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It was a normal morning for the doctors in CR. They had long since gotten to the point of not having to deal with game disease very aggressively. Modern medicine was more than enough in every single case.
Today had been a normal morning. And then they got an emergency call. The call said there was a bugster that they had seen come from a civilian.
"How? That... shouldn't be possible." Hiiro was the first to speak his thoughts on the subject.
"Yeah. We should hurry and check it out." Emu replied.
The two doctors got up from their seats and rushed to the scene, Poppy also coming along. They assumed the others would arrive before long as well.
Parad was already on the scene by the time Emu and Hiiro arrived. The bugster was nowhere to be found. The victim was, however. Parad was with her. She looked quite shaken up.
"Parad." Emu called.
Parad looked up at the three. "I... don't think whatever it was is a bugster. It ran off when I attacked."
"We need to follow it." Hiiro stated. "Poppy, please take the patient to CR. We'll figure out what this thing is."
"Be careful, guys..." Poppy said. She helped the patient to her feet and the two of them went off.
"Which way did it go?" Hiiro asked Parad.
"It ran that way." Parad pointed.
"Come on. It couldn't have gotten that far."
The three set off running after the not-bugster. They didn't have to search very hard to find it. It was attacking citizens in a small park.
"Yeah... that doesn't look like a bugster." Emu said quietly as he gazed at the thing.
"Bugster or not, it's hurting people. Let's go." Hiiro said.
Emu and Parad nodded. The three got in a line and put on their drivers. It had been quite some time since any of them had transformed and fought. There hadn't been a need to for ages.
"(Dai) Henshin!"
Once transformed, they rushed at the thing and attacked it. The creature seemed startled by their appearance.
"Eh?! Those aren't the Ryusoulgers..."
They all turned at the sound of a voice. Another being stood nearby.
"I'll handle them." Hiiro wasted no time in switching foes.
"Ah! Help! Minosaur! Do something!" The green creature screamed as they dodged Hiiro's attacks very clumsily.
"Minosaur?" Parad repeated. "Is that what this thing is called?"
"Must be." Emu replied. "Let's take it down fast. I don't like this at all."
"Agreed."
Unfortunately, right as the two went to attack again, the minosaur shot them down. The two rolled across the ground, their transformations coming undone.
"Guys!" Hiiro called out in worry.
He rushed to stand in front of them in case the minosaur tried something else while they were down.
"Let's run, minosaur!"
Instead, the minosaur and the other thing fled the scene. Hiiro sighed and undid his transformation. He glanced back at Emu and Parad.
"That thing was tougher than I expected..." Emu sighed.
"We should tell the others. Before this minosaur does more damage around." Parad suggested.
They went back to CR, calling for Taiga and Kiriya to meet them there to discuss the incident. This was going to be hard to explain. None of them were exactly sure what they had just witnessed.
"So, the thing came from that woman but it isn't a bugster?" Taiga and Kiriya were not taking the news well.
"Right. But... the minosaur thing was like draining something out of the woman to make itself stronger. The green slimey guy was encouraging it." Parad stated. "Whatever it is... it probably isn't good to lose."
"Then we need to find someone who knows about these minosaurs. Right?" Kiriya suggested.
"But... who do we look for?" Poppy asked.
"That green one mentioned something about Ryusoulgers." Hiiro replied. "Who are they?"
"Maybe they're sentai? Kinda fits with the other group names we've heard from sentai before." Emu offered. "When I heard that name it reminded of the Kyurangers so..."
"But then how do we find these Ryusoulgers?" Parad asked.
"Simple." Taiga interrupted the start of a debate. "We find the minosaur and wait. If that's their enemy, they'll come to fight it and we can question them then."
"Good idea!" Poppy said.
With that, they had the beginning of a plan. Now to just hope that they could find the minosaur again easily. And to hope the minosaur wasn't too far away that these Ryusoulgers wouldn't respond to it.
Until they got a call about it again everyone went back to their normal tasks. They were all troubled by the issue, but still had other things that must be done.
Emu stayed in CR for the time being to keep an eye of the patient. Parad stayed with him. Everyone else went on their ways for now. Even Poppy went off, saying she needed to help Hiiro with something.
Emu sat down in a chair and puzzled over the incident again. It still felt so weird. Why only now were they made aware of this creature?
"Emu?"
