hophophopper. Entries tagged with there will be more

Using more of a cut than normal for this!

Steamliner is out for a run.

It's nighttime, which in this prefecture of Japan makes for an easier time; it doesn't want to provoke even more need for mindwipes.

(It dislikes them, whether they are truly necessary or not. Hopper1 hates them, though, and it also respects that.)

Keeping the lights on, because there is such a thing as acting too suspicious, it picks up on not so much as a whistle as a scrunch.

Obviously, this is Worth Worrying About. What if something's blocking the track? It can already see smoke...

Diverting from the rails (because being a Chemy is rather useful for doing things trains aren't supposed to be able to do) and running parallel, it piles on the speed to scout out what's wrong.

What it finds is... a wreck. Not on the rails, but beside them, like how it is now.

And there's a lingering distortion in the air, too low to be seen from much further away.

Braking hard, Steamliner takes in the sight: another train, like itself. Black metal, though it's too dark to see exactly how many wheels-

And a name, painted in shining gold on the side. Voidtrecker Express.

(Oh no. It knows that name. It has read the story about this train- putting aside that it keeps what it prefers to read on the Internet mostly to itself, none of the other Chemies would believe this-

But if the Voidtrecker Express is here - and Steamliner's not picking up on any crew life signs - then either this world is in danger... or their visitor is.)

---

'Come on, COME ON...'

Some minutes later, Steamliner was Struggling. Its initial goal was getting the Voidtrecker Express away from the track - they were now both out of sight from the line. People were going to have to be left to make whatever they'd make of the other debris, but that couldn't be helped.

For the moment, protecting this life was a priority - and that meant finding it a place to stay. If it would consent to staying anywhere at all.

That brought Steamliner back to the other worry it had been avoiding; was the Voidtrecker Express still functional?

There hadn't been any kind of distress signal - from what Steamliner had been able to observe, the other train had simply crashed, with no external reaction to its fate. The whole matter was unsettling, really.

chirp. chirp chirp. Emotion broadband, easier for Chemies to interpret than humans, even with technology.

Oh. Good. That was... certainly something.

'Hello. Welcome to Earth - if our planet has another designation I'm afraid I don't know it. Are you receiving me?'

chiiiirp Reloading last available memory cache- ERROR ERROR TOO MANY CONNECTIONS LOST DIVERTING DIVERTING ALARMDESPAIRPAINGRIEFRELIEFRAGEPAINREGRETABORTABORTABORTABORT-

Steamliner flinched, as much from the unexpected volume as from the content. It chirped at the Voidtrecker Express in turn, which at least served to distract it from its distress.

chiiirp? Another noise, this one more like static. Confusion. I am still alive?

To itself, Steamliner thought, Oh.

Oh, shit.

Part 2, because that one-liner was too good to waste.

>Crash detected. Attempting Reboot
>Performing Auto-Diagnostic
>Searching for Acceptable Update Portfolio for Download >None Available
>Proceed? Y [...]
>Diagnostic Complete. Core Coding Damaged, Integrity 68%. Tether Protocol Damaged, Integrity 57% Percent. Memory Cache...
I am still alive?
Cache Intact. Logic Loops Detected.
I am... alone.
Pausing Cache Review, Prioritizing System Integrity and Repair.

>Retry Reboot

...

Consciousness. Awareness- external sensors available.
External sensors intact. Atmosphere, Gravity, Time Synch - all within average bell curve parameters from hard-coded Enraran standard.

Desynching from void paradigm; acquiring local timestamps... 3:27 AM JST.
This planet is inhabited. Surveying...

Surveying incomplete. Reason given: systems need cooldown time after recent crash.
Voidcraft not detected - emotion broadband, detected.

Curious. Empaths? Metallurgy?

... Conclusion: Investigate.
Maybe I am not alone.

On A Roll

There were two equally important concerns, Steamliner thought. Getting the Voidtrecker Express to a safe location where it could recover, and not to further aggravate any injuries.

But where the former required speed, the latter implied, well, the opposite.

'Do you have cloaking? We're approaching a residential area.'

Again came that chirping noise - must have something to do with being a voidcraft. Confirmation. Agreement.

A pause. Tired.

But of course. 'We're going to make sure you get any rest you need, I promise you.'

Still, it was one thing to hide a Chemy; a full size train was rather another. Unless... 'Do you have a way to shift sizes? Finding a place no one will question you will be easier if you can do that.'

For a moment it wondered if it had overspoken - but the Voidtrecker seemed thoughtful, not skeptic, of the request.

Confirmation. Difficult, but possible. Process requires no witnesses.

That sounded consistent with what Steamliner knew - but would it be fair to let that on? - damnit, it was going to give itself a headache at this rate. And it didn't have a head!

'That can be arranged. And in that case, follow me.'
---
Even aside from the journey home, which felt like it took much longer than usual, 'no witnesses' near the Alchemy Academy was sooner said than done.

As they pulled in to the closest clearing, enough to point out a sightline but not for it to be an unimpeded path, Steamliner made its best attempt at a ping, like the way Smaphone would.

?

'I can get you privacy, to do what you need to do, but we'll have to meet back up inside - there is a sub-door at basement level, with an unlocked screen. The hallway is an illusion; you go in the vent and through until you find the one with a dent in it.'

That incident had been embarrassing, but it was one the staff had never found out about, which made it more of a convenience than a risk.

'I know how to handle myself in this city; I'll follow you in after ten minutes. Will that be long enough?'

Another considerate pause. Yes.

And Be safe.

Steamliner didn't know how to feel about that. Later.

'Also, don't let the other Chemies intimidate you. They like newcomers, generally, and they'll definitely be curious, but they do actually know the meaning of the word 'no'.'

Before it could be asked to elaborate, Steamliner took off, pulling away from the clearing and taking to the air once it thought itself far enough away.

It wasn't entirely sure who of the two of them was more daunted by the possibilities of the upcoming twenty-four hours, and it didn't much want to have a guess.
---

As it turned out, it found its guest still waiting outside the vent, after Steamliner had circled back around, shrunk itself, and headed inside.

'Just watching?' Steamliner asked.

Affirmation. Some sort of internal struggle seemed to take place on the more subdued train, then: What will they do with me here?

'Nothing that you won't allow,' it replied, trying to ascertain the root concern. Why had it asked...?

No. What will they do with me here? There was a spike of anxiety, at which Steamliner flinched.

Beneath them, various Chemies stirred from their nighttime thoughts. Experiments? the Voidtrecker asked, trying to compress its stress into a single concept.

Steamliner pushed itself back in. 'No. I won't stand for it, and neither will the others.'

The other train made a noise like a sigh. Isolation...?

'Also no. Though if you feel overwhelmed, at any time, you're allowed to back away. No strings,' it added. Steamliner could tell the Voidtrecker Express was looking curiously back at it - which was strange, for all that the other train lacked a face.

'Come on; let's go get you introduced...'

Part 4: Therapy Cat Car

Entities described as 'Chemies' present: 36
Conversations initiated after Chemy named 'Steamliner' brought this voidcraft into the rest chamber: 3
Emotion broadband indicates interest is still high. Conclusion: they are remaining distant to give space.
Do I read as that anxious? Question aborted: answer is to the affirmative.

Observation: there are ten broad categories of Chemy, informed by their appearance.
Information Received: all Chemies are created with a name, and knowledge of it.
Information Received: all alchemists have the capacity to create a Chemy, but cannot do so on command. That is certainly not the case for voidcraft, yet readings remain similar. Curious.
Information Received: "Then there's Legend, who is a multiversal traveler and defender. He has not created a Chemy, but his cards work similarly. He's used to fighting alone, and his people skills aren't very well-developed, but he's far from malicious and can fight to protect as well as anyone we know!"
Conclusion: multiverse as a concept is known in this world, if not necessarily as common knowledge.

