“Reiko...you’re a bugster too...”

You stand there stunned. “N-no...I’m…” you couldn’t formulate the words to protest or even try to think what he meant by that. “I’m...not...I’m human…” You try again as Hiiro pulls you away. He grabs Parado by the shirt.

“Parado!” He shouts. “What did you mean she’s a bugster!? What did you do to her last time?!” Parado grabs Hiiro’s wrist and tries to pry himself free.

“I could ask you people the same thing…” He says coldly. “I didn’t do anything to her other than give her, the BugVisor and gashat. What do you do to her to make her forget what she was?”

Hiiro pushes Parado away and releases his transformation. Poppy and Taiga do the same. “Bugster.” Taiga says causing you to flinch involuntarily. “Explain. If what you’re saying is true, don’t you think we’d have figured it out?”

Poppy walks over to you and holds you close. “It’s ok.” She says gently. “Everything is going to be ok. Just focus on your breathing.” She says trying to keep you calm. She looks at Parado. “She can’t be a bugster. She’s able to use a Gamer Driver. I saw that with my own eyes.”

Parado shakes his head. “I saw it too but that doesn’t change what she is.” He says turning to look at Hiiro and Taiga. “Unless you two had something to do with this?” He asks coolly.

Hiiro and Taiga simply glare at him. “The easier explanation is that you’re the one who infected her. That would explain why her Game Syndrome is like Emu’s.” Hiiro says.

Parado frowns. “I’m a complete bugster, just like Graphite and just like Poppy. We no longer have the ability to infect humans. Emu is a special case and his infection wasn’t done on my part.”

Hiiro makes his way to you. “Reiko. We’re leaving. Can you walk?” You nod and begin to make your way towards the car. You take a few steps and look over your shoulder at Parado. “What?” Hiiro asks looking where you’re facing.

“H-he’s coming with us.” You say quietly.

“What?!”

“I made the effort of convincing him to try and see it from our side. Or your side I guess...and I’m not going to back out of it.” You say. “We have a chance to try and figure this out without fighting. I think it’s worth taking.”

Hiiro shakes his head but doesn’t argue. He knew better than to try and convince you once you set your mind on something.

At NCR…

“PARADOOOOOOOOO!” Kuroto screams as Poppy struggles to hold him back. “You dare show your face to you GameMaster! After your betrayal!” He shouts nearly foaming at the mouth. “My genius will not be insulted like this! Poppy! I order you to strike him down!”

“Kuroto! He’s our guest! Reiko invited him over.” Poppy says pushing Kuroto back. “We’re trying to show him that Humans aren’t that bad!”

“You gave unauthorized access to my Gamer Driiiiiverrs!” Kuroto continues. “I will have my revenge!”

Hiiro sighs and tries to enjoy his dessert and not face the two. “Parado. If you try anything here. Then I will cut you out.” He says raising a knife. Akihito tries his best to adjust his tinfoil hat and hide behind his computer.

“Maybe we should all calm down?” He asks quietly. “It sounds like we have a mystery on our hands and it’s our duty as Reiko’s seniors to solve it for her?”

Nico was sulking in a corner. “Or maybe we should just kick Reiko out. Now that we know she’s a coward and a bugster.”

All in all, NRC was in complete chaos at the moment.

What does Reiko do?
>Leave. Head to the hospital garden and get some air. Hopefully things will have calmed down by the time you get back.
>Demand everyone to be quiet. You’re not going to get anything done if people can’t learn to work together.
>Ask someone to go out and get some air with you. Right now you just want someone to vent your thoughts on. (Choose a person you want to go with you. Hiiro, Parado, Poppy, Nico, ect. and somewhere you want to go.)

>>3918164
>>Demand everyone to be quiet. You’re not going to get anything done if people can’t learn to work together.
Akihito has the right idea, great idea on Reiko's part to invite an actual normal person to NCR

>>3918164
>Demand everyone to be quiet. You’re not going to get anything done if people can’t learn to work together.

>>3918164
>Demand everyone to be quiet. You’re not going to get anything done if people can’t learn to work together.

>>3918164
>Demand everyone to be quiet. You’re not going to get anything done if people can’t learn to work together
Reiko is too pure for this world

>>3918179
>>3918182
>>3918185
>>3918191
Telling people to be quiet. Writing!

At first the noise was welcome, you didn’t really want to think for a while. But then it became had to do anything let alone mope. Then it became irritating. You stand up and slam your hands onto the table.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” You shout then wince. “Oww.” You whispers blowing on your hands as they stung. It had the desired effect as everyone became quiet and looked at you. “Sorry.” You apologize. “It was getting hard to think. We need to calm down guys. Yelling at each other won’t get us anywhere.”

You sit back down and motion everyone to join you at the table. “Listen, regardless of what I am. Bugster or human…” You go quiet trying to let that sink in your mind. What if I am a bugster? you think to yourself. What does it matter? you follow up immediately. You shake your head.

“Whatever. We need to focus on one thing and work towards it. I invited Parado over because...maybe we are family. At the time I was just using that as an excuse to get him to stop attacking us.” You look at Parado, stand and bow. “I’m sorry.” You say earnestly. “But...that doesn’t change the fact that we don’t have to fight each other.”

“ Maybe I am a bugster. “ You say looking around at everyone. “But that doesn’t change the fact that the city has a problem. Bugsters are infecting humans and humans are killing bugsters. We’re both fighting to survive and the only option we had been given is to fight among each other. Now we can actually talk this out. At the very least, let’s try and clear up some of the mystery then we can form out opinion.”

Parado grins. “Sounds like a plan to me. At least one of you has sense.”

Hiiro thinks. “Well...right now we have several questions. What do you want to address Reiko?” He asks.

“Why does she get to ask the questions?!” Nico shouts standing up. “She doesn’t even fight!”

Taiga pushes Nico back into her chair. “Because she’s the one who found NCR and she’s the one who convinced the bugster to come quietly.” He growls.

You blush embarrassed. You didn’t really think of yourself as a leader or spokesperson. Truth be told, you simply just did what you thought was right and things kind of worked out. But you did start the team meeting so you might as well start the questions.

>What does Reiko address?
>Ask the members if they can take a look at Dangerous Zombie. If you’re going to use it you might as well know it’s safe.
>Ask Parado why he’s giving regular people Kamen Rider gashats. The last two people weren’t exactly the embodiment of Riders.
>Ask about people being infected while playing Chronicles. You want to know how it works.
>Hiiro once mentioned that King ranting about how players don’t truely die. That the winner of Chronicles gets to revive everyone. Maybe Parado knows about it.
>Write in

>>3918230
Literally ask all the questions. We're not going to be running around in the dark any longer. Akihito better be taking notes back there.
>Ask Parado why he’s giving regular people Kamen Rider gashats. The last two people weren’t exactly the embodiment of Riders.
>Ask about people being infected while playing Chronicles. You want to know how it works.
>Hiiro once mentioned that King ranting about how players don’t truely die. That the winner of Chronicles gets to revive everyone. Maybe Parado knows about it.

Also write in
>Ask Parado what he knows about our past
Like how on earth did he know we were a bugster? What happened when we first ran into him?
And also
>Ask Parado where Hojo Emu is
He obviously knows because he was going about him ''and Emu'' coming back in a week.

Looking at Dangerous Zombie can happen at any time and only needs a few select people, now that we've got everyone's attention and everyone is in NCT it's time to ask the most pressing questions.

File: 4d5.png (833 KB, 868x569)

833 KB PNG

>>3918244
>ask all the questions.
That write up tho...I'm game.

Still want to see what other's vote. To know what to focus on.

>>3918230
>Hiiro once mentioned that King ranting about how players don’t truely die. That the winner of Chronicles gets to revive everyone. Maybe Parado knows about it
But also this>>3918244

>>3918244
>>3918255
Asking ALL the things. Writing (This one might take a while).

An absurd amount of questions race through your head. Everyone began to stare at you and you decided to just ask what came to mind first. You clear your throat and look to Akihito. “Can you take notes please? I think I’m gonna ask a lot of things and I don’t want us to forget when we look back. Akihito raises his hand in salute and flips open his laptop. He gives you the thumbs up and gets ready to become the group stenographer.

“So Parado…” You think what you want to ask first. “Oh! When Hiiro fought King, he said something about players not really dying.” You look at Hiiro for more details.

“King claimed that players vanishing was a game mechanic. That the winner of Chronicle would get to revive everyone.” Hiiro says crossing his arms. “Evidently he would use that to become king of all.”

Parado shrugs. “That’s news to me. Do you know where he got that idea?”

Hiiro nods. “He said his father had spoken to the CEO of Genm Corp.”

“Ahh...so that was Lovelica’s doing.” Parado says realizing. “Though you might know him as Amagasaki Ren. He’s a bugster.” He grins. “Although he never told me about that little lie.” This comment causes Kuroto to laugh wildly.

“Ahh...my genius strikes again! Truly, my influence knows no bounds.” He says. Everyone slowly turns to look at Kuroto. Kuroto grins madly. “Protogashats.” He says. “The data of everyone who was killed by the bugsters is stored in the ProtoGashats.” The entire room goes deathly silent. Hiiro and Taiga looked enraged.

“Why didn’t you mention anything about this?” Hiiro asks quietly, his voice simmering with unadulterated rage.

Kuroto smiles. “Because such information is of no use to you. A certain organization stopped me before I could figure out a way to bring them back. Those who have fallen have given their lives to this glorious game!”

“But those are people’s lives!” You protest.

“What are a few lives for my life’s work?!” Kuroto laughs. Poppy stands up and drags him away to a corner of the room. You shake your head.

“So it’s true then?” You ask Parado.

“That’s the first I’ve ever heard of it being true.” He admits.

“Then why are you giving out Gamer Drives to everyone?”

“That was Lovelica’s idea.” He says. “To add more players to the game.”

“Who is Lovelica?” Taiga says. “He seems heavily embroiled in your plans.”

“He’s a bugster we found during the period CR wasn’t operating. He’s very persuasive that’s why we put him in charge of Genm Corp. We leave the running of Chronicles to him.” Parado replies. You nod and think a bit more.

“So do you know why he gave them to a madman?” You ask. “I mean if he wanted to, he could have given it to gamers who know how to fight.”

“He did it to make you look bad.” Parado says. “If regular people saw how the Kamen Riders acted like you did then they wouldn’t trust CR if it came back.” The room goes quiet for a bit save for the clicking of Akihito’s keyboard.

“Parado…” You begin. “Do you know how people are being infected by playing Chronicle?” You ask. Parado nods and looks over at Kuroto stewing in the corner.

“The Chronicle Gashat has no driver to regulate the intake of the virus. So the Gashat draws it directly into the body. The Gashats also have the secondary effect of drawing the virus directly from a bugster. That’s why players tend to have the same strain as the boss they fight.”

Taiga stands up knocking his chair over. “So Nico might be infect-”

“You altered my blueprints!” Kuroto shouts again. “My Chronicle Gashats were never programmed to do such a thing. Not only have you defied me but you rewrote my product!” Parado glares at Kuroto.

“What happened to bugsters and humans being your pawns.” He says coldly. “We didn’t change anything about the Chronicle Gashats. They were made straight off the designs as they were. None of us bugsters have the technical ability to alter a Gashat’s programming.” Kuroto lets out a small hiss and stays quiet. Parado turns to Taiga. “You were saying?”

“Did you infect Nico?” He growls.

“No. Like I said, Reiko, Poppy and I are complete bugsters. We don’t emit the virus because we’re already complete so the Gashat can’t pick it up. Unless there was someone already with Game Syndrome there, she’s fine.” Parado says crossing his arms. “Bugsters who recently propagated and still have a host still emit the virus as it were. To increase their chances of survival. The more people infected, the bigger the chance someone will let him be complete.” Taiga and Hiiro glare at him but Parado seems unfazed. “It’s how we survive. Humans do the reverse, they kill us to live. We didn’t ask to be born like this.”

“So the Chronicle Gashats were already programmed to do that but...if Kuroto didn’t do it. Who did?” You ask but Parado merely shrugs. You nod accepting he couldn’t tell you anymore. “Do you know where Emu is? He’s the last member of CR.” You ask.

Parado smiles at that. “Always the bright one. I’m sorry but that’s my secret. I’ll answer questions but I’m not going to reveal anything that gives you the advantage. Even if we’re related. Remember I’m here to be convinced that humans aren’t as bad as you say not completely give up all secrets.” He says winking. You frown a bit but nod. You guess it was unfair to expect him to give up all his secrets.

You think a bit more before deciding to finally ask. It was a bit selfish considering this was a team meeting but you really had to know. “Parado...how did you know I’m...I’m a bugster?” You say fidgeting with your hair. Parado frowns and looks away.

“I don’t want to answer that here. Maybe if we’re alone together. I don’t think it’s right everyone gets to hear something personal like that.” He says frowning. He looked a bit upset, not angry but rather sad. You weren’t sure how to react to that.

>How does Reiko react?
>Press him a bit more. You don’t mind if tells everyone.
>Leave him be. He’s trying to be considerate with you maybe pressing him would only push him away.

>>3918677
>Leave him be. He’s trying to be considerate with you maybe pressing him would only push him away.
If we really think everyone needs to know we can give the short version after he tells us

>>3918677
>Leave him be. He’s trying to be considerate with you maybe pressing him would only push him away.
We're supposed to be building some trust, we can afford a bit of give and take still.

...

I wonder if Juju Burger is being used by Chronicles. Kuroto would never allow it, but he's not steering the ship, is he?

>>3918709
>>3918689
We're leaving Parado alone. Writing. Probably be my last post for the night.

You nod at him. You’d have more chances to ask him later. Reaching into your bag, you draw out the BugVisor and the 「Dangerous Zombie 」Gashat. “I promised I’d use these. I don’t really know wha-” Kuroto screeches and tries to climb on the table to get at them.

“THOSE ARE MIINNNNNEE! REIKO! YOU DARE STEAL MY DIVINE INSTRUMENTS?!” He roars. It takes Hiiro, Taiga, and Poppy to grab him and hold him down. You wave your hands.

“No no! Parado gave them to me!” You say without thinking, causing Kuroto to scream again.

“PARADO!”

Parado grins. “You were dead. What else what I going to do with them?” He turns to you and shrugs. “So how did he come back anyways?” He asks.

“I don’t really know. I just plugged in my Gamer Driver and he appeared...wait a minute. Emu gave it to me! At least he left a note in the manual. Did you have anything to do with that?” Parado looks completely surprised by this.

“Emu did? Interesting.” He says. “He’s more resourceful than I thought. That’s what makes this game great. Anything can happen but no. I wasn’t involved in that then again if he hadn’t done that I might have never found you again.”

You tilt your head. “You didn’t know where I was?” You ask confused. Parado looks away ashamed. “I thought you died.” He says. “Normally a bugster can be revived as many times as we want but the circumstances of your death were special. I’ll tell you more about it later.”

You kind of swing your feet thinking about what to say. “You know I don’t really believe you when you say I’m a bugster.” You admit. Parado frowns a bit and raises his hand to ruffle your hair but thinks better of it.

“Don’t worry about it.” He mutters and gets up to walk off and look around CR. The rest of the group sit back down, panting from having to keep Kuroto restrained. He had finally given up on grabbing the Gashat and had exploded into data before flowing into the arcade.

“We’ll have a look at it Reiko but honestly we think you should just forget about using it.” Hiiro says.

“I see. But just let me know if you find anything.” You reply trying to get everything settled in your mind. Parado had shed some light on some of the bigger mysteries but nothing that helped you about your bugster situation. Maybe you should do something to keep your mind off of things.

>What does Reiko want to do?
>Go and show Parado around. You did say you were going to show him more about humanity.
>Go hang out with Poppy. This was her first time as a Rider. You know yours was rough, maybe she wants to talk about it.
>Go hang out with Hiiro. You a bit afraid of what he might think of you. Maybe you possibly being a bugster might have changed his opinion on you. You don’t like thinking about him not liking you anymore.
>Hang out with Taiga and Nico. Maybe they’ll be interested in joining NCR now...at least maybe Taiga will be.
>Write in.

>>3918791
>Go and show Parado around. You did say you were going to show him more about humanity
Kuroto's presence makes every scene he's in better. Also thanks for writing

>>3918791
>Go and show Parado around. You did say you were going to show him more about humanity.
Come on, you can't just casually say something like "you died" and then walk off.
Uncomfortable conversations with Hiiro can wait a little bit.

Kuroto isn't going to be "content" to be our favorite combination mascot/tech-support character for long. If he's not scheming something already I'd be shocked.

>>3918791
>Go and show Parado around. You did say you were going to show him more about humanity.
We do have a week to show him that humans are good.

