Chapter Text
Fictions Mentioned:
Episode 1
Insert Song: Start
Long Long ago, 20th Century · Norio Sakai
Years ago...
How to describe it...?
Shidou Itsuka remembers his thirteenth birthday all too clearly. It was supposed to be an exciting day when he had gotten kidnapped by a villainous cult organization called Gorgom and got turned into a cyborg just for the fun of it. A brainwashed cyborg at that when he, along with his best friend, Shinichiro Takamiya, would be forced to fight to the death as some kind of plot to becoming candidates for the next Gorgom Creation King, as both of them had been born in a solar eclipse, and thus, they are referred to as "Black Sun" and "Shadow Moon".
This may perhaps have been the worst birthday gift that he ever had gotten. But it was also the best birthday gift that he could have gotten in relation to himself since, because of his cybernetic enhancements and obtaining the Kingstone that would allow him to transform, he had now officially on that day became a Kamen Rider, a hero of justice, defender of freedom, protector of all life.
He would know who the Kamen Riders are. As a matter of fact, he's met them. At that time, he had a well-guarded secret that he had been keeping well hidden from everyone, even his parents and sister. That he had been attending this special school which takes place in a special ship in the shape of a blue police box that can travel through space and time, seeing the wonders and horrors of the Multiverse.
As to how this would relate to this topic, his sensei, Kohtaro Minami—Kamen Rider Black RX, an old man with black hair and brown eyes who can still fight in spite of his advanced age, an old man who had come from a different Earth and one of the heroes of that Earth, would save him from almost getting brainwashed by Gorgom. Evidently, at some point, his sensei would need to explain what is happening. On why Gorgom, the villainous organization that Shidou knew already from Kohtaro's Earth, existed in his universe and why were they here when they had been wiped out years ago.
"Because..." Kotaro gently explained to Shidou, padding him on the shoulder with a serious expression. They were sitting on a bench in the city park late at night. "... The Gorgom you know is not the same as the one in my world, Shidou-kun."
"What do you mean, Sensei?" Shidou asked.
Taking a deep breath, Kotaro slightly turned his face to his protege. "... Shidou, this is something that I, and many other Showa Kamen Riders have been keeping from you for some time. It's something that we've all agreed to tell you about when you came of age... However, Gorgom had kidnapped you before we could. For the past few days since, I had searched high and low for you and by the time I had found you and Shinichiro, I was almost too late." He looked straight into Shidou's eyes. "I believe you already know what I mean... given the strange dreams you've had lately."
"...A...Ah." Shidou nodded slowly.
"As for how I know," Kotaro explained "I managed to sync my Kingstone with your own, and have seen these dreams you've had for myself... I assure you, they were not dreams Shidou; they are memories, memories of your previous life before you were reborn into this world."
"W-What!?" Shidou exclaimed, his eyes widened and face turning pale.
Such a revelation would shock anyone to their core. A previous life? Was such a thing even possible?
However, his current situation isn't what one would call reincarnation, where the soul begins a new life after death, completely different from the past life. Rather, he is the same person as he was before, reborn into the new world he currently resides in. But how, and why?
Simply put... his world, his previous universe had been destroyed during the Cosmic War. By some miracle, Shidou was spared from his universes' destruction and sent here, reborn as a native to this newly created universe. Even now, after all this time, Shidou questions why he alone was spared, when everyone else from his last life was met with a tragic end.
As his sensei told him more and more about his past life at least without necessarily spoiling him of everything, just the general gist of it, Shidou had understood the following.
Shidou Itsuka had come from a universe much different from this, a world where there are extraordinary beings from another dimension called Spirits that cause devastation wherever they happen to be, with their arrival being usually called a spatial quake or spacequake. It was a phenomenon where space-time begins shaking and they appear as giant black-purple spheres that would destroy any matter they come into direct contact with and produce large shockwaves that extend beyond the immediate area of effect. The first one that detonated had obliterated Eurasia (with Mongolia along with parts of northern China for example) over thirty years ago, killing about 150 million people, and leaving the world traumatized by this sudden force of nature, which is why at some point, the world had to adapt and highly advanced shelters were created in case something like that happens again.
