Welcome to Gaia! ::

(yeah it is but that was the first thing that came to mind)

Kio fired his charged gun once again at the monster. he was determined to stop this creature and unlock them from using their normal forms.

Ryan watched as the monster came crashing down. Soon realizing it wasn't Kio's doing, he looked around to see what it was.

Noticing something in the corner of his eye, Ryan slowly cocked his head. Hikaru and the untransformed rookie rider were talking to two strange looking creatures. Staying transformed, Ryan remained calm and relaxed as he turned his body to face both the new arrivals and Hikaru. He wondered what was going on.

Ryan, by this time, had cautiously, but as causually as he could, had made his way over to HIkaru.

He was hesitant to cancel his transformation as Hikaru had asked him. Try as he might, he couldn't get a good read on these two new characters. He didn't like it.

"Sure." he said finally. Ryan returned the memory slot to its standby mode before removing the Incisor Memory. Now Ryan once more, he handed the memory over Hikaru. His Fang Memory in his other lightly closed hand. He could feel it start to respond again. "Thanks"

Meanwhile, the black dressed man known as Kamen Rider DestrOy walked away. He was impressed with Ryan's skill at using a memory he'd obviously never had used before now. He was interested how worthy of an opponent he would be in the times that would come soon.

Kio had de-henshined after the battle. After getting on his bike and riding, he kept an eye on his rear view mirrors. He didnt trust the two that had aided them. Then he turned to ankh who was riding beside them. He was confused as to were the greed had been and what had happened. It seemed to Kio that Ankh was different. More mature. It was if Ankh had left and was transported through time back here. 'Could that be it? Gah i am soo confused right now.'

*Sen and Orelde watched Ryan speed off on his cycle after the others had left. Orelde shook his head.*
Such disrespect. Leaving without addressing you, my lord.
You can't blame them. They likely don't understand what I am.
That is no excuse, my lord.
Yes. It is, Orelde. I can tell you have some questions as well. It is part of our people to be inquisitive and apprehensive when dealing with the unknown.
*Pausing for a moment, Orelde took in Sen's words before deciding to ask about what was on his mind.*

What was the one human's device, my lord?
I'm not sure. Ingenious how our people can be though. Both of those small objects seem to hold power from the planet's desire, though that seems off. If the planet had desire, we wouldn't be needed. I'd need to study those objects more
And the medal, my lord?
Never seen it before.
I got a weird feeling from it.
Yes, I assumed you would. It wasn't made by him.
*Orelde shuddered a moment in response.* Yes. Exactly. As a matter of fact, I don't sense him here... It is oddly empty of others as well. A few cores, but nothing substantial.

Where did the strange core come from then, my lord?
The monster that is too similar to my own breed. The one pretending to be one of our people. *He had a slight disgusted look on his face while referencing Hiraku.*
The injured one?
Yes. His type seems slightly beyond ours... It has a part of our kin in it however, so they might be an ally. *Sen thought for a moment, then smirked.* I'm going to follow those humans. They interest me and it might lead me to find out what is going on around here. Go and harvest some local desire.
As you wish, my lord.

*Space warped and Orelde vanishing in to the odd pocket-warping effect. Sen grinned, running off after the riders to follow where they went. Stopping as he ran, he saw a sleek racing motorcycle parked not far from the torn up battlefield. Ripping part of it open, he quickly figured out how to force it to start and revved it up quite a bit once on.* Yes. This should let me keep speeds with them without drawing too much unusual attention. *Driving off with the stolen cycle, he followed after the rider's direction and went to go find their base of location, next fight, or anything else it would lead him to.*

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*Later that day, with horns blaring, a large cruise ship set sail. Things seemed normal for the people trying to do various activities, allowing the mostly vacationing people to begin relaxing and unwind. This was the start of a several week trip which would have most of the people seeing much of the Japanese region and parts of other Asian countries. Excited and wrapped up in their own relaxation, the crew and passengers had little care or suspicion about what would happen next.

After several minutes of the large vessel heading out into the ocean, a silhouetted hand came down to give the signal. Shifting from humanoid looks, the four turned into their orphnoch forms. Rushing ahead of the rest, Hayate laughed with pleasure as he began chasing off some screaming people. Maria looked down hesitant before walking off to go below deck and begin systematically trying to convert others into orphnochs. She hesitated one more moment before entering the door and heading for the stairs. Eiko, the gecko orphnoch, stood next to the dragon orphnoch.*

They will all realize how wrong they were...All of them!
*Rushing off to begin attacking the hearts of various people on the cruise, he began turning people into dust. Gon watched his three fellow orphnochs rush off to begin converting the ship, walking slowly from the spot they had been standing at and going to watch how Hayate would clear the upperdeck. At first, he was pleased, as Hayate was attempting to turn people into orphnochs. Annoyed at the lack of success but happy Hayate was following orders, Gon continued to observe unnoticed as Hayate ran around and converted anyone in sight.*

This is so boring... I need to see my work better. Rending..ripping...crimson flowing..... I don't care what he thinks! *Taking his black sword out again, Hayate couldn't help but being slashing and cutting down people instead of boringly turning them into dust over and over. Gleefully jumping back and forth, he began to slash and slaughter his way through the ship. Gon, having enough, stepped forward and grabbed the sword as Hayate went to raise it again. Turning with another blade, the squid orphnoch slashed his boss several times.*
Let go of me, I have to make their insides flow! THEY MUST BE HELPED!

