The Seed of Change

by Remus973

Tokyo, 2039. 10 years had passed since Lost Christmas happened. The nation of Japan is now under occupied rule. There is resistance, but they need more power. It comes in the form of Shu Ouma, a young boy with a desire to change. To be better. He becomes a Kamen Rider to make a difference for himself and everything and everyone connected to him. Rated T for some language.

11. Phase 09

Hello to any and all readers. I hope you liked the last chapter. This chapter is a little special as it is a filler. This one will have more of the tokusatsu show elements in it, and some of the scenes from the anime in it as well. Some I intentionally left out in the last chapter for story structure. Funeral Parlor will be a little more proactive as to discovering the ulterior machinations of GHQ, concerning the origin of the Inves as well as the fruit from their failed attempt to capture the meteor fragment. In this chapter, Daryl will be going through some changes of his own. Just not without struggle. On with the show.

Phase 09 - Duel: The Secret of the Underground Greenhouse

Another regular day in school. Shu thought he would eventually get used to the nature of duality. However, recently there have been a new strain of the Apocalypse Virus that has been making the news. The virus now manifests itself as vines organically grown from the human body. The students both in his class and in his school could not stop talking about it. A certain type of fear was in the air. A fear that was not terrorism. And yet, the description of vines made Shu think about his last mission to Oshima.
'Is this connected to the meteor fragment, by any chance?'

Class was finally dismissed, and lunch had finally started. Shu made a little something for him as well as made some lunch for Inori. It was rice balls. He walked to the roof of the school to gather his thoughts. As he was eating on his own for a while, Shu dived further into thought as he saw the clouds cover the sun while eating.

'Everyday I am in this fight, I see things that just... contradicts everything I thought I knew about the world. Every new discovery makes me feel uneasy. In the middle of all this, I thought the only good thing to come out of all this was the fact that I was became a Kamen Rider. Sure at first it was a ruse set up by GHQ, but it turned into something more. Especially when DJ Sagara volunteered to be Gai's mole. Also, after seeing some GHQ soldiers becoming riders themselves, there's more of a reason why I am Gaim.'

Shu took another bite of his lunch.

'Maybe I'm just overthinking this, but with everything going on, I can't help but think that maybe Funeral Parlor needs to just do more than engage in guerilla warfare for Japan."

Shu heard the roof door open, and saw Inori go through it. She was looking for him due to seeing Shu in class preoccupied with something that had him filled with worry. Inori sat beside him and began to eat her lunch. After taking three bites, she spoke to Shu.

"Is there something on your mind?"

"Something like that."

"I know how you feel about the news reports. I spoke to Tsugumi a little while ago. She says that almost everyone is feeling worried about what's been happening lately. Those involved in the failed mission to acquire The Rock are starting to feel that this was their fault. Is that how you feel?"

"To be honest, a little bit. Maybe it's the timing between the mission and what we're hearing on the news, but it's more than that. I want to know more."

"Know more about what?"

Shu spoke his mind with an increasing tone of voice.

"About the Apocalypse Virus, about what we saw in the vault, the Inves, and what GHQ really wants. I mean, what's their endgame?! I know for sure that their humanitarian mission is a front. A lie to keep the general populace ignorant of what they're really doing! It's like everytime we think we have an edge against the bad guys, something else pops up, and we can't do anything about it! We finally get some traction in our cause only to be one-upped and screwed over!"

Shu stopped speaking for a moment to calm himself down as he saw Inori's face express concern.

"Sorry if I freaked you out when I said all that. The point I'm trying to make is... I feel like I should do more, but I don't know what."

"You're already doing so much. Shu, you once confessed to me about your desire. Don't let your anxiety break you down before you finally become the person you've always wanted to be. Just because things are scary now doesn't justify choices made out of fear. You owe it to yourself and everyone else to make the right choices of their behalf. And that includes not letting events out of your control get to you. If there is a way we can do something about what is happening, then we will so something. Until we do, please don't burden yourself by taking on more than you can handle."

Shu absorbed everything Inori had said, and took it into consideration. Things are scary now, but does it make it right to be just as bad as the people who scare the living daylights out of you? Is it justified to be as ruthless as the bad guys when fighting back? This made Shu ponder about the other side of what has been happening lately. For now, he would not do anything reckless, and just wait to see what would come next.

"Thanks. I needed that that, Inori."

Both of them had finished their lunches, and went to their classroom before the next bell. However, what Shu and Inori did not expect was a small crowd of students waiting for them outside their classroom. One of the students said out loud,

"It's him. Right over there."

At first, Shu thought they were there for Inori, but to his surprise, they were there for him. Shu was immediately approached by a group of students.

"Hey man, good job on stage."

"Yeah. You're really funny, you know that?"

Shu had an idea about what they were talking about. He just had no idea that it would have gone viral.

"Umm... Is this about my stand-up act?"

A girl in crowd spoke up.

"Yeah Shu. We all saw the whole thing online. It's pretty funny."

"How did you do it anyway?"

"What, me telling jokes?"

"Yeah, man. You were never funny before, so how'd you learn to tell jokes like that?"

"I don't know. Same way you learn how to talk, I guess. Mama, Dada, cookie. You pick it up."

Everyone laughed at the last joke Shu made. He was feeling pretty good about his gift. A gift he never knew he had until he decided to take a risk one day. The class bell finally rang, and the students collectively groaned because they really wanted to hear more jokes from Tennozu High's very own stand-up comedian.

"Sorry, everyone. Maybe another time."

This was a time of undetermined fear. Inori was aware of that. For her, this was personified in Shu. It made her glad to see Shu making others laugh.

xxxxxx

Within GHQ main headquarters, the employees were in a frantic state. New information coming from their own private wards and local hospitals about the how the infected started growing vines from their bodies were pouring in with no end in sight. Researchers were working nonstop to understand how the Apocalypse Virus was even capable of doing something like this. This new development was beyond the typical behaviors of regular viruses. Some gave people fevers, some gave lesions, some gave people swelling of the body parts, but never before has a virus been attributed as to actually develop vegetation on an organic body. Outside headquarters, protestors were practically at the gates, demanding answers from the organization they allowed into their country in exchange of their medical expertise and assistance. And yet from what the protestors have been hearing from the underside of the net instead of the news, GHQ have been engaging in a secret extermination campaign. What inspired them to speak against the occupational government was not just the freedom fighters known as Funeral Parlor taking up arms against GHQ, but also the heroics of Kamen Rider Gaim. Even regular people, who would normally try to stay neutral of the political rhetoric and conflict, began to see the GHQ as something that needed to be expelled from their own land. What made ordinary citizens began to feel this this way was the Kamen Rider, One of Japan's oldest icons. A figure that is synonymous with justice. He represented the middle ground between the anarchism of Funeral Parlor, and the fascism of GHQ. If he is willing to stand up to GHQ without resorting to terrorism, then so can everyone else. While the protests and the frantic pace of the workers continued on with blurry speed, a meeting was held in the lobby room near Keido's office, isolated from the insanity of the situation he created. He was with Segai and Sagara after receiving Intel about the current development with the Apocalypse Virus. He told his secretary first that he would not be accepting calls right now, due to a private meeting.

"The figures are in. In the major Tokyo area alone, there are 138 cases of victims of Apocalypse virus experiencing a mutation with their infection."

"So the civilian infection is already taking place sooner than we expected?"

Segai and Sagara heard a boyish voice speaking out. Keido spoke to the two men assuring them that this was not a spy.

"My apologies, gentlemen. I forgot to mention that someone else will be joining us. Someone who represents my true superiors. His given name is Yuu."

Segai looked at him, and found it interesting that someone so young could represent powerful people. He was short with long white hair, and wore a long white coat with black clothes underneath. He always had on his face a mischievous smile.

"Remarkable. Barely hitting double digits, and yet you serve on behalf of people more powerful than my boss here."

"More than meets the eye, pal."

Yuu looked at DJ Sagara when he spoke.

"DJ Sagara, I presume?"

"Yeah."

"My masters are grateful with your contributions to our cause. They are also impressed with how managed to replicate the abilities of the one who holds The King's Power."

"Oohhh. If you like it so much, just say the word."

"Maybe another time. Right now, Keido was in the middle of something."

"Thank you. Project Helheim is progressing smoothly, albeit a little quicker than I expected."

"Can't be helped. The source of the virus is proving to be more effective than we originally thought. As such, both the infection rate and the appearance of Inves are occurring 12 times more than usual."

Segai was confused at the last thing Sagara said.

"I had no idea that the Inves would be affected by this."

"Neither did I. Thankfully, the genes that make them subservient to us are already in place. No attacks on civilians so far. I recommend that we isolate them to areas not populated by humans, and blocked off until further notice."

Yuu spoke against Sagara's suggestion as he felt it was unnecessary.

"Perhaps not now. After all, we have just started."

Keido agreed with his guest.

"Indeed. There haven't been any breakthroughs in the research phase. It might add on more panic that even we can handle."

Segai made a suggestion to the group.

"How about a cover-up? At the very least, make good use of our foundation."

"You mean Funeral Parlor, or the Sengoku Genome?"

"A little of both, Sagara. I don't suppose you have lockseed for soldiers in the works?"

"I'm working on it as we speak. I've already created two more Sengoku Genomes made for the next stage of experimentation."

"Which stage would that be? Mass production?"

"Yes. The ones we gave to lieutenant Yan and Colonel Eagleman were trial versions. After doing some follow-ups with their health, I have concluded that the genome is fully compatible with human beings. A little fine-tuning, and we will be able to produce military issue genomes. In short, rider soldiers."

Everyone in the room was tense with anticipation. DJ Sagara was closer to uncovering the secrets of godhood, and weaponizing it. Keido spoke regarding on Sagara's progress.

"Please continue your work, Sagara."

"Quite. My masters will be very pleased to hear of your excellent progress.

"No problem. Although, I do have one question. With what we're doing with Project Helheim, does this mean we're finally abandoning Shu Ouma? Because if we are, you're severely underestimating him if you honestly believe he'll stand down if we force him to"

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean, Keido, is that he still has The King's Power. Are we really gonna ignore that or are we just going to assume that he's achieved a level of satisfaction? What we're doing is going to change the world in every sense of the word. Shu Ouma has shown a talent for adaptation."

"Even if he does, why should we worry?"

"I remember when I met him in Isolation Ward four. He's got drive because we pushed him. What's going to happen next will push him further to a point where he'll be out of our control."

Segai took that remark as someone who was overly cautious for nothing.

"I don't think that should be a problem. Yes, he can go toe to toe with some of our creatures, and we're going to use that to our advantage. Don't forget, he's still a teenager. They tend to get cocky with their winning streaks. He's no different. Eventually, he'll learn there's no such thing as a non-stop gravy train."

Sagara internally remarked,

'Okay, who says gravy train anymore?'

Yuu heard all he needed to report.

"Well then my good sirs, from what I just heard everything seems to be in order. I will report on what we discussed to my superiors. I wish you the best of luck in the project."

Just as he appeared out of nowhere, Yuu disappeared. And not in the same way as Sagara did.

Segai stepped out the lobby first before Sagara. Keido spoke to Sagara further.

"Just so you know, I'm still keeping an eye on you. You may have my superiors fooled, but not me. Even though I have no exact idea in what you do in your spare time, know this. Your loyalty is to me. If I discover that you are assisting our enemies in any way, you will have used up your last chance. Just remember that. You only around because not only you were there to assist in the discovery of the Void Genome and the research that followed, but of your research as well."

"What's the matter Keido? You're talking as if I have something to hide. Have you been spying on me? Because if so, then I'm genuinely hurt."

Sagara spoke in a semi-playful tone while giving a mischievous smile himself before leaving. Keido was standing near a window overlooking the staff parking lot. He saw DJ Sagara talking on his cell while walking to his car.

'No matter what legacy you leave behind Kurosu, it will not stop me from achieving my desires.'

xxxxxx

(Nighttime)

Arisa was in her room watching a video of Gai Tsutsugami on her holo-tablet.

"So your name is Gai."

It took her a long while to remember. She had met the man before, but only learned his name today. She saw the video with curiosity and fascination, like how a person might have found someone to spend their life with. Arisa remember when she first met Gai. He wasn't acting like a gentleman at first.

xxxxxx

(Night, cruise ship)

As both Gai and DJ Sagara both walked downstairs, Sagara was trying not be seen by anybody. Unfortunately, he exchanged eye contact with Arisa Kouhouin. She instantly recognized him, and hastily walked to at least meet him in person.

"Hey Gai. I really need to get out of here."

"What's the hurry?"

"I can't let anybody see me. No one knows I am here. And I would like to keep it that way."

"Is it that important?"

"Keido doesn't know it, but I know that he's tracking my every movement. I work real hard to cover my tracks. It's part of the reason why I'm not dead yet."

"One way he tracks you is scanning for any mention of you in places most associated with anti-GHQ locations, and in social media nonetheless?"

"Yeah. Right now, there's a blonde girl coming towards me. Probably a fan of my show. Get her off my tail for at least five minutes."
"Leave it to me."

Gai walked towards Arisa while Sagara paced himself towards the kitchen which led towards the bottom of the ship from where he can 'disappear.' Before he did, Sagara got one last look at Haruka. He said to himself.

"Damn. Really wish I went out with her just once."

Arisa was getting closer to DJ Sagara, but bumped into someone who she thought was one of the wait staff. The music in the ballroom changed

(Play Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance - The Nutcracker Suite)

"Step aside, or can't you see I'm in a hurry?"

Gai leaned closer to Arisa, which made her uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry. You reminded me of a childhood friend. I once knew."

"I-Is that so?"

"Indeed. She was my beloved Catherine. The best pet armadillo a boy could have."

Arisa was instantly offended by that last thing this waiter said. She raised her hand to slap him, but Gai caught it before her hand could slap his face.

"You really do remind me so much of her. The adorable way she curled up into a tight little ball to protect herself from danger."

Arisa blushed a bit due to how charming Gai was. Though she would never admit it. As their meeting went on, many couples gathered to the dance floor to waltz. Many young men flocked to the nearest pretty lady to take to the dance floor with. And Arisa was no exception. Arisa was immediately accosted by two men who wanted to dance with her. Shallow socialites who only saw her as a prize to achieve for the night. Arisa knew this was going to make her uncomfortable. She was right.

"Miss Arisa, may I have the pleasure of this dance?"

"Ignore him. I'm the better dancer."

"That's nonsense."

"I'm right and you know it."

"What I know is that you are too arrogant for your own good, and you know it."

Arisa withdrew a little to get away from them. Then she felt her wrist being grabbed by somebody. It was Gai, who was pushed aside earlier. He took it in stride because he felt this was more important. Making sure a lady like Arisa had the right partner to waltz with.
"Hey, who the hell are you?"

"In case you haven't noticed, we were here first. So buzz off."

"Sorry gentlemen. Her dance card just filled up."

Gai swept Arisa off her feet as the orchestra played music from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. Both of them waltzed like professional and majestic ballet dancers. Gai took the lead with Arisa following him with no misstep. She was lost in Gai's direction as she gazed at his face as they danced the night away. Soon everything blurred around the both of them until there was nothing but the bright lights and the music made the whole experience feel like there was such a thing as magic. Not even the floor existed at that moment. It was as if the both of them were waltzing in the air right now. Although she would try to hide it, Arisa was enthralled by someone like Gai. Gai spoke to Arisa softly,

"You're quite wonderful at this. You know that, right?"

Arisa blushed at what Gai had said to her. Even though she knew she was trained to be an excellent dancer, amongst other things, she took the complement quite well.

(end music)

Gai spoke to Arisa.

"Thank you for this dance."

"Thank you for being enough of a gentleman to get me away from those men who just wanted me on their arms."

"Forgive me if I pry into something private, but you should be more open."

Arisa expressed confusion.

"I know you don't see it, but you have a lot to offer Arisa. You kind of remind me of a person who used to think that he had nothing to offer. What makes him different was, at one point in his life, he acted on his desire."

Arisa had a clue to what Gai was talking about.

"What was his desire?"

"To be a better person. And he is one, whether he knows it or not."

Arisa then turned defensive.

"Well, a true gentlemen would try to assume that he knows a woman from just one meeting."

"You're terrible at this sort of thing, are you?"

"Terrible? At what? In all that I do, I was trained to be the very best. Terrible at what?"

Gai gently held Arisa's hand and kissed it. Arisa blushed once more.

"At letting people in."

Arisa felt a swelling in her chest, and her heartbeat raced like a cheetah sprinting the savannah.

"Thank you for a lovely time, Miss Arisa"

Arisa stood still on the dance floor, mesmerized by his actions and presence on that night.

xxxxxx

Daryl was following Rowan around as he was being lead somewhere by him. He was feeling annoyed that Rowan would waste his time for nothing.

"Hey, we almost there?"

"Yes sir. Just please be patient, and we'll get there. By the way, how was dinner with your father last week?"

That last question brought back a memory Daryl did not want to relive.

xxxxxx

(a week ago)

Daryl was tapping the heel of his shoe in anxiety and impatience for the arrival of his father. It was his birthday, and he wanted to celebrate it with his father. There was even a cake in front of him for share with his father. Unfortunately, he was about receive bad news that would put him in a worse mood than before. A waiter approached Daryl.

"Excuse me, sir."

"What do you want?"

The waiter whispered in his ear that his father would not make it. Beneath the sociopathic and homicidal attitude that Daryl would always display with no shame lies a boy who just wanted to spend his birthday with his dad. Now, he could not have even that. At the far end of the restaurant was a large, muscular man wearing a gray trench coat, sunglasses, and a really bad mustache. The color of it did not even match the color of his hair.

xxxxxx

Whatever bitterness was already in him was amplified due to that memory. Already he wanted out of whatever this is.

"Listen. Either show me something, or I'm kicking you scrawny ass for wasting my time."

"Sir, please. There's no need for threats. Look, we're near to where we're going."

Rowan lead Daryl to a conference room that was dark on the inside. Once both of them were in, the two doors slid and everything turned dark.

"HEY! JUST WHAT KIND OF-!"

Bright lights suddenly flashed, and loud pops were heard with confetti appearing out of nowhere. A giant banner that read HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DARYL YAN was at the rear end of the room with a bunch of soldiers surrounding a large cake. Behind the cake was Colonel Dan. At the farthest corner of the room was a large camera and some other items.

"What the hell is this?"

"We're celebrating, man."

Daryl was drowning in confusion.

"Yeah, I saw how your dad was a no show on your birthday. So, I made the decision to throw you a party with all your fellow comrades here."

Daryl looked around the room, seeing most of the soldiers look like they wanted to be somewhere else. Rowan spoke to Daryl about his part in this.

"I admit, Daryl that maybe it wasn't the one you wanted, but we really wanted to have a great birthday to make up for it."
Daryl looked around some to see some of the soldiers actually feeling the opposite. Dan tried to diffuse the tension by placing his hand on Dan's shoulder. It made Daryl a reason to explode like a demented brat.

"DON'T TOUCH ME, YOU OVERBEARING GORILLA!"

Everyone in the room fell silent.

"What?! You think that by throwing me a little piss-ant party we're gonna be buddies, just like that? I don't need your sympathy or your pity! The next time you feel the need to be my friend, just don't. Each of you here are mere worms compared to me."

Everyone in the room did not know how to respond to that outburst. Some of the soldiers realized why anyone who has ever worked with lieutenant Yan tended to be a negative experience. Rowan looked nervously at Colonel Dan as he had an angry look on his face. Daryl looked at the Colonel, and mocked him.

"Oh what? Did I hurt your feelings? Did I make the big man here feel like he's nothing? Well, guess what? That's because you are! Just having the same abilities as me doesn't mean you're anything special. SO SUCK IT!"

Dan stomped towards Daryl, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him to the balcony outside the conference room. Daryl was yelling during the ordeal.

"HEY! GET YOUR F***ING HAND OFF OF ME! GET IT OFF OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

Both of them made it outside, and the Colonel threw the first punch.

"What the hell was that for?!"

"FOR ACTING LIKE A LITTLE SHIT! And in front of people who just wanted to have fun for tonight, no less."

"Spare me the whole 'Let's cheer up the lonely little boy' bullshit. It makes me sick. Why do you want to throw me a birthday party?"

"Because we're a team, and it's about damn time we started acting like one."

"Yeah? Well, kiss my ass-OOOMPH!"

Colonel Dan punched Daryl in the gut.

"Everytime you start to act like a little shit, I will punch you hard."

"Well then, we'll be here a long time."

Colonel Dan felt like Daryl had issues that stunted to be a well-adjusted person.

"I don't get it. What made you this way?"

That last question made Daryl bring up a memory that made him the person he is today.

xxxxxx

Commander Marcus Yan was in his office alone with paperwork to finish. He looked particularly anguished due to telling his secretary about his bond with his son, Daryl. The regret that laid within his heart. The kind of man he used to be before a fateful day.

xxxxxx

(Flashback)

In an elevator in GHQ, Commander Marcus Yan was with his secretary, Emily. She asked him about why he chose to not attend Daryl's birthday dinner.

"Are you sure about this?"

"To be sure, I'm not even sure I'm the little bastard's real father. I always had a feeling that his mother fooled around when I wasn't around. Nothing like you my dear."

