Disclaimer: I still don't own anything. Moving on.
Previously on Across the Kaleidoscope
"Hmm... So that's Blade?"
"Let's see how you do, Kamen Rider... Saber."
"I'm here to warn you that Decade is here… but you already know that, don't you?"
"Waaaa!" Blade cried as he slashed the Scarab Undead across the waist. The Category-10 Undead, however, didn't react the way the Rider expected, tanking the hit and retaliating with its own attack.
The other two fights went the same way, i.e. not so well for the Riders.
'They're strong; too strong even for Category-10s,' Garren mentally noted as he tried to shoot at his opponent. However, the Chameleon Undead simply camouflaged itself, basically turning invisible.
"Dammit…" The crimson Rider silently cursed as he tried to locate the Undead. Before he could so much as catch a glimpse of it, he was struck in the back by an invisible force.
'This was not how I wanted my first battle with a junior watching to go…'. Blade grunted as he used his sword to block the Scarab Undead's attack.
Speaking of his junior, Ritsuka watched from one of the upper platforms, looking down at the fight. The Decadriver was in his hand with the amnesiac teen slowly and unconsciously tapping it.
"Should I jump in or not…" He deliberated quietly. On the one hand, it was clear that they needed some help; on the other, he didn't feel like helping them was what he needed to do. 'I can't do everything for them….'
BIO!
CHOP!
Luckily for everyone involved, someone else intervened in Ritsuka's place. Thick vines appeared and grabbed the Scarab Undead before pulling the monster back towards a new Rider. As soon as it was in striking range, Kamen Rider Chalice made a swift downward chop on the Undead, making it crash into and crack the concrete floor.
"Hajime?!" Blade shouted in surprise at the rescue. However, he wordlessly accepted the help and quickly rushed to join the bow-wielding Rider.
Above, Ritsuka took a singular photo of Chalice before continuing to watch the battle.
Ritsuka unconsciously and rhythmically tapped his Driver on the side of his head as he watched the large battle before him. It was broken into three different fights as the five Riders present split up to deal with the Megido that appeared in the middle of the city. Around them, the other members of the Rider's guild helped citizens that got caught on the battlefield.
The traveller ignored most of the fights and focused on the one he cared about; the red, white, and black swordsman Rider facing one of the Megido alone.
"Saber… Touma… Your power…" Ritsuka gripped the card in his other hand tightly. 'To reach the ending I want… Your power is needed…'.
Storm Eagle!
Saiyuu Journey!
Ritsuka watched as Saber inserted his sword into his belt before taking out two more red Wonder RideBooks and opening them. He then inserted them into the two slots in his Driver and pulled his sword out with a cry; the three books in his belt opened simultaneously.
Rekka Battou!
Behind Saber, larger versions of his three books in his Driver appeared before their covers opened, revealing the pages that were images of Saber himself. Coming out of the books from left to right were a red dragon, a crimson eagle, and a bright light that flew around Saber.
Kataritsuga reshi (Kataritsuga reshi!) shinjuu no (Shinjuu no!) sono na wa! (Sono na wa!) Crimson Dragon!
The eagle and the light fused with Saber's armour, replacing his suit's simple white and black parts with more elaborate and red armour.
Rekka Sansatsu! Shinku no tsurugi ga aku wo tsuranuki subete wo moyasu!
As the announcement continued playing, Saber readied his sword once again for battle. With another cry, he dashed towards the Megido.
Chapter 24: Riders of the Sword, Protecting Against the End
"Eh… Even that archer appeared…." Shun hummed as he watched the fight on the screen. "When was the last time all four of them fought at the same time?"
Usually, Chalice only appeared when only one or two of the forward squad could fight, i.e. mainly back before Mutsuki joined the company. Ever since then, his appearance in battle had been sparse and in between, only showing up when a Heart-Suit Undead appears.
"...How long will Shirahara-san be in the toilet?" Tetsuya quietly wondered. The backup squad's leader had gone off a few minutes earlier to use the bathroom and hadn't returned yet. It was slightly odd since they hadn't eaten lunch yet but Tetsuya didn't find it suspicious. After all, Junichi was the friendly man who helped them get used to working in the backup squad.
BULLET! RAPID! FIRE!
BURNING SHOT!
"Koyama! Get down!" Garren warned before he began blasting. The green Rider just barely managed to duck in time before flaming bullets littered the area, striking both the Tapir Undead and the invisible Chameleon Undead. However, because only a few of the shots actually hit them, both monsters were still able to fight.
Unbeknownst to them or Ritsuka, who was focusing on Blade's and Chalice's battle, there were two more pairs of eyes watching them.
"Garren and Leangle, their skills are decent," Swartz noted, slightly impressed. Of course, the idea that the two would willingly work for him was laughable so he put that thought away and turned his head to his companion. "Tell me, Glaive, have you ever seen them fight in person? Or has BOARD kept you and your team locked up in their headquarters all the time?"
"Don't make it sound like I'm an experiment," Junichi scoffed, "Why have you brought me here? We have no reason to watch them fight in person."
"We are not here for them; we are here for him." The Time Jacker pointed towards Ritsuka, who was still unaware they were there. "What do you say we force his hand?"
"And how do you propose we do that?"
"You're forgetting who I'm working for, Glaive," Swartz chuckled lightly. "And to make sure he stays until the end, I'll bring in a… specialist, someone who he could not ignore."
However, he needed to find someone who could bring him into reality.
Ritsuka felt bored. Admittedly, staying to the side was more tedious than he thought it'd be. He still felt that watching was the right move.
FLOAT! DRILL! TORNADO!
SPINNING DANCE!
Chalice's weapon, the Chalice Arrow, announced after the Rider scanned the three cards. Like Blade, larger versions appeared behind him before the images on the cards— a dragonfly, a shellfish, and a hawk —fused with his body. The Heart-Suit Rider jumped into the air and made a corkscrew kick. A black tornado surrounded him as he flew at the Scarab Undead.
The golden monster was unfettered by the incoming attack and made a single motion. Chalice froze like time had stopped and remained suspended above the ground despite being in midair.