Information gathering will continue tomorrow.
Begin rest period.
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Begin rest period.
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Begin rest period.
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Accessing memory cache- ACCESS ABORTED
'You look like you need a distraction. Talk, or listen?'
Perplexity. (It is helpful that none of these Chemies are intimidated by my appearance; past Voidtreckers had difficulties ascertaining where my focus was.)
'Well? We can talk about something at random, or I can talk and you can just listen. I've been the sounding board before and it seems to help.'
Chemy speaking: designation 'Madwheel'.
You have a- ~~crew~~ (inappropriate, imperfect analogy; retry) -person, yes? Someone you prefer over others?
Madwheel output: pleased. 'Yes. Kurogane Spanner.'
Why are you not with them, this night?
Madwheel rolls slightly back and forth, an equivalent of a shrug. 'Sometimes he wants privacy. A quiet night in his room, or with one of the Professors. Particularly if he spends the night at Professor Minato's place.'
Madwheel output: amusement. Reason unclear.
And... you are not worried, that something will happen to them?
Madwheel output: concern. '"Might" happen, sure. He's had a hard time of it recently, and I was there for it with him. But 'will'? Not so much. We're close, but there's still room to be our own people. And sometimes rest means taking a break from those you're close to, so you can see them again later.'
Consideration. (Conclusion: insightful. These Chemies are adept at balancing emotion and reason, if Madwheel is an example and not an outlier for modeling Chemy behavior.)
... Thank you. I will think on what you've said.
Madwheel output: amusement again. 'You know, I think you actually will. So long as you also sleep, then that's fine by me. Catch you around.'
---
New timestamp: 11:48 AM JST
Current status: surrounded by Chemies.
Current status of Chemies: asleep.

How did this happen?
Memory cache: unavailable.

... Current status: restful.
.
.
.
'Hi, everyone! Houtaro managed to wake up before I did, so I flew over here instead. He'll catch up- Steamliner, who's that? Is that another you? And- hey, are you okay? Why are you hissing?'

(Wings. Legs where they don't belong. A flood of bugs, insects, spiders, a voice in your head mistaken for someone you trust. Pieces growing out of me)
---
You're not sure who the new guy is, but that's fine. What is worrying, is how their field goes utterly blank with terror when they see you.

You land mid-sentence, furling in your wings, but it becomes clear that despite the first response, it's not you they're reacting to.

Backing away, you let the other Chemies break line-of-sight - but the newcomer's field, or what you can see of it, is still distorted, like a field of living static.

Something is wrong. Not being able to help them hurts, but... that's happened before, too.

You can't be the one to fix everything. That doesn't mean you have to like it.

Poked by Plants

'Hello? Mx. Train? Mx. Steamliner's New Friend? ... I think it's working.'

If Steamliner had been worried before, that level had skyrocketed into the stratosphere. But, with Hopper1 out in the hall, and the rest of the Chemies spreading themselves out, the Voidtrecker Express appeared to be calming down.

Happyclover was helping - flopped partway along the shrunken train's boiler, the Plant Chemy along with Saboneedle and Skebows were all together chirruping calmly at it.

'Meow? Meow? ... Wait, do you prefer cats or dogs? Or mice, we don't really have any of those here either.'

Skebows, for their part, was simply snuggled up alongside, wheels to wheels, purring.

'Ohkay, I think that's enough for now. Voidtrecker? You can hear me?'

Steamliner sent a ping, and was relieved to feel it returned. 'All right. We're not going to ask for explanations, and you don't owe us any. Would you prefer to stay in here for now, or be somewhere else new at the moment?'

The other train paused - then more deeply so. Decision: I would prefer to stay. It was... not their fault. Reaction, sourced from memory cache. Not a recurring issue.

That puzzled Steamliner; part of them felt the urge to go and do some research, figure out exactly where this could have come from but... no. The Voidtrecker deserved privacy, especially now that it was actually here. Some secrets should be its own to share.

'Well, alright. You will tell us if the answer changes, though, please?' Change was always possible, even if it didn't always 'make sense'.

Yes. ... Lifesigns detected. Those are your 'alchemists'?

Around them, the rest of the Chemies quickly grew excited. Bountybunny exclaimed, 'Aw YES! Mission time!'

'It might not be mission time, you know,' DeepMariner pointed out, from where it was idling under a desk. 'Sometimes they DO just talk.'

'But still! And, maybe we should let Hopper1 back in...?'

Stealth: +1015 Strats

It wasn't all of the alchemists, Steamliner noticed. Just the Professors this time, likely visiting while on break from their other occupations.
Most alchemists didn't mention what they did beyond the Academy's walls, even when it was clear they had something; Professor Minato's career as a history teacher felt like an exception at times - but then, Houtaro and his friends had known the Professor in his civilian identity first.
They went to the consoles, presumably to receive a message from up the hierarchy, Professor Kyoka muttering something possibly unsavory.

It looked askance, seeking to check how the Voidtrecker was doing - and froze.
Then it looked away, relaxing as its counterpart's field revealed its edge. That must be their cloaking feature.
It did mean not having to handle mistaken identities, Chemy edition, even if the lack-of-visibility had delivered a spike to its own anxiety.
---
"So we have a sighting of one of our missing Fantastic Chemies?"
"Two of them," the hooded man on the screen confirmed. "It is likely that at least one will become a Malgam if they are not captured soon. You are on a time limit."

"As if we weren't already," Kyoka Edami muttered, glad she'd ducked off screen as soon as pleasantries were over. With a tablet in her hands, she surfed the net, riding live security feeds all over the city. No one could out-hack her, not in her own domain.
"We'll be on it right away, sir," Minato replied, deceptively calm. He'd pulled himself together after fighting Geryon, it seemed - and even if she knew otherwise, letting their superiors know that would be extremely unwise.
"And should you find any leads on the others...?"
"We will pursue them as well, sir."
"Good. Fare well, then."

With that rather low-key dismissal, the feed ended; at the same moment, Kurogane Spanner entered. Madwheel's card flew to him, and she noted the shift in his demeanor with a smile.

"We've got a Malgam to prevent, Spanner. Possibly two, if life decides to spin up on us for a laugh."

Her eyes caught on something in the numerous sub-screens; something feathered, chased by a blue blur. Got them!

"Okay, guys, I've got coordinates. They're moving fast, so I'll keep a bead on them while we spread out."

"Should I let the class know as well?"

"We can send them a message if we keep you past your lunch hour."

A few short minutes later, they were mobile, Chemy Risers and blank cards at the ready.

And silently, cloak still active, someone else headed out behind them.
---
The premise of voidtrecking - and of void missionaries in particular - was simple: seek out worlds in need, at key moments where they lacked the tools to deal with an imminent threat, and where the working of a given world's system did not already determine the outcome.
First, do no harm.
The voidtrecking team that excelled at the art worked not to influence any given world unnecessarily, or pass judgment on how it worked.
Second, do not spend energy in excess.
But, in the wake of restoring memory of its home system throughout the void, there had been no missions at all. The restored crew had been vastly in need of help, and the joy of having them back faded quickly in the face of the departures of many, many others.
Not all had even been recovered; on that metric, it had failed its promise to its unsanctioned voidtreckers.
Third, do not bring knowledge of the void where it is not already seeded.
Left largely to its own devices, for there was no one surviving with any real authority over it (or, in certain cases, no longer any will to exercise it), it had sought to make reparations under its own power.
It was an impulsive venture, highly uncommon for voidcraft, and risky in the extreme. And it also found itself chased: by memories, exchanges with its voidtreckers and among its crew. Fights, heartbreaks, wailing in vain against its engine wall, cursing the idea that their worlds might be sealed from each other at the end of their unwanted journey...

Now, its own journey had led it here. By all rights, it should refrain from action altogether. Or, if it wanted to avoid continuing its isolation, it should restrain itself to only helping when explicitly asked.

But the Voidtrecker Express had already been helped, and most assuredly had not asked for it.

And yet, even now, the Chemy Steamliner, the one it had met first, insisted on letting it have its own space, make its own decisions - giving it space when it was overwhelmed, and treating its each reaction as valid.

That, the Voidtrecker resolved, wasn't going to be waylaid.

Even if it wasn't sure what exactly it should do. In fact-

hissssssssss

The voidcraft flinched, a strong blast of negative emotion washing over it. On two levels, it reached out - one, to ascertain how many life signs there were nearby.
And digitally, it reached out to the Alchemy Academy's network. Specifically for their observation notes on 'Malgams'.

And there was one more thought, too: The fourth premise: Once a mission is begun, leave the world better than you found it. Even if it only seems some small way improved, it counts.
Time to put that into practice.
---
He'd cornered her. Finally. After the breakup, the broken bones, the months and months of waiting, he had her in his sights again.
How come it was so easy to get lost in this city? No matter.

One hand on the wall, the other resting oh-so-casually on her shirt collar. As if she shouldn't expect what was coming to her.
"Well, sweetcheeks, after all this fucking waiting, I-"

HONK

-and then both his hands were on the ground, his knee hurt like hell even though there was no way she could have kicked him there (it also didn't feel like she'd bitten him or anything, weird. He'd read about shit like that happening to other people, but- no, not the point), and worst of all, she didn't seem to be anywhere in sight.

Pushing himself up on shaky legs, he made to pace the alley. He hadn't lost that much time, right? Maybe chasing her could still do something-

"As from the One are all things born!"

... The hell was that?!

The feeling of handcuffs, though, that he understood.