*Unphased but sparking from the sword slashes, Gon realized that Hayate was degenerating. Something had already been off about him, but his rapid decay in behavior seemed to lead towards what Gon feared would happen. Hayate couldn't handle being an orphnoch and his body was already giving way, leading his bad tendencies to fully come out. Slashing more, Hayate tried to free his sword but was promptly smacked by Gon's other arm and embedded into the nearby metal wall.*
It appears your can't escape your tiny destiny.

I'll kill you! Dice you into pieces for the fishes! They need food too!!! Ha!!
*Ripping out of the wall, the squid orphnoch began wildly slashing with both swords towards the dragon orphnoch. Raising his arms to block the oncoming sword attacks and push them to the side, he quickly smashed Hayate a few times and launched him back a bit. Eiko had stopped attacking people having heard the noise. Coming over to see what was happening, he stood and watched the two fighting. Hayate charged in again, slashing with both swords and screaming "DIE!" repeatedly between laughing and then looking serious. Blocking most the attacks with his arms, Gon backhanded the orphnoch and sent him flying back a bit.*

I'll put you out of your misery. *Reverting back to a human form as Hayate tried getting back up from the last strike, Gon took out a phone and opened it up. Dialing a number, he posed.* Henshin! *Tossing the phone up with a harsh spin, he walked forward and moved his suit's shirt enough to reveal a belt. The phone landed in, with the added oomph of the spin, pulling itself from a vertical position to a horizontal one. Red lines appeared all over Gon before flashing and forming the Faiz armor over him.

Avoiding a slash from the charging squid orphnoch, Gon kicked into the ribs of the monster several times before punching him backwards. Taking out what seemed like one of the handlebars to a motorcycle, he slipped something off of the phone on his belt and onto the weapon. Lightning up, the weapon rose up and was used to counter another swing attack. As Hayate went to slash several times more, Gon moved in and slashed the chest of the monster twice before striking one of the monsters arms.

Stumbling back and letting go of one of his blades, the squid orphnoch laughed and fell to a knee.* Why won't you dice away? Your red, YOU ARE RED, but your still here? WHY?!?! *Standing up to charge in, the monster suddenly was caught by a red stream of energy that went through the ground then encased the monster. Not far behind the stream, Gon as Faiz ran up to finish the monster. Swinging to make the final blow, he had found a target but not the intended one.

Jumping in the way, the sunflower orphnoch absorbed the attack. Behind her, Hayate's energy prison broke away as the finisher seemingly did it's job. Immediately jumping overboard to retreat, Hayate laughed and submerged into the water. Quickly untransforming, Gon looked to the orphnoch as the faiz symbol finished appearing on her back.*
Why did you do that, Maria?
I.... I tried to be one of you monsters....but I can't take the burden.... I'm... *Before the monster could finish, she finished breaking apart into sediment and became another pile of dust. Gon looked down in regret for having killed another of his kind.

Walking out from where he was, Eiko looked over to Gon and shook his head.*
Hayate never was a good one to have around. I didn't say anything because we all had the same fortune... but it appears life knows who to make it up to. *Eiko had a self-satisfactory grin on the inside, seeing Hayate's instability and Maria's self-induced death as a sign that he was destined to help Gon. Of the three, he was the only candidate worthy and despite what life had been for him till then, it smiled on him now.*

I was going to wait to test you all, but I see my choice has been made. As one who can embrace your true heritage and refrain from the needless slaughter, you will be my first warrior. *Moving to the large suitcase he hauled around, he opened one of multiple compartments that folded outwards. Sliding out a normal sized and shaped suitcase, he opened it up and handed a belt over to Eiko who put it on in a hurry.* You will now be Kaixa. When the time comes and I declare my judgment, use it to enact our will.

You won't be disappointed.
Let us finish with this boat. We need to find more comrades soon.
Yes, and the failures of life shall become dust.
*A dark grin crossed more of Eikos face as he turned to go back to his business. Shifting into the gecko orphnoch, he rushed off to try converting more people. Gon shifted to his orphnoch form as well, this time helping in the processes as they were now down two helpers. After an hour or so of attacking, the two had come up empty again. Not making a single orphnoch out of the group, the two left the ship to head back to the city on a smaller boat.*

(( 1 day after the fight, arrival of Sen and cruise ship attack by the orphnochs, 6 days before the above post))

