FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

This is the last of this 3-part pre-written series. Next up I'll be going back to the main series, as the first chapter of the batch is nearing completion. For those who have been keeping up, thank you. There's only 3 more chapters left before I bring this series to its complete end. This'll be the first time I officially get to say that in all my years of writing. Hope to see you all there for when that happens. Until then, please enjoy the end of this mini-series.

---

"...I...I'm so sorry about this, Doctor."

Dr. Aurora shook her head, "No, please. By all means, you need this." The collie had on a patient smile as she waited for the last of Erika's sobs to peter out. The girl shook her head.

"N-no, this is...this is unorthodox, I'm sorry--"

"Erika, come on. She already said it's fine."

"No. No, this was meant for me specifically. I shouldn't be dragging you into this--" She stopped as she felt her paw be squeezed by another. Even so, she refused to look in the other direction.

"Erika, it's okay. I'm willing to stay here for a little bit longer, if not the entire session..."

"...Thank you..."

"Any time." A comforting squeeze of her paw followed that. Slowly, Erika drew in a breath and eased it out.

"...Okay, only for a little bit. I don't want to keep you up for too much longer."

"Atta girl."

"But the second I say so, you're going back to bed. Got it?"

"What are you, my mom?"

"Arata."

A defeated, yet playful sigh came out. "Alright. Alright. I'll leave when it's time."

"Good boy."

"I don't know why you've gotta ask me anyways," Arata reached down to the belt around Erika's waist, "You can send me back literally whenever you want."

Erika shook her head and nudged Arata's paw off of the device. "Well I feel better when it's your choice, not mine."

"Awww, you do care."

"Oh shut up." Erika shoved Arata's shoulder, eliciting an amused chuckle from him. All the while, Dr. Aurora watched with a mixture of awe and amusement. It was still hard for her to fully understand. Sitting before her was not only Erika, but also Arata. They weren't sitting next to each other. In fact, that seemed to be_impossible_ for them now. The two of them were sitting together, as one, in one body.

The segmented, armored, asymmetrically colored body of Kamen Rider 00.

Needless to say, this was...not how she'd expected the respected hero of the city to work. When she'd been told that Erika and Arata still fought together, she hadn't realized that it wasn't just in spirit, in memory, or any other sort of metaphor. They were together in possibly the most literal sense of the word. Though it was unclear what degree of control Arata had over Erika's body as a whole, it was abundantly clear that he had control over her green, right side. The way that he moved her arm, and the way her right eye glowed with each syllable he muttered were good indications of that.

"...Seriously though," Erika went on, "I don't want it to seem like...like I'm forcing you out."

"It's alright, Erika. I get it, and I appreciate it a lot." Arata reached out and gently clasped her paw in his. Or...hers. However it was that worked. When the snow leopard didn't reply, Arata tilted their head slightly. "Hey, you getting all emotional over that?"

"Shut up."

That got a soft chuckle out of Arata. "Aw come on, no need to be like that. Here." He then reached back and grabbed the scarf pinned to the back of their neck, pulling it over their shoulder and offering it to her. "You can wipe your tears with this."

When Erika looked over to see, she chuffed and shoved it away. "Oh my god, stop." That got him laughing a little bit harder. With a playful shrug, he tossed the scarf back over their shoulder and clasped their paws together.

"I'm glad to see you two are having fun," Dr. Aurora chuckled.

"For the record," Erika began, pointing a finger at her green side, "he's not normally like this. He's just enjoying his time with being the wittier side for once."

"Hey, I have my moments."

"Like?"

Their right eye remained dark for a good bit. "...Okay I can't_think_ of any right now, but--" Erika playfully jabbed a finger against his shoulder, eliciting laughs from both of them.

"Pardon my asking," said Dr. Aurora, "but what is it like to be...uh..." The collie motioned her paws in their general area, "that?"

"A friggin nightmare is what it's like," said Erika.

"Oh come on now, you don't mean that."

"I do."

"You doooooooooon't," this time it was Arata who jabbed a finger into the other side's shoulder, "I can hear all of your thoughts, you know that." Erika let out what seemed to be a defeated sigh. "Well Doctor, to put it simply, it feels like how you'd expect it to feel like if you were to share a body with someone. You can probably already tell, but I'm the one who mainly controls her right arm."

"And I keep control of everything else. Thankfully."

"Yeah, I can't imagine how difficult this would be if I had to coordinate walking with her. Being caught in a firefight with black-market criminals isn't exactly the best place to be having a three-legged race after all."

