"So, Nick? What are you going to do now?" The gang leader questioned Rex as he tried to think of a plan.
His whole field was wiped with two cards, and now he's staring down three powerful monsters with nothing in his hand to even counter it. Not only that, there was still the fact that his friends were not out of danger just yet. Asuka and Rika were saved, but still left Sho, Jun, Misawa, Ryo, Fubuki, Judai, and Kuromu to save. Something that Ichigo, Woz, Decade, and Den-O were trying to do whilst fighting off the transformed Wild Ones, who seemed to have gained Duel Monster-powered Gaia Memories to transform themselves into Dopants. The Azamina and Despain Dopants were taken care of, but that still left the Mekk-Knight, Worm, and K'Shatri-La Dopants to deal with.
"Hmm, stunned into silence." Wally chuckled, "Good, because it's time I perform my next attack! First, I'll attack you directly using Missing X-Saber Invoker! Terra-Saber Slash!"
The knight, one of Wally's Xyz Monsters, nodded as he jumped up to perform a leaping slash on the mutt. Rex quickly blocked using his Duel Disk, barely being able to push the knight away; but the block wasn't enough as Missing X-Saber Invoker got a good chunk off of the mutt's shoulder, sending more volts back into Wally.
Rex: 4400
Wally: 5600
Rex fell to one knee as he clutched his bleeding shoulder.
"REX!" Kuromu shouted.
"Welp, another 1000 points, another person into the drink. Ey! Brent, send the pipsqueak down!"
"What?! No!" Sho panicked.
"Sure! After I get this train bastard off of me." the K'Shatri-La Dopant said as he punched the train Rider away from him.
"Kono yaro! I'm gonna smash you to bits!" Den-O shouted.
"Momo-chan! I'll take over!" Ryuutaros said.
"What?" was all Momotaros could get out before Den-O swapped forms.
GUN FORM!
"You snot-nosed brat!"
"Speed's the name of the game right now, Momo-chan!" the dragon Imagin chuckled as he now began to effortlessly dodge the raging ogre monster's axe swings. "Omae taosu kedo ii wo ne? Kotae wa kiitenai!"
"You little brat! I'll be sure your screams will be the last things you hear!" the K'Shatri-La Dopant responded by trying to slice Den-O in two.
Rex smirked, "Looks like that execution is gonna have to wait."
"Grr… Shien, slash at him! Wrath of the Sixth Heaven!" the gang leader roared.
"Heh, might as well have some fun!" the shogun laughed as he quickly ran Rex through with his katana, stabbing him in the side while the mutt screamed in agony in unison with the gang leader experiencing more electric shocks from the shared pain the chains gave himself and Rex. Rex then fell to his knees and felt blood come out of his mouth, his eyes wide while he cringed in pain.
Rex: 1900
Wally: 5600
"That's another 2500 down. That means two more attempts!" Wally said. "Hey Fred, Rudd! Forget about the pink bastard and grasshopper freak! Cut the nerd and the emo guy loose!"
*POP!*
"Uh-oh…" Judai muttered in fear.
"Pinkku janai MAGENTA DA!" he roared.
FINAL ATTACK RIDE: D-D-D-DECADE!
He quickly leaped up and smashed through the Mekk-Knight Dopant. The Worm Dopant, seeing his brother about to be taken down, pushed the Mekk-Knight Dopant out of the way and took the attack instead, leaving him on the ground in defeat.
"Bro! Nooo!" the knight Dopant cried out while Decade landed safely on the ground.
The Mekk-Knight Dopant, enraged by what the dimensional Rider did, quickly leaped up and sliced the three ropes holding Sho, Misawa, and Jun.
"This is for hurting my brother!" the knight Dopant snarled.
"NO!" Rex shouted, he looked for Woz, "WOZ, NOW!"
"SHO!" Ryo shouted.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sho wailed.
"Dammit, I'm not going out like thiiiiiiiiiiis!" Jun shouted.
Woz once again quickly sent out his clones to save the trio, but it was clear the green clock Rider saw just how much damage the mutt was taking.
"Guys! Are you okay?!" Rika asked as she and Asuka approached them.
"I'm fine… never thought I would almost experience my death…" Misawa muttered.
"I thought I was going to die again…" Sho murmured.
"That was way too close for comfort." the ace said, "Holy shit, and this was what killed his mentors?"
"Hang in there, Rex!" Judai called out, but Rex was just bleeding profusely as he held the stab wound he just got.
"Dammit, if only I could just free myself…" Kuromu gritted, trying to struggle out of his bindings.
"Decade, go free Kuromu-kun. Den-O, Woz, and I can handle things here now." Ichigo said.
"Alright. Let's make this quick." Decade said as he took out Faiz's card.
KAMEN RIDE! FAIZ!
After quickly transforming into the cellular Rider, he then slotted in a second card.
FORM RIDE! FAIZ: AXEL!
This caused the two metal plates on his chest armor to flip open and attach themselves to his shoulder pads, revealing a series of mechanical details alongside a red gem in the center. His eyes also changed from yellow to red. He then held up a wristwatch device that was on his wrist and pressed the button.
START UP
In a flash, he quickly zipped towards where Kuromu was being held and started untying him before zipping him right back to where the rescued group were. All before time ran out and he was reverted back to Faiz's base form.
3… 2… 1… TIME OUT
DEFORMATION
"Kuro!" Asuka gasped, before rushing in to hug him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine… I'm fine." Kuromu said, before looking at the dimension Rider. "Thanks, Kadoya-sensei."
"Wish I could do something to help Taylor." Decade muttered as they then looked towards Rex, who was quite banged up from the damage he already took.
"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Wally snarked while Rex staggered back to his feet.
"Yeah, I get that a lot." the mutt chuckled weakly, smiling through the pain.
"General! Are you alright?" Diecarii gasped as he, Bestrouli, Laquer, and Murmullo materialized before him.
"I'm good. I'm more worried about you D. That was one hell of a shock you took." the mutt said.
"Forget about me, it's you we need to worry about!"
"I knew what I signed up for." Rex said through the pain.
"But boss!" Bestrouli protested.
"No buts, guys! I'm done running!" Rex argued. "You guys trusted me with this power, so I'm using it to the max. Zenryoku! Zenkai!"
"Heh, and yet I could just kill you here and now." Wally noted, "But you know what? Since you have been putting up a good fight, I'll end my Battle Phase right here. It'll make wrecking your potential comeback all the sweeter."
"And that Wally… was your first mistake." Rex said, wiping the blood, dropping from his mouth.
"Then prove it. I play my own Treasure Cards from the Heavens to refresh my hand and yours, and then ending my turn by setting one card face-down. Let's see if that deck of yours can actually do damage." the gang leader said, "And if you're thinking of using any spells; letting you know that Daishōgun Shien's effect limits you to only one Spell or Trap each turn."
The mutt drew six cards as he quickly looked at them. 'Alright, I can do this. I got one chance to try and take down Wally and save my friends. I can't waste this.'
"Do you mind a plus one?"
The mutt was surprised to hear this as he turned to see Misawa standing by his side, Duel Disk at the ready.
