The sound of a scuffle echoed into the hallway through the ajar door as, within one of the connecting rooms, the King of the Fangires was trying to enact punishment on the vermin that snuck into his castle. Keyword, tried. The young man was expertly dodging and weaving through his sword swings. He then jumped back and lifted a nearby antique wooden chair. With a strained heave, the intruder tossed the chair at King only for him to cut it apart with a single slash.
King glared at the intruder before speaking— "That chair was from the 15th century."
"And yet you cut it in two without a second thought," retorted the young man. "I don't think you actually cared about it that much."
For a few seconds, King continued glaring in silence… before a wide smirk stretched across his face. "You are quite the fool, aren't you? To speak back towards somebody like me."
"Not the first time I've been called that," Fujimaru briefly laughed at being called that again.
"...You are the one they call Decade, am I correct? That Time Jacker had the nerve to request I kill you."
"Technically no and most definitely not," he answered, confusing the King, prompting a brief explanation from the intruder. "I am not Decade— not technically. And Swartz wants many things but he most certainly doesn't want me dead, not yet anyway. I'm still too important a pawn for him to kill at the moment."
"Is that so?" The King sarcastically asked. "However, even if he does not want you dead, I do for trespassing on my domain. Kivat!"
"At your pleasure." The black and red version of Kivat-Bat the Third spoke before flying into the King's hand. He then brought his partner towards his other hand where Kivat-Bat the Second bit into. "Gabu!" Chains appeared and wrapped around King's waist before shattering and turning into a black version of the Kiva belt with golden Fuestles at his sides. In unison, King and Kivat cried, "Henshin," before the former put the latter in his rightful place.
The familiar hypnotic tune filled the room as mercury covered the King's body and moulded into his armour. The coating shattered, revealing King in all his glory— a red and black version of Kamen Rider Kiva's Emperor Form. Pointing the Zanvat at the intruder, he declared, "This is my proclamation as king: rejoice, for your blood will stain my blade."
The intruder, however, was undisturbed by the King's transformation. If anything, it excited him as indicated by his mouth tipping into a grin. "Dark Kiva, huh? It's been a while since I last saw that form…" He chuckled under his breath, stretching his arms and popping his knuckles. "Alright then, time to prove my chops again." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a black buckle that he immediately put on his waist. It was secured in place with a belt as the intruder pulled on the sides of the buckle before taking out a card from the right side. "Henshin!"
KAMENRIDE: DECADE
Illusionary figures appeared around and converged on him, forming into solid armour. Large cards flew out of his buckle and stuck into his helmet; his armour was dyed black with a golden X on the left side of his chest. His visors also flashed blue for a brief moment before the glow disappeared. With his transformation complete, Dark Decade dusted his hands and got into a fighting pose. "Ninth versus tenth; who will win?" He questioned with a joking tone before engaging Dark Kiva.
Chapter 39: End of the Line (Part 1)
"Alright, let's take things from the top," Ritsuka started, standing before everyone. After finding a suitable place to regroup, it was time to piece together what everyone had been doing. "On the 13th of December 2022, we arrived in the World of Den-O where we quickly ran into some rampaging Imagins and met the older version of Ryotaro." He gestured towards the sitting teenager before them. "After driving the Mole Imagins off, we went to his cafe where he gave us a letter along with some blank tickets. He told us to head into the past because an Another Rider was created."
He continued explaining that their first destination was 3rd October 2007, slightly over 15 years prior. That was when they ran into and followed the Ryotaro that was currently present. They then encountered Another Den-O who used Tetsuya's memories to escape into his past which was the future, April 20th, 2017. "Hold on, I still need the Another Rider explained to me," interrupted Yuuto, whom this whole explanation was for.
"To put it simply, Another Riders are monstrous copies of normal Riders like Den-O here. We dealt with Another Kiva not too long ago. Hakunon here got defeated by her so we had to solve it for them."