With a few specific exceptions, most of the Spirits were in fact originally humans who had bonded with gems called Sephira Crystals, which turned them into Spirits. Some of them received one under the promise that it would grant their wish, but much to their unawareness, this would be a lot more than they bargained for. There were two known methods of dealing with the Spirits: respond with the intent to kill, or have someone of a uniquely qualified position date them and seal their power. The former would have highly trained humans called Wizards who are trained for such a fact, with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force's Anti-Spirit Team being a part of it. The latter would, much to Shidou's shock, be about him and how he had dated each of these Spirits and sealed their powers before.
His sensei never told him much else, if only because it was all too much to process for Shidou. He remembered being thankful at least for being told of what this was, but it took a few days to really sink in. That he was not a native of the universe that he knew.
"And...what about my universe, this universe, what can you tell me more about it?" Shidou asked.
"That this universe had been recreated from your fallen universe following the aftermath of the War," Kohtaro explained. "Aside from elements of your previous universe, many other elements from other universes had been inserted into this universe, creating something entirely new and forever altering that which had originally manifested it. And you, the only survivor of your world, had been inserted into this universe, now becoming a part of it as much as the rest, so you can say that this universe is truly yours as it was your previous one."
And so, from that point on, there came a lifetime of many battles. Shidou Itsuka would be fighting the villainous cult Golgom and eventually the spacefaring Crisis Empire, an empire that wanted to invade and conquer his world. Aside from these two major enemies, there were others of course. Being a Kamen Rider had a lot of responsibility placed on his shoulders. He spent his entire middle school years for the most part in these turbulent years, and he would eventually become known as the Hero of Tenguu City.
Of course, he shouldn't take all of the credit. He had a lot of help. First off the list would be his sister, Kotori Itsuka, and the organization she works for called Ratotoskr. Apparently, his sister had a secret of her own, one that he didn't find out until he became Kamen Rider Black. She was involved with an international peacekeeping, law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency sanctioned by the United Nations, and she was given the rank of Commander at such a young age. And yet, the revelation didn't really surprise him. What shocked him however was the eerily similarities between the blood-related Kotori Itsuka that he would know, and the Kotori Itsuka who was his adopted sister in his previous life.
It was one of the cases where a memory of the past was triggered. He would remember his Kotori jumping up and down his stomach in order to try to wake him up from his sleep. He remembered the first time he would see a different side of his Kotori and the revelation that she would give about herself, her organization, and the cause of the spacequake phenomenon. Along with a few traces. And yet, his memories were still incomplete, still a haze. He remembered crying in secret at least because he started to remember what he had lost, and now he was feeling it.
Before, since the memory wasn't addressed, it didn't bother him as much, it only gave a kind of unconscious ill feeling. But now, he knows, and he could not help but cry, but he did not want to show it. He never tried to show it to anyone. Perhaps it was rather unhealthy so to speak, but he did not want everyone to worry for him. He had more than enough to deal with. But of course, he can only do so much until people that he knew would start to notice as they were neither blind nor stupid, until it gotten to the point where he needed family intervention, basically just him sitting down and his family and a few friends would talk and listen.
Nevertheless, he was grateful at least.
The second honorable mention would be two of his closest friends in this new world that also helped him during these ordeals, Hiroto Tonomachi and Origami Tobiichi. They too would of course relate to the slow triggers of his past memories, and seeing how they are different from the ones that he knew in a previous life gave him at least a new sense of perspective and not wanting to take anything for granted.
The third honorable mention of course would have to be the closest friend and fellow Kamen Rider who like him had also experienced the same brainwashing from Gorgom, Shinichiro Takamiya.
And then there are the other Kamen Riders who had come from their side of the Multiverse. But that would be a story that would be addressed at another time.
Now it was the present day.
Shidou Itsuka wakes up from his bed with a heavy breath. He sits up straight and sighs, wiping the perspiration off of his brow. He was having dreams again. And this time, they were dreams of a girl with pink hair. Something ached within him the moment he thought about her. It was not the first time he dimly recalled someone from his past. But there was something about her that made him want to cry. He hated this particular aspect of himself sometimes. Whenever something from his past comes up, he'd cry.
"Mama, where's onii-chan?"
Kotori Itsuka, a young high school girl with crimson hair that had a twin-tailed style with two interchangeable color handkerchiefs and crimson eyes, asked her mother, who had been eating at the dinner table alongside her. Haruko Itsuka, a woman who might as well be the "older version" of her own daughter, wearing a yellow jacket, a black shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and red shoes.
"Hmm," Haruko looked at her daughter, smiling sadly. "Shidou just left the house not too long ago."
"Eh?!" Kotori made a worried expression.
