Both Decade and Dark Decade moved at the same time. At this point, neither of them felt like talking would change anything.
The Doppelganger already knew how Tsutsumi thought. After copying his memories, his habits, and even the way he approached fights, it understood one thing very clearly, Tsutsumi was stubborn to the core. Words weren't going to convince him.
So the solution was simple.
Destroy him.
Take his place.
Become the real Decade.
Their blades collided in the narrow hallway, sparks flashing as the impact echoed through the empty school. The force sent them crashing through the wall of a classroom, desks and chairs scattering as they slid across the floor. Without slowing down, both of them kicked off the ground and leapt straight through the shattered windows, dropping from the second-floor balcony almost in sync.
Kamen Ride: Genm!
Kamen Ride: Ex-Aid!
Light flashed around both Riders as their forms shifted mid-air. Their clothes reconfigured into short jackets and layered sleeves, bright and playful in shape. Decade's colors settled into vivid pink with streaks of green, while Dark Decade's version twisted into black and deep purple; the design was the same.
They landed almost at the same time.
Dark Decade immediately snapped the Gashacon Bugvisor onto its left wrist, the saw blade whirring to life. Decade, on the other hand, didn't rush. He kept his Rider Book sword in hand and lifted his right palm slightly toward his chest, copying Ex-Aid's familiar pose without saying a word.
Then they charged.
The Bugvisor's spinning blade crashed against the Rider Book sword, metal screeching as both Riders pushed against each other. Using the game-like movement, they jumped high into the air as large 4-by-4 chocolate blocks suddenly formed beneath them.
They kicked off the blocks, using them as stepping stones, clashing again and again in midair. Several of the chocolate platforms shattered under the impacts, bursting apart and revealing floating Energy Items inside.
Prediction!
Speeding-Up!
Dark Decade grabbed an item instantly. Its body blurred, turning into a streak of black as its speed skyrocketed far beyond normal sight. In an instant, it vanished from view, circling Decade from all sides.
Decade didn't move.
Wind whipped violently around him as the black blur darted past, his magenta coat and bandana snapping loudly in the artificial gusts. A strike came in from behind, Decade stepped to the left.
Another from the side. He stepped to the right.
Each attack came faster than the last, but every time, just before the blade could connect, Decade casually shifted his position by the smallest margin. With no wasted movement.
Dark Decade finally committed to a direct strike.
Attack Ride: Slash!
Decade sidestepped once more, then swung.
The Rider Book blade cut cleanly through Dark Decade. The impact sent it spinning across the ground, skidding through debris before slamming into a wall. Sparks flew as its clothes flickered, the Genm form dissolving as it was knocked out of it.
Decade lowered his sword slightly, watching his counterpart recover.
Kamen Ride: Dark Ghost!
Dark Decade's clothes rippled and collapsed inward, turning pitch-black. A specter-like hoodie burst out from its back, its white outline glowing faintly as it fluttered in the air like a living shadow.
Decade watched calmly as Dark Decade shifted forms. His own clothes faded back into his base state, the magenta color settling into place. He didn't react with surprise or frustration.
He didn't have that card yet. Same with Genm.
But that didn't matter.
The Doppelganger had copied Tsutsumi Ryoko's memories. That meant it didn't just copy his strength; it copied his knowledge. Gaining the knowledge and forms of the riders. Riders that even Tsutsumi himself hadn't obtained.
Decade reached for another card.
Kamen Ride: Ghost!
His clothes darkened as well, turning pitch-black. A specter hoodie with an orange outline erupted behind him, drifting forward until it hovered directly opposite Dark Decade's white-lined cloak.
The two ghostly hoodies surged forward.
They slammed into each other mid-air, phasing in and out as if reality itself had trouble keeping up. After a brief clash, both cloaks snapped back and wrapped around their respective Riders.
Both lifted off the ground. Like actual ghosts, the two floated forward and collided in midair, their blows passing through walls as if the school itself barely mattered anymore. They burst through one corridor, cut through several classrooms, desks and lockers phasing apart as they flew past.
Decade was the first to lose momentum.
He was sent crashing through a window, glass scattering outward as he vanished into open air.
Dark Decade followed instantly. It shot through the broken frame and slammed Decade back through another window, forcing him across the building again. Walls cracked as they passed through, the structure barely holding together.
Dark Decade slowed as it entered the next room.
