Ophelia feels like surrounded by a bunch of teenagers again. She couldn't understand their egoistic twisted personality except Emu. The black-haired woman can get along with Emu due to their childhood pasts. Kiriya is good at manipulating his words but refuses to work with anyone unless he does something to make Emu agree. Hiiro prefers to work alone and get the job done but when Taiga is involved, they would be at each other's throats. Taiga wanted to obtain all the Gashats so he could defeat the Bugsters and the only Kamen Rider.
"Why can't they just get along?" Ophelia couldn't help but ask out loud. "This is much worse than I've been with the others back then." They used to be enemies but gradually became allies to stop the evil lurking in their homes.
"You're going to have a permanent scowl if you keep doing that, pretty nurse." She looks up to see Sakura holding a coffee in her hand. "Coffee?" Sakura offered a hot beverage to her fellow friend.
"Thanks, I needed that." She smiles and accepts the offer. "Did you finish your shift today, Sakura-san?" Ophelia asked her colleague.
"Yeah, and I saw you sitting down in deep thoughts with a scowl on your face." Sakura pointed out and Ophelia rolled her eyes. "Okay, who died and made you stay awake instead of sleeping?"
"No one and I couldn't go back to sleep." Ophelia answered and refused to tell her the whole truth. "It would take a lot of time to adjust my body to get used to the night shift work."
"Right." Sakura didn't believe her words but let it slide. "Boyfriend? Or girlfriend? I'm not judging if you're gay or straight or any status."
Ophelia gives her a deadpanned look. "Straight and it's not something to do with romance." She answered bluntly. "It's like I've been surrounded by a bunch of children than adults. It's like they're acting high and mighty alpha here rather than working together."
Sakura hums and sits down next to her. "That's a really deep problem you got there, my friend. If I have to guess here, I think it's related to male considering you mention alpha here." Ophelia nodded her head. "How long have they been working together?" She asked curiously.
"A month?" Ophelia answered nervously and didn't even know who became the Kamen Rider in the first place. "They just need to drop their ego and get on with it." She sighs heavily. "Is it too much to ask for them to get along, Sakura-san?"
"It kinda depends on the history they had before." Sakura answered calmly. "Are you talking about our staff, Ophelia?"
"No!" She waves it in denial. All the staff members are friendly and she never had trouble working with them so far. "It's someone I know and whenever I get tangled with them— it ends up pretty badly."
"I see." Sakura stood up and brushed off the specks of dust from her skirt. "Whatever their problems are, they need to sort it out before things get out of control."
Ophelia nodded her head and smiled. "Thanks for the advice, Sakura-san. Even though you give me a piece of advice without knowing the whole story."
Sakura waves it off with a smile. "Hey, you're my friend and a newbie nurse of ours." She smirked while Ophelia rolled her eyes but smiled. "The last thing I need is a bunch of single men wanted to know who made you scowl like that."
Ophelia doesn't hesitate to punch her shoulder and Sakura yells in pain. "I'm not seeing anyone." She already had a fanbase at the hospital and some men asked her out but flatly rejected them. "The look of your eyes said that you still have feelings for the person." Sakura pointed out and Ophelia remained silent. "Okay, I'm not going to deduct your life anymore because that would be an invasion of privacy."
It scared Ophelia to find out Sakura is good at analyzing human behavior no matter how good you're masking your feelings. "Thank you—" Her phone beeps and receives a message from Emu.
"𝗕𝘂𝗴𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗢𝗸𝗮𝗱𝗮 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴." Ophelia replied okay before closing it. "Have a nice day and I'll talk to you later?"
"Sure. Don't hesitate to ask if you need help, Ophelia." She only received a smile from her.
————————————————————
Ophelia in her Moon Knight form is flying towards the manufacturing site. She's blending in the clouds to avoid catching anyone's attention.
"Ah, this is bad!" Ophelia flies faster and creates a huge forcefield to protect the building.
Boom!
She gritted her teeth after taking 3 missiles and looked behind to see the workers outside. They wonder where the explosion is coming from. "Get away from here and find somewhere safe!" Ophelia yelled at them as they obeyed.
"Who would've thought the Fairy came here first without them." She lowered her shields to see Taiga appear out of nowhere.
"Taiga." Ophelia greeted him without facing him while staring at the orange Gashat on Bugster's head. "That's the Jet Combat Gashat. I don't know what kind of game it was." She laughs nervously and is completely clueless when it relates to games.
Taiga rolls his eyes at her lack of game knowledge. "An aerial shooting game where you pilot a fighter jet? It will be mine." He declared getting his driver ready.