"And like he said earlier, we share the same headspace. So just like I can hear all of his thoughts, he can hear all of mine."

"We...learned that out the hard way..."

A silence hung in the room. "We don't...need to talk about that part."

"R-right," Arata stammered, "so, basically she still has control over her whole body, especially when the two of us are in synch. The only time I ever really exert control over my side is either when it's absolutely necessary, it's something only I can do, or when I notice something that she doesn't."

"He doesn't have to do it a lot, but it's always reassuring to know he's got me covered when he does."

"Interesting," Dr. Aurora nodded, "So...when you two do this...what happens to Arata's body?" She regretted asking that as soon as the last syllable left her lips. The silence that hung in the air afterwards was tense enough to cut with a knife. The collie waved her paws and stammered, "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that. My curiosity got the better of me."

Arata held up his hand. "It's okay... We get it."

"It's not even a bad question," said Erika, "It's just...something we try not to think about."

"Yeah, I'm so sorry about that," Dr. Aurora adjusted her glasses and scooted up a bit in her seat, "Maybe it's best if we just move on."

"Y-yes of course," Arata nodded and clasped Erika's wrist, "I'll leave you to it then--"

"A...actually?" Erika turned to Arata's side, "is...is it alright if you...stay? For...for this last part?"

Arata turned back to Erika's side. "...Erika?"

"I just..." The snow leopard seemed to roll the words around in her mouth. "...Were going to be going over how we got to today, and...thinking about it now...there's..." Her voice trailed off from there. She shuffled around a bit until Arata reached over and gently squeezed Erika's upper arm. That seemed to be enough to help her regain her composure. "There's some parts of the story I'm not gonna be able to tell. So...it'd be helpful if...you know..."

"I know..." Arata gently pat her arm, "...I know..." The two of them seemed to share their own little moment as Erika drew in a deep breath and eased it out. "I'll cover the parts you weren't there to see. Just to make things easier for you. At least, as long as it's okay with you."

"It's a little unorthodox, I'll admit," she replied with a swish of her tail, "but for your sakes, I'm willing to make an exception."

"...thank you..." Erika's words only came out as a slight whisper. At that, the collie motioned for the pair to return to their previous positions. Only this time, it would be _two_furs sitting on the chaise lounge.

"So to briefly recap," said Dr. Aurora as everyone settled in, "We went over the events revolving around Amnesia and The Earth's Tree. How the whole thing was one big hoax, and how the two of you brought it all to an end."

"Well, we didn't end it, exactly," Arata chimed in, "but we did pull the curtains on it all."

"We went over Erika's thoughts on everything as they had been happening, and of course we went over how Arata hid his condition from you until the very end."

"...Yes...we did..." Erika seemed to cast a sideward glance in Arata's direction, who had quickly fallen silent.

"Now all that leaves us is how you got from there to here, and how this dynamic all got started." The doctor stopped to click her pen and adjust her clipboard. "So Erika, once Arata's condition was put to light, where did that leave you?"

"It left me frustrated, for one thing," she sighed, crossing her arms. Arata's eye remained dark as she went on, "It left me...confused...hurt...wounded... Like I...like I wasn't good enough to help..."

"......A-actually maybe it's better off if I just--"

"NO...no..." Erika shook her head, "I'm sorry, Arata. I just... I don't mean to be bitter."

"You're not, Erika. You're being honest." the collie pointed her pen at her, "You have feelings, valid_feelings, and you shouldn't feel as though they're not worth talking about. _Especially during these sessions."

When Erika didn't answer, Arata reached out and gently clasped her paw in his. "If...if you really need to get something off your chest, I'm willing to listen."

Erika shook her head. "It can wait... For later."

Dr. Aurora decided not to press and moved on. "So what happened after Amnesia was exposed?" Erika was the one to answer this time.

"Well, even though we managed to tear it all down, Earth's Tree was still at large. We'd stopped the charade, but Memories were still being sold on the black market. That meant that the city was still in as much danger as it had been before the exposure. Now it just didn't have the smoke and mirrors. So just like I promised Arata when he...retired, I continued to act as the city's hero.

"I created another copy of the Freeze Memory and inherited the title of Kamen Rider Zero. And though many of Amnesia's Members had left after learning the truth, there were many others that wanted to make things right. So with them, a new Amnesia was formed, one with the goal that it was meant to have; protecting the city. So for three years, that's what we did. We fought back against The Earth's Tree with all of our might. We brought every Dopant attack to a screeching halt, and there was nothing they could do about it.

"At least...that's what we thought..."

