Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own anything. Let's move on.
Previously on Across the Kaleidoscope
"Come quickly! Kagata's fighting Faiz and Delta!"
"What's going on, why's there another Faiz Gear?"
"These Rider Gear aren't copies as you guys so believe."
"So what if I've been in contact with that infuriating bastard? If you heard what he and I were talking about, you'd know that I really have no idea what he's up to either."
"That's why I never told those two. If I talk to him, that's me acknowledging that the guy was real and had a presence in my life."
"This next world is going to hit close to home for you, isn't it?"
Displayed within a museum somewhere, a large painted mural hung on a wall in a specific section of the museum along with several other ancient pieces in glass cases on display. The lights were out and nobody was around as it was way past closing time. A night guard came into the room every few minutes as he patrolled this wing for intruders.
As the guard made another round through the wing, he pointed his flashlight into the room with the mural and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Glints of light reflected off some of the artifacts displayed inside the room, as they always do when he enters the area.
Since he saw nothing wrong, the guard left and continued to patrol the halls. Had he stayed even a second later, he would have seen the silver wall that appeared in thin air.
A male figure stepped out of the wall, it disappeared as it rippled out from his entrance. The young man was dressed in dark apparel to help him blend in if he needed to. However, if he calculated his timing correctly, then he would not need to hide for five minutes.
The young man quietly tiptoed towards the main attraction of the room, the large mural, and touched it. He observed that it looked quite old and parts around the edge were damaged. There were also three spots on the mural where the rock had been scraped off, concealing whatever it was that was painted on it.
'As if I could take this down in time…' He thought to himself, doubting that he could carefully remove it from the wall within the time limit. And so, he switched his focus on one of the minor attractions.
First, there was the broken hilt of a sword. It was in the shape of a golden crest and had a circular blue gem right before the cut-off point right above it. 'This is more of my speed.'
A pair of much smaller Aurora Curtains opened on either side of the glass case, which the young man reached into. His hand appeared on the inside of the case, letting him pick up the broken hilt and take it out.
He felt the hilt up for a bit before he put it away. 'And now the other one.'
The young thief then went over to another display case where what looked like the golden head of a spear was kept inside. The head was curved slightly and had blue spots painted on it.
As with the sword hilt, the thief opened another pair of portals and took the spearhead out of its case. 'That's two treasures…'
However, before he could go and steal another artifact, he heard footsteps coming from the hallway. Glancing in that direction, he noticed a beam of light shining past the entryway.
'That's good enough for me.' Two was more than satisfying for him. Sure, he would not mind taking a couple more but time was up.
The thief opened another Aurora Curtain and quickly passed through it, disappearing right before the guard came into the room again.
The guard shined his flashlight into the room and the remaining artifacts glinted under the light. For a brief second, he thought there was nothing wrong and walked away. A couple of seconds later though, he backtracked and shined his flashlight inside again as he realized that something was off. After routinely checking up the room many times throughout the night, he had a good idea of what he should see.
He walked further into the room and checked up on the display pieces. It was not long before he realized that two of the artifacts were missing from their cases.
"...I'm so fired, aren't I?"
Chapter 13: Mistaken Identity
As was routine by this point, Ritsuka and his two friends exited his dimension-hopping house.
"This place doesn't look too bad," said Tetsuya as he took a few steps further from the house.
Their place was now on top of a hill at the end of a road. They were not too far away from the main city though, only a short ten-minute walk approximately, and several other people were living nearby.
"We got a garden now, that's neat," Ryoko, on the other hand, was more focused on the exterior of the house. The street that was their front yard back in Faiz's world had been replaced with a decently-sized garden, with various types of vegetables already nearly fully grown. A wooden fence was also around their property, with a gate out to the road. Additionally, tied to the gatepost was a nice bicycle.
"Ritsuka, any thoughts?"
"Hmm, doesn't seem too bad," Ritsuka shrugged, not having any strong opinion of their new property yet.
"You think we could harvest these before we go?" Ryoko asked.
"Maybe," Ritsuka shrugged again before he walked towards the gate, "I'm going to go explore. You guys can come if you want."
"Hey, I spent the last three worlds sitting things out, I wanna see how you work," Tetsuya said, running up to join him.
"Aren't we ignoring the elephant in the room here?" Ryoko remarked as she finally noticed Ritsuka's attire for this world, "I know your clothes change every time but why are you a policeman this time?"
Ritsuka looked down at his clothes and, sure enough, Ryoko was right. He was now wearing a blue policeman uniform with a walkie-talkie clipped to his breast pocket. Reaching up to his head, he realized that he also got a nice new hat and there was an earpiece in his right ear. He then checked his pockets and took something out.
"Isn't pretending to be a police officer illegal?"
"I'm pretty sure this is the least illegal thing I've done so far," Ritsuka muttered, thinking about the time he worked for the King back in Hakuno's world. Being a traitor to humanity was definitely worse than wearing a policeman's uniform. "And I'm not pretending to be a cop, I am one."
"What?"
"See?" Ritsuka showed them his I.D. As he said, there was a headshot of him in uniform along with some minor information like his name.
"So will you be working with the police again? Like in Yuusuke's world?" Tetsuya questioned him.
"Looks like it."
Bzzt!
As if on cue, his walkie-talkie came to life and a voice came through.
"Emergency, emergency. Any personal near-" The dispatcher proceeded to name an address along with a code for something. "There has been a possible Unknown incident. I repeat, any personal near to-"
"Unknown incident?" Tetsuya parroted the dispatcher, "Am I right in thinking that's the monsters of this world?"
"Yup. We've actually met them already," Ritsuka told them as he started to untie the bicycle from the fence. "Back when everybody tried to kill me."
"Ritsu, do you know how little that narrows it down? We ran into, like, nine different species that time."
"That's fair." Ritsuka gave her that. "Unknown is another name for the Lords. Like how Unidentified Lifeforms were used for Gurongis."
"Lords… Oh, that bullhead guy that nearly blew us up!" Tetsuya sounded a bit too happy to recall that correctly. "They're Unknowns?"
"Ah-huh," Ritsuka nodded as he finished untying the bicycle. "Anyway, I've got a job to do. You guys go explore on your own."
"Hang on, you're leaving us alone when we know there's a Lord running around?!" Ryoko questioned him with an incredulous look. Sure, Ritsuka usually leaves them behind… all the time. But it was very, very slightly different this time.
"Remember what I said to Taurus Ballista? Lords aren't allowed to attack humans," Ritsuka reminded them, "You two should be safe… so long you don't run into an Ant Lord."
"Wait, what?"
"I'll see you guys later!" Ritsuka shouted back as he quickly rode away to go to the crime scene.
"Oh, come on!" Ryoko sighed as she watched Ritsuka get further and further away. "Why does he keep leaving us to fend for ourselves?"
"He… probably has his own reasons," Tetsuya tried to think of a reason but failed. "At any rate, let's look around. It's nice to no longer feel like I want to constantly throw up."
"Fine, fine… But treat me to something good, will you?"
"Wait, why do I have to pay?! I was the one down with a stomach bug!"
"Because you're the one in charge of finance."
"Oh… right," Tetsuya blushed a little at being reminded of that.