"Not on my watch." Ophelia warned him. "I won't let you have it."
"You're not even using a Gashat but if you're in my way." He pressed his Gashat. "I'll stop you and not even your lover could back you up."
"Bang bang shooting!"
"Henshin!"
"Gashatto! Let's game! Meccha game! Muccha game! What's your name? I'm a Kamen Rider."
"Tactics level 2!" Taiga levels himself up.
"Gacchaan! Level up!"
"Ba-Ba-Bang! Bang-Ba-Bang! (Yow!) Bang Bang Shooting!"
"Gashacon Magnum!" Taiga summons his gun and shoots at the Jet Combat Bugster but it flies away and dodges it.
Ophelia flies and tries to slash the Bugster but it deflects it and pulls her close to take the hit from the bullet. "Gah!" She cried out in pain as the Bugster slammed her hard on the ground.
It created a huge dent and Ophelia groaned in pain. "I'm going to feel that pain later on." She wheezed and someone pulled her up to reveal Emu and Asuna.
"Did you break anything, Fee-chan?" Emu asked worriedly while checking for any injuries.
"Sore but I'll live." Ophelia answered with a painful smile.
They noticed Taiga managed to retrieve the Jet Combat Gashat and separate it from the Bugster. They're confused and wondering why Taiga didn't finish the Bugster off.
"What are you doing?" Emu asked him curiously.
"You're a little too late." Taiga commented and looked at the half-beaten Ophelia. "You got careless a bit Fairy-san. The Gashat is mine. I'll be holding on to this Bugster."
"Ha!?" Asuna yelled in shock. "The patient can't be cured if that Bugster isn't defeated!" She explained and worried about Yoshio's condition.
"That is why. Fight me if you wish to save the patient... but with your Gashat as well as Brave's at stake." He notices Ophelia's hologram sword heading in their direction and Taiga immediately shoots it. "That's a low tactic, Fairy-san."
"You used me like a scrape goat so you can obtain it both." Ophelia retorted back in a stern voice.
"Another condition, she wouldn't join in our fight for she's not a Kamen Rider." Taiga included his fighting conditions. "She joins, you won't save your patient."
"You scoundrel..." She clenches her hands in anger and plans a 100 ways to defeat him.
Emu gave Ophelia a look and shook his head. "No way. You're holding the patient's life hostage?"
Taiga scoffs. "The duel will take place at noon tomorrow." He reminded Emu and took the Bugster with him.
"Wait!" Emu yelled to call him back but Taiga ignored him. He looks down to see the workers are alright without any injury thanks to Ophelia's forcefield.
"This is bad." Ophelia sighs heavily and clicks her tongue in annoyance. She made a huge mistake and planned to make it up. 'My parents won't be happy if they find out about this. I'm going to heal the patient tonight so they won't worry about it.' She silently cried and imagined their wrath for breaking a promise.
————————————————————
"He's holding the Bugster hostage?" Haima yelled in shock after Hiiro and Ophelia told him about Taiga's action.
Ophelia is the one who reported everything to Hiiro about today's incident. She asked for a massive favor to Luna to cover her night shift today. The black-haired woman couldn't even catch a break and patting herself for adding Luna's ability to disguise anyone.
"It seems so." Hiiro spoke up and cut his cake. "Hanaya Taiga has gotten as low as he can get." He's angry about Taiga's plan but planning to take part in the duel tomorrow.
Ophelia is nervous to reveal more of healing and silently prays her parents would forgive her. She's with Hiiro and Haima inside the office room.
"Calm down!" Haima gives Hiiro a look seeing his silent anger while Ophelia drinks her tea silently. "Listen. I'm not speaking as the director. I'm speaking to you as your father." He grips Hiiro's shoulder while Ophelia feels awkward and tries to keep herself busy by staring at her cup. "I care about you and Ophelia-chan more than anything else."
Ophelia looks surprised to hear Haima's words. She's no longer Hiiro's girlfriend, Haima still cares for her. "I won't let him manipulate you anymore! As its next director, you will be responsible for this hospital!" The director exclaimed and Ophelia decided to intervene before things got more awkward for them.
"Let's cut to the chase here before things get more complicated for the patient." She exhales and Hiiro stares at her curiously. "Zero Day... I was there at that time with my parents." Ophelia toyed with her fingers nervously. "My mom was infected that time."
"Haruka-san did?" Haima asked and didn't know his dearest friend got involved back then.