Kamen Rider 00

The_C_hosen _J_ourney

Eventually, the Headmaster of The Earth's Tree ran out of patience. We'd destroyed his façade, we were outmatching his "products," and we were bringing his sales to an all-time low. Obviously he wasn't going to just sit down and take this. Instead, he decided to get off his ass and finally confront us himself. But not without a bunch of his underlings, of course. To show how serious he was, he brought his nine strongest Dopants and let them loose in the city. We were forced to spread our forces thin, with every available member of Amnesia being sent to a different part of the city.

As proud as I have for our own strength, dealing with 9 Dopants at once was too much to ask of us. All of them were incredibly powerful and none of them were willing to go down easily. The fact that they were actually willing to hurt innocent furs as well didn't help. That meant no one could go and help out with someone else's fight, not until the fight they were already in was finished. Mine was no exception.

I was dealing with the Grief Dopant, and as the name implies, it has influence over stress levels. He must have been hand-picked for me, because his abilities worked on me like a charm. Not only was he amplifying the stress I was under with everyone else still needing backup, he was also amplifying my stress over Arata.

Every day, every time I'd open my eyes for the first time, and every time I'd get up out of bed, I'd be reminded of the fact that Arata...can't do that anymore. I'd remember that, in that same moment, he was still stuck in his hospital bed, completely still, and completely unresponsive. Right after, I'd go over to his room to see him, hoping that maybe...just maybe...this would be the day he'd be able to open his eyes and greet me...

That. Never. Happened.

For three whole years, I'd face heart-breaking disappointment. For three whole years, I never saw him look up at me and smile. For three whole years...I never...heard his voice...

This Dopant tore open that wound and poured as much salt on it as he could. He took my pain, sorrow and guilt and used it all against me as a weapon. "You should've done better. You should've been there for him. How could you let this happen?" All of my inner thoughts and voices screamed into my ear, taunting me, cursing me, and drowning out all other thoughts in my head. All to remind me that I was to blame.

"Oh you poor thing," Grief taunted as he lassoed his whip in the air, "Don't worry, just stay put, and I'll put you out of your misery." I barely even heard him; my mind was far too gone to allow me to listen clearly. At that point, I was basically a sitting duck. The Dopant probably would've made good on his word then and there...if I hadn't gotten help from the most unlikely of allies.

Just as Grief raised his whip to strike, a gunshot fired off and shot the whip right out of his hand. As he recoiled and stumbled back, he hissed, "WHO DID THAT?" His answer came in the form of several more gunshots, all directed at his face. They didn't stop until he was far away from me. But I didn't snap out of my trance until I felt a paw land on my shoulder.

"Hey, come on. Get up. I didn't come out of hiding just to watch you ball up and cry all day." Once I got up and came to my senses, I was surprised to see that it was Daiki, the Memory Salesman. "...What?" he said once he noticed my stunned silence.

"I just...I don't understand--"

"Don't get the wrong idea," he cut me off before drawing his second pistol and shooting at an incoming whip crack, "You let me escape several years ago, so I've come to return the favor." The blue pseudo-Rider motioned his head towards Grief. "I know Grief's weakness; all you have to do is stop fighting against the thoughts he's giving you."

"You mean...accept them?" Before he could answer me, he shoved me backwards and threw himself in the other direction. Grief's whip cracked sharply against the ground we'd just been standing in.

"Grief's tormenting you with the things that are troubling you the most! The thoughts that you fear! The feelings you're trying to deny!" he called, "If you stop denying the problems he's forcing you to face and just accept them, his powers will be completely useless against you!" Daiki unloaded a barrage of bullets onto Grief before barking, "And I suggest you do it SOON, otherwise you'll have more of your friends to grieve over!"

He jumped out of the way before Grief's whip could crack against his face. I...wasn't as lucky. I still had too much on my mind, so the Dopant got an easy hit on me. As soon as that whip made contact, all of my inner voices came back with a vengeance. They screamed at me so loudly that the world around me practically melted away. Though they went about it in different ways, all of them reminded me that everything happening to me, to this city, and to Arata was my fault... That was too big of a pill for me to just...swallow.

I didn't want to believe it, and like you've been saying, Doc; I shouldn't believe it. But at the time, all of the signs I'd seen were pointing to it. I was only there because I'd tried to become a Rider. The city was only in this tough spot because I'd messed with something I shouldn't have. And Arata was only stuck in his position because--

Erika.

...

Is that...really what you believe?

Arata, please just let me finish.

But you know that--

Please. This is important...

