Hey, minna-san! Shunya Toshiki here, bringing you another chapter of my Wizard story!
After watching the first episode of Date A Live season 5, it just added more fuel to the fire for this story. I'm excited to use it along with seasons 3 and 4 for Wizard. But first, I need to finish up season 2.
Anyway, that's enough from me. Cue disclaimer!
I don't own Kamen Rider Wizard and Date A Live II. Those belong to their creators. Also, I'm doing this for fun, not profit.
Spell 31: The Reverse Side of a Popular Mode
In his shop, Wajima placed a poster inside of a frame on the wall. The poster was about a beautiful young woman with long black hair who was a model. Wajima smiled at the poster, Koyomi had arrived and looked at the poster.
"Who's that?" She asked.
"What? You don't know her, Koyomi? She's the biggest new name in the modeling world right now." Wajima said before they heard the door opening.
Almost something from an old cowboy movie, Nitou along with one of Fraxinus' crewmembers Nakatsugawa enter the shop with the sun shining brightly behind them which made Koyomi and Wajima to shield their eyes before both men close the door behind them.
"Nakatsugawa-san?" Koyomi said to see him here with Nitou.
Then they angrily glare at each other while they begin a serious game of tug of war of a fashion magazine.
"Why, you…" Nitou said.
"This is mine! I called it first!" Nakatsugawa said.
"Fighting so early in the morning?" Wajima asked.
"Nitou-kun snagged the last copy that I was planning to buy!" Nakatsugawa said.
"What are you saying?!" Nitou said.
"Grow up, don't fight over a maga-" Wajima said before he saw that the same model on his poster was on the front cover of the magazine. "Shimizu Chiaki-chan?!"
Wajima turns to his poster along with Nitou and Nakatsugawa.
"Chiaki!" Nitou said before both he and Nakatsugawa moved closer to the poster. "Why's that here?!"
"Wow! Are you a fan too, Wajima-san?!" Tonomachi asked.
"Of course! She radiates purity! She's like an angel!" Wajima said.
"I can't resist!" Nitou said as he and Nakatsugawa resumed their tug of war for the magazine.
"Back off! Chiaki-chan is mine!" Nakatsugawa said.
That's when Tohka, Yoshino, Rinne, Mikie, and the Yamai twins had arrived.
"Hey, everyone…?" Tohka said before they all saw what was going on.
"Ummm…Koyomi-chan, what's going on?" Rinne asked.
"Apparently they're gossiping over a model." Koyomi said.
"I see…" Yoshino said while Yoshinon chuckled.
"Typical of men." Kaguya shook her head.
"Disappointment. They're all one track minds." Yuzuru said.
"Hey, where's Shido-san?" Mikie asked as she and the others noticed he wasn't here.
"Huh? Now that I think about it, I didn't see him or Kotori at home today either." Tohka said.
"I can answer that question!" Nakatsugawa said as he and Nitou began pushing their faces back as they continued to pull on the magazine. "Shido-kun and the Commander left with Chief Analyst Murasame and Miku!"
"Eh? Why would Miku…?" Rinne said.
"I don't know. Anyway, Kizaki from the National Security Bureau wanted to see them. He said he had information for them, though he didn't say why." Nakatsugawa told them before he and Nitou angrily glared at each other. "Now then, Nitou-kun! Give me Chiaki-chan!"
"No way! I bought this fair and square!" Nitou said.
The girls sweat drop to see this.
"It doesn't matter who Chiaki is." Koyomi said and the others nodded in agreement.
They then thought about Kizaki wanting to meet with Shido and Kotori, having no doubt that it involves a Phantom somehow.
Shido along with Kotori, Reine and Miku who was hugging onto his arm had arrived at the NSB and soon entered Kizaki's office as he was waiting for them while sitting on his desk.
"I hope you don't mind that we're late." Kotori said before they stopped in front of Kizaki.
"I don't." Kizaki said before she noticed that Miku was with them and recognized her as the Spirit known as Diva. "Wait…Isn't that Diva? Why is she here?"
"Don't ask." Shido said as Miku continued to lovingly hug onto his arm.
"Ne, Darling, how about we go out somewhere after this? I happened to know about a fancy Italian restaurant." Miku said and Kizaki sweatdrop
"Miku, now's not the time." Shido said before he spoke to Kizaki. "Anyway, what happened? It's not like you to call us like this."
"I have a request for you four." Kizaki replied.
"A request? For what?" Kotori asked.
"Remember the magic stone I gave you?" Kizaki asked.
"What about it?" Reine asked.
"I know where it came from." Kizaki said.
Shido and Kotori were surprised by this minus Reine who kept her usual stoic face while Miku blinked in confusion.
"Eh?!" Shido said.
Kizaki then brought out photos of a man from his personal drawer and placed them on his desk and Shido and his friends closely looked at the photos.
"He's the one who slipped the magic stone into Section 0's hands." Kizaki said.
The photos contain images of the Phantom known as Gremlin who often call himself Sora.
"Gremlin?" Shido said.
"Somehow I'm not surprised he was involved in this." Kotori said.
(Meanwhile)
Gremlin was seen standing on a roof of a building looking at the people who were walking on the ground minding their own business. Strangely, Gremlin had a look on his face, almost like he was bored with a bit of longing on his face.
He then notices Medusa has arrived and he soon brings out his usual smile and waves at her.
"Hello~, Misa-chan!"
"A found a Gate." Medusa reported to him.
"OK! So, who's doing it?" Gremlin asked as he sat down on the edge of the catwalk.