"Thank you for that, but the point I'm trying to make is that this. He's your son, and every boy feels affected when a father misses out on something important to him. What is it that makes you feel that he doesn't deserve your time?"

Commander Yan remembered a time when he took Daryl out for father-son time. It was how that event that changed Daryl for the worse.

"On his 8th birthday, I took Daryl out hunting in the woods. We were visiting Washington, the state, and it was hunting season. Daryl was a different boy back then. Not like how he is today. Back then, I had a negative opinion of parents who actually let their children grow up to be 'softies,' to put it lightly. I didn't want Daryl to be like them. When I had time off from the military, I took him with me for a hunting trip. For two days, we camped in the woods looking for any game to kill. Then, one day, we found a deer in the horizon. We stalked it until it rested. I shot the deer first to immobilize it. Both I and Daryl finally got within its personal space as it tried to escape us. It finally stopped, and I gave my rifle to Daryl. I told him to shoot it dead. He looked at me with teary eyes. I yelled at him, telling him not be a weakling. What I attempted to do was to teach him survival of the fittest. That life would take no prisoners. If you weren't willing to be the predator, then you are no different than the prey. Daryl resisted at first. I threatened to take his life if didn't take the deer's."

Emily had a shocked expression on her face.

"He finally pulled the trigger. It wasn't until after the act that made me felt like maybe I had committed a grave mistake. Daryl turned his head, and had a look on his face. One that made me, a battle-hardened leader, shudder in fear. It was the look of a cold-blooded killer. That day made my son into what he is today. At first I thought the trip was a positive experience for him. Daryl used to have problems with bullies during elementary school. But after that hunting trip, he suddenly grew ruthless when confronted problems that he used to cry to me about."

Commander Yan turned his head back to see Emily with a devastated look on her face.

"I know how you feel. You must understand. I used to be a different man back then. During the time I was raising Daryl when my wife left me, he used to be, as my wife would put it, a sweet child. So were the other children of other parents. I took sweetness as something else: weakness. I used to see weakness as something obscene. I used to see the world as something corrupted and hypocritical. I despised weakness with a fury. Part of me still does. However, when I looked back on that day, I ask myself: What would life be like if I had Daryl be what he would naturally be? I thought I made a man that day. Turns out, it was a monster. Now you why I cannot be near the boy. Every birthday of his is a reminder of my shame and ineptitude."

There was a terribly ghastly silence after that terribly ghastly story.

xxxxxx

Daryl stood back up and charged towards Dan. Dan was ready for anything the lieutenant threw at him. What gave the Daryl the energy to fight was no different than the energy of a temper tantrum that a misbehaving child would act on. And Daryl did act like a little brat. He kept charging towards the Colonel like an unrelenting idiot. However, that was something Daryl wanted Colonel Dan to think.

"You gonna stop, lieutenant? This fight is practically screaming one sided."

Daryl had a malicious grin on his face as he charged towards the Colonel once again, but instead of tacking him down, Daryl instead did a huge sidestep and, with one swift kneecap kick, struck Colonel Dan's gut. This caused the Colonel to regurgitate some spit in his throat before kneeing down on the ground. He coughed for a bit, looked over his shoulder, and saw Daryl with a look on his face. A face often associated with mugshots of psychopaths. This sent a chill down the Colonel's spine. However, Colonel Dan knew in his gut that lieutenant Yan was not always like this. He got up to face Daryl once more.

"All right. I underestimated you a bit. But, I wanna lay down some rules. No belts or lockseeds. Fist-fight only. First one down is the loser."

"Fine. I'll take it."

The rest of the soldiers saw the whole altercation starting up, and wanted to know what was going on. One of them inched outside through the glass slide doors, and heard the whole thing.

"They're gonna fight!"

And just like that, all the soldiers swarmed outside to the sides of the balcony to see Colonel Dan wipe the floor with the lieutenant. Rowan was the last to come outside to see how it was going to happen.

(Play Guile's Theme from Street Fighter II)

Both Dan and Daryl stared at each other for a while before Daryl threw the first punch to the Colonel's gut. The Colonel was quick on his feet as he dodged it, and swinged a hard left hook to Daryl's face. The punch landed and almost made Daryl kiss the floor. He regained some stable footing and went on the defensive as Colonel Dan threw steady, but powerful punches. Daryl had his arms up to protect his face. Every time Colonel Dan tried to aim for his face, Daryl would instantly cover it. But, his arms could take so much as Daryl was now starting to feel that his arms were going to collapse. He could not stay on the defensive for too long. As soon as Colonel Dan swinged his arm back to give another powerful punch, Daryl dodged it by side-stepping the opposite direction of where the punch was going to hit. This distracted the Colonel for a bit, but one moment was all Daryl needed to switch to the offensive and delivered a series of swift, but precise punches aimed at the Colonel's face and stomach. Daryl was not the mindless monster everybody took him to be. In his military training, he was well-studied in human anatomy. He studied the pressure points of the human body, where they were located, and how to effectively strike them. Whatever pain the Colonel was willing to dish out, Daryl was more than willing to give back. The fight was a fierce one to behold. With both sides relentless in their respective assaults, the soldiers on the sidelines were engaged as to know who would win. The American Bombshell that was Colonel Dan Eagleman, or the scrawny, but menacing lieutenant Daryl Yan. Eventually, it was a draw as both the Colonel and Lieutenant were exhausted and sore.

(end music)

Colonel Dan and Daryl were on their last leg. Both men were tired to continue to fight. And yet, both of them had determination similar to that of professional boxers.

"You (pant) you wanna (pant) you wanna call it quits? (pant)(pant) I wouldn't blame you if you did."

Rather taking it as an opportunity to stop the fight with no further harm, Daryl took Colonel Dan's offer to stop the fight as an insult on his honor.

"Why? Is old age getting to you?"

"You got one hell of a mouth on you. Seriously, though. I can see you being on the ropes. Call the fight off, and no one will think any less of you. Not even me."

"Just shut up! As long as I don't yield, you haven't won!"

Daryl charged towards the Colonel once more and landed a punch on his face. Colonel Dan retaliated by swinging his left arm and hit Daryl's stomach side.

"You gotta know when to fold. Otherwise, you risk losing everything."

Colonel Dan landed once more punch to Daryl's face that caused him to fall flat on the ground. The soldiers cheered for the colonel while Rowan ran towards Daryl to help him up. Daryl didn't like being treated as an invalid, but he didn't have the energy to complain about it. Colonel Dan spoke to Daryl, who was being held up by Rowan due to exhaustion.

"All right. I got some conditions for you. First, you stick with me from now on. I'll still let you go on your undercover assignment, but you stand by my side due to the fact that you are so underdeveloped at being a person."

Daryl imagined the indignities that was in store for him.

"Second, I need you to transform into your rider form. We're gonna do a live webcast soon, and we want everyone connected to the web to see it."

Daryl almost pieced together what Colonel Dan was saying.

"In other words, a declaration. But for what? Or who?"

"It'll serve as a message to all of Japan that we are on their side, no matter what, and we intend to root out the source of the people's fear and discontent: Funeral Parlor, and Gaim."

Daryl kind of liked what the second condition. He wanted that rematch against Gaim. He could not the last time at the Tsukigami dam, but he was willing to submit to the Colonel's conditions if it meant he could fight Gaim again.

"And lastly, my last condition is..."

Daryl expected that last one that will break him into a frenzy. Not even the chance to destroy his enemies would ease his tension and aggravation at the thought of what the next condition would be. Daryl was prepared to fight to the death.

"I want you to enjoy the party we're still going to throw you."

This made Daryl as well as every soldier on the balcony confused. All that attitude, all that fighting and pain lieutenant Yan gave to Colonel Dan, and the Colonel would still give the lieutenant a birthday party. Dan spoke to explain.

"I meant what I said last time. I really wanted to throw you a party to make up for the one your dad didn't want to have with you. Believe it or not, I know what it's like to have an old man who just wasn't there for you. I get what you're going through. But, you're being too bitter about it. Consider this the first step towards being a well-rounded person. At the very least, I want to teach you how to deal with your parent issues."

For as long as he could remember, no one demonstrated this level of patience and understanding to Daryl. Colonel Dan made a bet that somewhere within Kill'em all Daryl was a person. Tonight, that person was reached. Although acting like a bit of a tsundere, Daryl accepted the Colonel's conditions with reluctance.

"Fine, but I won't like it."

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT!"

Colonel Dan slapped Daryl on the back hard. Daryl winced in pain due to the injuries sustained during the fight.

"Alright men. Set up the equipment. We're doing a live webcast starting now. Our goal is to convey a message that will both regain the people's confidence in us as well as issue a challenge to those who threaten lives with terrorism. I know things haven't been looking good for us. I'm not blind to what has been happening. The latest wave of spontaneous infections have made the people feel uneasy. Any time a government's response to a disaster has been less than adequate, unrest will soon follow. In most civilized countries, it never went so far as to the point of rebellion. Countries the opposite of that, it can go from bad to worst. However, we need to speak to the people first before Funeral Parlor. It's important we beat them to the punch. A disaster like this might give them the momentum they want. Well I say, hell no!"

"SIR! YES SIR!"

"I want to go live on the web in 10 minutes or less."

The soldiers proceeded to set up the transmission. They gathered up all the computer equipment that were located in a corner of the conference room. The soldiers were hooking up the camera with the holo-terminal that was within an old black laptop bag. The camera resembled the ones used by TV cameramen. It had a wide lens with a boom mike attached at the top. Colonel Dan, Daryl, and Rowan were aside the whole thing, and had a small talk. Daryl spoke to the Colonel first.

"So, is this a PR stunt you just thought up, or did you mean all that stuff you said?"

"Almost. Yeah, I did it because my superiors were feeling nervous about the entire situation with the infection spike. When they first heard about how somebody like Gaim was so popular with people, they kind of looked to me and thought they could do the same thing. I told them about how there was a unit that had you and me. They were pretty confused by how was this unit authorized without them knowing, something about an investigation. Anyways, I thought I could help them out by doing this. But I thought I could use the extra boost."

Rowan asked the Colonel as to what the extra boost meant.

"You're talking about the lieutenant, Colonel?"

"Right. By the way lieutenant, did you tell your father about being a rider?"

"No I haven't. Come to think of it, one of the people who oversaw my transition told me not to report this to my father or to any other commanding officer of GHQ. Said this as a classified experimental program."

Colonel Dan was curious as to who gave him that order.

"Who was it that told you this?"

"Shuuichirou Keido."

Colonel Dan instantly knew that name.

"I know that man, too. He oversaw my transition. Alongside with one of his subordinates as well as another scientist named..."

"DJ Sagara."

Daryl said as he finished the Colonel's sentence. Colonel Dan found this suspicious. Keido did not issue this order to him. Instead, he gave that order to Lieutenant Yan. Which gave the impression that Keido was trying to hide something from his superiors. Even though his conversation with Daryl gave some insight to that man's ulterior motives, it was not enough to report to his superiors about. In the meantime, he continued to gain Daryl's confidence and trust to both finding out the root of this latest crisis as well as helping Daryl be a better person. One of the soldiers approached the Colonel.

"Sir. It's all ready."

"Good work."

Colonel Dan spoke to Daryl.

"Suit up."

Daryl summoned his Sengoku Driver, and transformed into Kamen Rider Baron. The Colonel did the same thing, and became Bravo. The setup was complete. The camera was facing towards a simple metal chair and a table with a white cloth over it. The setting of the video was that of a tabletop conversation with the audience. Bravo sat on the chair while Baron sat behind him. The camera started to film, but it would take a while for the live stream to reach the net. Colonel Dan knew what to say, and how to say it. What he hoped he would accomplish was the first step towards cooling down the crisis, and restore the people's faith in the GHQ.

xxxxxx

Shu was taking the monorail to a certain stop. Which he would then take a memorized route to Funeral Parlor headquarters. Inori and Funell were walking with him due to Gai summoning all of them to an emergency meeting. Luckily, Shu didn't have to sneak out of his home due to Haruka going to work at GHQ for a long length of time once more. Which was a good thing for Shu. Not only was it easier for him to moonlight as a resistance fighter, it was also comfortable not to deal with Haruka trying to act motherly on Shu.

'I know she feels guilty for some reason, but she didn't play a part in me being imprisoned. If she didn't know about me getting arrested for aiding Funeral Parlor, then I know she didn't get me arrested. That was somebody else.'

When Shu remembered how Yahiro ratted him out to the GHQ, he felt an emotion that was new to him. It was bitterness. He had a good reason for experiencing bitterness. The memory of Yahiro pushing him out of the train car and into the cuffs of Segai, professional hunter and bullshit artist.

'I still can't believe that Yahiro sold me out. As of right now, I do not care where he is. If he's paying for his mistake, then fine. The only thing I regret about his suffering is that his little brother has to be dragged into wherever and whatever trouble that follows his older brother. I know now why Yahiro did what he did, but that still... (sigh)... I thought my trust in him was never in doubt. Well, I've been wrong before.'

Shu and Inori continued the path to Funeral Parlor's headquarters, with Funell following them. It was a bit chilly out. So Shu gave Inori the black coat that the Parlor gave to him while he was wearing his blue hoodie. The train car they were in was sparse to say the least. All three of them were the only people riding the train tonight. Which was unfortunate due to the fact that an online propaganda webcast was streamed online to anyone with an internet connection.

xxxxxx

Shu, Inori, and Funell made it inside and into the main library meeting room. Ayase met the three as they entered.

"Hey guys. Did you watch?"

"Watch what?"

"Seriously? Didn't you see it, Shu? It was all over the net. Tell me you at least saw it on your tablet or something?"

"I didn't have it with me tonight. Why? Did I miss something?"

Ayase sighed in exasperation.

"Hey, Tsugumi. Did you record the live webcast that was out a few minutes ago?"

"Yep. Got all of it. You really need to check it out, Shu."

Tsugumi typed some commands to bring up and play the video that was all over the internet. It feature Kamen Riders Bravo and Baron with Baron standing behind Bravo. Bravo was the one speaking while Baron stayed almost silent throughout the video.

"Hello to all of you. Some of you may already know me, but for those that don't, allow me to introduce both myself and my comrade here behind me. I am Kamen Rider Bravo. His name is Baron."

"Yo."

"We are here for one simple purpose: to gain your trust. And we will intend to do that, no matter what it takes. We don't care how much hard work we have to do to make you believe in us again. GHQ is here to help you in your time of need. And believe me, the time for trust is more important than ever. The Apocalypse Virus has taken on a new form of infection. It fills us all with a new type of fear."

The soldier operating the holo-terminal heard the verbal cue to cut from the live feed to a video clip montage featuring news report clips that displayed victims of the virus convulsing in pain of the organic vines and the protesters clashing with GHQ soldiers on the streets and near their headquarters. It went on for two minutes before cutting back to the live feed.

"I know how you all feel. I am just as confused and terrified as you are. However, there is a fine line between having a legitimate concern, and acting on your worst impulses. I ask for the protesters who actually have a legitimate reason to demand answers to stay calm. I am NOT just saying that because I have an ulterior motive to gain if you actually remain complacent. I am saying it because YOU are not the only one to be in a frenzy."

That was another cue to cut to another video clip that featured actual security cam footage of the employees of GHQ within the main building, and all their auxiliary buildings. All the employees rushing all over the place due to this new crisis. From secretaries juggling phone calls coming in at a rapid pace, to office workers running left and right while processing all the work orders to each of the different branches, to the scientists working themselves to the bone and depriving themselves of food and rest.

"As you can all see, GHQ is trying to get to the bottom of the crisis. People of Japan, I know that it is not just the Apocalypse Virus that worries you. It is also the monster attacks you have been hearing. The creatures that are running rampant in Tokyo, the heart of your country. But, not to worry. Right now we are here. The Kamen Riders of GHQ are here to protect this city's peace. We show no mercy to those that threat the lives of innocent people. Like these monsters..."

Footage of Inves attacks were played.

"...And Funeral Parlor. These people who commit acts of terrorism, and convince a number of terribly misguided civilians to help them by hiding these monsters in human clothing that commit violent attacks in order to undermine not just our authority, but our earnest efforts to cure this nation of the virus that has claimed so many lives. I know the reason why some good folks actually believe why Funeral Parlor is fighting for them. It is due to Gai Tsutsugami."

A still frame of Gai from the broadcast that made his group public on every screen in the nation. Bravo continued to talk while the still frame was still displayed.

"This murderer manipulates decent people to his anarchist cause with his charisma and bravado that really masks insecurities and a superiority complex. To those that feel that helping Funeral Parlor is the way to save your nation, it is not you that made up that idea. It was actually implanted into you by somebody who's no different than dictators who make gods unto themselves."

Ayase and Tsugumi were boiling mad that this guy was comparing Gai to people like Stalin and Kim Jong IL. Shu looked at total disbelief because this guy had absolutely no idea at what the organization he serves does.

"We also owe it to ourselves to gather the ones who have made no alliance to either our side or theirs."

A still frame of Kamen Rider Gaim was screened for a few seconds before cutting back to the feed.

"Kamen Rider Gaim. When we last met, I saw in you an honest to god eagerness to protect innocent people. However, you are under the delusion that GHQ is the enemy. It makes doubt your worthiness as a Kamen Rider."

Now Shu was feeling a bit pissed off.

"I recognize you as a warrior, and as such, there is only one way we can communicate. Though battle."

Shu thought,

'Damn. Been watching too many kung-fu movies?'

"At the end of this week, Baron and I will face you to a battle at the Tokyo Dome. The conditions will be as follows. If we win, you will join our ranks. You are free to set your own terms either by video response or in person by weeks' end. This battle will determine whether or not you can truly be called a hero, Gaim. I look forward to our battle that will determine who deserves to be called the true defenders of humanity."

The video ended there. Shu just had one thing to say.

"Well aside from pissing me off, he just gave me new material for my stand-up act."

"Damn straight, Shu."

Said Tsugumi. Shu asked Ayase,

"So, is this the reason why you wanted me here?"

"Actually, no. At first, Gai was having a strategy session with Shibungi after coming across some new data."

"What was it about?'

Tsugumi responded,

"It's a total gold mine. Gai had a data core containing GHQ classified information. Absolute top-secret. Basically, it has something to do with the infection that's making headlines right now."

"Who did Gai get it from?"

"Apparently your new best friend."

Shu had an indication of who it was from Ayase.

"I don't get it. How does an internet idol gets to be so close to you?"

"That's a question you should be asking her."

Shu thumb-pointed to Inori who was right behind him. Inori looked confused.

"Hmm. Good point."

Just then, Gai walked in with Shibungi. He saw Shu along with Ayase, Tsugumi, and Inori.

"About time you came. I assume you watched Bravo's gallant declaration?"

"Kind of makes me wonder if he smoke a special kind of cigarettes. But that's not why you called me here."

"You're right. It's not. You'll hear the rest in a little bit."

The rest of the resistance force gathered at the main library to attend the latest strategy meeting.

"Tomorrow afternoon, Sephirah Genomics intends to transport two modified Sengoku Genomes to GHQ. These Genomes will allow GHQ to create mass production rider soldiers. Meaning that they will become more than an occupational army. They will be a public-approved occupational army. Colonel Eagleman's message to the masses will undoubtedly sway the people to believe the GHQ are their allies. Meaning all the sacrifices that got all of us this far will be for nothing."

This made the rest of the fighters apprehensive with uneasiness. GHQ soldiers with rider powers. In other words, Shu's powers in the wrong hands multiplied by the hundreds.

"The reason why I have told you all this is because of our informant within GHQ. He has provided us with this information at great risk of being discovered."

Everyone nearly gasped at the mere idea of an informant in GHQ working with Funeral Parlor. Most of them thought who would be reckless enough to pass top secret information to a bunch of ragtag fighters. Gai typed a few commands on the holo-terminal to display the strategy.

"This is the plan for the acquisition of the Genomes. Since the enemy desires to make the transport as discreet as possible, this is expected to a simple bait-and-switch. However, the plan will cover any and all alternate scenarios that will involve the use of heavy weaponry. Shu, I expect you to be there."

"You got it."

"Study them by tomorrow afternoon. That is all."

The fighters then dispersed to rest and ready themselves for tomorrow night. Shu was getting ready to head back home, but Gai spoke to him.

"Shu. Stay here for tonight."

"You want me to, Gai?"

"Tomorrow's Saturday. The day of your fight against Bravo. Our location is near the Tokyo Dome. We even kept your old room just in case."

Shu decided to take up on Gai's offer.

"Okay."

Shu then went into his room in the resistance base, but not before taking a bath. Ayase felt perplexed as to why he wanted Shu to stay.

"Um, Gai?"

"It's just for convenience, Ayase. Not everything I do was some ulterior motive. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

xxxxxx

The rest of the crew celebrated in a major way. Some of them were gouging down on food and sweets, some were drunk, and others were singing karaoke in a bad way. Overall, there was an air of celebratory fun. Even Daryl was kind of enjoying himself. At that moment, he did not care if he went wild, he did not feel embarrassed to cut loose. Rowan was there with him, asking Daryl to moderate himself. During the rhapsody of joy that was going on, Colonel Dan looked at the whole from a corner, and smile as he saw Daryl enjoy himself with the rest of the soldiers. Although he did not forget the major attitude adjustment he had in store for Daryl, it was actually refreshing for him to see him act like a well-adjusted kid his age. Just then, the Colonel received a call from his earpiece. It was one of the generals he reported to.