...Alright...I'm sorry...please go on.

Thank you... Anyways, like I was saying, it was getting harder and harder for me to deny what my voices were telling me. And I don't know whether it was a good thing or not...I decided to just...accept that guilt. I finally allowed myself to believe that, yes, everything was my fault. If it weren't for me, none of this would be happening. The Dopants would've continued to "advertise" themselves and not put civilians in harm's way, and Arata would've...

So I accepted that. _All_of that. And you know what? That made the pain...easier to bear. I didn't have to fight it anymore. I didn't have to _deny_it anymore. It just...became my truth. And because of that, I was freed from Grief's hold. Right away, I snapped out of the trance the Dopant had put me in.

It was just like Daiki had said; because I'd accepted my guilt as reality, all of Grief's attacks had no effect on me. Not even on a physical level. His whip barely even phased me, as the pain it was inflicting on me was next to nothing compared to what I'd just been put through. I made quick work of him after that, and before I could so much as thank Daiki, I realized he was long gone. I didn't have time to dwell on that, though. My entire team was still in need of backup. After I made sure Grief wasn't going anywhere, I ran out to help everyone else with their fights.

Little did I know that the biggest fight of all had already begun...

And...I suppose this is where_I_ come in. Unbeknownst to anyone out in the field, the Headmaster had ulterior motives in showing himself. With everyone so preoccupied, he was able to slip out of sight and force his way into our base using his Dopant form, Maul. His raw power and ferociousness made quick work of all our steel doors, one of the only forms of defense we had here without our troopers or Erika. Unfortunately for him, there was still one more left.

As he scanned the garage, he caught the sounds of footsteps and froze in place. With everyone else caught in their own fight, he didn't seem concerned that anyone of worth was coming to meet him. Boy was he about to be proven wrong. "You seem lost," I called to him, "You shouldn't be here, and you've got a lot of nerve if you think you're welcome here." I couldn't see his reaction, but judging by the silence that followed, I could tell that hearing my voice had caught him off guard. And how could I blame him I was supposed to be on my death bed, after all.

Once I stepped out into the open, donning Rider armor and a Driver, the Headmaster finally spoke up. "Arata Sakurai... And here I thought I'd never see the day that I'd meet you in person." I couldn't hold back a disgusted scoff.

"Believe me; I would've preferred that, but you've forced our hand. You don't belong in this city, not after what you did to it."

"You still think this is our fault?" the Dopant pointed one of his claws at me, "Need I remind you, it's your people who decide what to do with the Memories they buy."

"ENOUGH! I don't wanna hear ANY OF IT!"

"Why?" the Headmaster laughed at me, "Because you know it's the truth?"

I didn't want to admit it, but...he had a point. "...I don't know what your plan is in coming here, but I WON'T let you exploit the people of this city for your own personal gain!" I crouched down as I prepped myself for battle. "You may have gotten this far, but you're NOT getting any farther!"

He laughed at me and snarled, "Is that so?!" before leaping forward.

"COUNT ON IT!" I screamed back before the two of us crashed against each other. Once we started exchanging blows, I quickly realized how outmatched I was in terms of raw strength. I was forced to act more evasive as the fight went on. Despite this, my burning hatred for the man raged on. "You're the ONE person I'll never forgive! You people keep trying to bring this city to ruin!"

"Need I remind you that those 'people' are only doing their jobs?!" the Headmaster retorted, "And if any people are ruining the city, it would be yours, the ones you claim to protect!"

"Stop trying to flip this around!" I growled as I leapt out of the way of a viscous swing, "If your stupid business had never rolled around here, the city wouldn't be in nearly as bad of a shape as it is now!"

"Typical," he shook his head, ""A man shoots another man, and rather than blame the shooter, you blame the people who sold him the gun. For how _long_can you ignore the blood on your people's hands?! Wake up! YOUR people are at fault here! Not mine!"

"I...I..." I couldn't respond to that. Not just because I couldn't think of anything, but also because my body had suddenly started to fail on me. I lost all feeling on the left side of my body, causing me to collapse. I tried to rise, but my body just wouldn't listen to me. "No! N-not now!" Suddenly, the Headmaster closed the space between us and grabbed my shoulder. I think that's when he realized something was off, because he froze as soon as his hand clamped onto me. He narrowed his eyes at me before tossing me across the garage like a ragdoll, making me knock over several of the motorcycles that were still in the building. While I was still getting my bearings, he leapt onto me and planted his foot against my chest.