*A devastating explosion occurred, multiple people falling to the ground lifeless as a result. Those not caught in the explosion screamed, panicked, ran away, or were in the processes of being cut down. Laughing and twirling his swords before slashing more people down, the squid orphnoch Hayate did a little dance-like motion before stopping and cutting downwards at a cowering family. Jumping onto the hood of a car trying to just drive through the mess quickly, he jumped off to it's side and slashed both swords through the moving car until it passed by and into a nearby wall. It's horn going off to signify more trouble, the monster laughed a bit and continued it's rampage.*

The fanfare, the music, THE JOY! *Throwing both swords, he pegged two fleeing people who tried darting from a hiding spot. Rolling over to them, he pulled the swords out then hopped up.* You will all be red, turned into the gushing sorrows and absolute necessaries! *Local cops that were near the scene responded to the explosion, driving up and quickly using their doors for cover. Panicked, they opened fire without even trying to reason with the monster before them. They had heard multiple stores and gotten enough reports to know that things weren't a negotiation.

Rushing through the gunfire, the squid slashed the the door off it's hinge then began rapidly slashing through it and the cop. Screaming, the other one tried to flee but the cop car came falling down on top of him shortly after, Hayate adjusting after having just flipped the car.* You can't stop the truth, the essence of diet! *Rushing at another couple, Hayate stopped in his tracks. Laughing a bit, he pointed his sword at what was standing before him.*
The one without will has the spine to foil with the yeti?! I THINK HAT!
Your just rambling now... Your marked a loser too I guess!

*Shifting into his orphnoch form, Eiko ran in as the gecko orphnoch and kicked Hayate in the stomach before darting to avoid the sword swings that followed. Punching the squid orphnoch in the head several times, Eiko followed up with a roundhouse kick which caused Hayate to stumble back a bit. Recovering, he ran in again and slashed at the dodging Eiko. Faking him out with a movement, Hayate caught Eiko with several slashes followed by a double slash which caused Eiko to stumble back a bit.

After recovering himself, Eiko rushed back in to give a strong knee then several elbow jabs to the back of Hayate. Gon stood in the distance, just arriving to watch with his arms crossed and in his humanoid form. He followed after Eiko after hearing the noises and Eiko's darting off to see if it was Hayate. The squid orphnoch once again tried to slash into Eiko, but Eiko once again managed to avoid before landing a harsh side kick and punch combo that sent Hayate back and fumbling his swords. As they recovered, Eiko looked over to Gon. Gon nodded slowly, causing Eiko to revert back to human.

Taking out a phone, he entered a code and slotted it into a belt he had on his waist. Like Gon before him, an energy pattern came from the belt and formed a suit around him. For Eiko however, he had become Kamen Rider Kaixa, the golden rider. Surging with power, he rushed in and began punching Hayate several more times. Reeling from the hits more than before, Hayate quickly recovered by bringing his swords up to slashed into Kaixa while he was attacking him. Sparking and falling back a bit, Eiko as Kaixa regrouped a little.*

The resonance of the sharp collaborate towards the dawn of the ninth moon!
I will finally shut you up. You've bothered me for so long...and now your trying to ruin this for me!
*Taking out a device and attaching something from his belt, it bellowed out "BURST MODE" before the rider aimed at the charging monster and opened fire, blasting a sword out of his hand and sending him stumbling back again. Lighting up with multiple sparks, Hayate barreled through the air before crashing down. Getting back up slowly, he was shot again and kept pegged down a bit. Seemingly panting, the monster got to it's knee.*

Your cafeteria of untold forges won't rekindle the jabbering krakens. THE NIGH OF ETERNITY BELLOWS YES!
*Gon shook his head at how psychopathic Hayate was becoming.*
Finish this now, Kaixa.
Don't have to tell me twice. *Taking another device off his belt and attaching it to his foot, he hit something on his phone that was on the belt. "EXCEED CHARGE" it said as light energy flowed from it to the feet of Kaixa. Leaping up and a drill-like guider appearing in front of him, Kaixa dropkicked into the funnel* Be gone, loser! *The drill went through the squid orphnoch, appearing on the other side as Kaixa who landed on the ground. A large, golden X appeared behind Hayate as he burst into flames and broke apart into sand, laughing and screaming in an insane manor as he died off.*

Magnificent wielding of that belt's capability Eiko.
No sweat. This Kaixa thing is pretty powe- *Wincing in pain, the transformation disengaged itself as Eiko fell to the ground, the belt falling off a bit away from him. Gon rushed over to the only comrade he had been able to get this far, hovering over Eiko as he laid on the ground.* W-what is this pain?! It is unbearable!
*Gon looked over Eikos condition for a moment before standing up and casting a shadow over the fallen Eiko.* Kaixa was too much for you as I feared. Your body was degenerating too. Just not as bad until now. I'm sorry...

*Gon picked up the Kaixa belt from the ground, turning and walking off to his suitcase.*
What?! So I'm still a loser too?? No! No!! I don't want to fail again...
*Gon finished packing away the belt before hefting the large case on his back again. He closed his eyes tightly as he disappeared down the back alleyway. His heart full of pain and slight regret, he began to wonder if he was wrong in willingly jumping into another world. As he walked off, Eiko became gray colored and broke apart into sand, cursing life and himself as he did.