"Hm? Yeah?" Emu looked up. Parad had sat down opposite of him and was staring at him.
"Is it weird to you as well that a minosaur is so similar to a bugster?" Parad asked.
"I don't think they're that similar, honestly." Emu replied. "That thing didn't seem like it had much of an ability to think. It isn't as sentient as bugsters. And, from the look of it, the minosaur isn't inherently connected to the host like a bugster is. Sure, it's draining her of something but it doesn't seem to have any other use for her like bugsters sometimes did."
"Are they kind of like a trial bugster? Really weak and half the functions are locked?"
"In video game terms I guess it could be like that. It's definitely lower than a bugster. More like a henchman than a villain of its own."
"Interesting... so then that green guy probably isn't a minosaur." Parad stated.
"Probably not. Or else minosaurs are vastly different in abilities." Emu replied, "I... don't know which one is worse honestly."
...
It wasn't until the next day they got a call about the minosaur again. Everyone rushed to the scene. The minosaur was attacking people again.
"Let's try to stall for time until hopefully the Ryusoulgers show up." Taiga stated.
"Understood!"
The four doctors and Parad walked into sight in a line. The minosaur faced them, seeming unnerved a bit again. The green one was also there, everyone noted.
"Eh... there's more of them?" He said. "This isn't... good."
"(Dai) Henshin!"
The five transformed and got into battle stances. The green one ran in front of the minosaur.
"You lot, get 'em!" He yelled.
Strange enemies appeared and stood in the way.
"There's more weird guys...?" Emu questioned. "Just what is going on?"
"No time to talk. Don't let the minosaur escape until we find our Ryusoulgers." Hiiro stated.
"Let's go!"
They rushed into battle, taking on the unknown enemy that stood in their way. Emu and Parad broke through the defenses first and took on the minosaur. They mostly toyed with it, keeping it on them, but not letting it get too close. It would be nice to defeat it but they really needed to talk to people that knew about these things in case more showed up later on.
"Ryusoul change!"
"They're here!" Parad exclaimed at the unknown voices.
"Good. Let's go all in then." Emu replied.
Kiriya joined them on the offense for the minosaur. Hiiro and Taiga were keeping the other guys at bay. And then unknown people jumped in, also transformed into suits.
"Who are you?" The red one asked as he joined in the fight.
"Kamen Riders. And you are...?" Emu answered.
"Ryusoulgers."
"Then this thing is your enemy."
"Yep! Let's take it down together before it grows!"
"Grows?" None of the three Kamen Riders knew if they wanted to ask what that meant.
With the extra help, they were able to defeat the minosaur before long. Hiiro and Taiga sliced down the other enemies with the help of some of the other Ryusoulgers.
Everyone undid their transformations and looked at each other. This was going to be an interesting conversation.
"Why don't we go to CR and talk?" Kiriya suggested first. "Away from prying eyes and ears."
"Will you come with us?" Hiiro questioned the Ryusoulgers.
The six Ryusoulgers talked amongst themselves for a while. Hopefully they'd agree. They needed to know just what had happened.
"Lead the way."
They all went back to CR. During the walk, everyone awkwardly introduced themselves.
"So, what exactly is a minosaur?" They got right down to business when they arrived in CR.
"It's a creature created from a person's minus energy." Koh started explaining. "It drains them of their energy when those feelings are triggered in the person until there's nothing left to take. We don't want to know what happens if that occurs."
"So like how bugsters drain the life of their hosts and how high stress makes it go faster..." Hiiro mumbled under his breath.
"Bugsters?" Asuna repeated. "What's that?"
Everyone looked at Parad without a second thought. Parad awkwardly looked at everyone. Why was he being put on the spot?
"Uh... I'm a bugster. Uh, we're viruses, to put it simply. We infect people through game disease and to become complete and basically have unlimited lives, we would have to kill our host as Brave said." Parad explained quietly. "I... I'm Emu's bugster. But, we work together instead of me hurting him."
"They sound so similar..." Towa commented. "They do basically the same things."
"But bugsters seem to have a conscious, unlike minosaurs." Bamba said.
"True... this is weird."
"What about those other guys that were attacking us? And that slime guy?" Taiga brought them back to the original topic.
