blade of his sword before Decade dashed towards the 15 remaining Bugsters. Ritsuka slashed one of them across the chest and kicked another away.
ATTACK RIDE: SLASH
With a few empowered slash, four of the mooks exploded into orange particles. 11 left. As the Bugster fell back slightly, an idea crossed Ritsuka's mind.
"Let's try out my new power," he said as he opened the Decadriver and took out the newly restored KamenRide card. "Henshin."
KAMEN RIDE: KUUGA
A familiar hum rang out from his Driver as his armor changed. A few seconds later, the Decade suit was replaced with the red Kuuga Mighty Form with the white Decadriver.
"So this is Kuuga," Decade muttered to himself as he glanced at his new armor. "Whatever. Let's continue."
He put away the RideBooker and readied his fists and feet for a good old-fashioned beating. He jumped over a few of the Bugsters and quickly kicked them in the back before they could turn around.
Realizing that he was a close-ranged fighter, the Bugsters dressed as wizards tried to keep their distance and started to chuck fireballs at the red Kamen Rider. Their attacks, however, were not very effective as the fireballs either missed or harmlessly hit his armor.
"Not very skilled, are you?" He really should not be taking any pleasure in beating up a bunch of weak grunts… but they did ambush him first so really, it's their fault.
Decade took a low stance before he dashed towards the remaining Bugsters. However, before he could continue his beatdown, something came crashing down onto the group of Bugsters, sending them flying into the air and kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Eh?" Decade uttered as he saw a silhouette in the dust cloud posing with one knee on the ground. What confused him further was the announcement that played as the cloud dispersed.
Gachan! Level Up! Mighty jump! Mighty kick! Mighty Mighty Action X!
"...What?"
"Alright~!" The Kamen Rider energetically exclaimed as he rose up, letting Decade get a good look at him.
Most of the Rider's undersuit was light pink with black lines going down his body. His knees and arms were mostly black with silver pads. There also were neon green bits all over his body as well, most prominently his sneaker-like shoes. The Rider's chestplate only covered the top of his chest and was silver. It had a glass plating over it and on the right side was a button pad while on the left was a health bar.
The Rider's helmet resembled the video game character that was on the backdrop, with orange eyes underneath a glass visor and molded-on pink spiky hair. On the Rider's back was a faceplate resembling his helmet, just without the eyes. Finally, around his waist was a lime green Driver that was rather bulky. There were two slots on the left side of the Driver, one of which had a pink device inserted into it already. The center of the Driver, meanwhile, had a small window that showed a pink outline of the Rider himself. To the right of it was a lever that had the words GAMER DRIVER stylized on it. On the left side of the Rider's belt was a lime green device that had a slot similar to the Driver.
"Sorry for being late!" The pink Kamen Rider half-heartedly apologized as he looked at the downed Bugsters that had been thrown into the air by his arrival. He spun around saying, "I was busy dealing… with… with… Who are you?!"
Decade could have sworn that a red exclamation point appeared above the Rider's head when he spotted him.
"You don't look like a Bugster…and you don't look like a normal enemy…" He heard the Rider mutter to himself. Shaking his head, the Rider summoned a pink ring around himself along with a toy-like hammer. Most of the hammer was white while the face was the same lime green as the parts of the Rider's suit. On the side were two buttons; a pink A and a lime green B. On the other side of the hammer was a black box with a slot while on top was a pink molded flare.
Gashacon Breaker!
"Well, doesn't matter! You seem strong!" The Rider exclaimed as he grabbed the hammer off the ring. "Let's test out your abilities!"
"..." He really should say something. He really, really should say something. "Come at me."
Great. Just… great.
"The Rider of Goldcrest-" Ryoko's eye twitched as she heard the same dialogue for the twentieth time. Maybe that was an over-exaggeration, but that was how it felt to her.
Right now, she was in the throne room of the Count, talking to his steward.
"-a dashing young lad who-" The girl did not bother sticking around to hear the rest of the story. Ryoko walked away from the chattering steward and headed back to the entrance. There was no point in speaking to anyone else about this world's Kamen Rider, they all just kept talking about the Rider of Goldcrest.
However, as she walked through the entrance hall, Ryoko spotted Tetsuya entering through the large open door at the other end.
"Oh, Ryoko!" Her friend waved when he saw her. "How has your search been going?"
"Terribly," sighed Ryoko. "If I hear one more word about the Rider of Goldcrest, I'll go insane."
"Well, I've done pretty well if I do say so myself." Tetsuya puffed his own chest. "I found where the store is and-"
"Yeah, that sounds great and all but does that really matter?" Ryoko grumbled.
"I guess you got a point, I doubt this place accepts Yen." The boy shrugged.
"What is this place anyway? The people here are pretty… weird." Ryoko glanced at a nearby guard that simply gave her a dead look.
"Not surprised you don't get it." Tetsuya playfully laughed at Ryoko's grumpy face- "Ow!" -only to get punched in the shoulder. "What was that for?!"
"I have a massive headache, just tell me what's going on," she grumbled.