Blade gave the frozen body of his (kind of) friend a short glance before dashing towards the Scarab Undead. He tried to make a quick downward slash with his sword, but the Undead's claw/gauntlet blocked it. The two struggled to push the other back for a few moments with Blade making some headway.
However, the swordsman Rider ended up falling for the rather obvious (to the battle's observer) trap; as soon as he was in the right spot, the Scarab Undead unfroze Chalice. Keeping his earlier momentum, Chalice continued with his attack with his new unintentional target being Blade.
The end result? An explosion soon dissipated, showing Blade sprawled out on the ground and groaning. Chalice stood over him with his foot on the maybe-unconscious Rider. Ritsuka couldn't see his face but he had the sinking suspicion that Chalice was giving Blade a look of annoyance for falling for the trap.
Chalice did not remain still for long, however, and quickly re-entered the battle as if nothing had happened.
'Well, Chalice can be a dick apparently…'. Ritsuka mentally noted.
Clang!
The metal banging behind him was all the warning Ritsuka got before he instinctively dodged to the side. Had he not, the sword that cut through the steel railing would've surely killed him.
"You are—?!" The ash-grey skin of the monster made it easy for Ritsuka to identify it. Coupled with the shield in its offhand's design, he surmised that it was the Frilled Lizard Orphnoch. "What is someone from Faiz's World doing here?"
"Decade, you don't belong in this world," another voice came from behind him. Turning his head slightly to keep the Orphnoch in view, Ritsuka saw a white and red Undead. Around its waist was a belt similar to Chalice's, only white instead of red. "Leave this world," the Undead commanded him, "You're not wanted here."
Was this the first time he was told to leave a world? Ritsuka thought so as he couldn't immediately recall being ordered like that before. In any case, he was not going to listen to the Undead anytime soon. "Sorry, but I still have things to do in this world. If you want me to leave, you'd have to do it by force."
"Hmph! Fine by me,' the white Undead scoffed before he immediately went on the offence. Ritsuka barely managed to avoid the claw slash and landed a kick in retaliation. He could not follow up on that as the Orphnoch jumped in and tried to stab him with his sword.
Stepping back, he quickly put on the Decadriver and took his card out. However, before he could transform, an Aurora Curtain appeared behind him before something came out and grabbed Ritsuka.
"What?!" Ritsuka couldn't tell who had appeared, but it was most definitely not human from the arm with a large spike coming out. He couldn't dwell on it much though as the Undead tried to attack him again. With his hands occupied with trying to force the arm around his neck off, Ritsuka tried to kick him instead.
His attempt to ward off his attacker completely failed as the white Undead simply caught his legs.
'Uh oh,' was all that ran through Ritsuka's mind before the two monsters holding him threw him over the railing. He ended up landing on the concrete with a loud thud.
"Ow…" He didn't think he broke anything but it sure felt like it.
"Newbie?! Watch out!" Blade didn't need to warn him as Ritsuka had already managed to roll away from the plunging attack from the Orphnoch. Instead, the grey sword impaled the ground before the unknown monster dropped down next to its ally. Now that he could see it, Ritsuka quickly identified what it was.
"A Phantom… huh?" Ritsuka found the World of Wizard's monsters harder to name from a glance. Its body was a mixture of red and blue with white and gold accents. Its armour (if it could be called that) was sharp with lots of pointy ends like its shoulders and the aforementioned spikes in its arm.
Before anyone else could make a move, someone else stepped in front of him. "Hajime! You deal with that guy!" Blade requested as he moved to protect Ritsuka. "Stay behind me, newbie."
'You barely managed to handle that guy,' RItsuka rolled his eyes at the heroism. Besides, he already had his belt on; no point in staying to the side anymore. "It's better you stay behind me. I know how to deal with them." Well, one of them anyway. He hasn't been to Wizard's World yet.
"What are you talking about?" Ignoring Blade's confusion, Ritsuka stepped in front of him with his card ready.
"Henshin."
KAMENRIDE: DECADE
"...What?" The blue swordsman blankly said as the guy he simply thought as his junior suddenly transformed into a pink-armoured Rider. "When did we make a new Rider System?"
"Now then, senpai, stand back and watch how the Master does it." Was he taking too much pleasure in showing him up? Maybe.
Regardless, he ran his hand on the blade of the RideBooker before dashing for the Frilled Lizard Orphnoch.
"Hey, wait for me!"
BOARD Headquarters…
Ciel took a step back from the next panel, having confirmed that most of the machines did indeed contain the same thing. "Why is BOARD doing this…?"
While she didn't have any strong feelings towards the company she only learned existed about an hour ago, she was shocked that they were conducting these kinds of research in their basement.
"Wondering why a big corporation is hiding such a secret is pretty pointless, don't you think?" Takaragi chuckled as he closed another panel after peeking into it. "At the very least, you know you shouldn't trust this place anymore, Blue."
"Why are you showing me all this?" Ciel questioned Takaragi's intentions again. "If you think this is going to make me trust you after everything—"
"It's nothing like that," the thief interrupted her with a slight smirk. "The reason I'm showing you all of this is to get my point across."
"Which is?"
"Just because someone acts like they're good doesn't mean they really are," Takaragi explained. "Of course, the chances that the Riders under BOARD's payroll know what goes down in the basement is slim but what I'm saying is that appearance can be deceiving."
"...This is about Fujimaru again, isn't it?"
"You shouldn't be surprised, Blue. Nearly everything goes back to him."
"For all your attempts to turn me against him, you never try to explain why I should," Ciel retorted. All he ever said was that Ritsuka was a devil that needed to be exorcised back in her world.
"But do you have a reason for standing with him? He did kidnap you from your world after all," Takaragi (admittedly) rightfully pointed out. "I can travel through worlds too and choose where I want to go. If you want, I can easily take you back to Agito's World."
As if she'd ever take him up on that offer.
"Just tell me why you despise Fujimaru so much. That's all I'm asking."
"Oh that's simple. He killed so many people and caused so much despair and suffering in the past; before he ended up losing his memories and popping up wherever it was he ended up landing,"
"..."
