5Hey again. Issues have been taken with Chrom's character and people assume that I've changed it from what it was before to be more edgy. That's not true, it's just the difference between dealing with being faced with enemies and being faced with friends. Unlike the other story, it doesn't start with him in the advantage, surrounded by his fellow soldiers in the Resistance. Here, he's alone and his objective requires antagonising some of the strongest powers. Better to get serious there. At least, that's how I view it. Anyway, let's go!
Super hero time!
Chrom: Zelda, Link, survive that deadly embrace!
Zelda: It's time to flee, but do you have the support you need?
Chrom: Don't worry, I've got a plan. I just need to survive!
Zelda: Do not act so foolishly! Chrom!
C + Z: Now it's time! the hero has come!
"I've never seen anything like this… the technology put into this thing is genius, way more advanced than anything we can achieve right now." Bauen muttered as he rapidly wrote down whatever the bevy of machines he had scanning the pink and green watch spat at him. The scientist was completely lost in his own world, Egi left to awkward stand by the side and hope that the older man simplified the near unintelligible scribbles he was making.
"I can barely interpret half of the processes that this watch is running, but it's managed to compress almost every single process I've recorded of the Gamer driver into a far smaller and more efficient vessel, while featuring a component that alters the body in order to be receptive to the powers. It really does hold everything that one could consider linked to 'Ex-aid.'"
"That's good and all, but it doesn't really explain how to get those power back out and into me again." The doctor pointed out, grabbing the watch from the middle of the scanners and twisting its face, a familiar helmet staring back. It wasn't as if Egi could hold it top his chest and just absorb the powers back and without the driver that Zi-O, Chrom, had been using, there was no accessing the powers that way. "Maybe… if you can figure out what part of it absorbed the power, you could reverse the process?"
"There's a possibility, but I'm still trying to figure out how half of this even works in the first place, let alone do something like take powers and convert them into a form like this." Bauen explained, barely able to draw his eyes away as he absently started to tap his pencil. "No, you're going to have to give me time for personal research. You had better return to the Basilicom, there's no need for you to hang around here."
"Right, thanks Bauen." Egi said as he turned around, stepping between several scientists innovating in incredible ways. The black haired man had been amazed by the creations that had come out of the Genmeer development labs, Bauen's leadership causing the research to grow in results near exponentially. For even the best of their group to be struggling meant that the watch was something that was beyond the greatest inventions that could be achieved, and that was concerning if they were in the hands of an enemy.
Fumbling about in his pocket, a yellow gashat was pulled out and its button pressed, a few moments of silence passing before Egi gave a sigh.
"Ah, right. No gashats means I don't even have a bike." The doctor lamented.
"Hey Egi!" a voice tenderly calling out had a small smile appearing on Egi's face as he turned around, an idol steadily slowing down her scooter until she was right beside the doctor. Pulling off her helmet and letting teal locks fall down near effortlessly beautifully, she gave a shy smile. "I was going to visit you at the Basilicom, but Oracle Toei told me that you were here. Apparently, you didn't have a ride so I… kinda thought… you know…?"
"Really? You're a lifesaver Lyrica. I thought you were still performing in Lowee." Egi exuberantly answered, taking the helmet that was held out to him with a thankful bow. Being on the scooter behind her meant that Egi didn't get a good look at the blush that burned across the girl's cheeks with a near volcanic heat, only made worst when Egi wrapped his arms around her waist for security. Rushing to get her helmet on, the blue haired girl took a deep breath before revving the engine, their route to the Basilicom set. "How much did Toei tell you about the situation?"
