Kuroto braced himself for certain doom. He never expected this to be his death, always thinking of something a bit more heroic.

"Is this really my end…? At the beginning…?" Kuroto said to himself, closing his eyes. However, the strike to his head never came. Rather a blaring of noises came from behind him.

Finisher!

Bakusou! Critical Strike!

Finisher!

Critical Crews-Aid!

Suddenly, out of the blue, Lazer Turbo and Poppy had appeared from behind Kuroto, their finishers blazing out. Poppy came spinning in, beginning to strike and bounce against Brave, sending him back a bit. Lazer Turbo flipped up into the air, energy channeling in his foot, before he came crashing down, his foot making contact with Brave. The resulting blast knocked Brave backwards even more, but not enough to knock him out of his transformation.

"I think we ought to retreat for now." Lazer Turbo said, helping the beaten Kuroto to his feet. The Riders all agreed to this and retreated, as Brave turned around and vanished in a puff of magical smoke.

"What do you suggest we do… Kuroto?" Poppy asked, as Kuroto leaned forward, staring intently at his laptop. He seemed to be locked in place, wondering what he should do next. Develop a new game for their usage? This bootleg game was obviously quite powerful, but also had to have some sort of flaw. Bootlegs were never perfect, only a pale imitation of the true thing. The same had to be correct about Taddle Hearts.

"Brave's power is beyond anything we've ever seen… For a bootleg game that is." Kuroto began typing at his keyboard, having plugged in a Gashat adapter via USB to upload whatever data he had. He had something in mind, but it would require some work to do. "To combat this, we must simply develop a game that is more powerful than this bootleg."

"Ehhh? And how do you suppose to do that?" Parad asked, looking over Kuroto's shoulder and at the computer. Even if he did not like Kuroto that much, he had to give credit where credit was due. Kuroto was a mad genius when it came to game coding. Especially if that's all he did while he was locked up inside of the Proto Origins Gashat.

"I have had many ideas during my tenure inside my game, and one of my feature length games came to mind." Kuroto said, pulling up data from one of his other projects and opening it up in his game coding program.

"What would that be, Pres?" Kiriya asked, cocking his head a little bit.

"A game that would help neutralize that fake game that the enemy had created. It's very much possible the game is corrupting Hiiro Kagami's mind. And thusly, he is obsessed with reviving his fiancé no matter what. Because the game's story must have some grasp over that same concept." Kuroto thought back to the game it was based on, two characters fighting to revive their friend who had lost her heart. One on the side of light, and the other on the side of dark. If Taddle Hearts was dark, then they had to create a game that was light.

"I see. So if we collect that Gashat from him, we'll be able to turn him back, right?"

"Hypothetically speaking, yes. I've observed all I could from Mighty Action Z, but the code is all over the place. It's hard to tell what kind of effect the new virus could have on the human brain of someone with the compatibility surgery already in place." Kuroto explained, clacking away at his keyboard as much as he could.

"So, when will this game be done, Genm?" Parad raised an eyebrow, looking at the code.

"The game will be done when I complete it! The game I have in mind is a spin-off to Poppy's DoReMiFa Beat!" Kuroto, having pulled up the data of his spin-off game, realized he was nearly done with the project. Taking a deep breath, he entered his development mode and began typing away furiously to finish the Gashat.

Everyone simply remained quiet, and watched, in amazement, as Kuroto worked. Kiriya remembered those long hours of re-developing Hyper Muteki after it was erased. It was hell, but he was still impressed by the man's work ethic. Is this truly all he did for almost ten years?

Poppy and Parad nearly fell asleep, only to wake up when they heard Kuroto yell out.

"It's complete! Now to upload the data to the Gashat!" He said, only for an alert to be heard from the CR monitor. "What is it?!"

"It's Hiiro! He's back outside! And he's got a bunch of shadow-y looking Bugsters with him!" Poppy yelled, rubbing her eyes a little bit, as she pulled up the live feed on the monitor.