Decade sat calmly on a white plastic chair placed in the middle of the classroom with his back turned to it, facing the broken wall overlooking the night sky and the moon.
Dark Decade stared. Decade tilted his head slightly, then stood up. The chair scraped softly against the floor as he turned around, already pulling out another card.
Kamen Ride: Kiva!
Dark Decade clenched its teeth and fist, irritation clear even through the helmet. It raised its own card without missing a beat.
Kamen Ride: Dark Kiva!
Both Riders transformed again.
Dark Decade's clothes sharpened, the dark cape unfurling behind it as it casually flicked it aside with one hand. Decade's form shifted as well, his movements immediately changing as he adopted Kiva's more aggressive, beast-like fighting style.
Decade began to circle his counterpart slowly. Dark Decade struck first, lunging forward with a powerful swing meant to overwhelm. Decade ducked under the attack, slid past him, and countered with a quick kick to the side.
Dark Decade recovered instantly, cape flaring as it spun and retaliated. The two exchanged blows in rapid succession, claw, kick, elbow, blade, each hit forcing the other to adapt.
They tore through the classroom, smashing desks and cracking pillars as they moved. Decade reached out mid-motion, grabbing Soukaku by the back of her collar and lifting her clean off the ground.
"Whoa!?"
He spun once on his heel, and almost immediately, the Doppelganger clone lunged into the space she had been standing in. Decade stepped forward and drove a solid kick straight into its gut.
The impact folded the clone in half and sent it flying backward, straight toward Dark Decade.
Dark Decade didn't slow down. It ran straight through its own clone, sharp claws tearing it apart as if it were nothing more than mist, and kept charging forward without even looking back.
Decade dropped Soukaku and charged back.
The two Riders collided again, legs and claws crashing together as they slid across the cracked floor.
Kamen Ride: Ryuki!
Kamen Ride: Ryuga!
Two figures crashed down from the ceiling.
This forced both Harumasa and the Doppelganger he was fighting to pause. Seeing two figures in near identical dragon-knight theme clothes rising, their footsteps were low, yet ominous as their glowing crimson eyes glowed through their knight masks.
The only difference between them is that one inner suit is red while the other is black.
Before anyone could react, two massive Asian dragons materialized beside them, one blazing red, the other pitch-black, coiling through the air with low, rumbling growls.
The pressure alone made the air feel heavier.
The two dragons roar loudly as the two riders charge toward each other. Harumasa swore under his breath and dove to the side just in time, as the Doppelganger clone he was fighting got torn to pieces, being collateral damage in the clash between the two dragons and riders.
Attack Ride: Strike Vent!
A dragon's head formed around Decade's left arm as he thrust it forward. A blast of fire erupted from its jaws, and the red dragon behind him mirrored the attack, both streams merging into a single overwhelming torrent.
The black dragon coiled tightly around Dark Decade, shielding it as the flames washed over them.
For a moment, the shield held. Then the black dragon cracked, shattered, and dispersed into dark fragments.
Decade narrowed his eyes as the smoke cleared. Something felt off.
Dark Decade stepped out of the flames mostly unharmed and raised another card.
Kamen Ride: Poseidon!
Its clothes shifted again, as a red harpoon formed in its grip. It spun the Deepest Harpoon once, getting into a fighting stance.
Decade tilted his head slightly.
"It's fake, right?" he asked casually.
The question seemingly came out of nowhere and doesn't make much sense to others.
However, Dark Decade just widens its eyes lightly before charging forward without answering.
Not answering was enough of an answer for Decade as he simply raised a card.
Final Kamen Ride: OOO! Tajadol Combo Eternity!
A blazing orange glow spread across Decade's body, exploding outward in a blazing orange flame.
A massive pair of flaming wings unfolded behind him, feathers of fire stretching wide as a sharp phoenix screech echoed through the school. The sound bounced off broken walls and empty classrooms, drawing everyone's attention whether they wanted it or not.
The light didn't linger for long.
The wings folded inward, the flames thinning out and dispersing into glowing embers that faded into the air. When the light cleared, Decade stood there in a completely different form.
Black inner clothes hugged his frame. Crimson boots and gauntlets reflected faint light from the lingering embers. His short jacket hung open, unbuttoned, revealing a golden phoenix etched across the center of his chest.
Behind him, five rainbow-colored peacock tails swayed slowly, connected directly to his back, each one leaving a faint trail of heat as they moved.