Honestly I think Hiiro will be pretty much fine with us - he's fine with Poppy, the only bugster he actually hates is Graphite (though I suspect he intensely dislikes Parado after what he's done to Reiko). The only thing he might be peeved at us about is not telling NCR about dangerous zombie sooner, but that's probably more of an anger borne of worry thing anyway. We do gotta let him in the loop about our little deal with Parado though, and pretty soon.

>>3918808
>>3918852
>>3918862
Hanging out with Parado. Head pats may or may not ensue. Writing

The group slowly disperses to do their own thing and you find yourself alone for the moment. You grab your things and take a deep breath before walking up to Parado. “H-hey.” You say nervously. “Do you maybe want to go get something to eat?” Parado grins.

“Sure. What do you eat?” He asks hopping down from the table. You shrug.

“I dunno...we can go get take out?” You say awkwardly. Parado laughs.

“You always did like Ramen and soups.” He says. You blush, he wasn’t wrong. You always had a certain penchant for them.

“Yeah. Is that a bugster thing?” You ask pushing the buttons on the elevator as you both get in. Parado shakes his head.

“No just a you thing. You always kept asking to go get some when we were just hanging around.” He says lost in thought. “It was that and milkshakes. The one with cookies sprinkled in. Graphite never did like that about you. Then again you two never really got along.”

“Who’s Graphite?” You ask suddenly curious of a history you had but couldn’t remember. Parado looks at you sadly.

“You don’t remember him?” He asks. You shake your head. “You two were always on each other’s nerves when you were growing up. He’s my best friend and companion. Was the second bugster I found and one of the few complete bugsters. Anyways, he didn’t like how curious you were about human things. Said it was unbecoming for a member of our group.” He says amused. “You didn’t really care and just did what you wanted.”

More questions swirled in your head, Parado made it sound like this wasn’t a recent thing. You seemed to have a long history with the bugsters. “W-wait...you said growing up. But I thought bugsters were erm...born fully grown when they become complete from a host.” Parado nods and thinks for a bit.

“Well grown seems like a bad word for it but…” He thinks for a bit. “But when a bugster becomes complete they’re not fully sentient. We still stick to the way we’re programmed in our game. We still have those habits but as we spend more time complete we begin to develop personalities we start to make our own decisions and develop our free will. Eventually we become like Poppy or you. You have feelings, desires, hopes, dreams...that sort of thing.” He grins at you. “And we got to see all that when you were growing up. I think the first thing you did on your own accord was go and decide what you wanted to wear. Looks like your taste hasn’t changed that much.”

You furrow your brow. But you remember wearing this kind of thing in highschool when you weren’t in uniform. “So...how old am I?” You ask. “I’m...I think I’m 19.” You says. “I know I am. I have a mom and a dad. I went to highschool outside the city before I decided to not go to college and become a Pro Gamer. I have these memories! If what you’re saying is true, then why don’t I remember any of that!” You say your breath becoming uneven.
Parado ruffles your hair and says gently. “Hey...hey its ok. Let’s take this slowly.. Your human memories must be confusing you.” You look at him confused. “Reiko...you’re about 4 maybe 5 months old. At least as a bugster. Your human host was about 19 probably.” He takes you to a nearby bench and sits next to you.

“Bugsters have access to all of the memories of their human host. Graphite can remember everything about the girl he was a part of before he became complete. I can remember everything Emu experienced growing up.” He explains gently. “You must be remembering the life of your old host. Why you can’t remember everything after that I don’t know. Maybe it’s mixing in with your tastes and other things you have as a bugster but you don’t have a mom or a dad. Your host did. You never went to highschool and maybe...that’s why you called yourself Reiko.” He says frowning.

“Did...did I have another name?” You ask quietly. “As your sister I mean?” Parado shakes his head sadly.

“No...you vanished before you decided on one. It’s kind of become a sort of rite of passage for us. When a bugster chooses a new name not tied to their game, it kind of means they hit maturity and shrugged off their game’s coding.” He explains quietly and looks at you sadly. “You never got to that point. You just vanished. We couldn’t find you. Graphite thought you had just wandered off but I didn’t.”

“Why not?” You ask Parado as he twiddled his thumbs. You couldn’t help but feel a bit bad for him. The way he talked it was obvious he doted on his sister. You never had siblings, at least not from you can tell from whoever’s memories you had, but you could imagine what it would feel like if you lost your mom and dad. “You said...you mentioned you thought I died.”

Parado nods. “Hojo Emu.” He says with a tone of anger. “The next time we met he told me he did it. Said he finally fixed the mistake he made.” He explained, his knuckles white from squeezing his fists. “I looked everywhere for you. I didn’t believe it so I spent weeks looking for you. I never found you until recently.” Parado lets out a depressed sigh. “And now that I found you, you can’t remember anything.”

You sit there quietly letting him mull in his thoughts unsure of how to continue.

>How does Reiko respond?
>Offer Parado support. You don’t remember anything about what he said but he’s someone who’s hurting right now. You never made a habit of ignoring people in need. Why start now?
>Leave Parado alone to his thoughts for now. You’re still not sure if it’s really true. He might be confusing you for a different person but it really doesn’t seem like he’s lying. Some of his memories, like your favorite foods, line up too well.
>Write in.

>>3919233
>>Offer Parado support. You don’t remember anything about what he said but he’s someone who’s hurting right now. You never made a habit of ignoring people in need. Why start now?
Damn, so we really did kill the original Reiko huh. Surprised we look so identical to her that we could fool our own parents, when most of the other bugsters look distinct from their human host, but I guess that fits with Reiko's entire stick of believing she still IS her host.

If her last real memories were of Parado killing her friends, I'm betting bugster Reiko was born from the sheer stress of that moment? Makes sense why Parado is claiming her as a sister since he might be the main reason why she was born.

Also all these revelations throw up even more questions about that Emu flashback.

If Reiko gets her own unique gashat it HAS to be a simulation/management game in the vein of the Sims

>>3919233
>Offer Parado support. You don’t remember anything about what he said but he’s someone who’s hurting right now. You never made a habit of ignoring people in need. Why start now?
Reiko is a good girl.

>>3919252
>I'm betting bugster Reiko was born from the sheer stress of that moment
Close anon but there's a bit more to it. The truth is a bit more fucked up. Id say it might be Gaim levels of fucked up. It's also one of the meta reason's I gave reiko dangerous zombie because in essence she kind of is.

>>3919252
>>3919259
Reiko is a good girl and a good sister. Writing.

You slowly raise your hand, unsure what to do. You want to comfort him but you’re unsure how. Do you do it as his sister? Would that be rude considering you’re still up in the air about all of this and can’t even remember anything? Should you do it as Reiko? Would that be basically denouncing him as your family and pushing him away? In the end you just find yourself hugging him. “Hey…” You say awkwardly. “It’s gonna be alright. We’ll figure it out all out and...and if I am your sister...then we can just make more memories right?” You continue. Parado hugs you in return.

“I’m sorry.” He says. “I shouldn’t have let you out of my sight until you were able to take care of yourself. It’s my fault you got hurt.”

You shake your head. “It’s...it’s alright. I’m sure you never meant for it to happen.” You reply. “So...how was I born?” You ask. “You said it was personal.” Parado pulls back and ruffles your hair.

“I guess...since your memories are only human it’d be pretty gruesome. Are you sure you want to hear?” He asks. You nod slowly. It’s better to get to the bottom of this. Parado scratches his head. “You have to understand that bugsters can’t have family. Only one bugster per strain so to speak. Or per host. What I’m trying to say is that once a bugster is complete that strain is gone forever. Maybe you can program a similar one but it’s not the same nor will be the bugster that emerges. But you...you’re different. We came from the same strain of the virus. Mighty Action C. The virus Emu has in his body.”

You frown and think about it. “So Emu is dead? No...but you said I came from a different host.” Parado grins.

“Yeah it’s a bit confusing. Basically we’re both born from Emu’s sickness. Where to begin…” He thinks. You gulp.

“How about when you killed my friends?” You say quietly.

Parado tilts his head. “You mean Reiko’s friends?” You shrug.

“I guess? I mean the feelings I have for them feel real. The pain I feel knowing they might be gone forever are real.” You say glumly.

Parado frowns. “I’m sorry. I’d never...If I knew you’d hurt like this, If I knew that your memories would become like they are...I’d never do something like that to you.” He looks away ashamed. “You have to understand Reiko. You didn’t feel like that when you were born. You couldn’t have cared less about them. They were complete strangers to you. Memories of your old host. On top of that they were humans. Their lives don’t mean anything compared to yours and the other bugsters.” He explains. You shake your head. “You were born on the same day those people vanished.”

“I...I remember stuff like that. It comes to me when I sleep. You were there. You killed them like it was fun. I...Reiko couldn’t transform. She was too afraid. You tried to force her to do it. Then…” You strain your memory. “Emu showed up and something happened. I accidentally started the game up.”

“And that’s when your host became infected.” Parado says.

“But you said you couldn’t infect people. You told Taiga when he asked about Nico. You lied?” Parado shakes his head.

“No. I can’t infect you but there was someone else.”

“Emu?” You ask in shock.

“Exactly. He has Game Syndrome. Has had it for over a decade. The amount of the virus in him must be insane. So the Chronicle Gashat must’ve picked it up, infecting your host with the exact same virus that gave birth to me.” He explains. “There were no other bugsters there at that time.”

“I remember other things. Emu was acting weird. He was struggling...and- and he transformed…” You rub your temples. “Maximum Mighty X.” You say.

Parado pulls you into a hug again. “I’m sorry…” He says again. “The next part...it’s what I didn’t want to tell the others.”

“Why?” You ask confused.

“Because it would’ve ruined your plans to convince me. Everyone would have turned against me and...that wouldn’t have been fair to you.” He says.

“What happened?” You ask quietly.

“I made him do it. I can control Emu for periods of time. That time was no different.” Parado says softly, his voice conflicted. Full of shame. “Maximum Mighty X is a level 99 Gashat. Your host didn’t stand a chance. She might as well have been untransformed. I didn’t know she was infected until Emu managed to wrest enough control back to pull his punches and knock her out of her transformation. I didn’t let him save your host because we needed more bugsters but I let him check her to see what strain she had. It was the same as mine. At that point, I wasn’t going to let him cure her. Not when I was going to have a family.”

You stay there afraid. Confused. Parado had murdered you. No, murdered your host. He lets out a sob. “I’m sorry. I don’t want you to hate me but everything was different back then. She wasn’t a stranger to me. She wasn’t you...but now...it’s like I’m begging for her to forgive me. It’s like the little sister I had died.” He looks at you, tears in his eyes. “Reiko...I’m sorry. Forgive me.” You look at him rub your eyes. You’re not sure how to feel. You don’t know what to say.

“How...did you know I died?” You ask numbly. “You said Emu did it but...you also said bugsters can just be brought back.”

Parado gives you a pained look. “I don’t know exactly what he did but...Maximum Mighty X also has a secondary ability. It has the ability to reprogram anything. Humans and Bugsters. It’s how he defeated Kuroto when he was immortal while being Dangerous Zombie. So I thought he used that to permanently delete you...I think what he did...I think he reprogrammed you when you vanished. He must’ve deleted your consciousness and reprogrammed your host’s memories as your new one. Basically he killed the little sister I had and replaced her with the girl I killed. But...I think you’re still in there. Maybe both sides of you are mixed into one but...you’ll always be my little sister.”

You look into Parado’s crying eyes. You see how conflicted he is now knowing what it was to permanently lose someone. Just like you know the feeling of losing your friends. Maybe you two were the only bugsters who understood the concept of mortality. You take a deep breath before you respond.

>What does Reiko do?
>Forgive Parado. He did some awful things no doubt about it. He claims it was for his race to survive and out of love for his sister. He seems to regret it now that he knows it’s hurting his family. Aren’t humans the same? Maybe this is a good time to try and take a step forward and work to end this conflict. You think the original Reiko would have done the same.
>Don’t forgive him. What he did was unforgivable. You may not be the original Reiko but you have her memories and you know the pain and fear she went through. But she’s not you and you make your own choices. You want to avenge those that died because of this and put an end to this madness. Maybe trying to convince Parado over to your side was a bad idea. He didn’t give the original Reiko a second chance and maybe you shouldn’t either.

If Reiko forgives Parado does she attempt to use this to convince Parado to change his views on humanity?
>Yes
>No

If Reiko doesn’t forgive him, does she continue to try and change Parado’s mind on humans or does she push him away?
>Yes keep trying to convince him.
>No. Push him away.

If you forgive Parado and try to convince him then roll me 1d20+8.

Rolled 14 + 8 (1d20 + 8)

>>3919402
>Forgive Parado. He did some awful things no doubt about it. He claims it was for his race to survive and out of love for his sister. He seems to regret it now that he knows it’s hurting his family. Aren’t humans the same? Maybe this is a good time to try and take a step forward and work to end this conflict. You think the original Reiko would have done the same.

>Yes

Aw fuck this is a difficult one. I've going to go for forgive because to me the Reiko we're been playing as doesn't seem like a person to hold a grudge when the other person seems truely remorseful.

Also the bugsters do some shitty things yeah, but between their weird alien mortality, being controlled by video game rules which pretty much force them into being the villian and having had pretty shitty interactions with humanity on the whole, it's kinda understable that they've reached this point. Nothing's going to change unless someone shows them a different route.

Rolled 13 + 8 (1d20 + 8)

>>3919402
>Forgive Parado. He did some awful things no doubt about it. He claims it was for his race to survive and out of love for his sister. He seems to regret it now that he knows it’s hurting his family. Aren’t humans the same? Maybe this is a good time to try and take a step forward and work to end this conflict. You think the original Reiko would have done the same.
>Yes
This is kinda what I figured happened and it feels as gross as I expected.

>>3919523
Do you mean how Reiko became a bugster or the writing in general?

>>3919528
How Reiko became a bugster.The writing is good.

Rolled 9 + 8 (1d20 + 8)

>>3919402
>Forgive Parado. He did some awful things no doubt about it. He claims it was for his race to survive and out of love for his sister. He seems to regret it now that he knows it’s hurting his family. Aren’t humans the same? Maybe this is a good time to try and take a step forward and work to end this conflict. You think the original Reiko would have done the same.
>Yes
This is getting more and more Fourze with every update and I'm here for it. Gentaro would be so proud of Reiko rn.

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>>3919541
Ah ok. Yeah, I wanted to write Parado and the bugsters as an actual group of entities rather than just fodder for the Riders but also not make them completely forgivable. In the show they touched on bugsters not viewing death the same as people but still having the ability to become attached to others like Graphite and Parado being best friends. So I ran with that.
>>3919558
I think Gentaro will be proud as well.

>>3919503
>>3919523
>>3919558
Reiko is a good girl.

You grab Parado by the shoulders and pull him into a hug. He hurt a lot of people. From your memories he killed you and your friends but he also tried to take care of you and the others like him. Didn’t you do the same? Didn’t you kill bugsters because you wanted to save and take care of people you cared about? In this situation there wasn’t a right or wrong but you could certainly forgive and move on. “It’s ok.” You say. “It’ll all be ok. I forgive you.” You whisper.

Parado sobs into your shoulder as you comfort him, “I’m so sorry.” He whispers. You gently hold his head trying not cry yourself. He just wanted to help in a world that seemed to keep pushing him down. A feeling you could relate with.

“Parado...It doesn’t have to be like this.” You whisper. “It’ll be hard. You can’t just take away other’s families and loved ones to make bugsters. Humans have little sisters too.” You say pulling back and smiling a bit. “And bugsters have older brothers. Once this is done we can search for a way to bring bugsters to completion without human hosts and bring the lives stored in the protogashats back.”

Parado gives you a small smile. “Since when did you become the one to save everyone? Last time I remember seeing you, you were asking over and over when we’d go get more soup.” You feel your face go red.

“I never did that...did I?” You ask trying not to grin. “How do I know you’re not just making up embarrassing stories about me? I got a reputation to protect you know.” You joke.

Parado laughs. “Well that’s going out the window. I have tons of stories. Like when you wanted to go to schoo-”

“No. Never happened. I don’t need someone else’s memories to know I’d never willingly go to school.” You smirk and then sigh. “So...do you want to join us?” You as genuinely. “Or do you still want to try and continue Chronicle?”

“I think I’ll take a bit more time to see if humans are all right but...if they took good care of my little sister and there might be more people like you then maybe they’re alright.” He teases then becomes a bit more serious. “Convincing the others might be a bit of an issue though. Graphite especially. He’s a warrior at heart. I don’t think he’ll willingly accept peace.” You nod.