"Misawa?" the mutt asked. "How the hell did you-"
"I'm quite athletic, contrary to belief that I'm a so-called nerd…" Misawa then placed a hand on Rex's not cut up shoulder, "Rex, it's clear to us that at the rate you're dueling, you won't be able to take Wally down without taking yourself with him. So I will join you in this Duel."
"But-" Rex's question was cut off by him feeling his bleeding side move in a way that hurt him.
"My point stands." the genius said as he looked towards his belt of decks, he then picked up one.
"That's your DARK-Attribute Deck." Rex realized.
"I figured that we'll need all the help we can get in preventing him from using his monster's effects." the genius said as he began to shuffle his deck. "Now then, since I'm entering this Duel, I will be sharing Rex's pain from any of his attacks. Will that be fair?"
Wally was surprised but shook his head, "Tsk, go ahead. It's your fault that you're gonna be dying with the coward." he shrugged off.
Rex: 1900 Misawa: 6000
Wally: 5600
"Strange, why would my Life Points-"
"I incorporated what's called an Intrusion Penalty. If you wanna jump in, that's 2000 off the Life Point total Nick and I started off with."
"Fine…" Misawa frowned, before drawing his starting Hand.
Oogumo watched on the screen in his base, seeing the Duel currently going underway. He was miffed that Rex's friends, especially Kuromu, had been freed thanks to the Riders. Not only that, he was annoyed at the fact that the Gaia Memories he gave to Wally's crew members were wasted.
Especially as he got those Gaia Memories from the different worlds within the Duel Monsters universe.
'All that work, and somehow those Riders are able to defeat most of them…' he snarled in his thoughts.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Now then, since technically I joined in after you, it is my turn." the genius mused, "Draw!" He then drew his sixth card. "I shall start by summoning Manju God in ATK position!"
The metal multi-armed monster quickly emerged (4/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1000)
"Next, I shall use my one Spell and Trap per turn to play this card, the Ritual Spell Ritual of Lithmus!" he declared before a large ancient altar emerged behind himself, "For this, I will sacrifice the Manju God on my field and the Mad Dog of Darkness in my hand to perform a Ritual Summon!"
Suddenly, a demonic dog-like monster with horns on it's tail (4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400) leaped up and quickly joined the metal man in becoming flames that quickly ignited the altar.
"In the eyes of shadows, a warrior will arise to complete the formula of victory!"
Soon, a man wearing a white shirt, a large graduate-like hat that had two tassels in it and a long cape, a set of golden winged shoulder pads that housed a long collar, a velvet red and gold belt adorned with some golden armor and two large sword sheaths, a blue crochet, and black armored boots and gloves. The new Ritual Monster then grabbed the swords in both shields and unsheathed the two green handle blades with light blue tassels wrapped around the swords' pommels.
"Ritual Summon! Formula complete, Death Swordsman of Litmus (8/ATK: 0/DEF: 0)!"
"Heh, going Ritual on the first turn?" Rex asked.
"Given you and your opponent performed Fusion Summoning and Xyz Summoning on your first turns, it was fair that I did the same." the genius said.
"Ha! What's a 0 stat monster going to do to my monsters?" Wally laughed, "I'll activate my facedown! Gale-Swift! Wicked Kill Formation! Each turn, after the first time a Six Warmen monster I control battles, all Six Warmen monsters I control gain 300 ATK until the end of this turn!"
This made him smirk, "That was your second mistake. For you see, if there's a face-up Trap Card on the field, Death Swordsman of Litmus' ATK and DEF are increased to 3000 each!"
Death Swordsman of Litmus (ATK: 0-3000/DEF: 0-3000)
"What's more, while you can freely use Spells or Traps against either of us, Death Swordsman of Litmus remains unaffected by Trap Card effects nor can it be destroyed in battle!" the genius stated.
Rex let out a weakened chuckle, "Damn, nice one dude!"
"In a battle between honorless power and wild courage, it's fair to have some scientific wisdom for any Duel." the genius said. "Now it's time to free up the field! Battle! Death Swordsman of Litmus attacks Daishōgun Shien! Tenebris Supplicium!"
As the twin blade swordsman leaped towards the shogun, Shien then turned towards the grizzled master.
"Now's the time, old friend!" Shien called out.
"Heh, I will see you in hell then!" the Grandmaster of the Six Warmen laughed before leaping up and quickly clashing blades with Death Swordsman of Litmus, being slashed in two as Wally fell to his knees in pain. That was when Misawa suddenly felt a jolt of electricity ravage his body as he was forcibly brought to his knees as well.
Rex: 1900 Misawa: 6000
Wally: 4700
"Heh, good trick, but sadly for you I still got a few of my own. If Daishōgun Shien is to be destroyed, I can destroy a Six Warman monster I control instead." the gang leader laughed.
"But that means that you'll be open now that you don't have any samurai to sacrifice." Rex snarled.
"Indeed. Ta-n endo." the genius said.
"And my turn begins, Draw!" Rex then drew his seventh card before smiling. "I activate from my hand Gladial Beast Gister! I can reveal this and another Gladial Beast monster from my hand and Special Summon both. So I'll go with Gladial Beast Murmillo!"
He quickly slapped down two cards as the carp gladiator (3/ATK: 800/DEF: 400) and a wolf gladiator wearing green armor with gold lines and red gems on it, as well as a rounded helmet that had a red gem on the center emerged. The wolf gladiator quickly brought out an electrified scourge. (3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 2000)
"Tsk, what does that tramp do?" Wally groaned.
"Well, I can grab one Gladiator Spell or Trap from my Deck to my Hand!" the mutt declared, "But first, I'll activate Murmullo's effect first! When he's Special Summoned by the effect of a Gladial Beast, that means I can destroy one Monster on the field!"
"Tsk, I activate my facedown Trap, Six Warmen Unannounced Visit!" the gang leader declared, "I can target a Six Warmen in my Graveyard and Special Summon it! Return, Grandmaster of the Six Warmen! And since I have a Six Warmen monster on the field, Shien's protection ability is active once again!"
When Murmillo tried to rev up his turbines, he quickly dodged out of the way of an ambush from the grizzled master, forcing him to dodge out of the way.
"Well I still got Magister's effect to resolve, so I grab Dungeon of the Gladial Beasts - Colosseum, which I'll activate right now!" The mutt declared as he quickly changed the battlefield to the familiar barren but still packed arena. "And, I still got my Normal Summon; so this time I'm going do this! I tribute Gladial Beast Murmillo to Advance Summon Gladial Beast Sparticus!"
Emerging onto the field was a brown-colored raptor-like dinosaur gladiator that had brown shoulder pads with long bones protruding from behind, bone-like gauntlets on both arms and a massive tail to boot. It also carried a large axe that was the same height as it, if not a bit taller (6/ATK: 2200/DEF: 1600).
"Now, I shuffle Sparticus and Magister back to my deck to perform a Contact Fusion!" Rex declared as both monsters leaped into the sky.
"What monster are you calling on this time?" Wally groaned.
"Return from the ancient past to bring war into the future!"
Sparticus soon fell to the ground, only now the same size as Gyzarus, and sporting a much larger set of armor that included a pair of large shoulder pads, two floating gems, and a new giant axe
"Contact Fusion! Gladial Beast Gerodias (7/ATK: 2600/DEF: 1500)!"
"Bigger doesn't always mean better, asshat!" Wally snapped.