Elsewhere in the world…
"Shouichi! Is lunch ready yet?!" Someone loudly asked a young man with short, dark-brown hair with black eyes. The young adult was wearing an apron and oven mitts along with some everyday clothes.
"Be patient. It's still a bit early," The young man named Shouichi calmly replied to the girl currently relaxing in the living room. "Also, don't you have homework to do?"
The girl that was procrastinating on the couch, watching television groaned out loud at being reminded that she still had work to do before the holidays started. "Please don't remind me."
"The earlier you do it, the easier it is for you to relax," Shouichi advised the girl as the oven let out a loud beep, signaling that the timer was up.
"Easy for you to say, you don't do much besides cook and take care of your vegetables," the girl sighed.
"Aren't you forgetting about a couple of things, Mana?" Shouchi said as he took off his mittens after taking out the tray of pasta. He then started cutting up the pasta into portions and readied a plate for the girl.
"...Yeah, I guess that thing is pretty important too," Mana admitted before jumping off the couch and walking into the dining room/kitchen. Taking a seat, she started to dig in and made some more small talk with Shouchi, "You have that interview for that cafe downtown, right? What time are you leaving?"
"Once I'm done eating and cleaning up, I'll be on my way," answered Shouichi while taking off his apron and hanging it on the wall.
"And after that?"
"Don't know yet," he shrugged, "If nothing happens, I'll just head back home, I guess." 'One of them did manage to escape earlier… Hopefully, it doesn't try anything for a while…'
With Ritsuka…
It took him about half an hour, half of which was spent going the wrong way, but Ritsuka eventually found the crime scene. And a crime scene it was. The body had not been moved yet, letting him see the mildly gruesome scene with his own eyes as he ducked under the yellow tape.
At least the parts that were not obscured by the tree branches and leaves, anyway. From where he was standing, most of the body had been hidden up in a tree on the side of the road in a residential area. He noticed that there did not seem to be any blood around. Currently, several other policemen and detectives were slowly bringing the body down.
"Is this your first time seeing something like this?"
"Huh?" Ritsuka turned to his left to see an older detective. He did not know why but the man reminded Ritsuka of somebody, he just did not know who.
It took him a second to understand what his senior was talking about. "Oh, not really, no. I've seen some old crime scene photos before."
"You're new, right? I've never seen you before," the older cop said as they got closer to the body.
"You could say that." Half-an-hour can be considered new, right? "So what happened here?"
"What else could it be but an Unknown attack?" The other cop retorted, looking at the victim's body that was now laid on the ground.
Ritsuka, undisturbed by the dead body at all, studied it as the forensic guys went to work. The first thing he noticed was the bruises around the victim's neck.
"Looks like his neck was broken like the earlier victims," the older detective crouched down next to the body as he put on some gloves. He reached into the victim's jacket and took out his wallet.
"Iwasaki Kazuhiro, 29 years old," he noted before carefully handing it over to one of the forensic investigators. "Have someone run his name against those involved with the Akatsuki incident."
"Yes, Amezawa-san," the other investigator bowed before going to bag the wallet.
"Akatsuki?" Ritsuka muttered before someone dragged him away from the body.
"Hey, newbie. Word of advice, just leave Amezawa to do his work on his own," another policeman said as he dragged Ritsuka, "Come on, help us deal with these nosy housewives."
"Alright, alright, you can let me go." Well, there goes his attempt to do some self-investigation. Guess he has to go check the reports at headquarters then.
"You go over that side. You can do that by yourself."
Ritsuka sighed quietly as he went over to his post and stood guard. Fortunately for him, the side he was assigned to was less crowded compared to his apparent senior.
"Please move along," he politely requested anyone who came close to see what had happened. "Nothing to see here. Go enjoy the rest of your day."
Ritsuka stood on guard as was expected of him while the investigators, including Amezawa, went to work. He did know how long he was standing there and directing passersby to go away but eventually started to feel hungry.
'When did I last eat?' Ritsuka thought to himself. He sighed quietly before deciding to pass the time by taking a few photos of the area.
He opened the flap of his camera and looked into the screen. While it did not look very professional to do so, Ritsuka snapped several quick pictures of those passing by.
"Officer, what happened here?" Ritsuka heard a girl's voice ask after the first few photos.
The policeman (not) in disguise turned the lens towards the source of the voice and was about to say something but was caught off-guard by the girl's appearance.
'Her again!?' Ritsuka screamed in his head as he looked up from his camera.
There was no way he would mistake the blue-haired battle nun that tried to kill him a couple of worlds ago. Sure, the topic of him running into an alternate version of her came up in Faiz's world but he did not expect to meet Ciel again so soon.
"Is there something wrong, officer?" This world's version of Ciel looked at him through a pair of glasses.
She obviously did not recognize who he was and seemed to be younger than the version Ritsuka had met previously. The half-French girl was dressed like a high school student; a yellow v-neck over a white collared shirt, a dark blue blazer, and a short gray skirt that did nothing to hide her long legs… not that Ritsuka was looking, of course. She also had a large dark-turquoise bow. Her hands were currently behind her and she was carrying a satchel backpack.
It was a bit of an odd thing to wear during the winter season but Ritsuka was not going to say anything.
"Nothing," Ritsuka answered her, "Please go on your way. Don't you have a class to get to or something?"
"What day do you think it is?" Ciel looked at him with a confused look, "It's Sunday."
"...Don't you have church to go to?"
"You have a terrible sense of time, don't you, officer?" Whatever respect she had for Ritsuka went down a bit further at his attempt to rescue himself.
"Why are you here? Can't you see that this place is a crime scene?" Ritsuka grumbled, his (remaining) professional attitude from earlier now gone.
"Yeah, that's why I'm here."
'Oh, please don't tell me you're some kind of kid detective or something…' That was ignoring the fact Ritsuka was only a couple of years older than her at most. "What do you mean by that?"
However, Ciel seemed to realize that she said something she was not supposed to. "Nothing, I'll be on my way now."
Ritsuka watched as the blue-haired girl walked away…
"...She's going to be trouble, won't she?" Ritsuka quietly sighed to himself. He was about to continue keeping watch when he felt someone lightly slap his back.
"Hey, newbie," said a different cop from the one who dragged him away from the body, "The boss says you can go on break. The rest of us are taking over your and Kamaki's posts."
Was it just him or were things going at a rather fast pace? Ritsuka was not complaining though, he wanted to look into the case on his own.
He walked back to where he had parked his new bicycle and noticed something on his seat. A ripped piece of paper had been taped to it, which Ritsuka peeled off and read.
"With his last breath, the Light bestowed humanity the Seed," Ritsuka read the passage written on the paper, "With this act, the Light hoped that humanity will one day evolve beyond the Darkness' control. The Darkness, infuriated with his brother's last defying act, swore to hunt down those that carried the Seed."
At first glance, it sounded like a creation myth with talk about humanity growing beyond the Darkness and Ritsuka had a feeling there was more to that story than that, especially since he only had a piece of the story. However, his main concern was who taped the paper to his bicycle seat. While he was not keeping an eye on it, how did a cloaked man with a mask manage to get close to a crime scene and not get questioned by the nearby policeman?
