Chapter Text
Because of the sudden fame that the Ishikami Detective Agency had gained, it always felt like something was happening between those walls. Even the calmest of moments could be turned into a quest for the truth.
Kenkou Jan had been walking in circles on top of the fluffy rug of her office for minutes now, checking some of the documents she wrote that detailed her most recent case. She wore a single leather glove on her right hand, which she used to flip through each page.
Across from her was Usagi Maho, her assistant. She had applied for the job some time after hearing the news about the agency. Since then, the detective had taken a mentor, almost mother-like, role for the younger woman. She was sitting on one of the couches in the office, visiting some of the websites and files they had stored on her computer about their investigation.
The assistant let out a long sigh, trying to break up the tense, focused silence that overwhelmed the room. “That reporter came rushing in… The case must be quite important if even the press is getting desperate to cover it.”
“I wouldn’t use the word desperate to describe him, it’s almost like he was having fun with this case” Kenkou responded. “It feels like there is something else going on, but I can’t put my finger on it just yet…”
“Do you think an Enigma might be involved in this one too?”
“They are officially called unidentified life forms, Maho. Remember that.”
“Oh, right. Excuse me… But, since they appeared, there is always something going on with them. Messing around with our evidence… Even being the actual culprits.”
Usagi’s speech began getting faster. She was getting excited about this, the young woman had been keeping track of all the Enigma attacks up until now for her own personal investigation.
“It wouldn’t surprise me, but we can’t be certain about it just yet. Because if they are around, then the Kamen Rider is gonna appear and make everything harder.” Kenkou answered, almost spatting out the name of the masked hero.
“You really don’t like that guy, huh? At least they are stopping them from doing more harm.”
“But it leaves a lot of our cases without a culprit, our clients end up leaving without a conclusion. It’s almost like they are working to clean everything up for them.”
“I am sure they don’t mean much harm.” The assistant tried her best to clear up the name of the Kamen Riders to her superior, but Kenkou just couldn’t let go of her suspicions.
“Doesn’t it get you excited, though? It means there is a huge mystery waiting to be discovered out there! And we just gotta find it!” Usagi’s enthusiasm reached another peak, her eyes almost sparkled with joy. “C’mon! I am sure you felt like that at least once before, right?”
The usually serious and stoic detective just let out a short chuckle. “Well, I’d be lying if I claimed the opposite. But it’s best to keep your emotions in check, Maho. It could make the investigation harder for you in the long run.”
“You are right, you are right. I am sorry.” Usagi finished with an obedient tone, letting out a short giggle right after. She shook her head and her hands, trying to brush away all that excitement so she could focus back on her work. Kenkou couldn’t help but grin at her mannerisms.
“Have you discovered anything about that object we found?”
Before she could get a proper answer to her question, she heard a knock on the front door. Usagi stood up to let the person waiting outside in, raising her hand to let her superior know that she could continue her work in the meantime.
Kenkou placed her fist up against her forehead and sat down on top of her desk, laying all the papers to the side as she tried to think of a new idea. Anyone that they could interrogate, any place they could visit to gather more evidence, any documents they could read through.
“Excuse me if I interrupted.” The new visitor said, holding his hat close to his chest while Usagi guided him into the room. “My name is Douan Mondo. I heard that your agency started an investigation related to my client’s case…” He explained.
While her assistant had not recognized this man before, Kenkou had seen him a few times on television, either on quiz shows or after a trial, talking to the press. Wherever he was, questions always followed him.
“It’s quite rude to come in unannounced. Surely, you could have made a call beforehand.” The stern woman scolded him. Mondo could feel a chill run down his spine.
“I-I am deeply sorry.” He responded as politely as he could. “Things have been… Fast today.”
“Did the reporter tell you about it on his way out?” The younger woman asked.
The lawyer raised his guard at the question, afraid of whatever Seijirou might have said about him to the investigators. A chill went down his spine to the idea that the little brat might have convinced them to keep him in the dark about the case. “N-No, a friend of mine gave me the details about it.”
“If I may ask, what makes this case so important?” The main detective asked, her tone serious and intimidating. “I don’t mean to offend you in any way, but it seems the media suddenly caught an eye to this case in particular.” The sudden inquiry still left Mondo rather shocked at how commanding she sounded, all while Usagi looked completely unphased by her stern attitude.