"That's what you think! Battle! Gladial Beast Gerodias attacks Daishōgun Shien! Mesozoic Massacre!"
"Heh, grit your teeth asshole!" The dinosaur gladiator laughed as he brought his axe down on Shien, cleaving him in two whilst causing a minor shock to Wally.
Rex: 1900 Misawa: 6000
Wally: 4600
"What? All that for a measly-" Wally was interrupted when Gerodias came for him next and got smacked to the ground by his tail. "What the?!"
"What? Didn't see that coming?" Gerodias laughed at the gang leader.
Rex: 1900 Misawa: 6000
Wally: 2200
"Oh, did I forget to mention? If Gladial Beast Gerodias destroys a monster, I can deal effect damage to you equal to the destroyed monster's DEF points!" The mutt cheered before wincing in pain, having two shocks of a weak and then strong voltage course through his body.
"Rex, pace yourself." Misawa said as he looked towards the mutt.
"Yeah, some of the adrenaline wore off there." Rex groaned whilst trying to fight off the pain from his wounds. "I set down one card and end my turn."
"That does it…" Wally growled, slowly getting up to his feet. "My turn! Draw!" He soon drew his sixth card and smirked, "Let's start this off with playing the Spell Card, Upstart Goblin! This gives my opponent 1000 Life Points, and in return, I get to draw an extra card. But since there's two of you, I need to give the 1000 Life Points to one of you." He then looked between his two opponents then looked at his hand. "As much as I hate this, I'm giving it to you, Nick."
A goblin soon appeared and gave Rex something. It was some kind of coin. When the mutt took it, he felt a bit stronger than before.
Rex: 2900 Misawa: 6000
Wally: 2200
"And you're being so helpful… because why?" Rex asked, as Wally drew his extra card.
"So I could play this: Supremacy Berry! Given that I got less Life Points than either of you, I gain 2000 Life Points back."
He then saw a dove arrive to bring him a branch with fruit on it. He then ate the fruit.
Rex: 2900 Misawa: 6000
Wally: 4200
"Next, I play my other copy of Dual Summon to allow me to summon out Sinful Monk of the Six Warmen and Chamberlain of the Six Warmen!" the gang leader declared before summoning forth both monsters.
Quickly, an old man wearing a brown garb, a futuristic set of beads, navy blue armor on his arms, and sandals, and finally a staff (3/ATK: 500/DEF: 0) emerged alongside a man with two cybernetic legs and two metal arms with one arm having a large three-prong claw and the other had a smaller claw (3/ATK: 200/DEF: 2000)
"Oh no…" Minerva muttered in fear, materializing by Kuromu's side.
"What's wrong?" the Rider Duelist asked.
"That monster… Sinful Monk… it's a Tuner." the Lightlord Maiden revealed.
"What?" Kuromu gasped, before looking at Rex and Misawa. "Guys! Sinful Monk is a Tuner! He's gonna Synchro Summon!"
"What?!" Rex gasped.
"Hahahaha… you all thought that Reggie was the only one that you could Synchro Summon?" Wally chuckled. "You're all dumber than you look! First rule of Duel Monsters: Use every card to your advantage! That includes your Extra Deck! I tune my my Level 3 Chamberlain of the Six Warmen with my Level 3 Sinful Monk of the Six Warmen!" The gang leader declared as the monk transformed into three green gates while the green clad samurai quickly became three orbs of light.
"Come forth, demon king of the Duel Terminal! Showcase what it means to achieve peace through tyranny!"
Suddenly, a large samurai red armor that had gold accents around it, with a bat wing-like cape, and a bulky helmet that had the symbol of the Six Samurai emerged as he unsheathed his katana and lifted it into the air.
"Synchro Summon! Ride on! Level 6 True Demon Six Warmen - Shi En (6/ATK: 2500/DEF: 1900)!"
"Shi En? Wait, that's another form of your ace?!" Rex gasped.
"Heh, glad to see you can actually read." Wally chuckled, pissing off the mutt. "But back to business. Now that he was successfully Synchro Summoned, I can add back a Six Warmen and or Shien card from either my Deck or Graveyard to my hand. So I'll take back Shien's original form from the grave."
"Then what?" Misawa frowned.
"Oh, how about this? I detach one Overlay Unit from Missing X-Saber Invoker to Special Summon 1 Level 4 Warrior or Beast-Warrior Monster from my deck!" The gang leader declared, "Come forth, Legendary Six Warmen - Enishi!"
Appearing on the field was a light-green armored futuristic samurai, whose kabuto helmet was actually flat and was equipped with a cybernetic golden katana. (4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 700)
"And can you guess what happens when I have two or more Six Warmen monsters on the field?" Wally taunted the mutt.
"You gotta be kidding me…" the mutt groaned.
"Revive, Daishōgun Shien!" The gang leader called out as Shien's original form emerged. The two Shiens looked at each other as the Shi En chuckled.
"So, that's what I'll look like in the future." Shien observed.
"Heh, glad to see that I'm just as stubborn as I was before as I am now." Shi En agreed.
"Uhh, what?" The mutt asked.
Misawa placed a hand to his chin, "From what I recall, the Legendary Six Warmen are meant to be the past versions of several support monsters. It seems that Shi En and Daishōgun Shien are merely the same man from two points of his life."
"And bad news for us, since something tells me Shi En's got the same destruction protection effect, his later self's got." The mutt groaned, "But good thing for us, that was two Special Summons, meaning that I can add two counters to Dungeon of the Gladial Beasts - Colosseum."
Gladial Beast Gerodias: (ATK: 2600-2800/DEF: 1500-1700)
"Damn straight! And you'll see that first hand when the time's right!" Wally grinned smugly, "Now then, how about I use this! First up, Style of the Brave Six - Double Assault! While normally I can apply one of these effects at a time, since I do have two Six Warmen monsters, I can use both. But since neither of you have any monsters to fit the second effect, the first one goes unchallenged!"
Rex and Misawa stepped back in fear as the gang leader made his move, "Now, I Special Summon one Six Warmen monster from my Graveyard with 2000 points or less! Revive, Yariza!"
Suddenly, the naginata-wielding samurai re-emerged on the field, glaring at the group.
"Now that I control three or more face-up Six Warmen monsters, I can activate this card! Style of the Brave Six - Three-Step Opposition!" the gang leader followed up, "With three samurai on my field, I can choose one of three effects to screw you over! So I'll choose the first one and clear you or your friend's fields of monsters!" He then smirked at Misawa, "How about I start with the poor sack of crap who decided to butt in on our Duel? Go, my samurai!"
Soon, Death Swordsman of Litmus stepped back as Shi En, Enishi, and Yariza all leaped forward in a coordinated attack and slashed through the Ritual monster, destroying it.
"Now go, Shi En! Attack him with your past self! Dual Warlord's Ambition!"
With that, both versions of the shogun quickly leaped towards the genius and delivered two slash wounds to Misawa's side and arm, leaving him reeling in pain whilst shocks coursed through not only Wally, but also Rex as well due to the mutt and the genius fighting alongside each other.
Rex: 2900 Misawa: 1000
Wally: 4200
"MISAWA!" Kuromu, Judai, and Koji cried out.