In the lone orphnochs mind, he raced over the past few days. The trio had been, simply put, less than what he wanted. In both number and character of those who did turn, things were grim to Gon. Maria was a nice person, but due to scars of life and unwilling to go on as an orphnoch, she allowed Gon to destroy her in an attempt to free herself. Regretting not being able to help her more, his thoughts shifted to the one she had protected, Hayate.

The man was seemingly a trouble maker and unstable mentally to begin with. Instead of following their attempts to convert humans into fellow orphnochs, it became a vehicle for him to unleash growing homicidal tendencies. When he had attacked the apartment area, Gon did notice Hayate's odd behavior, but hoped the orphnoch process would help him and not drive him to the state it did. Coming to Eiko, the one who had laid Hayate to rest, Gon felt the most sorrow.

It was clear to him that he had been through a lot in life. He seemed broken and uncaring when attacked, but reawakened when he had changed into an orphnoch. Each hint of how lucky the three had been urged him further to believe that he wasn't frowned on by life and the failure that everyone continued to peg him as. Unfortunately, it seemed life did have a grudge to continue and dish out. Despite being a very capable orphnoch, he too was breaking apart like Hayate and his existing mental problems poured out.

Gon sighed deeply, slipping in with the rest of the people who were walking the streets a bit away from the disaster. Ones who were uncaring, going about their small lives towards no real goal. He had a real goal, to allow the rightful evolution of humanity to go past their feeble existence and become a grander life form. This to him would lead to a better planet. One which wouldn't be as weak, helpless and fearful as the ones walking around him at the moment. Memories of his past flooded him as he thought to himself.

His life was, nearly, perfect back home. His life played out through his mind quickly. Being a child, leading to finding a family that was murdered. Being attacked and beating the murder, the first wielder of the Faiz belt in his world. Taking the Faiz power for himself, the countless fights he endured against multiple foes and obtaining the set of belts he currently had. He had liberated his people back at home after much fighting, only to turn around and leave it behind to try and do better first chance he had gotten.

Thinking through this, he began regretting this choice. To him, this would have been a simple matter of turning enough into orphnochs, eliminating a few things, then letting his people flourish here as well. The belts he had would provide power enough to fight any possible riders or military opposition here, so long as he had the help. That was the problem though after all, the people here seemed very imperfect for the process. Sighing once more, Gon began to think that it was pointless and that he would not find another stable ally to fight with him to improve this planet.*

((This fight happens 4 days after the monochrome and silver creature fight, Sen's arrival and the orphnoch cruise ship incident. It happens 3 days before the Fang battle several posts above.))

*Hiraku sat on the rooftop of a building, the wind strongly blowing as it did much of the day. While sitting, he enjoyed the air while trying to clear his mind. A foot or two away from him laid the Era Driver, looking slightly more up-kept than before. His mind was beginning to feel a tad bit normal in the first time since coming there. His fear subsiding in what was wrong with his belt as he had begun the process of slowly figuring the driver out and repairing it. He still had a length to go in repairs, but he knew that the starting work was at least going, and that after such a long period of worry and searching, that things finally were moving forward.

The driver suddenly responded, Hiraku's attention snapping to it. Quickly putting it on, he jumped off the roof and transformed just in time to avoid an attack which caused the roof to explode into pieces. Landing on the ground, the black Rook monster from before charged in at him, tackling Era into an abandoned stripped down car before flipping it up in the air with him. Shifting his position, Era jumped off the vehicle before coming downwards at the monster with his sword weapon. The sword rung out as it struck Rook's thickened armor-skin, the creatures strength pushing upwards and launching Era into the air again with it's repulsive force.

Landing a bit away, Hiraku sighed a bit.* This is why I like populated areas. The fleeing people are a great warning beacon. *Hitting his belt gently enough, he continued with his remarks.* This thing still needs some work too, so be gentle. 'Kay? *Avoiding the smashing fists of the Rook monster, Era took out two cards and inserted them into his belt. Summoning riders once again, Era attempted to overtake it with numbers once more.

Atlas, wielding his double sided axe, appeared instantly and began hacking into Rook. Following the orange beetle rider was Zeta, slashing into Rook using two laser-looking swords. The black monster stumbled back, it's armor adjusting to their weapons. Rushing in to slash it again, Atlas cut several times into the armor causing Rook to spark a bit. Following in again after Atlas, the blue summoned rider Zeta went to slash, but was hit from the side by another monster. Flying back a bit, Zeta being hit was the precursor to Atlas also being blindsided and knocked through the air. A second, white Rook monster drew it's fist back after having hit the riders away.

This one had a more shelled appearance rather than a thickened skin. Being slightly quicker, it ran to engage the riders again, blocking both their weapons with it's shelled arms and then grabbing them by the faces. Running them into a wall, it smashed them into it more before being forced to let go from the combined strikes the riders gave it. Smoking a bit and stumbling back, both riders followed up on the monster by giving a hefty side kick to send it tumbling over. Clocking up, Atlas quickly attacked both the Rooks at once and caused them to spark horribly, falling into the same area and having to reform their armors while also upgrading slightly.