“Then that’s an obstacle we’ll cross when we have to. Right now let’s find something to focus on. We’ll have another team meeting and think of a plan.” You say standing up and looking at your watch. “Shit. All the good take out places are closed. Sorry.” You apologize. “We can still get some bad take out.” You say sheepishly.

Parado grins. “Sure.” He says standing up with you and you both make your way to a burger joint.

“Hey Reiko?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you...can you tell me about your mom and dad?”

The next day…

“What do you mean he’s missing?!” Hiiro shouts. Poppy was fidgeting and wincing.

“I don’t know! Kuroto just walked off last night! He wouldn’t even gloat about it! So I don’t know where he went.”

“What’s going on?” You ask as you walk up the stairs. Hiiro looks at you and shakes his head.

“Kuroto is gone. We don’t know where he went.” He explains and sits down. “The thing is, he didn’t take anything. Not the Gashats or drivers.” You frown confused.

“Well it’s not like he can go anywhere right? He’s technically dead.” You point out. Hiiro shakes his head.

“His death wasn’t publicly announced. About the only people who know is us and the bugsters.” He explains. “Speaking of which…” Hiiro looks at you. “Are you ok?” You give Hiiro a look.

“Yeah. Why?” you ask confused.

“I got your message yesterday.” He says. “Parado is dangerous. Why didn’t you take Poppy with you?”

“I...I didn’t really think about that.” You admit sheepishly. “I just wanted to show him around. To convince him about humanity...and I wanted to hear what he had to say about my past.”

Hiiro sighs and rubs his eyes. “Reiko…” He starts but you interrupt.

“Hiiro...I think I believe him. He seems like he really regrets what he did to me or my host. He just wanted to protect his friends. We’re doing it too. We kill bugsters to survive.” You explain. “I think we should give him a chance. We need to stop going in circles with this.”

Hiiro gives you a stern look. “Reiko, I know you want to help. But you’re not a bugster and he’s done some horrible things.” you nod.

“Yeah, he has but I forgive him for what he did to me and my friends.” You insist. “He was sorry. He wants to try and make things right at least.”

“Sorry doesn’t bring back the dead Reiko!” Hiiro shouts standing up. You and Poppy flinch. Hiiro coughs looks away. “Sorry...I’m just concerned...as your doctor. Excuse me.” He says and briskly walks off. You look at Poppy.

“What...what was that about?” You ask. Poppy looks away. “I’m not sure...I’m not sure I should be the one telling you. It’s really personal to Hiiro.”

You cross your arms. That was really out of character for Hiiro. Perhaps you should go ask him what’s wrong.

What does Reiko do?
>Go confront Hiiro. Ask him what’s bothering him. Is it the fact you could be a bugster? Poppy mentioned it was personal. Maybe something happened before you joined CR.
>Press Poppy for more information. She seems to know what’s going on and you think Hiiro wants to be alone right now.
>Set this aside. You should look for Kuroto. You don’t like the idea of him running around the city unsupervised.

1d20 for any choice please. I’ll add Reiko’s +4 if you choose one of the first two.

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>3919774
>Go confront Hiiro. Ask him what’s bothering him. Is it the fact you could be a bugster? Poppy mentioned it was personal. Maybe something happened before you joined CR
Yeah Poppy's been pretty reluctant to tell us about the Saki thing, think pressing her will do more harm than good

>Kuroto on a crusade
Time for him to have his 15 minutes of main villain before his dad rocks up. At least we got kamen rider Poppy out of him.

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>3919774
>Go confront Hiiro. Ask him what’s bothering him. Is it the fact you could be a bugster? Poppy mentioned it was personal. Maybe something happened before you joined CR.

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>>3919785
>>3919816
Reiko contines to win the hearts of her peers. I got a thing I have to do so I cant post til late. And we'll be swapping perspectives too so I don't wanna try to write it up on my phone. Guess who we're gonna meet.

You are...Parado.

Or Parado Yukihara as your younger sister has started teasing you. You’re not sure you like a last name. Feels...too human. That aside your heart is burning with happiness and anxiety. You finally found your younger sister! She’s a bit different than you remember her but not in a bad way. You two had spent all night catching up. However today, you were going to try and set things right. At the very least you were going to try and attone for what you had done. If not for yourself then to make a world where Reiko could live in peace as a bugster. That meant you were going to pay a visit to the man who you forced to bring her into this world.

Reiko was looking for him and the least you could do to help was to bring him back. Even if it cost you your life. Emu was the one person who could fully kill a bugster and you weren’t sure if this was going to end in a fight but your life was a small price to pay. After all you had done, it was the least you could pay.

You didn’t exactly know where Emu was but your unique connection with him meant you could feel him out. A general direction here, a small tug there. Your senses finally lead you to an abandoned building on the edge of town. Broken glass and trash littered the ground, forcing you to face the consequences of your actions. Forcing you to face everything she forgave you for. You try not to think about it for now as you duck under a broken garage door. “Emu!” you call out. “We need to talk!” You wince. Was that too commanding? “Umm...please?” You add as you hear some movement nearby.

>Roll me 1d20+3 for a perception roll

You stand up from your seat and look at Poppy. “I’m going to go talk to him.” You say. Poppy looks at you nervously.

“Are you sure? He looks upset.” She asks looking at the elevator as the lights indicate it rising.

“Exactly. I’ll talk to you later.” You say and hop down the stairs. You mash the buttons on the elevator in the vain hope that it’d make it go faster. Once the elevator gets down you rush in and push the button back to the main floor of the hospital. The ride up was agonizingly long as your mind churned with questions.

What happened down there? Was it your fault? Does he not like me anymore?

You weren’t sure what the answers were but you didn’t get this far by just leaving things be. As you get out of the elevator you jog over to the main area and spot Hiiro. “Hiiro!” You shout and run over to him causing people to look over to you. Hiiro ignores you and continues moving forward. You huff and run to catch up to him. Grabbing him by the cuff of his lab coat you give him a bit of a tug. “Hiiro. Hey, what’s going on?” You ask.

Hiiro looks at you with cold eyes but you return the look with one of concern. “Do not worry. I just need to get back to my duties.” He replies. You frown and pull him into an empty patient room.
“Hiiro Kagami don’t you dare lie to me!” You say sternly. Hiiro looks at you in surprise. Your face softens. “Hiiro, please. There’s something wrong. Please tell me.” You say letting go of his cuff. Hiiro’s eyes soften and look conflicted. “Please…” You say again. “We trust each other right? You’re my doctor and I’m your patient.”

“Reiko…” Hiiro says quietly. “I failed you.” He continues. “I promised you I’d take care of you. That everything would be ok...and I failed you.”

You shake your head. “No...no you didn’t. That’s not fair and you know it. We didn’t know what I could have been. And you did take care of me! When I was having a panic attack and couldn’t breath. Who was there to calm me down? You were. When I was hurting myself by using the ProtoGashat, who told me the truth rather than try to manipulate me? You did.” Hiiro looks away.

“And what about before? When I was cut and bruised after my second fight? Who looked after me and helped my eat right? You did. You took care of me. You helped keep my parents safe. You were there every time I needed you and...and…” You struggle a bit. Did you want to tell him? Hiiro looks at you concerned.

>Does Reiko tell Hiiro she loves him? Big moment anons~!
>Yes
>No

Don’t worry. Reiko will hear about Saki. Your roll wasn’t in vain. Also last post for the night. Feeling a bit dizzy.

Rolled 4 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>3920184
>Yes
Parado protecting Reiko's smile makes me want to protect his smile. It's a beautiful cycle.

Rolled 6 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>3920188
>Yes
Don't expect Hiiro to fully reciprocate right now but might as well get Reiko's feelings out in the open for things later down the line.

Also if Hiiro and Reiko get together then Parado and Emu will essentially be their in-laws and that's beautiful.

>Reiko was looking for him and the least you could do to help was to bring him back. Even if it cost you your life
Excuse me young bugster but you'd better stop this nonsense RIGHT FUCKING NOW-

Rolled 10 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>3920188
>Yes

Rolled 12 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>3920188
>Yes
Spaghetti : being dropped

>>3920227
>>3920310
>>3920321
>>3920348
Someone is in love~ Writing.
>>3920310
>Excuse me young bugster but you'd better stop this nonsense RIGHT FUCKING NOW
It's almost like putting the wellbeing of others over their own runs in the family

You hear movement behind you and manage throw yourself to the ground as a foot smashes into the wall behind you, punching a large hole where head was moments ago! Ex-Aid lands next to and tries to stomp but you roll out of the way. Debris and tile chips cut into your arms and face as you scramble to your feet.

“Parado!”

“Emu! I just want to talk!” You shout as you throw yourself under the broken garage door. It falls apart as a sword slices cleanly through it. You get to your feet and hold up your hands. “Emu please. I know what I did to you. But I want to try and make things right. At the very least I want to atone for what I did.”

Ex-Aid doesn’t respond as he slowly walks out of the building pointing his sword in your direction. You slowly start to back up even more, not breaking eye contact. You didn’t really expect this to be an easy task but you were kind of hoping you’d at least be able to talk before things went down. It would be easy to just leave right now but this isn’t for you. It’s for Reiko.

>Parado is in trouble. What does he do?
>Continue to try and talk it out. Maybe you can get through, you don’t want to transform just yet and antagonize him.
>Transform and try to subdue Emu. It might be harder to talk to him but it’ll lessen the chance of you being hurt.
>Offer him a deal. He gives you 15 minutes to explain your case. After that, he's free to do what he wants with you. If he wants you dead then it’s a small price to pay. As long as Reiko is safe.
>Try and control Emu and force him to listen. You don’t know how well this will go and it’s definitely not something your sister would approve but it’s almost guaranteed he’ll stop attacking you.

Roll me 1d20+1 for any choice.

“...helped keep my parents safe. You were there every time I needed you and...and…” You struggle and look at him straight in the eye. “And that’s why I love you Hiiro.” You say pulling him close and resting your head on his chest. “You always kept me safe.” You whisper. “I want to make sure you’re safe too…” You say. “Just please...tell me what’s wrong. If it’s because what I am…” Hiiro stops you as he gently strokes the top of your head.

“Reiko…” He says softly and gently pulls you away. “I’m not a man worth loving.” He says quietly. You shake your head in protest, wiping tears from your eyes. “Not after what happened.” He says.

“No, I already said it wasn’t your fault.” You protest.

Hiiro shakes his head. “No, this is something that happened years ago.” He says looking away. You look confused. “When the bugster virus emerged years ago. Zero day.” He start.

“What happened?” You whisper.

“I failed Saki.” He says quietly. “She was my girlfriend when I was in med school. She always supported me but me in my arrogance pushed her away. I was too focused on my studies. Too arrogant on my talent that I never noticed. Never noticed she was infected by the bugster virus. By the time I had heard about it, it was too late. She had vanished” Hiiro’s hands clenched into fists. “All because of Graphite.” He growls punching a wall. He turns to look at you ashamed. “I failed her Reiko. As a doctor, as a person, as her boyfriend. I can’t...I could never live with myself if I did the same to you. I’m sorry.” He says quietly and walks out of the room. Leaving you to sink to your knees and cry, alone.

Rolled 5 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>3920610
>>Continue to try and talk it out. Maybe you can get through, you don’t want to transform just yet and antagonize him.
Let's have Parado use the Yukihara family technique.

Being forced to murder a girl has clearly done a number on poor Emu.

Rolled 14 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>3920610
>Continue to try and talk it out. Maybe you can get through, you don’t want to transform just yet and antagonize him.
Time for Parado to follow his little sister's example!

Rolled 3 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>3920610
>Continue to try and talk it out. Maybe you can get through, you don’t want to transform just yet and antagonize him.

I'm crying Hiiro has gone full k drama male lead

>>3920622
>>3920641
>>3920661
Emu. He mad. But Parado's gonna use the power of talking to get through. Writing.

You duck to the left as you feel the blade cut through the air and cleave a trash can in half. “Emu! I’m sorry!” You shout. “I know it doesn’t mean anything but I’m trying to change. We can talk about this.” You shout as you feel a kick slam into your side. You’re flung a few feet back and crash into a door, knocking it down. You cough and try to ignore the burning feeling in your side.

“You didn’t let her talk it out! You didn’t give her the chance!” Emu shouts walking towards you.

“You didn’t either!” You scream back. “She was my sister Emu! And you killed her! She hadn’t even chosen her name yet and you deleted her!” You get to you feet and glare at him before trying to calm down. No. Gotta keep my head clear. You think to yourself.

“I gave her, her life back! She deserved better!” Emu shouts back and swings at you once more. You throw yourself backwards and dash upstairs.

“My sister deserved to live too! I wasn’t going to let you kill her before she even had a chance to emerge! Then you erased her identity! Neither of us a clean in this!” You shout. “She thinks she was her host! She doesn’t even remember who I was or who she is.” You continue as Emu smashes through the floor and lands in front of you. You slowly back away. “From her memories, I murdered her friends. I murdered her. But...but she forgave me! Knowing what I did, she forgave me and accepted my as family.” You drop your hands, leaving you defenseless. “So...please...I’m not asking you to do the same. I just want to talk. I want to make the city a place where my little sister can be safe. After that...well if you want to kill me then fine. Just...just help my baby sister.”

Emu’s blade trembles before he lowers it. He undoes his transformation and glares at you. His hair was shaggy and unkempt. His eyes had bags under them from sleepless nights. Stuffing his driver and gashat in his dirty, frayed lab coat he nods but doesn’t say anything.

>What does Parado say?
>Tell Emu about NCR and how Reiko has been looking for him. She wants his help to end Chronicle.
>Explain to Emu how you want to change and try to find a way for bugsters to live in peace with humans. To end the cycle of killing each other.
>Ask Emu at the very least come with you to talk to Reiko. He’s under no obligation to help or join but at least hear her out. She managed to get Hiiro, Poppy and probably Taiga on board. Maybe she can convince him.
>Write in.

1d20+1 for any choice.

Rolled 9 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>3920733
>Explain to Emu how you want to change and try to find a way for bugsters to live in peace with humans. To end the cycle of killing each other.
Honestly for this to get anywhere Emu needs to know that Parado himself is willing to change. It's all fine and good going on about Reiko but if he's not sold on Parado then it's gonna lead to heartbreak down the line.

>>3920744
Jesus christ I've literally used up all my dice luck on that one Parado convince roll.

Rolled 17 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>3920733
>Explain to Emu how you want to change and try to find a way for bugsters to live in peace with humans. To end the cycle of killing each other.

Rolled 20 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>3920733
>Explain to Emu how you want to change and try to find a way for bugsters to live in peace with humans. To end the cycle of killing each other.

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>>3920786
Yus...writing

“Emu...didn’t you once say that a life is a life, no matter who it is?” You say slowly. “Does that only apply to humans? Aren’t doctors supposed to help anyone who needs it?” Emu looks at you angrily but his eyes flicker with doubt. “I’m trying to change Emu. I just wanted for bugsters to be safe. I just wanted us to live in peace but from our inception we were hunted down. Can you blame us for wanting to fight back?” You plead. “We don’t know what it’s like to not be able to come back. I didn’t really understand what it meant to take a life until now. Until I lost her. When Reiko vanished I understood what it meant to never see anyone again. The fear that you’ll never be able to say the things you want to say or see them grow up and be happy.” You say softly. “After I spoke to my sister...I took a long look at humans. I saw them living together. Laughing and smiling. They were just like us. They had feelings, and hopes and dreams. If there were humans like Poppy and Reiko...maybe we could find a way to make peace.”

“I want...I want to help make a world where bugsters and humans don’t worry about seeing their loved ones disappear because of the other. It’s not right that we force the other to feel that fear. The hurt the other side inflicts because they just want to live.” You say looking at Emu. Emu looks aside conflicted.

“If bugsters don’t have hosts. Then how will you live?” He asks.

“We’ll find a way. Maybe once this is over we can find a way to have bugsters be born without needing a human host. Maybe we can find a way to bring back the people who vanished.” You say.

“What do you mean?!” Emu asks shocked. “We can save everyone?”

You shake your head. “I don’t know but Kuroto told us that everyone who vanished has their data stored in the ProtoGashats. We don’t have a way to bring them back but if we’re going to look for a way to make bugsters without hurting everyone, why can’t we look for a way to restore people?” You slowly make you way to Emu.

“Emu, we’ve been enemies in the past. How did it get so bad that we’d drag other people into our fight?” You hold out your hand. “We can stop it right here. We can learn to move forward and work for a better place. What do say? Let’s work together to bring back everyone’s smiles.” You say with a smile.

Emu looks at you long and hard before giving you a firm smile. He clasps your hand and shake is. “Alright. I’ll look forward to seeing how we can work together. Let's bring back our patient’s smiles.” He says grinning.