"Don't think I forgot about you, Nicky boy!" the gang leader laughed, "When my turn comes up, you're next!"
Meanwhile, Rex helped Misawa back to his feet, and it was clear that he was in a bad way. He wasn't near death like the mutt was thankfully, but the genius still winced due to the slashes.
"Misawa, you doing alright?" the mutt asked.
"I'm… fine." the genius reassured him through the pain, "I knew what I was signing up for."
"I'll end my turn, but first, I think that it's time we dump the last of them." he then looked over to Fubuki, Ryo, Koji, and Judai, the last remaining people on the pulleys.
"Gh…" Ryo gritted his teeth.
"Oh hail no! I ain't boogein' out like this!" Koji protested.
"Nii-san!" Asuka called out.
Rex then looked to Ichigo, Decade, Den-O, and Woz currently fighting off the two remaining Dopants, with the dimensional and grasshopper Riders fighting the K'Shatri-La Dopant together, while train and green clock Riders were fighting the enraged Mekk-Knight Rider.
"Ahhhh~ mou! You're a pain in the butt!" Den-O cried out as he scanned his pass over the belt.
FULL CHARGE!
"I'll make sure you'll be crying into the afterlife!" the ogre monster roared as he brought his axe hand down on the train Rider. Den-O dodged and fired his shot, but the ogre monster swatted the attack away like a fly, exploding midair afterwards.
"I shall take over!"
"Eh?" Den-O got out, before a white ball of light possessed the train Rider.
A harp tune started to play as the belt changed. The core of the Den-O belt now has a light-blue color to it while surrounding was a gold piece that looked like a pair of wings spread out.
WING FORM!
Suddenly, the Gun Form armor exploded out before transforming into something different. In fact, the suit itself went from black to gold whilst a white version of Den-O's Sword Form armor emerged. The helmet however saw a swan-like train come down and transform into a set of blue wing-like eyes. A strange hooting sound echoed as feathers rained down from the sky.
"Kōrin… ma-n wo jishite." Den-O said, before blocking the axe, then punching the ogre monster back. "You sir, have bad manners." He then switched the DenGasher to its Boomerang and Hatchet Mode before scanning the pass.
FULL CHARGE!
He quickly tossed the boomerang as his handaxe quickly flew from the train Rider's hand and towards the K'Shatri-La Dopant as both weapons quickly hit him with a pincer attack.
"Raaaaaaaaagh! I ain't losin' to some swan boy!" The K'Shatri-La Dopant shouted, before throwing his axe head from his arm to fly out and cut all four ropes before the pincer attack destroyed him, ejecting the Gaia Memory out of his body, which exploded afterwards.
"NII-SAN!" Sho and Asuka shouted.
"Koji! Judai!" Kuromu yelled.
"NOOOOO!" Rex shouted.
"This time they're dead for good!" Wally laughed.
"I don't think so!" Decade called out as he knew there was no time to switch forms so he just opened up an Aurora Curtain to sweep the four up and bring them to the rest.
"Oof!" The four guys grunted in pain.
"Nii-san!" Sho and Asuka called out, rushing over to their respective brothers.
"Are you okay?!" Sho panicked.
"Yeah, we're good." Fubuki reassured them.
"TOH!" Ichigo shouted, jumping up and flipped forward and aimed his foot at the last Dopant.
RAIDA KICK!
He quickly landed a flying side kick to defeat the Mekk-Knight Dopant, leaving Wally with no allies left.
"Looks like my friends are safe, Wally." Rex chuckled.
"Not all of them. Keep in mind that bookworm's dueling with you." The gang leader reminded him, "I end my turn and as such Enishi goes to the Graveyard as per Missing X-Saber Invoker's effect."
"That's going to change very soon." After he shook off the pain, the genius prepared for his turn to begin. "O-re no ta-n. Draw!" He soon drew his next card, increasing his hand to three. However, he knew this was going to be a key move to win this Duel. "I summon forth Magical Warrior Breaker!"
Coming onto the field was a magical knight in red armor with yellow outlines, similar in style to the Black Magician but carrying a shield and sword instead of a staff and wore a cape. (4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1000) "When he's successfully summoned, I get to add a Spell Counter to him, and his ATK increases by 300 Points!"
Magical Warrior Breaker (ATK: 1600-1900)
"So what? You still have a long way to go before you can take me down." Wally chuckled.
"That may be, but I still got this! Forbidden Holy Grail! I'll target Shi En and he gains 400 ATK but his effects are negated!"
True Demon Six Warmen - Shi En (ATK: 2500-2900)
"Battle! Magical Warrior Breaker attacks Missing X-Saber Invoker!" The genius declared.
The magical knight then clashed blades with his Xyz counterpart, the pair having a quick sword duel before Breaker cut Invoker down. Wally had to grit through the pain while both Rex and Misawa felt a quick shock hit them.
Rex: 2900 Misawa: 1000
Wally: 3900
"Ta-n endo." The genius said before turning to Rex, "End this."
"Alright, time I get serious!" Rex declared as he placed his hand on his deck, 'Alright, no time like the present! Gotta hope for the perfect card!' Out loud, he yelled, "DRAW!"
*WOOSH!*
…
"Pfft…"
Judai's face lit up, "He's got it!"
"Pfft!"
"The hell are you snickering about Nick?" Wally asked, annoyed.
"PFFTT!"
"Uh… is Rex okay?" Fubuki asked, worriedly.
"PPPPPFFFFHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Okay, he's definitely lost it…" Jun muttered.
"You'd think he'd be used to it by now." Koji chuckled.
"Wally, your luck just ran out!" The mutt declared with a wild grin.
"Bullshit! You got nothin'!" Wally snapped.
"Say you!" Rex declared as he revealed his drawn card, Gladial Beast Alexander. "I tribute Gladial Beast Gerodias to Advance Summon Gladial Beast Alexander!"
From the light created by the saurian gladiator, the lion emperor gladiator made his presence known (6/ATK: 2400-2600/DEF: 600-800)
The mutt looked at his side of the field, "Now, I shuffle back to my deck Gladial Beast Dicaerii, Gladial Beast Gerodias, Gladial Beast Essedari, and Gladial Beast Murmullo from my Graveyard, and Gladial Beast Alexander from my field to perform a Contact Fusion!"
"T-The hell?!" Wally gasped.
"A Contact Fusion using Materials from the Graveyard?" Misawa gasped.
As the five beasts flew into the air, each one glowing the color of their element, Rex reached out into the sky before the five quickly came together in a rainbow burst of energy.
"Hear my call and take to the battlefield, king of the colosseum!"
Then, landing onto the field was a huge winged lion, one donned in a red set of armor, yellow coverings on his wings, green pants adorned with various armor pieces, and a large staff that quickly energized and created a green electrical whip.
"Contact Fusion! Standby for battle, Gladial Beast Claudius!" (12/ATK: 3700-3900/DEF: 2600-2800)
Once again, the oppressive aura hit now that he had hit the field, shocking even both Shiens.
"What… what is this aura?" the original great shogun gasped in shock.
"Who dares confront me!" Claudius declared with a booming roar, but unlike the previous Gladial Beast Fusion Monsters, it was clear that the gladiator king's voice was joined by the voices of his subjects.