"Everything she knew right now - that some random person calling themselves a Kamen rider suddenly crashed their ship thing into the Basilicom and then stole your and Bauen's power." Lyrica answered, giving a mental cheer – she hadn't stuttered even with how close and warm her CPu was to her. Considering how serious the situation was, it would've been incredibly embarrassing if she had messed up. "I think I saw some of the other CPUs and their Candidates coming to the Basilicom, so they should be waiting for you there. I didn't even know there was any other Kamen riders, let alone they could steal other riders' powers…"
"Neither did we, but we have to deal with it now. I know you just got back from your tour, but could we ask you to help out? Right now, you're one of the few people we can turn to." Egi asked, Lyrica momentarily bowing her head to hide the flash of embarrassment that passed over her body. The doctor gave small sound of concern as the scooter momentarily veered strangely, but gave it no thought. "While Bauen and I may not be able to transform, Pallad still has access to his powers – that means there's a good chance you still have yours as well and we need any rider we can get."
"O-of course! After all, my CPU's giving the order…!" Lyrica replied, slowing down as they made their way to the government building. Her wavering confidence was clear through the way she fidgeted the whole time they were walking through the main hall of the Basilicom, the amount of men slowly falling as they made their way to the elevator.
Lyrica couldn't help the momentary surprise that hit her – disregarding the numerous buttons on the panel, Egi tapped the side of the elevator, slipping the Mighty Action X gashat into his hand and plugging it into the newly formed slot. Considering that they were on the ground floor, Lyrica didn't know how to feel about the fact they were moving downward. "Um, so… what do you need me to do?"
"We need your help in defending this." And then he doors opened to perhaps the largest underground space that Lyrica had ever beheld, several engineers buzzing about around a scaffolding covered machine that towered over them all. She had heard the rumours – with how fast they had spread across the internep, it was impossible not to have, but actually witnessing the odd creation in person was another thing entirely. "We're trying to understand what we can about this beyond the fact that it's apparently called the 'Time Mazine' and it's what allowed Kamen rider Zi-O to appear in this dimension. I know it'll probably dig into your practice for your career…"
"Oh no, it isn't much!" Lyrica immediately interrupted before releasing a small squeak, shrinking into herself as she began to poke her fingers together. It only got worse when Egi gently placed his finger beneath her chin, lifting up pink eyes with waveforms going mad within them to meet his own. "Ah, I j-just mean, I can put my career aside for a bit! This is way more important!"
"Well, I'm sure if you stay in the corner, you can still practice your singing and guitar, we're not going to keep you here forever after all." Egi added, looking over the work on the Time Mazine. Just as he expected, it was still as slow as ever, especially considering that whatever had caused so much damage to it had ruined much of what would've allowed the engineers and scientists to understand how it functioned.
"You'll be on a cycle with Pallad, but if something comes up, I feel like we're going to need more than just one person; be ready for a random call any moment. I brought you down just to see where you'll be working and how to get here, your gashat gear will also be suitable for activating the elevator. Feel free to go back to what you were doing, you had to be busy with something; I've got to meet the CPUs."
"O-oh, okay…" Lyrica muttered as Egi turned around, heading up the elevator as Lyrica sat down upon a nearby wall. Watching the people move back and forth, a small sigh escaped the idol. "But I kind of… dropped everything to hang out with you…"
"…Hey, can you hear me?" Chrom muttered into a silver watch-like phone, sitting on the top of a boulder with a wince; the wounds he had taken were healing slowly, but most of the supplies he had brought with him had been in the Time Mazine. After the explosive crash landing, there hadn't been any time to snatch them up before he was forced to eject. "…Chrom here. I'm in a position to provide my mission update."
"Hey Chrom…! Histy's not available, but I'm here…!" a sleepy voice replied, bringing a small smile to the blond boy's face. It only existed for a moment however, ruthlessly crushed as the man tried to hold on to his serious persona. "So, did you get the rider powers…?"
"I technically have produced the ridewatch for both Build and Ex-aid, but the Ex-aid watch was stolen in a scuffle with the ones who bore the power." Chrom stated, only a minor amount of bitterness within his voice. After all, it was conflict, not some sort of chivalrous duel – anything went and he had already demonstrated that the watches were what provided his power. Stealing them to prevent Chrom from using them was a perfectly reasonable response.
"Additionally my Time Mazine has sustained serious damage from an unknown assailant and now sits in the hands of this world's riders. Something tells me they're not going to peacefully hand them over, not while I still hold onto the Build powers."