"Judging from that look, you don't believe me," Takaragi sighed. "Whatever, I'm done investigating this place anyway. Try not to get caught on your way up."
Without making another attempt to convince her, he opened another Aurora Curtain and left, leaving Ciel alone in the basement with all the machines.
'Well, I understand why Ritsuka finds him so annoying,' she mentally groaned as she returned to the staircase. '...killed so many people, huh?'
"Now! The last stroke!" Inserting his sword into his Driver, Saber pulled the trigger on the handle before pulling Rekka out again.
Rekka Battou! Dragon! Eagle! Saiyuu J! Sansatsu Giri F-F-Fire!
The blade of his sword caught on fire as he twirled it around. "Bakuen Gurenzan!" Saber cried loudly before rushing the Megido and slashing it.
The monster let out a short death cry before it exploded along with the rest of its kind, the other Riders managing to finish off their respective foes simultaneously.
"Phew!" Saber sighed as he inserted his sword into his Driver again. This time though, he removed all the Wonder RideBooks from their slots and detransformed. "Is that all of them taken care of?"
His armour disappeared in a flash of book turns, revealing Saber to be a young man with raven hair and eyes. He was wearing a black vest over a white long-sleeved, button-up shirt with matching black pants. He also had a pretty nice fedora on his head.
"Should be," one of the other Riders, Blades, said as he detransformed as well. Like Saber, he was a young man but was wearing the uniform Ritsuka was given when he entered this world. "But the others would scout around in case there's some remaining."
"Good," Saber sighed in relief before checking his watch and immediately started panicking. "Ah! Is it that time already?!"
"What's wrong, Touma-san?!" Blades started panicking as well.
"I'm supposed to be meeting with my publisher in five minutes!" The panicking up-and-coming author shouted, "Sorry guys, I gotta go! Take care of things from here!"
He did not wait around for their answers and quickly hightailed his way out of there. He did manage to catch his friend shouting, "Good luck with the interview!" as he ran off though.
Nearby, Ritsuka eyed Touma as the latter made his way across the now-empty battlefield with an empty look in his eyes.
'Do it now. The others don't matter. Let them try to stop us.'
'No, wait when he's alone. Don't let others get caught up in all this.'
As always, Ritsuka ignored the voices in his head and just went with what made sense to him; that was learning more about how strong Saber is before confronting him. And the best way to do so is to talk to them.
With a flick of his hand, he summoned an Aurora Curtain and stepped through it.
"Hey! Who are you?!"
Ah… He should've expected something like that. He did just drop in the middle of the Megido base after all.
ATTACKRIDE: SLASH
After inserting the card into his Driver, Decade tried to attack the Frilled Lizard Orphnoch only for it to block his sword. The RideBooker's blade simply bounced off the ash-grey shield and forced the magenta Rider to circle around to find an opening.
Meanwhile, Blade was also having a difficult time fighting the Phantom. His sword did zero damage against it; the blade simply bounced off its body without a single scratch left behind.
"Fine then! Let's try this!"
SLASH!
Scanning the Category-2 Slash Lizard card, Blade tried to attack his opponent again. This time, the Phantom was harmed if only barely.
'Alright, this is just absurd!' How was this guy still fine when it was less armoured than the Trilobite Undead from this morning?
It wasn't long before the two Riders were pushed back-to-back by their respective opponents. "Newbie, what are these guys?!" Blade questioned the other Rider without taking his eyes off the Phantom.
"Zombies… I suppose," Decade answered. It wasn't totally wrong for the Phantom and it was completely true for the Orphnoch. "What's your sword made of?"
"Uh…"
"It's not silver, right?" He clarified upon hearing Blade's response.
"No, I don't think so."
Well, that explains why Blade couldn't harm it; " normal" weapons can't hurt Phantoms. After all, they were beings rooted in magic rather than reality.
Then again, the same could be said about the Undeads so maybe it's just the rules of the worlds being strange and very specific as usual. In any case— "Switch." —he should be the one to deal with the Phantom.
Ignoring Blade's surprised cry when he shoved him towards the Orphnoch, Decade quickly dashed for the Phantom weapon already ready. Having gotten cocky from earlier, the Phantom didn't attempt to avoid the attack. A painful surprise was in store for it when it was stabbed in the chest and sent stumbling back.
After quickly recovering from the initial surprise at the other Rider's action, Blade engaged the Orphnoch and parried its sword with his own. He didn't waste a moment before attempting to kick the ash monster away while their blades were locked.
"Saber's powers, you say…" the darkly-dressed man sitting across him muttered, his curiosity piqued by Ritsuka's proposition.
"I say it's a fair trade; I get what I want and you three lose an annoying thorn in your side," Ritsuka bluntly said. "All I am asking from you is that you distract the other swordsmen while I take care of Saber."
"Hmm…" Storius looked deep in thought as he considered the proposal.
"Storius, you're not seriously considering it, are you?!" The wild-looking man loudly questioned him, both the former and the last member of their trio stared at his compatriot incredulously. "We don't need this guy's help to deal with those swordsmen!"
"How do we know if can trust him?!" The third shouted while glaring at Ritsuka. "Is he even strong enough to defeat Saber on his own?!"
"Even if I'm not at the peak of my strength, I can still defeat Saber," the teen(?) calmly replied before staring Legiel straight into the eyes and saying, "At the very least, I'm stronger than you."
"You little—!"
"Settle down, Legiel," Storius told him with a bemused smirk. "Decade, give me one reason to believe that you won't betray us and this is not a trap."
"Because I'll be giving you this." With a wave of his hand, Ritsuka summoned another portal that swept over the table between them; a book now laid there, one that Storius recognised.
"This is… I see," a grin spread across the Megido general's face. "But it's a different universe's one, isn't it?"
"Yes, just something I picked up in my travels. And it still has its prisoner sealed inside it," Ritsuka informed them, "And you're free to use him however you'd like if you help me."