"I'm not done yet, because Claudius' effect activates!" Rex called out as he held up a two, "Because I was able to Special Summon him via Contact Fusion, I can conduct my next Battle Phase twice!"
"That means that Rex can easily break through Shien's effect. Since he'll have two Battle Phases to wipe Wally's field of his monsters!" Judai cheered.
"Now let's begin Battle Phase 1!" Rex declared, "Go, Claudius! Attack True Demon Six Warmen - Shi En!"
"Grk, I activate Shi En's protection effect! If this monster is to be destroyed, I can choose another monster instead!" The gang leader called out.
"Ha! Gotcha! I activate Cladius' second Trigger Effect! If my opponent activates a Monster Effect, I can Special Summon a Level 11 or lower Gladial Beast from my Extra Deck, regardless of Summoning Conditions!"
"Oh hell no! True Demon Six Warmen - Shi En's Quick Effect! If my opponent activates a monster effect, I can negate it and destroy the monster in tow."
"Heh, did you really think I wouldn't see that coming?" The mutt chuckled.
"Huh?!"
"What a pity, you activated my Trap!" The mutt declared as his facedown revealed itself to be a second Gladial Beast Chariot. "Take him down, Claudius! Gladiatorial Glory!"
Soon, Cladius got onto the chariot and crashed right into Shi En, stunning him long enough to get hit with a rapid series of whip strikes so fast, it created a whole sphere of light.
Rex: 2900 Misawa: 1000
Wally: 2500
"Now to call in some reinforcements! Come on back, Gladial Beast Andabatae!"
The evolved lizard gladiator returned to the field feeling stronger than ever (8/ATK: 1000-1300/DEF: 2000-2300)
"Battle Phase 2!" The mutt declared before giving a thumbs down, "Clear the board! Go, my monsters! End this Duel!"
With that, both Andabatae and Claudius charged at Wally before the former performed a shield bash while the latter finished him off with a powerful whip strike that sent him to the ground.
Rex: 2900 Misawa: 1000
Wally: 0
As the battle ended and the colosseum subsided, Rex fell to his knees while the chains finally fell off and shattered. He was battered, beaten up, but still alive, and victorious. The mutt looked towards Wally, who looked completely stunned, as were the rest of the Wild Ones who were left slack jawed at the comeback victory. Kuromu and the others however, were celebrating Rex's win.
"I… win…" Rex muttered as he staggered to his feet.
"How… How could this be?" Wally gasped in shock. "I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE MY REVENGE!"
"It's over, shonen!" Ichigo said as he and everyone else joined him.
"I should have won! I should have finished this!" The gang leader cried out as he looked towards his Duel Disk."
"A deal is a deal. Hand it over." Rex said.
"No… no, no, no! NO! I refuse to accept this! I can still win this!" Wally shouted, before pulling out… a Gaia Memory?!
"What?!" Rex gasped.
That's when Wally glared at him, eyes glowing as Shien's voice overlapped his own, "I'm done reaching out to you."
JIBAKUSHIN!
He then plugged the memory into his palm, transforming him. All of a sudden, a rather menacing dark aura surrounded Wally as he roared in anger and hatred. Everyone guarded themselves from the overwhelming pressure. Eventually, the platform he was standing on broke, and Wally started falling into the ocean.
"WALLY!" Rex shouted.
What rose out of the water however looked like a fusion of the strongest Earthbound and both of Shien's forms however. From the former, it was a huge amorphous giant that rose from the water with lines around its body and mono-eye, and from the latter were it's two swords matching the great shogun's two forms alongside it's shoulders having the same horns as those on the original Shien's helmet. Its mono-eye also houses the Six Warmen symbol on it as well.
"SWEET MOTHER OF MERCY!" Koji shouted.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Rika screamed in fear, holding Asuka tight.
"What the fuck?!" Rex gasped before the beast let out a primal roar.
"Oh dear…" Den-O muttered.
"This is…" Ichigo got out.
"Oya, oya, this is quite the predicament." Woz commented.
"What the hell!? Does that idiot want to die?!" Shotaro exploded in anger.
"W-What… is that?" Judai said in shock, "A fusion between Duel Spirits and Dopant?"
"It seems so, it's like his connection to Shien has caused his Gaia Memory to mutate!" The bookworm theorized.
"So, if we can beat him, then that should snap his connection with Shien. Right?" Judai guessed.
"Kadoya-sensei." Kuromu looked to Decade with worry.
"Dammit…" the dimensional Rider said, before the silver veil appeared. "Hang tight! I'm getting some back up!"
"You can't just ditch us!" Jun shouted.
"Who said the veil was for any of us?" Decade said.
"Eh?" Everyone said before the dimensional Rider turned to the veil.
"Hey, everyone! We could use some help right now!"
And then-
PROGRISE!
REKKA BATTOU!
BUDDY UP!
DUAL ON!
GOTCHANKO!
"HUH?!" Everyone shouted.
Den-O then turned to the monster, "You wish to bring the future to the past? Then be prepared for us to do the same."
TOBIA GA RISE! RISING HOPPER~! [A jump to the sky turns into a Rider Kick.]
BRA~VE DRAGON!
OUNIN! SHOUNIN! ROLLING! GO~ING~! KAMEN~ RI~ DER~! RE~VI! VICE! REVI~CE!
GET READY FOR BOOST & MAGNUM!
STE~AM~HOPP~ER~!
It's then that six figures leaped out of the veil, six new Kamen Riders.
The first Rider had a black bodysuit with highlighter yellow chest armor that resembled a grasshopper's thorax with sleek curved black shoulder pads and black gauntlets covering his wrists. There were highlighter yellow lines on his legs that represented grasshopper legs which went down to his black shoes with highlighter yellow also covered by armor. His helmet was a simple grasshopper mask that was highlighter yellow with red lenses and a thin v-antennae that resembles a grasshopper's as well.
The second Rider was in a black bodysuit where the left side of him was black, the middle section was white with a blade-like protrusion on his chest armor, and the right side was red with its armor also red with a tailcoat. But the right shoulder had a dragon head, with red spikes on top of its head with yellow eyes, the teeth seemingly biting his right shoulder. For his helmet, the forehead was white and a sword-like tip protruded off the top of his head. The lens color yellow and the lens itself shaped similar to the symbol on his sword, an X formed by two flame wisps with a sword-edge protrusion in the middle.
Next came a light blue and pink Rider with a T-Rex themed helmet as he had a purple '5' on the side of his chest and a t-rex symbol, Vice was donned in in black with a simple pink circle on his side of the chest, representing a '0' as well as a T-Rex symbol on it, mirroring the other side. He was decked out in pink armor parts on his shoulders and forearms with T-Rex feet on his shins, even having a goofy T-Rex helmet on top.
The fifth Rider had an all-black bodysuit. He had a white upper half with two shoulderpads, arm guards that had fold-out pistols on them, and a chestplate that displayed a gun barrel-like magatama pattern around the neck area to compliment the red and white scarf. The lower half was orange with protective knee pads and ankle guards that had two large mufflers on it.
Finally there was a Rider with a black bodysuit with a set of teal blue armor that resembled a grasshopper's legs, a chest plate that resembled the firebox of a steam train, a set of shoulder pads and gray gloves, a long metallic silver scarf, and finally an teal blue helmet that had a pair of grasshopper-like goggles on the front, a pair of orange arrow-shaped eyes, a pair of antennae, two silver 'ears' on the side, and finally a train-like mouth guard.