"Drunn soldiers. Kinda like disposable henchmen for the Druidons. Uh, that's what Creon is. A Druidon. They're a ancient race that went up to space after the asteroid hit earth. They've come back to try and destroy Earth now." Melto explained. "Minosaurs were created by the Druidons in a sense."
"Where do bugsters originate from? What is this game disease thing?" Canalo asked.
"Uh... that's a very long and confusing story. Basically some guy made it cause he's insane like that and uh, yeah." Emu said. He really didn't know how to explain Kuroto and what he had done.
"The guy wanted to be the ultimate game master. He... made us call him God at one point, if that makes anything clearer about how confusing this story can get." Kiriya added on.
"Right... we'll leave it at that then."
"Oh, but bugsters come from video game characters!" Poppy added on.
"Video game characters...?" Koh repeated. "Who of the characters?"
"Depends on the game." Emu left it at that.
That was a hard thing to explain to people who weren't in the loop. It was easier to only say what they needed and be done with it. Besides, it wasn't like bugsters were an issue anymore.
"But... bugsters don't just continously suck out the life of their host? They can exist together?" Asuna questioned.
Parad did not like this turn of discussion. Everyone seemed to be expecting him to go and answer these things. Just cause he was a bugster didn't mean he had to be the one telling these people things. Why couldn't they ask Poppy? She was a bugster too!
"Well... I'm kind of a special case..." Parad replied quietly. "Most bugsters inherently do that to their hosts whether they intend to or not. I... it's a long story... let's just say... I was removed from my host before I was meant to be."
"Oh... sorry. I guess it must be sensitive to discuss."
"Are minosaurs connected to their hosts in any way besides draining them of their energy?" Taiga changed the topic.
"No? Bugsters are?" Koh replied.
"Yes. If a bugster becomes complete, they actually have the memories of their host. Often times they will adopt similar mannerisms to their host even if they're incomplete." Emu answered. "Parad and I are able to actually feel each other's emotions due to our connection."
"Maybe bugsters and minosaurs aren't that similar then..." Melto mumbled.
"But the minosaurs act on the host's minus emotions. It's still kind of similar to adapting mannerisms then." Canalo argued.
"Oh... right."
"Does it really matter if they're similar?" Towa questioned. "They're different things, so why do we care?"
"Perhaps we can learn some things due to their similarities." Bamba replied.
"Can we?" Towa seemed a bit doubtful.
"Uh... I got one! How do you stop the bugster from hurting the host?" Koh asked.
"You have to get a game clear." Kiriya answered, "It varies based off the game the bugster came from, but most times it's simply killing them since they're normally terrorizing citizens."
"That's the same for the minosaurs then... to stop it we have to kill them." Koh seemed a bit disappointed that the answer was the same.
"Is there any big difference between these things then?" Asuna questioned. "They really do feel like the same thing in different fonts."
"I don't suppose minosaurs can possess their hosts, can they?" Poppy raised a question.
There was a long silence from the Ryusoulgers at that question. They kept looking at each other.
"No. That's the one thing they haven't seemed to have the ability to do." Melto finally replied. "That sounds scary."
Emu glanced at Parad before he spoke. "It can be if it's being used for evil. But, it has benefits. If Parad and I combine our powers like that, we're basically invincible."
"I hope no minosaur ever figures that out then..."
They continued to talk, comparing things between the two. It was strange to them all about how two different beings could be so similar but function differently at the same time.
The conversation was cut short from a call the Ryusoulgers got. Another minosaur had just been spotted.
"Do you guys want to come help again?" Koh offered.
"We don't need their help." Bamba nudged him toward the door.
"I want to go see it." Parad stated.
"We can go." Emu replied. "If you'll let us."
"Come on!"
...
The Ryusoulgers and Emu and Parad arrived on the scene. The minosaur was attacking people.
"What is it saying?" Emu asked. The minosaur was chanting something he couldn't make out.
"Destroy?" Canalo said.
"It... is destroying things. Checks out."
"The words it says often give us ideas as to what it came from." Koh explained. "Though, it isn't easy to determine sometimes."
"Enough talk. Let's fight!"
The Ryusoulgers lined up and transformed. Emu and Parad stayed back for now.
"That thing is similar to me?" Parad said, not really believing it.
"Apparently. But, you're much better than that thing will ever be." Emu replied.
Parad offered a smile. "Ne, Emu? Can we play together?"
"If they don't mind us playing co-op with them, then sure."