"It's no use! My Gashat won't be ready in time for this to be done! It still needs time to upload!" Kuroto yelled, shaking his computer a little bit. He needed more time! But there was no time left. The corrupted Hiiro wanted his heart on a silver platter, and he wouldn't stop until the hospital was burned to the ground. That's why he was using those shadow-y Bugsters. To lure out the group. "We need the power of a God to save us now!"

"A god, huh…?" Kiriya said, grabbing Kuroto and pulling him to his feet. He reached into his pocket, removing a badly worn Gashat. It was God Maximum Mighty X. "We overused this quite a lot to help repair the damage done by Chronicle… And you… But this is the most powerful Gashat we have without Hyper Muteki." He handed it to Kuroto, who examined it for a moment. He feared this Gashat. It was heavily developed similarly to the Proto-Gashats, enough to worsen his mind.

"I don't know if I can use this, Kiriya Kujo." Kuroto knew his limits, and this may drive him back toward his worse inhibitions. "Plus, from the wear on it… It may only last me a little while without proper time for repairs."

"Oi, Pres, you've only been back a little while but… I know you can handle this Gashat." Kiriya said, pushing him toward the door. "We'll keep an eye out down here, because I know you… You can do this. Remember what you told me? The game never ends. And you can't let this game end here, can you?"

Kuroto had a look of determination, before nodding. "I… I can do this!" Turning around, he headed out the door and toward the ground level of the hospital. He knew this was a battle he had to do on his own. He just hoped that there was enough power left in the Gashat to do its thing.

Brave was already transformed, flanked by a group of Heartless Bugsters. They simply stood there, robotically, as if waiting for a command. Kuroto arrived soon after, staring down his foe.

"Hiiro Kagami! I've come to claim your bootleg Gashat!" Kuroto announced, attaching his Gamer Driver to his waist.

"You really think you can defeat me? My power far outpowers anything you have!" Brave yelled back, flicking his hand. "Heartless! Bring me Kuroto Dan's heart!"

The monsters took this objective, running forward toward Kuroto. Taking a deep breath, he dodged out of their way. And fought against them the best he could. Running backwards a little, he pulled out the most powerful Gashat and clicked it to activate it.

GOD MAXIMUM MIGHTY X!

"That Gashat! It can't be!" Brave took a step back.

"Grade Billion. Transform." Kuroto said, staying as calm as he could. His rational mind would have to keep on trucking, while his fear took a back seat.

Maximum Click and Load! Click and Open!

I-MMOR-TAL! THE HIGHEST GRADE, THE MOST GODLY OF TALENTS! KUROTO DAN! KUROTO DAN!

Brave stood back as the sudden appearance of Genm's mech body appeared. Taking, yet another, deep breath Genm hit the button on top of the Gashat.

GOD MAXIMUM X!

Genm jumped up into the air, and the mech opened, allowing Genm inside of it to pilot it. He looked over to Brave. Summoning a Gashacon Key Slasher, Genm began running forward. With a flash of light, he easily destroyed the smaller Heartless Bugster.

"Level Billion… I would say the two of us are on similar levels now!" Genm yelled, striking forward at Brave, who responded by blocking with his own Keyblade.

"I thought that Gashat had no more usage!" Brave yelled, as he was soon overpowered by the stronger Rider.

"It has at least one more fight left in it! Most of its energy was utilized to revive those killed by Chronicle, but now its power serves me! And I will defeat you!" Genm yelled, striking him several more times with the sword he held. Each blow was enough to send Brave off his feet and tumbling toward the ground.

Each time he did so, there was another mass gathering of Heartless Bugster, who made their way toward Genm. Again, Genm paid them no heed. His power was more than enough to strike down any Bugster in his way. It was truly the power of a deity.

He could feel his mind drifting. It was not a good thing. The more he thought as he fought, the more he had to restrain himself from using the powers to create games. It was slowly leeching his mind as he fought.