You’re about to reply when you hear a haughty laugh. “Emu and Parado...the two biggest thorns in my side. As you’re GameMaster I can’t allow humans and bugsters to work together. That’s not what Chronicle is about.” Kuroto says as he makes his into the room holding a Driver and a double Gashat.

Monster Zombie Madness!

Gashatto!

Kuroto emerges in a white armor with a black cloak. His arms bore stitches and staples as if it held him together. His neck containing two metal screws that sparked with electricity down his arms to clawed gauntlets tipped with long knives. “Behold! My ultimate work! Level 50!” He announces. “I’m going to correct all the mistakes you two have made and take my place back as Genm Corp’s CEO!”

You step in front of Emu and draw your Gashat. “Emu. I’ll hold him off. Go find my sister. She’ll fill you in.” Emu steps besides you.

“No. You said we’d work together. I won’t let you fight alone.” He says drawing his driver.

“Emu you’re exhausted. Can you even use Maximum Mighty X?” You asks. Emu shakes his head.

“No but it’s two of us and one of him.” He protests. You grimace and look at Kuroto as he began to rush towards you.

>What does Parado do?
>Push Emu out of the way. Buy him time to escape. The whole point was to get him back.
>Let Emu fight alongside you. You told him you wanted to work together. This wasn’t really what you meant but you weren’t going to deny the help.
>Try and have you both escape. Kuroto has his hands on a new Gashat. Who knows when else he’s got up his sleeve right now.

1d20 for all choices.

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>3920919
>Try and have you both escape. Kuroto has his hands on a new Gashat. Who knows when else he’s got up his sleeve right now.

Look if they were relatively fresh and unscathed then I'd totally be down for a Mighty Brothers X beatdown, but Parado has just taken a pretty bad beating from Emu and Emu running on empty right now. Might as well regroup at NCR rather than potentially bite off more than they can chew with Kuroto.

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>3920919
>Try and have you both escape. Kuroto has his hands on a new Gashat. Who knows when else he’s got up his sleeve right now.
I knew he'd be trouble but ruining that moment was just rude.

>>3920937
>>3920949
Tactical Retreat! Writing.

“Ok. We work together.” You say pushing Emu forward. “Run!” You shout and you both throw yourselves to the side as Kuroto’s arm swipes down cutting deeply into the wall behind you. You pick up Emu and pull him with you down the stairs.

“EMU! PARADO!” Kuroto screams as you see the light slowly begin to fade away. “You will not escape my divine wrath!” You look around as the darkness begins to seep in around you.

“Emu. Do you trust me?” You ask. Emu looks at you confused. “Do you trust me?” You ask again. He shakes his head.

“No really but do what you have to do.” He shouts as your hearing is starting to dim now. You lift Emu by the waist and jump backwards out of a window. You both scream as you fall out of the second story window. You cling to Emu with all your might as you crash into a pile of trash outside. Emu crashes on top of you soon after. You’re winded and bruised but you’re ok.

“You ok?” You say struggling to get up. Emu coughs and groans. “Emu?”

“I’m fine.” He says and you hear a crash above you. Kuroto flies out of a wall and lands nearby. “We gotta go!” Emu shouts and helps you to your feet. You hold on to him as you run as fast as you can. Your body screams in protest but you push on. “Get down!” Emu shouts and pushes you to the floor.

You see Kuroto unleash a blast of electricity in your direction and blows out several windows above you as the arc just misses you. “You know the area better than me.” You say. “What’s the best way out of here?” you ask as you both scramble to your feet and run down the alley.

“Well...we can try and lose him in the alleys. Or we ca- look out!” He shouts and pulls you down as bone shards smash in the wall. You both roll to keep your momentum. “Or we can try to go to the sewers. I don’t have a light though.”

You wince. “What about the buildings? Can we use them?” You ask. Kuroto chases after you cackling.

“You can’t escape me! I will have my revenge!” He shouts laughing madly and kicks a large chunk of a building near the two of you.
He was closing the gap between you two. If you were going to do anything you better do it now.

>Where do the duo go to?
>Use the alleys to lose Kuroto. They’re narrow so the make turning at high speeds difficult. You can use that to your advantage.
>Find a manhole and head to the sewers. They’re dark so they’ll provide cover but you also won’t be able to see well.
>Emu was using the buildings to hide in. They’re all abandoned meaning you can run around in them freely. A few of them are interconnected thanks to previous squatters.

1d20 for each choice. Write ins welcome.

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>3921129
>Emu was using the buildings to hide in. They’re all abandoned meaning you can run around in them freely. A few of them are interconnected thanks to previous squatters.
I'm thinking Kuroto can smash through the alleys if he gets pissed enough, and all that debris is gonna give the boys a bad time. Plus if Emu knows some secret hobo route out all the better.

Does Emu still have his gamescope? If he does then give a call to NCR / Taiga and try to get some backup over here ASAP. Maybe more riders showing up that will be enough to drive Kuroto off (plus they still have their powerups from the aborted Parado fight)

>>3921157
Emu would have a game scope. So if you want to swap to trying to call in back up I'll allow that.

>>3921167
Yeah I'll swap to
>Call in backup

...But also someone else please roll

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>3921129
>call in backup

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>3921206
>>3921129

Supporting this
Hide in buildings until they get here

>>3921206
>>3921443
>>3921453
Calling in the the crew! Kuroto is not gonna be happy. Parado isn't either when he finds out Reiko was crying.

You feel Emu pull you into one of the abandoned buildings and crouch next to the door frame, out of sight. He puts his hand on your mouth and raises his finger to his. In the distance you can hear Kuroto’s footsteps walking closer and closer. Sweat drips from your brow as you hear him smash through a nearby door.

“Parado...you can’t hide from me forever!” He laughs and you hear the sound of glass shattering. “Don’t think I forgot about you Emu.”

Time goes by slowly as the two of you stay huddled together, straining all your other senses to keep track of Kuroto. Eventually you hear his footsteps go quieter and you two breath a quiet sigh of relief. “We’re never getting out of here with him hunting us down.” You say craning your neck trying to look around the door without having to peek.

“Yeah, been there a few times.” Emu says trying to peek through a window. You give him a look.

“Sorry…” You say. Emu just shakes his head.

“It doesn’t matter. We need to think of a plan.”

You think for a bit. If the two of you were in decent shape, you might be able to take Kuroto together. As it is right now, your combined strength was that of a person, maybe one and a half. But it didn’t have to be that way…

“Emu.” You whisper quickly.

“Yeah?”

“Do you have that neck thingy? You know, the one you use to scan people and call? We can call the others.” You whisper hurriedly. Emu’s shakes his head.

“Can’t, the others had their things taken away.”

“No, they have them back. I was there. Poppy’s in on it too.” You explain grinning with excitement. “And you can thank my little sis for that.”

Emu’s eyes widen and he nods. “Alright. Let’s get to the roof. We’ll get better reception there. My GameScope is a bit dinged up.” You nod and begin to crawl through the building. The climb to the top was slow and arduous. Every so often you hear something smash and break in the distance. You flinch every time one of you accidentally bumps into a loose tile or open a creaking door. A few times you had to crawl under a window and had to resist the urge to look through it for Kuroto.

You manage to reach the roof with no issue. It seems like Kuroto had taken up smashing things in a nearby building after thinking you had gone in there. Emu quickly draws out his GameScope and holds it up while pushing buttons.

“Hello? Anyone?” Emu whispers nervously looking over the edge of the roof into the alleys. The tiny speakers crackle to life and someone finally answers after a few anxious moments.

“Hello?” You hear a voice sniffle. You tense up.

“Reiko? Reiko are you crying?” You ask pulling the GameScope out of Emu’s hands. “Who hurt you? What happened?”

“Parado? Parado how’d you get this number? You don’t have a GameScope.” She asks confused but still sniffling. Emu frowns and wrestles the GameScope out of your hands. He smacks away any attempt you give to try and get it back.

“Listen! We don’t have much time. You need to call everyone else you can. We’re trapped in the abandoned apartment complexes. Kuroto has some kind of new Gashat and he’s hunting us-”

“EMUUUUU!” You hear Kuroto scream and you see him crash from the second floor of a nearby building and jump towards you.

“We’ll keep running! Just get everyone here! Don’t call us back! You’ll give us away!” Emu shouts and hangs up. The two of you run back down into the building, forcing your legs to move as fast as you can down the spiralling staircase. Kuroto simply smashes his way through every floor and you can see him every so often through one of the open doors.

“We can’t run forever! We need to do something while everyone else arrives!” You shout over the noise. Emu nods.

“We need to go find somewhere to hole up. I know a few places.” You look over your shoulder to the open doors. You weren’t sure if you could hide that long.

>What’s the plan?
>Follow Emu. His hiding places might be good enough to wait for the others.
>Try the sewers. You can hide in the dark and still be able to know when the others arrive.
>Try to keep running. Staying still doesn’t seem like a good idea.
>Hero Mode: You’re in better condition than Emu. Not much but a little. Transform and buy him enough time to get to safety. His knowledge of the area means you can be sure he knows where to hide.

1d20 like always gents.

Rolled 2 (1d20)

>>3921573
>Follow Emu. His hiding places might be good enough to wait for the others.
Trust is important

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>3921573
>Follow Emu. His hiding places might be good enough to wait for the others.
Hiding has worked out so far, he doesn't seem to have gained any detection abilities with Monster Zombie Madness. He does, however, seem quick and capable of crashing through any efforts we might make to slow him down.

Sewers without lights is just asking for trouble, and would make it harder for backup to catch up to us.

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>3921573
>Follow Emu. His hiding places might be good enough to wait for the others.

>>3921584
>>3922069
>>3922077
Sneaky boys. Writing

“Alright. Lets go.” You say throwing your body against a door and throwing yourselves out into the alleys again. The two of you run around the building before doubling back when Kuroto leaps out of a window in front of you. As he approaches, you begin to feel your vision and hearing fade again. “Run!” You scream pushing Emu forward and trying to get out of whatever range Kuroto’s ability had.

The two of you turn the corner and into the building again. Emu leads you up stairs and to the second floor. “This way. There’s a small bridge made of wood here. It’ll lead us to the other apartment.” He explains and throws open a window. Nailed to the windowsill were a handful of boards that extended to another window in the building across the alley.

“This doesn’t look to sturdy.” You say as you climb on to it.

“It’s not. Now go!” Emu shouts pushing you forward. The two of you crawl as quickly as you can over the shakey boards. Silently you hope that your sister was already no her way with the others. You hear another smash behind you and see your attacker making his way to the window you climbed through.

“Hey remember when I asked you to trust me?” You ask but you don’t give Emu the chance to respond as you wrap your arms around his waist again. You throw yourself into the window in front of you smashing through the glass just as the wooden bridge shatters under the weight of Kuroto.

The two of you tumble over broken glass, earning yourselves a few more scratches. “Come on.” Emu says panting. “There’s a room we can hide in.” He whispers as the two of you begin to crawl again. Emu leads you down the hall towards a closed door. “The roof collapsed in here but there’s a small opening we can crawl through. The rest of the apartment is stable though. Just close the door behind you.” He explains to you as he points to a small hole in the rubble behind the door.

You crawl through it tearing up your clothes as you go but eventually the two of you manage to hole up in the bathroom, the sounds of destruction ringing outside...

The drive towards the abandoned section of the city was tense. You quickly shoot a glance a Hiiro and feel your heart ache. “Do you think they’re safe?” You mumble trying to make conversation. You hoped that Poppy would have been the one two answer but Hiiro speaks up.

“Emu can handle himself and Parado has given us enough trouble that I don’t feel the need to worry about him. Together they should be fine.” He says calmly.

“Assuming Emu and Parado have been getting along.” Taiga adds. You wince and hold your bag closer. In it was a small first aid kit, mostly bandages and band aids, the BugVisor and Dangerous Zombie gashat, and a few snacks. You weren’t sure how well fed Emu was if he was on the run all the time but you figured he’d appreciate some food. You weren’t really expecting to meet him in a warzone.

Hiiro glares at Taiga through the rear view mirror. “Considering the two of them were together when they called in for help, I’m guessing they’re not at each other’s throats.”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine! Emu wouldn’t do something that would risk both their lives like that.” Poppy says placing a comforting hand on your shoulder.

The car slowly comes to a stop and Hiiro turns to you as he turns it off. “Reiko…” He says looking at you. You try not to meet his eyes. “Once the fighting starts, call Emu. Find where they are and help them back here. Don’t transform unless you absolutely have to. We haven’t fully examined Dangerous Zombie.” He says.

You nod. “I won’t.” You say quietly. You can feel Hiiro’s gaze linger on you for a bit longer before he gets out of the car.

“Alright. Let’s go.” He says drawing his Driver.

Taddle Quest. Bang Bang Shooting! Toki Meki Crisis!
Gashatto! Buggle up!

You see the three run off into the complexes and out of sight.

Finding Kuroto was relatively easy. The destruction he wrought was easy enough to follow, and the sounds of it were even easier. The trio run up to the man behind it all. “Kuroto!” Taiga shouts raising his gun. “Time for you to go back.”

Kuroto bends over backwards and looks behind him. “Riders…” He hisses. “Don’t stop me from taking back my game!” He snaps his arm forward and launches bone shards from the stitched and stapled portions of his arm. Taiga rolls out of the way and fires a burst at him. Hiiro deflects a few bones and begins to charge in. Poppy slides under the volley as she attaches her BugVisor onto her wrist ready to go into melee.

>Brave, Poppy, and Snipe vs level 50 Dan Kuroto. What’s the plan?
Current power ups.
Muscle Up: Grants +2 to the next roll when attacking or trying to use brute strength. Stacks with other bonuses.
Speed up!: Grants +2 to the next roll when trying to use your speed to your advantage. Alternatively can be used to reroll once consuming the item with either use. Stacks with other bonuses
Health Up: Can be used to recover 3HP
>Try and subdue Kuroto. If you can knock him out of his transformation then it’ll be easier to extract Emu and Parado.
>Hold him off. It’s 3v1 but he’s level 50. Try to keep him busy while Reiko finds the two and gets them back to safety.
>Hold off Kuroto but ask if Emu and Parado can fight. If everyone joins in it’ll be a 6 v 1 but you don’t know the condition of the other two and the effects Dangerous Zombie will have on Reiko.

1d20+2 rolls and say if you'll be using a power up and which one. For speed up let me know if you're spending it for the bonus or reroll.

Rolled 20 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>3922397
>Try and subdue Kuroto. If you can knock him out of his transformation then it’ll be easier to extract Emu and Parado.
I'm thinking putting Reiko into the battlefield will just cause Kuroko to beeline for her since he's still pissed that she 'stole' dangerous zombie from her.

Rolled 16 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>3922397
>Try and subdue Kuroto. If you can knock him out of his transformation then it’ll be easier to extract Emu and Parado.
Impressive that they were able to bring Taiga. Is he lurking around NCR?

Rolled 11 + 2 (1d20 + 2)

>>3922397
>Try and subdue Kuroto. If you can knock him out of his transformation then it’ll be easier to extract Emu and Parado.

>>3922441
He is indeed. Yukihara charm has him curious as to how you're gonna bring peace between Parado and humans. Plus you being a bugster and the fact you did help him get his stuff back. He swings by every so often and tries to play it off as spying on you.

>>3922414
>>3922441
>>3922484
Gonna try and subdue God. Will write after I get back

Poppy jumps from her slide and slashes upward with her weapon cutting into Kuroto’s face! He growls in pain as he rights himself and steps back into Hiiro. Hiiro swings down and slashes into his opponent’s chest. While Kuroto is batted back and forth between Poppy and Hiiro, Taiga opens fire and blasts him in between blade swings.

Kuroto let’s out a roar, “You will not interrupt the GameMaster!” He flings lightning from the screws in his neck and the trio slowly begin to feel everything go dark. The sounds from Taiga’s Gashacon Magnum slowly begin to fade a way. Hiiro ducks under the blast of lightning and begins to retreat back until his sight slowly starts to return. Poppy sticks to fighting for a few more moments before going blind and she continues to fight by trading blows. Taiga moves to higher ground and swaps his gun to rifle mode.

He aims and begins to concentrate fire on Kuroto. “He can bilnd and deafen us!” Taiga shouts. “I’ll cover you. Just keep him pinned!” Hiiro nods and rushes back into the darkness. Blind and deafened, Hiiro waits. Taiga takes aim and waits...until Kuroto runs into to attack Hiiro. He fires just by Hiiro’s body and hits his assailant.

Hiiro in response to feeling something whizz by him turns and swings in that general direction and feels his attack connect! He follows up with another swing but misses as Kuroto easily moves out of the way.