Yeah, of course, Ritsuka was blaming that guy. After what he pulled in the last world, Ritsuka was all for thinking he was pushing things along for him.
The blaring of sirens prevented him from thinking about it any further though as a police van drove away from the scene, reminding Ritsuka as to what he wanted to do.
As he got onto his bicycle and pedaled off, he could not help but think what those two were up to…
Meanwhile, somewhere else in the city…
In a small fast food joint, Ryoko loudly sipped her soda until it ran out. She continued to suck the straw though, getting the attention of Tetsuya who was sitting opposite to her while checking something on his phone.
"Ryoko, I know you're bored and all, but please don't be so loud," Tetsuya sighed before eating more of his fries.
"Sorry 'bout that," she apologized and stopped, "Look, I know it's bad to wish for something to happen, but the most exciting thing that's happened to us so far was when Hakunon hit me in the back of the head with that frying pan. I thought when we were going to go on this journey, that it'll actually be a journey, you know."
"How do you think I feel? I was out for the last few days because I got a stomach bug and not something like an injured leg. Not that I want to have an injured leg, but you get what I mean…" Tetsuya muttered, "Besides, this entire journey was meant for Ritsuka. We just came along for the ride."
"Mmm…" Ryoko knew he was right but kept silent. So instead, she changed the subject. "Hey, Tetsu. What are you looking at?"
"Oh, I was looking up those Lord guys Ritsuka was talking about, or Unknowns as they're called. Here." Tetsuya showed her his phone screen. "Apparently, they're the main suspects of strange murder cases over the past few months."
"Murder cases? But didn't that bull guy say they weren't allowed to attack humans?" Ryoko vividly remembered Taurus Ballista saying they were sworn to protect humanity. Was this another case of 'for the greater good'?
"There's not really that much information about them…" Tetsuya muttered as he scrolled down and read more on the Lords. "Huh?"
"Found something?"
"Yeah, take a look at this," he showed Ryoko his phone again.
"Isn't that… a Gurongi?" Ryoko recognized the monster in the picture. It was the spider monster from Kuuga's world, the one that attacked the police headquarters. What was it doing here? "Unidentified Lifeform #1. According to the Unidentified Lifeform Task Force, it was killed by Unidentified Lifeform #4 years ago."
"Years?!"
"Not too loud, Ryoko." Tetsuya looked around to make sure nobody was paying attention to them.
"Forgive me for learning that we skipped ahead a few years." Ryoko defended herself. "What year is it now?"
"It's still 2021," answered Tetsuya. "According to this, the Unidentified Lifeforms first appeared in 2016."
"Five years ago…" So they were in the past in Yuusuke's world, not the present. "Wait, does that mean Yuusuke exists here?"
"Hmm… Yeah, here he is." Tetsuya found a blurry photo of Unidentified Lifeform #4, i.e. Kamen Rider Kuuga, Toshigami Yuusuke… probably.
"Dang, was not expecting something like that to happen." Ryoko had gotten the impression from Ritsuka that the Riders exist in their own world.
However, now that she thought about it, Agito looked pretty similar to Kuuga. Maybe that contributed to something.
Oh, right! Agito. "What about this world's Rider? Is there anything on him?"
"Hmm… Give me a minute." Tetsuya went back to looking things up on the internet. After a short amount of time, he stumbled onto something else. "Well, there's this thing."
"What is it?"
"The G3 Unit?" Ritsuka parroted what a senior officer had told him. He had followed the evidence van back to headquarters where they were currently being analyzed. In the meantime, he had gone to look up the previous Unknown incidents and asked one of his new co-workers where he could find those reports.
"Yes, Amezawa and his squad keep backups of the Unknown case files," the older cop told Ritsuka, "If you want to read them, you'll have to ask him."
"I see… Thank you for telling me," Ritsuka said before walking away. '…Which way is the G3 Unit?'
It took him a few minutes of wandering the police headquarters, but Ritsuka finally arrived at the garage where the G3 Squad's trailer was parked. He knocked on the backdoor of the trailer and waited for a bit.
"Coming, coming!" Ritsuka heard a woman's voice shout from inside. A second later, the door was opened by a policewoman in uniform. "Hmm? Who are you? I don't think I've seen you around before."
"Fujimaru Ritsuka. I'm new," he introduced himself, "I was told that the G3 Unit keeps backup records of the Unknown incidents. Is it alright if I look into it?"
"Yeah, sure. Come on in," the policewoman said as she went back inside, "You can use the extra computer for a bit."
Ritsuka followed after her and stepped into the trailer. Immediately, he noticed the pieces of armor that were set up on the left side of the trailer. They were mostly colored blue and had a silver chestpiece that had a green-and-gold insignia in the top-left section. The helmet had large red eyes and two long silver antennas similar to a bug's. Ritsuka also noted that the armor made a passing resemblance to Kuuga.
"That's the G3 suit?" Ritsuka unintentionally said aloud, prompting the policewoman to answer him.
"It is. Is it your first time seeing it?"
"No," he replied without thinking, "It looks familiar."
"It should, its appearance was based on #4," the policewoman told Ritsuka. "The higher-ups wanted G3 to look like #4 because he's seen as a hero back when the Unidentified Lifeforms were active."
"Eh… So that's why." There was something off about what she said, but Ritsuka put that to the back of his mind for now. "So can I check the records?"
"It's back this way." Ritsuka followed the policewoman into the next section of the trailer where there were several machines and computers set up. "Please be quiet while you use the spare, I have important work to do."
Taking an extra swivel chair, Ritsuka immediately went to work and started from the beginning, checking the first recorded incident.
'Name of victim: Yamashita Masatoshi. Cause of Death: Broken neck.' Ritsuka read the report on the first recorded murder case by the Lords. 'Suspect was first presumed to be an Unidentified Lifeform due to the way the body was found (in the branches of a tall tree). Officer Amezawa Makoto, the designated user of the G3 System, later encountered a pair of bipedal panther monsters unlike the U.L. who had recently murdered another man. More details regarding that incident in the case file…'
Ritsuka then checked the next file listed. 'Name of victim: Katsuki Yukihiko. Cause of Death: Broken neck. Suspect was a pair of bipedal panther monsters who were also responsible for the death of Yamashita Masatoshi. Officer Amezawa Makoto encountered them in the act and used the G3 System later the same night. Officer Amezawa Makoto was defeated by the monsters but was rescued by an unknown armored warrior. The warrior killed one of the monsters, who named him Agito, while the other fled the scene.'
"Agito…" Ritsuka muttered to himself. He put his hand into his pocket and took out the first KamenRide card he used. '...What's the Akatsuki?'
Ritsuka turned his focus back to the computer and looked up the name. The first few things that popped up was another case file and, below that, was something called a newspaper report about something happening in the Akatsuki Mountain Resort.
'That has to be it…' Ritsuka opened up the second article first, just to get some background information.
'29 Rescued From Mountainside Resort,' he read the headline. 'On the night of 18th January, a heavy storm battered Mount Okuhotaka on the border of Nagano and Gifu prefectures.'