"Argus." Medusa calls out and the Phantom for the task has appeared.
Argus had a stone-like body with six eyes on his face with blue stones on his chest and legs.
"Oh, it's Kosuda-san." Gremlin greeted the Phantom.
"Huh? Stop calling me that, Gremlin!" Argus told him.
"Right back at you. I told you to call me Sora." Gremlin said before he stood up.
"You two know each other?" Medusa asked.
"This punk showed up and started getting uncomfortably chummy with me." Argus explained.
"I've got to drive some Gates to despair to earn some brownie points." Gremlin said as he approached Argus and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let's get along, Kosuda-san."
Gremlin then took his leave as he skips forward.
"Why does that punk keep calling me by my Gate's name?!" Argus said in annoyance and Medusa had the same thought as him.
(Courage by Tomatsu Haruka)
(Instrumental) (As the song begins both of Wizard's Style and Dragon Rings floating in a dark space, and images of Shido and his friends appeared in each of them before the Infinity Ring appeared between all of them.)
(Zutto hikari no naka kinō made wa nakatta ashiato o tadotte kita hodo) (The scene changes to Shido wearing his Flame Ring smiling and appearing close to him were Tohka, Koyomi, and Yoshino, then it changes to Nitou carrying his bag and wearing his Beast Ring and appearing close to him were Kotori, Rinne, Mikie, the Yamai Twins, Miku, Origami, and Kurumi before flashes of Shido, Nitou, and the Spirits changing form and ready for battle.)
(Gōru no mienai meiro ame ni utareta chizu kōkai mo nani mo nai kedo) (Then it changes to silhouettes of Wizard's Style Forms and Beast wearing his Mantles appeared one at a time before it changes to the PlaMonsters heading towards Wizard who was standing on his favorite park looking at Tengu City before he turns to the screen.)
(Sakenda koe wa) (The scene changes of Shido standing in an area of Tengu city as images of his life appeared, and then to Tohka in a different area as images of her life appeared as well.)
(The screen changes showing Tengu City and its famous landmarks.)
(Kitto todoku kara) (Next Yoshino and Koyomi appeared as images of their lives appeared, then Origami and Mikie appeared with images, then to Rinne and Koyomi, then to Kurumi and Miku, and finally Nitou)
(Then changes to Shido and his friends were about to take a group photo before Nitou suddenly wraps his arm around Shido's neck surprising both him and the others as the camera took the photo.)
(Kono monogatari no hajimaru kane no ne ga tsunagu tabi no tochū de) (The changes to Wiseman and standing next to him were Medusa and Gremlin, while Gremlin had a sinister smile on his face as he hid it. Then we see Shido and Nitou turning to them as an army of Ghouls were approaching them and they soon transformed into their Kamen Rider forms armed with their weapons and appeared next to them were the Spirits wearing their Spirit Armor armed with their Angels before they charged at the Ghouls.)
(Kimi ga egaita mirai no sekai wa itsuka no sora ni michibikarete) (Wizard was seen clashing swords against Gremlin before the two entered a bladed lock, then it changes to Beast fighting against Medusa before it changes to the Spirits each throwing an attack at the Ghouls.)
(Futatsu no omoi o hitotsu zutsu katachi ni shite kiseki o motto koete) (Then it suddenly changes to Koyomi falling into a dark abyss and saw Wizard had entered the abyss as he reach out to her and she does the same, and when the two hold hands a flash of light had appeared between them. Then it changes to Wizard and his friends standing in front of a large door as it opens revealing a bright light, his friends are giving him smiles of encouragement as Wizard smiles back at them as he enters the light.)
(Kimi ga egaita mirai no sekai wa ima mo dokoka de ikitsudzukete) (Then scenes of Shido meeting the Spirits and helping them appeared and each of them ended with them kissing them before it changes showing a dark sky with an eclipse appearing and a giant magic circle appeared in Tengu City)
(Don'na yume kasanete itsuwaru koto no nai ano hikari o) (Then the screen showed flashes of Wizard's battle thus far with flashes of his friends smiling appearing as well, before it changes to Shido shedding a tear as it falls and when the tear lands on his hand it transforms into the Infinity Ring.)
(Ahh…on give for my way) (Then it changes to Shido standing side-by-side with his friends as the sun rises behind them. Then changes to the Axcalibur stabbed on the ground with the sun shining above it.)
After accepting Kizaki's request, Shido, Kotori, Reine and Miku had arrived by car, where Gremlin or rather his Gate once worked for his occupation.
Reine was driving the car before it stopped and Shido spoke out in some annoyance of helping Kizaki with his investigation.
"That 7-3 sure is a slave driver, bringing us in to gather data for him."
"I have to agree." Kotori said.
"But doesn't it make you happy?" Reine asked, gaining Shido's attention.
"Eh?!"
"He wouldn't ask if he didn't trust us. Especially you, Shin." Reine said.
"Are you sure? You know him. He probably figures using us is a more efficient way at getting to the Phantoms." Shido said and Kotori chuckled.
"Honestly, and you once called me a tsundere." Kotori said.
Shido then brings out one of the photos of Gremlin as he looks at it.
"Takigawa Sora, eh?" Shido said.
"Who would've thought that Gremlin's Gate was a beautician." Kotori said before they looked at the hair salon where Takigawa Sora once worked.
They soon exited the car and headed to the salon to ask the employees some questions about Gremlin's Gate.
(Meanwhile)
Nitou and Nakatsugawa had left Omokagedo to take their argument outside to discuss Chiaki's one true charm.