-----

You hear the fighting start up and you grab your things out of the car. You perpendicular to the fighting and pull out your GameScope. “Hello? Parado? We’re here. Where are you?” You say into it as you dash around the buildings. You hear someone respond. Their voice is fuzzy and crackling but you can make out what they say.

“Reiko? What are you doing here? It’s dangerous!” You hear Parado say.

“The others are taking on Kuroto. I’m supposed to lead you to the car.” You explain hiding behind a corner. “Where are you?”

You hear another voice come from the speakers. “We’re in the apartment with the faded red paint. The entire first floor’s windows are boarded up. Make your way around it and there should be a hole in one of them. You can get in from there and make your way to the second floor. From there head to the back of the hallway and open the last door. The roof should be collapsed but you can squeeze through an opening. We’ll be there.” You hear the other line hang up and you dash around trying to find the building.

>What does the Trio do?
>Back up and focus on ranged attacks. Kuroto’s darkness and silence effects make it almost impossible to fight him in melee. You can try again with both Poppy and Taiga focusing on ranged and Hiiro attempting to keep Kuroto at back with melee.
>Try and disable Kuroto’s senses dampening ability somehow. He’s basically incapacitating 2/3s of the group. Should he decide to focus on one the others won’t be able to help.
>Try to draw him away and use the environment to your advantage.

I’ll need 2d20. First is the trio, second is Reiko.

Rolled 6, 14 = 20 (2d20)

>>3922802
>>Try and disable Kuroto’s senses dampening ability somehow. He’s basically incapacitating 2/3s of the group. Should he decide to focus on one the others won’t be able to help.
Might as well see the what makes this tick.

Rolled 8, 16 = 24 (2d20)

>>3922802
>Try and disable Kuroto’s senses dampening ability somehow. He’s basically incapacitating 2/3s of the group. Should he decide to focus on one the others won’t be able to help.

The crew is not doing so well against level 50 Kuroto.

Rolled 20, 6 = 26 (2d20)

>>3922802
>Try and disable Kuroto’s senses dampening ability somehow. He’s basically incapacitating 2/3s of the group. Should he decide to focus on one the others won’t be able to help.

>>3922818
>>3922901
>>3922927
Oh well never mind. Writing.

Taiga ducks and rolls as a set of bone spikes fly through the window and crash into the ceiling. He runs to another window and opens fire. The bullets smash into Kuroto while directing Hiiro where to swing. Taiga aims and tries to figure out where to fire. The blinding and deafening effect was destroying your party cohesion and leaving everyone vulnerable. He fires again to keep Kuroto off of Poppy and Hiiro.

Taiga thinks back trying to figure out what it could be. It wasn’t based on line of sight. He had been spotted once or twice but was unaffected. There as also a range to it as Hiiro had also been able to get away for a moment before rushing back in. So it must be a piece of equipment on him. Taiga aims again and fires at Kuroto’s head. Maybe he needed to concentrate for it to work.

Kuroto’s head snaps to one side as the shot impacts and its effects were immediate. Both Hiiro and Poppy seemed to snap to attention and they both leaped in to actions. They cut and swung at Kuroto as he stumbled around in pain. Hiiro swapped elements on his blade and began to slow down the level 50 Kuroto. Poppy jumped and kicked him before following up with spinning slash from her chain blade.

Kuroto lets out a screech. “You dare?!” He shouts as bone spikes erupt from his body hitting everything in sight. Hiiro and Poppy throw themselves behind debris, barely managing to avoid the attack. Soon everything began to go dark again, even Taiga was slowly losing his vision. “Dangerous Monster Madness is my ultimate creation! Only the undead and beings of darkness can pierce the veil of shadows!” Kuroto shouts.

You climb through the window into the abandoned building. Pulling out your phone you turn it’s flashlight on and make your way to the stairs. The sounds of fighting echoing in the distance helps you not think about what could be crawling in the dark. As you reach the second floor, the windows allow light to filter in. You make your way to the back of the hallway and open the back door revealing the collapsed roof.

You feel the rough floor scrape your knees as you crawl through the small hole. You hiss and whimper as you can feel rough bits of metal cut your arms and legs but you pull yourself through. “Parado?” You call out as you wander around the apartment. “Are you in here?” You hear movement from another room.

“Yeah. We’re here.” You hear your brother call out as he walks out of what looks like to be a cramped bathroom.

“You’re hurt!” You shout and run up to him. You dig around your bag for your first aid kit and gives you a chuckle before groaning.

“Ok...laughing hurts. But you’re not doing so good yourself. You’re bleeding all over.” He says kneeling with you and getting your things. “Here let me clean up those cuts for you.” He insists. You shake your head.

“No. Let me take care of you first.” You argue. Parado is about to insist when you hear someone cough. A tired young man walks out of the bathroom. You assume this must be Emu.

“Actually, I’m a doctor here. Let me handle it. Plus half the reason you’re...erm...brother is hurt is because of me.” He says awkwardly. Parado pets your head and motions for you to give Emu your kit. You begrudgingly agree and hand Emu the things.

“Reiko, what are you doing here?” Parado asks in a worried tone. “It’s dangerous. Kuroto is running wild out there with a level 50 Gashat.” You sit next to Parado and shake your head.

“I’m supposed to lead you guys out to the car. If we sent out someone else out then it’d be two Riders against one. So I volunteered.” You wincing as Emu applies disinfectant towels to your cuts. “I also brought sandwiches…” you mumble awkwardly. “I didn’t know you were going to bring Emu back. You should have brought me. I’m good at talking.” Parado laughs and winces. “I managed to talk you out of stuff didn’t I?” You tease him.

“As much as I want sandwiches, we should probably get out of here.” Emu says standing up and closing the first aid kit.

Parado nods. “You got a plan then Reiko?”


>Kamen Rider Trio vs Dan Kuroto Phase 2
>What do they do?
>Aim for another headshot. It stopped the debuff before, it might work again.
>Go for one final all out attack. It’s all or nothing here.
>Call the others in for help. Now Kuroto seems to have gotten stronger.

What’s Reiko’s plan?
>Try and head back to the car stealthily. You don’t want Kuroto to find you three.
>Book it! Just run for it and try to get to the car as fast as you can.

2d20 for these choices. Same as before

>>3923105
>Go for one final all out attack. It’s all or nothing here
>Try and head back to the car stealthily. You don't want Kuroto to find you here

Rolled 1, 13 = 14 (2d20)

>>3923119

Rolled 9, 9 = 18 (2d20)

>>3923105
>Go for one final all out attack. It’s all or nothing here.
>>Try and head back to the car stealthily. You don't want Kuroto to find you here
Doubt Kuroto will let himself get hit by the same trick twice.

>>3923149
>>3923122
Ouch the trio is not doing too well. And neither is the extraction crew. Writing.

As darkness falls around the three, the last thing they hear is Taiga firing a shot, and missing. Unbeknownst to them Kuroto cackles madly as he picks up Hiiro and slams him into Poppy. Poppy flies back and smashes into a nearby building. Hiiro is thrown into a wall and a follow up kick punches him through it. Taiga fires wildly into the open area but misses now that there was no one there to hit.

Kuroto lazily makes his way up to the second floor. He crosses his arms before flicking them forwards and firing dozens of bone shards at the sniper. The projectiles slam into Taiga’s back and he’s launched out the window. Taiga crashes to the floor and his magnum clatters silently out of his hand, lost in the darkness.

Kuroto laughs and is about to jump down when only he hears movement off in the distance. “Parado…” He growls before slinking off, a predator after helpless prey.

---

Parado helps you out of the window and you begin to lead the the two back to the car. You stick to the shadows and alleys trying to make a wide berth of the fighting. Your group occasionally stops to listen to the fight in the hope that you can avoid it. After several moments of this Emu stops abruptly.

“Can you hear anything?” He asks worried.

You shake your head. “No I can’t hear anythi-” and then it hits you.

“RUN!” Parado shouts as he pushes you forward. “Go!” Your group rushes forward and as if in response you hear the sound of something smashing through a wall.

“PARADO! EMU!” Kuroto shouts as he breaks through a wall right in front of you. “You won’t escape my vengeance!” You all skid to a halt and slowly back up. Parado limps forward a bit and puts his arm infront of you.

“Reiko. Take Emu and get out of here. If your vision starts to fade keep running.” He instructs. Both you and Emu protest.

“Parado, you’re hurt. You can’t.” You plead.

“She’s right. I’ll do it. You two are family. This won’t matter if she can’t see you anymore.” Emu says. Parado shakes his head.

“You’re in worse shape than me.” He argues.

Kuroto slowly makes his way towards your group. “I’ll decide for you. All three of you will stay. You have all defied the Gamemaster and you will pay.”

You look at your brother and Emu neither of them were in any shape to fight. You want to tug on their shirts and pull them with you. They had managed to get away. Maybe you three could do it again.

>What does the group do?
>Try and run. Parado and Emu have been doing it all day. But they look tired though and there’s a reason they called for help.
>Leave Parado to fight. He can buy you time but you don’t know for how long in that state. You also don’t like the idea of leaving him to fend for himself.
>Try and convince Parado to let Emu fight while you two run. He was the whole reason you are here though.
>Transform. You have a Gashat and Driver. Don’t even let them argue. They’re in no condition to fight and you are. Parado is hurt and he wants to protect you but now it’s time you do the protecting.

1d20 for any of these choices. I think I have one more post in me for tonight.

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>3923303
>Transform. You have a Gashat and Driver. Don’t even let them argue. They’re in no condition to fight and you are. Parado is hurt and he wants to protect you but now it’s time you do the protecting.

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>3923303
>Transform. You have a Gashat and Driver. Don’t even let them argue. They’re in no condition to fight and you are. Parado is hurt and he wants to protect you but now it’s time you do the protecting

>>3923323
>>3923318
Guess we're getting back in the saddle! Writting.

You hug Parado tighty. “Run.” You whisper. “It’s my turn to protect you. Tell Hiiro I’m sorry.” You push a shocked Parado into Emu. “Go!” You shout as you turn to Kuroto. “I got this…”

Kuroto tilts his head as he comes to a stop. “Ohh? You’re going to challenge the GameMaster?” He says raising his hands. “Do you think you alone can do what three rider’s couldn’t do?” He asks.

Parado hesitates but Emu pulls at his arm dragging him away. You glare at Kuroto. “You know...there was a point where I did consider you part of NCR.” You admit as you draw your BugVisor and Gashat. “But it ends here Kuroto.” You say as you place the BugVisor on your waist. The metal band circles around you and locks the device in place.

Ǵ̛͞a̛͠cho̷ń!

Kuroto laughs. “Do you think you can handle that? What if you’re not even a bugster? The virus will kill you.” You a step forward point your Gashat at Kuroto. He growls. “You brought that...You dare use my own personal Gashat against me?”

“I dare.” You say as you spin the gashat up to eye level. “Hiiro...I’m sorry…” You whisper before glaring at Kuroto. ”Game Over.” You say and click the Gashat and slot it in.

Dangerous Zombie!

”Henshin.”

Gashatto!

You push the button next to the Gashat and active the BugVisor. The entire area darkens slightly as the game’s nameplate appears behind you. Almost immediately you double over and throw up. The pain! It felt as if every cell in your body was sliced open and infected. You take a few defiant steps forward and growl angrily at Kuroto.

B͞ųģg̡l̸è̕ U̕̕p!

Clouds of darkness slowly form at your feet and slowly envelop you. Pain and desperation are the only thing driving you forward as you can feel your anger rising. Angry at Kuroto for trying to hurt your friends and family, angry at yourself for feeling so helpless all this time. Time and time again you had to rely on others to help you. To keep you safe. You’re tired of watching from afar. You had made an oath to protect everyone. Even if it cost you everything, you were going to keep everyone safe! And now you were going to keep that vow. The last thing Kuroto sees as the clouds finish enveloping you is your glaring eyes glowing a deep violet.

In the enveloping darkness you feel your anger building and building. The pain drives it deeper as you let out a roar of frustration. A shout of defiance against the world that wanted to wrong you. You weren’t going to let it dictate anything any more. Now, it was your turn to make someone hurt…

Let’s Game!

Bad Game!

Dead Game!

What’s your name?!

Your BugVisor sings as you let out another howl of anger and claw your way out of the dark cloud clad in broken armor. Your HP gauge was cracked and empty. You’re visor the is the same leaving you with a blue eye and a red one. A gasmask covers your mouth that emits purple mist with every breath. You stagger unnaturally forwards raising your hands in front of you, both of their clawed gauntlets dripping with poison that sizzled as it hit and ate away at the floor.

͢T̕h͜e̛ ̕Bug͜st͘e̶r̸…

Kuroto doesn’t have time to react before you smash yourself into his body and send him crashing into a wall! The two of you break through it like was made of paper and you claw at Kuroto’s chest. Each strike causes sparks to fly and his armor to sizzle. Excess poison is flung around you as it hits walls and begins to eat into them. Kuroto kicks you away and you think he says something but you don’t care. You just want him to hurt. Hurt as badly as the people he put through Chronicle. Bone shards smash into your body but you don’t feel a thing as you bend over backwards from the impact.

Your body contorts and spins around leaving you to look behind you as your bent over. Rather than right yourself you merely run backwards and as you near Kuroto you handstand and kick at him multiple times. The impact of your kicks send him flying again and he smashes through a window!

Again he says something but you barely hear it over how badly you want them to be screams. You backflip and land facing your prey. You push the two buttons on your BugVisor, summoning your weapon.

Gashacon Sparrow!

Twin sickles spawn in your hands and the poison from your claws drips harmlessly on them, coating them in the same volatile substance.

>Reiko (Dangerous Zombie) vs Kuroto
>What do you do?
>KILL
>KILL
>KILL
>Is this really you? Try to get ahold of yourself.

1d20 for any choice.

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>3923605
>get ahold of yourself

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>3923605
>get ahold of yourself

>>3923617
Dice have become worryingly unrighteous

>>3923622
I stand corrected

>>3923624
They're testing us. They gave us all the diplomacy rolls. We need to weather the tide.

But I need to go to bed. I'll do the write up when I awake. I hope you enjoyed. Next time. Possible detour to see how sexy surgeon reacts.

>>3923629
Thanks for writing!
I can't wait to forcibly make Kuroto our friend.

You scream and run at Kuroto as he throws more bone shards at you. They smash into you but you merely stumble for a few steps before picking up the pace. You swing your sickles wildly, slicing into a nearby building and slowly melting the door. Kuroto slams his fist into your guy but you simply howl and rake your claws down his chest. Sparks fly and Kuroto’s armor sizzles and smokes from the claw marks you left. You swing your other arm up and slice through his midsection with your sickle before twisting around and slamming your shoulder into him. Kuroto smashes into another wall and you think he says something before launching lightning at you.

The electricity strikes you right in the chest and you feel your body spasm. In response you connect your sickles into a bow and fire relentlessly into him. The arrows that miss punch holes into the building. Kuroto struggles to get up as you make your way to finish him off. You wanted him dead. He didn’t deserve the second chance you gave him by bringing him back to life. You step over the threshold and grunt in pain. This...this wasn’t you. Didn’t you want to help people? Didn’t you give anyone who needed it, a second chance? You hold your head in your hand as a migraine flares up. You drop your bow to use your other hand to steady yourself.

Kuroto rises from the rubble and runs at you. Using your lapse in concentration, he grabs you by the arm and smashes you into the ground. Poison clouds erupt from your gas mask as the wind is knocked out of you. He stomps on your chest before beginning to cut into you with his knived hands.

Meanwhile…

You feel your vision slowly begin to return as you struggle to get up. You warily look around for danger before you notice that you’ve been booted from your transformation. “Poppy? Taiga?” You call out as you stumble out of the ruined building. You feel your right eye sting as something gets in it. You rub your eye and raise your hand, noticing it’s covered in blood. Poppy and Taiga make their way towards you.

“Hiiro?” Poppy asks. “What happened to Kuroto?”

“I don’t know...he must’ve-...the others!” You realize and try to stumble towards the sounds of fighting you can hear. Taiga grabs your arm and holds you back. “Let me go! Emu is there! Reiko…”

“And what good are you to them like this?” Taiga growls. “You can barely stand. You’re probably concussed. Sit your ass down.” He orders. Poppy’s attention is directed elsewhere when you hear something knocked over.

“Something’s coming.” She says regrouping with you and Taiga. You tense up, ready for another fight when you see two others limp towards you. Rather you see Emu struggling to pull Parado along with him.

“Let me go! She needs me! REIKO!” Parado shouts.

“She stayed behind so we can get away! Don’t waste this chance she gave you.” Emu argues.

Your heart skips a beat. “Emu. Where’s Reiko?” You ask. “She was supposed to get you two back to the car.”

