"So, Catherine wants to help us out after we paid for the museum repairs?" Kouga asked as dawn settled over London.
The group had woken up refreshed, eaten breakfast at the hotel's lounge, and spent a good hour watching Rita send Otto a long message explaining everything that happened the previous day. Otto wired funds instantly — enough to fix every wall the mecha-cat blew through — and not long after, Catherine herself called back, surprised by how quickly the money arrived and eager to offer whatever assistance she could.
Rita finally ended her call and set her phone down. "That seems to be the case," she replied. "If we're lucky, she might know something useful. That mural didn't exactly tell us much about locating the Divine Key."
"Do we have a set appointment, or is it just 'show up whenever'?" Kouga asked.
"She wants to meet only when I'm free," Rita answered. "So feel free to wander around. She insisted her discussion be between just the two of us."
A few minutes later, Rita left for her meeting. Kouga exhaled loudly, already bored. Having nothing to do irritated him more than fighting Honkai beasts.
Guess I might as well check on that cat, he thought.
Stan — the unfortunate cat everyone had unintentionally adopted thanks to Rita's joking nickname — had already attempted multiple escapes that morning. After failing every time, it had resigned itself to drinking water in miserable silence.
Kouga looped the new leash he bought the previous day around the cat. Stan tried to look innocent the moment Kouga approached, but pure fear glittered in its eyes. It submitted instantly to the collaring.
Once outside the hotel, Kouga strolled through the city with Stan trailing behind like a prisoner on a forced march. Even though he'd already seen London before, the crisp autumn air and crowded streets offered enough distraction. Kouga rambled endlessly to himself — and to the cat — about what to do next, only to reject every idea seconds later.
Eventually, wandering turned into reaching a more isolated part of town. The sun dipped lower, tinting the horizon orange.
That was when a stranger approached him.
A dark-skinned woman with long legs, a bold neckline visible under a black-and-white coat, and gold Egyptian accessories walked over, holding a "Lost Cat" flyer. The picture was unmistakably Stan.
"Pardon me," she said, her voice overly sweet, masking something sharp beneath it. "I found this notice, and it looks quite similar to your pet. If you don't mind, may I confirm?"
Kouga narrowed his eyes. Her expensive skirt, stockings, heels, and jewelry screamed wealthy and dangerous, not concerned citizen. Her aura matched someone running an operation, not someone returning a missing animal.
Then, from the corner of his eye, Kouga noticed a tiny shimmer atop a distant building — a gun scope.
He immediately connected the dots.
"Here's a thought," Kouga said calmly, staring straight at the glint. "Tell your friend up there to lower the sniper rifle… unless you want me to erase you from existence."
The woman's expression stiffened before she regained control. "Really now. Making threats over a cat doesn't make you appear innocent."
Kouga morphed into Dekared, drew his Hybrid Magnum. In the same instant, he sped toward the sniper's direction and fired, intercepting the incoming shot midair. Both blasts clashed and detonated .
He turned back toward the woman, face unreadable.
She sighed heavily and pulled a radio from between her breasts. "Alright, you itchy-fingered maniac. He spotted you. Get down here."
A second woman emerged — this one in a black-and-gray skin-tight suit, hood pulled low over blazing magenta eyes. She held a bizarre sniper rifle sparking with residual electricity, though its barrel looked warped, as if overheated from a shot already wasted.
"Well done," the hooded woman said. "Didn't think you would catch us that fast. Looks like Otto's attack dog has sharper senses than expected."
Kouga snorted. "Don't lump me in with him. Just hearing his name makes me sick."
"Then why obey him?" the tanned woman asked. "If you dislike him that much, why not oppose him instead?"
"Because the people I look after work for him," Kouga replied. "I'm here for their sake, not his."
The hooded woman clicked her tongue. "Right. The little lapdog of the Third Herrscher."
Kouga had heard enough. He summoned the Murphy K9 robot hound and handed Stan's leash to it, then raised his weapon.
"Here are your options," he stated. "Walk away and make sure I never see you again… or I break every bone in your bodies and personally gift-wrap you for Otto. Pick one."
Raven — the hooded woman — began preparing to strike, but her partner stopped her with a quick gesture. The tanned woman offered a small bow.
"We don't want unnecessary conflict. Perhaps introductions will ease things. I am called Jackal. This is Raven. We'd like to propose—"
Kouga fired again.
The shot blasted between them and annihilated the abandoned building behind them, reducing it to rubble.
"That's my answer," he said flatly.
Jackal stared at the destroyed building, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead. Raven recovered instantly and lunged at Kouga, only for him to split his weapon into the D-Magnum 01 and 02 and block her attack with the grip of one gun. She twisted, slashing with crimson claws, but Kouga leaned back out of range effortlessly.
The brief exchange devolved into Kouga dodging a flurry of savage swipes. When he bent back to avoid an uppercut slash, Raven kicked him hard enough to shove him several meters across the pavement.
"He's fast," Raven muttered as she retreated beside Jackal. "If you've got an escape plan, now's the moment."
Jackal raised a brow. "Aren't you supposed to be the one specializing in field work? Shouldn't you have one?"
Raven cursed under her breath while searching her pockets. Kouga waited patiently, arms folded, watching them like they were bickering schoolgirls.
Raven blinked. "What the—?!"
"Didn't want to interrupt," Kouga said politely. "So, are we continuing, or have you accepted my answer?"
Raven prepared to fight again, but Jackal lifted her hand once more.
"We'll withdraw," she said. "But consider this a warning: the path you're following leads you directly into the lion's maw. You won't like what's inside."
At that moment, Stan wriggled free from the robot dog's jaws and bolted — only for Kouga to casually yank the leash mid-air and reel the cat back under his arm.
"Crystal clear," he called out.
Taking it as permission, the two women vanished behind a smoke bomb Raven produced — much to Stan's misery.
Kouga sighed. There goes the walk.
"Ah, looks like I arrived right on time."
Kouga turned to see Rita crossing the street with a bright smile.
"Good thing I won't have to scour all of London to track you down," she said.
"Well, I ran into a pair of Jormungandr agents," Kouga said, dismissing his Dekared form and retrieving Murphy K9. He pointed to the dissipating smoke. "They wanted to 'invite' me to something. Didn't work out."
Rita's smile vanished. She watched the last of the smoke fade. "And your justification for letting them go was…?"
"I told them to leave. They left. Chasing them would've been pointless — probably a trap anyway."
Rita pinched the bridge of her nose. "Wonderful. Another message to Lord Otto about collateral damage."
She then straightened up. "I did obtain something valuable today, however."
"What is it?" Kouga asked.
Rita pulled up a holographic display. "A fragment of Soulium was recovered from the fresco. It's enough to track down the second Divine Key."
"The edges of the mural had Soulium?" Kouga asked. "We held Stan back pretty well. I thought it didn't crack."
"The director granted permission to excavate a small sample," Rita explained. "The mural will be removed from public view, but it's a reasonable sacrifice for what we gained."
Kouga shrugged and lightly jostled Stan, who groaned pitifully. "So what did Otto learn from it?"
"The second Divine Key's purpose," Rita said. "It was created by the previous civilization to explore the Sea of Quanta."
Kouga frowned. "So how do we find it?"
"We don't," Rita replied, closing the hologram. "We lack the means. We'll need someone with dimensional technology capable of doing so."
I could probably handle that, Kouga thought, considering how many Riders and Super Sentai teams could jump between worlds.
"So we're getting another team member?" Kouga asked, leaning against the ruined structure nearby as Stan lay in despair. "Did Otto say who?"
Rita's smile turned utterly ominous.
"Oh, he did. He'll be joining us personally."