"I'm not a hundred percent sure yet but… we may be in a video game."
"...What?"
"I've heard dialogues like those so many times that I'd recognize it anywhere," Tetsuya told her. "Plus, there was that backdrop in the cafe with all those 'Game Clear'. I'm just not sure how we got here in the first place."
"...Okay."
"You're… just okay?!"
"I'm willing to believe anything at this point." After the world ending, nearly getting blown up by some bull head guy, getting trapped in a burning church with a spider and bat monsters, she was willing to just accept what was happening. That, and she did not want to think hard about it. "So what about this world's Rider?" Ryoko asked. "How are we supposed to find him?"
"Well, I came here to get a permit from the Count. We'll need one if we want to leave the city."
"In that case, you go first." She stepped aside so that Tetsuya could go back to the throne room. "I'll be right behind you."
The two (re)entered the large room and sitting on the other end was a well-dressed man. Obviously, this was the Count.
"Good day. How do you do?" The Count greeted them as they walked up to him.
"We were hoping to get your permission to leave the city," said Tetsuya. "We have urgent business outside the walls."
"Hmm… Let's see here," The leader of the city hummed but kept his eyes focused on the boy. "Your party consists of one warrior and one ranger. That would cost about 5000 gold."
"Uh… Ignoring what you called us, we don't have any money," Ryoko spoke up.
"Is there any other way we can get permits?" Tetsuya asked.
"It will be a bit dangerous but there is a problem we've facing," the Count said. "Recently, a Sinaum had taken camp in the Blackroot Forest southeast of the city. It has been ambushing and eating what few trade caravans heading here. If your party is willing to deal with them, I'll gladly give you permits."
"It's a deal!" Tetsuya quickly agreed to the quest. He did not know what a Sinaum was but he will just let Ritsuka handle it.
The Count smiled at them and said, "Go speak with Lucius, my steward. He'll give you the permits."
"Thank you, sir." Tetsuya waved him goodbye before he and Ryoko moved away from the throne to look for the steward (again).
HIT! HIT!
Despite how comical the hammer looked, it was no joke. It hit hard enough to actually hurt and make him stumble back. Each blow that landed was accompanied by a colorful popup from a video game or old-timey action shows.
HIT! HIT! HIT!
"Eh… I'm surprised you've tanked all those," the pink Rider admitted as he looked between his hammer and Ritsuka. "Most of the normal enemies usually go down in a hit or two."
"..." Why can't he say anything? He did not know whether or not it is better to have blacked out.
"Where did you come from?" The Rider stared at him. "Did you wander here from another area? You seem to have a large health pool."
He then pressed the A button on his hammer. Immediately, the pink flare swung up and a blade slid out, revealing its second mode.
Ja Kiin!
"Here we go!" The Rider excitedly proclaimed as he rushed for his enemy and tried to bring the blade down on him. However, Decade easily dodged the attack and roundhouse kicked the Rider away.
"Ow!" The Rider yelped as he was pushed back and the gauge on his chest depleted slightly. However, he did not sound angry at him. "Guess I finally ran into a challenge."
"..."
"At least you're not as talkative as the normal bandits," remarked the Rider before continuing his assault. This time, he was more careful with his swings and, despite Ritsuka's best efforts, managed to hit him.
HIT! HIT!
When he was sent stumbling back, Decade felt his foot hit something. Looking down, he saw an iron sword that had been dropped by one of the Bugsters. Another idea crossed his mind and he opened the Decadriver. He then took out a new type of card from the RideBooker. It depicted Kuuga with purple and grayish-silver armor wielding a sword. Beneath the image were the words "KUUGA TITAN FORM" and "FORMRIDE".
FORM RIDE KUUGA: TITAN
When Ritsuka closed his Driver, another hum rang out as his armor changed to match the one on the card. Every red part on his armor changed to purple as his shoulderpieces enlarged. His main chestplate changed slightly and turned to a shade of silver with purple lines running through it.
Expertly kicking the dropped weapon into his hand, the iron sword transformed into the silver-and-gold Titan Sword. A purple gem was engraved into the hilt of the weapon, which was shaped like the horns of Kamen Rider Kuuga. The ancient Rinto runes were written on the long side of the sword, from the tip of the blade down to the pommel.
"What?!" Again, he could have sworn a red exclamation point appeared over the Rider's head. He put that on the back of his head though and slowly began to walk towards the pink Rider.
However, the Rider was faster and swung his sword-hammer as soon as he got close.
HIT!
Despite the popup, the blade did nothing and simply rested on his shoulders, putting the pink Rider within the sword's reach.
That did nothing to deter him though as he tried to punch Decade with his free hand. Once again, it was not effective.
"Uh… Do you accept a yield?" The Rider nervously laughed realizing he was not in a good position.
Decade responded by holding the blade on his shoulder and thrusting the Titan Sword into the Rider's stomach. Sparks flew off his body as the pink Kamen Rider flew backward, accidentally letting go of his weapon in the process.