"Don't worry," Haruko waved her right hand, reassuring her daughter. "It has nothing to do with Kamen Rider stuff...well, at least from what he told me, he needed to get some fresh air and have a drive throughout Tenguu City with his motorcycle, said that he needed some fresh air."
"...I see," Kotori muttered softly.
Even then, she was worried. Since her brother is a Kamen Rider, things could suddenly happen without her knowing about it, and she can attest to such experiences for the past few years of dealing with Gorgom and the Crisis Empire as the Commander of the Fraxinus Air Carrier. But at the very least, Kotori thought to herself, at least his sentient bike is keeping him company so he isn't technically alone. Still, that does not stop her from being worried about her older brother.
As Haruko had said before, Shidou Itsuka, wearing a white jacket, a white-black zebra-colored shirt, white fingerless gloves, white pants, and white shoes, had taken some time to drive his blue Suzuki motorcycle which was actually his Acrobatter, a sentient bike that had been his closest partner in his daily battles as a Kamen Rider. He was simply allowing himself to have moments of calm like this, breathing in and out as he concentrated on driving through various parts of Tenguu City, the largest futuristic utopian metropolis in Japan, somewhere close to Tokyo. The various peoples, the various stores, the various locations, he memorized them and committed them to memory, even more so when many of the battles were fought around here. Speaking of the various peoples...
"Oh look! It's Kamen Rider Black RX!"
"Kyaaah~! He's so cool!"
"I want to be just like him when I grow up!"
He can hear the children cheering and jumping as they recognize him on sight. There were also many young women who were looking at him with interest. There were also many adults, young and old, smiling as they saw him pass by. Yes, at this point since his battles against Gorgom and the Crisis Empire, he is already this well-known. Not to mention, he would of course remember all of the nice people that he had met through his many adventures as a Kamen Rider throughout the city. Right now, he is only stopping by a donut shop just nearby an intersection of the city.
"Oh! Shidou-kun!" The one who would hail him as he stopped was a man with grey hair and brown eyes, wearing a pink shirt and burgundy apron. Just behind him, there was a sign up from the side of the vendor motor vehicle that has the sign "Donut Shop Hungry!" on it. Yes, that Hungry Donuts, the same business that was from the world of his sensei's, Kohtaro Minami.
Once, Donut Shop Hungry was only down to two people who are close friends with another sensei and Kamen Rider, Haruto Soma - Kamen Rider Wizard. Since then, their business had expanded internationally, and then eventually, interdimensionally.
"Ah, Umeda-san," Shidou smiled at the old man as he notices him. He takes off his helmet.
"Glad you decided to stop by," Umeda said with a smile. "Say...would you care to try these newly styled donuts that we had baked. It's a chocolate donut with multiple rainbow flavors."
The young assistant who was now exiting the motor vehicle, a young woman who was of the same age as Shidou, with brown hair and brown eyes, wearing the same outfit as Umeda, is a fellow classmate of Shidou's. She also appeared to be wearing a pink hat to cover her hair for the most part. She was carrying a serving plate with the donuts on it.
"How much is that?" Shidou asked, curious.
"Oh, it's free, don't worry about it, anything for the hero of this city, plus this is free for everyone as a foretaste testing and since you are one of our most loyal customers, we would like you to try it," Umeda smiled gratefully.
"Alright, thanks Umeda-san," Shidou said, picking up the donut and tasting it, chewing it. "Hmm. It's good."
"REALLY!" Umeda and the young brown-haired girl made anime sparkles expressions in their eyes.
"Hai," Shidou nodded first, chewing it before responding. "You were actually right. It does have a lot of flavors in it. Grape, mango, orange, and a lot of fruits."
"Yes!" Umeda and the young brown-haired girl both celebrated as they clapped together using their free hands.
After Shidou would finish the donut, he would thank Umeda and the brown-haired girl for the meal before wearing his helmet and driving away, leaving Umeda and the young brown-haired girl smiling.
"Umeda-san?" The brown-haired girl asked.
"Hmm? What is it, Sakurai?" Umeda asked with a simple smile.
"...Don't you think that Shidou-kun looks a bit sad today?" The brown-haired girl asked.