"Yes sir... Right now?... Very well, sir. I'll report right away."

Colonel Dan went through the partying soldiers to reach Daryl and tell him something.

"Hey Daryl!"

"Colonel! WHASSUP! Private Komura here is going to sing some Elton John song, but he's (stifling laughter) really horrible!"

"Sounds awesome, guy, but I just called to a meeting to my superiors. So, we have to end this party."

"Aww, come on, Colonel!"

"I'm sorry, pal, but remember we have our two-on-one fight against Gaim. I need you fully rested and in prime shape for tomorrow."

Daryl heard everything Colonel Dan had to say. He conceded.

"Sorry, guys, but he's right. Party's done."

Some of the soldiers reacted with disappointment, but most just accepted it. A few of the soldiers talked to Daryl, thanking him for the party. Daryl then went to his quarters to sleep for the bug day. Rowan was going to do the same thing. However...

"Sorry, McConners. You're with me. Me and my superiors have some questions about your boss."

Rowan followed Colonel Dan to certain meeting room. Within were three generals who answered to Supreme Commander Yan. The general's names were Jiang Lee, Alistair Stewart, and James Williams. Each general appointed by their own nations to oversee GHQ operations. Lee represented China, Stewart represented Great Britain, and Williams represented America. They, alongside Yan, chosen Colonel Dan to secretly report on Keido. To see if he was engaging in unauthorized experiments behind their backs. Even though all of them do receive reports regarding the Inves, the generals were beginning to feel that Keido was becoming less forthcoming with the vital details such as their origins, how the mutation from human to Inves was possible, recommendations to how to keep them contained, and now how the Apocalypse Virus took on a new infection stage. The generals felt that Keido was hiding an ulterior motive to the situation. That was why they assigned Colonel Dan with the assignment of spying on Keido. Colonel Dan finally arrived with Rowan walking behind him.

"General Lee, General Williams, General Stewart. Colonel Dan Eagleman, reporting in."

Colonel Dan saluted to the generals.

"Colonel. Are you here to give your latest report on Shuuichirou Keido?"

"Yes sir, General Lee. Reporting as followed. After reading on the latest situation regarding the mutated lifeforms sir, I had received a notification regarding a special taskforce dedicated to the extermination of the mutated lifeforms."

"How did you come to this notification, Colonel?"

Asked General Stewart.

"It was forwarded to me by Daisuke Junnouchi Sagara. A.K.A DJ Sagara. The letters both stand for both his name and his side job. As a net idol. A sort of online sensation."
When the generals heard that last part, they were perplexed to say the least.

"However sirs, There is an indication that although he works with Shuuichirou Keido, he does not share the same ideology."

"What do you mean ideology?"

"Well General Williams, Keido seems to be motivated by some belief that the mutated lifeforms have some sort of potential to change the world. I once overheard him talking to his right-hand man, Segai discussing the nature of the mutated lifeforms. He even gave them a name. Keido calls them 'Inves.'"

The generals were concerned about this. They feared that there might be a mad scientist in their ranks.

"And you think this DJ Sagara might be trusted?"

"Yes, General Lee. I saw for myself that there is a sort of mutual enmity between the both of them. That could be useful to us in the future."

"Do you have any evidence to support this? Have you talked to this Sagara person to confirm that he actually has shown animosity towards Shuuichirou Keido?"

"Not at this time sir, no."

"Then I am sorry to say he can't be brought into the investigation until there is solid proof that he is absolutely against Keido. Please continue with the report."

"Yes sir, General Stewart. The investigation started after gaining orders of transfer to Japan pertaining the appearance of the terrorist organization known as Funeral Parlor. When I gained the report, portions of the reports were redacted. I asked about the report that came with my transfer orders, I came to discover that the redactions were not authorized by General Marcus Yan. When I was off-duty, I spoke to high ranking officers within the Anti-Bodies asking about Squad 3's encounter with Funeral Parlor. Squad 3, led by Major Guin, was wiped out by Funeral Parlor. However, how the squad was wiped out by Funeral Parlor was a mystery unknown by anyone but the survivors. Although there were only a few, I managed to locate them. When I spoke to one of them, he was given a gag order by Shuuichirou Keido, not the Supreme Commander."

"Are you saying that Keido was acting under orders by someone with higher authority than the Supreme Commander of GHQ? Am I hearing this right?"

"It seems so, General Williams. I share the same sentiment with you, sir. That is why I brought this young man with me. This is Rowan McConners, who is currently serving under Makoto Segai, but is also just as privy to the operations that was enacted under Keido's supervision."
All the older gentlemen in the room simultaneously looked at Rowan at the same time. Rowan was feeling a little hot under the collar. Colonel Dan spoke to him first.

"This is why I wanted you with me. We can guarantee your safety. Whatever orders Keido gave you to keep silent, they are null and void as of now. Tell us everything you know."
Rowan kept silent for a moment.

"Can you keep me safe? Because what I seen is what is so horrible that the only reason why I am alive is due to my silence. So it's not because I am being a belligerent soldiers who wants to be dishonorably discharged, but rather the reason why I choose not to follow your orders, Colonel Dan, is due to the fact that I fear for my life."

Rowan trembled when he was imagining how the Inves will tear him apart at Keido's command if he told the Generals everything he knew. Colonel Dan saw the fear Rowan was expressing. He place his hands on Rowan's shoulders for reassurance.

"Everything you say here is top secret. Only known to me as well as these three men. No one has to know what was said here. What this meeting is this. We convening to bring criminal charges to Keido, but we need substantial evidence to bring him to justice. And that is where you come in. Tell us everything, and you won't be implicated in our investigation. Now before we get started, I have a request to ask of you, Generals."

"Very well, proceed."

Said General Stewart.

"Thank you. And also, this is just in case if you have not heard, but I issued an online declaration of battle to Gaim, the orange armored warrior I have previously encountered and reported on. I request that the area of the Tokyo Dome is cordoned off by the public, but we leave a discreet entrance for Gaim to enter the stadium. We make it seem like he found on his own. Will you grant it?"

The generals looked at each other and nodded. General Stewart spoke to Colonel Dan.

"Granted. You followed our orders well, Colonel. See to it that that this Gaim character is captured at once."

"Sir, Yes sir."

The generals then shifted their focus to Rowan.

"Now, young man. Please tell us what you know."

xxxxxx

The next morning couldn't come faster as Keido ordered Segai to come see him. Suffice to say, he was not happy as to how the Colonel went and did a live webcast without his knowing. The reason he wanted to see Segai was due to the fact that supervising Lieutenant Yan was his duty, and that something like this went on his supposed watch.

"When I ordered you to keep an eye on Yan, I assumed that you were up for the job. Instead, I learned that not only did he divulge some fraction of secret information that could unravel what we are doing, but also he is brought under Colonel Eagleman's tutelage!"
"In my defense sir, the reason for why lieutenant Yan was not under my watch not only due to my other assignment, but it also due to the fact that what the Colonel was planning for the lieutenant seemed innocuous."

"How so?"

"Never say I don't use my sources well. I had asked my assistant, Mr. McConners, to see what the status of the lieutenant is. He told me that the Colonel was planning for him."

"Did you follow up on that?"

"Rowan told me directly. The Colonel was planning a surprise birthday party for the lieutenant."

"A birthday party?"

Keido said with a skeptic tone.

"Oh yes. Rowan even asked me if he wanted to join. I refused, for obvious reasons. As I said before sir, the whole thing seemed innocuous."

"Apparently not, Segai. So, tell me. How are you going to fix this?"

"Now, now."

Sagara's voice was heard as he appeared on the video screen in the meeting room.

"Sometimes, shit happens, Keido. No reason to bite his head off. We have more important things to worry about than the mistakes of your subordinates."

"Don't forget, Sagara. You're one of my subordinates. It's far too dangerous for lieutenant Yan to report to Colonel Eagleman. We need to keep them seperate off-mission!"

"Hey! Relax. It doesn't have to be a bad thing for Daryl to be around Dan. Personally, I welcome their partnership. Might make the lieutenant less of a homicidal prick. For all I know, they could make my news portion of my show a lot more exciting."

Keido slammed his hand on the table.

"THE GOAL OF YOUR SHOW IS INFORMATION MANIPULATION! DON'T FORGET THAT! KNOW YOUR PLACE!"

Sagara reacted in a comical way to Keido's outburst of frustration.

"Whatever you say, boss man. In all seriousness, the situation is irregular, but remember what Segai said at the last meeting. This is making good use of our foundation. As a whole, it's still within acceptable parameters. Let's just wait and see how this pairing between Bravo and Baron will turn out. In the meantime Keido, let's just calm down. "

"I will be calm if I know the status of the mass production genome."

"It's complete. I'm having it transferred to main headquarters from our partners at Sephirah Genomics. But, for the purposes of keeping a low profile, the transport will be small, relegated only to a few security suits, and no Inves back-up. I haven't forgotten about how vital maintaining the secrecy of the project is. They should be here by this afternoon at about 1300 hours."

Keido sighed, indicating some relief.

"I'll be here when they are delivered safely. Keep it covert. Make sure there are no leaks. Keep an eye on the ongoing situation."

"Yeah, Yeah."

"Roger."

xxxxxx

Shu woke up at mid-morning with a powerful urge to eat. He got dressed with the clothes he wore last night. When he made it to the mess hall, there was a momentary silence amongst the resistance fighters. They all stared at him to see if he had a nervous look on his face. Shu instead had a blank look on his face. Then he remembered what today was.

'Oh yeah. My fight with Baron and Bravo is today. Guess they're wondering if I'm feeling worried for my life. Guess any reasonable person would.'

Shu continued to the meal line to receive his breakfast, and was surprised to see Ougumo serving the morning meal.

"Ougumo?"

"Morning, Shu. What it'll be?"

"Uh... bacon and eggs?"

"Sorry kid. Only rice cakes for now."

"Okay. I'll take it."

Ougumo then served rice cakes to Shu with a mug of coffee on the side.

"Thanks. I didn't know you could cook."

"Most of us here sometimes have to do more than one job to help."

"I can see that."

"By the way, how do you feel right now?"

"Well, up until a while ago, I felt like a bit weirded out due to everybody staring at me as soon as I came in. I know my fight with Baron and Bravo is today."

"And?"

Shu sighed in resignation.

"Well, facing two riders with strength comparable to my own is something I am feeling nervous about. I know that I defeated Bravo, but that was only due to having a new weapon to my arsenal. And even with that, it was still hard to take him down. I can't rely on that for much longer. Not to mention I didn't properly defeat Baron yet. So yeah, that's on my mind."

"I know what it's like, having to wait before fighting against the enemy. Sometimes the tension is worse the actual fighting itself. But once you start the fight, just let your instincts take over from there. Just prepared for the worst."

"Like, if I lose?"

"That's one possibility. Don't let the pressure get to you, Shu. You're good at what you do."

"Thanks for the talk, Ougumo."

"Anytime."

Shu smiled as he let the advice sink in. He then looked for a table to sit and eat. As he did, Tsugumi, Ayase, Argo, and Inori joined him.

"Morning, Shu."

"Ready for your fight?"

"Bet you were too excited to sleep, right?"

Shu was a bit confused by their cheerful questioning.

"Uhh... I appreciate you guys trying to relax me so I don't feel nervous before the fight, but I'm all right. Ougumo and I had a little talk, and that got me to ease up a bit."

Ayase had an annoyed look on her face. She knew Shu was being rudely dense.

"Gee, Shu. Whatever to saying 'good morning guys. Glade to see all of you up.' Damn, no wonder you have so little friends."

Shu had a hurt look on his face. He was giving the same kind of crap he gave to his friends when he was in school. Argo noticed this.
"Ease up, Ayase. What Shu said was half right."

"I know, Argo. But he was still being an ass to us."

"I didn't mean too. I thought I killed those habits when I joined up with you guys."

"It takes more than fighting experience to be a different person. Just in case you don't know."

Shu turned his attention to Tsugumi as she had a bored expression on her face.

"Got it."

As the misunderstanding was going on, Shibungi came into the cafeteria to give the notice that the operation was starting in one hour.

"Attention. The mission is going to start in an hour. Use this time to be prepared as well as study on the strategy we will be using for the operation. Get to it, everyone."

As soon as Shibungi was finished, all the fighters taking part of the mission stopped what they were doing and walked out. Argo and Ayase did as well. Tsugumi spoke to Shu.

"Well, let's get going."

"The mission to retrieve the Sengoku genomes, right?"

"That is our mission. Just not yours. Now, get moving, Shu. Everyone is already ahead of us."

xxxxxx

As the resistance fighters gathered to the underground hanger, where Shu had his initiation, and gathered their firearms and ammunition necessary for the mission. Shu, meanwhile, activated his Sakura Hurricane lock vehicle, wore his hoodie, and waited for everyone to finish preparing to move out. Shu was aware that while the rest of his comrades were capturing the Sengoku Genomes, his mission was to face off Bravo and Baron in a match between the three of them. The fight conveniently served as a distraction. However, this was starting to feel familiar to Shu.

'Last time we tried to do something like this, our fighting numbers were reduced in a dramatic way. Still, it's not like Gai to make the same mistake twice.'

Soon, Gai walked to where his fighters were, and all of them stood still as their leader began to speak.

"I'm sure all of you here are aware of the plan. While Shu Ouma is engaging the enemy at Tokyo Dome, we will be setting up an ambush to retrieve the Sengoku Genomes that will be en-route from Sephirah Genomics to GHQ main headquarters. Alpha team will split into three units and will be setting up blockades to redirect the transports to isolated areas of the city. Charlie team will be the same as Alpha team, and open fire on the transports as a smokescreen. From there on, I will lead with Zeke team to raid the transport group at the designated coordinates. Am I clear?"

Everyone in the hangar simultaneously yelled,

"Yes, Gai."

"Very well. Mobilize immediately!"

Everyone followed Gai's order with utter haste. With all fighters within their respective vehicles for the mission, Gai shouted to Shu.

"Alright, Shu! Start us off!"

Shu took that as the command to transform. He summoned his driver, took out his lockseed and shouted,

"HENSHIN!"

"ORANGE!"

A metallic orange appeared over him. Shu did a brief pose on his bike and placed his lockseed on his driver.

"LOCK-ON!"

"SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS! HANAMICHI ON STAGE! "

Shu revved his motorcycle and, as the gates opened, sped outside with a line of two armored trucks and a Humvee behind him.

xxxxxx

(Sephirah Genomics)

Three black cars were lined up in front of the building. Men in black suits and sunglasses were standing near the cars, awaiting for two top secret items for transport to GHQ headquarters. It was under the orders of DJ Sagara that the transfer kept small and under discretion. It was even to be arranged on the same day of the duel between Gaim, Bravo and Baron. A few of the suits were talking about who was going to win the fight. However, as soon as the front glass doors of the building opened, Rowan came out from it.

"Good morning gentlemen. My name is Rowan McConners, and I am acting on behalf of Matoko Segai, who is also under command of Shuuichirou Keido. Therefore, my orders are his orders. Am I understood?"

The men in black suits nodded in unison as acknowledgement.

"Then let's move out."

Rowan rode in the black car in the rear. The cars moved out and made their way to GHQ main headquarters. On a nearby skyscraper, one of the fighters saw from afar on his binoculars the three black cars that just mobilized from Sephirah Genomics and were making their way to their destination. He took out an encrypted mobile phone.

"This is Delta seven. Bogeys just moved out. Just sighted six packages."

xxxxxx

On the other end of the line was Shibungi.

"Understood."

He hung up.

"Latest development Gai. Three cars, six packages."

"The rest could be bogeys. We stick to the plan. What's our route and ETA?"

"We're right on course and schedule. We should be intercepting soon."

"And the roadblocks?"

"Right where you want them."

Shibungi had a small laptop with him, and showed Gai a map of that featured the route the transports were going to take as well as locations of the roadblocks that disguised themselves as road construction. Gai also noticed that they were close to the Tokyo Dome.

"Contact Shu. Tell him to take a left at the next exit, drive five blocks east, then a right to reach Tokyo Dome."

"Very well then. Although, may I ask a question?"

"What is it?"

"Are you sure that Shu can take them on? The last time he fought against Bravo, he had a hard time with him. Even with his power-up, Shu was close to defeat."

"I know he can hold on long enough."

"For what?"

"For our mission to be a success. I know that I'm... asking a lot out of him. And if it feels like I'm taking advantage of his resolve and will, then I apologize."

"Hmm. Gai giving an apology. That's a miracle in of itself."

"You know what I mean. Shu is our greatest asset. His image alone gives us support for our cause. The reason why I want him to go to the fight is due to our cause is under threat by a cheap publicity stunt."

Shibungi took that as Gai simply being Gai. However, there was a lingering doubt in the back of his mind, but he put it aside as he dutifully followed Gai's orders. Shibungi contacted Shu through his earpiece.

"Shu, do you read me?"

Shu was riding in front of the convoy.

"I read you, Shibungi."

"Do you see an exit in front of you? The exit will take you to Tokyo Dome."

Shu looked for bit as he continued riding until he saw a road exit that indicated a path towards Tokyo Dome.

"I see it now. I 'm approaching it."

"Once you take it, ride five blocks east, and then a right. It'll get you to where you're supposed to be."

"Roger that."

"Good luck to you."

As soon as Shibungi ended the transmission, Shu took the exit and continued to his way to Tokyo Dome. To Bravo and Baron. To a fight that will once again test his mettle against the evils of his time. The whole trip took a full 10 minutes before Shu was finally in front of Tokyo Dome. When he arrived, he saw a group of GHQ soldiers in front an entrance. One of them made a radio call.

"Sir, he's here."

(Static)

"Let him in."

As soon as the soldiers heard the command, they immediately removed themselves from the entrance. Shu got off his motorcycle, and it instantly shrunk and compacted itself to a lock vehicle. Shu, in his Gaim armor, walked into the stadium. As soon as he entered into the entrance corridor, the soldiers lined themselves in front of the entrance again to make sure no one else was to enter the stadium. Gaim continued walking until he was at the arena floor. Waiting for him there were his two challengers. Colonel Dan Eagleman and Lieutenant Daryl Yan. Shu was in thought about how the fight would go.

'Individually, I could hold my own against one of them. But both of them at the same time? I think I got my work cut out for me.'

Colonel Dan spoke first.

"So, you finally arrived. Nice to know that you're a man of honor, Gaim."

"That's saying something for an organization that has none."

"I'll let that one slide. Now you know my demands if you win this fight. Here is an opportunity to gives yours here."

When given that question, Shu literally had nothing come to mind. All this time to think about his demand and not once did he take the time to actually think of a demand to give.

'Holy crap. I forgot. I was just so busy with everything else that I didn't come up with everything.'

Shu had a rush of anxiety coursing through his body. Daryl was feeling pretty impatient when he saw Gaim just standing there, staring at the ground.

"Hey, Samurai Jack. What's the hold up?"

"I'm thinking here!"

"Well think faster, pal. You wouldn't want to keep your audience waiting. Would you?"

"Audience? But aside from the soldiers you two have stationed outside, it's just the three of us here."

"Aw, Colonel Dan. Did you forget to tell him more, or was it a surprise?"

Gaim heard a voice in the stadium, and almost frantically looked around to see if anyone else was in the stadium seats with a microphone or a speakerphone. However, Gaim could not find anyone in the seats. Then, static appeared on the large stadium plasma screens until a familiar face appeared on the screens.

"Yo. Nice to meet you, Kamen Rider Gaim."

He winked a bit.

"What the hell does DJ Sagara has to do with this?"

Colonel Dan spoke next.

"This is a live broadcast to every screen connected to the internet. In short Gaim, all of Japan are now seeing what is happening here."

Gaim took a moment to fully realize what that meant. When he did, he was spiraling in anxiety when wondering what he was going to demand if he won the fight. And that was a big if.

'Aw crap. The whole country is seeing this right now? They're going to see me fight against these guys and lose? Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP! They're going to see me screw up everything! My friends, my few remaining family, all my comrades. Somehow, I just know that maybe this is the day I'm gonna bite it. Today I die not as a hero, but a joke. And the worst part, I'm letting down all the people who saw as someone who had what it takes to actually be the guy who wasn't a terrorist, but neither an innocent bystander either. I know the truth of what exactly GHQ is doing to us.'

A rush of emotions was coursing through Gaim's entire body and mind. Out of it was clarity that came with the truth. The truth of what he saw, and fought against. Soon enough, all the anxiety and doubt Gaim felt was virtually gone.

'Okay. I may have felt like, tremendously nervous, at first. But I know what they did. So what am I freaking out about?'

After a minute in thought, Gaim finally had the perfect response.