He skimmed through most of the article, only really reading the important bits. In essence, the Akatsuki Amezawa had mentioned earlier was referring to a skiing resort up in the mountains. Earlier that year, a very strong snow storm struck the area and trapped those vacationing in the area, including a policeman. The mentioned policeman somehow managed to rescue and keep all but one of them safe until rescue teams came. The only one to have gone missing was currently presumed dead while the officer was promoted for his bravery or something like that.
After reading the article, Ritsuka had to wonder what the resort had to do with anything. Maybe he missed something or the journalist in charge of writing did not put in the information Ritsuka wanted. Hoping it was the former, Ritsuka was about to close the article and open the actual case file when he noticed the journalist's name.
A part of him recognized the name somewhere and he could not help but say it aloud, "Emiya… Shi-"
"What are you looking at?" Ritsuka jumped in his seat at the policewoman's sudden interruption. "The Akatsuki? I thought you wanted to look into the Unknown cases."
"I am," Ritsuka quickly replied, "I heard Mako- I mean, Officer Amezawa mention the Akatsuki earlier."
"Let me guess, he wanted to run the victim's name against the list of those rescued during the incident," the policewoman quietly grumbled, "I swear, he's going to get himself in trouble from barking up the wrong tree."
"Why's that?"
"While some of the victims were those he rescued from the resort, there is still a larger number of those who never got anywhere close to that place. He knows that but still insists that there was something more to the incident than a sudden change in weather," she ranted a bit to Ritsuka.
"So it was Amezawa who was up there that night?"
"Yes, he was," she nodded, "He was up there on leave with a friend of his. He's probably worried that he would be targeted by the Unknowns."
"In that case, he has every right to be worried," Ritsuka defended the absent Amezawa.
"You're not wrong, but it gets irritating at times," the policewoman frowned. "At any rate, please be quick with using it. I have to use that computer too."
"In a second, I want to read the Akatsuki case file first. Don't worry, I'll be fast."
"You better."
Ritsuka opened up the case file and quickly read it. There was not much that was not mentioned by the news article, mainly the names of those involved in the incident. Ritsuka noticed that the second victim's name, Katsuki Yukihiko, was on the list of those rescued but continued on.
'Kojima Kaoru, Murasaki Kazuo…' Ritsuka read before eventually reaching the end, where the only person who went missing was listed. 'Nakachi Tetsuya…'
That was a weird coincidence. Meh, Tetsuya was a relatively common given name. The fact that the only missing person from the Akatsuki incident shared the same first name as his friend was a pure happenstance… probably.
"I'm done. Thank you for your assistance." Ritsuka politely bowed before leaving. As he stepped out, he conveniently bumped into Amezawa Makoto again.
"Oh," the officer mouthed, "You're… the patrol officer from earlier."
"Yes. I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka. You're Amezawa Makoto, right?" Ritsuka asked, "G3's main user?"
"My reputation precedes me, it seems," Makoto let out a short mute laugh at Ritsuka's question, "What were you doing with Okina in there?"
"Just wanted to check the records on Unknown incidents," Ritsuka answered, "She just booted me out though."
"She does that when working sometimes. Sorry about that," Makoto chuckled lightly again.
"I don't mind, I had other things to do anyway," Ritsuka replied. "It was nice talking to you."
"Likewise."
The two bid each other short goodbyes before Ritsuka walked off. What was it that he wanted to do now?
'...Food.'
Ritsuka stared up at the sign next to the entrance of the small cafe for a few seconds. While he did keep a decent amount of money on him, he did not want to eat somewhere too expensive. After a few moments of deliberation, he shrugged and went into the cafe.
Ding ding!
Bells hanging on the door loudly jingled as he opened it and he was immediately greeted by the cashier, "Welcome! Please kindly take a seat, we will serve you shortly."
Ritsuka noted that the place was mostly empty and immediately looked for a secluded corner. There was a booth at the end that he liked and went to sit there. However, when he reached the table, it turns out that it was already taken… by a certain blue-haired not-nun. From the entrance, she had been sitting in a blind spot.
"..."
"..."
"...Are officers of the law allowed to follow high-school students?" Ciel snarked at Ritsuka, who was silently cursing his luck at running into her again. He did not really have any problem with Ciel, especially not this version who had not done anything yet, but what were the chances of meeting her twice in the same day?
"This is just a coincidence, okay? I'm not stalking you," Ritsuka replied, "This place is not that far from the station."
"You have a point, I see a couple cops come here for lunch sometimes," Ciel admitted. "But it's not lunchtime, and what are the chances I meet you again?"
"Believe me, I want to know that too," the (maybe) fake policeman sighed before sitting opposite to her and putting his hat on the table.
"I don't remember inviting you to join me."
"I'm tired, have pity on a newbie officer and let him sit where he wants to."
"...Fine, fine. You convinced me since you had a long day of standing in the same place for hours."
"I was only there for, like, 30 minutes," Ritsuka corrected her.
"Is that so? Then get out," Ciel playfully told him.
Ritsuka laughed a bit at her gesturing him to go away. "High-school girls really are cruel, aren't you?"
"Hey, whoever said I'm a high-schooler? Or are you hoping I'm a high-schooler, officer?" The blue-haired girl teased him.
"Even if you didn't say that you were a high-schooler earlier, you won't be getting a rise out of me," the new smirked at Ciel, who pouted at his response.
"Come on, at least play along… What's your name again?"
"It's Fujimaru Ritsuka."
"At least play along, Fujimaru-kun, it's not every day you get the chance to have lunch with an attractive, half-French, blue-haired, high-school girl," Ciel listed off her various aspects.
"Hmm… I don't know about attractive," Ritsuka joked.
"...No, really, get out." Now Ritsuka was laughing more loudly at Ciel's glare. Before he could make a retort, however, a waitress came up to their table.
"What will you be having, officer?" She asked, a pen and pad ready to take his orders.
"Hmm…" Ritsuka glanced at Ciel's plate and said, "I'll have what she's having."
"You sure about that?" Both Ciel and the waitress asked simultaneously. The blue-haired (maybe) high-schooler was eating a plate of curry that did not look unassuming at all.
"Yeah, I don't have a problem with spicy food," Ritsuka waved off their concern.
"O…kay then." The waitress reluctantly wrote down the order. "And your drink?"
"Do you have cream soda?"
"Yup."
"Then I'll have one."
"And a tall glass of water," Ciel added to his order, "Oh! And another plate for me too."
"Is that all? Then I'll be back in a bit." The waitress went off, leaving the two to continue talking.
"You know, you still haven't told me your name," Ritsuka said. He knew her name, of course, but it was better to be safe than sorry. And if she turns out to be like the her from Kiva's world, then… No, Ritsuka would still not be sorry, really.
"Oh, right, sorry about that. You can call me Ciel." So he was safe. That's good. "For the next half-hour, at least."
"Why only half-an-hour?" Ritsuka asked.
"Unlike a certain someone, I don't skip out on work," Ciel smirked triumphantly at him. "Speaking of which, any reason you're not out there keeping the streets safe?"
"I have my reasons." He did not have much reason to stick around the police station. If there was another Unknown attack, he would learn of it with the walkie-talkie. "So what do you work as?"
"Why? So you can stalk me while I'm working?" Ciel retorted before taking a bite of her food.