"Whoa! Look at those guys!" Judai exclaimed in excitement.
"More Kamen Riders?" Kuromu asked.
"They're the Reiwa Era Riders." Woz revealed.
"Reiwa?" The DA students parroted.
"Egads, a completely different era of Riders?!" Misawa gasped.
"That's right. Meet Kamen Rider Zero-One, Kamen Rider Saber, Kamen Rider Revice, Kamen Rider Geats, and Kamen Rider Gotchard."
That was when the demonic Rider quickly looked at Rex and did a double take, "Wait, Rex? The hell are you doing here? We haven't seen you since Miharu got Ikki and I back home!"
"Huh?" The mutt asked.
"Vice, that's not the Rex we met way back when." The pink dinosaur Rider.
"Eh?! Seriously?!" Vice, the demon Rider gasped before giving the mutt a once over, "Well, he doesn't have the same hair color, and I sure as heck for sure he didn't have a scar on his eye. I guess he's not the same one."
"Hold on, I exist in the world of Kamen Riders?!" Rex gasped.
"Multiverse theory, remember?" Decade reminded him.
"Oh, right. Forgot about that." The mutt said before wincing in pain.
"The heck is that thing?" Zero-One asked, "It's like we're stuck between a rock and a hard place."
"Hiden-san, now's not the time for jokes." Saber chided. "We need to protect these kids. Their stories can't end here."
"Right! Well, it's time to go big or go home!" Zero-One declared before taking out a gray cassette tape-like object with a mammoth on it.
PRESS!
He then brought it towards his belt, scanning it on the left side of the device.
AUTHORISE!
They heard a large whirring noise and the Roid Duelist looked up. "WHAT IS THAT?!"
A large spaceship-like machine had just arrived to the grasshopper Rider's location, and it wouldn't be alone for very long. Saber then took out a light blue book and quickly opened and closed it.
KING OF ARTHUR!
"King Arthur? The legendary king of Britain?" Misawa gasped while the demonic Rider was excited.
"Sweet! Time to do the thing!" Vice cheered.
"Wait, what?" The mutt asked, "What thing?"
"You'll see." Revi said as he tilted the stamp on his driver and pressed the top button.
REMIX!
"Well well, if everyone's going to party? Then I might as well join too." Geats chuckled.
"But how?" Koji asked.
BOOST TIME!
Gotchard quickly took out two cards, "Help me out here, YamiBat! RenkingRobo!"
YAMIBAT! RENKINGROBO!
"What are you-" Kuromu got out.
"Oh right, I'm using the power of alchemy thanks to these Chemy Cards." The alchemist Rider said.
"Alchemy?! As in that alchemy?! Turning lead into gold, Philosopher's Stone, Elixir of Life? The whole nine yards?"
"Exactly."
That's when the six began to change and summon.
PROGRISE! GIANT WAKING! BREAKING MAMMOTH! [Larger than life to crush like a machine.]
REKKA BATTOU! WONDER~ RIDER~! DRAGON-ARTHUR OU!
BUDDY UP! HISSATSU! KUDIASU! MAX REX!
BOOSTRIKER!
GOTCHANKO! BAT-KINGROBO!
"Wo-WOAH!" Judai cheered in complete joy as most of these mechs seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
Zero-One jumped into the satellite sized elephant mech turned robot. A knightly robot mech appeared to which surprisingly, it grabbed a hold of Saber's body to which the blade on tip of his head enlarged. Revi and Vice made weird postures in order to turn themselves into a giant T-Rex made out of their own bodies. Geats obtained a red modified Honda CBR650 that transformed into a fox-like mecha. Finally Gotchard transformed into a giant bat-like mecha with his own Driver as the chest plate.
"Okay… now I've seen it all…" Jun muttered with a twitching eyebrow.
"Talk about… colossal kaiju… combat." Rex weakly observed before finally passing out due to the loss of blood.
"Rex!" Misawa gasped. "Hang in there!"
"Saa…" Geats began. "Koko kara wa highlight da."
"Let's go!" Gotchard shouted, making the first move of punching the giant Dopant.
"I'LL CRUSH YOU ALL WITH MY BARE HANDS!" Wally roared as he battled with Gotchard, swinging his massive blades towards the alchemist Rider. The resulting slash caused a massive gust of wind to blow over the group while Revice, Zero-One, and Saber moved in.
The grasshopper Rider took out the two tusks from his mecha's body and used them as his own twin weapons.
"Take this!" He declared before spinning rapidly and delivering several rapid strikes to smash through the Daishōgun Jibakushin Dopant, which merely roared in pain before the fused T-Rex Rider leaped in and delivered a large series of aerial stomps to his mono-eye.
"This is nuts!" Koji gawked.
"Yeah… to think we're seeing this all in front of us." Asuka murmured, watching on with awe and shock.
"The future is wild." Rika commented.
Saber quickly clashed blades with the Daishōgun Jibakushin Dopant, keeping the monster's twin katanas at bay with his own sword horn. This left the Dopant open to be smacked by the Boostriker's back wheel. The Daishōgun Jibakushin Dopant wailed in pain, distracting him long enough for Saber to break through the blade lock and deliver a powerful slash attack to the monster.
The large Dopant stumbled backwards from the impact, before roaring in anger. "THIS WON'T STOP ME! I'LL SINK THIS ENTIRE ISLAND IF I HAVE TO!"
He soon got several punches to the gut from the alchemist Rider, each one causing the Dopant to take more steps back and shake the earth.
"Senpai-tachi! Let's finish this!" Gotchard called out to the other four Reiwa Riders before activating his finisher by pulling on the two halves of his Driver and pushing them back in.
BAT-KINGROBO FEVER!
"Ready at any time." Zero-One said, before taking several more data keys and scanning them onto the driver one-by-one, all before pushing down on the Progrise Key inside.
BIT RISE… BYTE RISE. KILO RISE…! MEGA RISE! GIGA RISE! TERA RISE!
"Aa. Monogatari no ketsumatsu wa… o-retachi ga kimeru!" Saber said, before pulling the trigger below the hilt of his sword.
HISSATSU DOKUHA!
"Yosh! We're steaming now!" Revi declared before activating his own finisher.
REX STAMPING FINISH!
Geats chuckled before once more revving up his belt.
BOOST TIME!
After rocketing up into the air via the exhausts on his belt, he soon landed on the Boostriker and initiated his finisher, being joined by his fellow Reiwa Riders as they all delivered a five-man giant Rider Kick to the Daishōgun Jibakushin Dopant.
MAGNUM BOOST GRAND VICTORY!
BREAKING TERA IMPACT!
DRAGON-ARTHUR OU! HISSATSU GEKI: F-F-FIRE!
"Oi, let's join up too." Decade said, putting in his card which prompted the others to initiate their own finishers.
FINAL ATTACK RIDE! D-D-D-DECADE!
"Tebayaro, I'm taking back over!" Momotaros shouted, before shoving Sieg out of Ryotaro.
SWORD FORM!
"How rude, you uncouth ruffian!" Sieg huffed, after Den-O changed into his sword form. He then scanned the pass once more.