After rolling on the dirt path, the Rider got onto his knees, groaning in pain. He looked at the gauge in his chestplate and saw as it dropped down to half.
"Ow… Fine then!" He hotbloodedly exclaimed as he stood up, taking out a red device similar to the one in his belt and pressed the button.
Gekitotsu Robots!
The device announced as a holographic screen appeared behind the pink Kamen Rider depicting two robots, one red and the other blue, reaching for the screen. The words GEKITOTSU ROBOTS designed like they were made of metal were in between the two. Simultaneously, a small, mostly red robot came out of the screen and flew around the Rider.
The pink Rider, meanwhile, closed the lever of his Gamer Driver which covered the window in the center. He then tossed the red device into his other hand, turned it upside-down, and inserted it into the second slot in his Driver.
Gachon! Gashat!
"Dai Dai Dai Henshin!" The Rider proclaimed, spinning his right arm like a windmill before opening the lever again.
Gachan! Level Up! Mighty jump! Mighty kick! Mighty Mighty Action X! A Gatcha! Buttobase! Totsugeki! Gekitotsu punch! Gekitotsu Robots!
Two holographic screens came out of the window of the Gamer Driver. One of them was pink while the other was red. Both were quickly absorbed by the robot as its head hinged opened and chomped down on the Rider's head. It then glowed a pinkish hue as its body shrunk down, its arms coming off and joining up on the Rider's left hand.
Now, a red, white, and silver chestpiece covered up his health bar while the robot's feet became new shoulderpads. A massive robot fist was equipped on his hand. Finally, a new red faceplate was around his visor with a large golden V on his forehead.
"Now, let's see how you deal with Level 3." The Rider got into a boxing stance before charging towards Decade.
Decade raised the Titan Sword and tried to bring the blade down on his foe as he got close. However, the other Rider blocked the blow with his robot-fist. The Rider then pushed the sword away and quickly landed a very powerful punch right into Ritsuka's chest. It was not enough to send him flying but his feet skidded along the dirt path.
"Finally felt something, huh?" The Rider cheered before rushing him again.
Meanwhile, by the city's gate, two teens who were definitely not dressed for the times suddenly appeared from the other side of the portcullis.
"...Did that just happen?"
"Yup!"
"You're enjoying this way too much, Tetsu…" Ryoko sighed before the sound of metal clanging reached both their ears. Looking ahead, they saw two fully armored men duking it out with fist and sword.
"...oh, you've got to be kidding me." She facepalmed as what she had warned Ritsuka about actually happened.
"Not again…" Tetsuya sighed before shouting at them. "Hey, stop it!"
Surprisingly, both of them actually heard him and froze right before Decade could stab his attacker again.
"Eh? Wait a minute…" The Rider muttered when he saw the two, his eyes focused on their anachronistic clothes. "Don't tell me…"
The slow realization of what was going on finally caught up with him. If his face was not obscured, his eyes would definitely be wide from the shock.
Gachon! Gashun!
"Hang on, you're from the real world, aren't you?!" He shouted as he closed the lever and removed the two Gashats from his Driver. His armor quickly disappeared, revealing him to be a boy around their age.
He, similar to them, wore modern-day clothes; brown baggy sweatpants, a pink t-shirt with some words written on it, and a dark blue overcoat that had some badges pinned on it. He had black hair that was all over the place.
Hanging around his neck was a pair of wireless headphones along with a large stethoscope, cementing his status as someone who did not belong in this medieval world.
"At least your fashion sense is as bad as mine," Ritsuka said as he opened the Decadriver. His armor pixelated as it reverted back to his base suit. The Decade armor then lost its colors before it disappeared. He dropped the sword in his hand, which had reverted back to its original form.
"Oh… I really messed up this time, didn't I?" The Rider whimpered.
"Well, at least this went easier than last time." Ryoko and Tetsuya can be grateful for that, at least.
"I'm so sorry!" The Rider apologized for the umpteenth time, bowing to them as they returned to their new home. "It's just… I can't really control myself when I see a strong enemy. That's why I attacked first."
"Strong, huh?" Ritsuka's smile widened, accepting the compliment with pleasure. "Well, I accept your apology."
"You know, you could've said something. This wasn't like last time when you blacked out," Ryoko pointed out. "Something like not being a threat."
"I could've but-"
"I'm Tsunogai Tetsuya and this is Jindai Ryoko." "Hi." She waved when Tetsuya introduced her.
"And this guy who you attacked is Fujimaru Ritsuka."
"I'm also called Kamen Rider Decade," Ritsuka added. "And you? You're this world's Rider, right?"
"Yes!" Their guest nodded. "I'm the genius gamer, Dairiki Emu! Kamen Rider Ex-Aid!" He proclaimed, posing.
"Genius gamer, eh?" Ritsuka hummed, studying him. "So what is this place?" He knew where they were, of course, but he wanted more details.
"Did Kuroto-san not tell you?" Emu looked confused at them. "Wait, before that, how did you get here in the first place?"
"We… didn't exactly come here the normal way," Tetsuya said.