"If you have a problem stalking you, which I'm not, why are you letting me sit here?"
"Several reasons, actually," the blue-haired girl told him, "One, I'm hungry and don't feel like dealing with you at the moment. Two, you seem fun to hang around with despite being…"
"...a cop?" Ritsuka completed her sentence for her.
"Yeah, sure. Let's go with that." Ciel went along with what he said. "Three, I feel like I know you from somewhere. I mean, besides just now at the crime scene."
"Oh, really? What makes you say that?"
"Speaking of the crime scene, were you supposed to be taking photos while on duty?" She questioned him. "Or do I have to tell your bosses about you goofing off both on and off duty?"
"Just on duty, technically I'm supposed to be helping out with the case but I didn't feel like it…" Ritsuka admitted without care.
"You are just the worst cop, aren't you?" Ciel sounded amused as she made a dig at him.
"Maybe I am," Ritsuka shrugged. He did not feel like countering Ciel at the moment. "Wait, what were we talking about before we got sidetracked?"
"You wanted to know what I work as… which is stupid because we both know what the answer to that is."
In an instant, the air around them froze as the tension between the two became palpable. Ritsuka and Ciel stared at each other, both of them unblinking.
"...So you really are a-"
"Say it and I'm going to show you exactly why we're called that," Ciel calmly and quietly threatened him. Ritsuka was not completely sure how willing she was to carry out that threat but if the other Ciel he had met was of any indication, Ritsuka was not going to press it. "How did you figure out I was with you-know-what?"
"It was a hunch." A hunch that he had thanks to the other Ciel but he was not going to say that part.
"So you're staking your life all on a hunch?" Ciel raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you are not that bad of a cop. Wait, are you actually a policeman or did you do something?"
"Before we continue… whatever this is, I have to say that I'm not what you think I am," Ritsuka told her.
"Oh, so you're not a mag-"
"No," Ritsuka cut her off before she could finish her statement. "I can make a few balloon animals if you'd like, but I'm not a wizard."
"Hmm…" Ciel narrowed her eyes at him, trying to see him slip up. "You say that, yet you know what it is and know what I am."
"I know lots of stuff." 90% of which he cannot explain. "Let's just say that I get caught up in weird situations pretty frequently."
Ciel continued to stare at him while deciding whether or not she should believe him. "So why are you following me then? Tell me that."
"It's just a coincidence, nothing more," Ritsuka said again. "And you were the one who spoke to me first."
"Fine, I'll admit that, at least," Ciel groaned. "...I've come to a decision; I'll trust that you're telling the truth for now… Under one condition."
"And that is?" Why does Ritsuka feel like he's going to regret this?
"You… Will…" Ciel purposefully drew out her request.
"I will what?"
"You will… be paying for lunch."
"...Is that it?" Ritsuka just knew that there was something she wasn't telling him.
"Yup," Ciel cheerfully said. "That's all you need to do. Pay for all this and I'll forget this whole thing."
"Alright," Ritsuka shrugged, deciding to just go along with it.
"Good, good…" The blue-haired girl hummed while smirking.
"...Wait, no-"
"Mai-chan! Add another regular to the bill!"
'Now I know how Tetsuya feels…' Ritsuka groaned in his head.
Meanwhile…
Ryoko and Tetsuya, after walking basically everywhere in the mall, stepped out of the shopping complex and began sightseeing in the city.
"You know, I thought exploring another dimension would be more fun than this…" Ryoko muttered mostly to herself. She used to enjoy going out into town but now? Not so much. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the last time she went out like this, the world ended.
Tetsuya, on the other hand, was enjoying not having to carry tons of bags for his friend and he's sure his wallet is no longer crying. However, that did not mean he was okay with seeing Ryoko moping around. It took him a moment to come up with an idea to cheer her up.
"Hey, why don't we visit a museum or something?" He suggested.
"Hmm… Sure, since we have nothing better to do," Ryoko agreed.
"I'll look up the nearest one then." After a minute or so, Tetsuya managed to find the nearest museum. "There's one not too far from here."
"Lead the way…" Maybe it would be fun.
"Sorry everyone, but we can't open today." Nope, it was not going to be fun.
As it turned out, the museum they were about to visit was closed due to a police investigation. That was just… great.
Instead, the two teens wandered around before eventually coming to a nice park.
"So… What do we do now?" Tetsuya was out of ideas as to what to do while waiting for Ritsuka to be done with his job, not knowing he was currently skipping out on his fake job to have a not-date with another Ciel.
"You know what? Why don't we do something you want?" Ryoko said, turning to him. "I've been dragging you around for too long. It's your turn to choose."
"Hmm…" Tetsuya hummed as he thought about his choices. He did not have many interests that required going out, and his one real passion was not that viable. Sure, they could go to an arcade or something, but he knew that was too boring for Ryoko.
While they were thinking about the next stop on their day trip, a certain someone was keeping a close eye on them.
'So those are his friends,' the person thought as he watched them, 'Shocking that someone like him could possibly befriend anybody.'
"...Do you think we could visit Ritsuka?"
"I doubt it. Besides, we might just end up blowing his cover or something."
'It's even more shocking that they trust him so much.' From the brief time he had been following them (and he does mean brief), those two seem to think highly of him. At the very least, they believe that their friend was not up to anything bad.
Oh, how wrong they were.
As the young man watched them, a smirk appeared on his face as a mischievous thought crossed his mind. Well… mischievous might be a bit too much of a nice word to describe his new plan to mess with Fujimaru Ritsuka.
Summoning a dimensional wall, he disappeared into it and emerged somewhere else. Where he was did not matter though. What did matter was the man standing in front of him, back turned to him. The man's clothes were predominantly black, helping him blend in the dark shadows in the area.
Despite not looking in his direction, the man seemed to have sensed his arrival. Without turning, he said, "Why is somebody like you here?"
"Just looking around," the young man in the brown jacket cheerfully answered, "I've already picked up a couple souvenirs for myself."
"I know." The man said as he turned to face him, "I can feel the artifacts you have stolen on you, outsider."
"Oh?" Even though he knew how dangerous the person before him was, the young man smiled. "And you want them back?"
"No," answered the man. "Why are you here?"
"Simple. There's someone in your world that you might want to be wary of."
"If you are talking about Decade, I am already aware of his arrival," he replied. "My emissaries are already working to deal with him. He shall not evade us this time."
"This time, huh?" The young man hummed. "Oh, that's right. From what I heard, you were involved with the attempt on Decade's life." Not that that meant much, basically every Rider world had a hand in the invasion of that unfortunate world.
"My emissaries joined the invasion because we did not have any choice but to join," the man revealed. "Decade, if allowed to regain his powers, will be a threat to each and every world."
"No need to tell me twice," the young man huffed, "Since your minions are already on it, I guess I have nothing else to say."
He summoned another Aurora Curtain and was about to step through it when he conveniently remembered something. "Oh yeah, you might want to keep an eye on Decade's friends. One of them would be of interest to you, Overlord."
The young man then stepped through his summoned portal before he could hear the Overlord's reply.
"...Taurus Ballista."
Within a moment's notice, the black bull monster appeared upon hearing his creator's call.