"I want nothing. At least from you. So far, everything I am seeing out of the both of you is either willful ignorance or complete gullibility on your part. Everything to you is so black and white, but it's not. If you bothered to look beyond the scope of your orders for even just a little bit, then you would get what I am talking about. Instead you pretend that we're simply honorable warriors caught in a tragic understanding that is purposely manufactured by some evil mastermind that heads a secret organization dedicated to death and destruction. I have seen things that would make you question the very nature of humanity. As for my demand, it would definitely have to be that your group leave Japan be any means necessary. But I know that's not going to happen today. Certainly not like this, where the fate of an entire nation hinges on the fate of a fight like this. I mean, the entire notion of it sounds like a cheap way to end a movie or something. In short, I'm fighting you not just for the people of this country, but also you two piss me off in so many ways both imaginable and unimaginable."

Taking this as a cue, Colonel Dan and Lieutenant Yan summoned their drivers and took out their lockseeds to transform simultaneously.

"HENSHIN!"

"BANANA!"

"DURIAN!"

Both placed their respective metallic fruits appeared over them. Dan and Daryl then placed their lockseeds on their belt drivers...

"LOCK ON!"

... and sliced their lockseeds with the cutting blade on their drivers.

"COME ON!"

(Electric Guitar Riff)

"BANANA ARMS! KNIGHT OF SPEAR!"

"DURIAN ARMS! MISTER DANGEROUS!"

Both their transformations were complete. DJ Sagara was hosting the event as a sort of sport commentator. He went from the screen to a hologram on the arena floor. Both sides knew it was a simple special effect involving holograms, but it served its purpose as Sagara, in hologram form, was wearing a suit tuxedo to replicate the boxing experience. There was even a metal microphone that was hanging down. Even though the microphone was a hologram itself, it still gave an impression of added authenticity.

"ALL RIGHT, Y'ALL! It's now time for the main event. A two-on-one fight to the finish. A battle between warriors of strength and honor! Here on my right is the orange samurai, Kaaaamen Rider GAIM!"

(Sound effects of cheering played)

"You have seen him go up against freaks that eat humans alive, but now he's in a WHOLE NEW BAAALLLLL GAME! CAUSE here on my left are two challengers from GHQ, Kamen Riders BAAARRROOON AND BRRRRAVOOOO!"

(Same sound effects)

"To all of you watching from your devices, I want to thank you all for witness this clash of SUPER-POWERED FIGHTERS!"

(Same sound effects)

Everyone in the whole country watched the fight between Gaim, Baron, and Bravo wherever they had an internet connection. From their holotablets to flat screens with internet capability, all of Japan had seats to may be the fight of a lifetime. DJ Sagara was indicated by his smartwatch that the fight was being live-streamed by every person imaginable.

"Now. To start us off, here he is, back from the dead, here's Michael Buffer."

A holographic model of Michael Buffer appeared beside Sagara. The model had one simple function, but the voice was ripped and cleaned from past fights for this purpose. The model even moved similar to what the real Buffer would do when he said his trademark starter.

"LEEEET'S GET READY TO RUUUUUMBLLLLLLEEEEE!"

As soon as the second hologram finished, Baron and Bravo readied their weapons and simultaneously charged towards Gaim. While Gaim did the same thing with his weapons. Three Kamen Riders ready to fight to the bitter to see which side is honestly fighting for justice.

xxxxxx

The black cars were on route to GHQ main headquarters. For now, everything was on course. No unexpected ambushes by the enemy. The car in front was the first to break off from its formation to GHQ headquarters by using a different route while still heading towards its designated destination. The plan was for each car to take a different route to GHQ headquarters. Each route each black car would take had a distinguishable course to take with differing length, times and path to the same location. This was made to make sure if the enemy was aware of what cars were carrying, the other black cars were to serve as decoys to derail the enemy's Intel on the operation. There were 12 men in black suits. Six of them were holding black attaché cases, each containing a decoy genome. Even though efforts were made to keep the mission top-secret, the decoys cases were a contingency plan in case of an attack by Funeral Parlor. Each car was carrying two attaché cases. None were informed to know which attaché case has the item in question. Their job was simply to arrive at Sephirah Genomics with the attaché cases in hand. The second car was next to break off formation. It did the same as the car in front did before. Rowan was in the car in the rear formation. What they did not know was that they were viewed by Tsugumi via a hacked satellite transmission. She notified Gai.

"Gai, each of the cars broke off their formation. They're head for GHQ in different directions."

"Alpha team, start!"

Alpha team was split into three units of five, and all were wearing the same kinds of uniforms that civil engineers wear. There was also standard roadblocks often associated with road construction or repair. Orange cones, orange nets that indicated that these areas were closed off to the public for safety reasons, signs that indicated detours, etc. The first black car that broke off from the rest of the others was the first one to encounter the fake roadblock. The car stopped, and one of the suits went outside and speak to the construction workers.

"Excuse me."

"Sorry bub. Road closed. City just ordered us to work on it. Take the detour."

"I don't remember any construction work was needed here. I use this route every day for work, I don't remember it needing work."

"Hey. Do you tell me what to do? No! The city does. You don't like it? Well, tough shit. Now take the motherf***ing detour."

The suit scowled a bit before returning to the car and taking the detour, albeit against his preference. The rest of the black cars encountered similar roadblocks as well. As soon as they were out of sight, all the roadblocks reported in.

"This is Alpha one. Diversion a success. They've taken the bait."

"This is Alpha two. Reporting same results."

Alpha three. Same as well, Gai."

"Good. Charlie team, all set?"

"Charlie one, ready to go."

"Charlie two, awaiting order to strike."

"Charlie three. Just say when."

"Wait until the targets approach your line of vision. Open fire on my command."

xxxxxx

(Tokyo Dome)

Gaim was struggling to focus between the two GHQ riders as Bravo was hitting Gaim from the front while Baron was striking him from the back. The fight was taking his toll as Gaim tried to find some solid footing to give one of his enemies a hit, but both GHQ riders were not giving him the opportunity. As Gaim stumbled back, Both Bravo and Baron gave a simultaneous blow to Gaim's chest that caused Gaim to fall back onto the arena floor. Sagara was on the screen giving commentary of the fight to his online audience.

"OOOHHH! A double blow on the chest, y'all. Baron and Bravo are not giving any mercy. I hate to be in Gaim's shoes as he gets his ass handed to him."

Gaim knew he wasn't getting any encouragement from anybody soon/

'Geez, way to spell out the obvious, Sagara. But's he's right. I have to remember the training I got from everyone from Funeral Parlor. I've got to make use of my resources.'

Shu reminded himself that he has lockseeds that help him adapt to situations like this. The first lockseed he took from his side was his pine lockseed.

"PINE!"

Gaim took off his orange lockseed and placed the pine in place of it.

"LOCK-ON!"

"SOIYA! PINE ARMS! FUNSAI DESTROY!"

Gaim was swing his pine iron around for a bit until he threw it at Bravo first. Bravo dodged it at first, but Gaim tugged the steel line hard to strike Bravo from the back of his head. This caused Bravo to fall with his face being the last part of his body to slam the arena floor.

"And in a sudden turn of events, Gaim made Bravo to kiss the floor. How could I forget people? Gaim has more than one fabulous toy in his arsenal."

Sagara played video clips that featured Gaim using alternative lockseeds to kill the Inves. The audience in their bedrooms, living rooms, and on the streets looking at the fight up on the large screens to cheer for Gaim.

Baron, meanwhile, looked at Bravo as he fell, face first, to the arena floor.

"I haven't forgotten, Gaim. But remember the Tsukigase Dam. I can do what you can do, but better."

Baron took out his mango lockseed.

"MANGO!"

Baron took off his Banana lockseed, and place his mango lockseed on his driver.

"LOCK-ON!"

"COME ON! MANGO ARMS! FIGHT OF HAMMER!"

Baron was ready with Mango Punisher in hand. Gaim swinged his Pine Iron at Baron, but Baron hit the Pine iron with his Mango Punisher like a bat hitting a baseball. The Pine iron hit Gaim so hard, it cause him to lose his footing once again and fall.

"Ha ha! I thought you here smarter than that."

Gaim stood up once more.

"I'm not done just yet!"

"ICHIGO!"

Gaim placed his Ichigo lockseed on his driver after replacing his Pine lockseed.

"LOCK-ON!"

"SOIYA! ICHIGO ARMS! SHUSHUTTO SPARK!"

Gaim threw his Ichigo kunai at Baron. Baron endured the projectile hits at him in the hops of striking Gaim with his Mango punisher, but Gaim jumped backwards and flipped at least three times before throwing his kunai at Baron again. Baron was getting annoyed by the long distance advantage Gaim had on him.

'It's no good. I can't get close to him.'

As Gaim continued his long distance strikes, Bravo got up. He stayed on the ground after being disoriented for three minutes. As soon as he regained consciousness, he witnessed his partner being hit with projectile weapons. He saw Gaim being distracted. Colonel Dan self-admitted that he would go into battle in an almost foolish way, but he was not entirely stupid. Bravo took this as an opportunity for a sneak attack. He ran towards Gaim, but did so in a way that his footsteps would not be heard. Bravo just got behind Gaim and swinged his Duri Nokos at Gaim's back. Baron took notice.

"Nice one, Bravo! Keep him distracted!"

"Got another lockseed for the job?!"

"Damn straight, man!"

While Gaim was busy dodging attacks from Bravo, Baron took out another lockseed. On the front was the label 'L.S.-13.' This was the Kiwi lockseed, one suited for long to mid-range combat.

"KIWI!"

A metallic kiwi fruit appeared above Baron.

"LOCK-ON!"

He then used the cutting blade on his driver.

"COME ON! KIWI ARMS! GEKI-RIN! SEIYA HA!"

As he did, the metallic kiwi unraveled as it landed on Baron. The armor was mostly brown with the collar looking like a half kiwi slice. The helmet had a pair of full vertical spiked crescents that were green with brown edges. On Baron's hands were a pair of oversized chakrams called the Kiwi Gekirin. Each ring resembled a full kiwi slice with a blade edge. Sagara commented on the lockseed changes both Gaim and Bravo were doing.

"DAMMMNNN! As you can see y'all, Both Gaim and Bravo have some seriously kick-ass weapons, and they're more than happy to show them off to us. I wonder other tricks Baron has got?"

"Woah. Haven't seen that before."

Bravo said as he continued to attack Gaim. Gaim also noticed Baron's arm change.

'A long distance lockseed maybe? I mean, just look at those big rings he's carrying.'

"You might want to get out of my way."

Baron said to Bravo.

"Gotcha."

As Bravo gave a kick to Gaim's belly, he stepped back to give room for his partner. Baron charged towards Gaim and striked Gaim with his left chakram, and did so again with a spin with his right chakram. Baron continued to hit Gaim with various body movements to compensate for the size of his weapons. Gaim had to stumble backwards to get some distance between him and Baron. Gaim threw some of his Ichigo kunai at Baron, but Baron used his Kiwi Gekirin as a shield to protect himself.

"Nice try. My turn."

Baron spun around a few times to throw his weapons at Gaim. Once he did, the giant chakrams glowed and flew themselves towards Gaim. The chakrams then returned to Baron's hands. With both of them back, Baron decided to execute his finishing move. He flipped the cutting blade on his driver two times.

"COME ON! KIWI AU LAIT!"

The giant chakrams glowed with energy, and with one strong throw with each hand, Baron launched his weapons at Gaim. This resulted in an explosion that greatly damaged Gaim, but it was still not enough to make him lose his armor.

'Damn it! I'm getting nowhere here. Just how much longer can I last?'

Shu looked at Baron and Bravo while feeling like they were looking down on him. Sagara continued to comment on the fight.

"WOAH! Gaim just suffered a huge blow everyone, but he's got to be made of adamantium or something to survive those killing blows. This fight just keeps ramping up in INTENSITY..."

(The sound of a muscular man yelling 'yeah' in an exaggerated way was played)

"...and ACTION!"

(Sounds of explosions were played)

Shu was feeling the pain on all fronts.

'If I have to use every lockseed I got to defeat them, then so be it. I'm not gonna lay down to die just yet.'

Shu had two more lockseeds that he had not pulled out. He took out his Suika lockseed.

"SUIKA!"

He then took off his Ichigo lockseed and replaced it with Suika.

"LOCK-ON! SOIYA!"

The large metallic watermelon dropped behind Gaim, and he flipped backwards to enter it.

"SUIKA ARMS! ODAMA BIG BANG!"

The size of Gaim's new armor was unlike anything Bravo had seen before, but Baron was keeping his cool.

"Impressive, Gaim. Don't think you can scare me with it."

"Seriously?! This doesn't freak you one bit?!"

"Relax, old man. I got this."

Bravo felt stinged by the old man comment.

"I'm not that old..."

Baron took out yet another lockseed. This one was the same as the one Gaim was using. Bravo commented on this.

"How many lockseeds do you have?"

"Before this, just two. The night before this started, I was contacted by the scientist who develops these things. He made some more for me to be just as strong as Gaim here."

"SUIKA!"

"LOCK-ON!"

"COME ON! SUIKA ARMS! ODAMA BIG BANG!"

Just like Gaim, a large metallic appeared behind Baron. He flipped backwards into the armor. His Suika armor was just like Gaim's. It had the same offensive power, the same form, and the same capabilities as Gaim's Suika armor. The only difference was the weapon. Baron had with him a lance that resembled a large watermelon chunk on a stick. This was called the Seed Lance. Not as long as Gaim's Suika Sojinto, but it was just as big. Bravo was impress by the sheer size of the armor.

"Whoa-ho-ho-ho! That's awesome!"

Baron rushed himself to Gaim and the two oversized warriors clashed weapons. Both locked their weapons in a tense manner. Both fighters were judging each other to see which side had the resolve to finish to the very end.

xxxxxx

Each of the black cars were traveling on the detour the "roadblocks" told them to go. Within each of the vehicles were the suits, feeling uneasy. Some of them thought that perhaps the planned transports of the items in question was somehow leaked, and this was a trap that they were forced into. The suits were actually right as their cars were finally in sight of Charlie's team's line of fire.

"This is Charlie One. Targets are in my line of fire. Awaiting orders, Gai."

"This is Charlie Two. Reporting the same."

"Charlie Three. Just say when, sir."

Tsugumi contacted Gai.

"This is Tsugumi. Gai, all targets are lined up, and each team is awaiting your orders."

Gai looked through everything through his holotablet. He spoke.

"Open Fire."

Each team followed their orders, and rained bullets and bombs onto the cars. Each of the transports were instantly under fire. Although the cars were not directly hit, the explosions and gunfire were certainly making them panic and frantic to escape. Each of the cars sped away from enemy fire until each of them came across a dead end. With no other option, the agents in black suits went outside their cars, took out their automatic rifles, and decided to fight off the terrorists. However, before they even started to return fire on their attackers, the rifles were suddenly shot off the agent's hands. Everything was quiet for about a while until Funeral Parlor fighters approached them. The agents were on their guard when the fighters got close and drew their guns at the agents. One of them spoke.

"Where are the items you are transporting?"

One of the agents replied.

"Inside the car."

The lead fighter nodded to one of his comrades. As soon as the rest of the fighters searched inside the car, they located the attaché cases. There was not a lock of any kind on the case. The cases were opened, but both were fund to be empty. One of the fighters growled before making contact with their leader.

"This is Zeta One. The ambush was a success, but the acquisition was a bust. We got nothing here."

Tsugumi was relaying the communiques between Gai and the rest of the teams. She contacted the other two teams. Zeta Team Two reported the same, but Zeta Team Three reported something different. Tsugumi contacted Gai.

"Gai."

"What's up?"

"Zeta Teams One and Two just reported in. The ambushes were a success, but they didn't get anything."

"What?"

"The first two cars were bogus. They were given false assignments to throw us off."

Gai scowled at the disappointing results.

"But..."

"Something else?"

"Zeta Team Three are having a hard time with the third car. There's an employee from GHQ demanding to see you."

Gai was curious as to why that employee wanted to see him. A thought occurred to him.

"I'm coming to Zeta Team Three's location now. Relay it now."

"Roger that."

xxxxxx

Gaim and Baron in their Suika Armors continued to clash with each other. The swift and ferocious blows of their weapons made shockwaves within the arena. The ground shook as the two kamen riders fought each other with all their strength and willpower. It became apparent for the two riders that they were equal in power. Baron did not like being confronted by that fact.

'This is not happening! (clash) Me?! (clash) As powerful as him?! BULLSHIT! (clash) I refuse to be equal to him. He's weak and spineless. He has no value for the power he holds. This world only obeys the strong, and he wants to think he's still the pussy he used to be at heart. BULLSHIT! (clash)'

Baron was feeling on edge as he continued to fight Gaim. He felt that Gaim's entire existence is a total contradiction to everything he was taught all his life. Baron still remembered that hunting trip he took with his father. He also remembered all the times he was bullied back in early grade school. During all that time, he remembered the lesson that was forced down his throat.

'Weakness is a sin. The punishment for it is swift and cruel torture or death. That's why there are warlords who possess armies that are ready and willing to kill and rape. That's why there are industries that know how to make money off of the casualties of war. That's why there are gangs that are willing to exterminate one another for tiny ownership of the streets. Strength is the only virtue that is cherished. Anything else is a complete and total lie, and waste of time.'

Baron flipped the cutting blade on his driver three times.

"COME ON! SUIKA SPARKLING!"

A large rectangle-bottomed energy cone manifested on Baron's Seed Lance. Gaim saw that Baron performed a sparkling function on his driver, and did the same thing.

"SOIYA! SUIKA SPARKLING!"

Gaim's weapon was manifesting an energy blade as well. Both riders readied themselves and swinged their weapons to each other. Both their respective weapons clashed and an huge energy release happened as Gaim and Baron kept on clashing with each other as both sides were compelled to fight to the bitter end. For Gaim, fighting Baron just turned on something inside of him. Some sort of primal urge to defeat his rival and foe. Gaim and Baron yelled in fury as a huge red explosion went off. As the smoke cleared, Baron and Gaim were both in their pre-arm forms. Sagara was reacting to the standoff in an excited fashion.

"WOOOOOOOO-OOOOOH. Tell me that just happened! Gaim and Baron went full 'HISSATSU!'..."

Sagara jumped from his seat and stood up with an exaggerated kung-fu pose. He stood awkward for a while before saying,

"Instant Replay."

The same video of Gaim and Baron both using their finishers was played. When it was over, Sagara was back in his chair.

"I have no idea what is going on between them, but one thing's for sure. Things are heating up here, and it's gonna get hotter!"

Gaim and Baron were on the arena floor, struggling to get up. Bravo approached Baron and extended his hand.

"Need a hand, superpal?"

Baron looked up to see Bravo extending his hand towards him. Something inside Baron was stirring. It was not anything to blow out of proportion, but this was honestly the first he was given any compassion at all. However, he did remember the last time he angered Colonel Dan, so Daryl did not want to take that chance of making him mad again. Baron took Bravo's hand, and got up. Shortly after, Bravo spoke to Gaim.

"You got a lot of weapons on you Gaim, but they're only part of winning the war. You need an army. People who believe in something righteous, and are willing to die for it. With a noble goal in common, loyalty comes after. And I got that with this guy here."

Bravo placed his hand on Baron's right shoulder.

"That's the difference between you and us. We stand together, ready and willing to do the right thing, unfazed by whatever lies our enemies may tell to divide us and conquer us. You are all alone Gaim, in your delusional crusade."

Shu was not just feeling fatigue all over his body. He was also feeling anger rising from his body the more Bravo with ignorance.

"You say we have nothing to offer to you, but you're wrong. We offer you purpose and the chance to be an actual hero to your people. But you turned it down, AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS! YOU END UP BEING USED BY A TERRORIST RINGLEADER! IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?! IS THIS WANT YOUR LIFE TO MEAN?! Well, I refuse to accept it. You're meant for something more. And I'm gonna make sure you fight for the right side. This battle is over. Admit it, and join us."

As Baron and Bravo saw Gaim still kneeling on the floor, Gaim was in his thoughts.

'I just have one more lockseed on me. But even then, these two will just...work together and kick my ass like it was nothing. I know I went into this fight because I was a distraction for Gai's mission, but this is turned into something more. I didn't expect it to, but it is. I can't do this by myself. I need more than just power. I need help...'

Just then, a motorcycle sound was heard inside the stadium. It just made a jump off the bleacher seats and made it onto the arena floor. When the bike landed, Gaim instantly knew what the motorcycle was. It was a Sakura Hurricane. Riding it was Gai Tsutsugami. Baron, Bravo, DJ Sagara, and everyone watching the fight were equally shocked by his unexpected arrival. Sagara commented to this development.

"OKAY! Did not expect his everyone, but here we have. The leader of Funeral Parlor! GAI TSUTSUGAMI!"

(Webcast, various animations involving funerals and chibi-corpses are played before returning to live stream.)

As soon as Gai got off his bike, it shrunk and retracted into a lock vehicle. Gai took a few steps before stopping. He then spoke.

"Bet you weren't expecting to see me, now did you?"

Bravo spoke next.

"Yeah, I gotta admit. But you were here too late. This fight is over, and now Funeral Parlor has now three GHQ Kamen Riders to worry about."

"Oh, should I? Was this fight all about little old me?"

"Not at first, but me and my teammate here, Baron. We seriously kicked his ass to the ground. Guy must've known in some way that he was going to lose today. But he fought us all the same. He's brave, but an idiot."

Gaim spoke in defiance.

"F*** you, man!"

"HEY! That is no way to talk to a superior officer, maggot!"