Emu looks at you in surprise. “Hiiro…” His face falls. “She...stayed behind…”

No.

“Kuroto found us while we were trying to sneak out.” Emu says quietly. “...She said she was sorry.”

Nononono.

You shove Taiga out of the way. “Out of the way!” You shout and begin to run towards the fighting. You take a few steps before your body gives out and you collapse.

No...No not like this. Please! I can’t fail again. You think to yourself desperately. “Hiiro!” Taiga shouts as he and Emu struggle to keep you held back.

Please...I can’t fail her like Saki.

>What does Reiko do?
>Kuroto is hurting you. He needs to die. Right now. You don’t care if it costs you. You’ll take him down with you.
>Keep trying to force down the Gashat’s influence on you. None of this matters if you break your principles.

Does Hiiro continue to try and get to Reiko?
>Yes
>No

Roll me 2d20 please. First is Reiko, second is Hiiro.

Rolled 4, 19 = 23 (2d20)

>>3924097
>Keep trying to force down the Gashat’s influence on you. None of this matters if you break your principles.
>Yes
Love finds a way!

Rolled 10, 20 = 30 (2d20)

>>3924097
>Keep trying to force down the Gashat’s influence on you. None of this matters if you break your principles.
>Yes

>>3924329
>>3924118
Damn! Hiiro is just not having another Saki happen is he? Maybe someone likes a certain bugster~

>>3924118
>>3924329
Also Reiko ain't doing so good. Writing.

>>3924347
Parado getting a new brother SOON™

Speaking of family...Who's gonna break the news to mom that the girl she visted for halloween and worried about wasn't her daughter.

>>3924367
We don't have to tell her.

>>3924367
Yeah there's no good way to bring it up. Honestly since bugster Reiko is pretty much stepping into human Reiko's shoes wholesale, might as well let sleeping dogs lie

>>3924390
>>3924384
That will be up to you guys and honestly it's an epilouge sort of deal. Reiko did tell her parents that she'd be out of contact until everything was dealt with to not put them in danger...and Parado was interested in them. He's never had parents or family before Reiko.

>>3924394
I don't want to hide it but i also really can't imagine they'd be able to view Rieko positively, let alone as a daughter.
If we're lucky they might be able to view her as more than just a monster that killed theirs.

As Kuroto claws at you, you feel yourself getting angrier and angrier. Just once, you didn’t want to be the nice person. Just once you wanted to be the one doing the hurting rather than having to carry everyone’s burdens. Why couldn’t it be now? No one really liked Kuroto and it’s not like he had many redeeming qualities. You plant your feet on Kuroto’s chest and shove him off. You get to your feet and pick up your sickles.

Your charge against Kuroto is halted as you hesitate. You couldn’t go all out. You promised everyone, a life is a life no matter who it is. You were the reason that Parado wanted to change. Because you were the one willing to give both sides a chance. Your line of thought is interrupted as your punched into a trash bin. Instinctively you claw at Kuroto cutting his arm up. It smokes and sizzles as your poison begins to do it’s work.

“Now suffer for your folly! To think you could wield my Gashat so freely is going to be your downfall.” You barely hear Kuroto taunt. “I no longer need it now that I have improved upon it but I will relieve you of it just the same.” He says. You growl and move in to attack. You swing your sickle certain to hit, but you hesitate and try to make it a less telling blow. The attack glances off Kuroto’s armor and you’re rewards with a kick to the stomach. Your ire increases and you rush in punching Kuroto in the ribs over and over before you stop yourself and back off.

”Kuroto…” You growl angrily. ”Stop this before I hurt you. You intended to plead with him but your words come out more as a threat. Kuroto tilts his head curiously before rushing into attack again.

---
“Let Go!” You shout pushing Emu off of you. You slip out of your coat and stumble forward. “My patient needs me…” You pant as you stumble and collapse into a pile of trash. You grunt and pick yourself up, leaning against a wall as you continue. You’re head throbs and your vision goes in and out as the sun glints off of broken glass or metal. Once or twice you feel yourself slipping into unconsciousness only to be brought back to awareness by memory of Reiko crying or the image of her on the floor struggling to breath.

Please...just this once. Let me be on time. you silently plead as you fall to your knees and feel the whole world spin. You clench your teeth so hard you feel like your head is going to explode but the pain keeps your going.

Reiko...just a bit more...just hold on. Please...please don’t leave me.

You stumble upon the fight and you slide down the wall you were leaning on panting, eyes wide. If you hadn’t fought Kuroto moments ago you wouldn’t have been able to tell who was who. You see who you presume to be Reiko wielding Dangerous Zombie fighting like an animal. She growls and exhales some kind of purple mist from her mouth as she claws at Kuroto. Every move is erratic and inhuman as they both clash. The devastation to the surrounding area is unreal as the two crash into the nearby buildings. It’s almost as if a bomb had hit.

You try your hardest to raise your Gashat, to transform and jump in to help but all you can manage is shout. “REIKO!”

Dangerous Zombie thrusts it’s foot out and flings Kuroto into a building. As your shout rings out, it slowly turns to face you. It’s breathing steady, cold and calculating with barely restrained rage.

Roll me 1d20…+5 gents.

Rolled 5 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>3924451
Come on Hiiro you got this

Rolled 18 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>3924451

>>3924472
I see your roll. Writing. Taddle Legacy is gonna be so conflicting for Hiiro.

“REIKO!”

Your name rings out as you kick Kuroto through a wall. You turn and find yourself facing Hiiro as he sits against a wall, pale and sweating. He hurt you too. You opened your heart to him and confessed your love but he just pushed you away. But you love him. You struggle to take the first step towards him.. Didn’t he always smile a bit every time he mentioned you wear your heart on your sleeve? Didn’t he always come through when you needed him most?

You grab your head. This wasn’t you. You always want to help when you can. When you fought it was to stop people from getting hurt not to hurt people who wronged you. You let out a scream as you expel a large amount of of the purple mist from your body. You feel the pain fade from you body and your mind clear. You feel exhausted emotionally and physically but you know you’re not done as you hear movement behind you.

Kuroto walks out and laughs quietly. “You managed to purge Dangerous Zombie’s influence from your body? Amazing...absolutely amazing.” You think he’s complimenting you? It’s always hard to tell. Warily you turn to fight again. ”Kuroto...you have to stop.” You say as your raise your sickles.

“I’m afraid not. Not only have you somehow mastered my Gashat but now it means you can use it against me.” He says as he charges you. You duck under his swipes and return the attack with a flurry of punches to his chest. You jump and smash your knee into his face before pulling him in close to headbutt him.

>Reiko’s regained control of her faculties. What does she do?
>Continue to fight Kuroto. You need to stop him here. You need to force him out of his transformation and take away his Gashat.
>Help the others escape. Too many people are hurt and you don’t want them getting stuck in the crossfire.
>Try and talk Kuroto out of it? You don’t really know what you’d say and he seems pretty keen on continuing to fight. (Heads up this one's gonna need a high roll.)
1d20 for rolls on all choices.

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>3924575
>Try and talk Kuroto out of it? You don’t really know what you’d say and he seems pretty keen on continuing to fight.

>>3924580
The dice approve of the gentaro path it seems

Assuming trying to talk him out of it is the vote. What do you want to say?

>>3924575
>Try and talk Kuroto out of it? You don’t really know what you’d say and he seems pretty keen on continuing to fight. (Heads up this one's gonna need a high roll.)

Um his whole goal is to revive his mom right? I dunno I guess we could go the Parado route and say we'll work together to find a way to achieve his goal without chronicle??? Honestly I don't really see an argument to completely talk him out of being a bad guy.

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>3924695
Roll

>>3924698
Oof. Thank god for no override. Writing. I think i can swing something. Though iirc, I can't remember Kuroto wanting to bring him mom back. Was that in the movies? I know they hinted at him being close to his mom in the show with Poppy and all that but by then he was insane so he didn't confirm or deny it. Also Reiko doesn't know about...hmm... I'll think of something suitable. Probably...I think I got it lol Kuroto is about to find another Valkyrie

You quickly snap your sickles together and fire a shot into the lance of electricity Kuroto shoots at you. The explosion gives you enough cover to dash to the side and avoid a scatter shot of bone shards. Pulling apart your bow, you raise the twin weapons to block the bones jutting out of Kuroto’s arm as he wields them like blades. The poison eats through them and they snap like brittle twigs. You sweep Kuroto’s legs knocking him down. ”Kuroto! Please! Why do you want to keep Chronicle going? People are getting hurt!” You shout slapping away Kuroto’s legs as he rises with a spinning kick. ”We need to stop it! Even you admit that it’s no longer the game you wanted to make!”

“Chronicle is the ultimate game! My life’s work! I will see it to completion! Just a game deserves only the best to complete it! Only the…ultimate gamer…” Kuroto says coming to a slow halt. “Yes! Yes! Why didn’t I see it before!?” He cackles madly. “Not a human...but a bugster!”

You tentatively raise your weapons expecting something. “Umm...sorry?” You ask wondering if you should take a swing.

“Silence!” He snaps and goes back to his mumbling. “Yes, yes! Bugsters are my creation. Born from my games. My genius! So it would only be natural that my divine talents would give birth to one destined to complete Chronicle! You REIKO! You will be my ultimate creation! My ultimate player!” He shouts. “Don’t you see?! A bugster with the programming of a human! A human Pro Gamer nonetheless! You shall be my Valkyrie through which I will bring about the salvation of this world!”

“I...what?” You ask thoroughly confused. “I mean I was…my host was infected my Emu...”

“Don’t you see? Only you have overcome my Gashat! Dangerous Zombie designed and created for me! GOD DAN KUROTO! So only one who could have mastered my divine instrument could be destined to defeat Chronicle and Gamedeus!” Kuroto announces untransforming. “Yes, this has been the perfect trial for you, my chosen one! Come! We must gather the others and induct them to the plan. We’ll show that Amagaski Ren who truly holds all the cards in this game!” Kuroto wanders off cackling madly and you’re left completely dumbfounded.

You cautiously remove your transformation and find your knees giving out. “Reiko!” Hiiro shouts and he slowly makes his way towards you. “Reiko, stay with me.” He says too exhausted to hide the worry in his voice.

“Hey…” You whisper exhausted. “I’m just a little tired.” Hiiro helps you to your feet and puts your arm around his neck.

“Come on.” He says. “We need to get you back to the hospital. Who knows what that Gashat did to you.”

“I was really really mad.” You say as you both lean on one another and limp towards the others. “And everything hurts. Why do I get all the bad Gashats?” You joke.

“Because you’re stubborn and reckless.” Hiiro says staying quiet for a moment before adding. “But maybe that’s a good thing…” You let out a giggle and hug him tightly, too tired to care if he doesn’t return your feelings. Too tired to notice that he doesn’t push you away...

(With that. I need to take a break. I'll post the next part later tonight so there might not be many posts after that but we seem to be moving on the latter half of the New Riders arc. Hope you enjoyed so far!)

For the first time in this entire ordeal you sleep soundly. As you slowly come to, the only thing you could remember was how nice Hiiro smelled the day before. The room comes into focus and you see Emu looking over you smiling. “Hi. How are you feeling?” He asks nicely. You can see he’s properly bandaged up and gotten some actual rest. You try to sit up and groan as you feel your entire body ache, as if someone repeatedly took a meat tenderizer to it. Emu waves his hands in front of you panicking. “Hey hey! You need to rest!” He stammers.

“Nonsense! She’s is my greatest creation.” Kuroto says walking into the room. “Reiko! We have a lot of work to do! Training to get to! If you’re going to complete Chronicle then I must make sure you’re in perfect shape!”

“Kuroto! You can’t just come in here and pull her out of bed! She needs to rest!” Emu protests and starts pushing Kuroto back.

“Emu, you defy me again!” Kuroto argues struggling to get to you. You grumble and try to cover your head with your blanket. You feel a weight on your bed and someone poke your head. When you gingerly lower your sheets you see Parado, with a few less bandages, grinning at you. He ruffles your hair and offers you your 3DS and a bottle of water.

“Humans are really excitable aren’t they?” He says. “How are you feeling?” He asks gently.

“Like I got hit by a truck.” You say taking your things. “Why’d you give me that Gashat? It was...ugh.” You shudder. Parado frowns.

“To be honest, I thought it’d work for you. Having died twice, I thought you’d be more compatible with a Gashat made of death data than anyone else. Sorry…” He says quietly. You sigh and hold your brother’s hand.

“Don’t be. It saved our lives.” You say. “Though...next time can you get your gifts from more reputable sources?” You ask smirking. Parado chuckles and nods.

“Deal.” He says. Emu finally manages to push a screeching Kuroto out of the room and shuts the door. He sighs and makes his way back to you.

“To be honest, I don’t think any of us have treated a bugster for injuries before.” Emu admits looking over your chart. “Though it seems like you’ve been through quite a bit these last few weeks.”

You nod. “I just wanted to know what was going on.” You say relaxing back in your bed. “I didn’t know I was going to fight monsters, find out I had family among them, and was not actually who I thought I was all my supposed life. Speaking of which…” You ask grinning cheekily at Emu. “If you’re Parado’s host and he’s my brother...are you our dad?”

“Ehh?!” Emu shouts in surprise dropping his things. “I-I…” He stammers. Parado laughs and wraps his arm around Emu’s neck. “Well that is a good question Emu. Welcome to the family. Though I think he’s closer to a sibling than an actual father. He’s only a few years older than me.” Emu’s face grows bright red as you laugh.

“At this point, I think we’re adopting just everyone tangentially related to us.” You admit. Parado grins and claps Emu on the shoulder.

“Nonsense. Emu had a big part in our coming to being. If that doesn’t make him family, then I don’t know what.” He says proudly.

You shake you head and smile before asking a few things that had come to mind.

>What does Reiko ask?
>As how everyone else is doing? Everything after you fight is a bit of a blur.
>Ask if anything important has happened while you were asleep. Might as well try and get back to work.
>Ask if Kuroto is causing any problems. You’re not really sure what happened but he seems back on your side.
>Ask where Hiiro is. You feel kind of weird with someone else tending to you as your doctor.
>Write in.

>>3925061
>As how everyone else is doing? Everything after you fight is a bit of a blur.
>Ask if Kuroto is causing any problems. You’re not really sure what happened but he seems back on your side

>>3925061
> Ask for how much would he suck your dick

>>3925149
>>3925241

Support

Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>3925061
Supporting >>3925149.

>>3925278
Fug, forgot to clear that field.

>>3925149
>>3925248
>>3925278
Asking if the crew is ok and if meme god is causing trouble. Writing.

“How is everyone?” You ask looking around. “I don’t see any else here.” Emu gives you a reassuring smile. “They’re going to be ok. Hiiro got the worst of it, he has a concussion and a few bruised ribs but it’s nothing he can’t walk off. Tried to get back to work but his father vetoed that real quick. Taiga refused to be treated but the other’s tell me he wasn’t hit as much as them. Since he was a doctor, I think it’s safe to say he’ll be fine. If anything goes wrong Nico will call us. Poppy was bruised pretty bad. She said she was using the hits she took to know where Kuroto was. I don’t know how you got around it but he seemed to have some kind of blinding field around him.”

You shrug. “I didn’t notice anything...maybe I was too mad?” You suggest.

Emu shrugs, “I think it might have been Dangerous Zombie. It seems to be in the same series as Kuroto’s Gashat plus it used to be immortal so maybe it’s remnants of that code.”

Parado nods. “Don’t worry too much. Bugsters tend to heal faster than humans. We’re much sturdier considering boss monsters are supposed to be hard to fight.”

You grimace. “Well I certainly don’t feel any sturdier.” You joke. “So...Is Kuroto giving you guys any problems? I don’t really know what happened. I tried to convince to stop but…” You shrug. Parado and Emu look at you and return the shrug.

“He seems to have calmed down. Says that he no longer needs to intervene now that he’s created the perfect player for his game.” Emu says. “Been trying to figure if he’s planning anything but...well you’ve talked to him.”

You sigh, no doubt you’d have to be the one to talk to him if you were going to get any information out of him. Then again, you’ve kind of been running around a lot recently. It’d be nice to take the time to rest up.

>What does Reiko do?
>Take the time to rest up. Though it’s starting to be a pattern that you need to be hospitalized to get any rest.
>Go talk to Kuroto. You want to find out what he’s up to. Maybe he’s got some idea on how to speed up finishing Chronicle.
>Go see if Akihito is around. He’ll know if anything has gone down while you were all busy trying to rescue Emu.

That's it for me today guys. Hope you all enjoyed. See you guys tomorrow!