"What?"
"We're from a parallel world," Ritsuka told him outright. "We're currently on a journey through the Rider Worlds to… to something."
"Parallel… world?" The other Kamen Rider muttered, justifiably caught off guard by the information.
"Yeah, it's kind of a long story," said Ryoko.
"Long story… Okay, I understand!"
"You're just accepting it?!"
"Yup!" Emu nodded. "For starters, this place is a Game World based on Drago Knight Hunter Z developed by Genm Corporation."
"Game World? I knew it!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Tetsu. Let's just listen to what he's saying."
"This is the tenth and final game that we need to complete to defeat the Bugster Virus."
"Great, it's not like we have enough of those already…"
"Tenth? So the other nine are those then?" Tetsuya pointed to the backdrop.
"Let's see… Mighty, Taddle," Emu muttered as he glanced at the image. Once he finished listing them all, he nodded in conformation. "Yup, that's them alright. Wait, why do you have that set up?"
"Long story again." And not one that they fully understand either. "You mentioned ten games. What do they have to do with all this, anyway?"
"I don't know those games in particular, but they are all infected by the Bugster Virus. Well, they were infected," Emu quickly corrected himself. "The others and I already dealt with the other nine."
"Others?" Ritsuka was more interested in that than the virus.
"Yes. I'm not the only Rider who's currently in this world," Emu revealed to them. "I mean, besides you, of course."
"So where are they now?"
"They're- Damn it! I forgot!" Emu's eyes widened when he remembered why he came to this city in the first place. "They're going to kill me for this!"
"Wait a minute!" Emu dashed out of the room, causing the three to chase him.
Eventually, the four ended up in the Count's throne room again (well, first time for Ritsuka) and stood in front of the Count himself.
"I see you have returned, brave warrior." The Count expressed his joy at seeing them again. "I take it the Sinaum had been taken care of?"
"Yes." Emu nodded.
"Then take this reward for a good day's work." A large pile of gold suddenly appeared between them. Had it not been for the fact that this was a Game World, that would've surely raised some eyebrows.
"Thank you~!" The gamer laughed lightly, his eyes sparkling at the amount of gold laid out in front of him. He reached out and touched the gold, which then immediately disappeared into thin air.
"Isn't that supposed to be our gold?" Tetsuya whispered to Ryoko. He assumed that the Sinaum the Count spoke of were the same Sinaum that they were sent to hunt.
However, it seemed that the Count overheard them. "You there!" He scowled at them. "I thuought I sensent you to swlk with with with-"
"Uh oh." Emu turned to them. "Did you guys also accept that quest?" He urgently asked the three.
"I didn't, I was busy fighting you," Ritsuka said.
"And you two?"
"...Would it be bad if we say yes?"
"Thththatatat-" The Count continued to stutter.
"Well, we sort of broke his scripting just a tiny bit." Emu nervously laughed. "We should probably leave the area before his face starts melting or something. Come on, I'll take you to the others."
"Honhonhonhon-" the nonsensical words of the Count echoed throughout the hall as they left.
The group was now walking through the forest near the city.
"After we dealt with the Sinaum, we decided to camp out in the forest for the night," Emu explained why they were going through the forest. "Tomorrow, we'll be continuing our search for Graphite."
"Who's Graphite?" Tetsuya asked.
"To put it simply, he's the boss of this World. Normally, he's supposed to be the final boss of Drago Knight Hunter but 5 years ago, Zero Day happened. That was the first Bugster outbreak by the way," Emu quickly clarified. "The strain relating to Dragon Knight Hunter infected somebody and Graphite emerged in the real world."
As Emu continued to explain, they came to a fork in the road.
"Straight ahead, the camp is hidden just a bit ahead," he said, going into the trees. "Where was I? Oh yeah, real world. Usually, when a strain infects somebody, all we have to do is transform and basically beat the virus out."
"What nice doctors you guys are," Ritsuka snarked at him.
"I'm not a doctor. Only Hiiro-san is." Emu defended himself. "We were chosen to become Riders because we were good at games. Especially me, since I was known as a genius gamer in the real world."
"You all became heroes… because you happen to be good at games?" Ryoko asked incredulously.
"Basically. Although Hiiro-san will refuse to admit it."
"So you're saying I could've become a Rider had I lived in this world?"
"First off, you're probably not as good as you think. And second, that just means Ritsu could've become a Rider had he lived in this world," Ryoko huffed. "Well, he is one but-"
"Yeah, no need to rub it in." Tetsuya pouted.
"You like games, Tetsuya-san?" Emu asked, looking at him.
"Yup! One of the few things I'm good at that sometimes earns me money! I've entered a few tournaments and usually end up in second place!"
"And it's Ritsuka-san that ends up in first place?"
"Nah, he's not interested in that stuff." Tetsuya waved his hand, dismissing Emu's question. "He just so happens to be incredibly good at it. He always beats me whenever we play against each other…"
"I am interested, I just have other things that interest me more."