"Ever heard the phrase 'don't count your chickens before they hatch?' Did Gaim here ever told you that he wanted to surrender? Because based on his last remark towards you, I say he's got one more round in him. And that's all he needs to defeat both of you. Gaim! Can you stand up and fight one last time?"

Gaim finally stood up, albeit with a little struggle. He even transformed back into his Orange Arms, but with difficulty.

"Ugh... Yeah, sure. But in case you haven't noticed..."

"Don't worry. I came prepared."

Gai closed his eyes, and held out his hand. Every rider in the stadium knew what Gai was doing. He was summoning his Sengoku Driver, which meant that he somehow acquired a Sengoku Genome. While Baron and Bravo were internally figuring out how the leader of Funeral Parlor had his hands on a vital weapon, Gaim knew he did his part just fine. Crystal streams flowed out of a bright circle on Gai's chest. The streams were forming on his right hand until it became a Sengoku driver. Gai placed the driver on his waist. Then he took out a lockseed. The lettering read 'L.S. 04.' This was the Melon lockseed. Gai began his transformation.

"HENSHIN!"

"MELON!"

As a metallic melon was forming above Gai, Gai threw his melon lockseed into the air. Gai caught his lockseed before it dropped on the floor, and placed it on his driver.

"LOCK-ON!"

The driver played the same Japanese horangai music that Gaim's belt would play. Gai then flipped the cutting blade on his driver.

"SOIYA!"

"MELON ARMS! TENKA GOMEN!"

The metallic melon descended on Gai's shoulders. As the melon landed, a white latex pre-arms suit formed all around Gai's body. The metallic melon unfolded to form armor. It was green on the outside while pale orange on the inside, like a real melon. When it fully unfolded, Gai took out his left hand, and a shield appeared. This was the Melon Defender, a large shield made purely for defense. However, like Gaim, Gai had a Musou Saber with him as his default weapon. He was almost a medieval knight who also typically had a sword and shield as their standard armament. It was shaped like a tall pentagon that was curved at the sides with a point at the bottom that doubles it like a melee weapon. On the shield was a gold two-pronged pitchfork with a red jewel at the center. On the large screen at the stadium, Sagara made himself known to the new rider.

"Hellloooo, new rider. Never thought I see the actual day where I would see the leader of a terrorist movement be a like these gentlemen here. So, Gai. All of Japan wants to know: WHAT IS YOUR RIDER NAAAMMMEEEEE?!"

Gai took a good look of himself on the big screen that was webcasting him all over the country. After taking a moment, Gai decided on his rider name.

"Zangetsu. Kamen Rider Zangetsu."

As soon as Zangetsu named himself, the video graphics around him on the arena screen speed out his name both in Japanese and English.

"Okay! You've seen here, y'all. The new Kamen Rider on the block, ready to mix it with the GHQ Riders here. I can't wait to see what Zangetsu has in store for all of us! I AM SO FIRED UP!"

(Animations of fire, including the screen being wavy with red and orange, were played.)

Zangetsu walked close to Gaim to offer help, but upon a closer look, Gaim was in no shape for battle.

"You're exhausted now. Let me fight against these two."

"You think you could take them?"

"Does that really need an answer?"

Gaim took a moment to think. He knew he was exhausted and sore all over. He had used up all but one of his lockseeds, and Gaim definitely knew that between Baron and Bravo, he would most certainly lose against the both of them due to the GHQ riders having more battle experience on the field than him. Gaim had no other option but to give the rest of the match to Zangetsu. Gaim reached out his left hand, and Zangetsu lightly tapped it. Baron went back to his Banana arms to ready himself against the new rider. Bravo spoke to Zangetsu with spite and animosity in his voice.

"I should have known he was working for you, Gai. Or Zangetsu. I honestly don't give a shit what you call yourself. I know exactly what to call you."

"Oh? What would that be?

"Terrorist. Anarchist. Fascist. War-monger. Asshole. And so much more. But I don't wanna waste time with name-calling. I just wanna kick the living shit out of you, and then personally send the rest of your terrorist cronies to hell myself."

"Well, I'm just shaking in my boots."

Bravo charged towards Zangetsu with Baron following him. Bravo got close enough to Zangetsu to swing his left weapon to hit, but Zangetsu blocked it with his shield. Bravo then used his right weapon to hit Zangetsu, but was once again blocked by Zangetsu's Musou Saber. Zangetsu then hit Bravo with one swing of his saber, and made a hit that caused significant damage. As Bravo was reeling in from the pain, he was in thought.

'Holy crap! That sword swing had more power in it than when I faced Gaim. Is he that powerful?'

Bravo charged towards Zangetsu again, and was not only blocked again, but Zangetsu attacked Bravo with his shield. Bravo was back flipped with pain. He got up again.

"NOT DONE YET!"

Bravo charged once more towards Zangetsu only to feel the wrath of Zangetsu's Musou Saber two times. Bravo was struggling to stand up once again.

"My turn!"

Baron said out loud as he began his attack on Zangetsu. Baron thrusted his Banaspear to Zangetsu, but was stopped and pushed aside by the Melon Defender. Zangetsu then hit Baron 10 times with his sword. Baron had more than enough willpower to keep on fighting. While Zangetsu was distracted by Baron, Bravo attempted to attack Zangetsu by striking him from behind. Zangetsu's senses were enhanced by the suit, and instantly sped away from the two GHQ riders. Zangetsu then used his speed to slash both GHQ riders at the same time. The slice almost resembled a melon slice. Although the attack did not cause the two GHQ riders to lose their armors and forms, the damage was still staggering. While the fight was happening, Gaim looked at how Zangetsu was able to mow down the two GHQ riders like they were novices. He remembered how much of a hard time each of them gave him. And now he sees just how easily weak they are compared to Zangetsu, Gaim was starting to feel a level of, not inadequacy, but disappointment. Disappointment towards himself.

'I thought I was getting somewhere. But instead, this is only showing just how much I didn't move forward. I see Gai fighting like this, I see just how small I am compared to him. All this time, I thought I was becoming something else...'

With a powerful 360 horizontal spin, Zangetsu sliced both Baron and Bravo. Both GHQ riders dropped onto the arena floor, utterly wrecked by overwhelming might. Both were groaning in pain that was dealt to them. Zangetsu looked at the both of them for a while, then he walked over to Gaim. He reached out his hand to him.

"So, ready to get out of here?"

Gaim looked at Zangetsu, looking at him and at himself for a while. He eventually took Zangetsu's hand to get up. As Zangetsu took out his Lock Vehicle, Gaim did the same thing. Bravo was seeing this from the floor.

"HEY! WE (pant) AIN'T (pant) DONE YET!"

"You're on the floor and ready to give out. It's pretty much over, no matter how much you don't want it to happen."

Bravo was feeling enraged by Zangetsu's words. Baron only looked at Gaim and looked at the white rider.

'The leader of terrorist cell being stronger than me. I don't mind that being real. I look forward to the day I can face someone like him in battle. Rather than that orange loser.'

"You want to continue this battle?"

Zangetsu took out his Lock Vehicle, and activated it. Gaim took it as a cue, and did the same thing.

"Catch us if you can!"

Both riders rode to the nearest arena exit, and sped their way outside of the Tokyo dome.

xxxxxx

(Outside)

Several soldiers on the east side of the stadium were on guard duty. One of them heard motorcycle sounds.

"Hey, any of you guys hear that?"

"What's the matter, Adams? You hearing things or something...?"

The sounds of motorcycles were coming closer until the sounds were right above them. When the soldiers looked up, they all saw Gaim as well as a white armored warrior leap above them with motorcycles. As both riders landed on the ground and sped away, the soldiers immediately contacted their superior officer who was still inside the arena.

xxxxxx

(Inside Tokyo Dome)

Bravo was still writhing in pain dealt from Zangetsu. Couple with the shame of being defeated by a 'terrorist,' Bravo was wallowing in shame. He saw Baron struggling to get up as well. Bravo was now feeling disappointment in himself for failing his young ward as well. A GHQ soldier was running to where the both of them are to deliver a message.

"Colonel Dan, sir."

"Ugh... What is it, soldier?"

"Sir. Reporting that Gaim and a white armored warrior were fleeing the scene. Three of our convoys are going after them. Awaiting orders from you sir."

"Tell the convoy to keep following them. Me and lieutenant Yan here will deal with them ourselves. YAN! Get your bike ready. We're going after them. Our battle is not done yet."

"Good. I'd be pissed if it was."

Both GHQ riders took out their lock vehicles. Bravo's lock vehicle was the same as Baron's. Bravo and Baron got onto their bikes, started them, and rode to the entrance where Gaim entered. The soldier inside the stadium radioed his comrades to clear the way for Colonel Dan and Lieutenant Yan. As all this was going on, DJ Sagara stopped using the arena's audio/video system, but was still live webcasting the event.

"You thought this was over everyone? HELLS NAH! I'm still committed to give all of you watching this a FULL ON RIDER BATTLE!"

(Animations and sounds involving motorcycles were played. Followed by various clips involving the Mad Max movies)

"And I gots the cameras to do it."

Sagara takes the web cam on his computer and takes it to the roof of the building. Audiences everywhere instantly knew that the web cam was a wireless one. Sagara took some stair to the top of the building he was filming from until he made to the roof of the building. There he showed to his online audience a table with some sort of orange round drone with helicopter blades on the top.

"I know what y'all are thinking. But I swear; this thing can film and fly.

Sagara placed the web cam on the table and placed it in a position so everyone watching could see what he was doing. Sagara took the holotablet that was near the sphere drone, turned it on, and activated the drone. The drone activated, but performed unlikely actions. It picked itself up, activated the helicopter blades on its top, and soon began to fly. People watching the webcast were amazed that for a drone that looked a crappy sci-fi prop created by some third-rate hack could actually be capable of flying. Then the live feed went from the wireless webcam to the lens of the round drone. Sagara continued his broadcast from the drone.

"Okay. Now the show can get on the road. Let's watch how this fight between riders can go. We taking it to the highway. So don't go anywhere. It's about to get f***ing nuts."

Sagara typed the orders on the holotablet, instructing the drone to follow and film the targets. Sagara provided the images through prerecorded videos of Gaim, Zangetsu, Baron and Bravo from earlier. As soon as he was done, the drone took to the skies to locate the riders on their bikes. The webcast was still filming the entire city if Tokyo. Everyone could see what the drone was seeing. The crowded streets of Shibuya, the hustle of Ikebukuro, and the ruins of Roppongi Hills. Eventually, the drone found Gaim and Zangetsu on their motorcycles while being chased by GHQ convoys. While the convoys were exceeding the speed limit, they could not catch up to the riders as they were faster than them. The orange round drone was filming what was currently happening on the highway with DJ Sagara giving commentary in his colorful way.

"As we can see here y'all, the valiant soldiers are actively catching up to Gaim and Zangetsu, but just can't keep up. I'm awfully concerned about the fuel reserve that the riders bike have. At some point, those bikes have to stop for gas. Now hold on..."

The live footage showed one of the soldiers shooting an RPG from the sunroof from the front military Humvee. However, the RPG missed. Sagara continued his commentary.

"HOLY ****! One of the soldiers just fired an F***ING RPG AT Gaim. ISN'T THAT F***ED UP?! This is getting intense, people. Oh, it just got more intense."

Footage of Bravo and Baron racing towards the military Humvees was shot.

"Aww, damn. Bravo and Baron just made it to the highway. The fight is still on, everyone. IT'S MAD MAX STYLE!"

(On the highway)

Bravo matched the speed of the rear Humvee with Baron behind him. Bravo signaled the soldier on the front passenger seat to roll down his window.

"Sir!"

"Why are they ahead of you?!"

"Sir! Apologies Sir! But it seems that their motorcycles are capable of more speed than our convoy, sir!"

Bravo deduced that if the bikes Gaim and Zangetsu had were made from the same man, then their bikes can be just as fast as theirs.

"Order all available units to block all highway exits! We're gonna cut all escape routes and box them in on this route's dead end."

"Yes sir!"

The soldier rolled up his window to issue Bravo's orders. Bravo then spoke to Baron.

"You get all that?!"

"Pretty much! Although won't they fight back?! I know with Gaim, we can take him down! But Zangetsu?! We need a..."

"Frickin' army to take him down?! That's what's waiting at the end of the road!"

Baron was impressed at Bravo's willingness to take extremes.

"Gaim belongs to me! Just remember that!"

"Roger that!"

Ahead of the highway road, Gaim and Zangetsu were riding faster than the occupational military. Zangetsu was contacted by Tsugumi.

"Gai!"

"What is it?"

"I just intercepted some communication from GHQ. They're setting up roadblocks to keep you and Shu escaping. Even worse. They got reinforcements with heavy firepower to take the both of down. They're pulling out all the stops. They want you both dead. What are your orders?"

"Order all our forces in the field to return to base."

"But Gai..."

"No buts, Tsugumi. Just do it."

The transmission ended. Zangetsu then spoke to Gaim.

"Shu, we got a problem!"

"What?!"

"GHQ reinforcements are waiting for us at the end of the road. And they are eager to make us corpses on sight."

"What's the plan?!"

"Go faster!"

"FASTER?! But I thought there was an army to kill us on sight, and you want to get there sooner?!"

"Remember what Sagara gave me?"

"Yeah. A data core. Why bring it up?"

"Sagara wrote data concerning our bikes. If we reach a certain speed limit, it will enable us to teleport."

"Teleportation?! Are you telling me that if we reach 88 miles an hour, our bikes will instantly transport us anywhere but here?!"

"Actually, its 999 kilometers, but the principle is the same. Be ready."

Shu was feeling nervous once again. He was between a rock and a hard place. Either face the army dedicated to make him a dead man, or possibly be a dead man in god knows where. Shu decided to try something crazy.

"We have no other choice, right?"

"That's an automatic yes. Try to catch up."

Zangetsu revved his bike to reach a faster speed rate. Gaim did the same thing. As both of them went faster than before, Sagara was continuing bringing nonstop entertainment to the masses.

"Well, both Zangetsu and Gaim are approaching towards the end of the road. Let's see where it will lead them."

Sagara took out a keyboard, typed in some commands, and the screen just did a three way split. The drone actually discarded a rectangular piece of itself, and activated its own helicopter blade to fly. It then flew to the end of the highway road to discover several GHQ battalions waiting with weapons that would give a smaller army reason to run like cowards.

"WOAH! Massive GHQ squads with firepower to make World War III is waiting for both riders at the end of the road. And Both Gaim and Zangetsu are approaching them at a rapid pace. It won't be long before both of them face an army of soldiers ready to wipe them off the face of the earth. However, this is Gai Tsutsugami we're talking about here. If he's got something for them, he better pull out fast. Otherwise..."

(Animations of bullets whizzing above Sagara were played with Sagara wearing a military helmet with ferns taped on. The screen rapidly flashes red, yellow, and orange for effect.)

As the people watching saw the huge amount of soldiers at the end of the highway route, those who still saw Gaim as someone who was willing to fight on their behalf were feeling frightened at the thought of their hero dead at the hands of the occupational army. They feared that will lead to mass riots that will plunge their country into unrelenting chaos. Just like Lost Christmas. Meanwhile on the highway, Bravo and Baron saw Gaim and Zangetsu inching away from the both of them.

"Gaim and Zangetsu are getting away from us."

"I wouldn't worry, lieutenant. Remember. It's part of the plan."

Gaim and Zangetsu were steadily speeding away from Bravo and Baron, but as soon as both of them saw the end of the road, they saw the GHQ reinforcements waiting for them. There were tanks, armored vehicles with mounted machine guns, helicopters with missiles aimed at them, and soldiers with assault rifles and RPGs. All ready to raise some hell against their enemies. As Gaim and Zangetsu were getting closer to the reinforcements, the speedometer on their bikes looked like they were going haywire.

"Uhh, Gai? The speedometer on my bike. Is it supposed to be doing that?"

Gai saw the speedometer on his bike doing the same thing.

"This is it, Shu! Get ready!"

Their bike were going faster and closer to the GHQ reinforcements, but then sakura petals were floating past them as they sped towards the end of the highway.

"Why are there sakura?"

Gaim and Zangetsu's motorcycles suddenly lifted off the ground, and spun around. Both the soldiers and the people watching the chase were surprised to say the least.

"Whoa! Gai! Watch your head! I'm getting very dizzy from this."

As their bikes were now encased to energy sakura flowers, a zipper portal appeared in front of them, and in between the riders and the GHQ reinforcements.

"HOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLYYYY SSSSSSSSSSHHIIIIIIIIITTTTTT!"

Gaim and Zangetsu entered the portals. Before they closed, Sagara's drone entered right behind Gaim. Then the portal closed, leaving behind huge battalions of soldiers stupefied by what they saw. Many of the soldiers were talking among themselves to determine just what they exactly saw. Baron and Bravo with their convoy soon made it to where their reinforcements were, and were curious to what the soldiers were talking about. Bravo spoke to the soldiers.

"TEN-HUT!"

The soldiers stood upright at the command.

"SIR!"

They all said at the same time.

"At ease!"

The soldiers spread their legs as ordered.

"What's the situation?"

"Sir! Captain Ryans reporting, sir!"

"Captain, what the hell is going on here? Where are the insurgents you were ordered to subdue and capture?"

"Sir. We saw the insurgents approaching to our position at a fast rate. We were all ready to open fire on them when..."

"Yes?"

"Well, I can't really explain it sir. I-I-I-I-..."

"SPEAK UP, SOLDIER!"

"BOTH GAIM AND ZANGETSU JUST DISAPPEARED RIGHT IN FRONT OF US!"

Bravo and Baron were stumped by the captain's description.

"What was that?"

"Well sir. To be more accurate, As soon as both insurgents were rapid approaching to our positions, their bikes suddenly lifted up and teleported somewhere."

"Teleported, but where? How did they teleport? What honestly happened, captain?"

Captain Ryans was at a loss for words. He couldn't explain what really happen because the event was entirely unbelievable. One of the privates spoke up, and made his way through the rest of his comrades from the armored vehicle.

"Excuse me! Sir!"

"What is it private?"

"Sir. I have footage of how it was all done. I've transferred the feed from my helmet to my holotablet, in case something unexplained happened in front of us."

"Let's see it."

The private showed his holotablet to Bravo and played the video file that showed Gaim and Zangetsu on their bikes and actually running into a portal of some kind. After the file was fully played, both Bravo and Baron were in shock, to say the least. Bravo gave an order to the soldiers.

"If any of you have a line to HQ, make a call for Daisuke Junnouchi Sagara!"

"SIR, YES SIR!"

The soldiers followed Bravo's orders. Some of them had radio receivers that had a line to the GHQ building. It took a while, but eventually they made contact with Sagara's communicator.

xxxxxx

(A little while before)

Sagara saw the teleportation footage, and was 'stunned ' by what he saw like everybody else who was seeing the live webcast. After a few seconds of silence, Sagara acted out in a frantic manner and burst out whatever words, both normal and curse, that came to his mind while gathering random papers, scattering them around, and throwing them in the air.

"HOLY MOTHERF***ING $#!T! THAT JUST BLEW MY MOTHERF***ING MIND! I WAS THIS CLOSE TI P!$$!NG MYSELF. THAT WAS SO F***ED IN SO MANY GOOD WAYS! PLEASE TELL YOU MOTHERF***ERS... SAW... ALL OF IT!"

Sagara played the footage again a number of three times. The last time was played in slow motion. When the video was done, Sagara looked like he was a complete mess.

"In short everyone, I have no idea what just happened. But this is not the end. What we have here is..."

There was a stunned silence before Sagara spoke again.

"A commercial break."

Static animation was played before a sign that read 'Transmission cut. Still loading. Please stand by' was shown with an anime version of himself watching a watch on his wrist. This made everyone react in a negative and was regarded as a dick move. Sagara was still in his chair while attempting to reconnect to his drone. What that was happening, Sagara received a call on his cell.

"Yo."

"Excuse, Mr. Sagara? I'm private Inoue, and you have..."

"Been requested by Colonel Dan Eagleman, right?"

"Uh... yes."

"Put him on."

The soldiers handed his radio comm to Bravo.

"Yes Colonel. What can I do for you?"

"You can start by telling me how on earth can a rebel and the leader of a underground terrorist organization managed to have their bikes float off the ground and open a portal to OGD KNOWS WHERE?!"

"...Yeah. I gathered that this would make you mad."

"You mean that you knew you gave motorcycles capable of disappearing..."

"They didn't disappear, Colonel. It's actually more like teleportation."

"...Say that again."

"It's teleportation. My very own personal research. And I have succeeded achieving teleportation a real thing for quite some time."

"And you didn't feel like this wasn't important for me to know?!"

"You, no. People that have higher authority than you, that's a big hells no. My research into teleportation is a not just a groundbreaking discovery, it can also be used for less than good reasons. By the time I would create pre-programmed safety subroutines that would prevent explosives, be it regular to nuclear, be instantaneously transported to major cities with major populations and kill everyone within them, my creation would be out of my hands and into the hands of cynical military leaders who only assume the worse of certain nations. In short Dan, mankind is dangerous enough with the weapons he already have. This kind of tech. Sooner or later, you might as well say goodbye to everything you've ever gave a damn about. But for now, you want to know how can you and your second banana ever hope to go to where Gaim and Zangetsu are."