"You're not a man," he said as he grabbed hold of my bad arm, "What are you?" Without another word, he dug his teeth into my wrist and tore my arm off. Well, I guess calling it my arm wouldn't be entirely accurate. With it separated, the Headmaster was able to see the mechanical components making up the inside of my body. By then I'm sure he realized what was going on. He was right in assuming that I wouldn't be there to drive him out of our base, at least not in person. That's why I had to use a fake, robotic body, one that I was controlling with my consciousness. It was something a fellow Amnesia member had stumbled upon during Erika's years as Kamen Rider Zero. And though we'd tried it out a few times--

Without telling me, of course...

...Right, th-this was the first time we actually had to put it to good use. And...evidently, the last time as well. "Clever boy," he taunted after I'd freed myself, "So then, do you really think this little science project of yours can stop me?"

"Maybe not..." I replied, "but the least I can do is stall for time!" And that's really all I could do, because I'd been right. I couldn't stop him. Not only was I down an arm, but he was also way too strong for me to handle all on my own. He battered my pseudo-body around like it was his piñata, and I could do nothing to stop him. All I could do was struggle. During all of that, he revealed to me what he was actually after. Though he was still trying to strike fear into the heart of the city to incentivize buying his Memories, there was something more.

He was after the Amnesia Memory, the Memory that'd been draining and storing the abilities of all previous Memories. Apparently he hadn't gotten the memo that Erika and I had destroyed it in our last battle. But even after I'd told him that, he didn't believe me. He'd acknowledged the two of us as strong, but he didn't believe we'd been strong enough to defeat the strongest Gaia Memory in existence, let alone defeat someone wielding its power. Instead, he thought we were merely hiding it somewhere in our base, and he was intent on tearing our base apart brick by brick until he found what he was looking for.

That's about the time when Arata sent out an urgent message to the team. You can probably imagine how I felt, hearing his voice for the first time in several years. No one on the team dared to try and stop me once I ran from the fight I'd been helping in and_raced_ back towards the base.

After practically tearing my body to shreds, I was thrown across the room. The garage had been reduced to a cluttered junkyard, with Memories, weapons and smashed bikes littering the crater-ridden floor. "So how much longer do you think you can keep this up, hmmm?" the Headmaster taunted, "Because I feel like you've wasted enough of my time already."

"J-just long enough, I'd say," I replied, my body's damaged speakers making my voice come out distorted and choppy. The Headmaster chuffed before yanking me up to my feet and eviscerating every part of it with his claws, sending metal bits flying everywhere. On the final strike, he rammed his fist against my left lens, cracking it as I was sent flying. After I slammed against the opposite wall and crumpled to the floor, I realized I had next to no control over my body left. The Headmaster also realized this.

"Hmph," he huffed, folding his arms and looking down upon my shattered remains, "Finally decided to give in--"

"ARATA!!!" Erika's voice roared along with the sounds of her motorcycle's engine. By the time the Headmaster turned, the vehicle crashed into him and blew him away. As he and the bike smashed against the other wall, Erika rushed to my side.

And as I rushed over, my heart was hammering in my chest. I'd heard his voice, yet I still couldn't believe it was true. I had to hear him with my own ears, and I couldn't do that if I let the Headmaster get his hands on him.

CRUSADE!

I quickly swapped forms and sent my two doppelgangers out to deal with the Headmaster as soon as I saw him get back up. Once I was sure that he was well occupied, I shot down to my knees to finally look at Arata. And seeing him so torn up and damaged...obviously didn't play well with my emotions. And neither did hearing his voice come out so distorted.

"H-hey there...Erika," I'd said to her, "...Long time, no see, huh?"

"You...asshole," I spat bitterly, "How long has this been a thing?!"

"A...month, maybe?" I let out a nervous laugh, "We...we didn't want to get your hopes up if this didn't work..."

"I...hate you...so much right now..." In reality, I couldn't have been happier to be hearing his voice again. By then, I just couldn't hold it in anymore. Just...finally being able to hear his voice again, piled onto the fact that I was still so frantic and confused...it just tore down the walls I'd built up. I just broke down into tears then and there.

And I couldn't blame her. If my body had working tear ducts at the time, they most certainly would've been put to use there. Even though she was in her Rider form, just being able to see her again, after years of accepting my fate... Yeah...just couldn't blame her.

Before I could say anything else to Arata, one of my doppelgangers went down. I snapped back up and replaced it with another. Before I could personally join the fray, Arata stopped me.

"W-wait!" I called to her, "There's no way you can beat him! He's too strong!"

