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"Everyone—!" Ace gasped, as he had to helplessly watch everything from afar and not be able to help.
Keiwa and Daichi were taken away—Neon, Michinaga and Win were each turned into random inanimate objects related to their respective rider forms; as both of his and Keiwa's sisters, Tsumuri and Sara were at a loss over their current situations. But at least their sisters were safe... right? But Keiwa—he should've also been there to help! He could see the preparation Kekera had made to punish Keiwa and take him down completely, and for a moment a flash of memory where Keiwa had gotten hurt pretty badly trying to fight alone flashed into his mind—
He could sense another presence nearby as Ace turned away from the outer scene that he had been watching over and turned his attention towards the man who had come to 'visit' him.
"Jitt?"
The man approached him slowly.
"One does not do with the creation powers as they liked without limits. You'll pay for possessing them with the erasure of your own will."
Ace stared up towards the game master wordlessly, as at another corner of his mind he could sense Keiwa in another location—about to face off against his former supporter as their battle was aired live towards the unsuspecting public. Even as he was facing off with Jitt by himself, Keiwa was also about to fight with Kekera... and Keiwa also had other odds stacked against him as there were also hostages set in place to put more pressure against him.
"Be as a soulless god, Ukiyo Ace!"
Ace screamed right away as the Jitt forced the process of turning him into a complete God of Creation, speeding up the rate of how fast parts of his body started to turn into stone. And at the same time, Ace could also feel Keiwa suffering in pain as well... as the other man tried to save the hostage from being attacked by hoards of Jyamato as well as from Kekera...
×××
"How can you still thank me, after everything I've done?"
"I made a promise to Ace... that I'd help make a world where everyone could be happy..."
He thought about the things that had happened the other day; how after recovering Sara they'd taken her to the hospital so that they could have Sara checked and treated for any other ailments. And while Sara was at the hospital, Keiwa took the chance to head back to the salon and inform everyone about Ace and his current situation. But just as he was about to explain to them further about what he knows at the moment—Keiwa found himself back at the Room of Creation.
"Ace, what—!"
Keiwa turned around to ask him what was wrong before noticing that both of Ace's hands had been turned into stone, both locked in a permanent fist. He could sense that the right hand was the price of Ace granting his wish to get Sara back safe and sound, but as for the other left hand—Keiwa frowned at him.
"—Ace! You shouldn't be using your powers too recklessly now!"
Ace just smiled at him without a care.
"I wanted to see you... and also to confirm if my suspicion was correct. So it's true that every time I used my powers now—"
"Idiot..."
Back then he was able to sense that Ace was slightly fearful and he could understand why. Anyone in their situation would have been afraid as well. But Ace was no longer fighting alone now—Ace had him and Michinaga, Neon, Tsumuri, Win... and he suppose now they also have Daichi and many other of their past comrades. So things should be all right now. It should be.
So he made a promise to Ace that he'll make it happen. That as much as Ace wanted to create a world where everyone could be happy and protect everyone's happiness unlike what the likes of DGP staff and those Bad End aficionados wanted—he'll also protect Ace and help him to achieve that kind of ideal world he wished for.
So a bit of suffering shouldn't hurt...
They barely planned it out between them; just that they'll trust each other to watch their own backs. Because knowing how much their opponent was bent on taking him down; Keiwa knew that Kekera would do anything to get his goal, he knew that Kekera wouldn't make it a fair fight. But it should be fine now... because he was no longer fighting alone. They were no longer fighting alone.
Keiwa struggled to catch his breath as he received several more barrages of attacks from Kekera and collapsed on the floor, his transformation undone. Kekera really rigged the game so badly... but he still needed to buy some more time for Daichi to figure out what to do. And he needed to figure out what Kekera—and those other people behind him—was planning because things can't just be this simple...
And then Kekera spoke again, and Keiwa realized what was actually going on...
"—you could always pray to God for their salvation... if needed..."
Cold dread washed over himself as Keiwa stared at the blank Desire Card in front of him. So this battle wasn't just a fight to humiliate and take him down...