"Yes, milord," Taurus Ballista bowed before the man.
"You heard what the outsider said. Search for Decade's allies and bring them to me," the Overlord ordered his underling who gave a short nod in response.
"I shall search for them at once." Within another moment's notice, the bull Lord disappeared to carry out his creator's will.
"Decade… For all its worth, I apologize that it has to end this way…"
Back with Ritsuka…
"Has it been half-an-hour yet?" Ritsuka groaned to himself as he watched Ciel consume another plate of curry like it was nothing. How was she doing that? His tongue still feels like it was on fire after only one serving.
"Shush, you," Ciel said in between bites. "Remember what I said earlier about having lunch with me?"
"Yeah, and only two of the things you said were true…" Ritsuka huffed. "Didn't you also say you have work to do?"
"Oh, I don't actually have any active targets at the moment," the battle nun in disguise waved off his annoyed huff. "I was just looking into the Unknown cases to pass the time until my next assignment."
"First, how much are you going to drain my wallet? Second, why are you suddenly alright with talking about your job aloud?" Ritsuka asked her.
"I'm an expert with memory-related magecraft. I can just alter Mai-chan's memories of this conversation, assuming she's listening to us," Ciel revealed to him while glancing towards the cashier/waitress, who was sitting at the cash register by the entrance. "In fact, I would've just erased your memories of me if our discussion earlier had gone sideways."
If that was supposed to be another intimidation tactic or just her telling the truth, Ritsuka did not really care. What he did care about was the prospect of memory magecraft. "...Exactly what can you do with that type of magic?"
"Huh, you really aren't a magus," Ciel remarked. "Let's see… erase, alter, create fake memories."
"Restoring?" While he kept as neutral of an expression as he could, Ritsuka sounded helpful for a brief moment.
"You mean restoring lost memories?" She raised an eyebrow at the suggestion. "Well, I've never really done something like that before but maybe."
"I see…" Ritsuka laid back into his seat. 'Should I ask…?'
It was certainly a tempting proposal. There were many issues with it though. Mainly, how was he supposed to ask Ciel to do something she has not done before on someone she just met. He cannot just say, 'Hey, I got amnesia so can you do me a favor and restore approximately 17 years worth of memories?'
Not only that, he cannot help but think that asking someone to restore his missing memories was the easy way out. That was in addition to his reluctance to even get his memories back. Their absence may be tormenting him but there was a small chance that he might be better off without them. Was he overthinking things? Probably, but it is better to overthink than not give something so life-changing enough thoughts.
"Hello? Fujimaru-kun?" Ritsuka was snapped out of his thoughts by Ciel waving her hand in front of his face. "You in there? Or do I have to order again to get your attention?"
"You're going to do that anyways," Ritsuka called her out. Ciel simply smirked in response and said, "Yup!"
"Don't, I don't know if I have enough to pay for all this."
"Well, I do. So how much do you have right now?"
"Not going to tell you."
"Then I'll just keep adding more to the bill until you tell me."
"Don't you dare."
"Make me."
The two entered into another staring contest, albeit one much less serious than earlier. They kept their eyes locked on each other, knowing what was at stake here. Who was going to win this time after the first one ended in a draw?
Ding ding!
"Yes!" Turns out it would be Ciel, who had let out a triumphant cheer, as Ritsuka could not help but glance towards the entrance.
However, while Ciel was busy celebrating her win and about to order her reward, Ritsuka froze upon seeing the young man who walked into the cafe.
"Tet… Tetsuya?" He stuttered as he easily recognized his long-time friend. However, the Tetsuya that had just walked in looked slightly older and was most likely already in his 20's. Ritsuka tried his best to listen in on the conversation he was having with the cashier/waitress, which was hard due the combining factors of distance and Ciel still celebrating.
"-bout the job, right?" "Yup." Ritsuka only heard the tail-end of the conversation before Mai, as Ciel had called her, led the older Tetsuya into a door that was most likely staff only.
"Well, looks like my prize has to wait for a bit," Ciel sighed, noticing those two leaving. "So in the meantime, why don't you tell me more about yourself?"
"Huh? Oh… There's not really much I can talk about," Ritsuka replied. While the older version of his friend was definitely in the forefront of his mind, there was really nothing he could do at the moment about it.
"Really? I recall you saying you get caught in weird situations all the time."
"Exactly, weird situations that I just stumble into the middle of. Not exactly about me, is it?"
"Fine, then tell me about your personality beyond being snarky and stingy with money."
"Most people would be concerned about their money when they're paying for that much food," Ritsuka gave the small stack of plates a side glance.
"Hey, don't make this about me. This is about you."
"Like I said, there's nothing much to talk about," Ritsuka insisted. "I'm just someone who wants to stay in the background. Just do what I need to, then duck out and move on to the next job."
"That's respectable… I guess." Ciel did not know what to make of Ritsuka's description of himself. "Any friends? Other than me, of course."
"I won't exactly call us friends."
"I would. You are, after all, paying for my lunch out of the kindness in your heart." Ciel pretended that this was not a bribe.
"...Only two. Though we've started to drift apart a bit."
"What happened? If you don't mind me asking, that is." She now sounded more concerned than before.
While he did mind her asking, something about telling a near-complete stranger about his problems sounded nice to Ritsuka. "It's mainly my fault, really. I'm trying to keep them out of all the weird stuff I'm getting into."
"...It's not drugs, is it?" He could not tell if Ciel was joking or not.
"Of course not. It's just… the Unknowns are really dangerous." Yes, the other monsters from the other worlds they visited already were equally dangerous, but the topic of other worlds should stay out for the time being.
"And you think that those guys would hunt down a single cop's friends just because he is one of hundreds trying to fight them? Sorry, but I'm not buying that excuse one bit." Ciel stared him down, trying to get the real answer from Ritsuka.
She was not exactly wrong. Out of all the monsters the Rider worlds were home to, the Lords were the least threatening to humanity since they were not allowed to-
"Besides, they don't- Ah, I mean… You don't seem to be that high up if you were just guarding the yellow tape." Ciel had caught herself before she could talk about the Lords. However, he already knew what she was about to say before she cut herself off.
"How do you know they don't hurt humans?" Ritsuka pressed her for an answer.
"You know my occupation," Ciel surprisingly answered willingly. "I've run into a couple Unknowns that were also hunting down threats to humanity. That's their role; protectors of humanity. They even protected the people here five years back. They don't attack normal humans without a good reason."
Right. He should have expected something like that. Ciel, though, was not done yet.
"A better question is how do you know they don't hurt humans?" She questioned him. "And a simple 'weird situation' is not a good enough answer."
"..." Ritsuka tried to come up with a valid justification. After a few brief seconds of deliberation, he decided to go with the truth as much as he could. "The Unknowns once tried to kill me a while back. I heard them say that it was against their purpose to kill humans but they were making an exception for me."
"Wait… could it be?" Ciel seemed to realize something about him. "...Fujimaru-kun, how old are you?"
"19, or so I'm told."
"No, you would be too young back then…" Ritsuka overheard her mutter. "Then…"
"What is it?"
"You-"
Slam!
