"With this, there's nothing to worry about!"
The red Double Driver materialized in her pale, raised hand as the heiress Kiana flashed a confident, victorious smile.
"This is… oh? There's actually armor this amazing?"
Pushing up the black-rimmed glasses Nagami had given her, True Kiana hadn't even voiced her question before the answer flowed into her mind.
Thanks to their psychic link as alternate selves, she instantly understood what the Double Driver could do.
Honestly, when two alternate versions of the same person were together, keeping personal secrets was nearly impossible.
Hearing a voice identical to her own, the heiress Kiana blinked in surprise.
She glanced first at her otherself beside her, then at the little tuna Kiana who was now peeking curiously from behind Mei.
'Wait… how exactly does this thing choose its partner?'
"Whoa! Isn't that Nagami's transformation belt?!"
The little tuna girl's eyes sparkled.
She vividly remembered transforming with the heiress Kiana before—combining their powers with the Kamen Rider armor had taken them to a whole new level.
In that state, she felt like she could crush her old self with a single punch.
"C'mon, c'mon, Sirin! Let's transform together!"
She ran up eagerly, eyes locked on the belt in the heiress Kiana's hands.
If she could enter that mode again, even fighting Emperor-class Honkai beasts would be a breeze.
"Um..."
The heiress Kiana looked at her beaming face with an odd expression as she attached the Driver around her slender waist.
"Okay, but I think…"
No matter if the Driver chose based on compatibility or closeness, the heiress Kiana—who had thoroughly studied the nature of alternate selves from Nagami—seriously doubted it would choose the little tuna.
'Click—whirr.'
The sound of gears and chains echoed as the red belt materialized around True Kiana's waist.
She looked down in stunned silence.
"Wait… it really chose me?"
She had already read the reason straight from the heiress Kiana's mind.
"Wha—!?"
The little tuna girl stared at the scene, totally dumbfounded.
Her wide eyes sparkled with disbelief.
"Why not me?!"
"Maybe it's because you're too dumb. The belt probably doesn't want you," True Kiana replied, her voice soft and calm.
"Sirin!! You always call me dumb! Are you picking a fight!?"
Kiana glared at True Kiana—who looked exactly like her but radiated an older-sister vibe.
Her voice had that teeth-gritting edge only true frustration could bring.
"Don't be silly. You're just adorable idiot, Kiana~"
True Kiana smiled and patted her head gently, eyes squinting in an oddly affectionate way.
Suddenly feeling an inexplicable sense of danger, Kiana stiffened and quickly retreated behind Mei.
She didn't know why, but something about this Sirin gave her a deeply unsettling feeling.
"Well, since the belt chose me, I guess I'll take the role."
Studying the Cyclone Memory that had just materialized in her hand, True Kiana exchanged a glance with the heiress Kiana.
Without needing to say a word, they both turned and headed toward the interior of the Heliopolis.
When using the Double Driver, the subconscious of the secondary user would leave their body—so it was crucial for at least one of them to transform in a secure location.
"Uuugh…"
Kiana let out a pitiful groan.
Even her beautiful, snow-white face couldn't hide the look of pure disappointment—like a child whose favorite toy had just been stolen by her older sibling.
Watching from afar, Himeko piloted a small aircraft toward the open sea and gradually disappeared from sight.
Mei smiled softly and lovingly tapped Kiana's head.
"All right, Kiana. Time for us to move out."
"Okaay…"
Still pouting, Kiana clung to Mei's slender arm, a bit moody—but she quickly composed herself.
A serious expression replaced her sulk. A brutal fight was coming.
"Bronya, Sirin, let's go!"
Inside the Valkyrie launch bay, they donned their White Comet and Scarlet Fusion armors.
Then, side by side, the two jumped off the ship.
"Mhm—Heavy Bunny!"
Out of thin air, a mechanical titan emerged—a beautiful blend of futuristic technology and raw power.
Sparks of static crackled softly around its frame, as if the machine was responding to Bronya's voice.
It descended gently in mid-air. Bronya leapt up with practiced ease, landing on its smooth, arm-like shoulder shell and settling into position.
She waved her small hand downward, and together, she and Heavy Bunny dropped into the battlefield below.
"Let's do this—my other self!"
Even if her partner wasn't standing beside her, True Kiana could feel their link through focus alone.
Alternate selves were practically made to be Kamen Rider W partners.
"Hmph~"
True Kiana gave a light snort, though the corners of her lips curled upward.
Her slender fingers pressed down on the Cyclone Memory.
[Cyclone!]