"Now that… is a more promising deal…"
A few hours later…
Speaking honestly, Ritsuka didn't expect that they'd actually agree. In exchange for the book, Storius had agreed to help him, much to Zoous's and Legiel's (loud) protests. At the moment, he was standing outside the office of a publishing business, waiting for the signal/distraction.
'Any minute now…' Until then, he was alone with his thoughts.
…He hated it.
"This isn't—" '"Just go in there and—!" "—ight! We can do bet—" "—lateral damage be damned! The ending's already writ—"
Shut up.
"—e's a Rider like us. Ei—" "—nly ending there is is ruin. What we do doesn't matt—" "—iders should help each—" "—know how the story of Kamen Rider Saber will—"
Shut up. Shut up
"Help save this World!" "Bring about this World's end already!"
"Shut up!"
It was only a few moments after that Ritsuka realised he had shouted that out loud, gaining stares from those walking by.
"Ahem…" Clearing his throat with a hint of red on his face, he tried to ignore the stares and continued waiting. 'How long will they ta—'
KABOOM!
The ground shaking following the massive explosion nearby signalled that the Megido generals were carrying out their part of the plan. Above them, several dark holes appeared in the sky and began sucking things in.
"...How many people will get hurt because of this?" "We're already trying to kill Saber. Why does that matter?"
He ignored both the angel and devil on his shoulders as well as the sinking feeling in his chest and focused only on his task; Kamen Rider Saber's powers.
The front entrance of the building soon burst open as the workers tried to evacuate the area, joining the crowds that were already running away from the explosion. Ritsuka kept an eye out for a certain fedora-wearing man in the horde and quickly spotted him; Saber was heading in the direction of the biggest vortex as expected but he was going to put a stop to that.
With a flick of his wrist, Ritsuka opened an Aurora Curtain right in front of Saber and, before the author could stop himself, dragged him elsewhere. The dimensional traveller quickly followed after him, opening a second wall to do so.
Touma landed on the sand with a loud poof, accidentally getting some into his mouth.
"Pfft! Pfft!" He tried to spit it out while getting up, using his hat to clear the sand off his clothes. "Huh?" He looked around in confusion. "Where am I?"
The landscape… was barren, to describe it in a single word. To use another word, it was white. As far as the eye could see, there was only a white desert.
'This… isn't the North Pole.' Or the South Pole for that matter; It wasn't cold enough to be either place. More importantly, there was something in the skies above him. "Are those… tree branches?"
It looked like tree branches but very odd ones. Namely, they covered the sky and blocked out his view of the stars. Instead, they gave off their own impressions of stars, twinkling lights within the cosmic-like branches. "What is this place?"
"They're pretty, aren't they?"
"Ah!" Touma yelped at the sudden voice behind him. Turning around, he saw a young man in a black uniform staring up at the fake stars.
"I never got the chance to enjoy looking at them," the young man continued, "They were more of a reminder than something to look like when I'm feeling down."
"Um… Who are you?" Touma hesitantly asked him. He thought he recognised him from somewhere but couldn't place from where.
"Saber," the other man blankly stated as he looked down to face him. "I'll only ask you once; give me your powers and you can live. Your powers… are needed."
"Eh?" Touma didn't understand what he was talking about but he could tell that something was bothering the other man. "My powers? You mean Rekka?"
Touma took out the silver sword with the red hilt, the Sword of Flames, Rekka. Keeping a tight grip on it, he asked, "What do you want my powers for?"
"..." He didn't reply, only looked down in shame. "...It's better if you don't know. It'll only bring you more pain."
"What?"
"Fate can be cruel; that's all you should know." The young man had a sad smile on his face as he spoke. He glanced down at his uniform and his smile only grew sadder. "Oh, I didn't realise that this is what the World would give me. Not surprised though."
Touma just became even more confused at his words. His confusion increased tenfold when another wall suddenly washed over them and the young man's clothes changed.
"… Please… Give me your power… Saber… Please… Give me your powers…" He slowly pleaded. "It'll be easier if you do it willingly. If not… then I have no choice but to kill you for it."
"So that's what's going on." While Touma believed that there was definitely something more to this story than what he could read. "I take it I can't just offer my help with whatever you need me for."
"Unfortunately no," he replied. "In the end, only one can remain and it will be me. It has to be me."
"And unfortunately, I can't just give up Saber's powers, especially to someone who won't explain what they plan to do with it," Touma firmly responded.
"I know…" the other man sighed before he resolutely declared, "Then let's settle this. No matter what, I'll have Saber's powers. Even if I have to sacrifice another World to get it."
"How do you…" 'No, that isn't important now. It's time to fight.' While he wished to understand what the young man in black was talking about, Touma knew that it wasn't the time.
"Let's go, Saber. Another battle with the life of another World at stake." The young man took out a magenta and black buckle and put it on.
"You… Who are you? At least tell me your name before we fight."
"...Fujimaru Ritsuka," he answered after a moment. "Kamen Rider Decade… The Destroyer of Worlds."
"Decade…" Touma felt like he's heard that name somewhere before. Where—?
"Henshin!"
He didn't get the chance to think about it as Ritsuka transformed before Touma's eyes. The budding author was then quickly forced to avoid his sword swings and rolled back, inserting Rekka into his Driver as he went.
"Looks like I have no choice."
Brave Dragon!
Taking out and opening the red Wonder RideBook, Touma put it in the rightmost slot in his SworDriver and unsheathed Rekka.
Rekka Battou!
"Henshin!"
Brave Dragon~! Rekka Issatsu! Yuki no ryuu to Kaenken Rekka ga majiwaru toki, shinku no tsurugi ga aku wo tsuranuku!"
A larger version of the Brave Dragon Wonder RideBook appeared behind Touma which opened, releasing the red dragon that slumbered within. The dragon circled him as Touma made a flaming cross-slash. The blazing X flew off as his armour materialised around his body before flying back at his face, becoming his visor.
"I am the Swordsman of Flames, Kamen Rider Saber." As fitting for a duel to the death, Saber introduced himself to his opponent. "I believe that you have a good reason for what you're doing, but that doesn't mean I'll lay down and let you kill me!"