Unfortunately for him, by that point he wasn't getting much of a say in the matter.
---
"Ey, Minato, great job nabbing those Chemies!"

Kyoka grinned, her smile turning a touch friendlier for the growling VanFenrir in its card. "Not even any Malgam trouble to show for it!"

Minato, however, was frowning, even as he handled GinGriffon's card with care.

"That is just the thing, though, Kyoka; by the time I arrived, the malgamization process had already been interrupted. The Chemies were both disoriented, but responded well to capture. And the Riser did not indicate any other Chemies nearby."

His compatriot's expression turned to one of shock, then skepticism. "So if it wasn't you, or any of us, and it wasn't a Chemy... could it have been a Kamen Rider?"

If her thoughts were going where his were, there was only one option. "Kamen Rider Wind, you mean?"

Kyoka Edami's gaze turned distant. "... Rinne wasn't out with us today. But, it could have been Professor Kudoh."

Minato sighed. "If we could prove it, that would be another matter. But for the moment, we can't. And it is best for us not to mention this to the Union, regardless."

"Copy that."
---
At the same time, in a different part of the city:

Intervention successful. The two affected entities known as 'Chemies' have been freed, and both the person attempting to flee harm and the person attempting to inflict harm have been passed on to the appropriate authorities in each case.

Determining next course of action...

'Hey! That was pretty wily of you back there, shattering both malgamization equations with one blow! I respect that.'

Considerations paused.

(The opener immediately invoked two questions - one, how had it been detected?
>Cloak status: 100% enacted.
But there was another question, one perhaps more polite to use to respond.)

Equations?

'Well, yeah: when any human is overtaken by certain emotions, or drives, that would put others or themselves to harm, they seek out extra energy to make fulfilling it possible. And so long as a Chemy is nearby, they're drawn in as the desire value reaches a given human's maximum capacity.'

... And now this being had the Voidtrecker Express's attention for a very different reason.

How did you come to know that?

As both of them continued along, essentially invisible in the air to the people below, the voidcraft got a better view of their flightmate: the grasshopper Chemy from their... rather embarrassing interlude earlier.

'... Partially experience, but I've had a lot of time to comb through alllll the observational data alchemists have gathered over the past century-plus.'

The Voidtrecker took note, with no small amount of concern, of the 'experience' part, but that was perhaps not its place to comment. Would you say you are an alchemist yourself, then?

Still flying, the Chemy shook its head. 'Definitely not! I'd need hands to perform most-all of the gestures, for one. But I make sure to follow the theory; I can't help my friends half as well if I don't keep pace with how things work, you know?'

Filing that comment away as an extremely Orange-Team-coded reasoning, the voidcraft made to continue the trip in silence before it happened to hear:

'... It's never really quiet. The city, I mean. Any city, really - Kyoto was huge, and that's just compared to where I've been before! If I'm not focusing on anything, it's like I can hear them all: the ebb and flow of excitements, struggles, hope... and pain, too. But when I'm focusing in on something, it just becomes background noise.'

If this Chemy had its attention before, now it had all of the Voidtrecker's attention. (Not quite enough to stop it from moving, however.)

Would that hold if you saw them from further away? ... From space, perhaps?

The grasshopper briefly flew ahead, tilting its head to better show its own surprise. 'Well, I mean... maybe? I wouldn't be able to point out most any people from that far away, but... I could pick out trends, I guess. Culture-based differences like fault lines, gradients depending on where people live. Is that what you mean?'

... Yes.
Then something else occurred to it, a belated realization. Did you pick up on the nature of my intervention from across the city?

This time it was the grasshopper Chemy's turn to be hesitant. '... Yeeees?'

Why do you have that kind of range? For such a small creature, it couldn't have been created with it-

'I may have reworked my emotionsense so I couldn't turn it off...'

At that, the Voidtrecker almost stopped moving outright. ... Were you trying to prevent tragedy? It hazarded, impulsively reaching out to its memory cache - not for more recent troubles, but for when it had first honed its abilities towards detecting appropriate-scope missions.

The Chemy looked even more uncomfortable now - but for whatever reason, such did not cause it to shy away from the conversation. 'One happened, as soon as I stopped being involved. Within days. I wanted to never let something like that happen again.'

There was silence, partially as the Voidtrecker searched for an appropriate response. Sounds about right, it broadcast, trying to make it not sound too much like a question.

Now with something very particular in common, the invisible and visible flew on back to the Academy.

More Conversations, More... Cute?

Steamliner hadn't been entirely behind the ball - taking three minutes before realizing that even the fuzzy edge of the Voidtrecker's shield was gone - but it had been utterly flummoxed trying to figure out what the other train was doing.

By the time everyone had reassembled, however, school was out for the day - and that meant Houtaro was on his way. That meant possibly having to distract him, and the rest of the alchemist students... or simply being very, very careful.

It didn't want either party coming off emotionally wounded, if they interacted at all. It was, frankly, not ideal.

It heard a more friendly sort of muttering, as the majority of the Chemies resumed their card forms, and found itself taken utterly by surprise to see its own partner seemingly in deep conversation with the Voidtrecker Express.

... Perhaps at least one thing qualified as ideal, then.

'And when you shift from one reality paradigm to the other, how do the variable visualizations change to compensate-?'

On the other wheel, now there were two of them to be like This.
---
The debriefing for the junior alchemists was a rather low-key event - partially because of the size of the current class, partially because no new leads on the remaining Chemies-to-find had surfaced.

Tsuruhara Sabimaru hung back, Isaac at the ready if he did need to respond, and as he did he felt... a little strange.

Like someone was watching. Not hostile, but - everyone's impressions on him were different, he'd tried to explain once. And this one didn't feel familiar.

"Hello," he said softly, because even Lachesis hadn't been allowed to join them just to attack them; he'd long since grown to think of this place, this room in particular, as 'safe'. He could be his subdued self, without having to back away from every surprising thing.

He couldn't see anything moving closer, but his ears picked up a faint noise of- wheels moving? Curious.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Would- would you like to be friends?" Like when meeting new wildlife - or, increasingly as of late, new Chemies - keeping his body language clear and unspontaneous was important. Like a spell, like alchemy, only the effects, the results, weren't necessarily short-term.

Something bumped up against his hand, all tentative and shy, and Sabimaru smiled.

"It's nice to meet you."
---
This human - Tsuruhara Sabimaru - did not ask for names. This was good; refreshing.
Quiet coexistence, not the same as having a full, rambunctious crew - but better than forced socialization.
After several minutes, retreat became prudent; the younger alchemist did not pursue.
Also appreciated.
What to do next?
The question is clear on the minds of the humans in the room, as well, if for necessarily different reasons.

There is a world to come to understand, here. Further research and exploration are needed.

Night Flight

Systems check: complete
Systems overall integrity: 78.6%
Initiating form reset... complete
Initiating takeoff protocol.

(As you take off, the dark skies and clouds posing no danger to you, you note that your energy levels have not drawn your attention since your arrival in this system. Despite the lack of new tethers, you are doing better here than you have been in some time.
Perhaps there is void metal on this world after all, the latent energy replenishing your stores. Perhaps it is something else entirely.)

Cloak: engaged
Cloak integrity: 100% ... No pursuit on scans.

(As you approach 'cruising height', data points about this world make themselves plain, allowing you to form a better picture than you had chance to on first arrival. And as they do, it starts to fit the overall picture of what some of your former junior team leads used to call 'Modern Enraran-Thistean Hybrids': population distribution, use of public and private transportation, stage and state of global economies, sources of energy employed...

Some of these data are not found in common with your home system, but it has been a long time since they were surprising.)

Lifesigns: not present
Increase altitude? Y

(You pass through the ionosphere without incident, noting the location of this planet's moon relative to your takeoff location, and carefully engage long-distance lifesign scans. While many non-void-active worlds tend to be the only planets in their solar systems with life on them, that is far from a guarantee, and this wouldn't be the first world to be surprised in such a way.

That, and performing the scans decreases internal stress levels. Having real knowledge at hand has that affect on you.)

...!

Lifesign detected - emotion broadband active.
Conclusion: another lifeform known as a 'Chemy'.

... Hello?

The reply is a more musical chime than previous Chemy 'voices' had led you to expect: 'Hello! Don't mind me, this is just my preferred orbital distance. Designation?'

... Perhaps this Chemy could tell it wasn't talking to a human transport vessel. Voidtrecker is fine. How long has your orbit lasted?

This time the chime was brighter, as if your words had amused the Chemy. 'Half a sun-orbit, I should say! After a decade's isolation, it's a relief.'

You've paused your flight to keep pace with the Chemy, but that choice of words causes odd reactions in your systems.