The two riders rushed in as Era began taking a cockier stance, used to the method of letting the summoned clones fight for him. Suddenly, he went to move, but his suit jerked a bit in motion. Prevented from his dodge maneuver, he was slashed by a sword and sent falling back. Looking up to the attacker, Era sighed heavily at the black Knight in front of him. Distracted with the re-shielded black Knight's return, he didn't have the displeasure of witnessing what was occurring behind him. Atlas and Zeta charged in to attack the herded Rooks, only to be impaled by the white Knight which had jumped in the way and destroyed both data summoned in one swift motion.

Getting quite the opposite stance from his casual one, Era was now in a bad situation. Not only were the Rooks heavily armored and tough monsters that took three riders to bring down just one of them, but he now had the two Knights which were the biggest pains yet. Their arrival sealed off his ability to summon data versons of the riders or use their forms for himself. His belt was on the way to being repaired, but he couldn't push it too far. He had done good progress on repairs, but Hiraku knew he couldn't take these monsters on too well right now.

Taking out the teal grasshopper candroid he had, Hiraku was about to open it and call the others when an arrow came flying by and smashed into it. Pushed in the air and out of his hand, it flew over to the black Knight who, in one swift motion, cut the candroid into multiple pieces. His only hope to call for help destroyed, Era felt the pressure of things. Further, he knew the arrow meant an even worse sign, there was another monster around. His suit responding quickly, Era jolted forward and avoided a car smashing down on him from the sky.* Damn thing...stop being buggy! *Hitting his belt before turning around, he noticed two more monsters on the field.

The black Bishop had returned, but next to him was a white version. This one looked a bit different, but not enough that you could tell them apart beyond coloration.* Did they really have to all bring new friends?? *The black one raised it's arm, forming tons of blades in the air. As it did, the white one raised it's opposite arm, forming several trucks above Era's head. Firing the swords and letting gravity do it's trick with the trucks, the two Bishops unleashed a hellfire of things for Era to frantically dodge.

Blocking the swords that came near him as he jumped up, he slashed the truck coming for him and went past it. Kicking forward, he smashed through the side window of another truck, passed through it's inside area, then kicked out the other window while avoiding the rest of the swords. Coming down on the ground, he slashed at the unprepared white Knight several times until it managed to bring it's new shield up. The Knight moved in with his spear, however Era moved to avoid it and caught the Knight in a very small opening in it's attack with his sword. Breaking his defenses, Era followed up by kicking the Knight over and slotting in a card.

Using an attack ride, Era created a warp which absorbed an attack of spears and gunfire and plopped it out another card, which rained it down on the two Rooks. This halted their slow advance and caused them to need to repair once again. Jumping over the first warp card before it vanished, Era sailed in the air and fired several times at the Bishops before coming down and meeting swords with the black Knight. Running forward and pushing the Knight back, Era shot three more times. The first two shots nailed the twin Bishops in the shoulders and knocked them off their feet before a third one missed and hit the ground a bit away.

Swiftly switching modes on his rifle, Era brought the gun up and fired the shotgun mode several times into various spots of the black Knight. Breaking their defense, he slashed it several times over and fired once more with the shotgun, sending the Knight flying backwards and smoking. Turning around, he caught a charging white Rook square in two weak points with his shotgun and caused the monster to come tumbling down and past them like a charging bull that had been hit with strong enough tranquilizers to avert it last minute. Rolling and falling on the black Knight, the white Rook took a moment to get back up.

The charging black Rook missed both it's attacks as Era weaved around it's punches. Spinning to avoid another hit, Hiraku slotted two cards into his driver. Using a combined attack ride slash and attack ride blast, multiple swords and shotguns unleashed on the Rook and began ripping it apart. A second set of cards followed as the effect began to go away, mirroring the first pair and allowing him to push the attack with more shots and slashes into the exposed Rook. Flying back and sparking more, the Rook landed and needed quite a few moments before it repaired itself.

Jumping quickly, Era narrowly avoided multiple car-sized swords and normal-sized swords, suddenly jerking here and there as he did however. One random motion was bad enough to push Era in the way of a few swords which connected and sent him off his feet slightly. Quickly recovering, Era immediately switched his rifle weapon into a bat while slotting in another card with his sword. "Attack Ride - Smash" his driver said as multiple bats appeared and were swung at another truck that was flying at him. Hitting the car and smashing it with a great deal of force, the Truck was repelled, nearly intact, before smashing into the black Knight and white Rook that were attempting to get back up.

Avoiding the lance attack of the white Knight charging behind him, Era shifted his stance and caught it with his sword before slashing into it and repelling the knight. Shifting to the gun's shotgun mode and slotting two more cards in with a swift swing of his sword, Era unleashed another wall of guns on a helpless monster. The attack was slightly blocked by the Knight, but the brunt of the attack launched it backwards and to the ground. As the six monsters tried to recover, Era spun around and unleashed another double use of the Attack Ride - Blast card. This time in it's rifle mode, the now 360 wall of guns opened fire and caused them all to either defend or spark up and fall over again.