...this fight was also their way to get him to cast the ultimate Bad End fate on Ace, by making him write down a wish that would seal Ace's fate forever...
×××
"Ty... coon—!" Ace gasped in pain as he watched Keiwa struggling from afar. He didn't even know if the pain in his body was his own or if it was actually the pain that Keiwa was feeling at the moment...
"We've reached the good part of the Bad End games. Quickly now—Tycoon needs a God to grant his wish!"
Ace felt something inside of him trying to tear himself apart again as he cried out in pain. He could even barely hear Kekera's voice taunting Keiwa to try to get Keiwa to submit and write down a wish. And Ace knew that as much as he didn't want to do it, he'll end up granting Keiwa's wish—any wish—as long as the suffering can end...
As long as he could stop Keiwa from suffering even longer...
"No... I'm done sacrificing other people's happiness for some selfish wish!"
He could hear Keiwa's voice shouting back in protest...
"I won't let you use me to hurt Ace any longer!"
He could hear Keiwa's thoughts inside his mind so clearly!
It was almost like he was at Keiwa's side at this very moment, he could hear Keiwa's voice stubbornly refusing to do what Kekera wanted him to do. And he almost could hear the small voice inside Keiwa's heart, as Keiwa also realized what the enemy had wanted him to do.
He could feel Keiwa hurting... as the other man continue to worry about the safety of the hostages. He could sense the pain Keiwa was feeling, as the other man worry about his safety back at the Room of Creation. Even from so far, Keiwa still wanted to protect him... and Ace felt that pain deeply.
Kekera continued to taunt Keiwa with the hostages' life as Keiwa kept resisting the temptation. The world had only so much happiness to go around... there's no such thing as a world where everyone could be happy...
"There will be a world like that... and it'll be without using THAT. We'll make it happen ourselves!"
"Don't sell us [Humans] short!"
Ace immediately felt a new spark of hope blooming inside his heart, as Keiwa got back on his feet—and the hostages were miraculously saved with Daichi's help. Keiwa's strong resolution could even reach out towards him, as Ace could feel a newfound strength gathering inside of him. He started to fight back against the barbs that continued to tighten themselves around his body...
"I'm not interested in becoming your tool—!" he cried out towards Jitt.
"It doesn't matter whether you're a Kamen Rider or not! We're going to protect this world!"
Keiwa was fighting with their everything right now alongside him. So he shouldn't be giving up on himself to keep up the fight. Ace gritted his teeth as he glared towards Jitt's direction, reminded of the other's words about the powers that he held...
Like Keiwa, he'll fight back to get the happiness that he wanted. Like Keiwa, he'll use every power that he could wield to make it happen. As the one who inherited his mother's powers of creation... and as a human.
"These powers of creation are Mine to wield!" he cried out as Ace tried to pull at the barbs holding him in place, even when it hurt him when he tried to fight it off.
"That's practically impossible—and you should realize it yourself!" snapped Jitt, refusing to back off.
"Watch me—!" Ace growled back as he continued to struggle, as he could see Keiwa's fight in his mind's eye, "Everyone... is doing everything they can do; to save the world with their own strengths, so I have to also do the same as well; with the powers that I have in me... to protect this world!"
Ace let out a scream as he tried to gather his strength to fight off his restraints and break out from the stony state that was trying to consume him. More barbs emerged to keep him tied up and Ace could feel his body almost completely turned to stone—but then he thought about Keiwa and how Keiwa was still fighting—and Ace summoned again all of his will and power, just like he always did in the past time and time again... and he pulled...
... and then he felt the barbs being torn apart... and the stony shell around him breaking and shattering around him.
And then he was free...
Ace stood up again as Jitt transformed into a new Kamen Rider. And he did the same by transforming into Geats IX. It's about time that he joined the main fight...
×××
Now that he broke out of his shackles and lost his God form, he could barely sense what was happening on Keiwa's side of the battle anymore. But that should be all right... because he knew that Keiwa would win. There was no way Kekera could get an upper hand over Keiwa, once Keiwa had made his resolve. So all that was left was for him to finish his own fight with Jitt.