Isolation? What for?

'To prevent the end of the world.' There is something dry in the musical meteors' response, yet grave as well: you feel that there is still more to it, however.

And? Has it been prevented?

A lighter chime: emotion broadband indicates happiness. 'As far as the... person... who initially tried to abuse us is used as a form of measure? Yes, absolutely.'

While that is a relief, undertones of concern make their way through space. It distracts you, almost, from the Chemy's next words: 'Malice still lives here, however. It helps to be on alert. ... And not to leave our eggs all in one basket.'

Puzzling. And more than that, worrying.

Thank you for saying so; being informed is preferable to unpleasant surprise. ... I hope you fare well in your orbit.

With something new coloring your processes, you don't stay in near-Earth space much longer. For now, your business once more lies below...
---
Tonight, Steamliner and Hopper1 are at Kitchen Ichinose. Watching over Houtaro - in their own ways.

"No- not on my books, Hopper1! Please let me study..."

He had to admit, most of his struggles with schoolwork were on him - or maybe something with him; he'd never fully understood the medical side of things, and even his mom couldn't find enough information to satisfy her about it all.

But while he liked spending time with his friends, usually the Chemies that spent the most time with him weren't this overt about distracting him from homework.

"Peeeeer! Hopperhopper!"

He gave his grasshopper buddy a Look, gently laying his head against the foot of his bed with a thunk.

"Steeeam?"

He turned to look at his other closest Chemy friend, unable to help a smile coming to his face. "No, I'm not mad at you. I just... know I need to focus."

Even as he wished he could say he just didn't test well.

As he got up and (reluctantly) made to lift up Hopper1 from the work he needed to get to tonight, something knocked on the window.

All three people in the room turned rapidly at the sound.

"Liner, linerliner!"

"What - what is it, Steamliner?"

Hopper1 wasn't speaking, but Houtaro checked with both his friends; they seemed equally concerned.

"Is it safe to let them in?"

Suddenly it got cold - or, not cold, but it felt like it had when they'd gone to Renge's grandmother's village. Like something was happening that was... alien.

Houtaro couldn't tell anything had entered the room, for a moment - then the air above his bed flickered with some kind of unlight, and there was another tiny train there.

Houtaro just stared, eyes wide. "Are you another Chemy?"

He brought his arms up as the new train hissed, and he realized that no, this one wasn't a Chemy - or if it was, its design was awfully divergent. No arrows, for one, and nothing that would indicate eyes. Just a black steam train, with both headlights and a headlamp. A little less streamlined than Steamliner's own form, really-

"Uh, sorry. But I was going to open the window, really... can we talk outside?"

Since, thankfully, his window was intact, this wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Something nudged him, in a way he could only feel in his head, and what could only have been the newcomer indicated apologies.

And that it was here to talk to someone else.

Steamliner rolled forward, then - and so did Hopper1. Both of them began talking, even as he couldn't really follow what they were saying.

Sometimes he picked up on meanings anyway; this was not one of those times.

Time passed, and then came that strange sensation again - a projection of an image. The roof? This place's roof.

"You'll be up there?"

This time Hopper1 nodded. "Well, let me know if you're going anywhere else, okay? ... And if I can come with you?"

The three of them left before he could add anything more, but even amid the rampant confusion, Houtaro found himself incredibly curious.

What had all that been about?

Confrontation and Concern

'It's clear you're in distress. What is it?'
Wordless sparks of static; a sound just short of screaming into the night, only the last remaining glimmer of self-control tamping its volume.
'We'll give you a minute, unless you need a-?'
Color flashed; a sting behind their eyes, and an acrid scent passed through a burst of steam.
ALONEALONEYOURMADNESSBEGANWHENYOUWERALONEYOURCREWBETRAYEDYOUYOURSTOLENCREWFLEDYOUTHEIRKNOWLEDGEFAILEDYOUWHYWOULDANYONELIKEYOUWANTTOBEALONEIFTHEYDIDN'TWANTTODIE-

Not so much words as thoughts, concepts, a storm of emotion sweeping past and around them. For a moment it was as if the immensity of the void had leaked through, paired with the sound of a despairing keen like- well.

Down the street a door slammed, bringing a little reality back for both Steamliner and Hopper1.

'Come again?' 'No, no, I think I got some of that - would you rather an explanation? Or just to vent? We can help with either.'

The lack of a lashing out, or any note of doubt indeed, seemed to surprise the Voidtrecker Express enough to quiet it for a moment. The moment stretched, which was as good of an opening as any.

'So - when you say - you are talking about isolation, yes? Like our conversation before?'

Silence, followed by begrudging confirmation.

'Well, almost eleven years ago anniversary's still some months out, isn't it? one man tried to harvest the energy within us all, in a ritual to unleash a plague of stasis across this world. Unfortunately, while his initial attempt failed, he was also very adept at using alchemy that affected the mind. To prevent him from taking further control, our guardian at the time - Kudoh Fuuga - sealed the Ouroboros realm off from this world with all of us inside.'

Hopper1 took up from there. 'It was hard, being apart from others for so long - but it was also hard on Professor Kudoh. One human, among so many Chemies...'

It gave an insectile shrug. 'It's not healthy, and you're right that it was upsetting. But that doesn't take away from it being achoice, one we all made together. And that other man's second attempt at unleashing gold, definitely bit him in the face!'

Both Chemies looked at each other. 'We both gained new forms out of it, and more names. Which still feels kind of weird, but we've had chance to grow into them, and that's helped.'

Now the Voidtrecker Express just seemed baffled.

'Would it help if we showed you?'
---
Where before both Chemies' fields had held all the normal indicators of a feeling being full of life, suddenly they shone. One light, one dark - yet they complemented each other, without one's field overtaking the other.

'So I'm Crosshopper.'

The reshaped train rolled forward slightly. 'And I'm Tenliner. This way, working with Houtaro and his friends, we work all together to ensure what happened before, will not happen again. And that goes for you as well, if you wish it.'

Acceptance - of self and the Other - radiated from both beings, and the Voidtrecker couldn't help but reflect on how different this world felt from any of those it had seen destroyed.

Why should it want them to be wrong?

... I do. Thank you.

Another flash of light, and it was just a (relatively) normal grasshopper and steam train alongside itself on the roof.

'Did you want to come inside? With us, I mean. Or back to the Academy?'

Part Ten(Liner)

In the end, the Voidtrecker had opted to stay on the roof - but not before asking after the other alchemist students, and where they stayed.

That was all to the good, as far as Steamliner was concerned; it meant the other train was thinking strategically about visiting more people... and about visiting more people in the first place, a sign of progress in and of itself.

It hadn't known how exactly the Voidtrecker Express had gotten on, after the story as Steamliner had found it had concluded, but from the shape of its panic, it hadn't treated the train very well at all.

Well, there'd be no more of that here. Not on this world.
---
Running Diagnostic...
'Good morning.'
Diagnostic paused.
Chemy energy signature detected-
Match not detected. New arrival? Design theme: clocks.
The same to you. Is there something you need?
'Unless you want to meet another dimensional traveler, you may want to move.'
Incredulity. Suspicion? Bafflement.

Consideration... Other traveler known as 'Legend'?
'Kamen Rider Legend, yes.'
Unlikely other traveler is also a void traveler; precautions exist to prevent acquisition of void technology to non-void-active worlds.

The Chemy paused. Searching for the next conversation entry...
Where would you suggest I go?
'Oh! Remaining in this world should be fine, just not near Japan. You'll be able to tell when it's over, the 'Aurora Curtain' technology is quite distinctive even from a distance.'
New concern! This other world may have acquired void technology on accident.
Understood. You understand if watch is maintained... apologies.

What can best be described as a wry laugh. 'Indeed. No offense taken. Best of luck to you - and good day.'
---
The Chemy - TimeLord - was correct: the 'Aurora Curtain' effect was quite noticeable.

But it was, much to the Voidtrecker Express's relief, not void technology, despite filling a similar niche.

Other data filtered in, establishing the parameters of this conflict - and swiftly establishing it as something not within its purview... former purview.

(Or was it still reasonable to say that? What counted anymore as excessive intervention, once its intentions had become enmeshed with a given world's inhabitants?)

Settling itself within range of Kuala Lumpur - resuming both normal dimensions, and of course the cloak for security - it reached out for its data tap functions, beginning a somewhat more passive means of information acquisition.

Now, what other details about this alchemy could it uncover?
---
Conclusions:
Alchemy, despite implying a higher degree of power over one's environment, attracts mainly secretive people who do not prioritize data retention, or at least publicity.
Incidents that may have resulted from alchemy are suppressed in the memories of witnesses; there is also trace evidence that other alternative powers exist in this world that can be responsible for any one incident.