Getting too used to one of his original styles of fighting, Hiraku knew he was pushing the belt, but was too confident in his skills as of late. The jerking of the belt didn't help him keep full confidence, but he was at this point willing to keep pushing ahead. Running forward, Era slashed several times before delivering a roundhouse kick which sent a recovering Knight sailing backwards. Moving back and forth before darting forward, Era avoided multiple bladed weapons that the two Bishops summoned up in a counter attack. Blocking an incoming spear with his sword before firing the shotgun several times, Era knocked back the other recovering knight and continued to run past it while avoiding various projectiles around him.

Leaping up, he slotted two cards in again. Jumping directly into a warp card, Era appeared high above the battle ground. Flying down at high speeds and using gravity behind him, he came down slashing into the back of the black Rook, causing little to no damage to the now heavily fortified monster. It grunted, spinning to smash Era with his fist, but met air. The real Era, having sent down an illusion, came soaring down and slashing on the shelled white Rook instead. Stabbing his sword directly in between a few shelled areas and firing his shotgun into one other exposed area, it sparked a bit. Flipping back and off the monster, Era ran immediately before he could see the Rook spark again more violently from the attack and stumble off it's feet

Ducking and weaving to avoid several shots of rifles and one large leap to avoid a gas tanker coming for him, Era fired his shotgun while spinning it with a motion of his wrist. Adding a spiral to the shotgun spray, the bullets managed to hit almost all the shots fired by black Bishop's rifle wall, save for one or two shots that managed to hit. Sparking very minorly and still pushing his assault, Era landed on the ground next to the Bishops and began slashing and shooting into them. Sparking from the combined assaults of his sword and shotgun, the two Bishops fell from their spot and came tumbling down.

Immediately switching to the rifle mode again, Era fired several shots which caused both the Knights to take up a shielded block-position. Jumping from his spot and rushing forward, Era ran in to engage the two knights. Blocking the lance thrust by the white Knight with a parry from his sword, Era shot his shotgun in the exposed and open area of the monster before shifting his gun once more. Blocking the second Knights sword with his gun's baseball bat-like mode, he pushed upwards and swung with his sword. The Knight went to block the sword with it's shield, but in the last moment Era's arm jerked and brought the sword down, slashing into the monster's side before quickly raising up to block another lance thrust.

Moving quickly past the two Knights, Era avoided a double handed smash from the white Rook that had closed in behind him. Ducking under the knight's swing before leaping up in the air, Era flipped backwards to avoid the lance and fist of the other two monsters. Firing straight up in the air several times, he knocked a few falling swords off course and caused them to come down at the others from their altered and messed up trajectory. Blocking and avoiding the falling weaponry, the other monsters were pressed back a bit. Running towards them suddenly, Era vaulted himself over their heads as trucks and other vehicles came smashing down where he was. Mid-air his body jerked again however, knocking him from the air and causing him to land on the ground.

Right away Hiraku began rolling without any moment of recovery, avoiding the smashing hands of the black Rook. Hopping to his feet just in time, he blocked a low and large saw blade that had been made by the white Bishop using both his sword and bat. While keeping the saw locked in place, Era ducked and weaved around several slash attacks by the black Knight before kicking the Knight. Blocking with his shield, the Knight was knocked back a bit by the kick. As they blocked the kick, the Knight's white brother came rushing in to lance Era. Quickly ducking under the saw and stopping his locked struggle, Era did a sort of megaman style slide under the blade and coasted on the ground using a slight bit of digital energy. The saw came whirling towards the two Knights, who now tried desperately to block as soon as they could.

Firing at their kneecaps as he went under the blade, Hiraku caused the Knights to miss their mark in blocking. The saw smashed into them and caused the two to sail back and spark a bit. Hopping up from his slide move, Era slotted in a card and immediately used an enhanced, attack ride powered slash to cut into the black Rook who was there to meet him. The swords buckled under the heavy and armored arm, but Era continued to slash wildly. Despite his random seeming swings, each hit managed to block the attacks of Rook and actually began snipping parts off the armor. Slotting in another card as he continued to attack, his belt chimed out a yet-used-in-this-world card type.

"Alternate Ride - Speed!" the driver declared as the sword Era was using slimmed down a bit in appearance. His movements going even faster with each swing and with the tacked on benefit of multiple data swords swinging with each hit, Era was laying the offensive power on. Each slash became roughly 20 as he picked up speed in his own swing. The flurry of attacks ripped the armored skin apart from the Rook again and almost would have destroyed him had the white Rook not tackled him out of the way to absorb some of the attack. Slotting one more card in, Era jumped backwards into a large warp card in time to avoid several trucks coming smashing down where he was. Some of the trucks hit the two injured Rooks before vanishing.