The sound echoed across the void as she slotted the memory into her Driver.
Flashes of glowing green data streamed around her.
The memory transferred to the heiress Kiana's side.
[Joker!]
She firmly pressed her Joker Memory into place.
Then, flipping out of the launch bay, the heiress Kiana somersaulted through the air—pulling open the Driver mid-fall.
"Transform!" 2 X
[Cyclone! Joker!]
A violent green gale howled to life, spiraling around her petite, graceful figure—glowing emerald light intensifying as it wrapped her in a vortex of transformation.
As the roaring wind died down, the pure white battle armor transformed into rider battle suit, colored in a swirling mix of black and green.
Her once ice-blue eyes now gleamed like radiant rubies.
White hair and crimson eyes—this was the final form of a true anti-Honkai warrior!
A harsh screech, like steel tearing through the air, echoed as the young lady caught sight of the Honkai beast swarm spiraling up toward her from below.
They were Charger-class Honkai beasts, known for their dive attacks and razor-sharp wings—nicknamed "mosquitoes" by players.
In-game, they were weak cannon fodder. In the real world, they weren't much stronger—except for one problem: the sheer number of them.
They were swarming in grotesque density, enough to give anyone with trypophobia a heart attack on the spot.
"Now then... let's tally up your sins!"
The voice that rang out was identical to hers—same tone, same pitch as if it were coming from the same person.
The young lady removed the Cyclone Memory and slotted it into the device at her side. With a sharp press of a button:
[Cyclone! Maximum Drive!]
Her graceful figure spun midair to adjust her posture.
Her outstretched right leg became wreathed in howling green wind, a savage tornado surging beneath her, kicking up a maelstrom like a brewing storm.
She shot downward like a comet, an unstoppable force.
Accompanied by the roar of gale-force winds and a sharp cry, she sliced through the swarm of Honkai beasts in an instant.
The surge of Honkai energy and razor-edged winds shredded the cluster like blades through paper.
She landed in a squatting pose on the ground just beneath the swarm, her flowing white hair whipped into the air like a river caught in a storm.
As the wind settled and her long, snowy hair slowly drifted down, she stood upright and—without even turning around—snapped her fingers.
'Snap!'
In that moment, the entire suspended swarm of Charger-class beasts exploded like a sky full of fireworks, blast after thunderous blast echoing through the battlefield.
"Man... this thing's really useful!"
A crimson gleam flashed in her right eye—True Kiana's casual remark.
"Wah! That was so cool! Ugh, why didn't that belt choose me!?"
With a sulky pout and an expression full of injustice, Kiana could only vent her frustration on the next wave of enemies.
She dashed forward with a sudden burst of speed.
Her precise trigger pulls landed clean hits on the incoming dead soldiers, their dark blood and torn flesh splattering through the air.
Even Mei, watching the young lady's flawless and heroic display, couldn't help but sparkle with stars in her eyes as she cheered inwardly:
———————————————————————
[Mei]: Hey, other me—remember what C.C. taught us?
[Herrscher of Thunder]: Of course I do. That's my power in the first place. How could I not know how to use it?
[Mei]: Then explain the principle to me! I wanna try it too!
[Herrscher of Thunder]: …
———————————————————————
Of course the Herrscher didn't understand the formulas behind it.
Maybe it was just that special. C.C. had gone out of her way to give a hands-on tutorial, and all the Herrscher did was memorize how electromagnetic forces worked using her Authority.
———————————————————————
[Herrscher of Thunder]: I'll demonstrate it with your body. Pay close attention.
———————————————————————
Her pupils suddenly turned crimson as the Herrscher took over, facing the incoming Emperor-class Honkai beast.
She activated her bio-electric current to amplify her cellular activity for speed, then wrapped her foot in high-voltage current, layering it with multiple rotating magnetic fields.
The crackle of electricity became almost deafening. Brilliant, chaotic purple lightning erupted violently from her right foot.
"Rider Kick!"
She twisted midair and dropped like a meteor, her toned thigh unleashing a staggering force that ripped through the air like an explosive warhead, wrapped in dazzling arcs of lightning.
In a single blinding flash, the Emperor-class Honkai beast froze in place and was utterly annihilated.
Its silicon-based body shattered with a tortured wail, crumbling into glittering motes of light that drifted down, then vanished without a trace.
"Hmph~!"
"Uh… what?"
Kiana stood there dumbfounded, staring at the cool, composed Mei, then glanced at the young lady striding off toward C.C., still flexing her skills like nothing happened.
'W-What the hell is going on here?!'
'Why am I the only one being left out?!'