"You little— We did not lose against that fake Kiva!" Kiva-la angrily shouted at him but was ignored. Hakunon, meanwhile, just rolled her eyes.
Ritsuka resumed, "Another Riders are annoying in that they can only be defeated by the Rider they were based on. In this case, Another Den-O can only be beaten by the real Den-O." Which was currently a problem but they'll get to that in a second. Without asking Yuuto if he was following, he went back to the timeline of events leading up to the current moment. "In 2017, we bumped into someone we know: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, Dairiki Emu. He helped us find and fight Another Den-O… but then that fake did something to Ryotaro that made him unable to transform. So as of now, we don't actually have a way of defeating it. Not only that, Swartz, who made Another Den-O, then sent some of his goons to get in our way."
That was when they got separated; he and Ryotaro followed after Another Den-O further into the past. They ended up back in Amanogawa High in 2012 where they reunited with Tsukinari Gentaro, Kamen Rider Fourze. "Huh? He also got affected?" Ritsuka nodded at Ciel's question but saved that whole other situation for later. Ritsuka continued, telling them that Another Den-O then used a student to jump into the past again, this time to 2008 where they ran into Hakuno.
Needless to say, that caused more confusion among the group. Ciel, Tetsuya, and Ryoko wondered why Kiva also got affected by the strange displacement (especially the former since the whole incident with Another Kiva started in 2008); Hakunon was still trying to understand what happened to cause her brother and friends were moved over a decade back; finally, Yuuto… was just trying to follow all the names and Riders Ritsuka was casually mentioning. He was doubly confused now at who Hakuno was and how he was related to Hakunon.
Not caring about their confused faces, Ritsuka simply went on with his explanation. "Another Den-O continued to give us the slip and jumped back into the past. However, we couldn't follow him back the usual way because the person he used… couldn't really think anymore." That was the nicest way to say that person was drained of his life force by a Fangire. "That was when Jiro gave us a card to 19th October 1999. With it, we headed to that time where we ran into that guy over there." He glanced at Takaragi, who was sitting back and enjoying everything. "He told us Swartz's plan to get rid of every Rider across time by killing the first Kamen Rider in 1971. Doing so would erase Rider history and all of us with it. Swartz challenged us to stop Another Den-O here and now, in 1989 because if he manages one more jump, Another Den-O will be able to fulfil his mission." Which meant they had to solve the problem with Ryotaro's transforming now. "From 1999, we made one last jump here, to 26th December 1989, where we ran into Hakunon."
"More like nearly crushed," she snarkily corrected.
"And that's the gist of what Ryotaro and I've been up to." He skipped out on the finer details but that was all they needed to know. "What about you guys? What happened after 2017?"
That was their cue to take the reins. "After you three ran off, we said goodbye to Dairiki and went back to the train," Ryoko started to recount what they did. "We didn't have a ticket or know where you guys went off to so the Owner took us to the station out in the desert. That's where we ran into this jerk." She glared at Yuuto who was unfazed by her and scoffed.
"Your friends here gave me the rundown of what's going on but since they didn't know when you guys were, I couldn't help yet. Then blue girl over there got everything we needed somehow. After that, we headed to 2001 where we ran into another friend of yours, Tadashi something."
"Igarashi Shouichi," Ciel corrected him. "We ran into Agito again and he helped us a bit."
"There was also that Shiki guy. He was also a jerk," added Ryoko with puffed cheeks. The mention of that name, however, stirred something in Ritsuka.
"Shiki?" That name felt familiar but as usual, he could not place how. Where did he hear that name before…?
"Yeah, he was all cryptic about stuff, sort of like you. Now that I think about it, you guys kind of look similar to each other…" Ryoko muttered before shaking her head to get rid of that strange observation. "He was also a Rider; Igarashi called him Amazon."
