Kagami Arata was having a bad day. Scratch that, a bad week. And it had started out relatively well, too! Swaying down the sidewalk he pondered the recent events in his life. Good things: He had finally gotten a Zector. And this time...he just might be able to keep it. His partnership with the Gatack Zector seemed a bit more suited to him than the painfully temporary one with ZeBee. He winced when his foot skidded on an uneven patch of concrete.

Bad things: Though the explosion at the factory had taken out most of the Worm's Nest, there had still been a great deal of the buggers to defeat. He'd been suffering from nearly fatal injuries as it was, but now he'd been working overtime to fight the sudden wave of Worms forced out of their burning nest. He couldn't even remember the last time he had eight hours of sleep in a row! Tendou was doing his part, of course. But between him, Tsurugi, Kageyama and Kagami himself...there had been more than enough Worm to go around.

But finally, they'd killed off the surplus. Kagami paused for a moment near a bench. His body was at its limits. He'd nearly died in the factory, from injuries he'd received from the Worm. It didn't help that he had already been injured before that, either. And by his own Zector at that. What was up with that, anyway?? Kagami pouted, wanting to sit down on the bench but doubting that he'd be able to muster the will to get back up again.

Well, at least he'd be able to get some sleep now. In fact, Tadokoro-san had insisted upon it. Kagami knew he needed it...but the idea that he'd be the only one not fighting...irked him. He'd finally gotten the strength to be the hero he'd always aspired to be...and he already needed to take a break. Tendou would probably never let him live it down. If he cared at all.

Of course, all of his objections were shot down quite thoroughly by Misaki-san.

"Kagami-kun" she'd said in that half scolding half kindly voice, "It is in ZECT's best interest that you are in optimum health. It's dangerous for you and us if you aren't fighting to your best ability. The number of Worm attacks has gone down to less than normal. Most likely they are recovering from the Factory loss. You should take the opportunity to recover your strength as well"

And thus, Kagami Arata had found himself more or less on "medical leave." Tadokoro-san had assured him that they could handle things and that they would contact him if any emergency came up. It wasn't like he was the only Rider out there. Just only one of the two ZECT had control over. He'd even gone so far as to ask Yumi-san for some time off his job at the restaurant. He'd expected to be chided but apparently his exhaustion had been apparent even over his cell phone; which had been confiscated by Misaki-san afterwards. Apparently she'd been serious about him recuperating in isolation from ZECT activities.

So now, he was headed back to his apartment, legs protesting every footstep and wondering when the ground was going to decide it would stop moving. He hadn't even trusted himself to ride home on his motorcycle but had later realized he'd had only enough money for cab fare to take him to a spot a few blocks from home. He should have taken up that offer of a ride home by Tadokoro-san. But, no. He couldn't ask them to divert resources just because he was feeling a bit under the weather. Kagami would have slapped his own forehead if he didn't think it would KO him.

He really should go see a doctor, too. That's what Misaki had said. Probably because he had a bit of a fever. Ninety-nine degrees wasn't that bad. Well, he would go, eventually. Not now, but...after a good night's rest. He hadn't had a chance to properly take care of his injuries. Mostly he'd been making liberal use of peroxide and band aids before collapsing on the couch for four or five hours of sleep. But, he supposed, that was part of being a hero. He grinned a bit deliriously. Yep! Health hazards are a cheap price for saving the world...He stopped grinning when he realized he was tilting dangerously to the right. It didn't help the floor had decided to move faster. Darn moving ground. What did he ever do to it?

Steeling himself, Kagami straightened from his awkward leaning position and headed, more or less in the general direction of "home". He could make it! He wasn't that...dizzy. And he was relatively sure once he got to bed that the Gatack Zector hallucination buzzing at him from his right would disappear. He just...had to...go through the underpass and...

An odd clicking noise pervaded his clouded mind. Of course, he'd encounter Worm now. From the looks of it, about six of them had been tailing him... Aaaaah, so that explained why his Zector had been hovering by him. He didn't remember calling it, but least he happened to be wearing the belt. He didn't think he'd be able to navigate the buckle at this point.

Holding out his hand (a little less energetically than usual) Kagami caught the Zector (in only two tries) and henshined. Almost immediately he felt a burst of energy from the belt, infusing his body with the added adrenaline needed to fully utilize the Rider System. He'd been relying a lot on this rush for the past few days. His vision immediately steadied and he realized that there were actually only about three green Salis Worms. He didn't think he could push his body into Clock Up, but the fight shouldn't take too long. This was the weakest type, after all. He'd do one last workout, head back home to see if that orange juice in the back of his fridge hadn't gone past the expiration date, then slip into a nice coma for a few days.