"Ah, so you noticed it too," Umeda nodded with a serious, saddened smile. "That boy...It had been almost four and a half years since he had been protecting our town and the entire world. There are so many people that admire him...and yet sometimes, we forget that Kamen Riders are people like us too, that they need support because they are like us, they have feelings, they have emotions, they have dreams, and the Kamen Riders have been fighting for that ever since they were reborn as warriors of the light. he least that we can do is provide support in our own way, especially now that many of the younger generations nowadays had become Kamen Riders in their own right."
For the past few hours, all he ever did was keep driving. Eventually, he would have to stop. It was about ten o'clock last he checked. He was simply watching from the street curve of a hill and overseeing the highly advanced buildings that were seen from afar. The view would have been much more preferable if it was nighttime when the lights were shining.
His expression was a serious and sober one. He was sitting on his motorbike contemplating about his own past that even eludes him in the most important parts. He understood the general gist of it now. He was someone who had the potential to seal Spirits away. To do that, he needed to date them in order to get close enough for him to do that. His general memories were hazy, but he can numbly feel the positive emotions that he had felt at the time.
And yet, he can also feel the deepest loss that had continued ever since he had regained at least a semblance of what he had before in a previous life. He felt that a part of him that had always been there was now making itself scream, that he had lost something very important. Family. From a previous life. Yes, that was what he considered these unknown girls from his memories, names that he could not just recall so easily, at least not without a triggering point. Take Kotori Itsuka for example. In his previous life, she wasn't his sister by blood. In this one, she definitely is related to him by blood. And he knows that these two are completely different people.
These girls could never be replaced. They are dead. Same as everyone else in the world that he used to live in. Now he was reborn here, starting over, carrying memories that he had yet to fully comprehend.
...If he were to be honest.
...He hated it.
...His world...gone...never to come back...
It was one of the reasons behind the tears that he would shed in secret most of the time. He knew that he can never go back home, that he would need to move on while everyone else had long passed away. It felt like...everything that he had fought for in that previous world...capturing Spirits in order to prevent more spacequakes, save the girls and the entire world...wasted...
A nudge was felt, bringing him out of his thoughts. Shidou would look knowingly at the sentient bike, knowing his feelings from the inside. Hiding things from his bike, which he learned a long time ago, would be useless in this case. The bike always knew how he felt and would be there for him always.
...But then...
"...!"
Shidou's eyes widened as he felt something faint. It was...a type of power that he never thought he would sense at the exact same moment. Yes, this was a very familiar type of power. The power of a Spirit. Two of them in fact. But that is impossible. There are no Spirits anymore, they are all extinct. But wait...something about this signature is odd. These two seem linked to him, and his heart was aching. He can almost hear the static that was now blanking his mind, making him grimace. He would try to shake it off by moving his head. Then he concentrated on the source of the signature.
"("It's coming from a few blocks away...")"
Whatever this was, he needed to drive quickly. He would put on his helmet, let go of the brakes and drive at full speed. He would swerve to the left and drive straight, then turn towards somewhere on an open alleyway between two suburban houses on the slope.
"...!"
He found someone. And...
"...Grrrh!"
His head was pounding. His heart was beating as if it couldn't believe what the eyes were seeing. There were two girls who had their backs turned for a moment before eventually noticing him and the aftersound of his bike as they turned around.
"Eh...?!" There was a young woman who muttered softly, quite a beautiful face, with light pink hair as part of it was tied up in a braid, and light brown eyes that look as if she could not believe what she is seeing the moment Shidou would take his helmet off to remove his face that was in shock. She was wearing...the Raizen High School Uniform consisting of a white long-sleeved shirt with a red ribbon tie on the center and a sweater underneath, a black blazer with the school emblem, a blue skirt with two black stripes near the bottom, white long socks, and brown shoes that handle her delicate feet.
"...Ah, papa!" And then, there was this innocent young girl that had long plum hair that reaches to her legs and a bright cheerful smile that melts even the coldest of hearts, wearing a white and blue dress, not hesitating for one bit even in spite of their situation.
It was like a slow motion experience to Shidou as he would move his legs out and see a running young girl calling him papa. Static fills his mind. And then, he would recall it. The name. An important one. An impossible one. As she reaches him with open arms, Shidou would make his arms go wide and lower himself in order to embrace the girl. He remembers her.
...And then.
He finally embraces her. The daughter that he had lost so long, long ago. His tears would open, leaking upon his cheeks. How...? How was she here...? And how was...Rinne here...? He thought all of these things. The woman who was the most important person to him and the daughter that they had created and loved together. All together. And he was crying.