The magenta Rider didn't respond; instead, he just raised his sword at Saber before engaging him in battle again.
The second attempt to fight the two monsters from other worlds went better somehow. Blade somehow managed to eke out a stunning victory and had pushed back the Frilled Lizard Orphnoch while Decade masterfully forced the Phantom on the defensive.
The two Riders made one last slash at their respective opponents, reversing their situations from earlier.
"Now then, the finishing touch!" Blade shouted as he took out three more cards and slid them through the appropriate slot.
Kick! Thunder! Mach!
Lightning Sonic!
The swordsman Rider spun his sword a bit before he stabbed it into the ground as larger versions of the cards he scanned appeared behind him. Simultaneously, Decade his own finisher card into his Driver.
FINAL ATTACKRIDE: DE-DE-DECADE
As per usual, golden holographic cards appeared between the magenta Rider and his target.
Both Riders leapt into the air simultaneously and kicked the two monsters simultaneously, Blade's kick being faster and enhanced by lightning.
Upon contact, the Phantom and the Orphnoch exploded, the two Riders coming out from the flames and landing on opposite sides.
"Yes! Did it!" Blade cheered at their victory. His feeling of triumph was cut short however as he remembered that the others were still facing off against the three Category-10 Undeads. He took off in a sprint, running past Decade to rejoin where his allies were.
The other Rider glanced at Blade before looking up at the platform he got thrown off. The white Undead from earlier wasn't there. 'Who was he?'
He had an idea who it was but one thing was clear: the white Undead was bad news all around. Two monsters from other Worlds appearing proved that.
The magenta Rider didn't know how long he was lost in thought but a series of explosions shook him out of it. He chased after Blade and turned a corner in time to see the four BOARD Riders sealing the Undeads.
'That's one or three issues taken care of…'. he thought. However, he had the feeling it was still far from over.
"You… are the new recruit, correct?" Garren slowly asked, staring at him through his green eyes. "What's that Rider System? It wasn't made by BOARD."
"This? This is my own thing, no need to worry your little red head about it."
"Red head?" The gunslinging Rider parroted in confusion before Blade spoke up.
"Hey, hey, let's not start fighting again." The blue swordsman tried to be the mediator of the group. "We should probably get back to headquarters and—"
"Wait, Tsurugi," Chalice cut him off, staring at the new Rider with caution. "You're Decade."
It wasn't a question but a statement of fact.
"Yes…" Decade warily answered. The way Chalice had phrased that immediately put him on guard for what he might do.
"So I was right. Then I'll only give you one chance." As swift as the wind, Chalice raised his bow and shot an arrow at him. The energy arrow sailed past Decade's helmet, barely nicking it.
"Hajime! What are you doing?!"
Chalice ignored Blade's alarmed response and kept his bow trained at the magenta Rider. "Decade, leave this world. You're not wanted here."
'That doesn't sound familiar at all…' If he didn't know any better, he would've assumed that Chalice and the white Undead were connected to each other. That's not to say they couldn't be, just that two people saying the exact same thing was rather coincidental.
"Kurose, what are you talking about?" Garren questioned him more calmly, wanting to know Chalice's side of the story before making any conclusions.
"When I was unsealed, I was warned about him; the Destroyer of Worlds, Decade, who'll one day appear in our world and bring death and despair to it."
"Do you think I'm a walking calamity or something?" Decade snarkily replied which Chalice ignored.
"Those two were here for you, were they not? You're already bringing new threats to our World."
'...Alright, he has a point.' Still, that doesn't mean he'd listen. "What makes you think I'm just gonna do what you want? If anything, I'll be staying just to annoy you."
Chalice clicked his tongue derisively at his retort.
'Wait, does he even have a mouth?' Decade thought but quickly got back on track. "If you want me to leave this World, you'd have to force me out."
"Newbie, don't—!" "Fine by me," Chalice interrupted Blade's warning and shot another arrow at Decade, who barely dodged it.
"Oh no…" Blade sighed as Chalice towards the magenta Rider to fight him in melee instead. Turning towards the other two (level-headed) Riders, he said, "Come on, we have to stop them!"
Despite the urgent tone in his voice, it did nothing to convince them to intervene.
"Um, Tsurugi-senpai. I don't think we should get involved," Leangle said timidly. "I mean, this looks like something between them and I don't want to have Kurose-san angry at me."
"He's right, Tsurugi, this is between them," Garden concurred. "Even if Fujimaru is working for BOARD, it's not our place to interfere."
Another reason he didn't want to help was that Chalice mentioned something about the World. If Garren was to help stop him, the Heart-themed Rider would not tell him what he was talking about.
"Dammit, both of you are useless!" Blade angrily shouted before going to stop the two from fighting.
BOARD Headquarters…
It didn't take long for Ciel to find the two she was looking for. Or rather, they found her looking around the entrance hall of the building.
"There you are!" Tetsuya shouted, both he and Ryoko winded from running. "We have a problem on our hands."
'I really shouldn't have let him out of my sight,' Ciel mentally sighed, already knowing that Ritsuka got into trouble. Honestly, it was absurd how easily he gets into these types of situations. "What is it this time?"
"Well, two things really." Ryoko raised two fingers to emphasise her point. "First, some guys from other Worlds appeared out of nowhere and attacked him—"
'That doesn't sound too bad, Fujimaru can handle that by him—"
"—now Chalice is trying to kill him!"
"I really can't leave him alone for long, can I?" Ciel sighed aloud this time. While it was likely that Ritsuka could still handle himself, Ciel had the feeling that the situation would escalate if he was left alone. "Where's Point… whatever it was?"
"It's—" They told her that it was a factory in the industrial district of the city. With a short nod, Ciel took off to save Ritsuka from getting killed by his own stupidity.
"...You think something happened between them?" Tetsuya loudly wondered. Sure, it was only a couple of days from their perspective but a lot can happen in two days; their World was suddenly invaded and possibly destroyed within a day.
Regardless, they should probably follow her. Their seniors (especially Natsumi) won't notice them being gone. They though would be borrowing one of the vehicles in the garage bay instead of running.