“W-Well…” Mondo cleared his throat, trying to keep his composure. “If that little twerp told you anything about the case, then you have heard that Nakai Koumi was attacked by an unidentified life form.”
Usagi immediately looked at her superior. Her eyes sparkled with joy and cockiness, almost as if trying to say, “I told you!” with her enthusiastic gestures. Kenkou just responded with a soft smile and a nod.
“My partner had guessed so, but we didn’t have any confirmation up until now.” The detective added. “If knowing this will help you with the trial, then I see no reason not to tell you what we found.”
Kenkou gestured to the two to follow her over to her desk. She laid the documents that Usagi and her had written in front of them, all of which detailed the information they found. “The family of Yodogawa Suzumi had asked us to investigate privately while the trial continued.”
“Why did they do that?” Mondo asked before the detective raised a specific piece of paper from the group, leaning it close to his face. She had already memorized those pages, she didn’t even have to read the title to recognize its contents. The lawyer quickly went through all the notes, and Kenkou explained her findings at the same time.
“According to them, it just didn’t make sense that Nakai Koumi would have done such a thing to Ms. Yodogawa. They kept mentioning how the two of them looked happy together, like their relationship was an eternal honeymoon.” The older woman explained, while Mondo kept reading all transcriptions of the interviews with the victim’s close family, especially her parents. “The only thing that they had noticed recently was that her fiancé looked more nervous than usual. He just kept brushing off their concerns, saying that he was going through some financial troubles. A few months after that behavior began, the frustrated murder against Yodogawa Suzumi happened.”
“No loud discussions, no frustrated tension, no awkward behavior towards the parents. Nothing, like they were madly in love with each other. Strange, right?” Usagi added to the conversation.
Even Mondo thought that it was strange. Their relationship suddenly reached a point where Yodogawa was hospitalized and Nakai was the main suspect of her frustrated murder.
“My original theory said that my client was framed for the crime, and now they are trying to protect the real culprit because of their threats.” Mondo continued. “This could be a sign that someone had intervened.”
“While that is a good conclusion, there is just no information about who this real culprit might be to actually prove that.” Kenkou responded in a rather frustrated tone. It’s like she could make out the truth, but there was something blocking her way there. She was so close yet so far. Usagi circled the desk while Mondo examined everything he could, searching for something within the drawers of the wooden furniture.
“We also found this while investigating the crime scene. We don’t know how it was used or how it can be used, but it was an interesting find.” She pulled out a small transparent plastic bag with a small item inside.
To the investigators, that was just a strange device, but not to Kamen Rider Quiz. It was the exact same button that Seijirou had used to summon his weapons during the fight against the Enigma, but the drawing of the gauntlets was replaced with a cane that resembled a large question mark.
“H-Huh, that is weird…” That was all that Mondo could comment on before glancing back down to all the paper in front of him. Mondo held back making a physical reaction to not draw any attention to his secret identity.
There was plenty of information he already knew from the trial, but the investigators managed to get their hands on it through their own means. “This… It really shows just how skilled you are. All that praise from your clients is justified.”
“It is our duty to help others see the truth.” Kenkou explained. She didn’t really care for the fame she had gathered from the media, what mattered was that all of her clients left through that door with more knowledge about the world that surrounds them. “People deserve to know what is really happening, how their world truly behaves. Only then can they live in peace.”
That was the philosophy that pushed her forward to keep working as a detective. She clenched her gloved hand into a fist, her own words gave her determination to keep going.
“What about you, Mr. Douan? Surely there must be a reason why you came all this way just to know more about the case.” The main investigator finished, and Mondo went completely silent.
His mind tried to search for an answer, but every word of encouragement was met with more questions and more doubts. The only words he could find among the confusion were a timid, quiet whisper. “Is… Is there?” A whisper that barely made it past his lips.
“I am sorry to interrupt but I really wanted to ask you something…” Usagi interrupted them, standing right in between the two while holding a small notebook in her hand. “Do you know anything about the Enigma that attacked your client? Where did he appear or how did he look?”
Mondo snapped back to reality, relieved that someone pulled him out of the spiral of thoughts he was trapped in.