"Amazon?" Takaragi repeated. He reached into his pocket and took out a set of Rider Cards and asked which one Shiki was. Ryoko took a closer look at the images on them before picking one that she said looked similar enough: the KamenRide: Amazon Omega card. "Then he was using the Neo Amazon Driver then…" muttered Takaragi. "His name was Shiki? Not Haruka?"
"Haruka?"
"Hmm… never mind, forget I said anything," Takaragi tried to play it off coolly. "So what happened in 2001? How did you get from then to now?"
"Someone left a ticket back in 2001 that took us here," Ciel answered, purposefully leaving out the fact it was most likely Ritsuka who left it behind. "That's all to it."
Ritsuka had his thinking face on for a few seconds before speaking up. "The way I see it, we have two issues right now. First, the other Riders getting moved around." As well as everyone living in the same World now; Agito, Blade, Den-O, Kiva, Fourze, and Ex-Aid… 'Why do I feel like I'm missing one?' So far, all the years they've visited all had a Rider in them… except 1999. Was the meteor that hit Shibuya related to a Rider? Maybe… but which one? In any case, their second problem. "Secondly, and more importantly, Ryotaro being unable to transform. Unless we fix that, there's no hope in defeating Another Den-O." Not even Fourze in his strongest form could do it.
"Have we tried slamming the Taros into him to fix it?" Yuuto sarcastically suggested. "Isn't that how you guys usually do it?"
Urataros was quick to shut down that idea. "No can do. We're all stuck in our physical form which is not something I thought would ever be a problem. It's usually the opposite."
"And since we can't possess him, he can't transform… well, actually he could. But Ryo-chan will get whooped if he tries fighting in that weak form." Ryutaros was referring to the in-between form that was Plat Form.
"Yes…" Ryotaro agreed with that assessment. "Without the Taros helping me, I might as well be dead weight. I still can't do anything right now."
'Another impossible situation again…' Assuming that defeating Another Den-O for real would restore the Taros' ability to possess Ryotaro, then it was yet another catch-22. They need Den-O's power to defeat Another Den-O, but to get Den-O's power, they need to defeat Another Den-O. At least there was a weakness they exploited during the Another Kiva incident; there was no such thing with Another Den-O.
Luckily (or unluckily for Ritsuka), the small chuckling from Takaragi meant he had something up his sleeve. "If you have something to say, then just say it. Stop beating around the bush," grumbled Ritsuka.
"Let me relish the fact you need to rely on me for solutions for a couple more seconds," Takaragi snickered— *TING!* —only to be shut up by a Black Key flying by his head. "Alright, geez. Let a guy have some fun, will you? Ahem. For the first thing you said, I wouldn't call it someone messing with time so much as they're correcting it."
"Explain." Instead of answering outright, Takaragi reached into his jacket and took out a RideWatch to toss at Ritsuka who caught it with ease. "This is… Agito's RideWatch?"
"Take a closer look at the year on it."
At his behest, Ritsuka looked again at the date stamped at the bottom part of the watch face. "…2001?" The same year Yuuto's group met Shouichi.
"2001 was supposed to be when Agito would be born— when he would establish his existence within Rider history. Us meeting him in the year we did was the aberration; not the way around. The same goes for all the others like Kiva and Fourze. They were all in their rightful place in time."
"And what about me?" Hakunon raised her hand. "I most definitely remember my life and I live in the present and not 2008 like you say I meant to."
"Then whoever's fixing everything missed a spot," Takaragi nonchalantly replied. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get in line with the rest of your World."
"That doesn't sound like a good thing at all."
"As for our second problem, I actually have a solution for that." Takaragi, for the third time, pulled something out of his pocket. "Ta-daa~ one Kamen Rider Den-O card. All I have to do is summon one to deal the final blow and Another Den-O is history. In other words, we have no use for you, Ryo-chan. You can hop back on the train and head home."
"Is… is that so?" Ryotaro winced. While he was already beating himself up for being unable to help, being outright told he was useless still stung.