Sparks flew off their swords as Decade and Saber continued battling in the white desert. They had been fighting evenly over the past few minutes, only getting minor attacks past each others' defences.
"Tell me, why are you after my powers?" Saber questioned as he tried to break the sword-lock they were having. "There are other Seikens like mine. Why do you want Rekka specifically?"
"I told you already; it's better that you don't know."
"Right, because fate can be cruel." What did that even mean? Did he know about what happens in the future or something? "Even so, I'll be the one who decides how my story ends! And it won't be ending in this wasteland!"
Kicking his opponent back, Saber inserted Rekka into his Driver before taking out another Wonder RideBoook. This one was larger and silver compared to the smaller red ones that he had. Emblazoned on the book's cover was the silhouette of a knight riding a crimson dragon with the book's name above them.
Dragonic Knight!
A majestic tune played as Saber quickly removed and replaced the Brave Dragon Wonder RideBook. "If you want my powers then be prepared to take it all!"
Rekka Battou!
With that declaration, Saber pulled Rekka out again. The RideBook sprung open, releasing pages from its side that covered the remaining two slots in the SworDriver. Behind him, a larger version of the Dragonic Knight Wonder RideBook appeared and copied the actions of its smaller counterpart.
Silver armour pieces and the crimson dragon flew out of the pages before the former hooked on to Saber's suit. The latter, meanwhile, circled its master as the rest of the announcement played.
Don't miss it! The knight appears when you side! Do-metallic Armour! You have no grief and the flame is bright! Do-hadenikku Booster! Ride on dragon, fight~ Do-hakuryoku Rider! Dragonic Knight~ Dragonic Knight!
Flames burned around Saber's feet as the dragon roared.
Sunawachi do tsuyoi!
"I swear on my sword, the Sword of Flames, Rekka, that I'll defeat you. My comrades are facing the Megido as we speak; for me to lose here is to give up on them and break the promise I made."
Decade remained quiet, seemingly in thought over what he thought. "...Promises and the bonds you have are important, I'll give you that. But I have my own promises to keep and to do that, I have to destroy your world."
'What?' "Wait, how does taking my powers result in my world being destroyed?"
"It's called the World of Saber for a reason. If you die, your World will soon die with you… however temporary it would be. To put it simply, your World revolves around you as the other Rider Worlds revolve around their Riders."
"I don't really know what you're talking about but I do understand this; you're willing to destroy an entire world in the pursuit of powers?!" Saber angrily shouted. Since it was the life of his World at stake here, he felt that he was justified in his anger.
"...Yes, because it's my fate. And for me to be free from it, I have to see this through to the end. No matter how much destruction I leave in my wake."
With that final proclamation, their battle resumed underneath the cosmic branches in the middle of the barren wasteland— Saber now fighting with more determination now that he knows what's at stake.
"Just stop and listen to me already!" Blade tried to get in between the two fighting Riders but only got smacked away by Chalice for his troubles. He ended up hitting his head (well, helmet) against one of the metal support beams with a loud ting. "Ow…" he groaned as he got back up, using the beam to support him.
Meanwhile, Decade and Chalice continued fighting, sparks flying off their weapons as they clashed outside the factory. Nearby, Garren and Leangle were watching them, the latter standing in the open and deciding whether he should actually help while the former… Garren was peeking from the corner of the factory without a single sound coming from them.
"Don't just stand there!" Blade exasperatedly shouted at his squad leader before jumping back into the battle— "Stay out of this, Tsurugi!" —only for Chalice to kick him away again.
This time, his face(plate) landed in a puddle. As he shook the dizziness out of his head, he heard an exasperated voice coming from the rippling puddle.
"You really can't go ten steps without getting into trouble, can you? A short jump ahead should do the trick."
"Eh? Who said that?" Blade asked aloud before he realised he was talking to a puddle. At least the puddle replied so he wasn't going crazy… probably.
"I guess you could come along too." He barely had time to prepare himself before he felt something wash over him and his vision changed.
"What…?" Scrambling to his feet (again), Blade looked around and realised that he and Decade had been transported elsewhere— the top of a residential building in the middle of the city. More importantly though, the sun was setting even though it was early afternoon. "How did we…?"
"...getting involved again…" He heard the other Rider mutter before he saw him pull the sides of his Driver. The card in his buckle flew out and disappeared before his armour followed suit, leaving Ritsuka standing there with an annoyed expression.
Seeing that, Blade pulled on his own buckle and slid out the Change card, causing his own armour to disappear.
"So then," Kazuma started to say, "What's going on?"
Meanwhile…
When they had reached the factory, the three had found that Ritsuka and Kazuma had disappeared while Garren, Leangle, and Chalice were arguing about something. Well, it was more that Garren was trying to wriggle some answers out of Chalice when they spotted the dimensional travellers.
Long story short, the group reconvened elsewhere to discuss what was actually going on which led to this moment.
'This should be enough…' Ciel thought to herself as she prepared the tea for the others in the kitchen while they were talking in the other room.
"—nother world?" She heard Garren say. Ciel was initially taken aback by his appearance since Sakuya looked identical to Principal HIshigata from Fourze's World, but quickly got over it before he noticed.
"Yes, sorry for keeping it from you all," Tetsuya apologised for both himself and Ryoko. "This isn't something that one could bring up in a conversation after all," he tried to joke.
"And your friend, Fujimaru, he's also from another world?"
"Yes, all of us are from another universe…s." Ryoko glanced at Ciel, who was from a different world than them. Of course, they also suspect Ritsuka came from a different world than theirs but that was another discussion altogether.
"But… how do you guys have records here if you're all from another world?" Mutsuki asked before quickly adding, "That's not to say I don't believe you two! I—"
"Here you go," Ciel politely interrupted him, giving Mutsuki a cup of tea which he accepted with a small thank you.
"Honestly, we have no idea how that works either," shrugged Tetsuya as Ciel poured more cups for them, "We just know that it helped us blend in at BOARD."