“He was quite different from what I had seen in the news before. I think I saw a glimpse of them, but this one was a lot larger and more intimidating than the others, and they were covered from head to all kinds of shields and armor.” Mondo tried his best to chew on his words, making sure to not mention that he met that monster as a Kamen Rider or that he ever got close to them. “And I can’t remember the exact name of the place right now, but they were close to a forest near the park.”
Those words were exactly what Kenkou and Usagi needed to get back on track with their investigation. The assistant reached for her computer and the two women immediately began searching for a map of the area. Usually, the Enigma were culprits or manipulated some sort of crime scene nearby, so if Koumi Nakai was attacked by one of them, the location must tell them something.
“That forest is…” Usagi said in shock while staring at the screen but couldn’t bring herself to finish.
“A few streets away from the hospital Yodogawa is in.” Kenkou finished the sentence for her and stood back up. Now the detective finally had that little something that she was missing in the testimony of Mondo Douan. “Maho, what was the description of the unidentified life form seen near Nakai?”
Mondo was completely lost as the two investigators completely ignored his presence to get back to work, a surge of determination emanating from both. It was astonishing how focused they looked. It was like Kenkou was running at full speed and Usagi was barely able to keep up her pace, running right behind her.
In just a couple of seconds, the two of them had already figured out the next course of action, who they will interrogate, which places they would visit, all to fulfill the request from Suzumi Yodogawa’s family to find if their daughter’s fiancé was truly the culprit.
However, that question from the stern woman caught him off guard. Surely, they couldn’t have access to the same recordings from the detention center that Taizou had. “Wait, you said another Enigma was seen near my client?”
Usagi was the one to respond. “Yes! After the night of the murder, there were plenty of posts about an Enigma that appeared on the same places that Nakai had visited.” She opened a few web pages and turned the computer around to show the lawyer.
The images were blurry, and something always got in the way, but Mondo knew that wasn’t the same monster that attacked the defendant today. It was just as intimidating as the Shield Enigma, but there was something coiled around its body that led up to its shoulder and its head that replaced all the silver armor.
While the two investigators settled on what to do next and tried figuring out the full picture, Mondo was petrified as all the pieces began connecting. His mind began racing with everything gathered so far.
If there was a monster near Koumi Nakai after the crime, then the mysterious Enigma couldn’t be the real culprit if there is no proof of their involvement before. The defendant looked so hopeless, like he had given up on his own innocence, but he still wanted to see his beloved one last time before going back to jail. At the same time, the Shield Enigma took a specific route that led back to the hospital Suzumi Yodogawa was in. Then, the main suspect woke up right as the kidnapping monster was defeated and he also clutched something between his hands. Could it be possible that…?
“Wait a minute, that twerp! Do you know where he was heading to?” Mondo asked, his eyes widening after realizing exactly what led to the attack of the unidentified life form. From the look in the investigator’s faces, they were both seconds away from coming to that same conclusion before he interrupted them.
“He said he was heading to Mr. Nakai’s home to ask some more questions…” Usagi responded with a concerned tone.
“I have to go, right now! Thank you for everything, by the way! You helped a lot, bye!” The lawyer immediately began heading out of the door, saying his goodbyes without even looking back at the two women.
If what he thought was correct, then he needed to head out of there fast. Mondo slammed the door shut before getting on his motorcycle, the loud roar of the engine could be heard from within the office.
“Wait, Mr. Douan! I needed to ask you more about… Wait, you too?!” Usagi looked to the side and saw her superior grabbing a few pens and a notebook before putting them in her pocket. She must have realized something that the assistant hadn’t figured out yet.
“We must go too! This is our chance to find out more about the case! Let’s get going, Maho!” Kenkou grabbed her car keys and vanished behind the door.
The younger woman was completely lost after so many things had happened in just a few minutes. Usagi stood up from her seat and dashed back and forth, grabbing the recorder and her camera, still trying to process it all. The last item she grabbed before heading out and closing the Agency was that little plastic bag with the strange device inside.
---
Seijirou had arrived just in time at the scene, and his conclusion seemed correct. The Shield Enigma walked a few streets away from the main culprit’s home, with Koumi Nakai being held in their arms. It appeared that the monster had broken in just to kidnap him again, but Connect was not going to allow them to get away with it in their second attempt.