"I told you taking their powers was bad…!" Came the scolding voice from the other side of the call, a small amount of sweat coming to Chrom's face. No matter how sweet and sleepy the drawl was on the other side, the girl who it belonged to certainly knew how to deliver on her threats if she got upset. "So the Time Mazine was attacked…? Did you get into the dimension safely…?"
"Not the one I intended to enter." Came the exasperated response. "I was aiming to enter the dimension code named 'Mightydimension', but the crash messed with the coordinates. This dimension appears to be a fusion between aspects of the 'Mightydimension' and code name: 'Creatimension'. That's how I managed to ascertain the Build powers. Only issue is, I can't return unless I get my Time Mazine working and considering it's in the enemy grasp, I'm going to need Manawa's help. Can you get here to my coordinates?"
"Manawa says she can try…! It will take a bit of time however, so hold on tight…!" the voice eventually replied, a small tut escaping the blond haired boy. It was to be expected, considering how much power it required to search through different dimensions without just casually flying into everything and getting lost in the maze that was the multiverse. Even if they weren't the best when it came to being organised however, the girls were still dependable in the end; they'd get to him eventually.
"Everything's good on our end… but Game Heart managed to find another Rider Memoire… I think it was Kamen rider Ryuki from the flames… People were safely evacuated, but we have a lot of property damage to fix up…"
Chrom didn't have any words – what was there to say to an event like that? It certainly wasn't the first time such a thing had occurred, the copious costs of reconstruction and the immense loss of lives causing Chrom's fists to tighten around his phone. It was only after a deep breath that the blond managed to find the strength to speak, only a sliver of hatred entering his voice.
"That should make it approximately ten rider powers that Kamen rider Game Heart has… Our focus at this point in time is extraditing me from this dimension; now that I hold the powers of Ex-aid, I should be able to properly combat him on equal terms." Chrom ordered, the voice on the other side choosing to remain silent about the slight crack within his voice. "Give me a call when Manawa's on her way, I'll attempt to recover the rider power and broken time Mazine. This dimension isn't yet ready for those levels of technology."
"Okay, take care…! I'll make sure to give you lots of hugs when you get back…!" the call cut off, Chrom sighing to himself as he folded the phone back into its ridewatch form. This entire trip had been made far more difficult than it ever needed to be, just a quick assault and then return to his own dimension to free it from the evils of Game Heart. When there were a near infinite level of dimensions to choose from, all holding their own special quirks and differences, one dimension losing their riders wasn't that much of a big deal – didn't make it any less awkward trying to explain that to the riders of this dimension.
"Sometimes… I feel like I've become the bad guy…"
"So you're telling me that someone actually managed to steal your powers as a CPU?" a black haired girl stated with folded arms, a look of concern glowing within crimson eyes. Noire, the CPU of Lastation, huffed gently. "Then that means he might be coming after the rest of us next. We should devise a strategy and trap him when he attempts to attack us!"
"No, I don't think you need to worry about that. After all, he specifically mentioned riders and considering none of you are riders, then you're probably not in Zi-O's sights." Egi corrected, leaning back in his chair.
Gathered in the main office of the Basilicom, the CPUs and their candidates were all gathered in a semi-circle, their expressions a mixture between concern and curiosity… save for the Goddess of Planeptune, Neptune never changing from her typical carefree manner.
"I feel as if the security we have right now will be sufficient, but it's better to be informed about a potential threat and not have to act on it, than to be caught unaware."
"And we were here to play a whole bunch of games too! Aw, and I even brought a whole load of pudding here with me!" Neptune lamented, slouching on the sofa. If there was one thing that Egi could praise the lilac haired girl for, it was her remarkable skill to make light of any situation. Her statement earned her a rough elbow to the stomach, Noire's frown growing into a scowl. "Hey, what's with the friendly fire!?"
"You should be taking this more seriously, this is a large scale assault on a nation!" came the scolding, the twin tailed girl pouting slightly when there was absolutely no repentance upon Neptune's face. "What would you have done if someone just crashed into the Planeptune Basilicom, broke a whole chunk of it off and then took your powers from you!?"