Jumping from the angled warp card behind the Bishops, he kicked black over and began slashing into the white version. Era's sword had by then returned to it's normal functionality, but the sword's blade was even worse to the Bishop's un-armored skin. Sparking and flying backwards, the Bishop was shot out of the sky by his shotgun and fell to the ground, sparking even worse. Taking out a card, Era leaped up to finish the job on the most annoying Bishop of the two. Jumping through several warping cards, he came crashing down with a Rider Kick.

His body jerked a bit, not a good sign with how the belt had been reacting. Just barely avoiding a rider kick that was mimicking his own, Era missed his target and the Bishop managed to roll away. Landing on the ground and kicking up a lot of dirt from the kick's energy, he stood up and looked towards the new attacker. A monochrome monster landed not far from Era, mimicking the motion of him standing up and turning to look. It looked blank, like one of the monsters Era was fighting before it had activated a mode. It had a distinctive checkard pattern, like the board to a chess game.

Running in, Era slotted another card and went to do a mutli-slash technique once more. The monster quickly mimicked his motions and before he could react. Forming a blade similar to Era's sword and multiplying like the Attack Ride did for the rider's sword, the monochrome entity slashed and blocked every attempted hit several times over. Quickly slotting in another card, Era went to use his shotgun with assistance from an attack ride blast card. The array of shotguns fired, but were met with identical fire from the monster's other arm. Having shifted to become a shotgun as well as mimicking the ride's function again, the monster's own shots countered Era's before firing another shot that the rider had not.

Rolling out of the way quickly and just in time, Era avoided the surprise burst of shotgun fire and brought his sword up to meet the attacking monochrome creature's sword. Shifting his stance, Era let the checkard monster fall forward assuming the struggle was still taking place. Moving his sword and running it along the bladed arm of the monster, he slashed deeply into the side of it, then jumped back as multiple swords once again rained down on his location. Bringing his sword up over his head, Era blocked an oncoming sword from the black Knight while also moving his gun and firing enough on the white Knight to stop his advance a few feet away.

Too strained with the situation, Era couldn't dodge in time to avoid a shotgun blast from the monochrome fighter, which caused his blocking to falter. The black Knight capitalized on the situation and slashed into his back. Going for a second hit, the Knight swung and missed as his target rolled forward before suddenly sprang backwards. Smashing the top of his head into the chin of the Knight monster with his attack, Era knocked the black Knight backwards and made it flail a bit on the ground trying to recover from the hit.

Spinning, Era raised his sword in time to block an oncoming charge from one of the Rooks. Being knocked off his feet by the impact a bit, he planted himself on the ground again and quickly rolled to avoid the other smashing hand of the white Rook. Going to quickly use a warp attack ride, Era's summoned card absorbed a rather large anchor falling for him in the sky and redirected it towards the attacking Rook. As the anchor fell out the second card, a third card with monochrome coloring appeared and absorbed it. Quickly jumping as far and as fast as he could, Era once again narrowly avoided being hit as the fourth card spit the anchor back out at him with greater velocity than it had before.

Shooting the ground enough to cause it to break apart in just the right manor, Era prevented the charging black Rook from keeping his pace. The ground giving way under him and being too soft now caused the Rook monster to fall over onto it's face and stop it's rushing move. Switching to the bat mode, Era brought both his weapons up in time to slash several rocks and projectiles from the air, but was caught by the monochrome monster shooting him it's shotgun arm. Stumbling back a bit, Era smoked slightly from the impact of the shots. The attacks landing were waking him up to the situation a bit, causing his mind to begin to stumble instead of going forward as he had been.*

Without the candroid I can't reach the others. The belt is still very broken. I can't keep this up much longer. I need to try and get out of here, or overpower their numbers... *Jumping and rolling around more to avoided multiple gunshots from the monochrome monster, Hiraku continued to try and figure out what he could do.* The Knights cancel my Kamen Ride functions. The Rooks absorb attacks and keep charging in. The Bishops can continue to launch long ranged attacks. Worst of all is that two-toned one.

*Leaping back and firing his shotgun several times, Era avoided multiple bladed chakrams while shooting a large phone booth off it's course. Rolling on the ground, he bolted forward to avoid more swords falling down at him, narrowly missing him with each stride. Keeping his pace and jumping over the black Rook, Era flipped backwards in the air once more and fired his shotgun at the right moment to help propel himself in the air just a slight bit faster. The added speed allowed Era to slip right past the attempt to grab him by the Rook creature. Adjusting in the air further to finish the flip motion, he landed just right on the ground and took off running as he slashed into the black Knight that was nearby.

The monochrome monster ran towards Era, hoping to intercept him better than the others could and keep him locked in the area. Era quickly gambled, slotting in a card and summoning the orange rider Atlas once more. Rushing in to clock up and attack with it's axe, the two were stunned as an opposite Atlas appeared from out of the monster. This Atlas was darker colored and resembled the Dark variant of Kabuto's armor a bit. The two locked axes for a moment, before the dark one overpowered the normal and cleaved it in half. After it's rival vanished away, the Dark Atlas stood and looked to Era before vanishing itself.

