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"Dan, what are you doing?"
Krim rolled into the lab on a trolley cart, only to see Dan in a lab coat, hunched over a workbench.
Dan didn't even turn around. "Just dealing with some stuff my teacher left behind."
Rick had never sat still during his years here. He'd constantly been studying this world's tech and tweaking his own at the same time.
Even though he packed up most of his inventions before leaving, he still forgot a few.
"So this is this world's technology? Fascinating."
Krim raised the trolley and scanned the device in Dan's hand with his glowing digital eyes.
Dan casually said, "It might not even be from this world. Probably a mix of different dimensions."
He shrugged—who knew what Rick had cobbled together?
Closing the device's casing, he grinned. "All done. Let's test it out."
He slipped the bracelet on, waved his hand, and Krim—trolley and all—floated off the ground.
Krim let out a surprised beep. "Is this magnetic levitation? How did you make it target only me? This is amazing!"
Dan slowly lowered him back down, rattling off a bunch of scientific jargon. Krim was stunned—fellow scientist or not, this was a whole new world of ideas.
Dan took off the bracelet and started dismantling it with a sigh.
"Too bad… the energy source still isn't stable. If I had a solid power supply, I could've created artificial telekinesis."
Thinking about energy made him think of Tony Stark's arc reactor. If only he had one of those…
Too bad Tony was probably still just a rich playboy at this point—hadn't even gone to Afghanistan yet.
"Oh yeah, Krim—didn't you say you were gonna seal yourself away again? Why are you still here?"
Dan eyed him curiously.
Krim had said before that no matter where he was, he couldn't risk his tech falling into the wrong hands, so he wanted to shut himself down again.
Dan had briefly dreamed of transforming into a Kamen Rider, but he knew not everyone was cut out to be one.
Krim answered seriously, "I just can't wrap my head around it. I was buried deep underground in my world… how did I end up in this one?"
Dan shrugged. "Who knows? I'm just as confused."
"Anyway, I'm heading out. Wanna come see the world?"
He grinned. He might not get to transform, but driving the Tridoron through the city would be a decent consolation prize.
"See the world, huh…"
On a street in Queens, a red tricked-out sports car tore down the road.
"WOOHOO! So this is the Tridoron?! This is freakin' awesome!"
Krim looked at the thrilled Dan and asked curiously, "You seem to know the Tridoron really well… and me too, for that matter."
Dan grinned. "Well, this is kinda nuts… but I wonder if you can handle it."
Krim's digital face looked indifferent. "I already accepted I've traveled to another universe. What else could possibly surprise me?"
"Well… I'm also from another world. More precisely, I was reborn here. In my old world, you, Krim, were just a character in a Japanese TV show. You and Shinnosuke were known as Kamen Rider Drive. Same with this universe—it was all fictional."
"Nani?!"
Krim was stunned. He couldn't believe it. He was just a character? Everything he'd done… was scripted?
What was the point of it all?
Seeing Krim go silent, Dan smiled.
"Relax, Krim. You're here now, aren't you? You exist. That's what matters."
Krim dimmed his screen.
He needed time to process everything.
BOOM!
Just as Dan was enjoying the speed and adrenaline rush brought by Doletron, a sudden explosion rocked the area, followed by a giant burst of flames.
A group of terrorists came running out of a bank, their arms loaded with big bags of cash. The explosion from earlier had been them blowing up the bank vault.
"Ah, truly the land of the free—happy America, where shootings happen every day."
The robbers sped past in their car, right next to Doletron, and hot on their tail came a swarm of police cars, sirens wailing.
Dan sat calmly in the driver's seat like this was nothing new to him.
"We've got a situation, Jinno-suke. Let's roll."
Kurimu snapped awake, his first instinct being to call his old partner to serve justice by his side—but then he saw Dan and remembered, this wasn't his usual teammate.
Dan grinned. "What's wrong, Mr. Kurimu? Feeling homesick?"
Kurimu sighed in silence.
"Dan, I just scanned the robbers' car. It's heavily modified, way faster than the police cars. We need to help stop them."
"How are we supposed to do that? I'm just a regular high schooler."
"You're driving Doletron right now. Trust me—no matter where we are, justice has to be served."
Looking at Kurimu's righteous expression, Dan couldn't help but smile.
"You're a bit different from the Kurimu I know... Alright, Mr. Belt, let's take this baby for a spin."
Jinno-suke's old catchphrase slipped out naturally, and for a moment, Kurimu could almost see his former partner sitting there beside him again.
"Oh! I've tapped into this world's internet—I'll guide you from here!"
Dan floored the gas, and Doletron's engine roared like a beast unleashed. The red car shot forward like a bolt of lightning, weaving through the streets.
"Shit! That car's right on our tail!"
One of the masked robbers spotted Doletron chasing after them and cursed out loud.
"F**k! What the hell are those guns for?! Light 'em up—turn that thing into Swiss cheese!"
Two of the robbers leaned out the windows and opened fire wildly with their weapons.
Kurimu scoffed with a disdainful chuckle.
"That kind of firepower? Please. You think you can threaten Doletron with that? Don't make me laugh. Dan, ram them—slam them into the wall and box them in."
"You sure about that?"
"Trust in Doletron's capabilities. Like you said—this is Kamen Rider Drive's ride, after all."
Dan nodded, then jerked the steering wheel hard.
"Alright then—let's have some fun."
BANG!
The red Doletron smashed hard into the robbers' car, forcing it off to the side of the street with sparks flying everywhere. The impact was brutal enough to force the getaway vehicle to a grinding halt.
"....."