"But Egi already said he had everything dealt with, what's the worst that could happen?" Egi blinked in confusion – not at her statement, for Neptune did have some logic to it, as rare as it was. No, it was the fact that in the small amount of time he had taken his eyes away from the hyperactive CPU, she had manage to flip herself upside down, her feet casually kicking in the air. "He's got a whole bunch of people on security, the huge hole is being fixed and a plan to get Egi's powers back is being worked on. There's no problemo, so might as well keep doing what we were going to be doing."
"While perhaps not as casual as Neptune, I don't believe being paranoid would be of any assistance in this situation." Vert added, the green dressed woman pushing strands of blonde hair behind her face with a pleasant smile.
From what Egi was aware of, the Leanbox Goddess should've been far more tired considering the amount of travelling to required to get to Genmeer from Leanbox, yet years of all-nighters playing video games had probably trained her for this very moment.
"Still, she does bring up a good question. You have this plan to restore your powers, but how far along is it? It will be awkward trying to cover up your loss of powers if it draws on for too long."
"That's where I come in!" Toei announced with a huge cheer, kicking the door open as she slid into the middle of the room. With the most triumphant grin possible. The others didn't take to it very nicely though.
The majority of those in the room reacted with simple surprise, Egi barely even phased after how many times he had seen the entrance. Neptune however was not so prepared, the girl's arms flailing wildly in the air before she ended up upon the ground.
A wince ran through the doctor as she hit the floor, but the other CPUs didn't give her so much as a second look. When one was friends with someone like Neptune, you simply got used to the stupid antics like that.
"Well, what have you got then?" Egi asked eagerly, rubbing his hands together. A couple of ideas were flowing through his head already, from an entirely new power to replace the Ex-aid abilities to a magical announcement that Bauen had already managed to figure out how the watch worked.
What he hadn't been expected was for Toei to eagerly push a black gashat into his hands, looking remarkably similar to the Giri-Giri Chambara gashat. Turning it in his hands revealed that it wasn't just any game however, but a black and white version of Mighty Action X.
"So… How is this meant to help when Egi can't use the entire rider system?" Blanc questioned, the brunette looking up from her book with intrigue.
There had initially been questions as to why the Lowee Goddess had saw it fit to bring it to the discussion, but it had only brought forth silence and requests not to ask about it. Considering some of the things they had seen the white dressed girl produce as a writer, they found following that request pretty easy.
"Easy! Basically, if we can't recover the powers that Egi lost, then might as well try and reboot the system!" the black haired girl answered, her grin a little too wide for Egi's liking. "This isn't a like the other gashats you use, consider it a prototype. Using this, we can re-configure Egi's body to accept the power of the gashats a little bit at a time!"
"…Why do I get the feeling that there's a side effect to this…?" Egi muttered, hanging his head. Maybe it was the way that her grin suddenly became highly strained, or the fact that there was just something that felt inherently wrong with the gashat he was holding.
"Yeah, about that… well, no there's no point of hiding it." Toei conceded with an unrepentant shrug. "The watch that took your powers cleansed you entirely of the biological factor that allowed you to use your powers. Without that, you can't even access the weakest form of them. This gashat will generate the necessary virus, convert it into a biological form and we can then directly inject it into your body."
"Wait, we're just going to shove a whole bunch of virus into Egi!?" Neptune yelled, leaping from the ground. Her reaction wasn't the only one of that style.
"Have you actually tested this Toei? How can we be so certain that you're not just going to make him seriously ill?" Noire added, folding her arms with distaste. "You could mess his body up. You could even kill him if you don't control the intake!"
Egi felt a bead of sweat forming upon his forehead. The longer they spent yelling those sorts of things, the more that the doctor felt scared of the seemingly harmless gashat sitting in his hand. Noire was the most vocal about it, touting off all sorts of foul medical consequences of such an operation.
Toei didn't seem to be disturbed by it however, merely nodding along with everything the black haired girl was saying. Eccentric as she may have been, the oracle of Genmeer was no slouch when it came to her job, and that was made clear within her next statement.