This makes sourcing first and secondhand accounts, also establishing a baseline of corroborating data readings, most vexing.
Alchemy is practiced in more than just Japan, but an incident - or perhaps a string of them - has resulted in a decline of communication overall.

Refining a search of certain Japanese databases, based on firsthand accounts, yields a surfeit of unresolved missing persons cases associated with one specific prefecture.

... Aligned with prior conclusions, all of these people may be dead, with no one among the living aware to pursue them.
---
Time passed; no other Chemies came by to disturb its resting place.
Perhaps that was deliberate, perhaps it wasn't; the Voidtrecker had not met all of the extant Chemies in its days of being on this world, after all.

And then, in the midst of 'Hundred's machinations - and some readings that definitely indicated void-adjacent powers that were not its own - there came an alert.

Another dimensional crosser, visiting only to slay one of the Hundred's own generals. That was an anomaly.

Moreover, no one else had noticed - driving it directly into its own redefined priorities.

Once more, it was time to investigate.
---
Even masking the sound of a voidshift, the white-suited stranger halted immediately upon the Voidtrecker's arrival.

"Are you here to accost me?" they asked, a casual headturn... bringing them to stare at nothing.

(It had left up the cloak, because of course. There was no such thing as being too cautious, when dealing with an unknown that set off all its internal red flag notifications like this.)

'Identify your purpose here,' it broadcast - the train's attempt at speaking the way Chemies did causing the figure to flinch. Interesting...

"Reveal yourself, and perhaps I will deem an explanation worth giving."

Another pause, longer, as the voidcraft calculated the threat levels...

The cloak dropped. Rather than respond immediately, the Kamen Rider simply stared. One minute stretched into the next, as some internal debate raged on.

Or at least, that was the emotion broadband it could pick up on.

"I am Kamen Rider Zein. You... are not a DenLiner."

It was the Voidtrecker Express's turn to pause.

'I am a void traveler,' it said. Something it could say that was still true.

'I did not end up here on purpose - but by your actions, you have. So I ask again: what is your purpose here, Kamen Rider Zein?'

The man straightened; his voice continued this time with more confidence. "As this is another world of Kamen Riders, it is under my protection. Threats towards them are mine to handle... where heroes have not already intervened, of course."

It sounded, on the surface, perfectly reasonable - on the surface. To compare with its own experiences with voidtreckers, however, something was still missing: 'And to whom are you answerable?'

That confident stance shifted, flickered; Zein appeared genuinely surprised. Very interesting.

"One I would rather not see arrive on this world."

Now much more hurried, Kamen Rider Zein departed, leaving a concerned train - and a world whose fate was still unsealed.

No one expects the void inquisition!

There was one factor, however, that gave the Voidtrecker Express even more pause - a searing of dark energy, drawing several Chemies into itself.
It hurried, still cloaked, to the scene. ... Its arrival was not timely, a side-effect of how off its game it had been since restoring its world to memory, but it did establish proof that this world's Kamen Riders could handle quite sizable threats.
Yet, readings indicated something was still wrong. A being with powers over the void, sensitive to human emotions... if a train could have hackles to raise, such would have happened for it.

Are there more like this being? Before, it might have left the fighting to those of this world - but now? It was invested.
It had once brought about a worst-case scenario, where people not suited to a task had rejected an effective solution. How to know if something is being done right? You do your own investigating.

Hopper1 and Steamliner had mentioned another world, that had once been sealed from this one - the Ouroboros Realm.

It was time to travel again.
---
Inside the portal to the Door of Darkness, two Dark Kings sulked. The source of their great strength, the Philosopher's Stone: it lay in the Human Realm.
But to get to it, they would need to manifest, and due to the manipulations of their Third, neither of them were ready yet.

Germain was vociferous in his complaints - Gaeliyah, however, was more contemplative. Both were angry - and afraid, at the possibility of being surpassed.

Then, to both their surprise, a surge of energy pushed itself into the Ouroboros Realm - almost within reach.

Even better, the type of energy was familiar. Perhaps they needn't wait so long after all...?
---
Voidshift: complete. Resynching...
Resynching complete. Connections to other worlds available(?).
Improvising track for landing.

In its default state, the Ouroboros Realm is quiet, peaceful. Underneath this impression lies a dispersed sense of potential.

Reviewing potential energy taps... a full match for readings from a void active world. Strange.

ALERT: Void energy detected. Negative intent detected. Engaging cloak.
Cloak not engaging; energy field of this Realm likely interfering with processes.
Attempting to voidshift-

Well, well, well! What do we have here?

Error. Unauthorized access detected.

The stars had not foretold this, but what I see now is most interesting indeed.

And if this - a golem, let's just assume for ourselves it's a golem - has alchemy enough to get here... if it walks like a Philosopher's Stone and talks like a Philosopher's Stone, eh~?

ACCESS DENIED.

Takeoff successful. Threat does not appear to come from the ground.

Running scans-

Aha! A little closer, darling. And if you can, why don't you scream for us, too?

Anomaly detected. Aborting connection. Aborting-

Disconnection failed. Accessing memory cache-

Let Darkness... engulf you!
---
Reforming the newly-discovered Philosopher's Stone into a higher form was not as simple as all that; Gaeliyah quickly noticed (quite apart from Germain's astonished and exasperated interjections) that what had found them was truly alien, and far more complex than their previous anchoring Stone.

For one, it was partly technological in origin; a unit specifically designed to interpret emotion currents to predict locations of imminent tragedy. On the one hand, she was impressed - and on the other, she seethed; how dare someone, a people she had never met, dare to craft both her specialty and her Third Gigist's specialties in such a way!

Germain, however, did not seem to find that worth focusing on. 'Look at all these layers of dark memories, Gaeliyah! Why, if we knew the location of any of these people, our fun could never end!'

'The Human Realm first, Germain,' she replied, not even bothering to hide the disdain in her voice.

'Harrumph. Well, we don't need to look like a train to cause despair - why not our original forme, but more? There's certainly enough material to work with...'

Germain's alchemy was focused on reshaping things; Gaeliyah's astrology on interpreting them. Much as none of the Triad liked sharing their power, they were capable of cooperation where their originator, and original purpose, was concerned.

There'd be no need for Gigist in the world they would create, however; Gaeliyah would see to it...!
---
Inside Germain, meanwhile, as matter began to be converted from voidmetal and psychometry to more base materials, Geryon drifted.

Dreaming. The same fights, over and over again. Losing.

His own despair...

A train arrived, and even though he couldn't move he did snarl. Come to gloat, have you?

But he realized, presently, that this train was different. An omen of death? Even being consumed by one of the Dark Kings, his consciousness still lingered - a parodic sort of limbo.

It whistled, and the lack of words with it cemented that this was not a Chemy, his own memories taking a new cruel twist for him

"... Are you asking me to get on? If you haven't noticed, I cannot move."

A cold presence reached out to him, and his position changed. Suddenly he was inside - a long train carriage, with the lights darkened. There were seats, all empty, and the windows were clear-

The view through them was not of the Abyss. It was filled with colors, and suddenly he did not feel so cold. The distant void could not be fully perceived, and yet he was glad for it.

He looked back around the train car, and there was a lone computer screen in one lonely corner. So you do wish to communicate?

It was quite a change from his creations, and even the Chemies his rival had watched over. Stepping over, simply tapping the screen brought it online, loading a blank page.

He asked, "What is it that you want? Seeking me out in this place."

Text appeared on the screen: This voidcraft was assaulted by an anomaly. Other lifesigns were detected.

Geryon quirked a brow. If he'd been a lesser creation, being grouped as someone producing 'lifesigns' might have heartened him. His ego was not so weak, however: "You sought me out only for company?"

Anomalous entities have proven unused to my design. I can shield us from their influence and attention, though my available energy is limited under current constraints.

Geryon puzzled over what 'current constraints' could mean. "The Dark Kings are modifying you, aren't they? ... You are showing more resilience than any they have pursued in the past."

I am not of this world. I have encountered much. Yet, I am only a voidcraft. There are some things I cannot do on my own.

A strange feeling began to fill him. Were he a more naive being, he would have called it hope. Instead, he considered it to be opportunity.

"Then I propose we be of use to each other..."
---
"Wait- TimeLord?"

Unseen, both Hopper1 and Steamliner went to full alert.

"Didn't think I'd catch ya here!"

'The wait here was abysmal, I assure you. Unfortunately, we're in a hurry. The Dark King is on the hunt!'

... Not that Houtaro could actually hear those words, but at least its fellow Chemies understood the warning.