"Really?" Emu's voice raised a bit, a smirk appearing on his face. "What do you say to a few matches when we return to the real world?"
"Not interested."
"See?"
"Once we're done with our mission here, we're leaving this world and moving on to the next," Ritsuka told him.
"Is that so? Such a shame." Emu sighed as they reached a small encampment. "Oh, we're here."
Sitting around a fire in the center of the camp were three other men, all dressed differently.
The first was in black pants and a doctor's coat over his equally white shirt. He also had brown hair that was neatly combed to the side.
The second's clothes were nearly completely black with a few gray and white horizontal stripes on his jacket. His hair was black but had a few prominent strands of white in them for some reason.
Finally, the third guy had a crimson leather jacket draped over his shoulders. He wore a yellow shirt and a pair of light blue jeans. He also had dark brown hair and a pair of shades.
It was an odd sight to see three men that looked like they had nothing to do with each other. The only thing connecting them was the odd-looking stethoscopes that were around their necks.
"Finally!" The guy dressed in black noticed Emu returning first and sounded ticked off. "How hard is it talking to one NPC? Eh?"
"Dairiki, who are they?" The one in the doctor's coat asked him. He knew they were not part of the Game World due to the way they were dressed. Well, two of them. "Why are there civilians with you?"
"They're… well, they're from another world…apparently."
"... Say that again."
Sometime later…
"We all caught up now?"
"I think so."
The seven of them now sat around the campfire. The four Riders of this world now knew about the nature of the three travelers and had introduced themselves to them. Well, all except the guy trying to become a shadow, Emu had to introduce him.
The one in the doctor's coat was Kenshi Hiiro, Kamen Rider Brave.
The guy who did not want to tell them their name was Bakudan Taiga, Kamen Rider Snipe.
The fourth and last member of Emu's group was Kisou Kiriya, also known as Kamen Rider Lazer. He was also nicknamed 'The Bike' for some reason.
"Question!" Kiriya raised his hand. "Exactly why are you here? You guys just said 'a mission'"
"Honestly, we're not too sure about ourselves." Tetsuya shrugged. "We're just following his lead and he's…"
"A useless amnesiac."
"I saved you guys, didn't I?" Ritsuka huffed. "That's useful enough."
"..."
"Taiga-san? You've been rather quiet," Emu remarked, noticing the analytic stare the man was giving Ritsuka, which the (terrible) photographer also noticed.
"Do you have a problem with me?" Ritsuka returned the stare. "I promise you I'm not up to something if that's what you're worried about."
"No." Taiga's reply was short and to the point.
"Then why are you looking at me like that?"
"Nothing."
"Just ignore him. He's always distrustful of new people," Kiriya told them, already used to Taiga's behavior.
"Well, excuse me for being on guard around someone who claims to be from a parallel world. That doesn't raise any suspicion at all," Taiga sarcastically retorted.
"And we're four dysfunctional bunch of late-teens to mid 20s guys exploring a simulated game world looking for a self-aware computer virus trying to infect humans." Emu pointed out. "I don't think we are in any position to doubt their story."
"..." Taiga remained quiet, knowing that he did not have a good comeback for that.
"Now that we have that done with, can we continue our previous conversation?" Ritsuka looked at Emu. "About Graphite."
However, instead of Emu, it was Hiiro who replied first. "Why do you want to talk about him?" He sounded defensive about the topic.
"He's the guy we have to destroy, I just want to know more about him."
"Calm down, knighty." Kiriya lightly chuckled at the doctor's reaction. "They don't know any better."
"Uh… Is this a sensitive topic?" Ryoko hesitantly asked.
"Yes." "No."
"Really sending some mixed messages there…" Ryoko whispered at Hiiro's and Kiriya's reply.
"Hiiro-san has a big grudge against Graphite," Emu explained to them. "It's a bit of a long story, you see."
"Why is 'a long story' an acceptable excuse?" Ritsuka muttered before more loudly saying, "As I said, we'll be hunting him down tomorrow. It's best I'm just as caught up as the rest of you are."
"And us!"
"Yeah, those two too."
"So you want to be the fifth member of our crew, eh?" Kiriya pulled down his shades slightly to look at Ritsuka. "I guess you could join but under one condition."
"And that is?"
"You let me deal the final bl-" "Hang on just one second there!" Taiga quickly interjected. "I'll be the one finishing Graphite off!"
"Both of you are wrong." This time, it was Hiiro who spoke. "The one who will defeat Graphite will be me."
"Oh boy…" Emu sighed, knowing where this conversation was heading. Ritsuka, meanwhile, crossed his arms and grumbled in frustration.
"I get Hiiro has a thing against this Graphite guy but why the other two?" Ryoko asked Emu.
"To put it as simply as possible, Taiga lost to Graphite years ago and Kiriya… he just wants to annoy the others," Emu explained.
"And you?"
"Well, other than the fact he's a virus trying to kill off humanity, I don't have a personal stake in this fight against Graphite or the Bugsters in general," he said. "I just agreed to become a Kamen Rider because I wanted to save people's lives."