"I'm telling you…Chiaki-chan's charm is her invigorating smile!" Nitou stated as he pointed at Chiaki's smile.
"Igiari! Her charm is her flowing looong black hair!" Nakatsugawa said as he stroked Chiaki's hair.
"Huh?!" Nitou said before he and Nakatsugawa angrily glared at each other.
"Her smile is better!"
"It's that way because of her Miyuki hair!"
"Who the hell is Miyuki?!"
As they continued to bicker, a woman wearing a hat and sunglasses was out on a jag as she moved past behind them.
But that's when the Phantom Argus appeared in front of the woman as she stopped jagging.
Argus chuckles as he approaches her, showing that she is a Gate and the woman screams in fear.
"Huh?" Nitou heard that as he quickly stood up and saw both of them.
The woman backs away from Argus before she stops on a tree as the Phantom continues to approach her.
"Now then, how shall I drive you to despair?"
That's when Nitou comes to her rescue as he jumps to Argus and grabs onto him as they both rolled on the ground before they stood up and battled each other.
Nakatsugawa quickly rushed to the Gate to check on her.
"Are you okay?" Nakatsugawa asked and she nodded before they watched Nitou as he battled Argus.
Argus throws an attack towards Nitou's legs and he dodges it by backflipping.
"Watch out, you might get hurt!" Argus said before he pointed his finger at Nitou.
"Huh?! You watch out, you might get eaten!" Nitou said before he scans his Ring on his belt to bring out his Driver.
[DRIVER ON]
Nitou then raised his Beast Ring and swung his arms.
"Hennnnnnn~shin!" Nitou then inserts his Ring into his Driver to open it.
[SET, O~OPEN! L-I-O-N: LION]
After he brings out his sword, Argus charges at Nitou to attack before the latter pushes him back as his magic circle appears and Nitou runs through it to transform and soon charges at Argus.
The Phantom swung his sword and Beast blocked it with his forearm.
"Inishie no Mahōtsukai?!"
Beast then pushes back Argus' sword and kicks on his chest.
"Saa, lunchtime!" Beast said before he jumps and lands another kick on Argus and avoids an attack from his sword.
Beast then avoids a thrust from Argus and lands a kick on the Phantom before he avoids another attack from his sword. Just as Argus swings his sword to Beast's back, the golden Rider runs up a nearby tree to jump and avoid it.
Beast then landed on the ground and landed two kicks on Argus before blocking a slash from him and pushed the Phantom's sword down and counters by landing two more kicks on Argus sending him to the ground.
Argus soon stood up and fired purple energy blasts from the large edges on his head and dealt some damage to Beast.
Argus then uses that chance to charge at Beast and land some slashes on his chest, Beast counters by kicking at him but Argus blocks and keeps on slashing on him before his last slash sends the Rider rolling on the ground.
After he stops rolling, Beast soon stands up on his knee and foot to change to his Chameleo Ring.
"In that case…" Beast said before he stood on both feet and inserted the said Ring into his Driver.
[CHAMELEO, GO: CHA-CHA-CHA-CHA CHAMELEO]
A green magic circle appeared and went through Beast's body to bring out his Chameleo Mantle.
(Cue: BEASTBITE by Rider Chips)
"What's that supposed to be?!" Argus said before he charges at Beast to attack him with his sword.
Beast dodges two of his slashes and blocks his third slash with his arms and strikes Argus with his elbow.
Argus then spun around to slash on Beast's legs and he avoided it by jumping backwards.
Argus charges at Beast to attack, and Beast jumps over the Phantom, Argus turns back to Beast to attack him once again and the golden Rider avoids it by jumping onto a nearby tree branch.
"What?! Tricky bastard!" Argus said before Beast to another tree branch and the Phantom chased after him.
As Beast continues to jump from branch to branch, Argus fires an energy blast from his head and manages to lightly hit Beast which knocks him off balance but he is able to recover as he uses his Mantle's tongue to pull himself back up on a tree branch.
After Beast manages to stand on a tree branch, he then uses his Chameleo's tongue to swing at Argus and land a kick on him, Beast soon lands another tree branch before he sighs and casually leans on the tree he was on.
"Quit moving around!" Argus says before he charges at Beast to attack once again, and Beast soon jumps down and rolls on the ground to avoid his attack.
Then Beast and Argus turned at each other, the Phantom attacks him with his sword and Beast parries it with a kick before blocking his next slash with his arm and pushes it back and Beast attacks Argus with a few kicks, forcing the Phantom to stumble back.
Beast soon uses his Chameleo's tongue to attack Argus thrice. Argus then decides to use his trump card.
"Take this!" Argus said before his body brightly lit up, forcing Beast to shield his eyes and when the light died down, he soon saw that the Phantom was now gone.
(End of song)
"Huh?!" Beast said as he looked for Argus but couldn't see any trace of him anywhere. "Awww…mou…"
Nakatsugawa and Argus' target soon approach Beast as he turns to them.
"You see him?" Beast asked and Nakatsugawa shook his head.
"Looks like he fled." He told him.
Beast sighs in disappointment for missing his meal before he changed to his civilian form. Nitou then approaches the Gate to check on her.
"You okay?" He asked and the Gate nodded.
"Yeah."
The Gate then took off her glasses and her hat to free her beautiful long black hair, revealing herself as Shimizu Chiaki, the famous fashion model.
"Thanks." Chiaki said.
Both Nitou and Nakatsugawa were shocked to see her as both men/fans grabbed onto the fashion magazine which had her face on the front cover.