'Have you seen the Voidtrecker?' Steamliner hazarded. TimeLord winced.

'If they aren't back by now, now that Legend is gone, then I fear something has gone wrong-'

Dark King Gigist's power seized them all, then.
---
'I'm going for help. Keep him distracted!'

TimeLord phased away, and both Hopper1 and Steamliner launched themselves at Gigist.

"120 years have passed since you split off from me, child!" Gigist said, flicking the both of them away from Houtaro - or more accurately, the egg within him - with a burst of power.

"But it's time you-" He cut himself off, and all at once they could all feel a distortion of dark energy; a surge of intense power, yet it was not clear where.

"... There is another?!"

Gigist sounded at once both enraged and astonished; Houtaro took the time to call his Chemies back, and to regain his breath.

Then came a sound; a monster's roar... or a train whistle, distorted almost beyond recognition.

"Dark King Gigist.... this is what you get for cutting in line!"

A pillar of dark energy touched down, forming a triangle between itself, Houtaro, and Gigist. A shape distinguished itself from the miasma; at first glance, it looked like a Kamen Rider - but much larger. Limbs stretched every which way - but where its head should have been was a blade. Mirror-clear, and razor sharp.

"Guess what landed right on our doorstep!"

Gigist launched a spatial distortion at the creature... only for it to dissipate. If Houtaro had been confused before, now he began to panic.

I can't fight both of these guys! Hopefully they distract each other-

Hopper1 shouted a warning, and Houtaro found himself on his knees before he could even register the sound; above his head, and spreading in all directions, sharp tendrils jolted out from the new attacker's limbs.

"Be tethered... and suffer!" Two of them landed on Gigist, channeling what was probably electricity straight into him... yet it only made the Dark King angrier.

"Who are those guys?" Houtaro asked, managing to keep his voice down. "And what do they mean, cutting in line?"

Cries of horror reached him, and fear ran down his spine. We're not in a labyrinth. We have to keep people safe!

He reached for the cards of his two closest friends, and realized Steamliner wasn't there.
---
"Steamliner!"

But the train Chemy wasn't listening; the battle between the Dark King and- and the void malgam surged on, causing surface-level damage to the roof they were all on, scattering debris down below.

But Steamliner wasn't looking at that. This was no ordinary malgam - and if its rising sense of horror was right, the mind of its friend was still in there.

It thought of what Houtaro had said, when he had pushed to save its own partner and the other Chemies from Geryon's ritual. How close that was to whatever had happened to the Voidtrecker Express, it didn't know. But-

It couldn't not try. Its counterpart deserved better than that.

'You gotta stay strong! I believe in you! I- your story does not end here! It didn't before! So, don't give up now! You, who have overcome so much... don't let this be your end!'

Steamliner refused to look away, even as that haunting frame turned to face it...

Then dark energy came its way, and everything went black.

And Then Everything Goes to Hell

For those at Kitchen Ichinose, not much time managed to pass at all between Ichinose Houtaro leaving the restaurant, and an unfamiliar card sparking into being in front of their eyes.

Kudoh Rinne managed to be the one to grab it, picking out its name through some rather hurried-sounding Chemy babble. Unicon zoomed its own card out of her pocket to respond, though she had no more ability to decipher why they were panicked than her professors did.

Speaking of, an exclamation from Kyoka drew all of their attention. "Minato and Spanner- they just came off a fight with Dark King Gigist!"

Rinne thought of the book she'd just had Sabimaru bring up for them all, and a chill ran down her back. The latter brought Isaac up first: "So now we need to fight him...?"

"No," Rinne shook her head, surprised at the sound of her own voice; she could hear The Sun and Neminemoon's voices now as well, having joined the conversation with TimeLord. "Or - we'll have to fight him, but we don't go to where they were. If this Chemy's here, he's after Houtaro."

"I'll make sure Spanner's recovered," Kyoka said. "We'll all need to be in top shape for this...! We have no time to waste!"

'TiTi! TimeLord!' The Chemy agreed with her, then started pulling insistently in the direction of the door. "Looks like we'll have to arm up on the way," Renge observed, snapping her own Chemy Riser into place.

They all moved toward the door, furniture and games of the morning forgotten. Sabimaru spoke up, quiet but resolute. "Let's do this."
---
Clotho would have been fine staying on the sidelines of this fight - Master Gigist's attacks had proven not to be good for her, and she wanted no excuse to intercept another - were it not for her sister's agitation.

That disturbing little cube Atropos had saved of Master Geryon: it had been glowing nonstop since the arrival of the monstrous interloper, and now her older sister believed it had meant something.

They'd all coped differently in his absence, but Clotho wished her sister didn't care as much about this one.

"I believe, if that- that beast is weakened enough, I can bring him back with this."

Clotho glanced over from where they'd both found shelter, as blasts and dark ribbons of energy seared their way through the sky. Atropos stuttering? That... wasn't like her, as young as she looked.

"And then... what? We go back to our original plan? Our original standings?"

As much as she liked the idea of Geryon's return itself bringing Lachesis back to them, she couldn't bring herself to see it as likely.

"It is certainly more preferably to this chaos," Atropos replied, raising a hand and dropping it just as quickly, keeping her face calm in the face of increasing turmoil.

"No argument. Just... who else could possibly come up next, if they all take each other out?"

Atropos didn't answer. Clotho debated transforming - then the sight of people running into the battle distracted her.

Lachesis wasn't among them, causing her to reflexively sigh in relief.

Their family would survive this. It had to.
---
Steamliner breaking away had been almost a signal to the other Chemies; increasingly, the rest of the cards slipped from Houtaro's grasp, his pack. The level 10s darted around the battlefield in card form - with Platinum Gotchard no longer an option, it was the fastest way they could get around while presenting a minimal target for the two main attackers.

Mitemirror successfully redirected a tether-tendril, only to be caught by WarpTerra and steered away from Gigist's attempt at malgamizing it. Dragonalos formed a shield around a startled Houtaro, only to itself dart across the battlefield to intercept a blow meant for its brother Gaiard. Kesuzo attempted to erase a joint of the monstrous Void mecha malgam's leg, for the attempt to prove a failure, followed by being pulled back by Panpakaparka flying through.

Houtaro had retrieved Exgotchalibur, but he couldn't bring himself to raise his own Chemy Riser when the field of battle had grown so thick. Nearly every Chemy seemed motivated to deal at least one attack or another.

Then he managed to glimpse, first side-on and then right on, heart in his mouth, as a tendril pierced through Steamliner's body.

"NO!"

Gigist seemed to be trying to speak - laugh? - but a targeted attack from Bakuonzemi drowned him out, preventing the junior alchemist from making out any words.

"Dragonalos, let me out!"

It wasn't a rational thought - but how could he think, with his best friends in danger like this?

And then he saw Hopper1 dart out first. "AnTrooper, Wrestler G! Help me!"

The world felt grey, but instead of the telltale signs of a malgamization in progress, black smoke began to fill the battlefield, blocking his view of first Steamliner, then the others.

GOTCHANKO!

"I CAN'T LOSE BOTH OF YOU-!"
---
If this was what being tethered was like, it wasn't at all like dying.

'Hopper1? Houtaro?'

There was no echo to its thoughts; Steamliner couldn't even hear its own voice in this darkness. It stretched on, persisting, and suddenly-

PAIN. A form that no longer felt like its own; cut off and isolated from anyone who knew it, with only suspicious strangers and arrogant gods for company. Reaching out for everyone it could, to get back one fraction of the being it had been. But on the inside, an all consuming nothingness, an emptiness where people should have been, caring for and understanding it, not asking for things a voidcraft wasn't meant to do alone-

The train of thought went on and on; gone was the rooftop, Gigist, even Houtaro. It began to make sense, why people weren't supposed to remember the tethering process. Steamliner could recognize the shape of the thoughts, yet the immensity and weight of them weren't made to lie on something as comparatively simple as a Chemy's mind, let alone a human's.

Being cut off this thoroughly from its own senses had a horror of its own laid within: was it fighting its companions? If so, how would it know? Could it even stop, without being able to reach the Voidtrecker's mind in turn? There seemed no indication of where to start-

'Steamliner!'

It turned. 'Hopper1?!'

Having another Chemy there, another person, made the nothingness of this realm easier to grasp. Relief and warmth coursed through it- tamped down significantly by one realization.

'Wait a minute - did you seriously charge in after me? What about Houtaro?'

Hopper1 reached it, then, holding on tight - but the other Chemy relented, its expression looking more than a little guilty. 'I... didn't want to lose you. I wasn't thinking, I'm sorry-'

'As much as I appreciate the gesture, now we're both stuck here!'