"Yes. I was born with these abilities of mine before Bugsters existed." She opens the palm of her hands to reveal a small forcefield before clenches it to disappear. "When most of the people got infected including my mom... I feel useless and hopeless without using my powers to protect my loved ones."
Haima rubs her back to show comfort and Ophelia smiles at the gesture. "I haven't practiced my powers completely. My healing can do a lot of things, heal the wounds and purification." She explained and sighed softly. "I was meant to heal my mom that time but I was out of control— I purified half of the people and ended up in a coma for 3 months." The director looked at her in shock while Hiiro stared at her in surprise.
Hiiro read the news about half of the people who caught a virus were miraculously healed. He didn't expect it was Ophelia who managed to heal or purify them out of control and pay the consequences. It makes sense why Haruka and William didn't want Ophelia to get involved because the Bugsters would see her as a threat and put herself in danger. Ophelia knew the consequences and she's being careful not to reveal more of her abilities.
"I can purify Yoshio-san without getting worried about him disappearing." Ophelia declared and looked at them. "Look, you guys know him than me. Who knows when he's going to keep up his promise and the patient would be gone before the duel starts."
"Are you sure you'll be okay to purify him, Ophelia-chan?" Haima asked worriedly about her well-being. He trusts Ophelia's skills but worries that she might push herself too hard.
"The Bugster would disappear of Taiga's sight once he knows you had something to do with it." Hiiro pointed out and masked his uneasy feelings for her.
"If the Bugster is still inside of a person's body, it will eliminate them through purify." Ophelia answered. "If the Bugster is separated from the body, I can purify them completely. However, the Bugster could feel the connection is gone and becomes an empty shell. He won't suspect a thing that Yoshio-san is cured."
"Will it drain your energy to cure him?"
"He's the only patient and it won't drain much." She assured him and leaving the fact her parents would get angry for using it again.
————————————————————
Hiiro is standing right next to Ophelia to ensure her safety. Ophelia informed Emu and Asuna of her plan and they yelled in shock at her decision. Emu is worried about her plan.
"Are you sure about this, Fee-chan?" Emu asked her one more time in case she might change her mind.
"Positive and we don't know how long he's going to keep it up." Ophelia answered and looked at Yoshio. "Sir, you have my word that I can help you."
"I trust you for this nurse." Yoshio answered closing his eyes to relax.
She exhales and raises her hands above Yoshio's body.
"Mezame sasou uta o
Hito wa kokoro de kurikaesu
Hikari kie ta sora ni
Ai o tomosu yo ni"
It's been a while since they see Ophelia's healing up close but she purifies Yoshio this time. The glow on his body was gone and Emu immediately checked Yoshio's condition. He gasps to see his health improve without a virus inside of him.
"Fee-chan, you did it." Emu whispered amazed by her miracle healing skills.
"He's ready to discharge and..." Ophelia's eyes begin to see black dots. "I haven't gotten much sleep today—" She leans on Hiiro's side by accident.
"Ophelia!?" Hiiro looked at her worriedly.
She's completely unconscious and hears her soft snore. Hiiro shook his head and hid his amusement. 'You are something, Ophelia.' It's one of the things he loves about her. Ophelia has always been selfless and put people first before her.
"She is tired." Asuna commented in a hushed tone and Hiiro silently carried her in bridal style. "Hiiro?"
Hiiro gives them a silent treatment and leaves with Ophelia in his arms. Emu shook his head in amusement. "Hiiro-san really cares for him despite the fact they're no longer together."
"Maybe he wanted to protect her?" Asuna asked and never seen Hiiro's soft look before. 'I've never seen the soft side of his when it comes to Ophelia.' The disguised nurse could see the chemistry between them and hoped they could go back together.
————————————————————
Luna is joining Emu and Asuna today once her shift is over. She is surprised when Hiiro drops Ophelia at their house and manages to find their secret key. It amazes her behind Hiiro's stoic look, he cares for Ophelia deeply.
'Under any circumstances, let Ophelia rest.' Hiiro orders the small android and causes her to huff in annoyance.
"Who does he think he is?" Luna grumbled under her breath. "Who stole his sweets and dictates what he wants if it involves my master?"
Emu smiles nervously and pats the small android's head. "Hiiro-san cares for her deeply."
"I still don't forgive him for breaking her heart." Luna pointed out bluntly and refused to forgive Hiiro's action.
The three of them take Yoshio to his work factory. They destroyed some parts of the building as Ophelia managed to save innocent people's lives. Yoshio is surprised at how much damage it causes and worries about his staff member's well-being.
"It's... over, isn't it?" Yoshio asked them sadly.