"Chiaki-chan?!"
(Back with Shido)
Shido and his friends were now speaking to the owner of the hair salon as they spoke about Takigawa Sora.
"Then, Takigawa Sora…" Reine said.
"He disappeared quite some time ago. Remember the eclipse last year? It was right around then." The owner told them.
"Eclipse…" Shido said as that really got their attention.
"So he suddenly disappeared?" Kotori asked.
"Oh, no. He came in one time saying, 'I'm quitting~'."
"What kind of person was he?" Shido asked.
"Just your typical cheerful character. He sure loved his pranks. He'd also appear from behind and go…Hello~!" The owner said while mimicking Sora which was the very gesture that Gremlin would do when he greeted Shido and the others.
Shido and his friends found that a bit curious. The owner then asked them a question.
"Hey, is he working at another shop?"
"We're planning to find that out. Do you know something?" Reine asked.
"Oh, it's just many of his customers have stopped coming in here. I thought he was stealing my customers." He told them and they found that to be a bit concerning.
Nitou and Nakatsugawa had brought Chiaki to Omokagedo along with her manager after they contacted him. Chiaki is seen signing her autograph on Wajima's poster of her as the old man watches with Koyomi, Tohka, Yoshino and the Yamai twins by his side.
"It's actually her…In the flesh!" Wajima said.
Nitou along with Nakatsugawa and Chiaki's manager were seated on the chairs with Nitou and Nakatsugawa continued to eye on her while Rinne and Mikie had told the manager what was going on before he spoke to Nitou.
"As Chiaki's manager, let me thank you again." He said and Nitou stops staring at Chiaki and turns to him.
"Oh. Say no more! I'm a mage-!" Nitou said before Nakatsugawa stepped in.
"For Chiaki-chan, we would go through fire and water!" He said.
"But aren't you into anime and other dirty stuff?" Nitou said.
"Huh? Eh?! Say no more!" Nakatsugawa said before they began to bicker once again.
"Come on, you two. Try to settle down." Rinne told them. Chiaki's manager then turns to the model.
"For now, let's cancel today's jobs." He told her but Chiaki turns to him after finishing signing Wajima's poster to protest against that.
"No. I want to do as many jobs as possible."
"But that monster is after you." The manager said as he stood up.
"Yeah. He'll come back and get you again." Mikie said.
That's when Nitou stood up and offered his own suggestion.
"Oh, hey! How about this? Let me accompany Chiaki-chan as a bodyguard."
"I think he's hoping to score some points with Chiaki." Kaguya said to her sister and she nodded in agreement.
"Conclusion. I have the same thought." Yuzuru said.
"Eh? Really?" The manager asked and Nakatsugawa nodded.
"Hai."
But Chiaki only sighed in annoyance but accepted it nonetheless because she would do her job.
"We've got to get going. We'll be late for the next job." Chiaki said before she put down the marker and headed to the door to leave.
"Wait!" The manager said before he picked up his bag and followed her. "Alright. I'm counting on you!"
"Yeah!" Nitou said before he and Nakatsugawa followed them.
"Me too!"
"I guess I should go with them." Rinne said before she stood up and followed them next.
"I'm coming too." Mikie said as she followed Rinne.
"Count me in too!" Tohka said as she and the other Spirits followed them.
"Wait for me…" Yoshino said.
"What the hell. It's better than waiting for Shido." Kaguya said.
"Rebuttal. You just don't want to be left behind." Yuzuru said.
"Then me too!" Wajima said as he was about to follow them but Koyomi stopped him by speaking to him.
"What about the shop?!"
"Oh, no…uh…Fine." Wajima lowered his head in resignation.
After they left the hair salon, Shido, Kotori, Reine and Miku had arrived at the Hungry Donut Shop to relax a bit while going through some thoughts about Gremlin.
The Manager and Ryo did their usual thing but with a different twist.
The Manager turns them with brown curly hair tied in pigtails with a hairpin that has paper koi fish on it.
"Koi kitties!"
Ryo turns to them wearing samurai armor and holds a spear in his hand as he slams the bottom on the ground.
"Armor and helmet!" He shook his shoulders and smiled.
Then both the Manager and Ryo had brought their newest donut to their usual and favorite customers, the donut resembles a kashiwa mochi.
"Here's our new recipe: Children's Day Donutnut!" They said, but Shido and his friends didn't pay much attention as they were still in deep thought about Gremlin with Kotori having her usual lollipop while looking at a picture of Gremlin and Shido had his usual plain sugar with coffee along with Miku hugging his arm and Reine put in a large amount of sugar into her coffee.
The Manager and Ryo turned away from Shido's group to discuss their current attitude.
"What is this sensation? Maybe they're having family trouble?" The Manager said and Ryo had to agree to that.
"Best to let sleeping dogs lie!" Ryo said and the Manager nodded in agreement before they quickly left.
Shido then sips on some of his coffee and Kotori and Reine notice the look on his eyes.
"What is it?" Kotori calls out getting Shido's attention.
"Well, it's just that Gremlin…" Shido said.
"What about him?" Reine said.
"You already noticed, but all of the other Phantoms have a different personality from the Gates." Shido said.
"Yeah. Like how Phoenix's Gate was a kind hearted man who loves flowers. Along with Medusa's Gate was a kind hearted older sister." Kotori said.
"However, Gremlin's just like his Gate." Shido siad.
"That's very true." Reine said.
"Maybe he's using his Gate's memory for some reason?" Shido said.