"Symptoms of the virus as simulated can range from nothing to symptoms similar to those found in radiation poisoning." The Oracle muttered with closed eyes. Yep, when it was said like that, Egi felt a lump appear in his throat. "However, without it, he has to remain powerless until Bauen potentially learns how to extract the power from the ridewatch. We can't risk that for long, you lot were the ones to say that."
There was pure silence after that, for no one had any way to respond. It was pure logic and no matter how distasteful the situation was, Egi's best bet at that time was to go through with the process.
The sound of a knock at the door drew the attention to Compa with far too many supplies in her hands, the pink nurse in training barely able to keep herself up. By the time she managed to stumble into the middle of the room with Vert's help, she was panting like a dog.
"I-I finally managed… to get all of the… s-stuff…" Compa eventually managed to speak before smacking herself in the cheek, somehow managing to revitalise her energy.
Under normal circumstances, one wouldn't have placed that much trust in Compa, not with her common displays of clumsiness and naiveté on the cusp of air headedness. There was a reason why she was still officially considered as in training despite the amount of time she had been in the medical profession. Despite that however, she still was one of the best Planeptune had to offer.
That wasn't to say anything bad about Planeptune's medical system. No, they had some of the best you could wish for, medicine was not an issue in the nation compared to, say, Lastation (as much as Noire didn't want to admit it). It was just that, despite all of her shortcomings, Compa managed to get a surprisingly amount right and efficient compared to what she got wrong with her treatments.
That was why she had been the only one that Toei could turn to when she first came up with the idea and with quite a few of the proper doctors at the Planeptune health organisation being rather reluctant to give her any major assignments, Compa had all the free time in the world to assist. Well, that and she had been playing games with Neptune when the CPU had to come over to Genmeer.
"Excellent, we can start immediately!" Toei cheered, Egi's eyes widening dramatically.
"Wait, here? Now? Like, in front of everyone?" Egi questioned, his eyes shifting around the room.
He was met by a variety of different looks. While Blanc was completely ambivalent to the whole situation thanks to the book she held in her hands, Vert and Neptune were openly giggling at Egi's embarrassment. Noire wasn't as loud with her reaction, but the small tint of crimson upon her cheeks said it all.
Toei blinked momentarily before a hissing noise escaped her lips, devolving into full blown laughter as the God of Genmeer let out a sigh. It would take a few moments for it to die down, the boisterous Oracle barely able to breath enough to speak.
"Whoa, let's keep things PG Doc!" Toei said, throwing her hands out. "We're not going to need you to take anything off, that's what the gashat's for! All you'll need to do is insert it into the gamer driver and it'll be able to inject the virus!"
"…Phew. Guess this thing really does do more than I knew about it." Egi sighed in relief, swiping the sweat off his face.
If he was honest, he knew very little about how the gamer driver worked. While Toei and Bauen seemed to have a fair understanding of its systems and Pallad knew far more than he liked to let on from the teasing smiles he gave whenever the topic came up, Egi's knowledge was next to nothing. It wasn't from a lack of trying; with how many times the scientist had tried to explain it all, Egi should've been able to recite every piece of it and its function, but it never seemed to settle.
And really, Egi was okay with that. The power had been a gift, a magical miracle that had landed in his hands and changed his life forever. When he thought of it like that, there was a certain magic to the whole thing and it brought a tender smile to his face. If he understood the technological side of things, then maybe that magic would dissipate slightly.
"Don't worry! If anything goes wrong, then I'm here to help!" Compa helpfully chirped with a salute. It wasn't much, but it was a slight reassurance as Egi hung his head.
"Well, there's no way we can put this off for any longer." The doctor submitted, taking out his gamer driver and placing it upon his waist. Its familiar weight eased the concern a little bit, Egi holding up the gashat in his hand.
MIGHTY ACTION X!
The call rang out and a silver light lit up the circuit board, but no giant screen or items appeared around him. Of course it wouldn't, it hadn't been designed to do that; its function was to produce virus and inject it into Egi's body – and when he said it like that, all of his concern returned at once.