Emu kneels close to his eye level. "That's not true." He assured him.
Yoshio looked up to see his workers were still there and trying to retrieve some things away from the damaged building.
"Boss!" One of the workers yelled in shock to see his supervisor again. "Boss has returned!" He warned the other staff members before lowering the box.
"Boss?"
"Boss!"
"Boss, how are you doing?" They all asked worriedly.
"I'm sorry for not visiting you in the hospital."
"How do I put it... I'm sorry that this has happened to the factory. This purple fairy saved us!"
The three workers bowed down deeply to Yoshio.
"Everyone is doing their best to repair the factory." Emu explained after seeing Yoshio's confusion. "The Purple Fairy— Moon Knight saved everyone back then and she apologized for not protecting your building." He didn't want to reveal Ophelia's name in public whenever she transformed into her Moon Knight form.
"Eh?" Yoshio blinks his eyes and looks at him.
"The cause of your stress, Okada-san, is not the factory." The genius gameplayer pointed out. "You're worried about the livelihood of your workers, aren't you?"
Asuna nodded her head in agreement. "That's why Okada-san'd body didn't disappear and allowed Ophelia to do it."
Emu nodded his head. "There is no need to shoulder all the responsibility. Because other people are waiting for you." He assured Yoshio.
"That's right! Get well soon, Boss!"
"We'll always be waiting for you!"
"Let's rebuild the factory, together!"
All of Yoshio's workers wish him well and assurance to rebuild the factory together. It warms Yoshio's heart to see how they're loyal to him and looking forward to seeing him back to work.
"We will..." Yoshio answered while holding back tears of happiness.
All of the workers smile in happiness and look forward to seeing what future awaits them.
"Dad..." They turned around to see Shiori calling Yoshio. "Dad, I'm sorry." She apologizes for her irrational behavior. "I... didn't understand your feelings"
"Shiori..." Yoshio calls his daughter's name in a solemn tone.
All of the workers move back to give them a space. Asuna smiles at the scene before looking at Emu and Luna. "I'm happy for them."
"Yes." Emu nodded his head. "Who's looking after Ophelia? Since you're with us." He asked the small android curiously.
"Haruka-sama and William-sama are taking care of her at the moment." Luna answered while playing with her hair. "Hiiro and I gave us a surprise visit and told me to join you guys."
Emu winced and felt sorry for Ophelia. Ophelia's parents can be overprotective and would lecture her for acting recklessly. "At least she's in safe hands. All that's left to do is to defeat the Bugster."
————————————————————
Taiga is waiting for their arrival with Bugster using it as a hostage. He smirked seeing Emu and Hiiro's arrival without Ophelia this time.
"You've earned my admiration for not fleeing." Taiga complimented as they agreed on his terms.
"Don't get the wrong idea." Emu exclaimed. "I only came here to save the patient." He leaves out the fact Ophelia healed Yoshio and needed to destroy the Bugster.
"I'm surprised the Fairy didn't join to cheer you guys." He steps on the Bugster's head. "I guess she knew her place."
Hiiro narrowed his eyes at Taiga's words. "Don't you dare talk to Ophelia that way, Taiga." He retorted back coldly. "You shouldn't underestimate her skills just because Ophelia isn't with us today."
"Speak for yourself." He scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Didn't you break up with her two years ago?" His eyes widened in shock before masking it but Taiga saw his expression. "You're acting like it didn't happen. If I were you, don't give her too much hope to get her back." Taiga overheard the conversation between him and Haima back then. He didn't even know what Ophelia saw in him and only received a heartbreak.
"You..." Hiiro clenches his hands tight.
"Let the game begin!" Taiga declared and they all readied their Gashats.
"Bang bang Shooting!"
"Taddle Quest!"
"Mighty Action X!"
"Henshin!"
"Henshin!"
"Henshin!"
"Gashatto"
"Let's game!"
"Meccha game!"
"Muccha game!"
"What's your name?"
"I'm a Kamen Rider."
None of them notice someone is watching them from far distance.
"It's strange that Elena didn't show up." The person spoke up as their voice is deeply masculine.
"She exhausted herself and purified old man." The person leans against the rock as their voice is feminine.
"She overdid it herself." He shook his head in amusement. "Elena didn't change at all apart from her name."
"She's always been a selfless girl, Zilar." The female reveals the name of her accomplice. "Right now, we're here to observe them more."
"They have a lot of work to do if it means to stop the Bugster." Zilar shrugged his shoulder while crossing his arms. "Kanade, I know why Elena refused to unleash her full powers. These guys lack something she couldn't provide answers but only themselves."