The knight-like apparition stopped in their tracks, recognizing the reporter and how much of a threat he was to them. Carefully, they left Mr. Douan’s client on the side to not hurt him in the middle of the battle.
“I don’t know what you want, but it is my duty as a journalist to let people know the truth. People deserve to know the misery around them. And If I have to stomp all over you, so be it… ” Seijirou exclaimed, his eyes oozing with focus and determination, all while holding the piece of ripped up paper in his hand.
A familiar gleam came out from the item, and from the light, his belt manifested around his waist. It was waiting for Seijirou’s input with a jingle.
“Henshin!” Seijirou slammed the key into place. The young reporter dashed forward, noughts and crosses gathering around his body as they formed his armor.
“Think! Sync! Link! Connect!” The belt announced, and before he reached his enemy, Seijirou inserted the button in place and pressed it with the palm of his hand. “Set! Connection Bomber!”
The Shield Enigma held up their guard for the upcoming attack, only to be received with a barrage of punches from Kamen Rider Connect. His large gauntlets kept flying back and forth, delivering strike after strike against the metal discs protecting their body.
His movements were like a blur, and the monster couldn’t keep blocking forever, as their overwhelming bombardment of punches managed to slip through their defense. This technique would have been too much for a regular Enigma, especially with his 3-hit combo attack. But with all strengths on the opposing side, he just had to make up for it with speed.
His fist smashed up against his torso, his face, his shoulder, his leg, before winding back and delivering one last powerful hit that pushed the monster backwards.
“And there’s a lot more where that came from…” Seijirou said cockily, but that tone didn’t last long.
He could hear footsteps making their way towards the two, getting louder and louder each second. Both the Kamen Rider and the Enigma had stopped their battle as the mysterious figure appeared on the battlefield.
It was another monster, tall and intimidating. Vines covered in thorns were wrapped all around its body, leaving room for its eyes to see through all of the foliage. The plants led up to its shoulder and to the top of its head, crowning each of those parts with a blooming, beautiful red rose. The leaves grew in just the right places, like its shoulder and forearms. Its whole body look like it was covered in armor forged by mother nature herself. Compared to his opponent, its entire body released malice and horrible intentions. The Rose Enigma had entered the scene.
“All they want is to mutter a few words to one person, and you decide to stop them from fulfilling their desire.” The plant-like monster said, referring to the Shield Enigma standing right behind it. “You will not get in the way of their purpose, Kamen Rider…”
“If I have to stomp all over you too, then bring it!” Seijirou tried to not get intimidated by the new enemy. He clenched his fists and got into a fighting stance, preparing himself for whatever attack the Rose Enigma had in store for him.
The new monster reached its left hand forward. From its palm came out a long, thorn covered vine. The plant moved like a whip, swinging towards Seijirou from all angles.
He tried to block the strikes, and even attempted to grab the plant to rip it off of the Rose Enigma’s body, but its movement was fast and erratic, and he quickly got overwhelmed by the long-ranged attack.
It pulled its whip back and dashed forward, hitting the Kamen Rider with a powerful palm strike that sent him flying into the air. Connect landed back on the floor, and the vine wrapped itself into a ball, its thorns protruding outwards. The Rose Enigma threw the spiky projectile at the young reporter. He managed to roll out of the way before it could hit him.
Seijirou stood back up and ran towards his opponent, determined to land at least one hit. The Rose Enigma crouched down and slammed his right hand on the pavement, creating a few cracks on the ground. Plants began growing out of them, shooting upwards to try and grab him.
Connect hopped from side to side, dodging all of the sudden attacks. He jumped high in the air at the last second and pulled back his hand, ready to smash down on the monster with his gauntlet.
It let out a soft chuckle, and a metallic disc was sent flying towards him, shooting him back to the floor towards the spikes. Just as he landed back, the ropes grabbed him by his torso, throwing him up again and slamming him back down, breaking the concrete underneath him.
Connect was being completely overwhelmed with the entrance of the new opponent in the battlefield. He was growing desperate, but used some of the strength he had left to stand back up.