But there was no time for debate, the doctor taking a deep breath as he turned the gashat upside down. As he took it into his other hand, there was only one thought upon his mind as he plunged it downward into the gamer driver.
GASHAT!
"This is gonna hurt…!"
"Sir…? It's prepared."
"Thank you. I'll be along shortly." Bauen mumbled as he set the watch aside, several locks twisting into place. Scanners prepared themselves for a bevy of different requirements, keypads lighting up as they awaited their passwords. All to make sure that the enemy kamen rider couldn't access them. It probably was a little excessive, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
A solemn frown appeared on his face as he entered the deeper parts of the research facility, the part that very few got to access. Perhaps it had been a bit of a bad decision, but Bauen, when Egi had asked for specifications, had decided to have a select amount of the laboratory replicate what he had used to work with in Planeptune before moving.
While the bad memories might've come with him, it also meant that Bauen had full access to the set-up he had prepared back then in Genmeer, even if it might not have been in use. With recent events however, the fact that they were already prepared allowed Bauen to immediately begin the experiment, an experiment that he hadn't experienced for many a year. There were good reasons for that.
Giving a brief nod to the men in full hazard suits, Bauen sighed as he shrugged off his bandolier and the jacket beneath. This wasn't an experience that he could go through fully clothed after all, not with the way it was designed. Soon followed the rest of his attire, a hospital gown waiting for the elderly man to pick up and slip over his head.
"Is everything optimal?" the elderly man asked a nearby scientist, receiving an affirmative answer. It wasn't necessary, Bauen could see everything that was happening on the screen before the man and that already showed that there were no immediate issues. There was just something more reassuring about hearing it in person. "Thank you. I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible."
The first time Bauen had run the experiment, there hadn't even been half the people that were here then. After all, it wasn't exactly an experiment that one could call particularly… official. In hindsight, it had been a rather morally ambiguous test to run, but it wasn't as if there hadn't been consent.
After all, Bauen was both the only person running the experiment and the main subject.
The silver coffin slowly opened its lid, a pair of scientists appearing at Bauen's side. With a deep breath, the elderly man stepped in, gently lowering himself as he felt a sickly cold creep up his spine. A small window for observational purposes was all that Bauen had to see the outside world, a light below him suddenly shining.
Ensuring that the gas mask was properly on his face, he gave a nod to the men peering in, muffled shouts from outside being heard as liquid gradually began to fill the container. Bauen had to supress a shiver at the freezing cold that covered his limbs; there was nothing that could be done about it, the catalyst worked best when coldest.
He closed his eyes when the gas first started to creep around his body and into his mouth, a strangled scream hidden behind the mask and metal that bound him. It wasn't as if he could just grit his teeth, it would only prevent as much gas entering his body and thus extend the period of experimentation. No matter how much he screamed and thrashed about however, there was strict instruction to do nothing to help until the experiment was complete.
And so, just like Egi, Bauen suffered in order to regain his powers.
"I am not here to hurt you. For the sake of your safety, please stand aside." Chrom muttered as he stepped into the laboratory, met by several guns. Chrom let his hair hang over his eyes, a sigh passing his lips as he moved his arm behind him. "…I understand. This is your job, you do not have a choice. Then I apologise, but for the sake of my dimension…!"
The blond boy was fortunate that there was a stun feature implemented into the Zikan Gilade after a large amount of half-asleep pestering. Without it, the guards before him would be lacking their heads; as it was, the only ailment was a terrible headache that they would easily recover from when they regained consciousness. They weren't Kamen riders, there was no need to put innocent people through anything worse lest Chrom become an even bigger hypocrite.
The security did enforce one thing in Chrom's mind as he moved deeper into the laboratory, dodging cameras where he could and subtly knocking out whoever was on patrol. From what he had seen from spying and eavesdropping, things had become far more peaceful; the security for a place as important as the laboratories was incredibly lax and none of them wielded anything that could do any damage should he transform into his armour.