Before Ciel could say anything else, the door the older Tetsuya had gone through burst open and he made a mad dash outside.
Seeing this, Ritsuka quickly got out of his seat while reaching into his pocket. "Here," he said to Ciel as he tossed something at her. She easily caught it, of course, and realized that it was Ritsuka's wallet.
"Wait a-!"
"Sorry, no time." Ritsuka ignored her and chased this world's version of his friend.
However, he immediately realized the problem as he stepped outside. The older Tetsuya had a motorcycle of his own, which he had quickly got on and rode off on. Ritsuka, on the other hand, only had a normal bicycle.
"Sorry legs…" He preemptively apologized to himself…
Meanwhile…
"Come on, faster!" Tetsuya shouted as he and Ryoko tried to escape a pair of Ant Lords that had come out of nowhere while they were loitering around the park. Their sudden appearance in the middle of a public location, panic ensued as people tried to run away from the two monsters, the two dimensional travelers included.
However, the two soon realized that the Lords were gunning for them as they were being followed. At the moment, they were running around in a snowy forest with the two Lords in hot pursuit.
"Damn it! Where's Ritsu when you need him?!" Ryoko screamed. They could not even try to call him since they had to focus on not running into a tree while also keeping a good distance from the Ant Lords. That, and there might not be any signal where they are.
Worse of all, they were running out of breath from running for a long time while wearing winter attires.
Needless to say, it was inevitable when one of them tripped on a rock that was buried under the snow.
"Tetsu!" Ryoko cried when she saw him tumble into the snow. She tried her best to help him get back up but by then, it was too late.
The two Ant Lords had caught up with them, growling menacingly as they approached them. Before they could pounce and presumably maul them to bits, a miracle happened. They heard the sound of a motorcycle for a few seconds before a voice called out to them.
"Get down!"
The two teens, who were already low to the ground, did not think twice when they heard the command. The sound of gunfire filled the air and real bullets hit the two Ant Lords, causing sparks to fly off them and forcing them back.
Once the gunfire stopped, the two teens looked up to see a familiar-looking Rider. They were even about to shout the name of their savior until they realized it was not Kuuga.
This new Kamen Rider had a black undersuit with mostly blue armor pieces with some silver ones. However, unlike Kuuga, his armor looked more metallic and technological, especially his belt. The buckle was blocky with a long red glass going horizontally in the middle.
Grasped in the Rider's right hand was a black pistol that was aimed at the two monsters. Behind him, meanwhile, was a blue-and-white motorcycle that had its side facing towards them, letting Tetsuya and Ryoko see the acronym MPD written on it.
"You two, get out of here!" The blue Rider shouted at them. Of course they followed his commands again, getting up and running away from the recovering monsters. The two hid behind some nearby trees to watch the battle (against their common sense).
"Makoto, be careful. The G3 suit had not finished its maintenance check yet," A voice spoke to the Rider through his helmet's comms. "Try to keep your distance. As much as I dislike to say it, we need to rely on A-"
"I know. Just keep an eye on my power levels," Makoto replied as he aimed his pistol at the two Ant Lords. "I'll do my best to hold out until he gets here."
He resumed firing on the two Lords as they got back up. Unfortunately, G3 no longer had the element of surprise and the monsters were able to tank the bullets. They ran through the hail of bullets and tried to claw the policeman Rider, putting an end to his plan to keep them back.
G3 barely managed to sidestep both attacks and kick them back. Now that they were in melee range, the Rider rushed to the back of his motorcycle, took out an enormous sword and attached it to his left arm.
Activating it, he immediately went to slash one of the Ant Lords across the chest, hurting it terribly and sending it rolling back.
Its companion, however, took advantage of G3 focusing on the first one and hit him from behind. Despite letting out a short cry of pain, he powered through it and turned around, slashing the other Ant Lord too.
"Just two…" He huffed between breaths. "That, I can deal with."
Needless to say, he jinxed it. He jinxed it hard.
A blue cross suddenly appeared over G3 before it came crashing down on the Rider. The ground around him exploded and he was thrown away by it, landing against the tree that Tetsuya and Ryoko were hiding behind. He groaned as he laid against it, having been disoriented by the explosion.
"Wait, wasn't that-?!" Tetsuya and Ryoko recognized the blue cross that had blown G3 away.
Sure enough, from out of nowhere, a familiar bull-headed monster appeared, walking through the two Ant Lords quickly went to his side as he stopped and planted his staff into the snow and ground.
"You two humans," Taurus Ballista said as he stared at the two poorly hiding teens, "We meet again."
"You again?!" Suddenly, Ryoko felt that the chances that they could escape plummeted to zero. Maybe they should have run away when they had the chance.
However, the Bull Lord did not attempt to blow them up. Instead, he extended his arm and said "As humanity's protector, I do not wish to harm either of you. That is why I ask that you surrender peacefully and come with me."
"...Come again?" Obviously, they were caught off-guard by the action.
"What makes you think we would agree with that?!" Tetsuya shouted back.
"You are…?" Taurus Ballista muttered as he got a good look at Tetsuya's face. "I see, that is why the outsider said that you would be of interest."
Back during the invasion of their world, he had been more focused on Decade than those accompanying him. Now that he was face-to-face with them, he realized he should have been more vigilant.
"What?"
"Unknown," G3 grunted as he pushed himself to his feet and used the tree to support himself, "I don't know what's going on but you're not touching a single hair on their head."
"You, human warrior, this does not concern you," the Bull Lord calmly replied, "Stay out of this and worry about your own wounds first."
"I wouldn't be a good cop if I follow what monsters like you say," scoffed G3 as he raised his sword again. He glanced over his shoulder at the two targetted teenagers. "I'll try and hold them off. This time, actually get out of here."
"But-!"
"No buts!" G3 cut Tetsuya off. "It's my job to protect civilians like you… you-?!"
Just like Taurus Ballista, he seemed to have recognized Tetsuya. However, all that did was further motivate him to protect them from the Unknown. "Run away already. I'll cover your escape as best I can."
"…You two." The Bull Lord said to the two Ant Lords. "Defeat him and bring them to me."
The Ant Lords let out a short cry of affirmation before they charged at G3. The Rider quickly blocked their attacks with his sword and counterattacked, cutting them both across the chest.
Meanwhile, Ryoko and Tetsuya chose to actually flee this time and left G3 to fight off the Lords by himself. This did nothing to concern Taurus Ballista, who simply stood where he was and stabbed his staff into the ground again.
On cue, four more Ant Lords appeared, landing around the two escaping teens, stopping them in their tracks and surrounding them.
"Not again!" There was less surrounding than back then but that was the least important thought in their heads as the ant monsters growled at them.
To say that they were in a bad situation would be an understatement, with their only consolation being that the Lords were only interested in capturing them. Of course, what the Lords were planning to do to them was the real issue so that was not comforting in the slightest.
"No!" G3 shouted as he tried to save them but was stopped by the first two Ant Lords.
"Just got better and now I'm about to get eaten," Tetsuya complained to himself as he was back-to-back with Ryoko.
"Maybe it would've been better had we just gone back home." Ryoko managed to joke despite the very dangerous situation they were in. Her joking tone quickly disappeared as the Ant Lords took another step closer to them.