"So you're just like Yuusuke, huh?" Ritsuka muttered. "We're getting off-topic again. What's Graphite's deal and what does he have to do with Zero Day?"
"Right, sorry 'bout that," Emu apologized before answering him. "Let's start with Zero Day. As I said earlier, that was the first outbreak of the Bugster Virus. I don't really know the finer details about it, Taiga-san is not very forthcoming with what happened."
"Taiga?"
"Yeah, he was the earliest of us to became and was active 5 years ago. There were some earlier infections and Taiga-san fought them off but…" Emu glanced at the person in question, who was still arguing with Hiiro over who will be killing Graphite. At least they haven't started fist-fighting each other yet.
"He lost to Graphite." It was easy to figure that part out.
"Yes. And because of that, he wants to settle the score."
"If Graphite won then why would he be here?"
"What do you mean?"
"Graphite would be a completed Bugster and manifest in the real world, right?" As always, Ritsuka did not know how or why he knew that but just put it in the back of his mind. "Why would he be hanging out in a Game World?"
"Wait, how do you know about completed Bugsters?" "Just answer-Ow!" Ritsuka rubbed his sides from where Ryoko had elbowed him.
"You're right though," Emu conceded. "You see, Kuroto-san believes that the Proto Gashats are the source of the Bugster Virus and that we can finally stop them if we seal them into the Game Worlds."
"...Can you explain that a bit clearer? Some of us don't really understand some of those words," Tetsuya bashfully asked.
"Right, sorry about that," Emu apologized again. "Dan Kuroto is the CEO of Genm Corporation which created our gears; the Gamer Driver and Rider Gashats." He took out the bulky Driver and the pink device known as a Gashat.
The Gashat resembled an old game cartridge that had been updated for the modern-day. The top part of the device was like a circuit board and mostly transparent while the bottom part had a black handguard and a large sticker slapped on the side. It depicted the same video game character that was on the backdrop. Above it were the words "Mighty Action X". A small button was above the sticker, presumably used to activate the Gashat.
"The Rider Gashats are based on the ten games developed by Genm Corp. that were infected by the Bugster Virus. It's what we use to transform and fight the Bugsters," Emu exposited. "And the Proto Gashats are exactly what they sound like. They're the prototype Gashats."
"Got it!" Tetsuya nodded, flashing him a thumbs up.
However, Ryoko was still confused about one thing. "What about this Game World? What's it all about?"
"The Game Worlds were created as traps to isolate specific strains of the Bugsters and destroy them. It's not as easy as it sounds and we had to make so many preparations for this mission but we managed to catch and eliminate eight of the nine main Bugsters."
Emu took out another Gashat. This one's casing was a goldish hue and the bottom of it was molded like a dragon head. The sticker had the words "Drago Knight Hunter Z" and depicted a hero fighting a monster obscured in shadows.
"This specific Game World is made from data from the Proto Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat. That's why things can get a bit… buggy." The Count glitching out easily came to mind. "We've camped away from the NPCs so there's less risk of them breaking."
"Eight of nine? I thought you said this was the tenth?" Ryoko questioned him.
"It's…" "A long story?" "A long story."
"..." Emu's voice fell on deaf ears, or at least Ritsuka's deaf ears. The magenta Rider eyes focused on the golden Gashat. "Hey… Is that the Proto Gashat?"
"Hmm? Er… Not really…" Emu suddenly became timider and they could see he was sweating bullets. "You see-"
"This guy here lost the Proto Hunter Gashat when we tried to trap Graphite." Kiriya suddenly joined the conversation, plopping down next to Emu and putting his arm over his shoulders. He had gotten tired of watching Hiiro and Taiga bicker so wanted to see what Emu was talking about.
"You… lost it?"
"I didn't lose it per se but-" "It all happened yesterday!" Kiriya interrupted Emu again. "We were finally ready to deal with Graphite when…"
Yesterday…
Gekitotsu Critical Strike!
DoReMiFa/Jet/Giri Giri Critical Finish!
Explosions rocked the area as the four Gamer Riders fought against Graphite.
"Tch, aren't you all supposed to be Level 3?!" The green dragon Bugster shouted as he watched the four Riders struggle to get up to their feet. Their health gauges, if they were visible, were getting low.
"We- We have to use it," Ex-Aid huffed, standing back up, closed his Driver, and removed the Gekitotsu Robots Gashat.
Gachon! Gashun!
"Dairiki! Wait!" Brave grabbed his hand, preventing the pink Rider from taking out the Level 5 Gashat. "It's too dangerous!"
"We don't have a choice here!" Ex-Aid ignored the warning and shook Brave's hand off before getting the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat.
"Gekidou Ryuuga!" Graphite proclaimed as his twin-ended spear charged with red energy before he slashed through the air, sending a wave of red lightning at the four.
Drago Knight Hunter! Z!
Before the wave could hit them, however, Emu managed to activate the Gashat and summoned the Hunter Gamer, a mostly black robotic dragon. The Hunter Gamer roared as it flew out of the Game Start screen that appeared behind Ex-Aid, took the brunt of the blow, and attacked Graphite.