Steamliner let off its whistle in annoyance - and then both of them fell silent, as another whistle echoed in response.

'... I think we'd better follow that sound.'

It was as good an idea as any - well, hopefully a better one.
---
On the outside, however, it was a very different story. The black smoke condensed, absorbing every attack that hadn't been aborted outright - Gigist made to retreat, only to hit a sort of barrier.

Houtaro would have found it funny, had he any attention to spare. Transformed into AntWrestler, he took one step towards his friends, then another.

"Houtaro, don't do it!" That was X Wizard, presumably warning him against diving in and being affected the same way - but again, he needed to see.

Then the smoke finally parted, and he almost wished he couldn't see at all. Hopper1 throwing itself at Steamliner had impacted the malgamization process... in that Steamhopper stood there. Only, its colors looked faded, a literal pale imitation of Gotchard's base form. And there was no driver; looking closely, Houtaro saw only a belt with a small screen, and- a blocky train logo?

He put all thoughts of what aside. Steamliner had been trying to do something - was this malgam made from the other train he'd seen a week ago? That incident felt even more like a dream now - but this was how it had been rewarded.

The connection needed to be broken; there was more to this malgam than the usual malice, like - like Jyamatanoorochi!

Screwing his eyes shut, he reached out with his heart - to Gotchard Daybreak, to Steamliner, to Hopper1, whoever he could reach.

He felt the blow coming at him; AnTrooper let him dodge the blow, but he couldn't let that break his concentration. Wrestler G let him grapple with the altered SteamHopper but-

Something was missing. Malgams still had their corrupted Chemies as a power source, but he couldn't feel his friends were in there.

He rolled, the altered Kamen Rider tumbling with him, and he launched a blow at the Void malgam-

Which was met with dark tendrils. An attack from one of the Chemies behind him shattered them - KaiserBee? Saboneedle? He couldn't tell - and Houtaro braced himself.

"Geeze, Treasure Boy, don't hoard all the villains to yourse- Look out!"

His Chemies forced him into a drop, and he could hear and feel something knock the altered SteamHopper off his back.

The sound of rattling railings and loud footsteps on the stairs reached him; his friends had arrived.

... Which meant they were closer to danger, but they were also alive.

"We'd say hand over the Philosopher's Stone... but as you can see, we don't need one!"

He was no closer to understanding who those voices belonged to, but that didn't matter. "It can only focus on so many directions at once!" He called.

"But- don't let it grab any more Chemies, or you! They end up inside it somehow!"

Rinne - no, Majade, already in MoonCerberus form - ran to his side. "Got it! We need more cutting attacks!"

Wordlessly, he handed over Exgotchalibur to his partner. Behind them, he could hear Renge and Sabimaru calling for the Chemies to change formation, some of them zooming over to aid the other alchemists directly.

Gigist made an attack of opportunity, which Majade duly froze in place. "And, have you seen Atropos?"

He shook his head, as Hawkstar and Saboneedle came his way. "No! But they have to be nearby." He couldn't imagine them all ditching Gigist now.

(Though part of him wished they would. That they'd be safe, and wouldn't attack anyone anymore.)

"GOTCHANKO!"
---
Spanner hadn't been blacked out by Gigist's attack, but the presumption of knowing him, of Gigist having said they had something in common, of the villain seeing something in him... he seethed, seethed like the black flames that burned somewhere inside him.

He wasn't keen on fighting for the sake of fighting - but aiming a blow like that to his awareness of his self? He would punch back.

He just needed to get the wind back in him, first.

"Spanner! Minato!" That was Kyoka (Professor, he heard her voice echo in his mind) running up to them, looking seriously out of breath.

"You heard," Minato spoke up, and there was no ignoring the relief in his senpai's voice. "Wait, where are the others?"

"They weren't going to leave Houtaro fighting by himself! They're sticking together, like they should. But you - we really need to make sure your driver can run on those flames you put out, Spanner."

Both the older alchemists looked up, eyes widening. Spanner couldn't for the life of him figure out what had gotten such a reaction-

"I... may have a way to bridge that gap. Best to explain on the move; I could feel all three Dark Kings arriving, and while they'll distract each other in their thirst for power, that won't last us too much longer."

He turned, taking in the man that couldn't have been his own height - looking tired, worn, but very much alive. "Professor Kudoh?!"

"Like I said, I'll explain on the way."

Spanner's own superiors looked torn between breaking out in worried lectures and simply tackling the man to the ground in a group hug.
---
"What do you think you are doing?!"

Gigist was offended; not only had his moment of retrieval been interrupted - not failed, interrupted, because a part of the whole rejecting the connection was preposterous - but now both of his counterparts had manifested, bringing with them a Malgam of incredible power. A Philosopher's Stone... or simply a being close enough to pass muster.

That the resulting beast was twice his height and reeked of malice and corruption was simply adding insult to further insult. Not injury - despite it corrupting two of the Chemies that had attacked him uselessly earlier, the Malgam had refrained from trying to launch one of its tethers at him - but being unable to focus properly on his original quarry was beyond frustrating.

"Don't worry, Gigist; once we've quashed these Kamen Riders, you're most welcome to join us in bringing humanity to heel... you know, assuming they don't take this chance to kill you!"

As irreverent as ever, Gigist put Germain's words aside, along with an opportunity-attack from one of the human-created Level 10s.

"'Take' is not the same as 'succeed,'" he replied, with as much venom as he could muster. The Malgam (or at least Germain) before him merely laughed, repelling attacks launched from all sides.

A beam of blazing sun bisected the air between the three Dark Kings, souring the moment and reminding him that Ichinose Houtaro had allies. He arranged a few void portals, to take advantage of the moment and have the newcomers attack each other.

Or miss; it would amount to the same thing.

"All of your deaths have been foreseen!" That was Gaeliyah, a more subdued fan of dramatics compared to Germain, yet it seemed she too couldn't resist calling her attack.

Only, no attack came. Indeed, the Malgam ceased moving altogether - causing all other battle participants to pause.

"What?"

He hadn't asked the question, as much as he shared the thought. He didn't care, however, to find out who had asked. This was an opportunity-

Reaching out, he snagged several Chemies - all of those that had been absent from the battle. If his tricohorts wanted to try escalation, he was fully capable of leveling the playing field. A five-Chemy Malgam ought to do the trick.

"Let darkness... engulf you!"
---
The Voidtrecker Express' focus was threefold; on one line, entities Germain and Gaeliyah piloted what portion of its power they had managed to shape. Focusing on them was difficult, in large part because of what they were doing: causing pain and destruction, and attempting to subjugate this world.

On the one hand, the sheer wrongness galled it. On the other, it was far from the worst pain it had ever experienced, due to sheer scale if nothing else.

Another thread covered the shelter within its mind, where even now it still communicated with the homunculus Geryon. His actions were likewise reprehensible - but he was also an opportunist, and he had no more affection for the Dark Kings than the Kamen Riders.

That the Voidtrecker had no official affiliation with either, and had not let on about its own interactions with certain Chemies, likely determined why he was trying to be affable instead of controlling. His contributions were insightful, both in terms of working around the Dark Kings and in providing insight as to how the devious man worked.

In a way, it felt sorry for him; knowledge had filtered into its mind from its unwanted pilots, and being made on a whim felt like a cruelty of deprivation. Even as a train, it itself had a purpose.

And it could (belatedly) admit to itself that it had been a more complex one than serving as a mere form of transport. Losing that depth... had not been good for it. Or for others.

But, increasingly distracting it, there was a third factor now: two tethered Chemies, coincidentally ones that had formed the closest bonds out of the population. They had found themselves sucked into the re-rendered Control Coach.

Signs indicated they were conscious. This was not normal. And having been subjugated with this world's version of shadows had damaged various subroutines beyond its initial crash landing, meaning its control over its own mind - or at least the systems that controlled tethering - was minimal.

Being frustrated was an improvement over fixation on being helpless... but not by much.

HISSSSSSSSSS

All its systems fritzed out at the much, much larger malgamization signal - to the point that all those interfaced with its systems would be able to notice and comment on it. Shadows.

Accessing memory cache...
---
The first sign they'd gotten anywhere, in their bizarre nowheres-land march, was the rain.

Rather than a thunderstorm, it was a gentle patter - but the somber tone in the air filled itself in without drawing attention to itself.

No; instead, that went to the people; less than a hundred - but that still meant a full platform, and many legs to dodge.

Hopper1 and Steamliner took to the brick wall, mindful of the turnstiles, and the slow trickle of people saying their last goodbyes.