However, before the Lords could take another step, a strange whirring sound hummed throughout the forest.
"This sound is…?"
"He's here."
Both G3 and the Bull Lord knew the whirring noise was. A second later, another sound echoed, one that Tetsuya and Ryoko faintly recognized.
And, out of the blue, another Kamen Rider appeared with a bang, immediately opening up with a kick aimed for one of the Ant Lords circling the two teens, causing it to explode.
Once the fire dissipated, it only took everyone present a split second to recognize the new Rider. With his yellow armor and opened, golden horns, Kamen Rider Agito had arrived.
"Agito!" "Agito!"
"That's the real Agito?"
The main Rider of this world was completely identical to when Ritsuka had copied Agito's powers with one notable exception. Instead of the Decadriver, the belt Agito had was mostly black with a yellow gem in its center. Two yellow parts were swirling from the gem and, similar to Kuuga's Arcle, two large buttons were on either side of the belt.
With the appearance of their sworn enemy, the three other Ant Lords quickly forgot their orders to capture the two dimensional travelers and rushed for Agito, whose horns had slid back into place. Taking the chance, the two teens retreated.
The Rider gracefully dodged the first one's attempt to attack him and retaliated with a strong punch to the stomach just as the other two reached him. Agito just as easily evaded their attacks, roundhouse kicked one of them in the head, and punched the other one.
Nearby, the Bull Lord simply let out a short huff before using his staff to summon another blue cross. This time, it was aimed straight at Agito. The yellow Kamen Rider barely managed to step out of the way as it hit the ground and exploded, kicking up snow and dirt.
Whether or not Agito was thrown off his feet by the explosion, the Bull Lord did not know. Regardless, he prepared to fight him and was about to when another interloper appeared.
Before he could even blink, a blur sped into the area and hit the monster square in the chest, sending Taurus Ballista flying back. However, the Bull Lord managed to skid to a halt thanks to using his staff to slow himself down, creating tracks in the dirt as he stabbed it into the ground.
Time Out!
The blur was now still, revealing it to actually Kamen Rider Faiz, who had turned back into his base form after using Axel. However, his belt was instead the Decadriver, making it apparent as to who was underneath the mask.
"Who are you?!" G3 shouted in surprise at the sudden appearance of the Decade. Agito, meanwhile, remained silent and only stared at him.
"Me? Don't worry about I'm just a-"
"We finally meet again, Decade!" Taurus Ballista interrupted Decade's self-introduction. "As promised, your journey will end here!"
"Sorry, but I'm not interested in dying just yet," Decade retorted in a snarky manner. He then noticed the Guard Chaser, G3's motorcycle, and an idea popped into his head. "Hey, let me borrow your bike for a sec."
"What?" Ignoring G3's confusion, Decade opened his Decadriver and took out an AttackRide card depicting a familiar robot.
ATTACK RIDE: AUTO VAJIN
The large, red symbol of Kamen Rider Faiz appeared in front of the Guard Chaser and moved back into it. The bike changed shape into the sleek, silver form of the Auto Vajin which then quickly transformed into its robot mode and flew at the Bull Lord.
"My bike!" "What did he do to it?!"
Decade once again ignored G3 and joined the Auto Vajin in fighting the Bull Lord. He opened up with a quick jumping kick to the chest that made the monster stumble backward a bit. The Rider landed right next to the robot, he reached up to its shoulders and pulled out the Faiz Edge, which had been one of the bike's handlebars.
Running his hand across the blade of the sword, Decade prepared to start fighting the Bull Lord when he, and everyone, heard a familiar voice. The voice of the Decadriver.
KAMEN RIDE:
"What?" Decade immediately looked down at his buckle and saw that it was definitely still close.
GAIM
KAMEN RIDE:
"What is that?" G3 wondered after stabbing one of the Ant Lords he was fighting. With Agito, he was looking around to find the source of the voice.
CHALICE
The sound of a gun being fired echoed in the forest and a multi-colored blast came out of nowhere, aimed at Decade. Reacting quickly, he slashed at the blast before it could hit him. That, however, just caused it to split into two and fly past him.
Shockingly, the bifurcated blast split up and turned into the silhouettes of two different figures. The silhouettes quickly merged and gained color, becoming two Riders that looked vastly different to each other.
The first Kamen Rider looked like a samurai. He had a blue undersuit and his orange-colored armor was definitely that of a samurai's. His helmet matched with the rest of his suit, with a golden crest right over his visor. What seemed odd, however, was that his visor looked like an orange slice. That orange theme extended to the lock-like object in his black belt buckle, which had the image of an orange slice on the top image while a picture of a sword with an orange slice blade. That sword was in the Rider's right hand while in his left was a more normal-looking, black sword.
The other Rider, meanwhile, had a heart theme going for him as his visor and the image on his buckle was a red heart. His undersuit was mostly black with symmetrical golden 'cracks' running on them. His chestplate was silver with red lines on them while he had large, round shoulderpads with silver gauntlets and shin guards. The Rider wielded a large bow with bladed, gold-and-silver arms.
"Those two are…?" Decade muttered, recognizing the two. The first was easy thanks to him looking at his associated card several times already. It was Kamen Rider Gaim.
The second one was less understandable. He had never seen him before yet he knew that it was Kamen Rider Chalice from Blade's world. Even though he did hear the voice call out his name, he knew that for sure.
Decade did not have time to ponder how and why they were there though, as the two Riders quickly identified themselves as hostiles by attacking him. Gaim rushed him, dual-wielding his swords while Chalice shot at him with his bow.
Being forced to forget about the Bull Lord, Decade tried to fight back, dodging the energy arrows before blocking Gaim with the Faiz Edge.
Meanwhile, hiding some distance away from the main battle, a cyan and black Kamen Rider smirked to himself underneath his helmet as he watched Decade fend off the copy Riders…
Next time on Across the Kaleidoscope
"You are…?"
"What exactly happened back there?"
"You do not remember who I am, do you Ritsuka-kun?"
"Who are you?"
Chapter 14: The Cyan Thief
A/N: And done with this chapter. While the scene did not happen for reasons, this chapter reveals that Tetsuya is actually an A.R of an A.R. Agito! …What? You thought the revelation I was talking about in the last chapter was about the masked man? Nope, not yet. That's staying a secret for a bit more.
Another thing about last chapter was that of the identity of a certain homunculus. I'm sure most of you guys think it was an A.R. Sieg. In reality… You guys can keep thinking that if you want. Honestly, I knew that someone would think it was Sieg but I did not write him with the intention of him being Sieg, but I'm not going to say it's not Sieg. Personally, I don't think it doesn't matter if it was or wasn't him so I'm letting you guys decide for yourselves if it's him. That's why I did not do any description of him and definitely not because I was a bit lazy.
Now with this chapter, there was a certain mention of a certain character. You know what that's called? Foreshadowing, that's what! Now, I know it's not much of a foreshadow but I think I can leave it to you guys to figure out what his role will be. I have that arc mostly planned out but not written yet because I'm lazy but I think that's enough to get you guys excited.
Now, it's 3am for me and I want to get some sleep. All I ask is a simple review on your thoughts and see you all later!