"At least you didn't steal anybody's identity…" Sakuya hummed before taking a sip from his teacup. He then glanced at Hajime, "Don't you have anything to say, Kurose?"
"No."
"Really? Then why did you even follow us?"
"Because I thought Decade would be here; this is his house, right?" Hajime narrowed his eyes at the three.
"What's your problem with him?" Ciel calmly asked but with a small hint of irritation in her voice. "What did he do that made you attack him like that?"
"My problem is that he's barely been here for a day and he's already stirred up trouble," Hajime retorted.
"...Alright, you have a point," Ciel (and everyone else) admitted that Hajime wasn't completely unwarranted in his reaction.
"Kurose, how did you know about him in the first place?" Sakuya asked him. "You said something about being warned earlier."
"Yes, a man appeared before me not too long after I was unsealed."
"Unsealed? Wait, are you—?"
While Tetsuya's question was a good one (assuming she was thinking the same thing he did), Ciel felt that hers was more important— "Who was he? The man? What's his name?"
"Swatch."
"...Do you mean Swartz?"
"Yeah, that."
"Psst, Ciel. Who's Swartz?" Ryoko whispered to the other girl.
"It's a long story, I'll explain later," Ciel whispered back before clearing her throat. "What did he say specifically?"
"Hmm… 'One day, the Destroyer of Worlds will appear in your world. His name is Fujimaru Ritsuka, Kamen Rider Decade,'" Hajime recalled the warning given to him on that snowy mountain. "'When he appears, destruction will follow. His arrival will signal that the end of the world is coming…' or something like that."
"And you just believed what that man said?" Sakuya questioned him. While he didn't know Hajime as well as Kazuma did, Hajime never struck Sakuya as gullible.
"Normally, I would've just killed him—" "Is that your solution to everything?!" "—but I couldn't even touch that man," Hajime shrugged, ignoring Ryoko's interruption. "Then he offered an invitation to join his group and left."
'So that's how it is…' Ciel mentally hummed as she took in what he said. 'Swartz… who is he?'
Ritsuka seemed to have known who Swartz was, to some extent anyway. What she could understand for sure was that Swartz was going to be a constant thorn in their side for the foreseeable future.
At the moment, they did have a problem bigger than anything else; they had no idea where Ritsuka and Kazuma were.
"Another… World?" Kazuma slowly parroted what he was told, still trying to wrap his head around the info dump Ritsuka gave him. The two were leaning against the railings of the roof, staring at the setting sun.
"I was explaining things as simply as possible; if you couldn't understand it, that's your own problem," Ritsuka huffed loud enough for him to hear.
"No, no, I get what you're saying… I think…" the BOARD employee muttered the last part to himself. "It's just something like this isn't exactly a 'simple' matter to completely follow."
"Again, that's your own problem. Everyone else I've explained this to understand it pretty well."
"Has anyone told you that you can be very irritating?"
"Yes, many people have," Ritsuka answered honestly and without a care. "Now that you know my story, can I ask you something?"
"Uh… sure."
"Why did you try stopping Chalice?" he asked. "You could've easily just stayed to the side like those two."
"Hmm…" That was a good question. "I guess because I'd rather not see us fighting each other."
"Us?" It was Ritsuka's turn to repeat in confusion.
"Yes, us," nodded Kazuma. "You are still my junior, remember? It'll reflect badly on me if I let you get your ass beaten by Hajime."
"Aright, firstly, I was not the one getting my ass beat, it was you," Ritsuka retorted. "You weren't even fighting and Hajime was still kicking you around."
"Now you hold on! I wasn't getting kicked around!" Kazuma sputtered out, "If I actually tried, you both would have been lying on the ground in pain!"
"Why do I doubt that?"
"You're really making me regret trying to help you," huffed Kazuma to which Ritsuka silently laughed at.
"In any case, we better get going." Who knows how long they've been missing; the fact that it was sunset was concerning at the bare minimum. Ritsuka just hoped that they didn't end up in another world again. That guy can't be trusted with anything as far as he was concerned.
'Where are we anyway?' Ritsuka glanced around the rooftop for any clues. Oddly, he felt like he has been there before but didn't recognise the place. His eyes wandered towards the large empty spot to their left. Why did he feel like something should be there?
Shaking his head of those useless feelings, Ritsuka turned to look at Kazuma again. "Come on, let's go—"
KABOOM!
The ground shook, making the building they were on shake as well. "An earthquake?!" Kazuma shouted as he used the railings for support.
"No, something's wrong. This isn't an earthquake." A sinking feeling appeared in Ritsuka's chest, a feeling that only got worse and worse every second that passed. 'Why… Why do I feel this way?'
"That's—!" Kazuma's surprised shout shook Ritsuka out of his trance. Ritsuka saw that he was pointing at something in the distance and quickly turned to see what it was.
He easily spotted it, and the sinking feeling got worse. Above the middle of the city, a singular dark vortex opened in the sky and was sucking things in.
"That is…" Takaragi stared up at the sky, his grip on his newest treasure tightening. 'Looks like something is going down…'
The question was… should he get involved too or not?
The six quickly ran out of the house upon feeling the ground shaking.
As soon as they saw the black vortex consuming everything not nailed down, Hajime couldn't help but say, "Why do I feel like Decade is behind all this?"
BOARD Headquarters…
The alarm rang for the third time that day but this time, it was a complete emergency as the night-shift staff were evacuating the building as it was near the newly opened vortex.
"Shun!" Natsumi cried as she met up with him in the crowded lobby. "Where's Junichi?!"
"I don't know," he answered, trying to remain calm and collected in this situation. Their leader (and the forward team for that matter) hadn't returned since that afternoon, leaving the two of them to be the only Riders around.
That was when they heard another voice call out to them— "Yaragi! Yumisaki!"
Turning their heads to the source of the voice, they saw President Karasuma rushing up to them. "What is it, President?" Shun respectfully asked.
"While I'm confident they are already on their way to the scene, I think this situation requires all hands on deck," Karasuma gravely stated.
"Wait, you mean—?"
"Yes, Yumusaki; I'm authorising you two to go on the field and join the forward team," the older man nodded.