>>3925436
>Take the time to rest up. Though it’s starting to be a pattern that you need to be hospitalized to get any rest.
Both Kuroto and Akihito can wait until we're rested.

>>3925436
>Take the time to rest up. Though it’s starting to be a pattern that you need to be hospitalized to get any rest.

>>3925436
>Take the time to rest up. Though it’s starting to be a pattern that you need to be hospitalized to get any rest
We're not resting because justice never rests. No siree, we're just doing our part in protecting others by making sure they don't worry about us. Yeah...

>>3925864
>>3926195
>>3926283
Justice is everlasting but the body is not. Reiko's gonna rest. Writing.

You settle into bed and just take the time to rest. You weren’t liking the fact that every time you had a chance to relax it had to result from a hospital visit. The days go by and you feel the tiredness leave you body. Emu and Parado swing by every so often to pay you a visit and just chat. More often than not it strays to video games but occasionally you and your brother just chat about family. About humans and life in general. Poppy also comes over to make sure you’re doing well. The two of you tend to chat about more mundane things, though it seems like Poppy had taken a liking to cooking her own food after figuring out it was cheaper to make meals than to buy them. While you insist you have no talent in the area, Poppy often brought small samples of her cooking for you to try out. To say they were good was an understatement. If you didn’t know any better, you’d have guessed she bought them.

“Cooking is just like a musical game. It’s all about the right steps and the timing.” She insists everytime you protest that you can’t cook.

Throughout your rest, one thing is constantly bugging you. Hiiro hasn’t paid you a visit once. At first you assumed that his injuries were keeping him from coming to check on you. A concern you openly voiced to Emu, but he assured you that he was fine. Although you were frustrated he wouldn’t let you out of your room to go see him though you knew he was stopping you out of worry for your health than any ill intent. Finally on the 4th day you decide to ask.

“Emu, where’s Hiiro? He usually makes the time to make sure I’m doing ok. He’s my doctor and I haven’t seen him once.” You ask. Emu tries to hide a small frown. He clears his throat and tries to approach the subject carefully.

“Emm...Reiko…” He says slowly. “I...I’m your doctor.” You nod in response.

“Yeah, you’re my doctor at the moment but that’s because Hiiro’s healing up...though I gotta admit I think he’d be better by now.” You say failing to follow Emu’s meaning.

Emu shakes his head and sets his clipboard aside. “No...Reiko. I’m your primary physician now.” He says gently. You choke on your sandwich and look at Emu in disbelief. Emu hesitates before continuing. Concern etched on his face. “Hiiro asked me to take over for him.” He explains.

“No, no.” You say shaking your head. “He…” You go quiet. You knew what you wanted to say was childish. You couldn’t honestly expect to have Hiiro as your sole doctor forever. You weren’t his only patient and he was a world famous surgeon. The fact that he even acted as a general physician for you was more than what was expected from him.

But he said he was going to be my doctor. You think to yourself. You knew exactly why you were upset and no matter how much you wanted to logic it out, it didn’t change how you felt. I love him…

Emu gently places a hand on your shoulder. “Reiko...are you ok?” He asks softly. You nod quietly.

“Yeah...yeah, I’m fine.” You say quietly as you gather your thoughts before speaking up.

>What does Reiko say?
>Ask Emu if Hiiro said why he was no longer your doctor and where he is right now. (I’ll need a roll for this 1d20+4)
>Tell Emu the truth. You love Hiiro and you’re upset that he no longer wants to be your doctor.
>Try to avoid Emu’s question. Ask when you’re ok to be released and if anything has come up in your absence.

Rolled 18 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>3927667
>Ask Emu if Hiiro said why he was no longer your doctor and where he is right now.

>>3927667
>Tell Emu the truth. You love Hiiro and you’re upset that he no longer wants to be your doctor.
Heart, sleeve.
Though this is kinda good? I mean, Hiiro notoriously doesn't want to get involved in the private lives of his patients. That was always a wall we were going to run into.
It still sucks thinking that you were only ever trouble to someone you cared about though.

>>3927667
>Ask Emu if Hiiro said why he was no longer your doctor and where he is right now. (I’ll need a roll for this 1d20+4)

Sorry guys, I have to call it a night here. Been dead tired all day and I'm falling asleep at my computer. I'll get a write up when I get up. Vote's open til then.

>>3927900
Sleep well

Rolled 1 + 4 (1d20 + 4)

>>3927667
>Ask Emu if Hiiro said why he was no longer your doctor and where he is right now. (I’ll need a roll for this 1d20+4)
Yeah this time the truth option is far too...sappy? Childish? For me. Like it's okay to entertain those thoughts in your head but no need to let everybody know.

Though with Reiko's heart sleeve thing, I can totally see Emu reading from her face that something is up here. No pokerface girl, our Reiko.

>>3928279
Yeah I'll apologize for that. It was probably a combination of how dead tired I was and the fact that I wanted to give a truth telling option since that's sort of become Reiko's nature.

>>3927695
>>3927884
>>3928279
Asking Emu what's going on. Writing.

You look at Emu. “Did he say why?” You ask quietly. Emu gives you a sad look and sighs before bringing a chair closer.

“He said he was getting too involved in your personal life.” Emu says though you can tell he himself didn’t believe it. You frown and bite your lower lip as you wring your blanket. “He wouldn’t say anything else on the matter no matter how much I pressed him. I don’t know how he expects to keep it up considering he’s fighting alongside us but I’m sure he’s got some reason behind it.”

“What reason could he have…” You mutter.

Emu stays quiet for a moment. “Maybe he’s afraid to lose you.” He says. “With all that’s going on, I think he’s afraid you’ll end up just like…well, it’s not my place to say.” He says looking away.

“I know about Saki.” You say. “He told me but that doesn’t make sense. If he’s afraid of losing me then wouldn’t it be better if he stayed close?” Emu shrugs.

“I honestly don't know what he’s planning. Personally? I think maybe he feels he wronged you somehow and he doesn’t deserve to be your doctor. That or maybe he’s worried a bugster would use one of you two to get to the other?” Emu says. “After all, it's a bit obvious that...erm...you’re rather attached to him.” He says bashfully. You blush. You didn’t really try to hide the fact but you also didn’t think it was that obvious.

“Is it that obvious?” You stammer.

“It was when we were coming back from the abandoned complex.” He chuckles. “You were practically attached to him the entire way.” You can’t help but smile when remembering that.

“So where is he now?” You ask.

“He’s at another hospital at the moment. They requested his help with some work.” Emu says before going silent for a bit. “I’ll talk to him about it but he can be stubborn sometimes.”

You nod. “Yeah, I think he learned first hand from me.” You joke weakly. Emu chuckles.

“No I think he’s in a league of his own.” Emu replies. “Though from what Poppy says, you might just give him a run for his money.” He stands up. “On a brighter note, I’d say you’re well enough to be released. Unfortunately, that means I need to tell you that Kuroto has been asking for you. Best you go talk to him before hogs another computer for his ‘work’. Right now he’s got 3.”

You laughs and nod. “Looks like my vacation is over. I’ll see you at NCR?” You ask.

“I need to finish my rounds but I’ll swing by later today. Your brother says he’s going to bring lunch and Poppy wants us to try something she baked.” He looks around. “Anything beats hospital meals and been to busy catching up on work to go get food outside.” He whispers.

You give him a knowing grin and get ready to start your day.

>What does Reiko attend to first?
>Go talk to Kuroto. See what he wants before he claims another computer, knowing your luck it’d probably Akihito’s laptop.
>Go see Akihito and get a rundown on current events. Best to be on top of everything before doing anything else.
>Go see if Parado needs help with anything. He hasn’t been around for the last two days.

>>3928907
>Go talk to Kuroto. See what he wants before he claims another computer, knowing your luck it’d probably Akihito’s laptop

>>3928904
>>Go talk to Kuroto. See what he wants before he claims another computer, knowing your luck it’d probably Akihito’s laptop.
Let's go save our boy Akihito from an insane god.

>>3929007
>>3928928
Gotta go talk to Kuroto. Writing.

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You make your way to NCR and the sounds hurried clicking fills your ears. As you ascend the stairs, you see Kuroto tapping madly at three keyboards. His eyes are wide and mad. You look at him confused before noticing Akihito nestled in a corner with an extra big tin foil hat and bags under his eyes. Walking, over you ask what’s going on.

“Kuroto has been slowly taking all the computers.” He yawns. “He had me up all night talking about game ideas. Then he got mad that I couldn’t think of much.” You nod.

“Well, go get some sleep. I’m gonna have a chat with him.” You say patting his shoulder. Akihito nods and yawns once more before getting up and leaving. You approach Kuroto with some hesitation. It was really hard to gauge the man so you could never guess how he would respond to your replies. You eventually decide you wouldn’t change. There wasn’t really a point in trying to be different for someone who you couldn’t anticipate.

“Hey Kuroto.” You say politely as you approach. His head snaps up and looks at you half mad.

“That’s GOD Dan Kuroto to you! Come! We have much work to do no thanks to Emu.”

“Work?” You ask cautiously. “Do you mean you have some kind of idea on finishing Chronicle?” Kuroto shakes his head.

“No. No! We must work to build you a new set of gear! You’re mastery of my Gashat is impressive but for you God created talents to truly shine we must give you something more suitable! Now hand over Dangerous Zombie.” He says holding out his hand. You hesitate. “Come on! Come on! We don’t have all day. I overheard Emu yammer on about Parado bringing food with Poppy and I want to get some work done before all those chatter boxes arrive.”

>Does Reiko give Kuroto her Gashat?
>Yes. He seems intent on making you a new one.
>No. You have no idea what he’s planning and you might need it.

>>3929377
>>Yes. He seems intent on making you a new one.

Upgrades! Also he'll just be insufferable if we don't.

>>3929377
>Yes. He seems intent on making you a new one.

>>3929381
>>3929505
Giving the gashat to kuroto. Writing when I get back

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You warily hand over the Gashat. Kuroto snatches it up greedily and holds it up in reverence. “My once greatest creation.” He says arrogantly. “A testament to my genius.” He slots the device in to your Driver which was plugged into the computer via the port you had discovered and freed Poppy and Kuroto from. A multitude of cables snaked around the desk and served as adaptors for the weird port to USB. “Now since you have used this Driver and these Gashats.” He explains holding up Proto Mighty Action X and slotting it in. “We have tons of valuable battle data to pick from.”

The second monitor next to him lights up as information scrolls by quickly. Not quickly enough it seems as Kuroto grumbles something about inappropriate equipment for someone of his caliber. “It seems your battles have been quite brutal as your life bars seem to indicate you nearly died on several occasions.”

“H-hey, It was my first time ok? I wasn’t used to the stuff yet.” You stammer in protest. Kuroto cackles.

“Yes! No wonder you had adapted to Dangerous Zombie so quickly. Having died, and then subsequently suffering near death experiences would have made you a perfect candidate for a device build from death data.” Kuroto says with a mad grin. “As to be expected from my protégé!” He types quickly and prints out a copy of the information.

“So...what do we do now?” You ask trying to make heads or tails out of all technical jargon printed on the page. Kuroto grins.

“Now...we make the magic happen! First we need to find a quality that exemplifies you.” He says looking up at you. You give him a very confused look.

“Quality? Don’t we get to choose super powers or like a design? Maybe what kind of game genre I like?” Kuroto looks at you like you had said something stupid.
“Of course not! We must find something that bonds you to your Gashat!” He sighs and explains it slowly. “Every Gashat has a quality that it shares with its user. Hiiro and Taddle Quest share chivalry, Taiga and Bang Bang Shooting! share their tactical expertise, Emu and Mighty Action X with bravery. Did you not notice how those qualities were amplified when the unauthorized users were wearing them? King’s delusions of authority and the fake Snipe’s militaristic view on taking on his conspiracy theories. Those two were compatible in all the wrong ways. Other side of the coin if you will.” He says waving his hands dramatically.

“What I’m saying is that if the game’s themes match up with your own personal views. Then both you and the technology have to spend less resources trying to be compatible and can spend more being effective in combat.”

You nod as you follow along. “So...I just gotta think of what I think describes me best?” You ask. Kuroto nods grinning haughtily.

You pause and think. You hadn’t expected this kind of introspection when you were told you were going to help develop a new gashat. It suddenly dawns on you that Kuroto must have already taken these factors into account when developing the Gamer Driver system for the other three. All without their knowledge.

>What trait would best describe Reiko?
>Her openness and honesty. You never dealt in subterfuge or deception but in not doing so you could easily gain the trust of others and rally allies to help you in a pinch.
>Her unbreakable will. No matter how much it hurt, no matter how bad things got, you never gave up and always pushed forward.
>Her desire to protect life. Bugster or Human, a life is a life in your eyes and you’ll lay yours on the line so that others may keep theirs.
>Write in

>>3929653
>Her openness and honesty. You never dealt in subterfuge or deception but in not doing so you could easily gain the trust of others and rally allies to help you in a pinch.
All these FRIENDSHIP rolls speak for themselves.

>>3929653
>Her openness and honesty. You never dealt in subterfuge or deception but in not doing so you could easily gain the trust of others and rally allies to help you in a pinch.
But more like empathy to get across the care for life.

>>3929653
>Her unbreakable will. No matter how much it hurt, no matter how bad things got, you never gave up and always pushed forward.

>>3929721
>>3929692
We're an honest person. Writing.

“I guess I’m pretty honest and I try to help people see the better side of things. Or at least try to see both sides of something.” You say after thinking about it for a while. “I don’t think that’s a good video game concept.”

Kuroto laughs. “Do not worry, when you have me on your side, nothing is impossible! Though you do tend to have a way of rallying people to your side.” He says as he types rapidly on the keyboard. “Perhaps a kind of war game or real time strategy would serve as a good idea.”

“Are we stuck with those choices?” You ask. Kuroto shakes his head.

“Not with my genius. A lesser programmer would have balked at such a notion but you have GOD on your side!” He says. He thinks a bit. “Well let’s see what we can do.”

“Well the easiest kind of game we can work with is a form of real time strategy with the way you can sway and rally people. Of course we can play more on your tendency to adhere to the truth. A detective mystery game would work with that.” You look at him confused.

“How does a mystery game play on the fact I tell the truth?” You ask.

Kuroto shrugs. “Well...you not only tell the truth but you seek it. Imagine this.” He says rolling his chair close to you and waving his hand dramatically. “A hard boiled detective, seeking the truth to a dangerous mystery willing to befriend a unique cast of characters as they all work together to solve it. Your unique style and open demeanor help you get clues out of people and earn their trust. Perhaps it’d be some kind of visual novel.”

“Yeah...I can see that. You got any other ideas.” You ask.

“Well on the RTS side, we can make a game where you take the role of an honorable commander. Your truthfulness brings out the best in your troops as you guide them across the battlefield. Sometimes you stay behind to command from afar but other times you join your troops in the battlefield and fight alongside them.”

You think for a bit. “Would it be possible to use Dangerous Zombie? I mean we already have it why make another Gashat?”

Kuroto thinks for a bit. “We could try and adapt it to your new parameters.” He says before snapping his fingers. “Perhap, a game where you play as a recently deceased being! Having been resurrected you use your newfound appreciation for life to try and stop a war between two factions. An angel of death among the living!”

You’re beginning to think Kuroto has a weird flair for making games but these all seem like decent ideas. You look around trying to think of a new idea…”What about a doctor game?” You ask. Kuroto looks at you. “I mean doctors have to be honest with their patients and they need to be able to bring people together to make someone better. I’ve basically been doing that with NCR.” You point out.

Kuroto let’s out a devilish grin. “This is why you’re my chosen one.” He says. “So then. We have several choices. Which do you prefer the most?”

You think about it. All of these ideas seemed reasonable. It just seemed that the game had to match up in some way with your chosen concept.

>Which game does Reiko choose?!
>The RTS game. You’ve been leading people around for a while and a knight based rider form might be cool.
>The mystery game. The only reason you’re here at all is because you wanted to find out the truth and you stuck to it. A detective rider form would make you stand out.
>The angel of death game. It seems a bit morbid but it’s basically what happened to you. Plus you already mastered Dangerous Zombie it’d be a bit of a shame to have it go to waste.
>The doctor game. It pretty much sums up what you’ve been doing these past few days sans the medical license or surgeries
>Write in.
Tl;dr QM is shit at thinking up some cool game ideas. Please help. Title ideas would be cool too but I can probably think of something for your choice.

>>3929829
>>The mystery game. The only reason you’re here at all is because you wanted to find out the truth and you stuck to it. A detective rider form would make you stand out.
Go half boiled or go home.

RTS overlaps too much with the Taddle line for my liking, we're already up to our eyeballs in doctors and the Kuroto will always be the only dangerous zombie in my heart.