"W-well what am I supposed to do?!" I shouted back, "I'm the only one here that can fight!"

"Not...necessarily..."

"And what's that supposed to mean? Are you expecting me to believe that you can still fight?!"

"Y-yes, but--"

"Arata LOOK at yourself! Sure you were able to fight before. But now you're all torn up, you're missing limbs...you can't even MOVE!"

"I know! But--"

"Just...STOP! Okay? You've...you've done enough. Just sit there and let me handle the rest--"

"No LISTEN!" The intensity of my voice seemed to be enough to convince her to do so. "This body of mine, this...puppet...it wasn't the end goal for me. It was a proof of concept."

"Proof of...concept?" I tried to figure out what that could possibly mean, but I couldn't for the life_of me, "For _what?!"

"We've been trying to see if it's possible for me to temporarily transfer my consciousness into a body other than my own. This robot body was our first step in achieving that."

Admittedly, the way he was talking was making me a little nervous. "...And...the second step?"

"The second step is where you come in." The sounds of the Headmaster's roars told me my time was running short. "Listen carefully. Here's what I need you to do. In a few seconds, the Memory in my Driver is going to disappear. Once it does, take my segment of it and attach it to the empty socket on yours." Then, summoning all of my mental strength, I willed my good arm to reach for my chest. There, the lens of my armor's chest orb lowered to reveal a sleek, black Memory. "Once you do, take the Memory powering this body and put it into my Driver segment. You'll know what to do from there."

This was a lot for me to take in, and this was coupled with the fact that I was still trying to cope with hearing him again. "H-how are you so sure that I'll know?"

"Just trust me on this," I assured her, "You'll know..." It was only after she gave a reluctant nod that I proceeded. I reached into my chest and pried the Memory out, and I instantly went dark.

And all that left was me. Just like he'd said, the Memory in his Driver suddenly disappeared. I carefully pried his Driver segment off and took the black Memory out of his hand. As I stood back up, I noticed a feeling of dread that I couldn't shake off. I had no idea what Arata was trying to do, and I didn't even know if it would work in the first place...

But he'd always been willing to put his life in my hands, so I was willing to put mine in his. So I turned to face the Headmaster, who was still fighting my doppelgangers. "Alright..." I sighed as I raised both devices, "let's do this...partner." I jammed Arata's Driver segment in, and my Driver closed up instantly. Suddenly both of my doppelgangers vanished into thin air, along with my Rider armor. I looked down to see that my Memory had been replaced with another; the one that had vanished as soon as Arata's body had shut down.

"Giving in, eh?" said the Headmaster, "Good girl. I'll make sure to end you QUICKLY!"

I felt blood drain from my face as the Dopant leapt into the air with his claws aimed right at me. But as scared and confused as I was, Arata had been right. I knew what to do. I felt something guide me. No...I felt Arata guide me. So as smoothly as though I'd been doing it for months on end, I slammed both Memories inside, split the Driver open, and cried out in a loud roar, "... HENSHIN!!!"

_CYCLONE! _** | *|* | *_ _* JOKER!!! **** **

A wild gust of wind suddenly picked up, catching the Headmaster mid-air and sweeping him off to the side. The Dopant crashed into the wall as the rogue cyclone raged on. There was so much dust and debris in the air that no one could see anything. Not until the wind parted with a thunderous clap. And with it gone, I...or rather, we were able to step forward, donning our color-divided armor with our silver scarf fluttering in the wind. For the first time, we'd stepped forward together. We'd stepped forward as the two-in-one Rider.

For the first time, we'd stepped forward as Kamen Rider 00.

"Alright, it worked! Great job, Erika! I knew you could do it!"

I did a double take as soon as I heard his voice. "A-Arata?! Is that you?! Are you in my head right now?!"

"Heh, I'd say a little more than that. But that's not important right now. What is important is that we've got the scum of this city to take care of..."

Confused but still in agreement, we made our way towards the Headmaster, just in time for him to stagger back up to his feet. "Using two Memories at once?" he questioned us, "What is this, some kind of desperation move? Run out of options?"

"Far from it!" I shouted back, feeling Erika's confidence resonate with my own, "If anything, I couldn't ask to be in a better position than this one!" Seeming to want to test my claim, the Headmaster leapt at us with his claws spread. Erika met him halfway by leaping into the air, boosted by a gust of wind. We reached him faster than he anticipated, and Erika landed a solid kick on him. As he crashed back down onto the ground, we gently floated back down, once again carried by the wind.