"Why…? Why is that here?!" Ritsuka heard his panicked voice cry in his head. However, it wasn't him who thought that but him. "Don't tell me… Swartz?! He summoned him?!"
'What? What did Swartz do?'
"No time to run there!" That was all Ritsuka got before he and Kazuma were suddenly teleported again.
This time, they were directly underneath the black vortex, which had opened over a large park. The sound of the wind filled their ears as they both felt that their clothes were being pulled by the vortex but it wasn't strong enough to suck them in. However, that was the least pressing issue on his mind as three figures were not too far ahead of them.
Ritsuka easily recognised two of them; one was the white Undead from earlier while the other was undeniably Swartz, who had noticed their arrival.
"Ah, Fujimaru Ritsuka. You came here faster than I thought," Swartz complimented him (maybe) before the Time Jacker turned his eyes towards Kazuma. "And you are Kamen Rider Blade, I assume."
"Who are you?!" Kazuma didn't answer but instead shouted back. "What are you doing?!"
"That?" Swartz glanced up at the vortex before saying. "That is a trial for the two of you; to see whether or not you can save this World from ruin."
"Ruin…? Wha—?"
"Kazuma, shut up for a second," Ritsuka said maybe a bit too harshly. His eyes were focused on the third unknown(?) person whose back was turned to them. All Ritsuka could say for certain was that he was dressed in nearly all black. In his right hand was an orange and black sword that Ritsuka though he recognised from somewhere.
"Isn't it beautiful?" The third man asked before letting a small but crazed laugh. "To think that I'll be let out once again… Fate truly has a strange sense of humour."
The man turned around and Ritsuka saw his face. "You're—!" He recognised him. He knew him from somewhere.
"Hehe…" The man started laughing again at the shocked look on Ritsuka's face. "How long has been, Decade?"
"You're…" Ritsuka trailed off, trying to fish out a name from the depths of his mind. He knew his name deep down. He faintly heard Swartz say something to the white Undead before the Time Jacker opened an Aurora Curtain which the two quickly went through.
"Who are you?" Kazuma asked again, more determinedly this time.
"Why don't you ask him?" The man sneered at them, his eyes darting towards Ritsuka. "If you can remember, that is. They told me you've lost your memories, Decade."
'Another person from my past…' Ritsuka thought as he slowly reached into his pocket for his Driver.
"Why don't we jog your memories?" The crazed smile on his face told them that it was not the good kind of jogging. "Now… let's begin it; a fight for the sake of the World."
The man inserted his sword into what Ritsuka realised was a black and orange Driver. He then pulled out a small book-like object and opened its cover.
Eternal Phoenix!
Katsute kara tsutawaru fushichou no densetsu ga ima genjitsu to naru.
The man inserted the book into its slot before quickly pulling out his flaming sword again, causing the book to flip open and reveal the image of an armoured warrior. Behind him, a larger version of the book appeared with a large flaming bird flying out and circling the man.
…Battou!
Everything became quiet; the winds became silent, the vortex stopped rumbling, and the two couldn't even hear themselves breathe as the man laughed maniacally, holding the burning blade in his bare hand, before uttering those words— "Henshin!" —and slashed the air.
Eternal Phoenix!
The burning phoenix flew into the man's body and with a flash of light, transformed into his armour. A black suit encompassed his body with orange armour pieces protecting his body. A carving of a bird's head covered his right shoulder while his visor was a simple black and orange colour.
Kyomu! Shikkoku no tsurugi ga mu ni kisu.
"Kyomu… The Sword of the Void…" Ritsuka muttered, those words appearing in his mind as he stared at the Dark Rider before him. "Kamen Rider… Falchion…"
"..." He remained quiet as he read the closing lines of the chapter. It was shorter than the others but felt just as long. That was, of course, due to the other opened book on his desk that he was reading at the same time. "It's almost time, isn't it?" He hummed to himself in contentment.
While he could read ahead to further pass the time, he had to prepare for their arrival.
With a groan, he stood up from his chair and closed the two books. "Decade…" The man quietly read/muttered the title of the two books before picking them up. He hummed as he walked towards the nearby bookcase and put the two books where they belong.
He let out a short sigh and glanced at the books in his collection. There was a sizable number of them, which he had read most of in the three years he was sealed in that World. "It was nice knowing all of your stories," he thanked with a smile before slapping his own cheeks and putting on a hardened look.
He walked over to the entrance of his small house and picked up the sword that he left next to the door. His hands moved over the silver blade which had not lost its shine despite not being used in years. "It's time, Rekka."
With everything ready, the man stepped outside and onto the front porch. He was greeted with the familiar sight of green grass and bubbles as a loud roar came from above
Stepping further away from his home, Touma looked up to see the crimson dragon that has been his partner for so long flying. His eyes followed it as it flew in the starry sky for a few seconds before they rested on the large glittering sword implanted in the landscape.
"I can't wait…" He mumbled to himself, "Soon, we'll be fighting together again… Ritsuka."
Next time on Across the Kaleidoscope
"He's too strong! None of us can stop him!"
"In the end, I couldn't do it… How stupid of me to think I could do it…"
"Your only hope of defeating Bacht is to find him. And to do that, you have to go there."
"This World…. What happened here?"
Chapter 25: In the Reverse Side of the World, the Swordsman of Flames Await
A/N: And finally done with this chapter! Procrastinating and laziness suck but I managed to finish it in the end. Not helping is that Oh yeah, I'm starting to be more active on Twitter now (which is a weird thing for me to do) so if you want any updates and stuff like that, you can just look me up there. You can even ask me some questions and I might answer them. My username is the same as always.
Anyway, regarding this chapter… Well, I'll leave it to you guys to understand what's going on with the Saber sections but I don't think it's too hard to figure out.
And yeah, I'm saying in this story that Wonder World is a part of the Reverse Side of the World. Does that make sense? It does to me so that's what you guys will be getting.
As always, leave a review and the like and see you all next time!
EDIT: For some reason, the last part of the A/N got cut off but I put it back in