The plant monster squeezed its fist tight and held it up close to its ear, a cloud of darkness began gathering around his hand before he swung it. All that energy released in a single motion, creating a wall of fluttering rose petals that shot towards the Kamen Rider in a barrage. Each little petal was extremely sharp, making cuts all over Seijirou’s body even with his armor protecting him.
The journalist yelled out in immense pain before collapsing onto the floor, barely able to keep his transformation together through sheer force of will. But that wasn’t enough when he couldn’t move a single muscle without his body screaming in agony.
Seijirou heard those same ominous footsteps from before getting closer and closer towards him. He closed his eyes tightly, preparing himself for the finishing blow of the Rose Enigma. Only a miracle could save him now.
“Henshin!”
---
“Fashion! Passion! Question! Quiz!”
Kamen Rider Quiz jumped over Connect’s body and delivered a powerful drop kick to the Rose Enigma, pushing him away from the collapsed hero on the floor.
As quickly as he fell onto the floor, he stared at the two monsters in front of him. Even if there was a brand new, powerful enemy, his eyes were completely set on the Shield Enigma.
“Heh, why did you arrive? I was handling them perfectly fine…” Seijirou commented before trying to pick himself up from the floor.
“Yeah, right…” Mondo responded with a sarcastic tone.
Just at that moment, a car pulled up behind them and from within came out the investigators, Kenkou Jan and Usagi Maho. The two of them observed the scene from a safe distance, all while the main detective looked at the masked heroes with contempt.
“Saving the world and obtaining the correct answer… Kamen Rider Quiz!” He declared before striking his signature pose.
While the Rose Enigma hadn’t encountered him before, it could already feel its blood boiling at the sight of him.
“You meddling fool! I thought you had vanished!” The monster spat out.
Mondo just raised his index finger, gesturing to him to stop talking. “Right now, you are not the person I have to stop…”
He turned over towards the knight-like apparition. “First question! The identity of the Shield Enigma is none other than Nakai Koumi. Correct or incorrect?”
Everyone in the scene looked in shock and confusion at Quiz after making such a bold declaration.
“The answer is… Correct.” He said, before red and blue lighting crashed down onto the Shield Enigma, overwhelming him with a sudden electric attack. His powers hadn’t deteriorated, it’s just that Mondo needed to ask personal questions to pierce through those large shields all over his body.
The Rose Enigma turned towards the other monster as they received their punishment for not giving an answer to his question. Hatred to the bi-colored Kamen Rider oozed from its eyes before it lunged forward, preparing his whip for another barrage of attacks. Mondo returned the assault by dashing towards him and clashing with the monster, grabbing its arm just as it was about to swing towards him.
“Second question! You are immune to my question powers. Correct or incorrect?” Quiz pulled back from his opponent before kicking it on the ribs. “The answer is… Incorrect!”
Before the Rose Enigma could react, he was stunned by the lightning strike. While it was too busy getting shocked, Mondo got close and delivered a powerful right hook, pushing the monster out of the way before focusing on the Shield Enigma, or rather, Koumi Nakai.
The knight-like monster tried to defend themselves by launching its shields towards the Kamen Rider, but Mondo had already gotten quite used to their attack patterns.
“Third question! You were trying to reach Yodogawa Suzumi to apologize for breaking her trust! Correct or incorrect?” He jumped before kicking his leg forward, deflecting an incoming disc away from him.
“The answer is… Correct!” The Shield Enigma looked up to block the lightning falling on him, but the bolt was powerful enough to pierce through the barrier on his left arm.
“Why you…” The Rose Enigma looked over to the clash, and prepared their whip to attack him while he was too focused on the other enemy. He moved his arm backwards before swinging forward, the sound of the vines and thorns cutting through the air rippled around the area.
“Behind you!” Seijirou yelled out to alert the hero, and the lawyer reacted by dodging to the side at the right moment. One of the flying discs clashed against the whip, the impact was enough to shatter the metallic plate, leaving the monster with only three shields.
“Quiz! Here!” Usagi reached inside the car and pulled out the bag of plastic. Before Kenkou could question what she was doing or even scold her for what she was about to do, the assistant threw the item towards the red and blue Rider.