Kanade chuckled in amusement. "I could imagine she's this close to whacking them by her famous paper fan."
Both of them remembered whenever Ophelia saw something she didn't like and lost her temper, she would whack them with her paper fan.
————————————————————
The three of them are brawling with each other to defeat Taiga. "Only a pathetic man obsessed with games would use other's lives as his pawns!" Hiiro exclaimed and attacked in sync with Emu.
Taiga takes the hit and rolls over to the ground. He chuckled weakly and looked at them. "Without a doctor's license, I do not have an obligation to save people." He told them bitterly. Haima got his license revoked and lost his job as a Doctor. He started to shoot them with his guns.
Taiga readied his new Jet Combat Gashat and they looked surprised to see it. "Jet Combat!"
"Gacchaan! Gashatto!" The orange robot appeared.
"If you want to play doctor, then do it at the hospital." Taiga commented sarcastically.
"Gacchaan! Level up!"
"Tactics Level 3!"
"Ba-bang, bang, bang ba-bang, Bang Bang Shooting! I gotcha! Jet, jet in the sky! Jet, jet, Jet Combat!" He upgraded himself to level 3.
Emu is surprised to see his new transformation. "That's... Snipe's Level 3." He couldn't help but be awestruck by his new upgrade.
Both of them are on guard while Taiga shoots the barrel to collect one of the items he needs. He shoots the coin of shrink and flies towards it.
"Shrink!"
Taiga flies far from the distance and looks behind him. "If you want to save the patient, then you'll have to beat me." He showed them the miniature Bugster in his hand.
Taiga flies towards them and attacks back and forth while Emu and Hiiro can't land a hit due to his flight advantage. He summoned his machine guns and started to shoot them rapidly as smoke appeared.
"Skill Level 3!"
"Dai Dai Dai Henshin!"
Both of them upgraded themselves. Hiiro tried to increase more of his attack but Taiga dodged it and attacked back. "Looks like you're no match for me." Taiga commented.
"Gah!" Hiiro cried out in pain.
"Gashuun!" His DoReMiFa Gashat separates from its owner. Hiiro tries to retrieve it back but Taiga shoots it and snatches it back from him.
"Here's the first one." He looks at the Gashat before glancing at his next target.
"Damn it!" Hiiro cursed under his breath.
Emu throws a punch toward Taiga and catches him off guard. "Come down and fight us fair and square." He pointed out that none have a flight ability like Taiga and Ophelia.
"The sideshow is over!" Taiga yelled and showed them the miniature. "Do whatever you want to save the patient." He throws it toward Emu's direction The Bugster's size goes back to normal.
The Bugster throws punches towards Emu and he fights back. "If I defeat him, I'll clear the game!" Emu exclaimed as Ophelia's theory is right of the Bugster being separated from its host. They become mindless and start to grow weaker once she purifies someone.
Hiiro struggles to stand up and looks confused about Taiga's actions. "Why did you let go of the Bugster?" He muttered under his breath.
"Gashuun!" Taiga summons his final attack move.
"I'm the only Kamen Rider needed." Taiga declared and Hiiro gasped in shock.
"It's a trap!" The genius surgeon warned Emu and finally found out his real plan.
"Gashatto! Finisher!" He grips the handle of the machine gun. "Jet critical strike!"
"Eh!?" Emu turns to see Taiga readied his final move while the Bugster holds him down.
Taiga shows no remorse in attacking Emu and Bugster nonstop. Emu cried out in pain and crashed down.
"Gashuun!" He reverts to Level 2.
Taiga caught the last Gashat's he needed and landed safely. "Mission complete." He declared and cleared the game.
Hiiro and Emu couldn't help but look helpless as Taiga took two Gashats away from them.
"Gacchaan! Gashuun!" Taiga reverts himself to normal. He's satisfied to retrieve it and vows to take Kiriya's Gashat next time.
"The Gashats..." Emu muttered standing up slowly. "... do not exist for your pleasure." He growled weakly. "They're for saving the patients!"
"It seems that you know nothing..." Taiga retorted back. "About the true meaning of becoming a compatible Gamer Driver user, and continuing to use the Rider Gashats." He explained and still wondered how Emu managed to transfer without having to undergo the Compatibility Surgery. It's a miracle he managed to become a Kamen Rider without one but it's still suspicious for him.
Taiga walked away leaving Emu confused. "The true meaning... of becoming a compatible user? What does he mean?" He muttered under his breath and Hiiro heard him.
Hiiro has a feeling Emu didn't undergo surgery like him and the others.