What purpose did a dimension like this have for Kamen riders? There was little to no crime and the monsters rarely attacked. If they weren't using the powers to protect their dimension, then Chrom might as well find a better use for them.
Besides, he was already too deep into his path to turn back. The powers already resided within ridewatches and unless they somehow miraculously managed to develop technology that was able to do what even his own world couldn't, the riders of this dimension had no way to withdraw them. If it were possible to withdraw rider powers from transformation items, there wouldn't even be a need to do something as convoluted as this.
A grimace came to Chrom's face as he shot down a keypad, a lot more power required to do so than he would've expected. It was distasteful and underhanded, but Kamen rider Game Heart had done far worse things to reach the point he had. With so many rider powers under the enemy's belt, there wouldn't be enough to battle him on even terms without dipping into other dimensions.
"No, you can't feel guilty. There are countless dimensions in the multiverse, the fact that one more won't have Kamen riders isn't a big deal…" Chrom muttered to himself as he slipped through the door. From what he was able to understand of the layout through his spy drone, he should be getting close to his target…
SEARCH HAWK!
SAGASHI-TAKA-TAKA!
"Quiet!" Chrom immediately scolded the hawk-like construct as it floated above him, the Taka Watchroid immediately silencing itself as it began gesturing as well as it could in mid-air. It had been one of the few remnants of OOO's power that he could snatch for himself, the majority of it falling into Kamen rider Game Heart's hands just like so many others. "Are you certain that there aren't any cameras in there?"
The quick nod from the metal bird was reassuring, Chrom stepping back as the Taka Watchroid began to spit at the lock. While normally it would be happily yelling out loud what it was doing, it remained unnaturally silent as ice began to build around the keyhole.
With a quick shot from the Zikan Gilade, the lock no longer existed, Chrom stepping into the room and immediately looking towards the incredibly heavy fortifications sitting in the back corner. It was clear that after all of the simple security, actually getting the watch would be far more difficult to do, Chrom giving a frown as he pulled up his sleeves.
"Looks like I don't have a choice, gonna have to take this by hand…" he wasn't looking forward to it at all, not if the size was at all indicative of its weight. Even something half the container's size would be a struggle to move, let alone take out of the laboratory and to a safe location discretely. Unless he wanted to transform and risk getting heard though, it was his only choice.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?"
Chrom held up the Zikan Gilade behind his back, blocking the boot that would've surely had his head slamming into the wall, knocking him unconscious. That would've been an interesting feat if the black haired CPU Candidate had been able to pull it off, almost as interesting as the fact that he had been able to appear behind Chrom without a single sound.
"You've managed to make it through most of the level… but you didn't think there wouldn't be a boss before you could get the treasure, did you?" Pallad continued, flipping off the blade and landing perfectly upon the floor, holding up his own gashat and placing his hand at the dial. "I've been looking for some action and maybe now we can get some proper answers. My heart's dancing!"
PERFECT PUZZLE!
WHAT'S THE NEXT STAGE?
WHAT'S THE NEXT STAGE?
ZI-O!
"Hmph, so there really were additional Kamen riders. If that's the case, then I don't see why you care about losing part of them." Chrom remarked in return as he slid the ridewatch onto his driver, throwing his arms out as Pallad twisted the dial.
Chrom had no clue how powerful this rider would be; in his own dimension, there had not been a kamen rider who transformed using something like what the CPU Candidate of Genmeer was holding. If there were more than just Ex-aid and Build in this dimension, perhaps there were others he didn't know about…
Still, there was no time to conduct any proper analysis. At that point, the main aim was simply to get out of there as fast as possible.
A giant clock appeared at the same time as a navy game screen featuring a cheerful puzzler. Chrom attempted to hold back his grimace as much as possible; with the amount of noise they were making, there was no way he was going to escape cleanly. There was only one thing left to do then, the two yelling out in sync.
"Henshin!"
And we'll leave it there. Hopefully there's a better glimpse into Chrom's full personality rather than just the cold commander on a mission. Though a fair amount's changed, there's also a good chunk I'm keeping the same.
Super hero time! See you next time!