>>3929829
>The mystery game. The only reason you’re here at all is because you wanted to find out the truth and you stuck to it. A detective rider form would make you stand out
I kinda want to go with angel of death because it fits pretty well with Reiko, but a detective rider is neat too. After all we've been a pretty great seeker of truth and justice.

>>3929871
>>3929851
I hope our foes are ready to count up their sins because we're going detective. Kamen Rider Noir? Though I think that name is taken from Ryuuki? Trenchcoats and fedoras. If only Shotaro could see us now. Writing.

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“I like the detective idea.” You say. “I mean I started going after a mystery and here I am.”

Kuroto nods. “Yes...Genm Corp has been meaning to get into the visual novel market.” Kuroto says pulling another monitor closer and rapidly tapping at keys. He hunches up on his chair and works furiously. “We’ll start you with a level X Gashat.” He mutters as he looks over the page of information again.

“Why can’t I use like a level 50 like Parado or you?” You ask. “Those seem really strong.”

Kuroto grunts. “Because, you can’t handle those yet. We need to work your tolerance up and a level X gashat is almost as strong. X can be any level. Parado was the exception to the rule having been cultivating in Emu for over a decade.” He explains not even looking up from his work.

You sit around awkwardly, the sounds of rapid typing filling the room. You weren’t sure if you should leave or stay. Kuroto might need you for something else. What that would be you weren’t sure. After a while of fiddling around on your phone, you hear the elevator come down.

Your brother comes up holding several bags of take out that looked ready to burst. You scurry over to help him carry it to the table. “So...what’s got him all fired up?” He asks as he sits down and glances over to Kuroto’s workstation.

“He says he’s making me a new Gashat.” You explain. “It’s supposed to be like a detective game. I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to be doing here.” You admit.

“PARADO! Do not interrupt our work! We’re very busy.” Kuroto shouts before burying himself in tons of papers. You and your brother exchange shrugs before Kuroto emerges. “Reiko! Weapon ideas! We must arm you!”

He pulls you back to the messy work area and hands you a page. “Here! Choose from this list! Now hurry! Before my inspiration fades!”

>What weapons will our new game have? Pick two.
>A powerful handgun. All detectives have a nice 6 shooter on them.
>Brass Knuckles. Why go ranged when you can go toe to toe with your opponent.
>A pair of batons. The ends of both are tipped with electric prods to taze enemies.
>A quarterstaff. Well balanced and perfect for sweeps and tripping.
>A dagger. Bringing knives to a fist fight is always advantageous.
>A rope and grapple hook. You’re not sure how this is a weapon but Kuroto says it’s part of a game puzzle.
>Write in
That's my last write in for tonight. Hope you enjoyed. See ya later!

>>3930010
I played entirely too much Larcen Tyler back in the day not to choose
>rope and grapple hook. You're not sure how this is a weapon, but Kuroto says it's part of the game puzzle.

>>3930010
>A rope and grapple hook. You’re not sure how this is a weapon but Kuroto says it’s part of a game puzzle.

>A pair of batons. The ends of both are tipped with electric prods to taze enemies.

Rope and grapple for range, batons for close combat.

>>3930010
>A rope and grapple hook. You’re not sure how this is a weapon but Kuroto says it’s part of a game puzzle.
>Brass Knuckles. Why go ranged when you can go toe to toe with your opponent.

>>3930315
>>3930299
>>3930232
We all agree on the grapple hook. But not the second weapon.
>>3930232
A fellow Eternal Champs player? I used to play the shit out of the danger room mode when I was little.

>>3930511
>>3930299
Eh I'll switch my vote from batons to brass knuckles then.

The knuckles will synergise better with the grappling hook (Reiko can literally snag and haul her foes in for a beating).

>>3930520
Ok noted. Writing.

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You quickly look over the list of weapons and circle your choices. Kuroto snatches the page out of your hands and goes back to his mess. “Good! Now leave me! I must work!” He announces.
You wander back where Parado is sitting and he hands you a box of food. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him work that frantically before.” He says taking a bite of his food. “What’d you choose?”

“Brass Knuckles and a grappling hook? Seemed pretty cool to me. There some utility there too I think.” You say. Parado nods. “I think it’ll be able to do some cool things with it. Like maybe go for a grapple fighting style.” Parado is about to respond when the elevator dings and you hear footsteps coming up the stairs. Poppy makes her way towards the two of you holding a pie in both hands. The two of you eye the pie hungrily as the smell of peaches fills the air.

“Parado, you can’t just keep buying fast food all the time.” Poppy pouts. “You need to learn how to cook too. It’ll be healthier too.” She says setting the pie on the table. Parado shrugs sheepishly.

“I can’t cook. I blame Reiko for that. It runs in the family.” He says. You shoot Parado an indignant look.

“You’re older! If anything I should be blaming you.” You protest. “I burned water once! You should have taught me how to do things properly.” Poppy looks thoroughly confused.

“You can’t burn water.” She points out.

“Yes you can!” You and Parado shout in unison speaking from experience. Poppy looks dumbfounded but doesn’t push the point.

“Well you can have some pie when everyone gets here. Hopefully Emu had enough time to get drinks.” She says looking at her watch. “He’s been really busy these days with the holidays coming soon. So have I to be fair.”

You take a bite of your food and mull over that information. “So will you two be able to help if there’s anything that goes on? We can’t really pull you from your jobs.”

“We’ll be fine Reiko.” Parado says. “Taiga should be free too. I don’t think he has much of a job. So we’ll only be down Emu, Poppy, and Hiiro.”

You try not to react to Hiiro’s name as you quickly try to change the subject. “So...do you guys have anything planned for Christmas?”

Poppy was about to answer when you hear the elevator again and the sounds of someone running towards you. Emu appears on the stairs, breathless. “Emu? What’s wrong?” Poppy asks concerned. Emu holds up his hand to get his breath back.

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“We...Genm Corp has a new ad. Akihito sent me the link. I think you guys need to see it.” He pants sitting down with your group and pulls out a tablet. On it was a youtube video from the official Genm Corp channel.

The video starts up showing Amagaski Ren smelling a flower. “Ladies and Gentlemen. I’m so happy to be making this announcement for you! Ever since our last announcement, our player numbers have increased drastically! I was so proud of our staff and our player base that I have decided to make a new update to everyone’s favorite game!” He flourishes behind him and a curtain is pulled away revealing 5 new riders!

“Introducing our next wave of Kamen Riders! More loot for you players! But be wary these aren’t your ordinary players! These are the next level super bosses!” He says as he walks up to a group of the new riders. They all wore matching armor and weapons that you think were modeled after some kind of dinosaur. “Meet the first half of your new crew! The Dragon Hunter Squad! Based on the hit game Drago Hunter Knight Z! These players are trained to work in a team to hunt down large prey. You’ll need to be careful if you’re going to go toe to toe with these guys!”

Amagasaki Ren moves on to another player who seemed to be mimicking Hiiro’s knight motif. “And this is their fearless leader. Don’t be fooled by his medieval attire. He wields not one but the power of two Gashats at once! Show them!” He says. The player untransforms revealing...King himself. He smirks and twists the knob on his level 50 gashat before activating it again.

Bang Bang Simulations!

King emerges wearing what looks to be an entire battleship complete with cannons and artillery attached to his armor.

“Wonderful!” Amagasaki shouts in glee. “Players will have to plan ahead if they plan on trying to dethrone our strongest rider!” He takes a few steps towards the camera and smiles. “And for those who are having trouble navigating through the game.”

“Hi~!” The second Poppy shouts jumping on screen.

“We have our newest member Poppy Pipopapo! She’ll guide any player through the rules of the game but don’t be fooled by her innocent demeanor. Because she’s one of the boss monsters herself!” He grins. “All of these new players will be rolled out in our next update! They look forward to play with all of you in a few days! Remember, young or old, anyone can be a hero in our game! Like always here at Genm Corp, our motto is ‘In this whole world, I. love. You!” Amagasaki Ren blows a kiss to the camera and the video comes to an end.

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The room is silent save for the screeching from Kuroto. You all look at each other in confusion. “Level 50 Gashat…” Emu says quietly.

“The players won’t stand a chance.” Parado confirms. “The Drago Hunter squad will be at least level 5 as well.”

“We need to work fast then. We have to take back those gashats.” Poppy says. “Maybe we can figure out what’s going on with the second me.” She says.

You think for a bit trying to formulate a plan.

>What does Reiko want to do.
>Tackle the Dragon Hunter Squad. Their Gashats are supposedly lower level.
>Figure out what’s going on with the second Poppy. She’ll interrupt any attempt to fight other Riders.
>Take out King. Again. He has the strongest Gashat and will give you the most issues.
>Ask Parado if he can ask Amagasaki to stop doing this. He’s a bugster so maybe he can be reasoned with.
>Write in.

>>3930655
>Ask Parado if he can ask Amagasaki to stop doing this. He’s a bugster so maybe he can be reasoned with.
We can't really chat big about reconciling humans and bugsters if we never actually negotiate with the bugsters.

If that falls flat then we need to take out King. He'll literally murder anyone he comes across until we put a stop to him.

>>3930655
>Figure out what’s going on with the second Poppy. She’ll interrupt any attempt to fight other Riders.

>>3930780
>>3930680
A tie.

Anyone got any ideas for the name of the new Gasaht? I was thinking something like Noir Mysteries?

>>3930798
Switching >>3930780 to
>Ask Parado if he can ask Amagasaki to stop doing this. He’s a bugster so maybe he can be reasoned with.

I'm not really sure what the title should be.

>>3930925
>>3930680
Alright we're gonna request to talk to the CEO of Genm Corp. Writing.

“Why don’t we go and talk to Amagasaki?” You say. Everyone gives you a look. “What? We could try and convince him to stop doing all of this right?” Emu just shrugs. “Come on guys. Don’t tell my you didn’t think about just trying to talk this out?”

Everyone avoids your eyes. “Well we didn’t really realize that could be an option? I mean, they attacked us and we fought back.” Parado nods and shrugs.

“Yeah, we pretty much saw it that way too but I mean, Reiko, you’re saying you want to try and stop a war just by talking it out?” He says.

You nod and grin. “Sure. Can’t hurt to try right?” You say standing up. “Might as well go right now.”

“Right now?” Emu asks. “But you just got released. Maybe you should take it a bit easy right now?” You shake your head and give Emu a smile.

“Sorry, but not my style. When something needs to get done, I’ll be on that. Probably should be in my patient notes.” You admit. “But I was hoping Parado could come with me. He can introduce me considering I don’t really remember anything about being a bugster.”

Emu sighs and nods. “Alright. I don’t think I could convince you to change your mind could I?” He asks with a smile.

Parado grins. “No you probably couldn’t. She was like that before too.” He says standing up and patting your head. “Alright. I’ll see if I can get us in. Honestly, I have a few things I want to ask myself.”

“What do you have to ask? Aren’t you the leader?” You ask. Parado gives you a weird look.

“Why does everyone think I’m in charge of the bugsters? That’s like everyone thinking Emu is in charge of NCR.” Emu looks at everyone confused and shrugs. Poppy simply smirks and tries to suppress a laugh.

“I mean, you’re the only bugster we’ve interacted with the most and you were the one working with Kuroto.” He shrugs. “I mean it’s kind of hard to not think you were in charge of everything.” He says sheepishly.

You laugh. “Well he got you there. Should we head out then?” Parado nods and begins to make his way downstairs before Emu stops you both. “Hey wait! Shouldn’t Reiko take a Driver and Gashat? I mean...I don’t know what you guys will face.”

“I don’t think Amagasaki would attack us.” Parado says. “He’s been helping us bugsters since we found him. If we’re gonna try and convince him that it’s better for all of us to not fight, he shouldn’t have a problem with it.”

Emu looks unconvinced. “I think it’d just be a lot safer.” He says. “But I guess it’s ultimately up to Reiko.”

What does Reiko do?
>Just head out with Parado. He’s got a Gashat so if things do go south, he can defend the both of you.
>Take a Driver and Gashat. Specify if you want to take Dangerous Zombie or Proto Mighty Action X
>Wait until the new Gashat is ready before you head out. Better you have your custom tailored equipment than go unprotected.

>>3931417
>Take a Driver and Gashat. Specify if you want to take Dangerous Zombie or Proto Mighty Action X
>Dangerous Zombie

I mean we're not that naive to walk into the den of the opposing party without any weapon at all. Time is of the essence with King on the loose so we can't really wait until God has churned out our new gashat.

>>3931417
>Take a Driver and Gashat.
>Proto Mighty Action X

>>3931787
>>3931738
Got a tie on what to take. But we're going to go in armed at least.

>>3931994
roll a d2 if nobody else chimes in.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>3932004
Right. I'll do that right now.

>>3932004
Taking the Proto Gashat. Writing

You head back to Kuroto’s mess and pick up the Proto Gashat and Driver. “I need to borrow these.” You tell Kuroto. He gives you an odd look.

“You know what those do to you right?” He asks. You nod.

“Yeah, but I don’t plan to use them unless it’s an absolute emergency.” You reply. Everyone in the room gives you a worried look. “Don’t worry guys. Parado will be with me.” You assure them. “Besides we’ll only be talking.”

Your friends don’t seem assured but they don’t stop you. You and your brother head out towards Genm Corp HQ. On the train ride Parado speaks up. “Lovelica may be flamboyant but he should hear us out. Maybe we really can stop this at the source.” He says hopefully.

You nod. “Yeah, but we’ll still need to deal with the fake Riders. I don’t think they’ll be the kind of people to simply hand their things quietly.”

Parado nods. “True but if we play it smart we could use our numbers against them. They’ll also be untrained as well.” You shake your head.

“We don’t know that. For all we know they got some practice in before their official launch. We can’t afford to take them lightly.” You say. “Otherwise all of us can get hurt.”

The two of you step off the train and make your way down the busy streets to the Genm Corp building. It stood imposing over the city as if keeping a permanent eye on everyone living there. You think back to the beginning of all this and wonder what would have happened if you had gone in alone to return the Driver and Gashat when you first got them. You can’t help but shiver with anxiety. Parado pulls you in close and gives you a small hug. “Don’t worry. It’ll be alright.” He says gently. You give him a small smile and the both of you both head in.

The reception lobby was spacious and lined with various pictures of the games that Genm Corp developed. People in suits walked here and there, and you assume they must be here to pitch a game idea or some other business. Parado leads you away from the receptionist and towards the back of the lobby. “Hey, where are we going? Aren’t we gonna ask to see Amagaski?” You whisper looking around trying not to look suspicious.

Parado gives you a grin. “Not when you’re friends with the CEO.” He says as he approaches a door near the back and gives the knob an odd twist. You hear a click and the door opens revealing a small hallway with an elevator at the end. You grin and the both of you take the elevator to the top floor.

You find Amagasaki smelling a rose and speaking on the phone. “Yes! Yes! I think our companies would work wonderfully together to make Kamen Rider Chronicle famous around the world!” He laughs nodding. He notices you and gives you a small nod. “Yes, I look forward to our meeting. Have a good day.” He says before hanging up.

He says up and approaches you two with open arms. “Parado, to what do I owe the pleasure? And who is this lovely young lady? Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for someone?” He laughs. You resist the urge to cringe and stay close to your brother.

Parado smiles. “No. This is my sister, the one I told you about.” He says proudly. “We actually came to talk to you about something.” He says a bit more seriously.

Amagasaki nods. “Of course. I can always spare some time for you. How can I help you two?” He asks cheerfully.

“We want to talk to you about Chronicles.” You say. Amagasaki raises an eyebrow.

“Oh? Do you have some ideas you want to pitch to me?” He asks.

>What does Reiko say?
>I think this would be a write in to be honest. I mean you can ask him to recall the Riders or if he can put Chronicle on hold but they’re both just steps for the end goal of stopping the bugsters from fighting with humans. So give me a write in and a 1d20+4 roll please.

Also sorry for the slow posts recently. I’ve my anxiety has been acting and haven’t gotten much sleep. Honestly I should probably put this on hold but I really don’t want this quest to die.

>>3932174

Personal health takes more importance. Your fans will understand.

>>3933568
I hope people enjoyed it so far. I had fun writing it. Here's my mostly abandoned twitter. I'm still planning on running but probably at a slower pace but right now I need to take a break. Still it was like 4 weeks of keeping it up. I'll try and keep the twitter alive. Or is discord the preferred thing? I know some anon hate it because people start plotting there instead of in thread.
https://twitter.com/nova_qm

>>3933679
Keep us updated on Twitter!

Will do. Though I was still waiting on rolls lol. Wanted to post a bit more before I settled on if I could handle running still. I'll start a 4.5 thread in the future if nothing is posted by tonight. Stay safe guys.