Mondo dashed towards it, running past the plant-like monster as he tried to capture him with his whip. The hero slid under the attack while reaching out to grab the item.
“Thank you! This will come in handy…” Quiz stood back on his feet. He inserted the button on the right slot of his belt.
“Set!” The belt announced. He carefully pressed down on the item with his index and middle finger.
“Question Cane!” The device proudly declared. Mondo reached his right arm out to the side and bright metallic pieces materialized around him, circling his body until they found the right position. They all came together and slammed into place on his arm, granting a strong looking armor from it as a cane materialized on his palm.
The main body of his new weapon was jet black, but the very tip of it was crowned by a question mark decorated with his signature colors and an orange outline.
The Rose Enigma immediately responded to this with another attack of its whip. This time, it was going to use that same long-range attack that it used to overwhelm Kamen Rider Connect. But Mondo effortlessly countered this move by hooking the question mark around the vine, deflecting the attack as the thorny rope tensed up.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Seijirou didn’t have enough energy to keep fighting, but he had the willpower to deliver one final blow to go out in a blaze of glory.
With his new strength, Mondo began to pull on the whip, using it to get closer and closer to his enemy on the other side.
The Rose Enigma stomped the floor, creating more vines that grew out from the concrete and shot upwards. Quiz jumped high to dodge the incoming spikes, swinging the cane high in the air before coming back down with a powerful, charged slash that left behind a bright orange trail.
With all the energy and momentum behind it, the attack was enough to push the monster a few steps back. It threw the whip to the side before using its fists to fight with the Kamen Rider at close range.
For every punch it threw, Mondo countered it by blocking with the main rod of the cane and retaliating with an orange colored slash. Each of their attacks forced the Rose Enigma to take one step backwards, unknowingly getting it closer and closer to the second Rider.
The intimidating plant monster drew their hand back to create another ball of thorns to throw at their enemy. The lawyer leaned to the side, as it flew mere inches away from his face. He took the opportunity to spin in place and delivered one final slice with their weapon, using the momentum and energy to push him a few steps back.
“Connect, now!” Mondo yelled.
“Final Connection Flash!”
The reporter got into another stance, preparing himself as the monster that defeated him was set in the perfect spot. He wound up their left fist, gathering bright colored energy around the knuckle of the gauntlet.
The Rose Enigma looked over its shoulder to see the attack was already charged, barely giving it time to turn around and react. Seijirou threw a powerful uppercut, launching the Enigma and the Kamen Rider off the ground with a fiery explosion.
First, the knuckle struck it right in the guts. Second, his fist reached further up to hit its chin. And third, his elbow hit him a final time on the face, activating Connect’s three hit combo ability to finish it off with a second flashy burst.
Mondo still needed to stop Koumi Nakai and their monster form. He turned around, slowly walking towards him. “Fourth question! That Enigma granted you the power to transform into the monster you are now. Correct or incorrect?”
The Shield Enigma tried to answer, but it was too late to realize that all that armor and his monstrous new figure didn’t allow him to say a single word. So, Mondo just continued. “The answer is… Correct!” Another lightning bolt crashed down onto their body, this time aiming towards one of the shields defending them and shattering it into pieces.
“Fifth question! You were framed for the crime of frustrated murder against your fiancé. Correct or Incorrect?” The monster reached its left arm to the sky in a feeble attempt to block the next electric attack. “The answer is… Correct!” The thunder attack crashed down and destroyed the shield, leaving him with only one piece of armor covering his body.
“Final question! After this, you will recover your hope and desire to continue living alongside Yodogawa Suzumi! To leave all of these problems behind and move on towards a happy life! Correct or incorrect?” Mondo Douan slammed his fist down onto the button on the right side of his belt. The device responded with an enthusiastic jingle and a powerful charge-up sound as it prepared the finishing blow.
The Kamen Rider swung his cane forward, and from the tip came out various question marks made of energy. All of them began hooking around Koumi Nakai’s monster body, keeping them completely still on that spot.
The masked hero reached with his left hand towards the key on his belt and pulled it out. The plate changed its shape to an exclamation point before he inserted it back in.
“Final Quiz Flash!” The belt announced one last time.