"Let's finish this!"
FULL CHARGE!
"It's best we give him some form of mercy." Woz mused as he pressed the button on his MiRidewatch and pushed it in and out of his Driver.
BEYOND THE TIME! TIME EXPLOSION!
"TOH!"
The four veteran Riders soon joined in for a full nine-Rider Kick that decimated the Dopant. The cries of both Wally and Shien could be heard before Kuromu spotted the defeated Wally hanging on for dear life on the edge of the platform; his Gaia Memory falling into the sea.
Out of instinct, Kuromu rushed to grab him before he could fall, with Koji, Rika, and Asuka moving in to back him up. However, it was clear to the former companion that the piece of metal that the four were standing on was also giving way.
"Hey, assholes! You gotta let go! If you don't, we'll all die!" Wally shouted, "Just let me fall!" He then looked down with shame, "It's what I deserve anyways.
"Hell no you don't!" Kuromu shouted. "You're gonna pay for your sins by living and atoning! If Rex could do it, so can you!"
However, as the group struggled, the more the platform began to crack. Seeing as there was no other choice, Wally took out a knife.
"Kid, if you don't then we all go!" The gang leader called out with surprising desperation.
"I don't care!" The Rider Duelist said.
However, Kuromu's grip began to shake and before they knew it, Wally briefly slipped from his hands and was about to fall…
*GRAB!*
Wally looked up and saw the bloody, still alive and now awake, Rex gripping him.
"NICK?!" Wally gasped.
"Asshole! You don't die until I say you can!" the mutt snarled, "I'm tired of losing someone I can't save! That includes my enemies!"
Kuromu took the opportunity to finally help the gang leader back and the mutt onto the ground just before the bit of the platform they were all standing in gave way. The two former friends then looked at each other and let out a tired chuckle.
"Bastard, you just don't know when to quit." Wally chuckled.
"Learned from the best." The mutt agreed.
"Ugh… save the bromance, you two…" Kuromu groaned, falling onto his back.
As the group recovered, the gem from the shattered chains shattered, revealing another red fragment that went towards the Shadow Charm Pendant.
Thankfully, Rika and Ryo were able to get the D.E.C to their location and swiftly, the Wild Ones were arrested… all of them…
"They're going to what?!" Judai gasped.
"I'm sorry, but given his connection towards the Wild Ones, I'm afraid that I must expel Taylor-san for criminal involvement." Samejima had to tell the group, "While Kururugi-kun was excused as he was a target, Taylor-san has a clear criminal record to him."
"But that's-" Sho got out.
"I know. I'm not happy about this either." The principal said, "But sadly the board isn't going to be as understanding as they were with Kuromu."
"There's gotta be a way to change their mind, right?" Jun asked.
"He still has his Spirit Key. If you expel him, then we'll be one Spirit Key Holder short." Misawa pointed out. "At least hold it off until things have calmed down."
"Not to mention he's in critical condition." Ryo said, "To expel a student who was maimed horribly on their property would not bode well for this school's reputation. Especially on Kaiba-san's watch."
Samejima smiled, letting out a weary chuckle, "You kids truly believe in your friend, do you?"
"Duh, all for one, one for all." Rika said matter-of-factly.
"Very well, I shall bring these factors up with the board. For now, please visit Taylor-san. He may have not woken up, but it's a miracle that he's still alive."
"Makes me wonder if he's less of a cheetah and more of a cockroach." Jun muttered, though the others could tell that it was in good fun given that smile.
"Yes, that's what happened. Right now, Rex is in the ICU to recover but his status as a student from here on out is… in question." Kuromu explained.
["Oh man… I had no idea he was related to the Maximus Murders…"] Kyoshiro sighed, ["Still, it does seem like the two buried the hatchet somewhat. Time's gonna tell if they truly forgive one another."]
"We could only hope." Kuromu muttered. "Anyways, uh… I should probably let you go. We don't want Oogumo listening in. At least I'm happy to know you and Kaa-san are alright."
["We're just glad that you're alright."] Yukina said, ["We were this close to rushing back to the island when we heard about the kidnapping."]
"I'm fine Kaa-san, really, I am." Kuromu reassured his parents. "Just… do what you have to do back home. I can hold down the fort a while longer."
["We will. Take care of everyone there."] Kyoshiro said before signing off. Kuromu sighed, sitting back in his chair after hanging up the phone on his end.
"Yo." Tsukasa called out, getting Kuromu's attention, as the latter saw Tsukasa, Takeshi, Ryotaro, and Woz approaching. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah. I was just bringing Tou-chan and Kaa-san up to speed about earlier." The Rider Duelist said.
"I see. Well, in any case, the Reiwa Riders are ready to meet you." Takeshi nodded.
Kuromu nodded and stood up to be escorted by the four veteran Riders. They met up at the Ra Yellow Dorm, particularly the cafeteria. The first thing that caught his eye was, to his surprise, another high schooler alongside what looked to be a green grasshopper with red eyes and a yellow underbelly. Kuromu was about to chalk it up to it being a Duel Spirit… until he noticed Rika cuddling with the creature, which is something that never happens with a Duel Spirit.
"Hoppa! Hoppa!" The grasshopper chirped.
"Kyaaaaa, you're so cute!" Rika gushed.
"Ah, Ryusaki-san. I think you're crushing him." The high schooler muttered.
"Huh?"
"Hooooooppaaaaaaaa…" the grasshopper creature pleaded for mercy.
Omelet felt a bit jealous as the grasshopper creature merely gave a shrug and a plea to the little Foodon, and it wasn't the only one.
"Tsk, this is Lovekov all over again…" a black demon with blue lines around his body and a blue facemask grumbled, popping out of a young man who was there.
"It kind of reminds me of home actually." The young man chuckled.
"I'm guessing that you've seen this before, Igarashi-san." Fubuki asked the young man.
"Pretty much. I remember my younger sister has a similar complex." Igarashi explained.
"Ah, you're an older brother too?" The elder Tenjoin asked, to which Igarashi nodded as they looked towards three-fourths of the Osiris quartet, who were crowded around what looked to be a comedian with brown hair and wore a black suit over a red hoodie, black pants, and bright yellow shoes.
"You know I heard two Penguin Soldiers walk into a bar. One flips out and they both go home." The comedian chuckled, "Hai! Aruto jaaaa naito!"
Judai and Sho were left snickering messes whilst Jun rolled his eyes at the bad pun, his fist shaking… due to the fact that he didn't want to show that he thought the pun was funny too.
'Ahhhh… saiyaku da…' Kuromu paled, realizing how lame the joke was.
Meanwhile, Misawa was having a nice conversation with a man wearing a fedora, a black blazer over a white vest, black pants, a weird object around his neck, black shorts, and long black and white checkered socks over his dress shoes.
"I see. You must have made many stories in your world, Kamiyama-san." The genius mused.
"It's not a lot, but the ones I have written were well received." Kamiyama chuckled.
"Make me your apprentice in the art of conversation!" Koji pleaded to the last man who had black hair slicked to his side, who was wearing a suit without the tie, though he did spot a yellow bowtie, but had a long red-white scarf hanging over his neck.
"Oh, why so? You got something you wanna learn from me?" The man with the scarf asked.