...Of course, after he thought that, one of them had to molt. It made a burbling noise as it shed the chrysalis and changed into its stronger form. It looked to be...tentacle based too. Kagami always thought octopi were kind of creepy; especially since a certain visit to Sealand with Ryou during his childhood. Quelling a shudder, Kagami thought it was best to keep a distance by firing rounds at the beast with the Vulcans on his shoulder. The creature made appropriately gurgled screams but didn't look like it was going to be taken down so easily. It spun away at the last moment, the two other Worms moving in to come at Kagami from two different directions. He immediately cast off his Masked Form, pieces of armor shooting at the creatures and stunning them momentarily. Spinning quickly further out of their reach, he unbuckled the double calibers from his shoulders and spun around, defending and attacking at the same time. The Salis Worms were usually the weakest, but these were faster than normal and Kagami was not in the best condition to chase them around. Still, he swung from each opponent as easily as a practiced martial artist: in motions so smooth it felt like he'd been doing it almost all his life.

Ah, just for this feeling alone he'd have volunteered to be Gatack's punching bag! The mandible-like weapons were so cool! Much better than Tendou's axe thing. Kunai Gun. Whatever. It felt so natural to hold them in his hands; almost as if they'd been made for him specifically. One of the unmolted Worms exploded in a fit of green flame beside him but he'd lost track of the OctoWorm. Had he fled? He tried to look for it while engaging the last other Salis, but he was already starting to feel the strain on his body. This fight was taking too long. He wouldn't even be able to maintain his bond with Gatack Zector if this kept up for much longer! The green alien wasn't making it easy either, almost forcing him to chase after it. There was something about this that bothered him, but he was using all of his concentration just maintaining his mental hold on his Rider system.

All of a sudden his side exploded in pain. The OctoWorm had been clinging to the roof of the tunnel and had shot tentacle like limbs into Kagami when he'd gotten close enough! No wonder the other Worm had only dodged his attacks! He'd been lead to a trap. Coughing at the sudden impact he made the painful attempt to twist free, only to be tossed into the concrete wall of the underpass. Every part of his body screaming in pain, Kagami couldn't move for a second, just barely retaining his Rider form. His head was ringing and the vulcan guns attached to his shoulders seemed to have been badly damaged, too. At least his armor had taken the brunt of the attack on his side. Panting, he managed to stand up, leaning heavily on the wall behind him...only to see that more Worms had arrived! Had this all been planned?! Cursing, Kagami braced himself for what appeared to be an impossible to win fight.

As if they'd been waiting to see if he'd actually get up, two of the newcomer Worms to his left started to charge him. Raising his arms in a defensive position, Kagami paused when he saw a red flash of movement coming from the right. The attacking Worms were knocked off their feet and Kagami's eyes couldn't help but follow the Kabuto Zector as it flew to its Chosen's hand.

Tendou Souji had arrived.

He made one of his usual greetings to the Worm, but Kagami's head was still ringing from the last attack and he missed it. Hope, and Tendou distracting the Worm, gave Kagami somewhat of a second wind. It was never an impossible fight if Kabuto was involved. Kagami threw himself back into the fight. He didn't need to be saved, after all. Not that Kabuto was there to rescue him. (He'd said it enough)

What seemed like hours, but perhaps only minutes, later Kagami and Tendou were standing alone. The Worm were all defeated in a rainbow of explosions. Extremely grateful it was over Kagami limped backwards a bit, back and shoulders falling harshly against the wall behind him. His Zector detached itself from the belt and flew off, soon followed by Kabuto Zector. Tilting his head to get more contact with the cool concrete, Kagami blinked sleepily. Had the day gotten hotter? What time was it, anyway? It seemed a bit darker than he remembered...

A shift of movement to his right made him turn his head slowly. Oh, right. Tendou was looking at him expectantly. Had he missed something? Oh, did he not listen to one of his "Obaachan said" spiels?

"What??" Kagami was very proud for not slurring.

Tendou looked impatiently at him and, raising a finger heavenward, started to repeat himself "Obaachan said that..."

Unfortunately, Kagami didn't get to be enlightened by Obaachan's tip of the day as the floor had decided in that moment to rush to his face. Darn moving floors. Odd that it he hadn't felt it at all though. Before the darkness took him, he could have sworn he heard someone calling his name.