"Pretty much."

"Your motorcycles are capable of teleportation themselves. It's a feature that I gave to both the Sakura Hurricane and the Rose Attacker. When you reach 999 kilometers on your speedometer, your bikes will levitate. As soon as they do, a sort of zipper portal will appear in front of you, and the portal will take you to where Gaim and Zangetsu are. This is how the bikes achieve teleportation."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. The question is, do you have the guts to do it?"

"Watch me. I know somehow you and the rest of Japan will."

Sagara smiled at Colonel Eagleman's determination.

"Good luck to you and the lieutenant."

"When this is over, I expect you to answer about your teleportation technology."

"When this is over Dan, everything will have the potential to change what you really know."

Colonel Eagleman was confused by Sagara's cryptic-sounding words. He dismissed them for now, and focused on the pursuit for Gaim and Zangetsu.

"Baron! Get over here."

"Yeah?"

"Get your bike ready. I know how we're gonna get to Gaim and Zangetsu."

"How, Colonel?"

"By doing the same thing they did. Our motorcycles are capable of doing the same thing. We ride until we both reach 999 kilometers. Then we should be able to teleport to where the both of them are."

"And how do you know that?"

"I just contacted Sagara. He assured me of that fact. So get ready."

"Yes sir."

"All soldiers return to base. Remain on further standby."

"SIR, YES SIR!"

The soldiers obeyed Colonel Eagleman's orders. Each of them returned back to their main headquarters until they received further orders. When all the soldiers were all gone, Bravo and Baron proceeded to speed on the barren highway until both motorcycles reached 999 kilometers on their bikes. What happened next was the same thing that happened to Gaim and Zangetsu. With the exception of rose petals surrounding them, Bravo and Baron levitated off the ground and entered the portal that manifested in front of them. With the mini-drone behind them, Sagara continued with his webcast.

"HELLLLO! That's right. It's your best friend in the universe, DJ Sagara. Giving you the show of a lifetime! I could waste time with a recap of everything you already saw, so here's a recap of everything you didn't see."

Sagara played various clips of the riders teleporting with their bike to a portal to parts unknown. The recap ended with the camera stopping at the bright light of the zipper portal.

"Okay! Now, here's the part where it gets not just exciting, but also mysterious. You really think I did the 'commercial break' just to keep all of you in suspense. No way, man. During the break, I tried to get a connection with my little drone hive."

(Pictures of the orange sphere drone with surrounding pictures of the mini-drones were shown)

"And now, we have actual footage of where all the riders are now. You heard me right. We are about to go see just on earth did the Kamen Riders go! Let's go to the playback."

Sagara played recorded footage of Gaim and Zangetsu going out the other end of the zipper portal, and appearing in a semi-luminescent forest. Once they got through, they were instantly met with Inves. Except these Inves had insect-like wings attached to them, and were chasing after Gaim and Zangetsu on their bikes. Both riders were preoccupied with dodging the monsters. Zangetsu talked to Gaim.

"We can't out chase them. We have to kill them to survive."

"Yeah I get what you saying."

Gaim and Zangetsu eventually stopped their bikes, but were still dodging the flying Inves attacking them from above. Gaim cocked the gun portion of his Musou Saber, and Zangetsu did the same thing. While Gaim missed with the first two shots, Zangetsu hit right on target with his first two. This cause one of the Inves to fall and hit the ground. Gaim was still dodging his monster while Zangetsu moved at a fast pace and sliced the Inves he was fighting with amazing speed. Gaim eventually shot down the Inves he was fighting with his remaining four shots. Zangetsu saw the Inves he was fighting weakened. He flipped the cutting blade on his driver.

"SOIYA! MELON AU LAIT!"

The gun portion on his Musou Saber started to gather energy. Zangetsu aimed at his target, pulled the trigger, and killed the Inves with four charged, melon-shaped shots. While Gaim connected his two swords together to make his naginata. He then placed his orange lockseed on his Musou Saber.

"LOCK-ON! 1-10-100-1000-10000!"

Gaim charged towards the Inves he was facing with a finishing blow.

"ORANGE CHARGE!"

The resulting slash ended with an explosion killing the Inves. The recorded footage ended there.

"Well, there you have it. Gaim and Zangetsu lost in a strange land with no way to get back to where they came from. While Baron and Bravo are in the same situation with a different goal. Locate and exterminate the insurgents."

Sagara displays live footage of Baron and Bravo appearing into the forest with no problem, and walking around to get a bearing to where they are.

"This fight to see who the true heroes to the people are has now become something else. We have questions now!"

(Animations of mini-clips pause at the end, then slowly move to the side for new clips to take place.)

"Like, where are they? What is this forest the riders are in? How did they get there? How can they get out? Why am I asking you?"

(Five still images of Sagara's face take up space on the screen until they all break away)

"The answers will soon come..."

Sagara focuses the camera for semi-dramatic effect until it instantly zooms backwards.

"...Immediately. I will be giving you all the latest coverage of this strange new development. This is not a challenge between riders anymore. For now. It has become a full-fledged mystery into the unknown. I'll be taking a little break, but the good times will keep on rolling. I guarantee that."

Sagara's side of the webcast was shut down for a while to make space of the live video feed of the riders exploring the forest they were all in. People connected to the internet with their phones, holotablets, computers, and internet capable televisions all saw the riders wandering aimlessly into the woods of unknown origin.

xxxxxx

(GHQ Headquarters)

Keido was waiting for the Sengoku Genomes to arrive from Sephirah Genomics in order to mass-produce them, resulting in rider soldiers that Sagara promised. However, Keido was becoming impatient as the transport cars were three hours late. Frustrated, he took out his phone to contact Sagara. Instead, Keido was contacted by Segai.

"What's the situation?"

"We have two major situations on our hands. One: our transports were under attack by Funeral Parlor."

This made Keido angry.

"Impossible. There were no leaks. We made sure of it."

"Well, one way or another, they knew what we were trying to do, but somehow must've gotten wind to what we were doing. Gai Tsutsugami already has ahold of one genome."

The last words to come out of Segai's mouth made Keido shudder with fear.

"And the other?"

"Unaccounted for. I even checked the cases myself. Apparently there was only one genome, and that one even came with a lock-vehicle. In short..."

"Sagara was behind this."

Keido said with sheer animosity.

"Probably leaked our plans at a time when we considered Funeral Parlor a minor threat at the moment. Which brings to the other situation at hand. Do you have computer near you?"

"Yes."

"To go Sagara's website. You'll find out yourself."

Kei reached to the computer terminal on his desk, searched for Sagara's website, and clicked the flashings words that read 'Fight of a lifetime.' There he found the webcast that featured Gaim, Zangetsu, Baron, and Bravo wandering around a forest that was all too familiar to Keido. This made him slam his fist onto the table a total of five time in anger, frustration, and panic.

"That's the underground greenhouse!"

"This has the potential to ruin everything we have in store."

"WORSE THAN THAT! Our superiors may kill us over this monumental failure!"

"You don't mean the top brass?"

"Worse than them. Segai. Locate Sagara's location of his web show and shut it down. And eliminate Sagara! I had it up to here with his insipid attempts to rebel against me."

"You mean he's done this more than once?"

"So much so that I practically begged my superiors to kill him sooner. I knew this was going to happen someday, but they felt that his work on teleportation would've made him an asset. Now is the time to fix a mistake that should've been handled a long time ago."

"Understood. I will handle my end. What about the riders?"

"There should be sufficient Inves to keep them busy and in the dark. I'll do what I can to keep them confused and lost in the greenhouse."

"There's not a lot of room to get lost in."

"I will keep them lost until you manage to cut the feed."

"Understood."

Keido ended his call, and pushed a hidden button on his desk. It activated the secret elevator that went directly to the control room of the underground greenhouse. During the descent, Keido was in his thoughts.

'When this all started, it was a distraction to keep Funeral Parlor from capturing the genomes. Now, I have to distract the nation long enough to keep Project Helheim a secret.'

xxxxxx

Shu and Gai were walking in the forest in their rider armor, looking for any landmarks to indicate they were still in Japan. For Shu, he would be grateful if there was any indication if they were still on earth. Everything about the forest seemed so alien to him. On top of all that, there were Inves in this forest. Part of him wanted to know about where they and feared if this place would take him and Gai alive. On the other hand, part wanted to stay because this place was satisfying his curiosity. Since there were Inves in this forest, it led Shu to conclude that this is the place that the Inves came from. Not to mention that some of the vegetation were familiar as well.

"Hey Gai."

"Yeah?"

"Have you noticed these plants remind you of something?"

"Indeed I do. They remind me of Oshima, and the victims of the virus."

"So, is this were the virus and the monsters come from?"

"I don't think so. This whole forest looks...new."

"New how?"

"Like they were naturally grown here, but did so in an almost fast pace. I'm not a botanist, but plants do take their time to grow from seeds to trees, bushes, shrubs, and so on."

"But this forest is different. Like this entire forest was forced to grown at a pace faster than other plants. But's that's impossible. That's the kind of..."

"Genetic engineering that would take decades to achieve?"

Shu remembered just what GHQ actually does both in public and in secret.

"So this whole place was grown with..."

"The Apocalypse Virus. There are still many things we do not know about the virus. What it's capable of. If you can unlock the potential of the virus, you would gain power that the world has never seen. I can only imagine that these trees and plants came out of ordinary seeds that would grow into ordinary plants, but have been mutated. All because of the Apocalypse Virus."

"And here I was thinking we should get the hell out of here as soon as possible."

"And deprive ourselves of an educational experience? Not a chance."

Just then, a fog descended over the riders, making navigating the layout of the forest more difficult to do.

"First we teleport to a mysterious forest in the middle of nowhere, then a fog arrives making it hard to trace back our path? This cannot be just a coincidence."

"What's so special about fog?"

"It's usually condensed water vapor, but this is different. It's thick like smoke. Makes it look artificial than natural."

Shu felt an ominous aura over them. Like there was a hidden force determined to keep them in the forest for nefarious purposes.

"Let's keep walking."

While on the other side of the forest were Bravo and Baron being in the same situation with no encounter with the Inves yet. However, Baron was feeling both frustration and uncertainty. Which fueled his frustration.

"Uuuuugggghhhh. Damn it, we're lost."

"No we're not, lieutenant."

"Of course we are! We have no idea where we are. Hell, I'm not sure if we're on the same planet."

"Okay, that's just taking things a little too far. I'm sure we're on earth. Judging by the looks of this forest, maybe we're in South America."

"SOUTH AMERICA?! How can you be so sure?!"

"HEY!"

Dan stopped walking. Daryl did the same thing.

"Bitching and whining are not going to get us anywhere. I may not know where we are, but what I do know is that complaints will not get us anywhere. Results do."

"And what results do you intend to get?"

Daryl replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Take a good look at this place. What does it remind you of?"

Daryl did so, and examined everything around him. He examined how the forest gave off some sort of light or aura around its plants. He examined the fungus that was growing off of the trees. When he got closer to one of the trees, he saw something familiar. Fruit. But this was not ordinary fruit. This was the same fruit that looked like the fruit that was growing off the victims of the Apocalypse Virus. The same fruit that appeared all over the news reports of a mutation of the virus and its effects on the victims.

"Holy crap."

Daryl said in a tone of subdued shock.

"Now you're getting it. I don't know how long this forest existed, but it's somehow playing a part with everything that's been happening back in Japan."

Silence took place as the colonel stopped speaking. Daryl listened for any sound of wildlife. There was nothing. No birds chirping, no grass rustling by mammals, nothing. There was only silence in the forest. Daryl felt of chill going down his spine as he began to think that this forest was different from the one that he knew. The one that shaped him into the person he is today. At least that one had more life in it than the one he was in.

"Lieutenant, I have a confession to make."

Daryl turned to Colonel Dan for his confession.

"I'm not here to actually work for the Anti-Bodies."

"I already knew that."

Colonel Dan felt a little shocked for underestimating Daryl's intuition.

"All those questions you asked before we made that broadcast. I figured it was for something. I just didn't know for what."

"I was given an undercover assignment by generals within the GHQ. My mission was to investigate Shuuichirou Keido and his Anti-Bodies. From his personal actions to the activities both his research and combat divisions. I was to discover if he was some part of recent developments concerning the Inves, riders like Gaim appearing alongside Funeral Parlor, and now the virus mutation."

"Why? Do you think that Shuuichirou Keido has something to do with the Inves?"

"When reports to my superiors, they felt that he was intentionally withholding key evidence in his reports. Evidence that should've gotten us closer to a solution to the Inves problem. However, since he is the head of the Anti-Bodies, there was a suspicion that somehow Shuuichirou Keido was keeping us in the dark on purpose."

"But what for?"

"That's what I want to know."

Colonel Dan walked to Daryl close enough to get in his face to pressure him of anything he knows. This made Daryl more uncomfortable than before.

"So I'm asking you. Man to man. Is there anything he might have told you about? Like the Inves, or his research into void technology? Anything at all."

Daryl was feeling the pressure. It was as if he was in a rock and a hard place. Daryl wanted to tell Colonel Dan about the Tsukigase Dam incident, and how he cooperated with an Inves to eliminate Funeral Parlor insurgents. On the other hand, he was under strict orders from Keido himself. When Keido issued his orders to Daryl, he felt like if he ever disobeyed the devil, he would see hell up-close and personal. Keido was successful in putting the fear of god into Daryl.

"Well, no need to tell me now. We still have a mission to complete. You can tell me the rest later as soon as we're done with work."

Colonel Dan backed off of Daryl. He did so because he wanted Daryl to trust him. Even behind the armor, Colonel Dan knew he was shaking in fear, but not because of him. Because of the man who had some sort of ulterior motive and was not disturbed by how much fear he instills in the hearts of men.

"Let's get moving."

Daryl followed Colonel into the mysterious forest. Not knowing what was ahead, armed with his lockseeds and the only sure fact in the unknown wilderness. His trust and loyalty to Colonel Dan.

xxxxxx

(Funeral Parlor Headquarters)

As the fighters returned to base, Shibungi was there waiting for all of them to return. The truck that parked closest to him was the one that had Argo, Ayase, and Tsugumi. As they got off, Ayase spoke to Shibungi.

"Hey, Shibungi. What's the matter?"

Argo came out next with Tsugumi right behind him.

"Something happened with Gai?"

"I know he went into the arena fight to help Shu."

"He did? Why?"

"I got the whole thing recorded."

"That's all well and good Tsugumi, but we have a larger situation at hand. Gai, as well as Shu, have disappeared."

That last sentence had all of the fighters in shock. Ayase broke the silence.

"Disappeared?! But where?"

"Some strange location that I am having a hard time pinpointing. Tsugumi, I need your help with that."

"Got it."

Tsugumi, as well as everyone else who got off their respective vehicles all ran to the main library. Inori was there watching the live webcast feed with Funell on the computer screen. Ayase spoke to Inori for any information.

"Inori! What happened? What did you see?"

"A lot went on. DJ Sagara managed to live record not just the fight between Shu, Gai, and the GHQ riders, but also there was a highway chase and then they teleported somewhere unfamiliar."

Everyone who heard Inori's explanation felt there were more details than she let on.

"Okay. Start at the beginning."

Inori and Shibungi took a few minutes to explain everything in greater detail. About how Gai became a Kamen Rider to defeat Baron and Bravo. How they Shu and Gai almost faced a huge battalion of GHQ soldiers before their motorcycles teleported them away. And how all the riders appeared into the forest that didn't seem to exist on earth. Everyone was shocked by what they heard and what they saw when Shibungi displayed video evidence to give them a better picture of what they saw. Jaws were dropped by the absolute lunacy of it all. Some of them felt that their fight against GHQ was pushing the boundaries of what was possible to the point where the notion of sanity was considered irrelevant.

"So Gai became a Kamen Rider, rode on their bikes to escape the GHQ, and then their bikes teleported them to a place that is possibly not earth."

Tsugumi summarized in one sentence. Shibungi confirmed it.

"That's the situation in a nutshell. Which is why I need your help, Tsugumi. Gai had his earpiece with him..."

"Which gives off his location to us in case Gai was injured in the line of fire, or, in a quite honestly scenario, gets lost somewhere."

"I've been trying to pinpoint his location, but for some reason something is jamming the frequency."

"I'll give it a look. If something is interfering with my system, then most probably it's something related to GHQ."

Tsugumi started to figure out where Gai and Shu were. While she was working, Ayase spoke to Shibungi for a bit while watching the live footage of the riders wandering into the fog-infested other-worldly woods.

"It's all so crazy."

"What is? The monsters, the appearance of childhood superheroes, or the motorcycles capable of teleportation?"

"Try all of the above. Up until Shu came along, I was satisfied that the only terrifying thing to happen to this world was the Apocalypse virus. Now with all this happening, do you think that maybe we bit off more than we can chew? I mean, I am in the fight all the way, but what happens if we win? I want Japan to be free from GHQ, but..."

"You're worried that the monsters are here to stay even after we've expelled the occupying conquerors?"

"Pretty much."

"I'm not worried. I actually kind of like it."

"Tsugumi?"

"I mean think about it. This world we lived was pretty much bat-shit crazy even before the Apocalypse virus happened. I see Shu as well as Gai as the answer to this question that some people ask themselves. 'How do we fight back against all the crazy that could kill us all?' We get even crazier. In a good way."

"So that's your answer to all of this. We make our fantasies come to life?"

"Why not? All our nightmares are."

Tsugumi resumed her work after she had her say in the conversation. Argo gave his thoughts on the matter.

"You have to admit, she's got a point. All this happened because of the Apocalypse virus. Now, I'm gonna try to sound sane as possible, but do you ever stop to think that all this was deliberate? We can't trust what the government says. That's one reason why we're all fighting, but..."

"Please don't tell me you're going to share your interest in conspiracy theories?"

Ayase said in an irritated, but deadpan voice

"Honestly, I don't believe in them..."

"Then why bring it up?"

"Because this one has some facts to support it."

Ayase and Shibungi gave Argo looks that ranged from minor disbelief to outright annoyance of absolute stupidity. Argo cleared his throat.

"The point I'm trying to make is this. What are the GHQ real intentions for our country? A super powerful virus came on a meteor and threatened to kill all of humanity overnight. I mean, where's the impact site? The crater that the meteor made when it got here? And just when we were all going to hell, here comes the GHQ, providing a vaccine that will save our lives in exchange our personal liberties and freedoms!"

Shibungi interrupted Argo's rant.

"Although I do share your skepticism with GHQ, Argo. It does us no good to be throwing out unfounded theories to predict what Shu and Gai are going to encounter in the forest they are in. I share your concern, Argo. Everyone in this room shares it. The only thing we can do now is locating where they are to the best of our abilities. Until then, calm and patience are what we need right now."

Although Argo started with a theory that was 'crazy,' to put it mildly, but he did had a point. It wasn't until Kenji Kido came in with an attitude that made people instantly irritated, and a personality dripping with arrogance.

"So, I see our fearless leader and his spunky sidekick lost in a myyyssterrious forest in the middle of nowhere. Heh-Heh. That's funny."

This made Ayase mad.

"And what's so funny about seeing our leader and friend lost in a place where we can't reach them?"

"Why do you care? Is one of those guys the one you wanna get dirty with?"

For Ayase, that was the last straw. She sped her wheelchair close to Kido to give him a head butt and punch him hard on the ground. However, Kido was too quick and moved out of the way, causing Ayase to fall straight off her wheelchair. She flipped herself over with Kido standing over her. Everyone on the room were watching the whole thing. Even Tsugumi.

"You know you can suck so hard."

"Still beats not having legs."

Ayase was now feeling indignation over Kido's remark about her handicap. It was bad enough that life has to give her crap for her inability to use her legs like she used to. But now Kido just has to remind her that without her legs, she was only half a badass. And that is what stung Ayase even more. It was not until Tsugumi interfered, thus distracting her from her work.

"That's enough, Kido! Do you really have to be such a dick at this time?"

"Because I can. It's the same reasoning for what the GHQ are doing. Everyone creates the thing they fear. These guys are no different. I wouldn't be surprised that all of this is done out of pure egotism. No different from what everyone else in the world is doing. All great achievements, be they beneficial or harmful to humanity, is an effort of the ego in some way."

Kenji's words were rubbing everyone the wrong way. He could say that for GHQ, but not them. As Tsugumi helped Ayase unto her chair, she responded to Kenji's cynicism.

"If that true, then why is Gai or Shu fighting for us?"

"Simple. Gai wants more than what you people want, and Shu is a total tool."

That last remark made the fighters in the room talk amongst themselves, commenting on Kenji's audacity.

"Listen. If you want to believe that there's some grand design where you people come out on top, then that's your delusion. Me, I can see what's really going on, and it's your own damn fault for allowing yourselves to be blind to what's really happening."

Before leaving where he was not wanted, Kenji walked to where Tsugumi was working on locating Gai and Shu. After typing some of his code into the holo-terminal where Tsugumi worked, the screen displayed a specific location at last. This shocked Tsugumi.

"Holy crap."

"You're welcome, by the way."

Nearly everyone gathered to the screen to see where Gai and Shu were. The location shocked them to say the least. Ayase was the first to speak out her shock.