Instantly after Dark Atlas' disappearance, Checkard had jumped through where it was and slashed towards Hiraku. Avoiding narrowly, Era ducked a few more swipes with the monsters sword before shooting his shotgun several times into it at various points. Jerking from the shots, the monster stumbled back a bit, but raised it's own gun and began firing at it's foe. Jumping to avoid, Era was suddenly met with several swords raining down on him. Skidding backwards, he looked around quickly and noticed the other enemies forming a circle around them. Having changed from trying to overwhelm him with numbers, the group now wanted to keep him locked in one on one combat it seemed. Likely due to his attempt escapes, Hiraku reasoned.

Knowing he couldn't fight this checkard monster head one, he thought about making a break through the group. Quickly calculating things, he realized he couldn't waltz through and make it out at this rate, especially if his belt was going to keep malfunctioning. As Era rolled to avoid a few shots and swings from the monochrome monster, he kept thinking on what he should do next. As it was, any summon or power he used would be mimicked or taken out by the circling Knights. His best bet would be to overpower them, but with their numbers he couldn't quite do it without help. Unconsciously as he again avoided a hail of shots from the monochrome monster, plus several jabs, summoned weapons and attacks from the circle of monsters, he had taken out a card.

Jumping back and avoiding the sword of the checkard monster, Era raised his gun and fired several times to knock it back. Having a moment, he could have easily slotted in the card, but he once again hesitated. His belt was being fixed, but he knew he was beginning to push it too far again. It still needed repairs in multiple areas. To top it off, the fear and worry about the monster mimicking the card went to his head. Thinking of what damage could be done if it had gained the abilities of what he was readying to use.

Freezing with panic and his own self doubt, he could only stare at the card he had unknowingly drew out while remaining in complete hesitation. If he used Unleashed, it would be pushing his belt for sure. If he used Unleashed, the monster could take it's power and not only fight him, but possibly escape to obliterate the others. What if it picked up on his belt, if... no .... when it did that? As his hand seemingly was about to stop shaking and insert the card to push forward as he had been, suddenly his body jerked. The blackhole of doubt being shook fully away as the horrible truth sank it's teeth in. Due to this hesitation, plus the Driver's incomplete repairs, Era stood in shock and began screaming pain.

Falling over to his knees as a large sword came smashing into the ground and grinding to a halt before vanishing, Era screamed more in pain. The arm, holding Unleashed, laid a foot or two away having been torn off by the attack and the suit's jump into the attack rather than away. The belt began to respond and instinctively, Era panicked further. Ripping his driver off and throwing it on the ground, a one armed Hiraku fell over and began holding where his arm had been. Knowing himself to be in a terrible situation, he tried to calm the pain and halted himself screaming. Closing his eyes, he awaited a dignified end.

Hiraku had been bested and he knew it. The belt, his own fears and phobias, wanting to keep more distance than was needed with the riders, being outnumbered and by multiple powerful monsters designed to trap him or his friends all lead to this. Taking a deep breath, he waited for his end to finally come and the monochrome monster, or one of the others, to deliver the final attack. Suddenly energy rained down from the sky, blasting the circle apart and knocking checkard away at the same time. Keeping his eyes closed, partly due to the intense pain he was in, Hiraku missed it as the monsters sparked and were beaten away.

Feeling something grab him followed by what seemed like wind for a moment, Hiraku opened his eyes as he was thrown to the ground. Letting out a small gasp of pain and holding what remained of his arm, he saw his severed arm and driver land next to him.*
Pathetic. Your hesitation is disgusting.
T--that... I...
Your pathetic now. I feel shamed even having to save you from them.
......Thank you, Kisekiri.
Tch, you don't deserve to take that tone with me. Much less call me by my real name.

*Hiraku sat up, the shock of having lost his arm still chewing at him. Not allowing it to overcome him anymore though, he looked to his driver and what was once his arm still holding the card.*
We're still in town. There are a lot of nice hiding spots here. This is one that I use, but not a great deal.
.........
Going to become a mute now? Even more pathetic. Our race can recover from such things. *Eiji eyed over Hiraku a bit, actually moving his hat temporarily to do so.*The way you've fallen though, I don't think you can do it anymore.
I.... what....what should I do?
Hmph, grow a spine for starters. You used to be the most feared of our species. I can't stand how you've turned out since then.
..............Thank you again, Kisekiri
Shut up, your making me wish they had killed you now.

*Taking his card from his own hand and putting it in his pocket mindlessly, Hiraku weakly picked up the Era Driver then grabbed where his arm had been again. Walking off, he left the small hideout away from Eiji's usual place. Eiji growled a bit, annoyed at how his brother had turned out. Looking to the arm, he shot energy at it in frustration and left nothing but a crater. Taking a fresh soda, he opened it and began to chug the whole can in an attempt to calm himself. Hiraku wandered down the street and into the city, disappearing into it. The weight of his loss and how horribly he froze up not something he could deal with like the other problems up to this point. *