What else could he do? He had to keep on fighting in order to save Brave from himself. To prove he wasn't such a bad guy after all. But it was crawling back into his mind. The Gashat was speaking to him.

"You are a God!" It would say to him. But Kuroto knew better, he had to have known better. He was no god. He was a mere man. And a man who wanted to do better than he had. But he found his reckless fighting causing more and more damage to Brave. Underneath that armor it was impossible to tell how low his health was.

"I am no God." Kuroto responded to the Gashat. He was not that. He would never be that again. He wouldn't let it happen! He turned and blocked an attack from Brave.

"Impossible… Your heart was supposed to be mine!" Brave yelled, running forward and jumping into the air. He pulled the Gashat out of his belt and into the Finisher Slot Holder.

Finisher! Taddle! Critical Strike!

"You really think that will be enough to beat me?!" Genm yelled, closing and opening his Gamer Driver.

Finisher! God Maximum! Critical Blessing!

The large mech jumped into the air, before the limbs retracted inside. The mech soon opened and launched Genm at Brave. Their feet were glowing their respective colors, soon colliding with one another. The result was a large explosion occurring, with Genm falling to the ground in a victorious stance. From the sky, the Taddle Hearts Gashat landed into his hands. He smiled a bit underneath his mask. He pulled the God Maximum Mighty X Gashat out of his Driver, and turned to face Hiiro, who was lying face down on the ground.

The God Maximum Mighty X Gashat soon glowed grey, turning back into a blank template Gashat. Its usage had run out, causing Kuroto to pocket it alongside the bootleg. He walked over and bent down to see if Hiiro was breathing. He was. Soon enough, the genius surgeon got up from his laying position, looking to Kuroto.

"Kuroto… Dan…? Am I… dead?" Hiiro asked, getting up to his feet.

"You are not, Hiiro Kagami. In fact, we are both very much alive!" Kuroto told him, taking the Neo Gamer Driver off his waist. "And I'll be taking this for examination."

"That Driver… What is it? What's going on Kuroto Dan?" Hiiro demanded to know, dusting the dirt off his clothing.

"You don't remember anything?" Kuroto asked, putting a hand up to his chin.

"All I remember was… returning home from work. When I arrived home… Nothing. My memory stops there. Until now."

"Interesting. Very interesting. It seems you were being manipulated, Hiiro Kagami. By a new breed of Bugsters."

"New Bugsters…?! Why didn't I hear of this?!"

"We will explain it all to you, in due time… For now, though, we should get you back to the CR before anyone can grab you and do what they did last time to you." Kuroto said, turning to face the hospital and beginning to walk toward it with Hiiro in tow. What was going on here? Why could he not remember a single thing of his time corrupted? What could be at work here?

What was Kuroto missing? He'd guess that the new Driver he held would hold promising answers.

KAMEN RIDER GENM!

"Kuroto's been kidnapped!"

"His new Gashat may be the only thing we can use to save him."

DOREMIFA IDOL!

Gashats Owned

Kuroto Dan: Proto Mighty Action X Origins, Mighty Action Z, Taddle Hearts, God Maximum Mighty X (Template)

Kiriya Kujo: Bakusou Bike, Proto Gashats, Dangerous Zombie, Shakariki Sports

Parad: Dual Gashat Gear (Perfect Puzzle/Knockout Fighter)

Poppy: Tokimeki Crisis, Unfinished Gashat

Hiiro: Taddle Quest

Emu: ?

Taiga: ?

A/N: Ahhh another chapter. Working on a new fic as well, Kamen Rider Saiba. Another AU ending to Ex-Aid revolving around Nico and her new friends in America as they fight a new Bugster virus breaking out in her city where she lives. She'll be forced to confront certain truths about herself, as she finds herself falling for a certain new someone in her life, while juggling that with her competitive gaming career and her new job as a Kamen Rider. It'll be coming soon! So be on the lookout! And enjoy this chapter! I hope you do!