"Like why he gave Koyomi and Tohka that magic stone." Kotori said and Miku blinked in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" Miku asked.
"Oh, right. You didn't know about that." Shido said before he brought out his Land Dragon Ring to look at it. "Before I met you along with Kaguya and Yuzuru, I had this run with a Phantom known as Anubis. Around that time, another Phantom gave Tohka and Koyomi the magic stone that made this Ring."
"And by some strange coincidence, that Phantom was Gremlin." Kotori said. She and Shido remember how Koyomi saw a picture of Gremlin and told him that he was the Phantom that gave her and Tohka that magic stone.
"Really? I had no idea." Miku said.
"But not long after that, apparently, he made Shin and Phoenix fight each other by using Rinne as leverage." Reine said as they recalled Shido and Phoenix's final battle that was orchestrated by Gremlin.
"But I still don't understand why he would give Tohka and Koyomi that magic stone, if later on he was going to help Phoenix fight me." Shido said and that's when Kotori had this thought in mind.
"Maybe…Maybe that's exactly what he wanted." She said.
"What do you mean?" Shido asked.
"Well…what if he was hoping that you'll be strong enough to beat Phoenix. So that way, he'll take his place in whatever inner circle he was a part of." Kotori said.
Shido then thought back when Medusa and Phoenix were still partners, how they would often call upon and send other Phantoms to drive Gates into despair. It may not be much, but it was clear that the Phantoms have a sort of hierarchy and Medusa and Phoenix were at the top but now it seems that Gremlin had taken Phoenix's place after Shido had defeated him.
"Yeah, that's a good point." Shido said. "But the only question now is why would he go through so much trouble?"
"Well, it seems like the only way we'll know for sure is to head to the other places and gather some more data." Kotori said.
"I suppose so." Shido said before he took a bite on his donut.
After accepting Nitou's offer to be her bodyguard against the Phantom, Chiaki soon arrived to her next photoshoot as she was posing in different outfits as the cameraman took photos of her.
"Alright! Let's make this the last one!" The cameraman said before he took the last photo. "Alright, OK! That's it for today! Nice work, everyone!"
The crew in the room begins to applaud Chiaki for her hard work as she waves at them while walking to her chair.
"Thank you." Chiaki said before her manager, along with Nitou and Nakatsugawa, moved close to her to congratulate for a job well done.
"Good work, Chiaki-chan!" The manager said.
"Drink." Chiaki demanded.
"Nakatsugawa!" Nitou spoke to the Fraxinus crew member.
"Yes, right away!" He said before he moves to get Chiaki, her favorite drink.
Chiaki soon sat down on her personal chair to check her schedule on her notebook, and Nakatsugawa soon arrived with her drink in hand.
"Here you go." Nakatsugawa said and Chiaki took her drink.
"Bring it faster next time, we've got no time." Chiaki said before she spoke to her manager and Nakatsugawa moved away and headed to Nitou and the others. "Hey. Why is there a gap next week around this time?"
"Your schedule was packed, so I thought you wanted a break…" He explained but Chiaki spoke out in protest.
"I don't need any breaks! I'm riding the wave now, I've got to put myself out there as much as possible now."
Nitou and the others had heard that before Nakatsugawa whispered to him.
"She's a total workaholic, isn't she?"
"She really thinks a lot of herself. It almost reminds you of Miku-chan." Nitou said and Tohka nodded in agreement.
"That is very true." Tohka said.
"It's like, she's totally different from how I imagined…" Nakatsugawa said with Nitou saying the last part with him before they imagined what Chiaki was like in their fantasy.
They imagined her being a pure hearted and kind woman with an angelic smile on her face as she waves at her fans. But then reality destroyed their fantasy as the real Chiaki appeared as she stood up.
"Don't waste time. Let's go. The next place is an important job." Chiaki leaves while Nitou and Nakatsugawa continue to fantasize Chiaki before Rinne snaps them out of them as she taps on Nitou's shoulder.
"Nitou-kun." Rinne said.
"Huh?" Nitou said before he noticed that Chiaki and her manager were heading to the door. "Oh? Quickly! Quickly!"
Nitou snaps Nakatsugawa out of his daydream as well as they quickly followed Chiaki and the others followed them.
"Men." Kaguya said.
"Disappointment. They're a lost cause." Yuzuru shook her head.
Unknown to them, is that a small stone ball rolls on the ground and opens an eye as it spies on them for its master.
After leaving the Hungry Donut Shop, Shido and his friends head to the car to resume their investigation of Gremlin.
"We've checked out his place of employment. Let's check out his old apartment next." Reine said.
"That's fine with me." Kotori said.
"Sure." Shido said.
They were about to enter the car but Shido stopped as he forgot about something.
"Ah. I forgot." Shido said.
The Manager of the Donut Shop Hungry had arrived at Shido's now vacant table and picked up the tray as Shido had forgotten his plain sugar donut.
"Oh, Shido-kun." She said.
[CONNECT, PLEASE]
A magic circle appeared beside the Manager and Shido's arm appeared out of it as it grabbed onto the donut which really startled her before Shido pulled his arm back.
Shido now holds the donut in his hand as he smiles at his friends.
"Now we can go." Shido said.
After getting into the car, Shido and his friends had left to check out Takigawa Sora's apartment but unknown to them is that Gremlin had appeared behind the car as he watched it leave.
In his office, Kizaki was looking at a picture of Gremlin. He can't help but feel that something was off about this Phantom even though he never met him before.
Following his intuition, Kizaki put the picture down and soon made a call with his phone.
"This is Kizaki. I want you to look into something."
