[video]

[oceanicbreak]

[Miharu--or Poseidon, rather--is battling another young man, presumably a Rider. The man runs toward him, but Poseidon blasts him, throwing him to the ground. He leaps into the air and lands over him, ready to run him through with his weapon. He bats away a blast of fire meant to stop him, then raises his weapon, and...]



[And he misses at the last second, just cutting the man's arm.]

Damn you... Stop it!

[It's clear Poseidon isn't talking to the other Rider, instead backing away and trying to get his arm to move the way he wants.]

Don't come out!

[He screams in pain, and Medals and water form over his body.]





[And dissipate to reveal a disoriented Miharu.]

I...

[It suddenly dawns on him that the man he was fighting is hurt, and he runs over to help him.]

Are you okay?

[The video turns off.]

Comments

[aquaticrush]

Minato-san! You're okay?

[oceanicbreak]

I think so, but...I hurt a lot of people. Or Poseidon did.

[aquaticrush]

That's okay. I'm sorry I didn't stop you when we fought before.

[oceanicbreak]

No, I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough to stop him.

[aquaticrush]

I've seen this kind of thing before. It's hard.

[oceanicbreak]

I don't know what to do. I'd get away, but what if I lose control again?

[aquaticrush]

*Retasu shakes her head. She only has a vague idea of how to stop it. Probably because the last time this happened, she had a case of the dead.*

Who was that person you were fighting?

[oceanicbreak]

His name is Eiji. He's one of the Kamen Riders of this era. I really hurt two others I think were his partners.

[aquaticrush]

That's all right, Minato-san. I've hurt people too.

[oceanicbreak]

You did?

[aquaticrush]

I was scared. Everything was changing and I didn't know what to do.

[oceanicbreak]

How did you fix it?

[aquaticrush]

...I made friends. I met other people who were like me, who went through the same changes and were fighting the invasion we were created to stop. I didn't even know. They thought I was a monster, but when they saw that I was a person and we'd met twice before, even though I was attacking them indiscriminately, they were still nice to me and got me to see that I wasn't alone.

[oceanicbreak]

That's...that's nice. But how do you keep fighting?

[aquaticrush]

I just know people need help.

[oceanicbreak]

I think I've done more to hurt them than help them, now.

[aquaticrush]

It's okay, Minato-san. It wasn't your fault.

[oceanicbreak]

But if I were stronger, this wouldn't have happened. If I'd just been a good Rider from the start.

[aquaticrush]

Maybe nobody is strong enough. But that doesn't mean you can't try, Minato-san!

[oceanicbreak]

I want to do something, but I don't know what.

[aquaticrush]

That person who gave you the new set of powers that took over you. Did you know anything about him?

[oceanicbreak]

He's a businessman who seems to be around in the time I'm in now. But given how everyone reacted to my--to Poseidon's powers, he's a long way off from the technology.

[aquaticrush]

Right, you said they were creating soldiers through science...

[oceanicbreak]

Eiji, the Rider who's with me, said they're going to figure out a way to get these Medals out of me before the time rift closes, so I can go home. But after all this, I don't know what I should do.

[aquaticrush]

...You can go back to what you did before. Even if you were afraid of your old abilities. I know it's scary, but I also know you can.