"Come on, man! Help a fellow brother out!" the disco fan said, "I got a feeling like you're the king of charming the ladies, and I feel like I could up my game."
"Er-hem!" Kuromu cleared his throat intentionally, getting their attention. "So uh… this is everybody here?" He asked, "Well, except…" the Rider Duelist trailed off remembering the mutt wasn't here.
"Yes it is. Allow me to introduce you to the Reiwa Riders." Woz gestured to them. "This one here is Hiden Aruto, CEO of Hiden Intelligence and the first Reiwa Rider, Kamen Rider Zero-One. His company specializes in developing A.I. artificial humanoid known as Humagears."
"Yo!" The CEO greeted him. "Also, hope you liked the security upgrades for your school."
"Wait, so you sent the cameras?" Kuromu asked, surprised.
"Pretty much. What's up to date for us is highly advanced for you guys." Aruto affirmed.
"The next one is Kamiyama Touma, author and current guardian of a different world called Wonder World. He is the second Reiwa Rider, Kamen Rider Saber."
"Guradian? So you're like, a god or something?" Kuromu asked.
"Not really. I'm merely keeping the world safe. I'm also semi-retired until I'm needed for moments like this." the novelist explained.
"So what power do you have?"
"I used the power of the Wonder Ride Books and my sword, Kaienken Rekka." Touma said, holding a longsword with a red hilt shaped like a flame. The other is a small red book with the title "Brave Dragon".
"Huh… that gives the saying 'The pen is mightier than a sword' a whole new meaning." Kuromu mused.
"Indeed." the novelist said before putting the object away, "I mostly moonlight as a writer, and I've been pretty successful where I am."
"I see." Kuromu nodded.
"Up next we have-" Woz began.
"Hey there! Name's Vice!" the demon interjected as he shook the Rider Duelist's hand, "Pleasure meeting ya."
"Y-Yeah." Kuromu stammered.
"Vice, don't just butt in like that!" the young man snapped, "I'm sorry about him. He's kind of a bit eccentric. My name is Igarashi Ikki, he and I make up Kamen Rider Revice with my Rider name being Revi and Vice? Well, he just added Kamen Rider to his name."
"Hey, I can rock the look!" the demon grumbled.
This made Kuromu remember something, "So, I remember VIce mentioning that you two met Rex and this Miharu guy. Any explanation?"
"Well, Vice and I were dropped from our timeline into his due to a temporal rift. We ended up helping him and his friends out and even gave him our power." the bath house helper explained, "After that, Miharu, a Kamen Rider from the far future, helped bring us and a couple more people stranded by the rifts back to our proper timelines."
"Huh…" the Rider Duelist muttered, "Noted. So what kind of powers do you have?"
"We use Vistamps, special objects imbued with the DNA of various wildlife." Ikki explained as he took out the Rex Visatamp and a green stamp that had a purple eagle on it.
"Is that…" Kuromu squinted his eyes, seeing a faint outline of… W in the stamp's molding? "Is that who I think it is?"
"The guy who gives us these is a massive Rider fanboy, so we can also somewhat mimic Rider powers too." Vice added. "And also! Given that I'm a demon and using stamps-"
"Wait, demon?!" Kuromu gasped.
"Akuma da!" Sho panicked.
"Glad Rex is out cold." Judai noted, "Dude would have freaked." Although Sho started sprinkling water on Vice.
"The power of Christ compels you! The power of Christ compels you!" Sho shouted.
"Ah crap, not again! I'm a space demon, not an actual demon!" Vice complained, "Yeesh, this really is the 2000's."
"So… essentially dealing with the devil… got it…" Kuromu muttered.
"Ahem. As I was about to before I was interrupted…" Woz grumbled as he briefly glared at the inner demon before turning towards the next one, "Next we have Ukiyo Ace, the god of Desire and Kamen Rider Geats."
"A god?!" Kuromu gasped, doing a double take at Ace, "So, he and Kouta-san are-"
"Not quite." Ace said as he made a fox hand sign, "I'm just really, really good at games. In all seriousness, I'm technically a demigod, being the child of a goddess and a man. My existence was actually something of a taboo. Something that the DGP couldn't allow."
"DGP?" Asuka asked.
"Desire Grand Prix. It was an organization of people from the future that go to the past and use the people's lives as a reality game show." The young man explained. "The winner of those games would remake the world in their image, but… my mother, who was forced to be the Goddess of Creation, was used as a conduit for all those wishes. Fueled by the losers' desires and happiness."
"That's… so screwed up." Kuromu muttered in horror.
"You know, when your friends told me that you were also looking for your mother, I kind of felt you were a bit of a kindred spirit." Ace said.
"And… did you find your mom?"
Ace's silence told Kuromu the whole story.
"I'm so sorry for your loss." He muttered with pity.
"It's fine, I've somewhat made peace with it." the young man reassured him.
"Right, well, moving on. Last is the somewhat current Rider in our world. Ichinose Hotaro, up and coming alchemist and Kamen Rider Gotchard." Woz introduced.
"You're… a highschooler like us?" Kuromu asked, "This feels like Gentaro and Sougo all over again."
"Hoppa!" The grasshopper chirped, hopping on Kuromu's shoulder.
"And who's this little guy?" He asked.
"That's Hopper-1, he's a Chemy. A kind of alchemic creation." Hotaro explained. "Not like homunculi though, by no means."
"And… you used their powers in cards, like Duel Monsters?" Kuromu asked.
"Pretty much." the alchemist confirmed as he took out a couple more cards from his pocket.
"Steeaam!"
"Wi!"
"Nice to meet you-gon!"
"How many of these Chemys do you have?" Misawa asked curiously.
"About 101." Hotaro answered.
"101?!" The students gawked.
"Heh, gotta catch 'em all." Judai smirked.
*BA-DUM! PISH!*
"That was so lame…" Jun deadpanned, 'I hate that it nearly worked on me.'
"Right, now that we got introductions out of the way." Tsukasa cut in before turning to Aruto. "How are things back home?"
"So far? They're fine. Most of our enemies haven't attacked, but SHOCKER's return hasn't made things easy." the CEO noted, "They even brought in some new blood."
"They won't do anything." Takeshi said. "We still have SHOCKER's blueprints of the Interdimensional Transporter. As long as we have the plans, they can't do anything."
"Yeah, and whatever Kaa-san is making." Kuromu noted.
That was when Hotaro noticed something. The Rider Duelist's Extra Deck was… glowing red. It was slow for sure, but there was a noticeable glow coming from it.
"Um… Kuromu-san, your cards."
"Eh? My cards?" He blinked, before looking at his Deck Box. "What the-"
Judai was surprised to see this as were the rest of the group when they began to crowd around the Rider Duelist, "What's going on with your Extra Deck, Kuromu?" he asked.
"Yeah, it's almost eerie. Like something wants out." Rika added.
"I… don't know." He said, before taking out the cards and fanning them out. Surely enough, all nineteen of them were glowing.
"Has this happened before?" Hotaro asked.
Kuromu shook his head, "No. In fact, I have no idea what's causing this."
Then, as sudden as the cards began to glow, they suddenly stopped. Kuromu soon began to examine this and wonder what he had just saw, and what this meant going forward…