"...Ahhhh...Ahhhhhhhhhhh...Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."
"...?! Papa...?"
Shidou Itsuka was embracing Rio Sonogami who would notice that her papa was crying so profusely and softly, little did she and her mother realize that to him, it had been so many years since he last saw them, and to see them here, alive and breathing, had threatened the man with tears that were shed for so very long ago.
"...Shidou," The now recognizable woman, Rinne Sonogami, would look at Shidou with an expression of concern as she immediately made her way towards him. She was worried as she can see his face, the one that was crying. "What's wrong? What's the matter?" She asked as she softly touched his cheeks.
Shidou only continued smiling and crying as he touched Rinne's cheek with his right hand in a gentle manner, making Rinne worry for him more, especially when she and Rio would get a good look at him. Eyes full of the deepest sorrow that was buried underneath.
Insert Song: End
Insert Song: Start
Kamen Rider Black Intro FULL + lyrics by Tetsuo Kurata
Unfortunately...
The family reunion would be interrupted.
Shidou Itsuka would widen his eyes as he look towards the right and would perfectly intercept with his right hand a sharply pointed golden powered spear that was aimed at Rinne Sonogami who would yelp in shock, widening her eyes as she would see...something that did not appear to be a normal human.
It was a humanoid creature that had what appeared to be dove-like golden armored wings on its back. He was wearing a gold helmet covering his entire face and gold armor that reminded one of a Roman centurion. Everything about it was just pure gold in appearance. And he was carrying a golden spear and shield.
"Who are you?!" Shidou Itsuka demanded while being utterly pissed off that someone actually tried to kill the woman he held dear. He was already making a defensive formation by bringing both Rinne and Rio to his back, with both hands stretched.
"The Century King Black Sun...correct?" The humanoid winged creature would mutter as he slightly tilted his spear, recognizing the foe that now stands before him and his mission. "Move aside...these two are an anathema to the timeline that needs to be eradicated."
"What?!" Shidou exclaimed out of anger.
"I will ask you again, Black Sun. Step aside or face divine judgment," The creature threatened.
"Like hell I will!" Shidou glances at both Rinne and Rio who were embracing each other, and who were looking at him with concerned and fearful expressions. He gave them a brief smile before his expression eventually turned serious the moment he would look at this unknown creature.
He does not know who or what this thing is...but he will not allow anyone to harm his family, not this time!
He would begin to raise his right hand upwards before twisting it slightly to the side. His left hand would be somewhere located on the side and he would begin to lower his right hand down to the center before swiping it to the right. Then he would raise his left hand and he would clench it along with his right fist that was in the right lower waist side as his body turned sideways.
"Hen...shin!"
And then, a bright light would come gushing forth, revealing what appeared to be a man in full-body armor, with a mixture of black and dark-green colors, and his helmet resembled a grasshopper with large red eyes.
And then, both Rinne Sonogami and Rio Sonogami would widen their eyes in surprise and awe as they suddenly felt a spike of power, one of hidden untapped potential, one that was powered as if by the very sun itself.
"I am the Child of the Sun," He declared as he raised his right hand. Then he would place his left arm to the right arm, forming a cross, before eventually raising his right arm to the left and then straightforwardly with his right index finger raised. Then he begins to raise his right arm back to the left and then downward to the right as if forming an X gesture, before raising his right arm in a circular gesture before his left fist was clenched, facing forward, and his right fist was clenched and place to the side of his right waist. "Kamen Rider Black RX!"
As of this point, Rinne Sonogami and Rio Sonogami would not know what to think of this situation. For Rinne, she was in shock the most but she was also concerned by what she is now seeing.
"And I...am a Lord of the Matthean Host," The winged humanoid creature declared as he would unleash his golden wings in glory. "Tales of your heroism are well known, Black Sun. It would be my honor to do battle with you."
And then, Rinne realizes that Shidou was about to fight this monster, much to her worry.
Insert Song: End
OP Song:
仮面ライダーBLACK RX (RIDER CHIPS Ver.) · RIDER CHIPS
New Characters:
Shidou Itsuka/Kamen Rider Black RX - VA: Nobunaga Shimazaki
Kohtaro Minami/Kamen Rider Black RX - A: Tetsuo Kurata
Rinne Sonogami - VA: Kana Hanazawa
Rio Sonogami - VA: Ayane Sakura
Kotori Itsuka (New World) - VA: Ayana Taketatsu
Haruko Itsuka (New World)