"No way. All this time, they were in..."

"GHQ Main Headquarters."

Shibungi confirmed. Tsugumi typed further commands to see how a whole forest could exist in a building like that.

"I got it. They're 300 meters below ground."

"You're kidding. That's almost 1,000 feet. How is this possible?"

"I honestly do not know, Argo. But from what I can guess, this was supposed to be a well-kept secret. From a glance, your theory maybe be based on fact. But our part is done. All we can do now is wait and see where this event may lead us."

The feeling of helplessness now returned to everyone, but no longer was it based on concern. It was based on an enigma they can only witness unfold.

xxxxxx

(Helheim)

Gaim and Zangetsu were still wandering in the forest. Both were still attempting to navigate through while still trying to find any familiar landmark to indicate where they were. Gaim noticed something that he felt he needed to share with Zangetsu.

"Uh, Gai?"

"Yes?"

"Does it feel like we're going in circles?"

Zangetsu stopped for a moment and turned to speak to Gaim.

"Been wondering when you'd find out."

"Wait. So... we're lost?!"

"Sorry to say, but yes."

Gaim groaned loudly in frustration and exasperation.

"AWWW, COME ON! How long have we been here?!"

"I understand your frustration, and I might have an explanation for it. We're being led astray on purpose."

Through a camera lens and within the control room of Project: Helheim, Keido was manipulating the internal environment of the forest. While he was doing that, he also assembled a massive horde of Inves at a gate. One of four located at north, south, east, and west part of the underground greenhouse. He had them gathered by the few remaining men under his command and were guided to covert elevators to the greenhouse. He had let a few of them out, but for research purposes, as the Inves were products of the Apocalypse Virus, and observed them in their natural habitat. Since those were eliminated by the intruders, Keido had cages made for Inves gathered from outside in the off-chance that Project Helheim were to be discovered by anyone else other than those in his inner circle. Some would call that paranoia, but Keido knew of one person who would do that, but his superiors would not believe him.

'In the end, I was right to have these cages here. Once I erase the intruders, I will have Sagara's head on a silver platter. He will NOT get in my way again.'

Keido continued to type in commands to the environmental controls to keep Gaim and Zangetsu lost within the greenhouse. Meanwhile, Sagara returned to his chair after a long break. Although the live feed was still transmitting, it was transmitting with no sound. He imagined the people forced to see silent footage without any clue.

'This is boring with a capital B. Time to give this show the Sagara treatment.'

He pressed a key on his keyboard to resume his work. There were two windows once again. One with the live footage of the riders lost in the forest but as a smaller window compared to the larger window that had Sagara's face.

"HEY THERE! It's your favorite person ever, DJ Sagara back from break and ready to close this little fight. Well, this was supposed to be a little fight. But somehow, this turned into a chase, then a sci-fi show. Now, it looks like something out of Lost. Anybody remember that?"

(Cricket sounds played)

"Well, you good people don't want to hear my jokes of me acting silly anymore. And I understand. This is serious now. I want to know where the riders are as well. So, from here on in, I will take this seriously. Just so you know this is the first time I ever had to do something serious, but you can count on me to give you nothing but the facts. Because the facts are literally being presented to you as you see them. However, the thing is there is no sound. I'll be working on that as events are progressing. Just be patient for any new developments and stay tuned."

Sagara's screen was off, leaving only the live footage of the riders still lost in the forest. While the footage was playing, Sagara was typing in computer code, attempting to reactivate the audio of the drone that followed the riders into the forest through the portal. Acknowledging that seeing armored warriors navigating an unknown location can become tedious, Sagara typed commands for the mini drones to make contact with the riders to get the show rolling. The first one he had in mind was Gaim. As soon as he did, one the mini drones filming the first rider duo in secret flew to Gaim's field of vision. Gaim eventually noticed, alerting Zangetsu.

"Gai, look at this."

Gaim was pointing at the small flying drone with the camera lens next to him.

"Must be a drone of some kind. Sagara must still be doing his webcast."

"I think we're way past what he wanted to show."

"Yes, but that also means that everybody watching must know what's happening to us by now."

"Woah. People have watching us get lost in a forest? Must get pretty boring by now."

The mini-drone then flew away from the two of them.

"It's getting away."

"After it."

The two riders ran to follow the mini drone to where it was going. Gai thought that it would lead to a clearing or a landmark to ascertain their location. At least, that was the hope. As soon as both of them got a little closer to the mini-drone, it flew upwards. Zangetsu stopped while Gaim was still running as it flew away, making him slam into something hard. He then fell on his back onto the ground.

"Well, this is familiar."

Said Zangetsu.

"Tell me about it."

Replied Gaim. Zangetsu examined what Gaim ran into. It was a metal wall.

"So, this place does has an end. Good news, Shu. We're still on Earth, after all."

"Great. What's the bad news?"

"We're in a trap of some kind. Whatever this place is, it's not in friendly territory."

"Do you think this was Baron's and Bravo's plan?"

"I can't say for sure, but it's beginning to look like it."

The mini-drone came back to them for a bit before flying off again in the opposite direction.

"Shu! Let's follow it."

"Right."

Zangetsu and Gaim ran to keep up with the mini-drone as it was flying straight to an unknown location. The fog was getting thicker as they followed the mini-drone. Luckily for them, it had on such a bright light on its top. It was alight to indicate that it was recording everything that was going on to the people watching the live webcast. Gaim and Zangetsu were so preoccupied with following the mini-drone that they did not notice they have run past Baron and Bravo.

"Colonel, wasn't that...?"

"After them now!"

Baron and Bravo ran after Gaim and Zangetsu.

"Aren't we fighting against them?"

"That's on hold. If they're going somewhere that's a way out of here, we're taking it."

"Understood, sir."

As he was running, Gaim noticed the GHQ riders running after them.

"Hey, Gai! We got Baron and Bravo after us."

"Ignore them for now! We'll deal with them later."

xxxxxx

While the riders were running, Keido was watching over them. He was internally panicking over the fact that they were getting closer to the center of the greenhouse, where the artificial tree was. Keeping them lost was no longer an option. Now, he had to eliminate them. First, he increased the thickness of the fog to max. Then he input commands to release the Inves that were in their cages and release them into the greenhouse. The cages opened, and all the Inves inside ran to where the riders would stop and try to kill them. Just as Keido stopped, the computer terminals in the control room started acting on their own. This made him confused and attempted to override whatever was undoing the command input of fog control. Keido ultimately failed, and the artifical fog became thinner to the point that nothing could remain hidden anymore. Keido eventually regained command, and calculated the trajectory of the riders and the artificial tree. They were being led to the tree that was producing the new strain of the Apocalypse Virus. He did all he could on his end. All he could do was wait to see if his efforts could prduce the desired results.

xxxxxx

Sagara finished repairing the audio of the drones he had following the riders. In reality, he knew about the control room in the underground greenhouse, and implated a mini-router covertly placed where no one could locate it. He pressed a key on keyboard to continue his webcast coverage of the riders.

"Hello. DJ Sagara here, giving you the latest update of the situation. Well, I finally got the audio to work, with a few twists. With the exception of Gai Tsutsugami, the real identities of the riders will remain hidden. After I repaired the audio, I heard some of their real names, and made the conscientious decision to bleep out their names. The logic is this. Kamen Riders are essentialy our country's interpretation of the superhero. Superheroes have secret identities. The reason why is because the people behind the mask have people they care about. Friends, families, victims that they helped out of a situation. They wear the mask because the people they fight against do not play fair. To get to the righteous crusader, you go and eliminate the reason why the crusader fights. That means heartache, grief, and a desire for revenge that goes nowhere. I don't want that. You don't want that. With that, let's get on with the show."

Sagara's window was smaller than the displaying the riders chasing after something. Sagara provided reporting while the live footage was still streaming. The audience was tense with anticipation of what was going to happen next.

"Here's what's happening do far. What started as a match-up between three riders went to a two on to battle, a highway chase, and then turned into a journey into the unknown. Gaim and Zangetsu, one named Gai Tsutsugami, leader of Funeral Parlor, and the other a lone agent, were chased by two other Kamen Riders affiliated with GHQ. The GHQ riders proceeded to apprehend the both of them when suddenly their motorcycles teleported them into an unknown forest that give the impression that it could not be located on a map. The situation has changed now as Gaim and Zangetsu were running towards a specific location, seemingly chasing something. Let's go to the live footage."

The screen containing Sagara went off as the live footage was now occupying the rest of the screen. Gaim and Zangetsu could now see what was in front of their eyes. Larger branches with thicker and larger leaves were now obstructing their vision. Still, they ran, closer and closer to the unseen destination. After a while, they saw it. A large tree in the center of all things. It resembled a baobab tree that were located in Africa. It was humongous, tall, and had massive roots. Zangetsu examined the soil, and saw something shocking. Fragments of the meteor that gave rise to the Apocalypse Virus were embedded into the earth. While Zangetsu looked to the ground for clues, Gaim looked to the skies and saw something interesting.

"Gai! Look at this!"

Zangetsu ran to where Gaim was.

"What is it?"

"Look at the sky. Or at least, that's what I would call it if I thought we were still in a forest."

Zangetsu did look up only to find that there was no sky. It was a roof with a sort of ventilation shafts at the top.

"At first I couldn't see due to the fog, but now that everything is clear, I can see that we're not in a forest."

"Yes, you're right. This is a greenhouse. An elaborate one at that."

"Do you think the GHQ made this?"

"I think we're about to find out."

Zangetsu was staring at where the both of them stopped, and waited for a little while before Bravo and Baron came running to them. When they stopped, they stared at Gaim and Zangetsu for a while before setting their eyes on the large tree as well as the roof of the greenhouse. Both were stunned by what they saw to say the least. Zangetsu spoke to the GHQ riders.

"I'd ask if you had anything to do with this. But judging by your reactions, you're just as shocked as we were when we saw this."

Bravo spoke to Zangetsu.

"So, you know where we are?"

"It seems to be a greenhouse of some kind."

"Hold up."

Baron said, interrupting the two of them.

"So, what? Are we just going to ignore what happened before? He kicked our asses hard, and we're just going to forget all that?"

Gaim joined in on the conversation.

"I agree, considering what he did."

Gaim pointed at Baron.

"Now is not the time for that."

"YOU KIDDING ME, GAI?! This guy was willing to let a satellite free fall to the earth and turn Tokyo in a smoldering wasteland with no regrets!"

"You did what?"

Bravo asked Baron in an inquisitive tone. Baron responded with a tone of guilt and regret.

"I won't deny it. I did that. I was under orders to eliminate Gaim at all costs. And yeah, I did hate this guy because he offended me."

"How did I offend you?"

"That's a long story."

"That has to wait for now. We have bigger problems to worry about. So I need you to focus, Gaim."

Gaim didn't want to work with Baron, for good reason, but due to the situation regarding the tree, he had no choice but to put aside his grudge aside. Bravo placed his shoulder on Baron and whispered in his ear,

"You and I have a lot to talk about when this is over."

Thus, they began to mostly share what they all knew. Zangetsu started first.

"This is what I know, when Gaim and I first arrived here, we saw many plants here that bear little resemblance to other types of plants. Furthermore, upon our arrival, we were under attack by Inves. These ones were different. They were like the hunchbacked ones, but with insect wings."

Bravo was shocked by that last statement.

"My god. So this place gives the Inves a stable environment to evolve. It must be due to the fruit that grows here."

"Fruit?"

"When me and Bravo came here, we didn't encounter any Inves, but we found fruit here. The same kind that was growing on victims of the Apocalypse Virus."

"The new strain?"

Gaim asked Baron.

"Yeah. It was eerie, and kind of horrifying. It's almost like this place is the reason why there's a new strain."

"You might not be wrong. Look at the top. You'll see some ventilation shafts leading up somewhere."

Bravo and Baron did so, and did see the ventilation shafts Gaim was talking about. Zangetsu chimed in his working theory.

"I believe this place here is somehow responsible for what is currently going on."

"How'd you figured that?"

Asked Bravo.

"Look at the earth here. It was meteor fragments. The same meteor that gave the virus in question."

Both GHQ riders looked the soil in question. They were all watched, both by the people who were watching the webcast hosted by Sagara, and by Keido who was in the control room, seething in anger. His monitor alerted him that the Inves horde commanded to kill the riders were closing in. Keido then decided to make a call to Segai.

"Segai here."

"Did you locate Sagara yet?"

"He' getting harder to look for than a needle in a haystack. I'm having our best IT men to locate him, but to no success."

"How hard is it to locate an internet disc jockey?!"

"I thought the same thing, but we may have underestimated him."

"Ridiculous. This isn't the first time I thwarted his pathetic attempts to undermine me, and it will not be the last!"

"Maybe on his own, but if he is the one who's been leaking our plans to Funeral Parlor, then that's the reason why he'll probably succeed this time."

"JUST FIND HIM AND KILL HIM!"

Segai held his phone away from him for a while wincing from the sting of loud volume before speaking to Keido again.

"We will have his location and swiftly eliminate him as soon as possible."

"See to it."

Keido hung up and continued to monitor the situation. As the riders were still looking around the tree, Baron heard a rustling noise.

"Anyone heard that?"

"Heard what?"

Asked Gaim

"Stay quiet and listen."

Things were quiet for a while before more noises were heard. From trees rustling to foot stomps on the earth.

"We're not alone."

Everyone internally agreed with Zangetsu.

"All riders, prepare for battle!"

Bravo said as they all readied their weapons. Zangetsu told Gaim,

"Gaim, switch to a form that has more power. I think were gonna need it."

Gaim did so as he took out his extra lockseed slot, placed it on his driver, took out his lemon energy lockseed,

"LEMON ENERGY!"

and placed it on his extra slot.

"LOCK-ON!"

"SOIYA! MIX! JIMBA LEMON! HA-HA!"

Gaim was now in Jimba Lemon form. The noises came louder and louder until a massive horde of Inves arrived. Some were familiar. While there were others that were new to them. One of which was similar to that of a Chinese dragon. This was the Seiryu Inves, and this was leading all the other Inves into battle with the riders. Sagara was still reporting on the developments, and he was just as worried about the Kamen Riders as the rest of his audience.

"Things have taken a dark turn as the Kamen Riders are now surrounded by a massive horde of monsters they call 'Inves.' I repeat, the monsters terrorizing the city are called 'Inves,' and for some reason, they are associated with the Apocalypse Virus. What we thought was a forest they went is actually a large greenhouse of sorts. Let's continue the coverage, and hope that the heroes that face overwhelming odds will prevail."

The riders were surround. With no way out, the only option was to fight like hell. The Inves charged towards the riders, and each individual rider flipped the cutting blade on their drivers to deliver a powerful first strike.

"SOIYA!"

"COME ON!"

(Guitar riff)

"ORANGE SQUASH!"

"MELON SQUASH!"

"BANANA SPARKLING!"

"DURIAN SQUASH!"

Gaim's Sonic Arrow unleashed a horizontal blade beam that wiped the Inves charging towards him, Zangetsu threw his shield like Captain America to the horde charging towards him, Baron thrusted his BanaSpear to the ground and Energy Bananas came out of the ground to act like spikes used to kill an enemy, and Bravo used his energy mane like the last time he used it. Although it cut the Inves's numbers by half, it was still a tough fight ahead of them. The rest of the Inves attacked the riders, and one by one, they fell. The riders hack and slashed their way out of there. Each of them delivered strikes with all their strength. But numbers are part of what determines a battle, and the Inves simply outnumber the riders. However, the riders were still determined to survive. Each of them had a reason why. For Bravo, it was his duty. For Baron, he was presented a path that would make him a different person. Gaim wanted to protect his friends sure, but his desire gave him an extra push. Zangetsu also had his reasons to survive, but did not disclose it to anyone. Just then, Zangetsu noticed a small shimmer of light, almost like a malfunctioning hologram. Keido noticed Zangetsu looking at him, and felt a bit nervous.

'What was that?'

'He couldn't have noticed.'

Zangetsu delivered powerful slashes to the Inves he was fighting, and they were all dead. Then, he pulled the cock on his Musou Saber, and shot at the direction of the flicker of light. The shots landed, the area started to get wavy before revealing an observation deck. The same kind used in large laboratories and bases to test out new technologies and discoveries that were too big for regular rooms. Zangetsu yelled to Bravo.

"Bravo! Look at this."

Bravo managed to stop fighting for a while, and looked.

"An observation deck?! How did that get here?!"

"It was hidden behind a hologram. I shot at it, and it appeared. I think I even saw someone in there. It must be the person behind all this."

"Got it!"

"I'll clear an opening for you."

Zangetsu did so with powerful slashes of this saber, and Bravo ran to the wall near the deck to look for a door of some kind. He eventually found and went up the stairs. The riders were still fighting the Inves horde. Finally, the Seiryu Inves came into the battlefield, and was aiming for Gaim. Gaim was fighting his share of the Inves and did not have too much difficulty doing so. As soon as he was done, he spotted the Seiryu Inves and was primed to fight against it. It charged first with Gaim doing a tuck and roll, turning around to give a slash on its chest. It stumbled backwards before delivering a haymaker to Gaim, but Gaim dodged it to give another slash across its chest again. The Inves leapt in the air backwards, and landed on the earth hard. As it struggling to get up, the Seiryu Inves spotted fruit. Gaim noticed it as well, and attempted to grab it before the Inves did. He failed to do so as the Inves had the fruit first. The Seiryu Inves devoured the fruit. It began to mutate to fully become a Chinese dragon, capable of flight. It flew away from the battlefield only to turn and head towards it. Gaim used his Sonic Arrow to shoot it down, but it was too agile to hit from a long distance. The Inves then breath fire from its mouth, and inadvertently burn some of the other Inves. It flew away again only to come back. Gaim tried to shoot it down again. Baron went to him.

"You can't take it down. We have to get away."

"The hell I will. I know I can take him down."

"Look at that thing. It's impossible to take a clear shot. You have to get out of here. If you don't, you'll die."

"Better for me to die than everybody else. Not that you'd care."

Baron could not believe it. Gaim's words stung him hard. If he had stayed the way he was, Daryl would not have cared. However, due to what he had experienced, as well as his bond with Colonel Dan, those words hit him hard. They were simple, but effective. While this was going on, The Seiryu Inves gathered fire around his mouth and launched a huge fire ball to Gaim and Baron. Gaim saw the fireball, and pushed Baron out of the way. A huge explosion occurred as Gaim was launched into the air by the shockwave, causing him to be in the mouth of the Inves. Gaim used his Sonic Arrow to loosen its grip on him, but the Inves breath fire to damage him while still holding him in his mouth. Gaim yelled out in pain, getting Zangetsu's notice.

"GAIM!"

Gaim was struggling to get out of its mouth, but could not. The Seiryu Inves then move his jaw further down, putting so much pressure on Gaim. This was causing further pain, until the Inves's teeth cause cracks in the armor, penetrating it and pierced the skin under the armor. Although the fangs did avoid organs, it still hurt like hell. Gaim screamed at the tip of lungs to express how much pain he was in. There was even blood dripping out of the armor. Zangetsu saw all this.

"YOU GODDAMN MONSTER! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!"

Zangetsu ran to the highest ground he could find, and when he did threw away his shield to have nothing weigh him down. He placed his melon lockseed on his Musou Saber.

"LOCK-ON!"

"1, 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000!"

Zangetsu jumped off the ledge he was on, and delivered a fully charged slash to cut the Inves in half.

"MELON CHARGE!"

The Inves was dissolving fast, leaving Gaim on a freefall with Baron catching him before he fell on the ground. Sagara continued his coverage of events.

"Well you've seen here, ladies and gentlemen. A huge horde of monsters primed to kill the riders almost did so if not for Zangetsu, who successfully exterminated one of the evolved beasts."

Sagara played the clip of when the Seiryu Inves devoured the fruit to evolve itself into a dragon.

"Just as you have seen, this fruit cause the monsters to grow in size and power. A truly horrifying fact. The battle seems to have finished. Let's see what discoveries Bravo had uncovered."

The screen switched to the staircase that Bravo discovered a while ago. It led to the control room of the observation deck. Bravo examined the computers for any evidence to see who was here, but they were all wiped out. All evidence and data were erased from the hard drives. So there was nothing to recover. There was no way to see if there was anyone here. Then, the noise of whooshing doors were heard, and Bravo decided to hide to see the perpetrator. Bravo hid behind some desks, using only his ears to determine who it was. After a while, Bravo heard a voice talking. It was Keido. He was speaking on the phone with Segai.

"Are you sure couldn't find him?"

"No, we couldn't. He hid his tracks well. So well, that we couldn't implicate him in what we're doing even if we tried."

"DAMN IT! I NEEDED HIM DEAD! HE COULD BLOW THE WHOLE PROJECT OFF. IF HELHEIM GETS DISCOVERED AND PEOPLE FOUND OUT I WAS BEHIND ALL THIS, I COULD GET THE DEATH PENALTY!"

"Sounds like you just got it."

Bravo whispered. Keido continued his phone conversation.

"I already erased all evidence of my involvement. I have to get out of here before the riders find out my location. Keido out."

Keido went into his personalized elevator. During the ride, he received a text message from Sagara. It read,

"You are screwed for life, old buddy."