After finishing today's first photoshoot, Chiaki soon arrived at another studio to do another shoot. The cameraman for the said shoot soon arrived and was excited to take pictures of Chiaki as he held a magazine of the model in hand.
"So today's model is Chiaki-chan?! I can't wait!" He said while looking at the magazine before he kissed it.
But then someone knocks the magazine out of his hand and the cameraman saw it was Argus and was frightened to see him.
"A monster!"
Argus grabs the cameraman by the neck and pulls him close.
"You should take a break today." Argus said before he threw the cameraman to a pile of boxes.
In the studio's dressing room, Chiaki was wearing a white dress and was seated on a chair as she waited for the cameraman to arrive, but she was growing impatient as she tapped her foot repeatedly on the floor before she sighed.
"The cameraman sure is late…"
"Maybe he had to cancel last-minute…" Her manager said and Chiaki stood up and shouted.
"I can't accept that!"
"Please, Chiaki-san, let's try to calm down." Mikie told her.
"You don't understand. You don't know how important this job is to me." Chiaki said.
"What do you-" Rinne said before Nitou spoke out in annoyance as he finally had it with Chiaki's personality.
"Ah mou! Cut it out already!" Nitou said before he stood up from his chair and faced Chiaki. "Not everything is gonna go your way! Don't get a swollen head just because you're a little popular."
"Umm, Nitou-san…" Yoshino said.
"Say no more. I'm at my limit." Nitou said as he turned away from Chiaki.
Chiaki then heads to the door.
"Huh? Where are you going?" Tohka asked.
"At least let me use the toilet." Chiaki said before she left the room and Nitou sighed.
"I guess photos can't capture her personality." Nitou said.
"Statement. She almost reminds me of Miku." Yuzuru said.
Unknown to the group, is that the stone eye that have been spying on them was beside Nitou's foot as it saw Chiaki leaving the room.
With Reine driving the car, Shido and his group were still heading to Takigawa Sora's old apartment. Shido was looking at the picture of Gremlin while not mending Miku lovingly hugging his arm.
That's when someone landed on the front of the car which really surprised them before Reine was forced to hit the brakes and made a sharp turn.
Everyone then saw it was Gremlin as he smiled and waved at them.
"Hello~!"
Shido and his friends had followed Gremlin to a nearby playground as the Phantom was riding on a hanging rope slide with Shido speaking to him.
"What were you trying to do by giving humans a magic stone, Gremlin?" Shido questions him before Gremlin climbs on the stairs of the playground.
"I didn't do it for myself. I figured you guys needed it. Oh, also…Call me Sora." Gremlin told them before he walked on the bridge. Shido then rubs the back of his neck.
"Isn't that the name of the Gate who you came from?" Shido said before Gremlin stops and looks at Shido and his friends.
"Looks like you've been investigating me." Gremlin said and before Shido could blink, Gremlin soon appeared right behind him. "Find anything out?"
"Why are you pretending to be your Gate?" Shido questions him.
"I'm not pretending. Because I'm not Gremlin." Gremlin answered.
"What do you mean?" Shido said and Gremlin took a few steps away from him and his friends.
"Just as Phantoms can live in people's hearts…it shouldn't be surprising that there are Phantoms who keep their human hearts." Gremlin said before he rode down on the playground's slide. "I've been Takigawa Sora all this time! After all, my human heart remained…"
Gremlin or rather Sora, had changed into his Phantom as he reached the end of the slide and landed on the ground.
"Despite my form changing into this." Sora told them.
"What?!" Shido said as he and his friends were shocked to learn this.
"That's not possible!" Kotori said before Sora moved to them.
"I'm proof of it. However, there are no others. I checked all of them, but I'm the only Phantom who still has his human heart."
"So you're special?" Shido asked and Sora looked at his Phantom hand.
"It's not like I asked for this." Sora said before he turned to Shido and changed into his human form. "We're sort of similar in that sense!"
Sora then moves up to Shido.
"Neither human nor Phantom. Maybe we can get along!" Sora said before he leaned close to Shido.
That's when Miku grabs onto Shido's arm and pulls him away from Sora.
"Don't you dare compare my Darling with the likes of you." Miku said as she cutely glared at Sora.
"I'm with Miku on that. Don't think we've forgotten the pain you put us through." Kotori said.
But Sora kept his usual grin.
"Alright, let's have fun playing together in the future!" He said before he left while skipping.
As he watched him leave, Shido was still processing what he told him and the others.
"He still has his human heart…?"
After leaving the dressing room, Chiaki quickly walks down the stairs before she stops and takes a moment to breathe, she then turns to a nearby mirror to look at herself.
"I have finally made it this far…I want people…to see this form…" Chiaki said out loud before someone took a photo of her from behind.
Chiaki turned and saw a man with black hair and wearing black clothing was standing behind her with a camera in hand.
"That's a great expression." He said with a smile on his face before he approached Chiaki. "An expression holding back sorrow. It's new and fresh!"
"Who are you?" Chiaki asked.
"Sorry I'm late. I can't wait for today's photography session." He said and Chiaki smiled to hear that.
"So you're today's cameraman?" Chiaki asked before he smiled and took another picture of the model.
After Sora had left, Shido and his friends were seated on some benches as they were still deeply thinking about what Sora had told them. Shido was even more affected by this because they were similar in some sense.
Kotori noticed that before she spoke to her brother.
"Do you believe what Gremlin said?"
"I don't know. But…if he really still has his human heart…" Shido said but before he could finish his train of thought, he heard his phone ringing.