While the Bugster was busy with the dragon, Ex-Aid inserted the Gashat into the second slot in his Gamer Driver.
Gashat!
"Dai Dai Dai Dai Dai Henshin!" He exclaimed before opening the lever.
Gachan! Level Up! Mighty jump! Mighty kick! Mighty Mighty Action X! A Gatcha! Do-Do-Drago! Na-Na-Knight! Dra~! Dra~! Drago Knight Hunter! Z!
The Hunter Gamer flew back towards Ex-Aid and split apart. The head of the dragon attached itself onto Ex-Aid's helmet while its arms and feet hooked onto their respective body parts. However, his armor began to emit lightning, hurting him.
That did nothing to deter Emu, however. "Graphite!" He shouted as he ran at the dragon Bugster and tackled him.
"Get off of me!" Graphite demanded as Ex-Aid quickly took out a black-and-white version of the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat.
Drago Knight Hunter! Z!
A black-and-white Game Start screen appeared behind Graphite. Ex-Aid tried to push the green dragon monster into the screen but Graphite remained unmoving.
"You…!" grunted Graphite as he started to push Emu back.
"You're not going to get away!" However, the other three Gamer Riders quickly joined in and help Ex-Aid push Graphite into the screen.
"Let me go!" Graphite cried one more time before the Riders made one last push and the five were sucked into the Game Start screen.
The screen then disappeared in a blink, leaving the area barren and filled with debris.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The three of the four Riders screamed as they fell through the sky. Soon, they hit the ground with a loud crash with the exception of Snipe, who landed gracefully thanks to using Jet Combat.
"Ow…"
Gachon! Gashun!
They all closed and removed their Gashats at the same time, their suits all disappearing simultaneously.
"Ex-Aid! That was too reckless!" Taiga berated the injured genius gamer. "You could've gotten yourself killed like that!"
"Aw… I knew you cared for me, Taig-Ow!" Emu recoiled from the slap to the back of his head. Surprisingly (or not), it was actually Hiiro who did that.
"Stop charging in like that, Dairiki." The doctor scolded him with a cold stare.
"Ooh, ooh, me too!" It was like Kiriya had not even been injured from the fight or the fall. "Um… wait a minute, those two already took what I wanted to say."
"I get it already, it was dumb of me to use Level 5 but we didn't have any choice," Emu tried to defend himself. "Still, we managed to drag Graphite here, didn't we?"
"Barely."
"Where is that guy anyway?" Kiriya looked around them. Their surroundings were mostly fields but there was a walled city some distance away.
"He must've landed somewhere else in this World," said Hiiro. This was not the first time something like this happened.
"So we have to go looking for him… great," Kiriya sighed before noticing Emu checking his pockets. "What's wrong, Emu?"
"Nothing…" Emu nervously replied as he turned out all of his pockets faster.
"Dairiki." "Just hold on one second."
"Emu." "One second!"
"Ex-Aid. What's missing?" Emu flinched from the glare Taiga was giving him.
"Um… I may have accidentally lost the Proto Gashat."
"..." "..." "...Emu, you shi-!"
Present…
"...Okay, it was my fault but-!" "So not only did we lose our target, we also lost our only way out of here." Kiriya cut Emu off again.
"Only way?"
"Yes, the Proto Gashat is the only way in and out of the Game World," Hiiro, who had finally stopped arguing with Taiga, explained.
"Not that it matters either way," Taiga added. "Even if we did have it, we can't leave this World."
"It's a safeguard… at least that's what Kuroto-san said," Emu explained. "The Game World is sealed until the Bugster is eliminated. When we finish our mission, we can leave."
"Who came up with that idea?" Ryoko easily spotted the problem with that setup. "What if something happens to you guys?"
"Then it's Game Over, plain and simple," Taiga answered with a scoff.
"..."
"..."
"...It means we di-" "Yeah, we got it."
Later that night…
"Zzz…" Snores filled the camp as the fire continued to flicker in the center.
A benefit of being in this prototype simulated world was that reality was not very… realistic. Despite being in a forest, it was not hot or cold and there were no bugs crawling on the floor. Speaking of the forest floor, it was somehow neither comfortable nor uncomfortable, in some weird spot in between.
Ritsuka, however, could not sleep despite the two fights he had in the past few hours. Instead, he stared up at the night sky and looked at the stars. He wondered whether they were copied from the real world or if the developer just randomly dotted the sky. He did not recognize any specific pattern so he assumed that it was the latter.
Shame, he liked stargazing.
"...I need to pee," Ritsuka muttered to himself before he quietly got up. Carefully walking around his sleeping friends and acquaintances, he entered the treelines and went further. Just to be sure.
A minute or two later, he finished relieving himself and turned around to head back to the camp… and saw a familiar cloaked man standing about ten feet away, back turned to him.