Keido feared the worst. He went to Sagara's webcast, and he damned himself good. Sagara played the clip where he openly confessed to one of the camera Sagara had hidden. Keido had to face the facts. He was finally bested. Dealing with defeat was not one of his strong suits. Back at the control room, Bravo contacted one of his superiors with the phone in the room. He managed to contact one of the generals he reported to. The general informed him that he was watching the live webcast of DJ Sagara.

"I need you to bring him in. Make sure he cooperates with us."

"I have a feeling that won't be a problem, General Stewart. How will you report those with Supreme Commander Yan?"

"Let me worry about that. You take care of things on your end."

"Sir, yes sir."

Bravo hung up, and went to where the rest of the riders were. When he got there, he saw Gaim seriously injured.

"What happened here?"

Baron filled him in.

"There was an Inves that ate one of the fruit here, and grew in size and strength. It was going to kill me, but Gaim took the hit."

Bravo saw Gaim, heavily injured with his armor dripping out blood. Zangetsu was next to him, acting like someone who was in mourning. Bravo tried to console him.

"I know what's it's like, to see one of your comrades in battle take a huge blow for his own brothers-in-arms. But, he's still alive. Help him. We got things from here."

Zangetsu took out his Lock Vehicle, activated it, and carried Gaim on his back. The motorcycle was finally formed. Before he would generate enough speed to teleport out of the greenhouse, he spoke to Bravo.

"Maybe this will change things, maybe it won't. But this s one thing I know for sure, you are an honorable man, and you're certainly changing your young ward for the better."

"Hey wait, I'm not a ward. Whatever that is."

Zangetsu teased Baron a little further.

"It's a fancy word for sidekick."

"WHAT?!"

Zangetsu revved his bike, and sped out of their sight, generating enough speed to create a zipper portal and teleport out of the greenhouse with Gaim on his back.

"I AM NO SIDEKICK!"

Baron yelled out to Zangetsu as he rode through the zipper portal. Bravo internally disagreed.

xxxxxx

(The front of GHQ Headquarters)

A huge crowd of angry citizens amassed in front of GHQ main headquarters. What was different from the crowd that protested before was that it had tripled from last time. It was fair to say that this crowd would be better qualified as a mob. An angry one. The discovery of Project Helheim was outed. The forest that not only produced the new strain, but was also home to a multitude of Inves that terrorized the city of Tokyo. The anger in the mob was not only overwhelming, but also justified. From soldiers armed with grenade launchers that had tear gas canisters for ammo to the ones that had riot shields to hold back the mob from over taking the building, it was something off the chaotic streets of Greece during their financial crisis, or America when protesters marched against police brutality. In this case, the Japanese were angry for the occupational governments for lying to them. Some of the people within the mob felt that the occupation of their country was done under false pretenses, and now were on the side of the people who wanted GHQ out of their country by any means necessary. Some of them were yelling,

"LIARS!"

"DIRTY SONS OF BITCHES!"

"GET THE F**K OUT OF MY COUNTRY!"

Reporters were there to describe the event to the average viewer. People watching the riot on the TV screens were in total shock and were scared that this riot might make the ones that happened on Lost Christmas look like Burning Man. Just as things were reaching the breaking point of all-out chaos, a zipper portal opened with a bright light that shined so bright, it calmed the violence taking place. Cameras were rolling and filmed the portal opening up. What came out of it was Zangetsu with a seemingly dead Gaim on his back. Zangetsu stopped his bike as soon as he saw the mob and military personnel clashing with one another. He got off his while carrying Gaim, and gently laid him on the ground. People were wondering if Gaim was dead. A few of them even openly asked the question. More and more chatter filled the air until Zangetsu raise his hand and spoke to the people.

"First of all, Gaim is not dead. He has fought hard for all of you and everyone in our country. Many times, I offered him a place with my group. He has turned them down not out of ego, but rather he was pursuing his path! He believed his path would inspired others to stand up against the GHQ in way that didn't demand us to become this!"

Zangetsu was referring to the fact that up until he arrived, the mob was ready and willing to devolve in a horde of anarchists who were ready to kill out of anger.

"I saw him go up against incredible odds for you! If I hadn't intervened and saved his life, he would've died!"

Many of the people in the mob were now feeling guilty over their recent behavior.

"I know that all of you are angry, and you have every right to be angry. That is not what I am condemning. I hope you can understand that. But you do not have to be this way. For now, go home."

Zangetsu went over to Gaim's unconscious body.

"Do not forget. Whatever he suffered, he did it for all of you."

Zangetsu picked up Gaim on his back and mounted on his bike. Gaim's head was facing towards the mob. He regained some consciousness for a while before resting again. When he did, he saw the massive crown of people in front of a large building. It looked familiar to him, but was still tired from the battle in Helheim forest. When he saw the people, he saw something else. He saw himself in that crowd. The self that he used to be before joining Funeral Parlor. And that version of him was staring back. Both Shus were staring at each other, with one side looking back at who he used to be and the other looking at where he is now. Gaim went back to being unconscious while Zangetsu managed to ride back to Funeral Parlor headquarters with an unconscious Gaim on his back. While high in the building, Keido looked down on everything that was going on. There was only one thing on his mind. His failure. How, by trying his damnest, to keep project Helheim a secret blew up in his face. There was no doubt that this was made public to the country and, to his fear, the world by someone who should have been eliminated a long time ago, but was not. All he could imagine was how severe the consequences of his failure would lead him.

xxxxxx

(Funeral Parlor headquarters)

Practically everyone was waiting with bated breath for Gai's return as well as Shu's. Some of them saw the webcast from start to finish while others only saw the part where they found out how the GHQ played a part of where the Inves primarily located as well as the artifical tree that emitted the new strain of the Apocalypse virus that cause the sudden new mutation that were practically killing the victims suffering from the virus. And yet, they were willing to wait on how to react to it just to find out if both their leader and first rider were still alive. After waiting for 15 minutes, Gai entered the underground hangar with an unconscious Gaim on his back. Those in Gai's closest circle came to him.

"Gai!"

"Ougumo, help me with Shu."

"Right."

Ougumo approached Gai to retrieve Shu while still in his armor. Argo asked Gai a few questions.

"Hey, you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just help Shu. Close the lockseed on his belt. That will deactivate his armor."

Gai demonstrated that by closing the lockseed on his driver. The armor dissipated, and when Gai took off the lockseed, the driver returned to his body. Argo did the same for Shu, and had the same results.

"Shibungi!"

"Yes, Gai."

Shibungi examined Shu to see if he had any injuries on him.

"On first glance, there's nothing wrong with him, but we still need to take him to the infirmary. See of the teeth marks that were piercing him left any marks or infected him, by any chance."

"Very well. Someone get a stretcher!"

A few of the fighters had one standing by in case something happened to either of them. Gai, Argo, Ayase, Tsugumi, Inori, and Shibungi were in the hospital room of their base while Ougumo was standing guard. Although, it was really to keep from having the hospital room from having too many visitors. It was understandable. Shu did not only become a comrade, but one whose appearance kept up morale. Many of the fighters grew watching tokusatsu programs when they were children, so it made sense that Shu was considered to be the group's unofficial mascot for their cause. Ougumo understood that as well, but obeyed Gai's orders without question and hesitation. While he was standing guard, everyone else inside the hospital room were talking about what they all learned and theorized what the future might bring upon uprooting GHQ's secret underground greenhouse.

"It's hard to believe, Gai. Of course that means I was right, Ayase."

"What's he talking about?"

"While you were lost in the greenhouse, Argo brought up a conspiracy theory that somehow, GHQ was behind the creation of the Apocalypse virus, as well as Lost Christmas."

Gai gave Argo a look that indicated an emotion between irrigation and annoying.

"GHQ may have been behind the new strain of the virus, but this incident does not prove that your half-cocked theory is true."

Argo was actually stung by Gai's remarks while Ayase and Tsugumi gave off faces that said, 'We told you so.'

"Okay, but you've got to admit. That greenhouse you and Shu teleported to was shocking, to say the least."

"I gotta say, this could ruin them."

"How so, Tsugumi?"

"I can't imagine anyone, be it a person or a whole organization, recovering something like that. At the very least, investigations are gonna be conducted while the backlash could be huge. From other countries condemning GHQ for being behind the new strain to allegations that the occupation was a big fat lie, and all their actions up to this point could be seen as an invasion on a sovereign nation due to the greenhouse housing all those Inves and the big tree that's powered by the Rock that's producing the new strain of the virus, thus causing the mutation that triggered in the victims already suffering from the virus. In short, it's a complete and total clusterf**k. I think you know where that takes us, Gai."

"We could actually be seen as freedom fighters. Makes sense due to the fact that we only targeted GHQ armed forces and no one else. Their downfall could mean our goal is close at hand."

Everyone conscious in the room was feeling excitement. Some more than others. What they all have been fighting for is near. They could finally stop fighting and have actually lives in a free country. This even had Shibungi smiling for a bit before having to be the wet blanket. He knew it would not be as simple as Gai hypothesized.

"That would be an ideal solution, but it's still an uphill battle. While the possibility of investigations is still high, they will be internal first before even the U.N. could conduct their own. By then, certain key evidence will mysteriously disappear without a trace. It could be a long time before even the heads of the organization would ever see a courthouse of any kind."

A brief silence occurred when Shibungi presented his alternative take on how events would shape the future.

"I sorry if I may have sounded like a pessimist. However, I'm simply trying to be realistic. Believe me, I would love to see those in charge of our occupation suffer the hammer stroke of justice, but you have to see the necessity of being prepared of what probably will happen against what we like to see happen."

No one could argue with Shibungi. He made a logical argument based on how similar events happened in the past as well as the predictability of human nature. Specifically speaking, self-preservation. And yet, all they ever wanted was an end to the fighting. Then, everyone heard noises as Shu finally regained consciousness. Instantly, everyone in the room came to his side. Noticeably, Ayase was first to his side with Tsugumi coming in second.

"Shu!"

"You're okay!"

Tsugumi rushed to hug him but almost tackled him by accident, nearly throwing him off the bed.

"TSUGUMI! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Sorry. I was just so glad to see him..."

"I KNOW THAT, BUT FOR GOD'S SAKES! RESTRAIN YOURSELF!"

"Oh yeah, like how you restrain yourself when you..."

Ayase placed both her hands on Tsugumi's mouth.

"I told you that in confidence."

"Why is everybody so loud?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing when Shu spoke. Inori spoke to Shu.

"Everyone was worried that you wouldn't make it. Shibungi needs to examine you further."

"Inori's right, Shu. I need to do some tests to make sure that the Inves that tried to kill you when it pierced your armor didn't infect you or anything."

"Fine by me."

Shibungi started Shu's check-up. He examined his skin for any freshly-made stab wounds and treated them. He made Shu stand up to see if the battle left him some debilitating condition. As soon as Shu stood upright with little difficulty, Shibungi was impressed with Shu's recovery rate. The last thing Shibungi needed to do was to take out Shu's blood.

"The test might take a while, but based on my examination, you seem to be just fine. Try to take it easy, however. You did just go through a physically traumatic event."

"Thanks."

Shibungi walked to the lab near the hospital room. When that was done, everyone else assembled near Shu to ask some questions.

"So, you feel fine?"

"So far. But thanks for asking Ayase. By the way, Tsugumi. I appreciate the hug, but you should really restrain yourself time to time."

Ayase turned her head to face Tsugumi. She smiled a smug smile while Tsugumi made a face to say 'screw you.' Argo spoke to Shu about the fight with Baron and Bravo at the Tokyo Dome.

"So, Shu. I've been hearing from a lot of the guys here who saw the fight saying that you really gave it to them. The GHQ riders. I knew they were full of bullshit."

"The thing is Bravo honestly didn't know what was really happening. I honestly wanted to see the look on his face when the truth hit him hard. Not because I would've enjoyed it. But rather to see what was the real problem with GHQ."

"That's their true intentions in a nutshell. The honest and earnest kept in the dark while aiding the masquerade that they are here to help the people. I can only imagine Bravo was in for a rude awakening."

Gai explained in a serious voice.

"Still, you're fine and alive so, that's good. So you wanna head to the cafeteria? You gotta be hungry."

Ayase offered to Shu.

"Actually, that sounds good."

Shu walked with his friends and comrade to the cafeteria room, where he was greeted by everybody else who shook his hand and congratulating him for giving one hell of a blow to the GHQ. Although Shu stated that Gai did most of the heavy hitting, they all laughed at his so-called modesty. One of them asked him if he had some jokes ready.

"As a matter of fact, I've been working on my next stand-up act. It's just gonna be an internet thing..."

"TELL US!"

"Yeah Shu, We could use a good laugh."

All the fighters and some of his friends were begging for Shu to make him laugh. Shu eventually relented.

"Okay. Just give me some room here. You're making more uncomfortable in a crowd than a serial killer in a cops convention."

Everyone laughed at that as they all gave Shu some space. Shu backed up to a spot where he can see his whole audience. Before he started, Funell had a flashlight with him to simulate actually being on stage.

"Hey there. You look like a great crowd. We're gonna get along just fine. But you don't want me up here to act like a salaryman and kiss your ass. Neither do I. So let's just get to the point where I tell you how much GHQ sucks balls."

The fighters laughed and cheered.

"Like for example, one time they arrested me for no goddamn good reason. I was being a good citizen, and they just said 'THROW HIS BONY ASS IN JAIL!'"

(Laughter)

"And when it came to transporting the rest of us, it was like a line-up of 'who gonna get it when they drop the soap.' There were five of us who were new. 'Fresh meat' was what they called us. The rest of the convicts. I was fresh meat number three. The first was blond, and was meek. A total nervous wreck. He even had the glasses to emphasize he was no threat. His only crime was being a hack-tivist. This is what I heard when he walked."

Shu changed the tone of his voice at least three times, each voice had a different callout.

"Hey, new meat! You look so FIIIINNNEE!"

"Oh, wanna get a piece of that!"

"Mmmn, MMMNN! Love that new cherry smell!"

(Laughter)

Then the second one was big. Fat all around. You know it? Thought he was bad-ass. Didn't believe the law paid any attention to him. Said 'f**k you' to a GHQ soldier right in his face. This is what I heard."

Shu changed his voice again.

"DAMMNN! Look at chunky over here."

"Hey, doughboy! Gonna go to town on you! That's a promise!"

"Can't wait to get a piece of that FAT-ASS!"

(Laughter)

"And then I came next and..."

There was absolute silence in the room.

"That was it. Part of me was thinking, 'Oh, thank god. My ass will be safe tonight.'"

(Laughter)

"But later on, it hit me. 'Holy shit. I'm not good enough for these people. I deserve at least a 'Hey kiddo. Daddy's gonna take you home tonight.'"

(Laughter)

"But enough about prison. I getting bored with prison. I wanna talk about that Bravo prick. Anybody heard about this guy? I tell ya, he's America in a nutshell. Football jock who's all 100% American beef..."

Shu grabbed his crotch for a while to emphasize the point. This made everyone laugh.

"...Thinks he can bros with anyone he meets."

Shu changed the tone of his voice to that of a muscular high school jock for a while.

"S'UP, BROS! How's about I teach to play football? And I don't mean pussy European soccer. No! I'm talking bout a real sport you play with your hands. And hey, after playing it for 10 years, you can develop a brain disorder after getting your head dropped on the field a lot. IT'S A MANLY GAME, MOTHAF***ERS!"

(Laughter)

"You wanna know something? I think he's from Colorado. Little fun fact. That state was one of the first states in America to legalize marijuana. I talking about weed, ganja, reefer. It's still legal last time I checked. I know where I'm going when I turn 21."

(Laughter)

"You think he's took some with him when he was stationed here? I mean, I wouldn't blame him. You have to be high when you work for the GHQ."

(Loud laughter)

"I think he puffs the magic dragon before he goes to work. Seriously, I think that's the only way they deal with the fact that our country is their version of Iraq. Anybody here remember that clusterf**k?"

(Laughter)

"That's my so far, guys. I'm still working on some stuff, but thank you enjoying my show. I'll be on the net. Later."

The fighters applauded and cheered for Shu as he exited the cafeteria with sounds of praise and joy right behind him. He then remembered he wanted to eat something, but decided to make something at home. Shu walked all the way to the hangar entrance to find Gai and Inori waiting for them.

"Heard you did another great stand-up show today."

"Uh... Thanks, Gai."

"Not as good as the first one, but you definitely got some potential."

Shu smiled as he knew Gai was messing around with him. Inori also had a smile on her face as she saw the two men in her life get along like old friends.

"So Gai, did we teleport in front of the GHQ building?"

"Yes. Why? Did you regain consciousness when we got there?"

"For a while, yeah."

"I didn't know that."

"I wouldn't blame you. I didn't have any energy to say anything. I just sort of turned my head to see if we were still in the greenhouse. Instead, I saw a tall building. And a crowd. A massive one. But I also saw something else."

"What did you see?"

"Myself in that crowd."

"Yourself? What did you mean?"

"I mean... It's like a version of myself if I never joined you. I saw who I used to be in within all those people. It reminded of something I read out of a book back when I was in middle school."

Shu took a while to remember what book he was referring to. When he finally did, he quoted with semi-precision.

"High over the city, our yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrets to the casual watcher on the street. And I was him too, looking up and wondering. I was within... and without...enchanted and repelled... by the inexhaustible variety of life."

Gai and Inori were impressed at how Shu quoted The Great Gatsby with clarity.

"Impressive. Of course, you do know what Fitzgerald was actually writing about when he wrote the book, right?"

"How greed can corrode the human soul?"

"A part of it."

"But the reason why I remembered it was because for one moment, I saw who I used to be. And the person that I used to be was somehow looking at me that exists right now."

"Hence you emphasizing 'I was within... and without...,' right?"

"Yeah."

"I got to say, Shu. You always seem to get in touch with my human side. Not to gain favors from me, but you honestly understand because..."

"I honestly don't think you're the monster you think you are?"

"That is what makes you not just an asset, but a valued comrade to me. This is me speaking from the heart, Shu. I am telling you this because no matter how the other person may seem stronger than you, it is your humanity that makes you a hero to the people of this country, to our comrades who fight for their country, and to me. I have hope because you have it. Always remember that."

Shu both felt humbled and embolden by Gai's words. Inside of him was a growing sense of pride. The kind that would make a man feel as he would never lose heart by petty insults or judgements made out of spite.

"Thanks, Gai. That makes feel like I actually matter. I know I had people telling me that, and I know they believe it. It was because I didn't believe it."

Both of them saw each other in a new light. Gai seeing Shu as an example that giving real effort, people can seperate themselves from their savage instincts to become better. For Shu, he saw Gai as a figure of trust and friendship. Both had tremendous respect for each other. Inori watched the whole thing, and it brought a smile to her face. Shu and Inori both walked with Funell to the monorail that would take to the station near Shu's home. On the way, Inori asked Shu,

"Hey Shu?"

"Yeah, Inori?"

"Do you know what we're going to have for dinner?"

"Oh yeah. I knew I couldn't have dinner back then. How's about we eat some Chinese?"

Inori smiled.

"That's sounds good."

Shu took out his wallet to see if he could afford a full meal or a 'diet' special. Inori offered an alternative.

"Don't worry. I'm buying."

"Right. I forgot for a moment. Didn't know you can make money as an underground celebrity."

"It's an unexpected living."

Funell displayed a holographic map of the nearest Chinese take-out restaurant. Shu and Inori ate there for a while with Inori being asked for an autograph from a few fans of her work. They finished a little under an hour. Both finally made it home. Inori was sleeping on Shu's bed while Shu was on the couch once again. He was in his thoughts.

'I'm glad. If I had never joined up with Gai, would I've become the person I am today? Somehow I doubt it. I don't necessarily hated who I used to be, but it was like seeing a stranger.'

Shu then thought about how he was not just almost defeated, but almost lost his life. He even thought about the reason why he almost died while he was being absorbed by the artifical tree in the underground greenhouse. The thought alone was enough to make his heart beat so fast, and make him sweat so hard.

'Holy crap! I almost died. If I did, then what would happen to everyone if I did? They would be sad if I did. Even worse, aside from m the friends I made in Funeral Parlor, my friends in school wouldn't even know that I was almost on death's door. Not even Haruka would know what happened to me!'

Shu was feeling depressed about the fact that his own mother wouldn't even know if he had died today or not.

'She feels guilty enough that I got arrested off her watch. But nobody would know that Shu Ouma died today. Kamen Rider Gaim would've died today. That's what the people would know today on DJ Sagara's live webcast. But Shu Ouma? Would not even register.'

Shu eventually got over his mini-crisis, and focused on what did happen.

'What matter is that a major blow was dealt to GHQ today. I wish the fighting would stop. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but please let it be soon.'

Shu finally went to sleep. A little before he did, Shu had this thought.

'I know I have to keep on doing this, but it would be nice if the fighting would stop. We could be free to be ourselves.'

FINALLY! This chapter took so long to complete. I mean so long. This was my first original chapter I have ever written. My longest as well. I thank you for your patience. As my new school year is almost here, I have a lot of things to do before then. I'm moving out to be closer to my university. It's going to be a busy time. But I am still working on this story. Don't forget to review. Later!