And return to Keiwa's side.
So they fell back into the real world... which was probably somewhere near where Keiwa had been fighting Kekera. The new Kamen Rider was unlike the other DGP Kamen Riders that he had fought before; not quite like the fight strategy that he faced when he had been confronting Girori in Glare... or even matching the power that he used to face while fighting Gazer when either Niram or Suel were using that form. This new form—Regad—was very fast... almost as fast as his Boost MKII form.
He was barely able to keep up—well, it was expected that it would happen as it had been a while since he last fought—so he willed himself to calm down and he could hear the bell tolled, and he was able to get a hit on Regad. Regad summoned a Ninja buckle and used the ability against him, catching him off-guard as Jitt's fighting style was unlike the other opponent that he had fought before. But this was not his first fight with Jitt, so Ace could try to improvise—as much as he was kicked and fell and stumbled and parried, he didn't let his guard down. Though the fact that Regad could use Ninja had thrown him off and Ace lost his weapon—but at least now both of them could only fight hand-to-hand on equal ground...
"This world's destined for a Bad End, as long as our audience wishes for it..."
Jitt started to attack him again but Ace caught every hit before it reached him. Audience? , he pondered to himself. Was Jitt referring to the 'audience' watching this fight from the far future?
But was that the only 'audience' that they have right now?
"You're not the only one with an audience behind you—!"
He could no longer sense what was happening between Keiwa and Kekera—or even see the final battle result at the end of Keiwa's fight. But he could still feel it. He could feel the emotion that Keiwa was feeling at the moment, so he could tell that Keiwa was able to claim his hard-earned victory. And he could feel it as well, the energies that came from the people who have watched Keiwa's battle from the beginning to its end. They had been praying for Keiwa to win, even when they barely knew who Keiwa really was... never knowing the pain and suffering that Keiwa had endured all these times or even knowing how kind or selfless Keiwa had always been...
And unlike the audience rooting behind the cold-hearted Game Master, those audiences had wished for Keiwa to win his fight. They had wished for a [Happy End]. And those same well wishes had even reached him.
"...As long as our audience wishes for it, a Happy End is what awaits us!"
With that final hurrah, Ace gave out his last push to end his fight against Jitt for good.
×××
"Ace! How did you—"
Seeing the surprised look on Keiwa's face at seeing him standing in front of him and back to normal was enough to make him feel better. It was worth it. Even if he could only receive this sight as a price after every other battle that he has to face afterwards, he wouldn't mind it at all...
"I was set free, thanks to you and everyone's help," said Ace as he gazed at Keiwa fondly.
Keiwa gave him an odd look as he shook his head barely. "But I didn't remember doing anything—?"
Ace smiled, as he spoke gently. "Don't sell yourself too short, Tycoon." But of course, it was very Keiwa-like for him to not realise how much his very presence by their side had given everyone a lot of strength. How comforting it had felt, whenever Keiwa was around with them. With him...
"You're doing everything in your power to bring true peace to this world—"
"Ace..." cried out Keiwa softly... almost sounding like a whine by now. "Can you put me down finally? I should be able to walk the rest of the way now, you know? I've rested enough—"
Ace snorted to himself, as he continued to carry Keiwa on his back as they headed onwards through the corridor towards the Desire Lounge.
"It's fine... you earned this, after all. It really felt like our Happy End was finally close at hand."
Keiwa laughed right away at that statement, before tightening his hold on Ace's neck. "There you go again, saying all these sweet words to me."
Ace immediately turned his head towards Keiwa before kissing him on the cheek.
"Because it's true," he said sweetly, as Keiwa was still left stunned after being kissed randomly.
"Thanks to you, a Happy End didn't feel like a far-off dream. Because of you, I was able to receive a Happy End as well."
Keiwa smiled back at Ace.
"So now we only have this last fight left... and then it's over."
Ace nodded.
"Yeah. And then it'll be over, happily."