"How?!" he snarled as he clawed back up to his feet, "How are you so strong?! You two are nobodies! Fabrications we manufactured! Moments ago you two could do nothing to me, and now here you are, in this freakish amalgamation! HOW?!"

"Because you made the stupidest mistake anyone ever could make! You underestimated us" I shouted, feeling Arata's support as I went on, "You were right in thinking that we couldn't beat Amnesia on our own. As strong as we are individually, there was no way we could stack up against someone as powerful as that. But that's the thing; we didn't_fight her on our own. We had help. _Each other's help! We used our combined power to defeat her! And now we're going to use that power to defeat you!"

"Headmaster of the Earth's Tree," I joined in after her, "you've terrorized the civilians of this city, exploited that fear and manipulated them for your own personal gain, and you've brought pain, misery and suffering to the lives of thousands upon thousands of people."

With our minds resonating as one, we looked the Headmaster dead in the eye, pointed directly at him, and shouted in unison, "Now... count up your crimes!"

"These crimes aren't yours to COUNT!" With a roar of fury and hatred, the Headmaster barreled forward. But he didn't scare us one bit. After three whole years, the two of us were finally back together as a team. So we were intent on making this the strongest comeback imaginable. We ran right up to him without any hesitation whatsoever. He tried to swing at us, but I knocked his arm off course before his claws could connect with us.

And I used that opportunity to catch his arm and yank him right into a knee to the gut. He tried again and again to land a hit on us, but we kept deflecting his blows away from us and using his momentum against him. Once he tried to sweep our legs, we flipped backwards and glided out of his reach. But the Headmaster used that opportunity to leap after us and swat us out of the air.

Both of us were stunned from the impact with the ground, but we rolled out of the way just before the Dopant could plunge his claws into our face. As we rolled to our knees, Arata tossed our scarf behind our neck. As the cloth obstructed the Headmaster's vision, we whirled around and CLOCKED the side of his head with my foot.

"Nice shot!" I shouted to Erika.

"Nice set up!" I shouted back. I cut our celebration short to limbo through another of the Headmaster's swings. I managed to tag his side right as I ran past him. He tagged us right back though with a back kick to our side. The second we turned around, we took a clawing to the face, and the Headmaster took a fist to the face. The Headmaster tried to attack us while we were staggered, but luckily Arata had our back.

I held him at bay with a wind gust while Erika took the time she needed to recover. And with how much I was struggling to hold him off, I knew we didn't have much time to spare.

Thankfully I didn't need_that much time. Just before Arata's wind ran out of steam, I got back up and _plowed my foot into the Headmaster's gut. The Dopant flew across the garage and slammed into the opposite wall. "Alright," I said to Arata, "it's about time for us to finish him off."

"Good," I replied, "cuz I've got the perfect name for our finisher."

"How do you already have a name for it?"

"Hey I've had weeks to work it out, okay?"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. He really was an idiot...but he was my idiot... Just as the Headmaster shot out of the crater he'd left behind and leapt at us, I grabbed my side's Memory and tossed it to Arata.

And in one smooth motion, I caught it and tossed it into the Maximum Slot.

JOKER!!! MAXIMUM DRIVE!!!** **

Just before he could reach us, another wild gust of wind picked up and blew him back down. And as he went down, we went up. The wind carried us up and up, tossing our scarf around as raw energy coursed through our body and poured into our feet. The winds howled louder and louder until Arata triggered the Maximum, and the two of us roared out, " JOKER EXTREME!!!"

Our body split right down the middle as we rocketed downwards and drove our feet into, and eventually through the Headmaster's Dopant body. It, along with his Memory, was utterly obliterated, and we left behind nothing but smoke and an unconscious scum bag as our halves united back into one unified whole...one dynamic duo...and one trusted guardian of the city...

The two-in-one hero, Kamen Rider 00.

***

"With the head of The Earth's Tree finally behind bars, the whole company began to crumble in on itself. It'd lost its strongest members, and it was only a matter of time before it fell. Unfortunately, that hasn't stopped competitors from trying to take their place. Hence why we're still needed."

"Still though," Arata spoke up, "we'd landed a hefty blow on the black market that day, so it was most certainly a win for us."

"The first of many, too."

A chuckle escaped from Arata. "Just gonna pat ourselves on the back like that out of nowhere, huh?"

"Hey, we've been at this for almost four years now; I think we're allowed to do that at this point."

"Four years..." Arata tilted their head back, "Man, time really does fly, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, but that's usually if you're enjoying it," Erika nudged Arata's side, eliciting another laugh from him.