Shido pulled it out and saw it was Mikie calling him, he soon answered and spoke to her.
"Mikie-chan? Eh?! Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" Shido said as he stood up. "Fine, fine. It's okay. I'll be right there."
"What is it?" Kotori asked.
"Apparently, a Gate whom Nitou was protecting has disappeared." Shido told them and quickly understood the situation.
"Okay. Leave the Takigawa Sora investigation to me and Reine." Kotori told him.
"I'll leave it to you." Shido said before he quickly leaves and searches for the Gate.
"Wait, Darling! I'll come with you!" Miku said as she was about to follow him but Kotori stops her as he grabs onto her shirt.
"You're coming too!" Kotori said before she and Reine left while Kotori dragged Miku with them as she whined.
"But that's not fair! I want to spend more time with Darling!"
Chiaki had followed the supposed cameraman on top of a dam. She then smiles for the camera, and he soon takes pictures of her.
"Look this way. Yeah. Try smiling. Good! Good!That hair…That face…" He said as he continued to take pictures of her before he stopped and lowered the camera. "Alright. I guess that's it."
"Eh?! Take more pictures!" Chiaki demanded but the cameraman finally drops his act and darkly looks at the model.
"No, that's enough." He said before the stone eye rolled to his feet and he picked it up and a dark purple aura appeared around his body. "To drive you to despair…all I need to do is tear up your pretty face and hair."
The cameraman soon transforms into his true form, the Phantom Argus.
"You're that monster-" Chiaki said in fear before Argus approached her.
"Which should I tear up first?!" Argus said while laughing as Chiaki backs away but stops on the railing behind her.
Just as Argus was about to make his move…
"Stop!"
Argus looked up and saw Beast had arrived while using his Falco Mantle to fly.
[FA-FA-FA FALCO]
Beast soon lands between Argus and Chiaki as he lands an attack on the Phantom with his sword and kicks him away. Beast then turns to Chiaki.
"Hide!" He told her and Chiaki nodded before she ran to hide.
Beast then turns back to Argus as he glares at the golden Rider.
"You again?!"
"Huh?! That's my line!" Beast said before he engages in a sword fight with Argus as they clash blades.
Argus then blocks one of Beast's attacks with his forearm and slashes at him, Beast dodges it and blocks a kick from the Phantom and blocks Argus' slash with his sword before he pushes it back and dodges two more slashes from his sword.
Beast then climbs on top of a bench and parries another attack from Argus, Beast slashes at Argus but he dodges it and slashes at Beast in turn and the golden Rider avoids it by flipping to the ground.
Just as Argus jumps at Beast, he lands a slash on the Phantom followed with a kick on his face and Argus stumbles to the railing.
Beast then throws his Saber to his left hand to spin the dice and inserts his Ring into the slot as it lands on a five.
[FIVE: FALCO SABER STRIKE]
Beast soon unleashed five energy falcons at Argus as they flew around and attacked the Phantom creating mini explosions and dealt him damage.
Despite that, Argus wasn't finished yet before he used his trump card at Beast as he unleashed a bright light which blinded Beast.
"Oh, it's so bright!" Beast said.
Argus then uses that chance to charge at Beast and land two slashes on his chest, Beast then attempts to counter by using his own sword but Argus parries two of his attacks before he lands a slash on his back.
Argus once again slashes on Beast's chest and grabs onto his neck before he pushes him to the railing. Argus laughs as he begins to push Beast off of the railing to throw him to the water below, Chiaki watches in worry but then help has arrived as Argus was fired upon by silver bullets, forcing him to stumble back and let go of Beast as he falls to the ground.
Argus then saw it was Shido armed with his gun while arriving on his motorcycle before he rams onto Argus sending him away from Beast.
Shido stops and takes off his helmet before he turns to Argus.
"You'll get hurt if you look away." Shido said before he stood on the ground.
"Shido!" Beast said as he stood up.
"Take a break." Shido told him.
"Another pest?!" Argus said as he stood up and glared at him.
Shido walks to him as he now wears his Driver.
"Pestering Phantoms is my hobby." Shido flips the switches and ready his Ring. "Henshin."
[SHABADOOBI TOUCH HENSHIN]
[FLAME, PLEASE: HI HI HI HI HI]
Shido soon transforms into Wizard with his gun changing to its sword mode as he spun it around.
"Saa, showtime daa!" Wizard said before he charges at Argus, and they soon engage in a sword fight as they clash blades while avoiding some attacks.
(Meanwhile)
Kotori along with Reine and Miku had arrived at another hair salon to ask some more questions about Takigawa Sora, and they were pretty much the same answers from the last one. They soon left the salon.
"Takigawa Sora's customers have also stopped going to this shop. I wonder if he's stealing customers like his boss thought." Reine said.
"Maybe. But I still don't buy it. Even if he still has his human heart, why would he continue to work with the other Phantoms? Just what could his end game be?" Kotori said as she looked at a picture of Sora.
In Wizard's battle against Argus, Sora had arrived on the roof of a building to watch the show.
"The Yubiwa no Mahōtsukai must be busy getting around the way he does!" Sora said before he saw Argus' target, Chiaki.
The moment he saw Chiaki's long black hair and white dress, flashes of another woman with the same hairstyle and color while wearing a similar white dress had appeared in his mind.
Sora was left speechless to see her as he felt a strong and burning feeling in his heart, it was something he hadn't felt before and nearly forgotten about after becoming a Phantom.
"I'm not gonna stay down forever!" Beast said as he stood up and charged at Argus to fight him.