His headpiece had changed as well. The front now resembled a phoenix's head, rainbow-colored sections spreading outward like wings. The left eye of the phoenix extended upward, shaped like a golden wing.
Decade lifted his head and looked straight at his dark counterpart.
Dark Decade stiffened.
It wasn't fear, not exactly, but tension. The kind that comes from realizing the situation is no longer balanced.
Without hesitating, Dark Decade hurled the Deepest Harpoon.
The weapon tore through the air with force, spinning as it closed the distance between them.
Decade stepped to the side, letting it pass cleanly by, the harpoon embedding itself deep into a wall behind him. Cracks spread outward from the impact.
Decade charged forward, flames rippling faintly along his movements, already certain of what he was dealing with.
Although the Doppelganger has copied Tsutsumi Ryoko's memory and uses it to create Dark Decade.
But besides that, it's just a cheap copy.
Able to mimic the appearance and physical ability using Ether, but Tsutsumi's elemental attack didn't come from Ether, and since he doesn't know how to make them with Ether, the Doppelganger couldn't mimic his elemental attacks that rely on his otherworldly ability.
So even if it knew about Tsutsumi's otherworldly abilities, it still couldn't truly reproduce most of them.
In another part of the school, Yanagi noticed something was off.
The Doppelganger clone she had been clashing with slowed down, its movements no longer as sharp or confident as before. Its stance shifted, feet hesitating for just a fraction of a second, as if something was interfering with it.
Yanagi narrowed her eyes, adjusting her grip on her naginata. "…It's losing cohesion?"
Before she could analyze it further, the wall beside them suddenly exploded inward.
Dark Decade's body flew through the opening, crashing hard into its own clone. The impact twisted both figures together before they slammed into the floor in a mess of broken concrete and shattered desks.
Yanagi barely had time to react.
Eternity Scan!
A blazing fireball tore through the same hole Dark Decade had come from. The heat alone forced Yanagi to shut her eyes and duck; the temperature spiked.
The fireball slammed directly into Dark Decade and the clone beneath it.
The clone disintegrated instantly, its form breaking apart into unstable Ether before vanishing. Dark Decade was sent flying again, smashing through another wall.
The heat faded just enough for Yanagi to look up.
Decade stepped through the hole the fireball had come from.
His presence alone pushed warm air outward, the faint sound of crackling flames following each step.
He simply moved forward.
With a light hop, he leapt through the second opening and landed outside, boots scraping against broken pavement in front of the ruined school.
His gaze shifted.
Miyabi stood a short distance away, her blade lowered as the last fragments of the Doppelganger clone she had been fighting dissolved into nothing. She glanced at him, ears flicking once, before returning her focus forward.
Decade followed her line of sight.
Dark Decade was still moving.
The fake rider slowly forced itself upright, its Dark Decade clothes and body melting and peeling away like burned wax. Cracks ran through its body as Ether leaked out uncontrollably, its shape flickering and distorting.
The remaining members of Section 6 regrouped behind Decade without being told, instinctively keeping their distance. No one wanted to get caught in the crossfire.
"You fool!" the Doppelganger shouted, voice warped and uneven. "Are you blind!? They WILL betray you! They'll cast you aside!"
Its glowing red eyes locked onto Decade.
"You don't belong here! You don't belong to this world, Decade!"
The words came fast, desperate, thrown out in a last attempt to stir doubt and buy time.
Decade didn't answer. The Doppelganger wasn't telling him anything new.
Final Attack Ride: O-O-O-OOO!
Decade launched himself forward.
Three crimson rings appeared in midair between him and the collapsing Ethereal.
As he passed through the first ring, his eyes flashed bright green, flames wrapping tightly around his body.
Through the second ring, massive blazing wings unfolded behind him, heat rolling outward in waves.
Through the third, four large, sharp talons formed around his legs, glowing with condensed fire.
The kick landed squarely in the Doppelganger Ryoko's chest. The talons clamped down.
The explosion that followed was bright but contained, fire spiraling upward before collapsing inward as the Ethereal was completely erased.
When the light faded, Decade landed smoothly, boots touching down without a sound.
His clothes shifted back into Tsutsumi Ryoko's usual outfit, the warmth in the air slowly fading away.
He turned around.
Behind him, the members of Section 6 stood there, their tension easing, expressions softening relief, trust, and something warmer mixed together.
Miyabi looked at him and smiled.
And Tsutsumi didn't look away.