"I suppose you're right, Erika... I suppose you're right..."

"You two..." Dr. Aurora spoke up, snapping the pair's attention back to her, "you two really are something, you know? After everything you two have been through, you continue to converse as if it's just another day of the week."

"Wow, rude."

"Oh come on, Erika. She didn't mean it like that."

"I know, I know," she laughed, shoving away Arata's paw as he tried to poke her. The sight put a genuine smile on the psychiatrist's muzzle.

"That being said, though," she continued, "having learned about everything that's happened to you two, I just want you both to know that no one is at fault for any of the things that transpired. The two of you have been caught in situations beyond your control, and neither of you deserve to take the blame for any of it." Erika jolted slightly as Arata gently clasped her paw in his. The two remained silent as Dr. Aurora went on. "I know me simply telling you that won't be enough to dissuade either of you from still blaming yourselves, but just know that you're_allowed_ to take the blame off of yourselves, at least for this.

"It's more than obvious to me that the two of you are very close. As close as can be, in fact. So remember that whenever these feelings of guilt spark up. Talk to each other. Don't just bottle up these feelings until you can't handle them anymore."

"You hear that, Arata?"

"That includes you as well, Erika."

Erika did a double take and looked right at the collie. "...Wha--"

"It's a very good thing that you decided to come and talk to me, but judging by your actions and Arata's behavior, it's clear to me that you weren't quite willing to share your feelings either. Arata, am I correct in this judgement?"

Arata's eye remained dark for a solid minute. "...I...hadn't heard...all of that, no..." The pair fell silent soon after.

"I don't mean for this to sound like I'm scolding you. I really don't. I just want you to know that communication is very important, and that it goes both ways. Look...you two have been granted this...miraculous opportunity. A second chance, if you will. So I think it stands to reason that a chance like this shouldn't be taken for granted. Be willing to work at your issues rather than shovel them away for another time. Furthermore, be willing to work at those issues with the ones you love. You're a strong-willed girl, Erika. You've done a lot on your own, but just like your stories have told me, you can do even greater things together."

Erika's throat tightened up, but as she felt the comforting squeeze of Arata's paw, her throat began to loosen. She eventually pulled her paw away, only to take his and clasp them together tightly. This was another sight that made Dr. Aurora smile. "Well then," she continued, "since we've done so well with the two of you thus far, what's say we change this session from a solo to a duo--" She was unable to finish her request as a loud, wailing siren reached their ears. Erika shot right up to her feet as soon as she heard it, instantly recognizing the city's signal of a Dopant attack.

"Of all the..." she growled before looking out the window.

"Hey, at least we're already in our work clothes," said Arata.

"Yeah, it's just..." their head slowly lowered as Erika's voice trailed off. As the silence hung, Dr. Aurora felt the need to speak up.

"Erika?" she called, getting her attention, "It's okay. I'm still going to be here. If need be, we can always schedule future appointments. This isn't just a one-time deal, after all."

Erika took a bit of time to find her voice again. "Th...thank you... Thank you so much, Doctor."

"Don't mention it. It's my job after all. Now go on; the city needs you."

Erika nodded before giving her a quick and respective bow. Just as she was about to leave, Arata spoke up. "W-wait a sec. Y'think we can jump out the window this time?"

"Really?"

"Pleeeeeeaaase? Just_real quick._ We rarely ever get to do dramatic exits like this, and we're in the perfect spot to do it!"

"Ugh, you're insufferable sometimes, you know that?" She shook her head before turning around and unlatching the window's lock. After she slid it open, she turned back to Dr. Aurora and said, "Sorry, but I'm gonna have to ask you to lock this back up on our way out. Once you do, follow lockdown protocol and stay safe."

"Of course," the doctor nodded, unable to shake the little goosebumps creeping up her neck. With that, Erika shot her a finger-gun and whirled around, causing their scarf to drift along behind them. She then motioned for her to step aside and clear the way as she backed up.

"Don't let us just fall, okay Arata?"

"We have wind powers; we'll be fine." With a shake of their head, Erika leaned forward and took off running, crossing their arms in front of them before leaping through the window with ease. Once they cleared it, she tossed their arms out, and a strong gust of wind caught them. They rolled smoothly onto the street and shot forward as soon as their feet were back on solid ground. "The city never sleeps on us, does it?"

"Yeah, well fortunately, we never sleep on what threatens it!" With a grunt, she leapt into the air and allowed another gust of wind to carry them onwards. "Now let's give these guys a proper wake up call, partner!"

END