Takaragi, unbothered by emotionally stabbing him, continued, "Alternatively, Ritsuka-kun here can use it to use Den-O's powers himself. However… I'd rather keep this card; if you use it, its powers will get exhausted."
If he meant the card would turn blank like half his current deck, Ritsuka wanted to use it if nothing more than to spite Takaragi. He then started questioning why that would happen; was there something missing that would let him keep Den-O's powers like the ones he's unlocked so far? If so, what was it?
That was when Yuuto cut in again, still confused if not more so than he was earlier. "Alright, alright. What I'm understanding is that we have a way to beat this guy already. If that's the case, why are we all sitting about when we can go find him and end all this?"
"Cause we needed to catch you all up to speed… and we don't have a lead yet," Ritsuka bluntly answered.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure just walking around will be enough to point us in the right direction knowing your luck."
"Shut it, Takaragi. And give me that!"
"Hey!"
"Come on, let's get going." With that, the group took off to start looking for the Another Rider creeping in this time period.
Wooden splinters and ceramic shards littered the room and hall as the fight between Dark Kiva and Dark Decade resulted in many broken furniture. The clanging of their swords rang out throughout the entire castle every time they defended themselves from the other's attack. "You're quick on your feet and fast with your hands," observed Dark Kiva as he pushed against the RideBooker. "But this isn't a gift; you've trained yourself to be that way until it was second nature."
"I should have expected a King like you would have an eye for this sort of stuff," Dark Decade replied with a hum. "That's right. I had to go through a lot to get as good as I am now. So many sprained ankles from perfecting the kick." The agonising memories of mastering and honing his abilities to the point of being the best seemed so distant now; on top of Decade's powers, getting the hang of the other Riders' powers made his training all the more painful. Speaking of which, it was best to use one of said powers, or at least it'll be more fun. Decade's powers were great but very simple; it was a sheer force of nature that he believed was better suited for important and difficult fights.
And to fight the King of the Fangires, the powers of another king would be fitting, would it not? Well, he had to go through one more step but it'll be for a good cause!
He forced Dark Kiva back with a push and a swing of his sword to keep him away. With a brief opening made, Dark Decade took out another card and promptly scanned it into his Driver.
KAMENRIDE: BLADE
The blue energy field shot out from his Driver before Dark Decade ran through it; his black armour turned into the silver and navy blue of the fifth Heisei Rider. "This train doesn't stop here!"
It will most definitely burn up his time in the real world faster but the only way to win was to go full force. He took out another Rider Card unlike any other he's used so far. Against a blue background was the mask of a golden Kamen Rider Blade.
FINAL FORM KAMENRIDE: B-B-BLADE
Thirteen golden cards flew out and circled Dark Decade, lightning crackling all over him as his armour glowed brightly. The cards then one by one closed in and merged with his suit, turning it golden and engraving the pieces with the Undeads' symbols. Lastly, a large golden and blue claymore with a spade symbol and a card slot materialised in the Rider's hand.
"Now then—" Dark Decade started, now utilising Blade's King Form and resting the KingRouzer on his shoulder. "—shall we dance? King. Versus King."
"Hmph… Do not bore me, Decade."
To be continued…
A/N: Well, here's the next chapter of Across the Kaleidoscope after… nearly a year? Excluding the Prologue (which I hope to expand), the last chapter of AtK came out 7th July 2023. 10 months of procrastinating. Welp, there'd still be more but here's hope I could still get more. Despite my brain refusing to let me work more on this, I still want to continue this story since it is something I truly care for— even if I half-ass it most of the time.
In any case, we have mainly a recap of what's been going on this arc after so long (this was always planned, I even have a big "flashback" chapter in my mind that's supposed to be in a couple more arcs) and Ritsuka Alter fighting King. Other than that, nothing else to say but if you're reading this. Thank you for sticking this far.
Leave a comment and see you all next time!