Now, something like that would have given a normal person a heart attack. A man in black hidden in the shadows in the dead of night. And Ritsuka would be lying if he said his heart did not skip a beat when he saw him.
"At least you didn't look," Ritsuka muttered, which the cloaked man heard.
"Oh, you done?" He turned around and looked at Ritsuka. "Good, now we can talk."
"Are you making it a habit to appear after I need to use the toilet or something?"
"No, you just happen to be alone after you-" "So what is it this time?" Ritsuka grumbled, wanting the man to disappear already.
"Uh… give me a moment," he requested. "What was it again?"
Ritsuka sighed, putting his head in his hand. "If you're just here to annoy me, I'm going back to the others." He began to walk back to the camp and passed the man when the latter finally remembered his reason for coming.
"Oh, yeah! I remember now!" he exclaimed, making Ritsuka pause. "It's about this world."
"Yeah… No."
"Just listen to me, you useless amnesiac," the man grumbled.
"That insult doesn't really affect me when it's coming from you, you useless… I got nothing yet."
"Hah!" The man celebrated his rather minor victory. "Anyway, Ex-aid's world, where the Riders are based on video game genres. One of the more fun ones, don't you think?"
"Just get to the point."
"Be patient, I was just getting to that," the man said. "The second chapter in this world is about to end tomorrow…maybe 1.5."
"..."
"Patients, my dear destroyer, and it'll be rewarded."
"..." "First, it was the gathering of the four Riders; Ex-Aid, Brave, Snipe, and Lazer. Then, which is now, is the elimination of the Bugster Virus. After that, we'll see what happens. Well, neither of us will be seeing it, you won't care about this world once you're done with your mission and I have to keep an eye on you."
"Just get to the point already!" Ritsuka's patience was wearing thin at this point.
"Fine, fine," the man huffed in annoyance, "Here's the hint: the only way to clear this mission is trust."
"...What does that have to do with anything?!"
"It has plenty to do with everything, both for them and for you." the man smirked underneath his scarf.
"Me?"
"Yup! Now, see you later." The cloaked man raised his hand and summoned a dimensional wall between them. Before he stepped through and disappeared though, he gave Ritsuka one last message.
"Oh, and try to make the ending more interesting. I'd hate to intervene again."
"Again?" Realization hit Ritsuka faster than a speeding truck. "Wait, you-!" "Bye!"
The man disappeared before Ritsuka could accuse him of sending the Ganma into Kuuga's world.
"...Damn it." The teen just gave up and walked back to the camp.
When he got back to the flickering campfire, Ritsuka noticed that Tetsuya was awake.
"Oh, it's you." His friend sigh in relief. "What were you doing in the woods?"
"Needed to take a leak," Ritsuka answered as he reclaimed his earlier spot.
"...Who were you talking to?" Tetsuya hesitantly asked. "I heard you shouting."
"Tripped on a root. That's it."
"...Kay, good night."
"Night," Ritsuka said back and closed his eyes…
Meanwhile…
Somewhere else within the Game World, a good-looking man reached the peak of a tall hill and sat down, taking in the scene.
"Beautiful…" he muttered as a distant memory filled his mind. Running through the fields of this world as a young boy, playing with his friends, and training to become a Dragon Warrior.
However, sadness soon replaced the nostalgia as he remember none of those memories actually happened to him.
"...Why did they drag me in here?" He gritted his teeth, taking out the Proto Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat and gripping it tightly.
Drago Knight Hunter! Z!
The theme played and the start screen appeared. He reached out and touched it, but his hand was just zapped away.
"Fine, if it's a final battle they want then it's a final battle they'll get!" The man shouted to the world before he stabbed himself with the Gashat.
Lighting, both real and fake, shot off his body as he screamed in pain. Despite that, a sadistic smile remained on his face. Soon, he got used to the pain and started laughing as his body started changing to a jet-black dragonic form…
Next time on Across the Kaleidoscope
"Fight me. That's what you wanted, right?!"
"This world is starting to collapse…"
"Trust in your friends… and defeat him!"
"Everyone, let's go!"
Chapter 5: The Five Rider Super Co-Play!
A/N: Well, this took longer than I thought and is slightly shorter than usual. Sorry 'bout that, I've been a bit busy lately. Still, 10k is good for me.
So… funny story. While I was typing out the last two chapters, I was watching the first two episodes of Kuuga as you would. After that, I continued watching Kuuga as I wrote this chapter… then I reached ep. 5. You know what I learned in that episode? The Kuuga symbol means warrior. You know, the symbol that I said hasn't been translated even though the rune for warrior had been?
Just… dang. I'm not going to change it 'cause it's not that big a deal but wish I knew that earlier.
Also, another funny story. Remember last chapter when I said MHX might tempt me? Yeah… So, how many SQ will we be getting by the 5th anniversary? I mean that both as a joke and for real, I am literally out of SQs. At least I got Emiya and Elisabeth from it. Two 4-Stars. Not bad.
As always, please leave a review. They genuinely help me out.
EDIT: Very minor editing. Also, next chapter should be posted by next week, I've been busy with stuff