“The answer is…!” Mondo jumped into the air, and the world around the Shield Enigma suddenly turned to complete darkness. Suddenly, a spotlight shone down on his body and two large screens appeared in the sky, presenting a large blue cross and a red circle in them. They were now stuck in a makeshift quiz game show.
The lights began flipping between the two symbols, raising suspense and anticipation of what was coming up. The correct answer panel shattered as Kamen Rider Quiz pierced through with his foot.
“Question Kick!” Mondo yelled out, spinning in the air before delivering one final mighty attack. The impact was enough to cause a huge burst of energy, a large exclamation point projected from the flames. The hero landed safely on the floor, a few steps away from his client’s unconcious body.
“Correct.” The Shield Enigma had finally been defeated, and the defendant came to his senses.
---
As soon as the finisher landed on the Shield Enigma, Koumi Nakai felt his consciousness being forcefully pulled away from the monster and onto his human body. The young, frail man sat up and looked back at the Kamen Rider that had put a stop to his rampage.
Despite the two battles they had, the armored hero approached him carefully and slowly, all while gesturing with his hands for him to be calm, their battle had ended and there was no need for panic.
The defendant looked down at his hands, seeing a small jigsaw puzzle piece, the same item that had granted him the power to become that knight-like monster. His eyes shifted from the small item to the helmet of the hero standing right in front of him.
Nakai knew that there was nothing but concern and care behind those question marks that resembled eyes. After all, he knew that Mondo Douan was under all that armor.
The defense attorney didn’t say a word, trying to comfort him with his gestures, crouching down to be at his level. Koumi let out a long sigh before deciding to explain exactly what happened.
“You got everything right… After finding out what happened with Suzumi, I was desperate to see her one more time… I wanted to see how she was doing with her injuries, but due to her condition and how things developed, I just couldn’t. I had lost hope, I was the main suspect for trying to end the life of my partner… My lawyer told me that he could prove my innocence, I just couldn’t believe it… It was much easier to accept a world where I was the culprit than find a way out of the situation.”
“And that’s when the Enigma appeared.” Quiz added with a soft and comforting tone, referring to the monster covered in plants and roses.
“They promised me that they could give me the power to destroy all the barriers in my way and form a path to Suzumi. Just so I could say sorry one last time before leaving her life.” He looked down again at the jigsaw puzzle piece, even when he thought he had abandoned it all, he still clung to one desperate final wish. There was still a glimmer of hope inside of him.
“Despite claiming to have given up on everything, you still desired to give that past life a proper conclusion. But your story has not reached its end yet.” Mondo continued. “With everything that happened today, there is a greater chance of proving your innocence. There is a chance you can still go back to the happy life you had… Ms. Yodogawa’s condition has been getting better, and there is still a chance you can go back to her after all that pressure is lifted off of your shoulders.”
Nakai just nodded in agreement, understanding exactly what the lawyer had been trying to say to him after all this time, why he looked so determined to prove he was innocent despite choosing the easy way out of the situation.
Quiz extended his hand out, helping his client get back up on their feet. The young man grabbed on to it and stood up, and his free hand let go of the item granted to him by the intimidating monster. The two of them began walking away from the scene.
The two investigators quickly dashed towards him, carefully holding Koumi Nakai towards the car to lead the young man back to safety.
Just as the engine started, a cloud of darkness swiftly flew over them and towards the puzzle piece that the defendant left on the ground. Once the shadows cleared, they revealed the Rose Enigma holding onto the item, which was now letting out a dim yet sinister light from its borders.
“Your intermission proved to be more useful than anticipated.” Despite its efforts to stop the two heroes, the monster had fulfilled its objective to activate the object with energy from the battle. “Remember this, Kamen Riders. We will meet again… And next time, it won’t be so easy.”
The Rose Enigma gazed at the masked Riders with hatred and malicing oozing from its eyes. Seijirou answered with a challenging look while holding onto his injured arm, doing the best to endure all his pain. Mondo returned that glare with the same intensity as the monster. The lawyer could see in it a villain that searched to use the despair of the innocent to fulfill its own purpose.
The Enigmas had always used lies and deception to manipulate their victims, but he had never seen them do it from such a close distance. The Rose Enigma and Quiz gazed at each other for what seemed to be hours before the monster vanished in a cloud of darkness, fleeting the scene.