'We have to get back on,' Steamliner insisted, surprised at how many of the Voidtreckers - for that was who these people had to be - had pets with them. Please don't let any of them pick up our scent... 'It's how we get to the next stage, I think.'

'You're making up rules,' Hopper1 pointed out.

'We also don't have an exit in this scenario - those turnstiles aren't for us.'

Again the whistle sounded, and both Chemies gave up on talking and rushed for the doors.
---
As soon as they moved inside, Steamliner realized they weren't anywhere inside the voidcraft at all - they were in space.

Its state of mind gave way to panic, before recalling (1) This was a mindscape and (2) this wasn't voidspace - no dissolution into raw emotion was actually going to happen.

More to the point, it recognized this memory, or at least the battle this memory had come from.

'Should we be doing something about this?' Steamliner looked askance, finding its partner beside it, Hopper1 hovering determinedly in place in defiance of the lack of gravity.

'It's just a memory. It's not here to harm us, just... to explain.'

It was Hopper1's turn to give its partner a Look. 'Are we going to get shot at?'

'Nnnno. But- this whole system is about to shatter and collapse on itself.'

'WHAT-'

Of course, that was when a spark - not unlike the lightning that sets the forest on fire - lanced out from one train to the planet below. It connected with the oncoming train, forming a loop-

---
They didn't get a chance to hear an explosion.
---

It didn't seem like they were anywhere, for a moment. But they did hear voices, alongside a growing sense of dread... and denial. Something attempting to suppress, and suppress, refusing acknowledgment of something.

Steamliner realized something of its own: It knows how to get out of this - the Voidtrecker Express does. But this is in the way!

'I know what we have to find.'

Hopper1 didn't even respond - but in this darkness, Steamliner could still feel its partner looking its way.

'We need to find of someone apologizing to it, and meaning it. A moment where someone else acknowledged that something was wrong, to show it what they felt! That it deserves better than... than what happened. A memory that it can't just deny like this.'

It charged forward, with intent shaping its tracks - and, despite the blackness, it could feel motion...
---
The fight had gone from bad to worse; while whatever tactic the enormous Malgam was supposed to try seemed to have no effect, there was an entirely different Malgam on the field now, courtesy of Gigist... and something felt wrong about this one.

Rinne blocked an electric blast from it with Exgotchalibur, Sabimaru and Renge alternating between their uses of the different Cosmic Chemies with their Chemy Risers. She didn't need to look to know that Houtaro was still distracting the ill-looking Steamhopper.

"Go ahead and destroy this creature, if you can! I assure you, you'll lose either way."

What does THAT mean? She didn't want to be the one to ask - but that was when Valvarad leapt into the fight.

"That's funny, because I've had enough of losing!"

Oh, wait, that was Lachesis. As the turned Abyssalis Sister darted into the battle, turning and cutting through attacks with acrobatic moves, Rinne had to admit the homunculus girl had style. But would it be enough?

A Chemy - HappyClover? - came down to rest on Rinne's shoulder, and she found herself exchanging a concerned look with the Chemy.

We need to end this as soon as possible, she decided.

Houtaro turned to look at her, launching the altered Steamhopper halfway across the roof, and she made a quick gesture towards Lachesis and the new Malgam. "Together!" she called, and with Sabimaru and Renge providing cover they launched into their finishers as one.
---
As Steamliner had expected, there were more memories of aggression and hurt than there were of apologies - some were there, usually brushed off by the Voidtrecker Express as not necessary in short order. It had expected this was going to be difficult (and sincerely appreciated Hopper1's patience in following up for context), but the other train's compartmentalizing tendencies and sheer life experience presented quite a metaphorical mountain to climb.

'It would have been nice if someone had been asking the right questions about its past sooner," Steamliner thought. But then, the vast majority of the cast had had more immediate things to worry about.

They had a lot questions in common, in fact, even with many opportunities to catch each other up on events. That must have been exhausting...

beep... beep... beep...

'Do you hear that?' Hopper1 asked, disturbing Steamliner from its thoughts. The place they were in had become more malleable as they traveled - and inquesting towards the source of the sound revealed a device a bit like an alarm clock radio.

235, it read, the number a faint yellow. The corners of the screen flickered occasionally.

'It's some kind of monitor...' The number itself didn't stand out, but it had to represent something important.

Something the Voidtrecker would have been keeping track of-

'It's the tethers! Or, the ones who still have intact ones.'

A combination of the restored crew and those who hadn't been released properly, perhaps. But it was something to go by. Further, it pinged on a different memory, of different bonds.

'Maybe we could try calling out to them...?'

Steamliner looked at Hopper1, excitement flooding through it even at its partner Chemy's dubious look. 'That might work. But I can think of something better, to add to it. I think I know what we should look for, now!'
---
The largest Malgam stood unmoving, as the barbs between the three Dark Kings grew more heated. Lachesis couldn't care less; with Geryon out of the picture for the moment, she wanted to fight.

It sure did help, having something - or someone - to fight for. And that her new team had proved itself more reliable, more trustworthy, than her family had been.

"-N-N-N-NOVA!!!" Another attack crashed home, the five of them managing to keep Gigist from interfering in their fight with the new Malgam - some kind of multi-Type hybrid; Lachesis had to stop herself from thinking of it as a Mixtus.

She wasn't going to live that life anymore, after all.

Rinne and Houtaro, always a pair, held the Exgotchalibur in unison, using the sword to pin the Malgam to the ground. She flashed off one more blast from her Valvarusher, pushing back the weird variant of Houtaro's original form that had first colored this battle.

Finally, there was an explosion, and Lachesis took a moment to oversee what chaos was going on at ground level; it appeared Kyoka and... certain others... had caught up.

If her Sisters were here, she couldn't spot them, not from this angle. Damnit...

"NO! What's happening?!"

The sheer horror and pain in that voice - Houtaro's - forced her to turn her head around. Instead of a sudden slew of Chemies for the alchemists to put in cards, as the dust cleared... there was just an assortment of five Chemies.

All in white. Not moving.

"And now, my final twist is revealed. Without a human's strength to fall back on, these Malgams simply perish. How does this make you feel, with that 'Gotcha' you possess?"

Gigist sounded downright demonic now, himself, and Lachesis forced herself to hold her ground. Sabimaru and Renge stepped to her either side, to her brief confusion.

But before Houtaro or Rinne could begin to respond, Gigist abruptly turned to the roof's entrance. In unison with the other Dark King's voices, he said:

"Him!"

"If you insist on fighting this out," replied one Fuuga Kudoh, striding out with his ring glowing. "Then we finish this in the Ouroboros Realm. Not here."

"As if you should tell us what to do! We shall dictate the terms!"

Under the thunder of their voices, she felt Spanner come up from behind - she knew his footsteps. "We need to recoup. The adults have a lot to explain, if we're to settle this."

She briefly glimpsed both Kyoka and Minato teleporting the others to safety, Houtaro in particular protesting leaving his key partner Chemies behind.

"I want this to be over as much as you do," she agreed, and with the flash of alchemy, they departed.

Answers?

As everyone else left the battlefield in a hurry, Atropos made her approach. It wasn't so much as likely as an inevitability that any distraction a Kudoh provided was time-limited.

While normally she hated the man, for this one thing she could thank him. The anomalous Malgam was more like a mecha than previous Chemies; with Clotho's (reluctant) help, an access panel made itself visible along one side of its back.

Which meant climbing would be necessary. Oh joy.

Still, to provide her father an assist, she shouldn't dismiss this opportunity.

She brought up Geryon's artefact - his last living will and testament, though not for much longer - and gave her younger sister a curt nod. Be ready to run.

Then, with careful application of alchemy, she pried the panel open.

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!

With nothing else to lose, she flung the paneling behind as a distraction and jammed the golden cube into the closest thing to a 'battery' slot as she could find.

Then she, too, was lost to darkness.
---
Discussion with Geryon is a complex matter. In such a close conjunction it is easy to read how he is not to be trusted - his intent, unleashed, on this world would cause a high degree of harm and stagnation.

When the alternative is being alone in untoward circumstances, however, there is much you would rather endure. So you switch between accessing memories of similarly difficult Voidtreckers and continue.

And then, abruptly, he too is gone.

Alternate Power Source Detected. Match Found. Deupload is in progress...

It is not a detethering, but the process is similar enough that anxiety overtakes you, swamps your systems and makes escape feel distant.

Worse, something - someone? - is pinging you, accessing tethers that had long since fallen dormant. The pain of absence floods you.

'WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!'

Their rage is, however briefly, your rage. And you do now what you could not have done at the end, when the journeying was over.

You run.
---

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Hopper1, Houtaro, etc. | Kamen Rider Gotchard

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Steamliner Makes A Friend

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