Argus then fought against both Riders as they clash blades one at a time before Wizard and Beast move in front of Argus to throw in a few coordinated attacks at the Phantom.
Argus fends off two attacks from their swords but Beast lands a kick on him followed by a strike with his Dice Saber along with a kick from Wizard, Argus stumbles back before both Riders land a double slash on him followed by another and Argus is sent rolling on the ground.
Wizard and Beast charges at Argus to finish him, but the Phantom wasn't going to let things end like this as he stood up and unleash dozens of stone eyes from his body as they attack both Riders and flew around them, the eyes then fired an energy blast at Wizard and Beast sending both Riders rolling on the ground.
Argus then calls upon a group of Ghouls as they appear in front of the Phantom before they move in to attack Wizard and Beast as they stand back up and battle them with both Riders avoiding their attacks and landing their own attacks on the Ghouls.
Argus chuckles before he sets his sights on Chiaki.
"Now then…"
Chiaki grew fearful as Argus approached the model while Wizard and Beast were busy fighting the Ghouls.
Chiaki backs away from Argus as he continues to approach her.
"This time I will drive you to despair." Argus said as he Chiaki was now backed against a corner with no chance to escape.
Wizard and Beast soon saw this.
"Oh crap!" Beast said.
"Prepare yourself!" Argus said before he channels purple energy around his sword and attacks Chiaki with it.
But an unexpected savior jumps in to protect Chiaki as he uses his arm to block Argus' sword but ends up damaging the sleeve on his shirt.
Argus then sees it was Sora as he turns to his fellow Phantom.
"Gremlin!"
"Don't lay a finger on her!" Sora ordered him.
"What is he…?" Wizard said in shock that he's helping to protect the Gate before he remembers his words from earlier.
"It's not like I asked for this. We're sort of similar in that sense!"
"You…" Chiaki said as she looked at Sora.
Sora then turns to Chiaki before he knelt down to her.
"I won't let anyone hurt you." Sora promised her before he turned back to Argus to protect her.
"Everyone keeps getting in my way!" Argus says before he charges in to attack, but Sora blocks it and lands a kick on him before avoiding a thrust from his sword before he grabs onto Argus' arm.
Argus growled in frustration before he pulled his arm free and slash on Sora's chest, sending him off of the dam as he fell to the river below.
"Sora!" Wizard said in worry.
Sora screams as he falls into the river.
After fending off two Ghouls' attacks and slashing on them, Wizard then turns to Beast.
"Nitou, take care of this." Wizard said before he ran to Argus.
"Huh?!" Beast said while he battles the Ghouls by himself.
Wizard lands a slash on Argus' back and slash on his chest followed with a kick, Argus rolled on the ground.
"What are you doing?!" Beast asked before he blocked two Ghouls' spears with his swords.
"I'm going to save him." Wizard answered as he put on his Water Style Ring.
Wizard soon jumps down to the river while changing forms.
[WATER, PLEASE: SUI SUI SUI SUI]
"Hey, Shido!" Beast calls out.
Wizard soon dives into the river to search and rescue Sora.
"Because he tried to save me…" Chiaki mutters before the fatigue finally catches up to her as she passes out and falls to the ground.
Argus growls in frustration as he slaps on the ground and stands up.
"I don't get what's going on? Guess I should retreat for now!" Argus said as he left.
Beast soon destroys the Ghouls, he then rushes to Chiaki to check on her.
"Hey!" Beast then grabs onto shoulders and rests her back against his arm. "Pull yourself together! Hey!"
Beast then looks at the river where Wizard had dived into to rescue Sora.
"What the hell is going on? Shido!" Beast shouted but Wizard wasn't able to respond.
(No More Time Machine by LiSA)
(You need a time machine?) (As the songs start, Shido was seen riding on his Machine Winger on the road before he sped up.)
(Suki darake no kao narabete itsumo to onaji hanashi shite) (Then the scene changes to Tohka sleeping as her memories with Shido appear in the background. Then changes to a sleeping Yoshino as her memories with Shido appear.)
(Terebi no naka hīrō ga mirai no tame ni isogashisō) (Then changes to sleeping Kotori as her memories with Shido appear in the background. Then to a sleeping Kurumi as her memories with Shido appear.)
(Hoka ni wa nai igokochi ga aru yo) (Then changes to a sleeping Kaguya and Yuzuru as their memories with Shido appear. Then it changes to a sleeping Miku as her memories with Shido appear.)
(Mai aru nā hitori ga suki datta noni mō modorenai) (Shido was seen sleeping on a grassy field before he wakes up and saw his friends were standing in front of them before Tohka offered her hand to him and Shido smiles as he grabs her hand as he stood up, before they run on the field together before WizarDragon appeared in the sky as it flew above them.)
(Taai no nai jikan o wakeai! Ureshī yo toka sabishī yo toka…Nitamono dōshi dakara iwanai) (Then it changes to Shido and his friends going shopping together for food, stylish clothes, and looking at certain items in front of the store window.)
(Bōken eiga to wa tōi mainichi ni! Akireru yōna afureru yōna! Omoidashi warai ga tsudzukimasu yōni…) (Then it changes to Shido and his friends in a water park with some playing in the pool splashing water at each other, while some riding on the water slides, and some were just sunbathing.)
({Instrumental} You need a time machine?) (Then changes to Shido riding on his motorcycle once again before he speeds up and the screen changes to his back as he drives to parts unknown.)
To be continued...
There you have it, hope you like it. Review to tell me what you think of the story.