The Kamen Riders looked at one another, and while they didn’t say a single word to each other, Connect let out an exhausted yet playful chuckle before walking away. The investigators drove away with Koumi Nakai resting on the backseat. Mondo jumped onto his motorcycle and went back home. After all, he needed to prepare for the upcoming trial.
---
After bringing Koumi Nakai back to the safety of his home, Kenkou and Usagi headed back to the Agency to gather their things and close for the day. They could take care of their other work once they made it back home and got their well-deserved rest after all the excitement and adrenaline of the day.
The two of them had the duty of revealing the truth, to let the people that walked through those doors live in peace with information that only they could uncover. Kenkou, however, felt a hint of spite bubble up within her. The Kamen Riders she had doubted so much up until now had actually helped her case.
While Usagi tried to take out all the trash and crumpled up paper from within the vehicle, Kenkou had taken the keys of the building and walked over to the door. Just as she had pushed the object into the lock with her right hand, the leather glove over it flashed with a familiar bright gleam. As the light disappeared, a mechanical belt appeared around the detective’s waist and a loud tone escaped the device, like the buzzer of a game letting you know your answer was correct.
---
“Man, couldn’t it hold back a little bit?! I still have work to do here…”
Immediately after abandoning the scene, Seijirou headed back to his apartment to write his new article. He had to come up with an excuse for not showing up to his job to report all his findings. The journalist just said that he got in a fight for asking too much about the latest scoop.
He opened his computer and began typing everything new about the case of Koumi Nakai, especially about the existence of the Rose Enigma pulling the strings of latest monster attacks.
He probably should have mentioned that the defendant was the same apparition that had tried to kidnap him, but he just couldn’t be that heartless to pin the man against the ropes yet again.
He might see a lot of value in the misery of others, but only because he wanted people to know exactly what was happening around them, even if the truth was too soul-crushing and unbearable. Only with that knowledge can people make the right decisions and strive for peace. That was his duty as a journalist, and if Seijirou had to become the enemy of everyone in the process, then so be it.
---
The dark mist managed to slip right through the gap of the window, entering the quiet and desolate office. Once he knew everything was safe, the Rose Enigma lifted his jigsaw puzzle piece and pressed the center of the item. All the malicious energy around his body had dispersed to the dead plants and flowers that decorated the room, bringing all of them back to life as Taizou Bokuzen transformed back to his original human body.
He let out a long, frustrated, and stressed sigh as he flipped the switch on the side of the door, turning the lights of the room back on. While the Shield Enigma had been defeated, he had discovered a new method of fulfilling his duty of recharging all the puzzle pieces that the monsters used.
He was greeted by the sight of an Enigma combatman standing in the corner of the room. The weak monster took a few steps forward, presenting an old rotary dial telephone in its hands. As soon as the prosecutor laid his eyes on the ancient machine, it began ringing loudly. He had no choice but to answer the call.
“So… How did it go?” The voice on the other side of the phone asked.
It was deep, almost inhumanly so, but Taizou knew who it belonged to, yet he had never seen them in person. Nobody had.
The voice on the other side gave him the ability to turn into an Enigma. The voice on the other side promised him a brand-new purpose to fight for, in exchange for his servitude. The voice on the other side belonged to the biggest, most mysterious Enigma of them all.
---
Mondo had discussed with the authorities about the possibility that Koumi Nakai could visit Suzumi Yodogawa back at the hospital for one last time. After many insistent requests and negotiations, he was granted permission.
The lawyer looked from outside of the patient room, the young woman had just woken up and was greeted by her partner kneeling right beside her bed, holding tightly onto her hand. His client began choking on his words as he saw her open her eyes, all while she tried to find a way to calm him down. The defense attorney grinned softly as his client began repeating the word “Sorry” to his fiancé, unable to explain everything that had happened coherently.
After giving a proper ending to his mother’s story, Mondo was left without a purpose to keep fighting as Kamen Rider Quiz. But maybe that was a good thing. By helping the innocent fulfill their purpose and stopping the Enigmas from taking advantage of them in their darkest hour, he could end up finding a reason to continue his duties as a hero.
After all, Kamen Rider will always be there to stand against evil for the sake of all of humanity.